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Post by MrB on Mar 10, 2014 8:57:36 GMT
The situation in any country always seems worse from abroad, as only bad things get reported, and you have no context for them. So I suspect that what was a very small danger to sensible travellers is now marginally less small. If the 15 people you've spoken to have recent first-hand experience, then their view is important. If they don't, then it feels better not to let them sway you, unless you will really upset them by going. (But then I am a man, and quite pig-headed about this sort of thing.)
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Post by MrB on Mar 8, 2014 15:53:20 GMT
Well we saw the first half, but then we had some paint drying at home, and watching that was more appealing than the second half. This film is very weak indeed and cannot be recommended. It has the bones of a promising farce (taken from Seres Queridos, of which it is a remake), but there is no flesh on them. The script has no sharpness and no wit, and there's very little physical comedy to compensate. With the exception of Kirron Kher's mother, the characters have no depth, so there's nothing for any potential comedy element to get hold of except for a few tired stereotypes about Indians and Pakistanis. What you're left with is a Pakistani boy meeting a family of weirdos who don't like Pakistanis, who thinks he's killed his prospective father-in-law. Maybe it gets funny in the second half, but the signs were not promising.
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Queen
Mar 7, 2014 19:49:25 GMT
via mobile
Post by MrB on Mar 7, 2014 19:49:25 GMT
Lovely review hcb, I completely agree with it. While it is reminiscent of English Vinglish, this is very much its own film, and has an outstanding performance from Kangana Ranaut. I strongly recommend everyone to get out and see Queen: you'll leave the cinema a happier person than when you went in.
ETA. After seeing Queen yesterday and as much as I could take of Total Siyapaa today, my view on Queen has become still more positive. Queen is an object lesson in creating a fully-rounded central character, whose background and motivations the audience really understands and sympathises with. As a result, when the comedy comes, it's hilarious; when the emotional revelations come, they really move you; and when the film resolves itself, you're cheering in your seat for Kangna and the transformation she's gone through. There's just one moment when she's dancing on a bar in Paris that's funnier than the whole first half of Total Siyapaa put together, and it works because you feel you know exactly what sort of person Rani is and what's going through her mind. Love it.
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Post by MrB on Mar 7, 2014 10:33:53 GMT
We saw it last weekend. I didn't like it enough to recommend, but didn't want to put people off, so haven't written anything before. In spite of liking both leads, and thinking they did their best with the material, the film just did not work for me. MrsB liked the first half, but thought it fell apart in the second.
I agree on Vidya's wardrobe. She can look amazing, but the high-waisted dresses in this film do nothing for her.
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Post by MrB on Mar 7, 2014 7:43:51 GMT
From the Wikipedia page: Total Siyapaa is an upcoming Hindi romantic comedy film directed by E. Nivas and written by writer of much-acclaimed films A Wednesday and Special 26 Neeraj Pandey. Film stars Chashme Baddoor, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan and Tere Bin Laden famed Ali Zafar and Vicky Donor famed Yami Gautam in lead roles. Veteran actor Anupam Kher and his real life wife and Veteran actress Kiron Kher are appearing together for the first time in a movie. Aman (Ali Zafar), who is in London, hopes to marry Asha (Yami Gautam), an Indian girl, also in London. He visits her parents' house to seek their permission to marry her. However, his plans to impress the family start failing when they discover that he is a Pakistani. Total Siyapaa (Total Chaos) is about a series of unfortunate events that befall a good-hearted but hapless Pakistani boy while visiting his girlfriend's parents, leading to some of the funniest, chaotic and outrageous situations.
I've seen the trailer in cinemas, and it looks like a slapstick romantic comedy, set in London, built around the prejudices that Indians and Pakistanis have about each other. In something of a filmithon this weekend, MrsB are intending to see this, Queen, and Gulab Gang if we can fit them all in. I'll report back if we manage to see it.
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Post by MrB on Mar 5, 2014 13:44:26 GMT
Yes, it is Dancelover. Urdu is Pakistan's national language. Both of these articles have been written by individuals from Urdu backgrounds, and I think they are presenting a more dire picture than is actually the case. I think the writer of the article on Nastaliq does have a point. All the Nastaliq I can find in (an admittedly brief) search around the web is in the form of pictures rather than text rendered in a Nastaliq font. Think how hard that makes designing web pages, how it makes it impossible to design a page that works on mobile and desktops browsers, how it makes all the content invisible to search engines. Plus all the problems that the article raises about not being able to blog/tweet/post to Facebook using Nastaliq. It is a second-class script online, and I think he's right that there is a danger of people switching to Naskh for ease of use.
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Post by MrB on Mar 3, 2014 12:46:54 GMT
The rumour mill is churning out the usual speculation. ApunKaChoice say that Ranveer and Priyanka may not be siblings after all: Ranveer Singh not playing Priyanka Chopra’s brother in Zoya Akhtar’s next?Director Zoya Akhtar is extremely guarded about her next film Dil Dhadakne Do. The movie is expected to go on the floors this summer, but the casting is not yet confirmed. Now, it’s even heard that Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh, who are supposed to play siblings in the movie, will not be brother and sister on big screen. As per latest reports, Ranveer Singh is not playing Pee Cee's brother in Dil Dhadakne Do. Throwing some light on the actor’s character in the movie, a source claims that he plays a rich businessman and will be in a never-seen-before avatar. We also hear that Ranveer Singh will be very prim and proper like a suave man in the movie, quite unlike the carefree characters he has played so far. Zoya Akhtar reportedly has even made the actor sign a contract for Dil Dhadakne Do, stating that he will not shoot for any other film, not even ads, until the movie wraps up. Producer Ritesh Sidhwani tells a tabloid, “We want to keep Ranveer's look under wraps. Fortunately for us he has agreed to work exclusively on Dil Dhadakne Do for four-and-half months.” Interestingly, the movie also has Ranveer’s ex-flame Anushka Sharma in a pivotal role. Zoya will be shooing the film extensively across Europe in countries like Turkey, Spain, Italy, France and Tunisia. The story of the movie is said to be set on a cruise where most of the characters will meet.
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Post by MrB on Mar 3, 2014 8:31:45 GMT
Urdu is not only having a hard time in India. This recent article on The Death of the Urdu Script is interesting on the lack of support for nastaliq online.
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Post by MrB on Feb 25, 2014 12:55:22 GMT
+1 to Prem Rogue's comments. I found the plot weak in places, and the transition from kidnap victim to fellow traveller too hurried, but still liked the film very much and recommend it. All the acting performances are well-judged, and Alia Bhatt is particularly good - credit to her for for choosing the role, and to Imtiaz Ali for making it possible (and for selecting an actress rather than a Nargis Fakhri). The locations and cinematography also very evocative - India is a fantastic place for a road movie.
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Post by MrB on Feb 14, 2014 12:26:00 GMT
It's there in Chrome.
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Post by MrB on Jan 27, 2014 12:51:46 GMT
For those like me, who watch all these award shows in a star-struck way, albeit with hefty use of the fast forward button, here is Rediff's comparison of the Filmfare Awards and the Like OK Whatever Screen Awards shown on TV last weekend. It compares them on all the really important points: fashion, star performances, hosting, jokes and, last and least, awards. I agree with their view, and Sonakshi's above, that Lootera was unfairly overlooked.
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Post by MrB on Jan 24, 2014 16:54:42 GMT
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Post by MrB on Jan 24, 2014 12:49:20 GMT
If you can tolerate the saturation advertising, then the Times of India site has a live blog on the Filmfare awards today, from 7:00pm IST.
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Post by MrB on Jan 16, 2014 14:31:20 GMT
I also felt that given his reputation, Aamir Khan shouldn't have produced a cussloaded film like Delhi Belly(pauses). The more times I read that sentence, the less I like the idea that its perpetrator is in charge of the Censor Board. Let's hope he doesn't abuse his position by trying to influence people to produce only films that are fitting to their reputation. Fortunately, abuses of power are rare in India.
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Post by MrB on Jan 15, 2014 8:22:19 GMT
I think the use of Urdu might have a lot to do with that. Even Anupama Chopra, who's usually more thoughtful than the average reviewer, made a comment about the film being difficult to understand on The Front Row. I've heard this from a few different places, and I don't understand what the problem is if it's subtitled. If it's not subtitled I could see it being an issue, but if it is, is it the fact that it's Urdu that's irking people? I really don't get it. We all watch subtitled films all the time, so it's nothing to us, but I can see it could put people off who don't do that. And the subtitles are in English, which is not the first language of most of the audience.
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