odadune
Star of the item number
not around much due to stuff in my personal life.
Posts: 1,494
Favorite actor: Currently a certain Kumar, but I like most of them
Favorite actress: whoever's in films I'm interested in this week
|
Post by odadune on Apr 23, 2015 20:35:00 GMT
Actually, since the princess is supposed to speak English and be educated, you could get away with someone like Nargis Fakhri, Lisa Haydon or Lara Dutta. They'd look pretty in the period clothes
|
|
|
Post by dancelover on Apr 24, 2015 15:28:18 GMT
The Music Man ought to have been made with SRK & Madz ... back in 1999! Better yet,,, immediately after Bazinger!!
It is important to remember who the Protagonist is in tMM: not Harold Hill, but Marian! It is she who, at the climax of the story, must choose whether to betray or support him, by first deciding if he is Diabolis ex Machina, or Deus. Of course a DxM *cannot* be a Protagonist; he is merely part of the "Machina" and thus the background. The Broderick version made this more clear, which is why I respect it more than you do, Odadune.
Madhuri could have shown the importance of that action twenty years ago; today she is so strong that viewers would think "its important because Madhuri did it." Priyanka could play Marian in this decade, or perhaps Shriya. Anushka might play her.
Dancelover
[snip - D.] I always thought that The Music Man would make an interesting Bollywood film; Aaj Naachle kind of does the "outsider revitalizes a town by getting everyone interested in music" thing but not the con artist thing. I've given way too much thought to this one. In this version, Harold Hill, the con artist/"music professor in his own mind" originated by Robert Preston would be a wannabe dance instructor who drifts into a small town-just big enough to have television, and sets out to convince the locals that the best way to keep their sons out of trouble is to teach them modern dance so that they can be on one of those 500 talent shows on Indian tv. Marian the "stuck-up librarian who gives piano" and takes flak for making things like BAAALZAC! and Omar Khaiyyam available would in this version run a clothes-making business and get in trouble for making designer jeans knockoffs for the young women. And she would be a classically trained dancer. The film would be directed by either Farah Khan, Remo D'Souza or Prabhudheva (and partially choreographed by the other), with a strong producer on hand to deal with Remo's reputation for somewhat unfocused storytelling and/or quash Prabhudheva's penchant for off-color humor and/or Farah's problems with both storytelling and lowbrow humor. Casting: Harold Hill: you need someone with a big, brassy personality who dances with more energy than sophistication but is charismatic and fun to watch. Shahrukh Khan would figure out the character's motives (his unfulfilled passion for music and the fact that at some level he believes in his own con) most quickly, but Ranveer or Akshay would maybe handle the hyper-physical aspects of the role better. Most of the other current stars either are either too good as dancers (Ranbir/Shahid/Hrithik/Varun), have a screen persona/acting style that's not ideal (Arjun/Ayushmann/Aditya/Aamir/Salman) or both (hi Tiger!). If you were using the more boyish, less virile Matthew Broderick version of Harold Hill (from that awful tv version) as a role model, you could maybe get by with Saif or Sidharth. For a South Indian version, your best bet would be either Vijay or Ravi Teja, both of whom are right on the cusp of being too good as dancers to work in the role. Marian: You need a woman who can really dance, convey a lot of different emotions fairly well, and sass people with a certain amount of dignity. The best candidates would be Sridevi, Madhuri, Karishma or Aish, although your producers would probably restrict you to a 40+ year old Harold Hill if you cast one of these ladies. Your next best options are probably, in no particular order: Kangna Ranaut, Sonakshi Sinha, Shruti Haasan, Trisha Krishnan, Tamannaah Bhatia, or Lisa Haydon (if you could come up with an explanation for the accent). Please note that Madhuri and Karishma are the only ones who'd probably think twice about appearing in your South Indian version. If you have a really good film editor and a really good choreographer, you could also maybe use Katrina or Deepika. Marian's mother: Kirron Kher, of course. Mayor Shinn: Gulshan Grover in Hindi, Prakash Raj in everything else. Mrs. Shinn: You need someone who's funny and kind of intimidating, with a steamroller personality and the ability to carry off flashy clothes for Mrs. Shinn. I'm leaning towards Dimple or Rekha for the character.
|
|
|
Post by dangermom on Apr 24, 2015 22:21:59 GMT
I read a book a while back that would make a fabulous Bollywood movie. It's "The Middle Window," by Elizabeth Goudge. It's set in Scotland, but you could move the whole thing to India and it would fit right in. The plot (lifted partly from GR): Judy Cameron is ever so bored with modern London and her glamorous, perfect life. Stifled, her imagination seizes on a picture she sees in a shop window, a picture of the Scottish wilds. It inspires her. Strong-willed, she prevails on her parents and fiance to change their summer plans and head for cold, damp Scotland--sure that there she will find the freedom she craves. She finds that she knows everything about the old house and glen - and about Ian MacDonald the Laird. She felt so unaccountably at home in her Scottish holiday surroundings. But why is she deathly afraid of the middle window in the parlour? Then in a dream/vision/time travel episode, Judy learns the story of an earlier Judith. She and Ian are the reincarnations of the lovers, parted by the doomed effort to put Bonnie Prince Charlie on the throne... Yeah, borrow the actors and scenery from Jodhaa Akbar for the historical flashback half of the movie, use modern India (someplace nice, with scenery) for the rest, and it would be great. Somebody already noticed that Goudge books work when transplanted to India--another book of hers was plagiarized in the 90s and made a big splash until it got figured out.
|
|
|
Post by emily on Apr 27, 2015 1:41:26 GMT
I came up with another one! Bollywood remake of Roman Holiday. RH is one of my favorite films of all time, so the Hindi version probably wouldn't hold a candle, but it would still be fun to see. I was thinking something like, instead of a princess, it's a leading Bollywood actress under the thumb of strict parents who decides to get out of the house and gets lost in some city besides Mumbai, like Delhi or Kolkata. I'd love for this to be in roughly the same time period as RH...the 1950s. She runs into a filmi journalist, who is coincidentally supposed to do an interview with her the next morning, and they go on city adventures together and fall in love.
For the guy I was thinking someone in mid-to-late 30s, and old-school charming with a soothing voice, like Gregory Peck, who just oozes charisma in the original role. Abhishek Bachchan, perhaps? I know he's been doing a lot of comedy roles lately, but there is a lot of comedy in the original RH role, plus some serious moments as well, and I think Abhi is brilliant serious. He's tall and dark and has that deep voice like Peck had.
Now, the girl is a little more difficult. Somebody elegant, able to pull off the old-school grace and poise of 1950s actress. Somebody that could embody a Nargis or Nutan, in her mid-20s, since Bollywood actresses tended to start young back in 50s. She'd have to have some good acting chops, and be able to pull off humor well. Parineeti comes the closest to mind, but even she falls short of my ideal Audrey Hepburn role in this remake.
For some male-jodi nostalgia, John Abraham could be Abhi's photographer friend. Haha.
Will ponder this further over time!
|
|
odadune
Star of the item number
not around much due to stuff in my personal life.
Posts: 1,494
Favorite actor: Currently a certain Kumar, but I like most of them
Favorite actress: whoever's in films I'm interested in this week
|
Post by odadune on Apr 27, 2015 2:32:11 GMT
Tamannaah Bhatia is my go-to Audrey Hepburn analogue, although it comes through more in her interviews and some of her South Indian roles than what I've seen of her in Hindi films; she had that sense of someone who is ethereal and birdlike but with a steel spine inside. You'd need a good stylist handling her though, because she hasn't been lucky in that department in the past.
Parineeti has the acting chops, but comes off as more earthy and girl-next-door to me.
Agreed on Abhishek (although he is technically forty). I'm having trouble thinking of too many people in the 34-39 age bracket who don't look a bit boyish for the part, although I think Shahid and Imran would probably play the character fairly well. Pity one of the Khans didn't latch onto this idea 7-10 years back, one of them plus Rani would have been cool.
|
|
|
Post by emily on Apr 27, 2015 3:08:59 GMT
Yeah, Tamanah would be good in the role.
Shahid was my second choice for the male lead! Think it's gotta be Abhi, though.
|
|
|
Post by dangermom on May 12, 2015 17:14:44 GMT
My daughter and I were driving and the Footloose song came on--she's never seen the movie, so we were talking about it. I said that SRK would probably roll his eyes at Teen Kevin Bacon's dancing (not that I have seen it in years, I wouldn't know) and we decided that a Bollywood version of Footloose would be the pinnacle of awesome. Though we can't figure out where to set it--are there any repressed, non-dancing villages in India? Doubtful. Maybe we could keep it in Alabama or wherever it was. It should probably star a young Saif, though really I'm not a huge Saif fan--I think he's got the right vibe though...thoughts?
|
|
|
Post by dancelover on May 12, 2015 19:53:23 GMT
What about "Indians come to an American town that thinks dancing is un-Christian." They would have to be Christian Indians for it to matter, of course. Malaika A. Khan could play the mother. Dancelover My daughter and I were driving and the Footloose song came on--she's never seen the movie, so we were talking about it. I said that SRK would probably roll his eyes at Teen Kevin Bacon's dancing (not that I have seen it in years, I wouldn't know) and we decided that a Bollywood version of Footloose would be the pinnacle of awesome. Though we can't figure out where to set it--are there any repressed, non-dancing villages in India? Doubtful. Maybe we could keep it in Alabama or wherever it was. It should probably star a young Saif, though really I'm not a huge Saif fan--I think he's got the right vibe though...thoughts?
|
|
|
Post by dangermom on May 13, 2015 0:05:09 GMT
What about "Indians come to an American town that thinks dancing is un-Christian." They would have to be Christian Indians for it to matter, of course. Malaika A. Khan could play the mother. Yeah, exactly! Indian family shows up and transforms the dour town into a colorful, musical land of happiness. Like...Pollyanna. With saris.
|
|
sady
Hit playback singer
Posts: 1,876
Favorite actor: SRK, Prabhas, Naga Chaitanya, Nivin Pauly
Favorite actress: Kajol, Sonam, A. Shetty, Tamannaah, Kangana
Upcoming release you're most excited about: Simran, Rani of Jhansi, Veere Di Wedding, Padman, Saaho
|
Post by sady on May 30, 2015 21:11:23 GMT
Sonam Kapoor would be great in the Hindi remake of My Best Friend's Wedding. She'd be good in any of Julia Robert's rom-com film for that matter (Pretty Woman, Notting Hill...).
The rom-coms in which starred Julia had mature women in it and were quite interesting IMO. Also, Sonam seems to have carved a niche for herself in the romantic comedy genre centered on the woman lead (Aisha, Khubsoorat, Dolly Ki Doli...).
Like Julia, Sonam has got a killer smile it might be one of the reasons for which I think she'd be appropriate in those roles.
I envision Shraddha Kapoor in Cameron Diaz's role and Imran Khan, Fawad Khan or Adithya Roy Kapoor in Dermot Mulroney's.
|
|
odadune
Star of the item number
not around much due to stuff in my personal life.
Posts: 1,494
Favorite actor: Currently a certain Kumar, but I like most of them
Favorite actress: whoever's in films I'm interested in this week
|
Post by odadune on Jun 4, 2015 2:25:25 GMT
I could definitely see Sonam and Shraddha in those roles; of the guys, Imran seems closer in personality to what I remember of Mulroney's character, but Fawad work better as the passive-male-object being pursued.
|
|
|
Post by emily on Jun 12, 2015 16:58:36 GMT
I've always thought a Hindi version of Gone With the Wind would be awesome, particularly as Bollywood does long-winded melodramas so well. Set during a time of conflict...Indian Rebellion in the mid-19th century would be good.
As far as actors go, my ideal Rhett and Scarlett would be Raj and Nargis but alas, they are both long gone. You'd need someone cerebral and witty for Rhett and someone with old-world grace yet very salty and cold for Scarlett. Clark Gable was 12 years older than Vivien Leigh so I imagine a similar gap would work well in a Hindi adaptation. Unfortunately I can't think of any leading ladies in this younger generation with the acting chops for Scarlett. Maybe Priyanka Chopra. Maybe. And for Rhett...maybe a Khan? SRK or Aamir? How about reanimating Raj and Nargis? Yes?
The Mammy character can be a mother-type rather than a slave. Kirron Kher, obvs. Actually, come to think of it, Anupam would be good as Scarlett's dad. Jimmy Shergill for Ashley Wilkes?
Ok, this is kind of hard to cast. Lol. But it would be fun to see it happen.
|
|
odadune
Star of the item number
not around much due to stuff in my personal life.
Posts: 1,494
Favorite actor: Currently a certain Kumar, but I like most of them
Favorite actress: whoever's in films I'm interested in this week
|
Post by odadune on Jun 13, 2015 3:57:35 GMT
It's been a long time since I read the book or saw the movie but I could see it as an Indian film. I tend to think of Ashley as being the cerebral, beta-male (but still dashing) type and Rhett as being macho and street-smart rather than intellectual. I don't know a lot about the 50s/60s stars, but I don't think you would be able to do better than Raj Kapoor as Rhett-aside from looking a bit like Gable, he seems to have been by far the "earthiest" in screen persona. What little I've seen of Madhubala reminds me of Vivien Leigh, so she would be another good candidate.
Roundabout 1973, you have your choice of Dharmendra or Amitabh to play Rhett, Hema Malini to play Scarlett, Rakhee to play Melanie (my favorite character), Shashi Kapoor to play Ashley.
2002, take the cast of the Devdas 2002 (Aish=Scarlett, SRK=Rhett, Madhuri=Melanie), add Saif as Ashley, boom, you're done.
Present day...eh. The guys under the age of forty are too mellow (Emraan), too boyish-looking(Abhay/Shahid/Varun/Sidharth/Tiger/Imran), too boyish acting (Ranbir/Ranveer/Aditya/Arjun Kapoor) or too obscure for the role of Rhett. Most of the guys over forty IMO either have trouble with the veneer of sophistication (Akshay, Salman), the charm (Ajay) or the physical intimidation factor (present day SRK and Aamir) or just plain physically look wrong (Hrithik, Arjun Rampal). If I were casting a present day desi GWTW, I think I'd go with Abhishek or Randeep Hooda as Rhett, Asin as Scarlett (Kareena or Rani would be better, but they don't act opposite Abhi anymore, and would probably consider Randeep beneath their notice), Imran as Ashley (iffy, but he's done intelligent, passive characters who are pretty clear-eyed about their situation) and Tamannaah as Melanie. She's not an Olivia De Havilland "type" but she has that sweetness and touch of surprise ruthlessness than Melanie ought to have.
There would probably be some plot tweaking, as the British tended to kill off or exile the ruling class who were involved in the rebellion of 1857, and I don't know if a Jatt or Maratha Scarlett would have been able to "industrialize" the way Scarlett does post-war, at least in the book.
|
|
|
Post by emily on Jun 13, 2015 4:18:52 GMT
I can always count on you to wrangle together an awesome fantasy cast! Edit: Dannng Shashi would have made a GREAT Ashley. Perfect.
|
|
|
Post by dancelover on Jun 15, 2015 19:03:40 GMT
If you are taking up-from-the-South women for Scarlett & Melanie, why not take Tamil-Telugu-Karnatica men to play Rhett & Ashley? GWTW is set in the American South, after all, so it is only logical to cast actors from the Indian South for the Indian version. You could even adapt the story to India that way, the fight for Telugu pride and Tamil independence. Dancelover If I were casting a present day desi GWTW, I think I'd go with Abhishek or Randeep Hooda as Rhett, Asin as Scarlett (Kareena or Rani would be better, but they don't act opposite Abhi anymore, and would probably consider Randeep beneath their notice), Imran as Ashley (iffy, but he's done intelligent, passive characters who are pretty clear-eyed about their situation) and Tamannaah as Melanie. She's not an Olivia De Havilland "type" but she has that sweetness and touch of surprise ruthlessness than Melanie ought to have.
|
|