BOLLYWOOD FOR BEGINNERS POST #21

For previous installments in the series, please visit the index.

Now that you’ve met The Three Khans, let me introduce you to some of the other important Heroes in town these days. These guys are still A-list and can set the box offices blazing but they aren’t The Three Khans popular. Some of these guys are scrappers who have been racking up moderate hit after moderate hit for years and some of these guys are huge stars on a gentle downward slope. Either way, you will want to know who they are!

KNOW YOUR HEROES: AJAY DEVGN

Thursday Gossip!

Good morning, dear readers!

ETA: Apparently Karan Johar just confirmed that the news of his upcoming marriage is NOT TRUE.

Of course. Now, can we find out where Masala got their information?

BOLLYWOOD FOR BEGINNERS POST #20

For previous installments in the series, please visit the index.

Now that you’ve met The Three Khans, let me introduce you to some of the other important Heroes in town these days. These guys are still A-list and can set the box offices blazing but they aren’t The Three Khans popular. Some of these guys are scrappers who have been racking up moderate hit after moderate hit for years and some of these guys are huge stars on a gentle downward slope. Either way, you will want to know who they are!

(I’m going to try and be unbiased here but I should state flat out that Akshay Kumar is my favorite Hero in Bollywood, so feel free to take the most extreme praise with a grain of salt. Not everybody likes him as much as I do.)

KNOW YOUR HEROES: AKSHAY KUMAR

Wednesday Gossip!

Greetings dear readers!

Sorry for missing my gossip post yesterday - somebody (i.e. me) was feeling a bit under the weather.

Don't feel too bad because I didn't miss the big story which began brewing yesterday... are you ready?

Why not try Blogue?

We all know and love Polish blogger Louella but did you know she has started a wonderful magazine devoted to the Indian film blogging community?

This latest issue features myself Dunkdaft on a special double cover!

If you want to read the exclusive Q&A, just click here to head on over to her blog and follow the instructions.

BOLLYWOOD FOR BEGINNERS POST #19

For previous installments in the series, please visit the index.

Now that you’ve met The Three Khans, let me introduce you to some of the other important Heroes in town these days. These guys are still A-list and can set the box offices blazing but they aren’t The Three Khans popular. Some of these guys are scrappers who have been racking up moderate hit after moderate hit for years and some of these guys are huge stars on a gentle downward slope. Either way, you will want to know who they are!

KNOW YOUR HEROES: ANIL KAPOOR

Monday Gossip!

How is it Monday already? At least there is no snow... like yesterday.

Ekta Kapoor is taking advantage of the film drought by releasing posters for Ragini MMS.

Now, gossip time!

Hollywood Interlude: SUCKER PUNCH

My sister and I went to see Sucker Punch last night. I enjoyed it thoroughly but expecting a repeat of our Jennifer’s Body viewing experience, as we were walking out of the theater, I tentatively asked her, “How much did you hate it?”

“You hated it?” she asked me back, sounding disappointed.

“No, I liked it but I was afraid you wouldn’t,” I said, relieved. We had spent the extra money to see the IMAX version and I would have felt guilty if she hated it.

“This may sound stupid,” she replied, “but I liked that it was girls doing all the fighting.” She pauses. “It wouldn’t have killed them to put in more quipping, though…”

Sunday Gossip!

I woke up to a winter wonderland this morning. The cherry blossom trees are covered in a thin layer of snow... March is an odd month. Yesterday I was wandering around town without a coat on and today I'll have to dig out my boots if I want to go anywhere.

It's a good thing I have so much reading to do at home!

Two recommendations for you, if you are going to be spending time at home reading, too:

Ness's write-ups for Deol Dhamka month are simply fantastic. She has gone out of her way to dig out and view films from Dharmendra, Sunny, Bobby, and Esha. I highly recommend going and check them out.

Saturday Gossip!

So, I finally saw Inception last night. In an odd bit of synchronicity, my sister received it from Netflix as I was putting it on my Netflix queue. (You would think we lived together or something... because we do.) I liked it well enough but it suffered from the problems that Chris Nolan films always suffer from: poor narrative construction; wafer thin characters (to the point that I couldn't remember anybody's names AND kept getting all the white guys mixed up); and a lack of women. His plotting and scene construction was - as always - excellent. Plus, how about that Tom Hardy, huh? Ammirite ladies?

Friday Gossip!

Okay, I'll put the big gun up front:



Ra.1 30 second promo... and I'm just not feeling it. It just seems kind of shiny and joyless, like a big budget Hollywood film.

Thursday Gossip!

A dark and dreary morning today... still, there is always a chance it will brighten up later!

Now! There is nothing as exciting as the Ra.1 first look teaser today but let's see what else is in the good old gossip columns.



Check out the Teen Maar trailer!!! Power Star Pawan and Trish in - correct me if I'm wrong - the Telugu Love Aaj Kal remake. This looks much more my speed than the original...

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam: An In-Depth Look Part 2

I left off in my Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam write-up right before “Nimbooda." And warning, in this post be spoilers for the whole film.



Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) and Sameer (Salman Khan) have just had a spat – he refuses to come and watch her performance at her cousin’s wedding and she tries to goad him into it by saying that maybe she’ll meet someone there…

Wednesday Gossip

My apologies for missing your gossip post yesterday. I blame Blogger, which ate my entire post just as I was about to post it!!! I'll try to include those stories in here today so if there are some duplicates, don't mind them.

Now! The big news today... the 10 second Ra.1 teaser!



It looks... slick. That's really the only impression I get. We'll have to wait and see what the full teaser brings.

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam: An In-Depth Look Part I

This is an old post but I wanted to give you something today because Blogger ate my gossip post this morning. I'll post the second part tomorrow!

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is an epic film – a continent-spanning coming-of-age story set to a luscious soundtrack by Ismail Darbar.



(Aishwarya Rai looking surprisingly like Rekha with that over the shoulder Exorcist pose!)

Monday Gossip!

Happy Monday!

Well, Happy Mondays?



Hee hee!

I hope everybody is doing well this fine day.

COMPETITION ALERT: Zee Communications is releasing F.A.L.T.U. on the Internet simultaneously with the film in India. AND if you watch online, you can enter to win a THREE DAY TRIP to India!!! Exciting, isn't it?!

Update on DISCO DANCER

Remember when I spoke with Anuvab Pal about that book he was writing on Disco Dancer?



(Photo from IBN)

Well, the book is now out!

It is shipping internationally from here.

And those in India can pick it up in their local book stores or order from here.

What are you waiting for?!

A: Film by Upendra

Please be warned that it’s necessary to include some small spoilers in the discussion of this film but I will not give away most of the plot. Part of the fun of A is watching events unfold and I wouldn’t ruin that for anybody.

Also, please be warned that A is NOT appropriate for all ages and has some extreme examples of violence against women. If that bothers you, I would advise against watching the film – although you might want to read my piece first and then decide because the violence is not gratuitious – but if you are a sensitive soul who dislikes even artistic violence, then this is not the film for you.

Sunday Gossip!

We may not have cricket but DC does have a soccer (football) team DC UNITED - even if last season saw them fail pretty spectacularly. Our coach was fired midway through 2010 for being so terrible and assistant coach (and former player Ben Olsen) was bumped up into the job.

So now we've got a new coach and a mostly all-new team... and at the opening match last night, we whupped the Columbus Crew 3-1!





My sister and I are most definitely Team Ben Olsen!

Saturday Gossip!

Good morning, everybody!

I got a good 12 hours of sleep last night... *yawn* I must have really been tired.

Now, in recent days I've gotten an e-mail expressing some concern that I post gossip from places like the Mumbai Mirror, that may not be completely accurate. In my defense, I'm not saying that this stuff is necessarily true - just that it's what is being said.

(And I've been doing this long enough to know to ignore any reports of link-ups, couples fighting, or hissy fits thrown... or anything that looks like it was planted by an actor or actress's secretary.)

So, guys and gals, I trust that you are intelligent enough to know the difference between fact and fiction but do you think I should put up a disclaimer before my gossips?

Happy Friday!

Good morning, everyone! Thanks for all the great comments I've been getting on my KNOW YOUR HEROES pieces! I always knew that these would be contentious - especially Shahrukh Khan - but it's been fun reading all the discussion and I hope we all know it's just in good fun.

Now!

Let's see what is going on in the news today:

Thursday Gossip: HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

One of our unusual American holidays is St. Patrick's Day - a celebration of all things Irish! Mostly, we just use it as an excuse to go have a lot of beer and some Irish car bombs but it's still a good time!

So, go celebrate!



Rani Mukerjee on the cover of People wants you to!

Wednesday Gossip!

GOOD MORNING!!!!

Do you even know how much I hate daylight savings time? I should still be asleep right now but... moving on...

I am working up a new run of Bollywood for Beginners posts for you! And hold onto your hats because you are going to LOVE these... even if you aren't really a beginner.

Also, I should have a new bunch of reviews from the package of Sandalwood films I got - beginning with A. And, yes, I feel for the fake-out beginning. I AM GOD; GOD IS GREAT! Consider my mind blown.

Okay! Today's gossip!

Tuesday Gossip: Welcome home!

HELLO BLOG FRIENDS! I am so happy to be home! My trip was mostly fun but you know how it is when a group of girls travels together... anyways, I'm very happy to be home and writing to you again!

Now, I seem to have missed some fun stuff while I was boogie-woogieing in the home of Country Music, USA so let's get to it!



"Razia" song promo from Thank You, which is going to be so unpolitically correct but I know I'm going to love it despite myself.

Mini-Hiatus Review #2: Immaan Dharam

This is a review I wrote ages ago - I'm mainly reposting for the screencaps. I didn't want to leave you completely on your own, even if I can't really post anything new for a couple days.

Just a warning - there are a couple plot spoilers but nothing more than what you would read in a (good) newspaper review.

Enjoy!

Game: Promo Pictures!

Looking at these, I'm actually beginning to look forward to Excel Movies' Game... despite the presence of my least favorite of Abhishek Bachchan's personas. Even if this ends up being Bluffmaster Does Gumnaam or something, I still think I'll have a good time watching it.

Mini Hiatus Review #1: Raja Hindustani

This is a review I wrote ages ago - I'm mainly reposting for the screencaps. I didn't want to leave you completely on your own, even if I can't really post anything new for a couple days.

Just a warning - there are a couple plot spoilers but nothing more than what you would read in a (good) newspaper review.

Enjoy!

Nashville Bound!

Yes, I'm heading to the city of country music! I expect it will be a lot like this:



Or maybe not...

Wednesday Gossip!

I almost typed "Wednesday Coffee" - which is what I'm drinking. Mmmm...

Now, let us see what the gossip columns have dredged up for us today!

Mussanje Maathu: Calling DJ Pradeep!

I would like to note that the only DVD with subtitles I could find of this film was in PAL format, which means my usual screencapping software hated it and refused to take pictures AND I couldn't find any really good publicity stills. So, sorry about the lack of images. Really, the film has some nice cinematography - DJ Pradeep's little DJ booth is amazing, all glass with this panoramic view of the city.

Tuesday Newsday!

Top story today:



Hard Kaur at the Indian Princess finale! Isn't she just the cutest?

Tweeple Film Awards 2011

The Tweeple Film Award nominations have been announced and I have to say that I am among those who are disappointed at the results. I had assumed that the whole idea of these awards was to highlight performances and films that had been overlooked by other awards shows. In reality, what ended up happening was the same films and actors who were nominated for other awards were nominated here, as well.

To understand the nominating process is to understand why - namely, that the selection was done by big name film critics and by popularly nominated “tweeple” (i.e. twitter folk like me). Here is the Catch-22, the film critics are the same ones who generated the consensus opinions on the films that won awards in other awards shows. We don’t know how the breakdown in tweeple voting went just yet but it’s pretty clear that they went with the same consensus choices, too.

Monday Gossip!

The wind has blown away all the clouds leaving us a clear - but cold - March morning. *yawns and stretches* Is it really Monday already?

Just a note - I'm going to Nashville for a long weekend, starting Thursday, so I will not be updating from then until Monday. I'll remind you again when the time comes.

Hopefully I will not have this song stuck in my head the entire time.

Now!

Gossip time!

Aishwarya Rai - Fun, Fearless Female!

I was so happy to hear that Aishwarya Rai was chosen as the Fun, Fearless Female of the year.

Aishwarya really came into her own as an actress and as a heroine this past year. She held her own against SUPERSTAR Rajinikanth in Endhiran and Chiyaan Vikram in Raavanan. She lit up Action Replayy with a goonda attitude and some deliciously tight trousers. And then there was her quiet, simmering performance in Guzaarish. She stole the show from right under Hrithik Roshan - a difficult task for any actress.

Sunday Gossip!

Hello, hello! I saw a great concert from Kailash Kher last night - I'll have a post up on it soon.

Now, let's hit the gossip!

Saturday Gossip!

Good mornings!

* I really hate hand-wringing articles like this one from that great source of handwringing Globalpost. The premise of the piece - from one Hanna Ingber Win, your typical white lady "international" journo - is that a giant new studio built in Mumbai is somehow going to ruin "authentic" Indian cinema.

Seriously! This is the tag: A new film studio in Mumbai may attract Hollywood stars, but will it be the end of Bollywood?

Kambakkht Ishq: Once upon a time in La-La Land!

Friday Gossip!

IT'S FRIDAY! Hello, I've missed you since last week!

There is nothing new at my local theater - I may be forced to go see some English movies instead this weekend. *Nahiiiiin* Or I'll just continue feeding my new cricket obsession with World Cup matches. (And WHY cannot I be in Vizag for the celebrity cricket cup game?! )

Now! Gossip!

Thursday Gossip!

Good morning, all!

I hope you are doing well.

Shall we see what the gossip columns have dredged up?

What's up, March 2011?

Here how my Twitter feed has looked the last week or so: #CRICKET #CRICKET #CRICKET #CRICKET

And do you know what? I'm totally getting into it. It turns out that cricket is actually a lot of fun to follow! I've been reading Andy Zaltzman's hilarious and informative blogs to keep up with the action. I'm not sure who I'm going to end up rooting for - right now I'm just enjoying the matches.

Now, if cricket isn't your thing, you can check out what's happening with the Celebration of all things Deol that's going on all month in some corners of the Bolly-blogosphere. I might try to dig out something or other to join in. I have a backlog of old blog entries that might fit right in.

That just leaves the cinema hall - what do we have to look forward to in this cricket filled month?

Let me tell you!

Wednesday Gossip!

Good morning, all! It's time for your Bollywood gossip!

The trailer for F.A.L.T.U. is out!



I'm actually looking forward to Jakky Bhagnani's relaunch!

Tuesday Gossip!

I almost wrote "Monday" but I caught myself... yes, it's Tuesday! And it's March! When I was a kid, I always thought grown-ups were exaggerating when they were talking about how fast time goes. When you are young, it seems an eternity from one week to the next. Now, I'm wondering where January and February went... off in a pile of movie reviews and diatribes, I suppose.

Let's say a fond farewell to the magnificent Jane Russell, who passed away yesterday. I'll always remember her fondly in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. What a lady!