The friends that I'm staying with in Bangkok (not Indians) have been taken away on a storm of a Bollywood, and since arriving in their house I've been swept me along with them. I've been here a handful of nights and I've already seen 4 Bollywood films - quite an achievement as each film is roughly 3 hours long.
Aaye Din Bahar Ke (1966)Probably my favourite film so far. Set in the beautiful hills of Darjeeling, tells the story of two couples from two generations, dealing with the issue of relationships crossing social classes. Powerful story with great music and dancing!
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)A particularly high grossing film in India featuring the (apparently) famous Shahrukh Khan. This film deals with the issue of love versus arranged marriages in India. Nice European scenery and again, powerful story. I think Shahrukh Khan plays a right twit, but overall quite pleased with the ending. Good soundtrack too!
Kismat Konnection (2008)This modern film was much weaker than the older films above. Set in Toronto Canada, I wasn't aware that most people in Canada speak Hindi. This film doesn't explore any real social issues - and the plot resolves itself a little too easily. Some amiable characters, but content is just a hollow shell of eye candy. Not bad songs.
Golmaal Returns (2008)I just came from a special screening of this Bollywood film in a cinema packed with Indians - myself and my friends were the only non-Indians. Quite simply this movie was dreadful. It was pure slapstick, silly sound effects, and no substance. After the above I've come to expect high standards from Bollywood and this let me down. The two songs in it were catchy, but not relevant to the plot and there were only two of them! Hope to find better than this.
Summary
Bollywood is great. From these few films that I've seen, the plot is pretty much always about an annoying guy meeting a girl on very bad terms and they end up marrying each other at the end. On the way from the predictable beginning to the predictable ending, these films have the potential to touch on some very key social issues in India, and I'm all for that. Have enjoyed what I've seen and am looking forward to more!
1 comments:
Just passing through, but wanted to give you a few recommendations as to Bollywood movies.
Umrao Jaan (1981, 2006) - I personally like the 1981 version better.
Bunty Aur Babli (2005)
Saathiya (2002)
Lagaan (2001)
In recent years, a few movies have come out that have departed from the tried-and-true formulaic storyline of boy and girl. A few of the successes were:
Taare Zameen Par (2007)
Rang De Basanti (2006)
Chak De India (2007)
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