It's a sweep!

Slumdog Millionaire swept the Golden Globes tonight! I was so excited and a little proud (for the country of India and all that it meant for their culture.) while I was watching. I also loved that King Khan introduced the clip for Slumdog Millionaire. It was a lot of fun and I giggled like a school girl. They won each of their nominations, Best Motion Picture- Drama, Best Original Score, Best Director - Motion Picture, Best Screenplay. I think my favorite part was when Anil jumped up and cheered, it was funny. Congratulations!
Sorry I didn't have a better picture! I don't have a way to capture from my tv to my computer. :(

Adventures of a Bollywood Newbie.

I'm going to take some time and pay tribute to my new and current obsession: Bollywood film. I've been inhaling them as quickly as possible, even increasing my Netflix to three a month again because I finally have enough to fill it. So, I've been barreling through as much as I can. I've seen some ho-hum ones and some that have pushed their way into the top 10 of my all-time favorite movies (Om Shanti Om) (regardless of genre or country of origin.) In the last few months I managed to watch over 30 Bollywood films. (A select few are not made in Mumbai, and are actually British or American films, but they are related to the genre.) Here's the full list of my initial foray into Bollywood: (with my star rating, out of five) Asoka (4), Baabul (4), Bombay to Bangkok (4), Chak De! India (5), Chalte Chalte (4), Chori Chori (3), Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke (4), Dhoom (3.5), Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (4), Jab We Met (3), Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (5), Jodhaa Akbar (4), Kal Ho Naa Ho (4.5), Koi...Mil Gaya(4.5), Krrish (4), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (4.5), Lakshya (4.5), Lucky: No Time for Love (4), Maine Hoon Na (5), Maine Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (4.5), Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya (4), Maine Pyar Kiya (3.5), Monsoon Wedding (3), Na Tum Jaano Na Hum (4), Om Shanti Om (5), Paheli (4), Phir Milenge (4), Provoked (3.5), Rangeela (4), Salaam-E-Ishq (4), Swades (4), The Hero (3), Veer-Zaara (4.5), Baadshah (2.5), Ladies Taylor (2), Boothnath (4), Namastey London (4), The Namesake (4). I want to eventually review and type synopses for many of these, but at the moment I don't have the time! I've watched some in the presence of my mom, who tries to watch, but gets a headache from watching the sub-titles. I love that she has already started referring to Shahrukh as "our guy." So, it's spreading. Not that I really needed another language and culture to overtake my life. I already have my head stuffed full of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Spanish and obviously English. Now I'm squishing little bits of hindi in there. Matlab? Hehe.

Here is one to start:
Lucky: No Time for Love. I wasn't sure what to think about this movie and tried to keep an open mind while watching it. I know that a lot of people took issue with the age difference between Salman Khan and Sneha Ullal. It was a little strange for the main love interests to have a 22 year age difference (in real life), but I was able to move past it. She was charming, if a little over-dramatic (even for Bollywood) at times. I think she did well for her first movie. Salman Khan is starting to grow on me; I wasn't instantly drawn to him like Shahrukh. He was actually heart warming in certain scenes of this movie. I know that the style of Bollywood is to ...hm over-act or be over-dramatic is wrong, but they tend to play their roles with excess emotion a lot of the time, or heightened emotion I suppose is a better way of saying it, so I keep that in mind when judging the acting.
There will be lots more to come, but I'm out of time for the moment. Stay tuned!

Movie Review: Om Shanti Om

Shahrukh Kan as Om Prakash/Om Kapoor

Deepika Padukone as Shantipriya/Sandhya

Shreyas Talpade as Pappu

Arjun Rampal as Mukesh Mehra

Some people say that India is In the Middle-East. And some argue that it is part of Asia. Either way you look at it, the culture of India is expressive and exciting. I have made a few ventures into Bollywood film, and just found a movie that shoved it’s way into my top 10 favorite movies. Om Shanti Om. It’s a movie about love, reincarnation and following your dreams until they come true. The best thing is; that it’s all toped off with song and dance, true Bollywood style. Despite controversy about some of the tongue-in-cheek jokes and claims that the movie was plagiarized from various people, the movie was a great success in India and all over the world, bringing in over 39 million dollars world wide.

The movie starts out with Om Prakash, a second-rate extra in the 1970’s Bollywood film industry. He aims to become a top-star and adores the most popular female actress – Shantiprya. He dreams of meeting her and falling in love, believing that only if he is a “Hero” will he meet her. One day, while filming he happens to be the only person brave enough to jump into a burning fire to save Shanti, and because of this encounter they become friends. Om begins to fall in love with her, but Shanti remains distant. He eventually stumbles across the truth that Shanti is married, and decides to leave her alone to her happiness. But her happiness is short lived, when her husband decides to kill her. Om happens to witness this and tries to save her, but dies in the process.

Cut to 30 years later. Om Kapoor is a spoiled, rich, and arrogant top Indian movie star, son of the famous Rajesh Kapoor, whom Om Prakash looked up to. Om Kapoor uses his fathers’ celebrity to advance his career, instead of actually depending on himself and his own abilities. We watch as he enjoys his life, but there is a secret he has yet to discover. While getting ready to film a new movie his is taken to a dilapidated studio where he has flashes of memories that don’t belong to him. Om Kapoor soon realizes that he is the reincarnation of Om Prakash. Intent on getting revenge for the death of his beloved Shanti and his own life, he plots to get the murderer to confess his crimes.

I LOVE this movie. I have very little knowledge of all the dozens of big stars in this movie. But I could feel the electricity in this movie and that there was something special about it from the very beginning. The music, and the people and the story were all supurb. The movie was pretty long, but in order to tell the entire story it was necessary. If you are ready for a lovely story that will make you laugh and that will raise your spirits. Head out and find yourself a copy.