Post by mrchai501 on Feb 5, 2015 12:10:11 GMT
Hi all.
It's not that im in the closet when it comes to Bollywood it's just that the few friends I have told about my enjoyment of Bollywood and they just don't really get it.
So I thought I'd have to join a forum and find other people who share the same interest!
I would say it's now been roughly 10 years since I first made the discovery.
The first time I can recall wasn't being mesmerised by watching the dancing of Madhuri or having my arms out in an SRK pose.
It was actually 2 songs that I'd heard that took me in:
1. 'Suno Na Suno Na from the film Chalte Chalte'
I didn't understand a word (not that my hindi is great now) but something about it made me just want to keep listening. The vibe of the song just felt like you could be standing on top of the world (with arms strecthed out SRK style lol)
2. 'Tere Liye from the film Veer Zara'
'Tere Liye' a different vibe from the previous the song but equally as good. Despite not knowing what any of the words meant there was clearly some emotion being played out that between the 2 people involved in this song even if I didn't know the meaning.
As if by fate I was browsing the TV guide when I came across a film that was to be shown on terrestial TV in 2 days time - the film was 'Main Hoon Na' but it wouldn't be on until around 1am. I've later found this being the norm for this channel.
After going on the TV channels website there was a quick who's who of bollywood with 4 or 5 lines about each actor/actress. The likes of SRK,Amitabh,Aishwariya Rai etc
I sat down not really knowing what to expect from a Bollywood film. After all the only thing I knew about Bollywood was that it came from India - at the time I thought Bollywood covered every part of Indian Cinema.
I knew there would be songs and the films where longer than I was used but I didn't know if I could watch a film while relying 100% on the subtitles? was it just going to be a stereotype of some 60s Bollywood looking film despite being recorded in 2004?
There was an mini documentary/introduction to the film by Farah Khan. Then the film began - although I'm sure you've all seen it I won't give anything away just incase so its fine to read on.
Soon enough there was that familiar face from one of the profiles on the website - Shah Rukh Khan.
After the Project Milaap opening scene then I came across my first Bollywood song on the screen 'Chale Jaise Hawaiaen' I began to get into the film with the introduction of Lucky (Zayed) and Sanjana (Amrita) - Lucky was equally as annoying but also kind of funny and only grows on you.
Something in me had taken to Bollywood and the thought of switching over didn't cross my mind (despite the channel putting in a TV advert in after only the first song lol)
If I hadn't fallen in love with Bollywood before the introduction of Chandini (Sushmita Sen) I certainly had now haha!!
I really enjoyed the film, it had everything. Also the comedy came across with the principal (boman irani) and the professor (satish shah) The fact that I was(and still am) reliant on subtitles and I was finding all the comedy as funny as it was intended to be was great. Although having watched it back I now find the film a whole lot funnier knowing reference points of other films/songs.
Of course the film was mainly about SRK and that suited me just fine. He was a face I'd recognised from the website profile and without knowing he was on the first step to being my favourite actor of any kind of cinema Bollywood or Hollywood
After the film ended I later found out there was more films to come on - even if I did have to wait up until 1am!
Since then I've probably watched every SRK film and have watched many other non-SRK films over the 10yrs I've watched Bollywood.
Part of my daily routine when I wake up in the morning is to switch on the likes of B4U music whilst checking the movie channels to see if theres films to watch later.
It's strange how I've never really attempted to watch other films such as French/German etc I would say my ratio of watching Bollywood & Hollywood is now 8/2 or even 9/1. There are only maybe a handful of actors in Hollywood who I will watch there films.
Now the likes of Amitabh, SRK have taken over my dvd collection. Even if you do have to dig that little deeper to find them to buy.
I once found the film 'Cheeni Kum' in a £1 shop lol
It's amazing how Bollywood has also gotten me to watch other indian programmes such as Naach Baliye (just for the way Shilpa says superb is reason alone lol)
I've took long enough on this introduction haha It's just nice to be on a forum where I can share my enjoyment of Bollywood. I'm in no way an expert there are still loads of films I want to watch but it's nice to share my opinions with others than myself about this subject