Thursday Post: Let's hear it for Women!

Sonu Niigaam's mother has passed away. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

Wednesday Post: Enjoy your bath!

Salman Khan on the Internet: "It's actually very tiresome."

His take on social networking is worth reading, as always.

“Yes, I tweet in Hindi cum English, it doesn’t bother me. I don’t tweet ‘gyaan’ (knowledge) stuff. Nor things like I’m going to the bathroom, I am driving, etc.”

(And completely unrelated - Being Human to launch a women's line! Now if only they did online sales.)

Tuesday Post: Shouldn't you be a spacenaut?

Ranbir Kapoor got asked about The Oscars at a recent press conference for Blackberry.

"If I talk about Barfi! if it didn’t make it to the Oscars doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good film. There are films from all over the world but only five are taken. Maybe this time we were not good enough, we will keep trying. I’m sure one day all five foreign films nominated in the Oscars will be from our film industry.”

Ah~ no comment. But I have to admit that my first thought about hearing that Life of Pi had won the Oscar for Ang Lee was, "Oh, great. Irrfan Khan, actor in two Oscar winning films, is going to be twice as pompous as Irrfan Khan, actor in one Oscar winning film."

"I am just trying to find entertainment, which is not regular definition of entertainment. It has to keep evolving and it should also reflect the society that we live in. I am constantly challenging the definition of entertainment."

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Thank God it's... MONDAY! (Post)

So, Oscars-Schmoscars. Apparently Anupam Kher turned up for Silver Linings Playbook but I can find photographic evidence. It's too bad Tabu didn't get to show those Hollywood twigs who's boss in a fabulous frock of some sort but we can't have it all. I do hope that Kai Po Che gets to go next year - imagine those three studs in formal wear on the red carpet!

Actually, no, I bet the voters wouldn't understand Kai Po Che. Too bad. Maybe I'll get my triple formalwear image at the Filmfares or IIFA instead. Speaking of... there hasn't been an announcement yet, has there? (Come on, Vegas!)

Kai Po Che: Game to on hai boss!

Part of our emergency is that it’s so tempting to do this sort of thing now, to retreat to narrow arrogance, pre-formed positions, rigid filters, the ‘moral clarity’ of the immature. The alternative is dealing with massive, high-entropy amounts of info and ambiguity and conflict and flux; it’s continually discovering new areas of personal ignorance and delusion. In sum, to really try to be informed and literate today is to feel stupid nearly all the time and to need help.

- David Foster Wallace, Introduction to Best American Essays 2007

(This is less a review than a freeform blog post of my thoughts. Just a warning.)

Friday Post: All we are saying....

My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Hyderabad. The bombings yesterday were a horrific event. It's easy for us with comfortable lives to forget that others have to be aware of the threat of violence at any time. Not just in India but there is a lot of violence even in America, too.

I hope someday we will see peace.

My silly news seems even more silly now but…

Thursday Gossip: Young, enterprising and beautiful edition!

I just got an incredible desire to stay home and watch Rangeela instead of going to work. #BollywoodFanProblems

Heh.

Unfortunately, I'm having car troubles at the moment so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get out to the cinema this weekend! (!) I KNOW, RIGHT?!

We're getting Zila Ghaziabad, Kai Po Che, and a Tamil film called Aadhibhagavan. I want to see ALL THREE!

If anybody in the DC area wants to give me a ride… hit me up!

Wednesday Post: ABCD... sae yo!

A very special, very gay flashmob in Mumbai! ♥

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That's about it today unless you, like me, are going to be following Handsome Kannada actor Diganth's Bollywood debut in 1920.

Or Cherry signing a second Bollywood film.

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Actually, no, I lied. The real story today is KOREAN REMAKE OF ABCD STARRING PSY.

Tuesday Gossip: The 1000 Crore Club edition!

Hey, everybody!! Back in action after a lazy weekend in Northampton, Mass visiting my sister. It's a super-cute town with a lot of delicious food. I think I ate my way down both sides of the main street and then stopped for dessert at one of Northampton's many candy stores.

Actually, it reminded me of Stars Hollow from the Gilmore Girls, if you follow my dated reference point.

Anyways, let's see what we missed!

Friday Gossip! Somebody call the Wambulance!

There's a good conversation going on over at Get Filmy's about some recent SRK comments on Hollywood.

Says GF:

No doubt, what SRK is thinking of is his children – like okay, maybe Aryan and Suhana aren’t going to break out the popcorn for Himmatwala anytime soon but there is a HUGE population in India and abroad, made up of both desis and non-desis who like Indian films because they are, well INDIAN. We don’t want Cameron or Nolan in Bollywood. We have Hollywood for that. And I didn’t feel cheated at all last year when I watched Kahaani or Student Of The Year or English Vinglish or Shanghai or Agneepath.

My comment? I agree!

The market for Hollywood and Hindi films are COMPLETELY different. It would be nice for Hollywood to give the same respect to Hindi films that they give to films from Korea and Japan but that’s not Hindi films being bad, that’s about Hollywood being too narrow-minded to understand an alternate style of filmmaking.

And don't forget that the movie business in America is far from booming AND not everybody is out seeing Chris Nolan films - audiences are just as likely (if not more so) to go watch Big Momma's House 6: Return of the Fat Suit as they are anything SRK is talking about.

Thursday Post: Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!! You know what this means... articles about romance! And, no, I'm not talking about Shotgun Sinha marrying off Rani Mukerji.

Shahrukh and Kajol are still considered the most romantic "reel" couple in Bollywood. I have to admit that I've never gotten the appeal of DDLJ. No, that's not true. I understand the appeal of DDLJ but I don't personally find it appealing. What is romance? What is love? What is tricking the girl you're stalking into thinking you've had sex but then making a passionate speech about how Indian women value their chastity (implying that others don't?)

Wednesday Post: The Medium is the Massage

Sometimes, reading the Bollywood press is like watching Sybil argue with herself.

From a piece on Kai Po Che:

Over the last few years, low budget films and films which have not much big star cast, is gaining popularity among audiences. Analysts believe that 'stereotype' cinema doesn't sell like a hot cake any more, audiences demand 'content'.

Meanwhile, Race 2 joins the 100 Crore Club.

It's like nobody wants to admit that there is room for both mass entertainment AND middlebrow multiplex flicks in the same industry. Let alone admit that the mass entertainment has some value to do and the middlebrow stuff isn't all worthwhile.

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BEGUM BEBO FOR VOGUE!

HELLO BEGUM BEBO! Princess Kareena Kapoor! I'm tempted to order this magazine off of ebay because... yeah. She looks gorgeous. It's about a billion times better than that awful Vidya photoshoot from last month. Are the actresses responsible for making sure they look good? Bebo is too busy to bother with anybody but herself but I bet Sonam could make a tidy sum hiring herself out as a consultant...

Anyways.

CLICK BELOW FOR MORE OF THE DIVA!

Tuesday Gossip: HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRAN!

A big happy birthday to the one and only PRAN!

From dangerously sexy villain (you've seen Madhumati, right?) to sleaze ball villain to shades of gray character actor to comic character actor to kindly uncle... Pran has been around Bollywood for almost as long as there has been a Bollywood.

He's 93 today and I wish him good health and happy living for another year!

And on to the rest of today's news post!

Monday Gossip: Fantasy Edition!

Sorry for the unexpected break - I may or may not have attended a family birthday party that went a little crazy on Saturday. Let's just say too much good food, drinks, and Soul Train lines were on hand. Related: How is this song still so good?

Anyways, I was getting a bit bored with the format of my blog, so I wanted to mix it up a bit… I was inspired by Get Filmy, and her concise gossip round-ups. But what really interests me is more of the sociological/industry side. So, in order to keep myself interested in what I'm writing, I'm setting my filters for material a bit tighter. We'll see how this shapes up. Stay tuned!

Special Chabbis: Not so special but entertaining enough.

Just a small public service announcement: I have a piece posted over here on Japan's male idol talent agency Johnny's Entertainment. Please check it out if you're interested!

About three-quarters of the way through Special 26 I began composing a scathing review in my head. “Filmi Girl struts down the theater aisle in slow motion, accompanied by retro horns, FIR in hand. These are the charges against Special 26...” You get the idea.

But I had been conned.

By director Neeraj Pandey.

And about seven-eighths of the way into the film I dropped almost all the charges and left the theater with a big smile on my face.

Thursday Gossip: It's like so ironic, yaar...

Good morning! Sorry, things are a bit disjointed today. I got sucked into an epic conversation on Subhash Ghai on Twitter while I was supposed to be writing...

LUCIA Trailer!

Sorry I missed my post this morning. I woke up with a bit of a cold and slept later than usual.

However, I don't think I missed much except...

Lucia is a crowd-sourced film, written and directed by Pawan Kumar, one of the brightest young talents in Kannada films. I've loved everything he's done so far and I have a feeling Lucia might be his best yet!

Tuesday Gossip: And those hip hop fakers, Vishal and Shekhar edition.

Hrithik Roshan: decent human being. And happy Pride to people in Mumbai and Hyderabad! 300 people turned out to Hyderabad's first gay Pride parade! Check out a couple pictures and ignore the clueless comment over at The Hindu.

Monday Gossip: Pour one out...

It's not Bollywood but let's all pour one out for Kashmiri girl band Pragaash who has came under fire from religious fundamentalists recently and broke up under the pressure.

Music is so important in our lives and for girls, especially, the ability to play an instrument and feel that comradeship with your bandmates is something special. It's a real shame what happened.

Sunday!

It's a winter wonderland here... snow, snow, snow! We're supposed to get a bit more today.

Two quick announcements - 1) I'll be out of town next weekend visiting my sister in Northampton so no updates and 2) I had a nice interview with one of the white actors from Vishwaroopam for Outsider in Bollywood and will hopefully have that up soon. He had nothing but the highest praise for Kamal Haasan.

Quick news day today.

* Kamal Haasan's troubles may be at an end. 7 scenes to be cut from Vishwaroopam so it can be released. I wonder which ones... PS Do not read the comments to this article unless you need more excuses to hate humanity.

* Comedian Ashish Shakya puts things in perspective.

Khan’s essay caught the attention of Pakistan’s interior minister, Rehman Malik, who took time off from his busy schedule of denying 26/11 to ask the Indian government to provide SRK with security.

It’s wonderful when two of the world’s most-watched nuclear rivals set aside piddling matters like poverty, corruption and domestic strife to talk about a guy who peddles fairness creams.

* Luke Kenny (who?) complained that he was always getting typecast as the foreign friend post-Rock On. But doesn't that necessitate getting "cast"? I don't remember Luke Kenny being any kind of mega-talent, which unless you're Aamir Khan's nephew or sleeping with some producer, basically puts you in Hero's Best Friend territory.

Saturday! Saturday! Saturday!

So, as it turns out, the Tamil version of David is NOT the Tamil version of David but some scenes with Jiiva in Tamil and then Hindi scenes with Vikram dubbed into Tamil.

Um... that's kind of bullshit. What's the deal with making a big deal of making TWO versions but then having the Tamil one being half assed? It's kind of insulting.

I suppose I should know better than to trust somebody who would hire both Neil Nitin Mukesh and Lara Dutta for an ACTING job.

So, now it's Kadal for me this weekend - probably Sunday. ♥

Also, there's no real gossip today so have a picture of Kamal Hasaan, Salman Khan, and Rehka watching Vishwaroopam.

Friday Gossip: I Guess Nobody Saw It edition

Sorry about yesterday, guys!! The power went out early yesterday morning and it was all I could do to get dressed in the dark and head out to work... Ah. Winter.

Good news (I think) for me is that we're getting both Kadal and David. People are being 'meh' on them both, which could mean anything or nothing. We'll see how it goes. I'm going to try and see both but I'm thinking David (THANK GOD IT'S JUST THE TAMIL VERSION PLAYING) first. You know I love me some Vikram.

Now!