Movie time

Got to watch "yeh jawani hai diwani". Reminded me of 'bachna e haseeno' nothing new, have to leave your brains aside and just focus on relaxing and gear for the weekdays ahead kinda movie. Of course appreciate the good looks and bodies these 20 somethings have and then some good moves and music. Entertainment package I guess for the weekend.

I have no idea why to some - the moment you leave India and go outside the country for your career or a change in lifestyle, you are automatically a selfish person who cannot maintain any familial relationships.BS!. Just as many people stay close to family physically and yet absolutely do not maintain relations so also people who are physically away can as well maintain much better relations. This is just a movie and that's how you have to see it I guess but cant help but wonder at times. But hey I am hindi movie buff, this movie is worth a watch and is good for some banter ;) I guess....

Shammi Kapoor

I grew up watching and listening to Shammi Kapoor movies/songs (Thanks to my Dad). I have a lot of fond memories of watching his movies, very energetic and exuberant actor. I know some people thought he 'overacted' and could not appreciate his acting/dancing as much, but everyone's tastes differ. I loved it. His 'joie de vivre' roles were pleasing to watch and contagious that I enjoyed watching. I have easily watched and enjoyed over a dozen movies or so of his as I dont think has done as many movies as some other actors and he mostlyhad hits in the 60's. One of my favorite songs of his is 'Ehsaan tera hoga mujh par.." and 'Chand sa Roshan Chehra.." in the fast paced action songs of his.

..bla bla...

Is it just me? - I find Katrina Kaif so boring and expression-less. First time I watched Race I didnt even notice her, second time realized she was lousy. I mean there are bad actresses but she is not an actress at all. She should stick to the ramp.

As the count down begins... I have been watching movies, same movies over and over again. I watched Tashan and Salam-e-Ishq and Race second time, I am hopeless :)

....now you know why some of these movies run... ;)

Awards etc

Couple of days back I finally saw Filmfare awards. I was told Saif and Shah Rukh Khan were funny and I couldnt miss it. And that they were, some of the things they said were hilarious. Person who still left me wondering is Amir Khan! He is an Indian, lives in India, makes movies for the Indian audience, the respect, image etc he has is due to the Indian audience . Yet he does not recognize Indian awards? I mean, I understand that perhaps he thinks the system is not effecient or whatever it is. I dont know his reasons. Had a quick look at that blog in his name and didnt really find anything related to this. But there should atleast be one of the awards he must consider isnt it? Makes me wonder that should Filmfare and other sponsors or whoever it is (the jury?) even consider his movies when rating the best film/actor etc? Why consider someone's work when he doesnt recognize you or your system? Doesent bother to attend those presentations, but instead aims only for Oscars?

And then we saw Tashan last night at a friends place. No comments. Saw U, Me or Hum. As expected Kajol and Ajay Devgan acted well, but definitely something was lacking....

Vinod Khanna

Me being home alone this week I have been watching movies non-stop. Watched two of Vinod Khanna's movies Chandni and Qurbani and in both the movies he ends up sacrificing his love! sigh!

He is one good-looking actor!

Om Shanti Om - a suprise!

I finally went to see Om Shanti Om /OSO yesterday. I went obviously expecting the worst - Shah Rukh totally overacting and monotony yet again with a bunch of actors (as is common in most hindi movies these days) in that Diwangee song. Obviously the lesser the expectations you have, the lesser disappointed you are. I wouldn't say it was a great movie, but it was above average and a total entertainer.

Shah Rukh didn't seem monotonous to me, didn't show off his six-pack as much as I thought he would, I actually thought he looked good. Deepika Padukone was ok - did her job I guess. Arjun Ramphal looked great in the first half of the movie. I really liked the ending though when all the crew members appeared. And Gauri Khan looked very nice. Very surprised to see Amitabh Bachchan even though it was for a few seconds.

Absolutely stress free movie and didn't have to concentrate nor get all that bored (or maybe the second half was a bit of a drag, but well!)

All in all OSO surprised me. Yet to see Saawariya.

Dr. Shilpa Shetty?

The other day I finally watched the videos available of Shilpa Shetty vs Jade in Big Brother. I know I am way behind, but well its never too late, is it? Below are the two main videos:






Though I do find her a bit fake in this series, Jade definitely over-reacted to the whole thing. I don't think I should waste my time more than this, on this topic. What's interesting is that how her fame has finally led to the newly acquired title - Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK has granted her the doctorate for her contribution to cultural diversity. I need to know how she has contributed?. Apparently Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Yash Chopra are the stars who have already acquired the same from this University. I guess the term 'racist' still makes the Brits uncomfortable eh?.

Rozana..

I finally got over my cribby mood last evening with a garam cup of chai. I made some dondakayi curry with papu-chaaru which turned out so yum, husband and I enjoyed for dinner. And we watched this Hindi movie 'Life in a Metro', it was a pretty different movie, and as usual Konkana Sen's acting was very good. I thought Shilpa Shetty looked a bit old (watched her after a long time - but her body was great as usual), And I quite liked the song Alvida. I was yearning for a new Hindi movie for a while and I was glad when I was able to watch this last night. Somehow the way I enjoy Hindi movies I cannot enjoy others except very few Telugu movies. Even though a few friends of mine try to convince me that Telugu comedy is much better, its just something I cannot appreciate as much. I am not sure what it is; but after a long time if I get to watch proper Hindi movies I feel good to simply hear the language.

That makes me wonder the influence of Hindi movies on my life. My parents have been into movies since they were young. So when I grew up the Bollywood movies influence was immense. I used to listen to all the Kishore Kumar and Mohd. Rafi songs - and watch movies with actors ranging from Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, (upto here by dad was mainly in charge) Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh (70's my mom was in charge). With Doordarshan the only channel listening to all those songs on the tape was very common on weekends. And of course the radio would also be playing various songs. I have also watched most of the movies myself. So the trend to watch Hindi movies continued when I grew up. When I was really young Hero and Betaab were my favorite. My mom reminds me how I would listen to those songs continuously. I am sure most of you guys my age group would agree too. I still love those songs!

Then I lost touch briefly with Hindi movies (I don't think I missed anything other than a few Mithun movies). The kids I used to hang out with were evenly spread Telugu and Hindi speaking. So my Telugu phase began and lasted for a short period. I watched few of Balakrishna movies don't ask me why but he was my favorite (Duh! not now when I was I was a kid). Manga amma gari manvadu was my favorite movie and then this other movie Maapela Gopaludu I have absolutely no clue if I even understood the movie ;). Once Tezaab and Ram-Lakhan released I bounced back to Hindi movies and have stuck to it ever since until Ninne-Peladtha, Santhosham, Manmadhudu happened. Actually I think I did watch a bit of Rajendra Prasad also in between.

Hollywood movies of course were watched side by side. My dad was a big fan of Gregory Peck, Christopher Plummer, Marlon Brando, Kirk Douglas and a few others so most of the popular movies I would watch thanks to Dad. Once cable TV hit homes then it was easy to keep in touch with the latest movies of course.

I seriously cannot imagine life without Hindi movies, songs, dancing and the drama and of course the gossip!