RIP Nirbhaya.

This weekend I had good intentions of writing about my favorite 2012 Bollywood movies, my favorite actors, actresses but in the moment I sat down to write, everything felt trivial in the face of the tragic news of Nirbhaya’s passing. I share my grief with all of India today.

Rest in Peace, Nirbhaya.

 

Sexy Akshay, sexy songs

Bollywood a la Gangnam

If you think Gangnam is so darn original, think twice. Bollywood has been entertaining us for eons in Gangnam style.  And they have not run hush hush to obtain a patent …

I don’t know how long we will talk about Gangnam but one thing is sure, Bollywood will endure the test of time.

AR Murugadoss’s Ramana Hindi remake with Akshay Kumar

AR Murugadoss’s Ramana Hindi remake with Akshay Kumar.

 

We shall see, according to what I read they are supposed to start filming soon.. Katrina Kaif as female lead was talked about, and I hope this project will come through. I always loved the pairing of Katrina and Akshay. They look fab  together. just works.

I can’t get enough of Akki. He’s a breath of fresh air. He made a couple of silly movies. The fact that they became blockbusters is his merit. It can’t be denied. He still has the pull. He’s got game.

King Akki

 

 

How do you like your male BW stars, wrinkles or wrinkle-free?

Am I paranoid or do all the stars who gradually bend towards the half-century mark look stretched and unnatural? is that due to make-up, special effects, surgery, botox? all these nasty little cosmetic enhancement techniques circulating in Hollywood have crept into the lives of our male Bollywood stars. Used to be just steroids pumping up their muscles. and please I don’t want to know what side effects those have…but now all the plumping has invaded facial features, which equates with acting’s kiss of death. As you can’t properly use your muscles anymore, you fail inevitably to convey FEELINGS, likes, dislikes, joy sorrow anger… Faces have turned statuesque. You may think oh this person still looks GOOD for their age, but what happened to the ACTOR?

Salman Khan wrinkles only below his chin, Shahrukh’s face is so stretched that he starts resembling that weird Egyptian pharaoh..what’s his name, Akhenaten.

 

Salman can jump and fight and dance and love and hate in Dabangg2, never moving one facial muscle.

Aamir, in Talaash, looks like his face was freshly ironed before every shoot. Oh how I wish we could go back to good old times when aging actors developed character and became more interesting in time BECAUSE their faces had trenches, lives fully lived. Their faces had stories to tell. It seemed they grew more complex.

Now everybody’s main focus is erasing time from their features. Sad and silly. I can understand fixing the hairline esthetically and watching out for the weight so you don’t walk around screen all flabby. But godforbid, leave the face alone!!! march into your middle age with your head held high.  Dignified. Not plastified.

There should be a law that prohibits actors to get surgically enhanced or photo-shopped.

For heaven’s sake be who you are, like a good old wine aged to perfection in old and smoky barrels of oak. Why to run from time as if it were our enemy? why not embrace every line in our face, testimony of sorrows and joys.

To all the survivors of the Mayan Prophecy

Congratulations!   You’ve made it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So when is the next Apocalypse scheduled for?

Anurag Kashyap part of Sundance jury

This is fantastic news indeed.   Finally somebody here in the US paid attention.  Showing   Gangs of Wasseypur in Cannes earlier this year and then in Toronto opened new doors. To have him part of the jury will make me follow the festival with even greater interest.  Kashy could be very instrumental in regard to exporting Indian film to the US..  I hope he makes great connections at Sundance because there is a lot to be said about the under-representation of Indian film here, starting with distribution, advertisement…

it always aggravates me that Indian films are ignored on a lot of sites and even listed in the category of Foreign Film. eg Netflix, moviefone IMDb upcoming releases. Nada. Zilch.. Poorly reviewed and misunderstood.  People wrongly associate Indian film with just romance and song and dance. Yes, music might be an integral part, but young filmmakers have found innovative ways using music as part of the narrative, something the West can actually learn from.

But that’s besides the point. India has a large pool of creative young talent just waiting to rise and get some recognition abroad. The time has come.  Proud of Kashyap, his work, his intellect and happy to see him being recognized as the innovative filmmaker he is and trailblazer in this native country.

Here is the article I found on ndtv.

Anurag Kashyap part of Sundance film festival jury

Press Trust of India | Thursday, December 20, 2012 (Mumbai)

He is currently working on his next venture titled Ugly.

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap is part of the prestigious jury for the 2013 edition of Sundance film festival.

The director’s epic crime saga Gangs of Wasseypur is also screening at the festival in the Spotlight section of the festival.

Anurag Kashyap is part of the 19 members of five juries awarding prizes at the festival, which runs from January 17-27 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

Anurag Kashyap, who has directed films like Black Friday, Dev D, Gulaal and Gangs of Wasseypur I&II, will take part in the festival as the jury member for the World Cinema Dramatic section alongside director Nadine Labaki and producer Joana Vincent.

It has been a good year for the director with Wasseypur doing well at the home box office besides travelling to festivals like Cannes and Toronto. Set in Bihar’s Dhanbad district, it was also honoured at Asia-Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Brisbane and Asia-Pacific Film Festival (APFF) in Macau, held recently.

“It is a truly special film for me and I’m overwhelmed with the audience reception and happy to know that the team’s efforts have been honoured at such large platforms,” Anurag Kashyap said in a statement.

Dabangg 2, coming with a big bang or leaving through the wormhole?

As a general rule, I don’t like sequels. I just don’t. With the exception of James Bond maybe. On the other hand it always makes me happy when somebody scores a blockbuster in Bollyland and ultimately that’s more important than if I like or don’t like a movie. It feeds a lot of people, creates excitement in the industry and the cash flowing.  I was happy when Salman had a big bang comeback with Wanted. Because I WANTED him to succeed. ( btw,  I enjoyed Wanted more than Dabangg but all the  talking about a #3 when the verdict on #2 isn’t even out yet, for some reason makes me weary).

Trailer of the first one rocked:

So I checked out the soundtrack to see if it gives any indication of what’s to come and neither trailer nor soundtrack left me tingling with anticipation. All very deja-vu. Perhaps I should get hypnotized before the movie to erase all recollection of former Salman heroes and kahanis to sit through it open-minded.

Well, Dagabaaz is a pretty song and Sonakshi is such eye-candy. Hard to resist her.

Sorry, but sequels are for the lazies. Unless there is a progression of a character or something terribly interesting you were waiting for at the end of number 1, then just progress to greener pastures.  As always though,  I hope I will be positively surprised, the miracle of a fabulous sequel which leaves me yearning for more.

Thankfully for the film industry I am not indicative. Just look at the success of the Twilight series (which I ditched after #2), or the Pirates of the Caribbean, (which I also ditched after #2), but if the Godfather can’t pull it off then I doubt anybody can. I am just tired of being sent to watch rehashes. but maybe I am just tired because it’s 2 am. Tomorrow I will have to rewrite the whole blog. With a more positive spin.

Let’s see what the reviews will be like and the audiences’ reaction and see the glass half full instead of 2 am empty.

 

Okay, now that I am awake, just to clarify, I don’t want to diss Salman bhai’s movie beforehand, because the guy is larger than life and I love his little chutzpah smile. What would Bollywood be without him! Unthinkable! So my sequel phobia won’t overrule my love for Salman Khan. If he wants to hit us with one, two or three banggs won’t matter all that much. He is Bollywood’s heartbeat and should keep on ticking.

 

 

Vijay Mallya’s golden heart

I know I should stick to movies, but I couldn’t help myself but laugh when I read about troubled  tycoon Vijay Mallya donating 3 kg gold at the Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh in honor of his 57th birthday. How much is that in rupees?  And please keep in mind,  this is temple donation Number 3.  Beginning of the year he made apparently already a temple donation, then in August he donated to a temple in Karnataka… Wouldn’t it be wiser and kinder to pay salaries of his poor Kingfisher Airlines employees who he probably owes in back-payments?  A) he would make a lot of new friends and B) amass  a hellofa lot good heavenly karma. Who cares if the temples get golden doors, when this money can put FOOD on the tables of loyal employees. You don’t appease the gods by bribing them. You appease the gods showing your humanity, open your heart. Temple donations make people happy who run the temples, not the gods. If your karma turned on you, from fortune to misfortune, look inside. Brahma doesn’t accept bribes. Government employees might, business men might but God? He would probably say: you lived life large. Now make sure that people who depend on you are taken care of. Not shareholders. Not temples. Your employees. You want to do good on your birthday, spend the gold on THEM! The temple is already rich, your employees aren’t.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Mallya.

 

 

R.I.P Ravi Shankar

RIP Ravi Shankar

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The Greatest. He will live on forever on the wings of his music.

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Ravi Shankar dies at 92.