I'm in the mood for a Bollywood Movie

It's looking like I might watch "Delhi Belly" but I'm more interested in a romance :(

Pyaar Ka Punchnama Hilarious Scene

The first 6 mins or so



If he frustrated or what? LOL

Kal Ho Naa Ho & Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai

Talked about this one on Couch Kimchi


I don't know if this is a good or bad movie to be honest. It might be so bad it's good. LOL. It's ridiculous but somehow really entertaining. LOL. And "Na Tum Jano Na Hum" is a favorite song of mine.

Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein

Oh... I kind of knew about youtube's movie section but I guess I never browsed it till today. I sure as hell aint paying but there are some nice selections being offered for free. And boy was I happy to find RHTDM there... which makes no sense when you consider that I actually have the DVD at home. But moving on...  it's a cute story about mistaken identity and even though it's not exactly the best movie out there, I really like it! I guess loving all the songs also helps. I will put it in line with Tum Bim which is another movie that's not exactly the greatest.... starring unknown and/or weak actors and all that but I still really like it.

I finally saw Band Baaja Baaraat

It's the story of two recent college grads who come together to form a wedding planning business. And of course, planning all those weddings leads to love, right?

She strong willed and short tempered and he's laid back and a bit silly. Decent flick but I didn't really enjoy most of the songs except the one I'll post here. But then again, maybe it's because I'm a sap and always prefer the romantic songs.

The kissing scenes were a little off. Lol.... I guess I don't like the way the guy kisses - kinda like he puckers a bit much. The story is predictable but it's still cute enough. I always love the angry, passionate fights and this movie gave me one good one :D Hahahaha. All in all, not bad. The guy can probably tone down his acting in the future but I hear it's his first film. A reviewer said he doesn't have movie-star looks but perhaps I need to change my glasses cos I find him quite cute.

Cute movie. :) I think the 7.2 on imdb is bit high, though. For me, it's somewhere in the 6s.

Sometimes I wonder what makes the news

Pics from the set of a music video of an artist called K-Will. Apparently, she couldn't stop crying even after they yelled "cut!" I wonder what she was thinking about.

Source 1, Source 2

In other news, I'm going to be watching this movie this weekend:


It's called Band Baaja Baaraat and is about wedding planners who fall in love. Generally good reviews although there are some who think it sucks. We'll see. I've been hitting nothing but misses with Bollywood films lately.

Fanfic Bollywood Style!

Two Bollywood movies where a star falls in love with his or her biggest fan.

Mast is just a fun and adorable movie. It's 100% camp and I remember being home sick and I mean really sick when I saw this movie and it cheered me right up. I'm not in the mood to write reviews so I'll be lazy and just post some vids. As I said, this one is 100% camp. It's about a regular guy in love with an actress.

Fun song



Flirty song
 



Rules: Pyaar Ka Superhit formula is about a regular girl in love with a model. It also has a bit of a camp factor in it but is entirely adorable. One of my favorite Bollywood movies and it features a real kiss! I also love all the songs in it. A girl wants to catch the eye of her object of affection and follows her grandma's guide to finding love.


Fun song. 
 


Sad and lovely with a light at the end of the tunnel.

Bahara - I Hate Luv Storys

I guess I'm catching up on my Bollywood movies because I just saw I Hate Luv Storys. It's the typical story of a man uninterested in love who finds love. The film was set in the movie industry (he's an assistant director and she's an art director). He hates every thing "filmi" so he spends his time cringing at the dialogue, sets and characters in the movies he works on. She loves every thing "filmi" and at the start of the movie, she's practically living the life of a Bollywood heroine. The movie was predictable and I thought it was pretty okay at first till we got to the second half (and the angst) and it got quite boring. Overall, I'll say the first half is good enough as a time pass (good enough for killing time) but the second half...  uhm.... Anyway, I finished it and the ending wasn't too bad. What I liked about it were the references to other hit movies both in song and through clips.

What I once said about kdramas applies to Bollyood movies too. Even if the drama (or in this case, movie) sucks, you're bound to find at least one song that you like. And this is one:


A much better film to watch the male star Imran Khan in is Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, which is an overrated but still charming story of longtime friends-turning-lovers. And no, this isn't the only romantic plot that I like. lol. That movie was quite refreshing because it was set within an ensemble cast of friends. However, it has some rather annoying and silly parts with the older characters that IMO, took away from the movie. Nonetheless, that one is still worth a watch.

Bollywood Recommendations

I'll update this post as I remember but for now, these are the movies that have a rewatch value for me. Basically, I've seen all these movies more than once.

Dil Chahta Hai. Bromance between three friends and their romantic stories. We have an arranged marriage, an older woman-younger man story and the third is the typical young love story. 
Main Hoon Na. Action. Romance. Comedy.
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Friends turned lovers.
Kal Ho Naa Ho. Friends turned lovers and a 'Taming of the shrew' type story.
Hum Tum. It borrows a little from When Harry Met Sally but not too much. One of my favorites. It's follows a couple as their relationship evolves over a number of years.
Saathiya. About the ups and downs of young love.
Lagaan. Extremely long but I thought it was worth it. About imperialism and of course, has a romance.
Mr & Mrs Iyer. This is not a Bollywood movie per se since it's in English but a pretty great film. The first 30 minutes are really hard to get through but most end the movie feeling that the pleasure is worth a little pain. A story of a couple that meets on a fateful bus ride.
Socha Na Tha. Arranged married turned to love. My description sucks but I really liked this movie.
Jab We Met. About a couple that meets on a fateful train ride.
Rules: Pyaar ka Superhit formula. A girl follows her grandma's advice to nab her dream man. Sounds kinda dumb but I found it really cute
Monsoon Wedding is also not a Bollywood film as it's in English but I think a good movie for someone trying to test the waters. It's set around a girl's arranged marriage.
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. I really liked the second half but it's about the story of a girl who falls in love, loses her love and chases after that love but through this journey, discovers what real love is.

For something a little grittier
Company about gangsters and stuff. lol... I saw this movie a long time ago so I can't even describe it in detail but I remember loving it.
Salaam Bombay is a less romanticized Slumdog Millionaire.
1947 Earth is about Partition.
Kannathil Muthamittal is in Tamil and deal with issues of political unrest in Sri Lanka and also adoption.

These are just a few that I particularly enjoyed but there are many more that are worth one watch. I might update this list at a later date.

3 Idiots

3 Idiots is a Bromantic comedy that was released on Christmas day, 2009. The movie was both a commercial and critical hit so early this year, I was all set out to watch it. But the DVD took ages to be released so in the end, I lost interest.

Anyway, since I was in a Bollywood kind of mood today, I decided to finally give it a try. 3 Idiots is about three roommates at the top (fictional) engineering college in India. Raju is from a poor family with a sick father and other than his interest in engineering, also chose the field to get a good paying job so as to shoulder his family's financial burden. Farhan is an amateur photographer from  a middle class family whose profession was decided for him at birth. So he attends ICE because it's what he was told to do. Rancho is from a rich family and lives and breathes science. He attends ICE because he wants to learn. He is the central character who challenges people out of their comfort zones and urges them to follow their hearts and not society or a system. The movie starts off 10 years after their freshman year with the two friends (and their nemesis) searching for Rancho, whom they haven't seen since graduation. So the story floats between the present and the past.

I think a lot of people from all over the world can relate to this movie because it challenges the educational system of cramming and competing just to get good grades so that you can get a good paying job. Not that there's anything wrong with working hard for good grades but it critiques the practice of cramming and studying just to pass exams, and not to learn. And picking fields like medicine and engineering, for example, not because one has an interest in them, but because the jobs pay well. The moral of this movie is to follow your passion and success will follow.

When I saw the first half of the movie, I thought it was pretty damn good. I love bromance so it was right up my alley. The comedy worked on both an emotional and a cerebral level. However, in the second half, when it started getting melodramatic with the plot going to Crazy-land, I began to give the movie the side eye. But it ended nicely and overall, was entertaining.

The chemistry between the three men was great, even though I don't get how 40+ Aamir Khan still gets to play a college student. The movie had only one romantic side story between Rancho and Pia and they also had nice chemistry. I liked that theirs was just a cute story with no over the top cheesiness.

I'm not sure that I'll watch 3 Idiots again in its entirety, but like I do with most enjoyable films, I'll probably rewatch a few hilarious parts... and the cute ending.

Watch here.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

So seeing the cut Segway scene got me all riled up about Coffee House once again and that led me into thinking about Kuch Kuch Hota Hai which I think I'm going to watch for the umpteenth time today. Okay, not the entire story but my favorite parts.

KKHH is the story of Rahul and Anjali who are college best friends who miss their chance but get another one many years later. We have college best friends. Girl realizes she's in love with Guy when he starts to fall for another girl. Girl leaves town. Guy marries other girl. Other girl dies at childbirth. Years later, Guy and Girl meet again. Girl is engaged to another man. You can guess the rest.

We even get an epic train scene in this movie. Starts around the 5:50 mark.


Rahul (Guy) confesses his love for Tina (other girl) to Anjali (Girl). Finding this too difficult to deal with, Anjali decides to leave school (although she claimed to have other reasons but still...). So this is the scene where Rahul runs to the station to stop Anjali. from leaving. What I love most about this scene is that while Rahul doesn't quite realize that he's in love with Anjali, it's pretty clear to any bystander, including Tina.

Another favorite scene of mine is the bench scene. It's so very simple and clean, yet crackling with chemistry. It starts around the 2:35 mark.
 

This is the day of the Anjali-Rahul reunion. They are both much older with different interests and priorities from what they had that day at the train station and even though Rahul had thought of Anjali over the years (it didn't help that his wife had named their daughter after her), I think perhaps this is when Rahul realizes that he just might be in love with her. I love the awkwardness, shyness and sincerity of their interaction.

Then of course, there's the famous gazebo scene. Anjali and Rahul are caught in the rain and well, this is what happens. Starts around the 0:15 mark.


This is their "sexy" scene. Considering this is a Bollywood movie, and a family one at that, they couldn't exactly start making out but I think this worked well in showing the mutual attraction between the characters.

I loved Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in its entirety the first time I saw it although on subsequent viewings, I got tired of all the "fun" college scenes and what not. Plus it has the annoying crap of grooms being so generous of heart that they give their brides to someone else.  But nonetheless, I can't help but love this simple yet touching story of finding a once lost love.

Is it just me or is it a really bad year for Bollywood?

Hmm...

I've seen a few films this year and in general, there haven't been many to go crazy about. In fact, there's no 2007 release I can honestly say was great. Some were nice like Just Married, Honeymoon Travels and even Salaam-E-Ishq but in general, IMO, it's been a shitty year for movies. I am not even looking forward to any movies at this point. 2006 was so much better.

But in the spirit of Bollywood, how about a bollyspam?

Kabhi Neem Neem from Yuva. Yuva is a nice film but overrated, IMO. I hated the Abhi-Rani couple because it was violent but I believe I'm in the minority. I did like their song, though. I just love the 'duet' that began around the 2:03 mark.

Tinka Tinka from Karam. I've tried to watch this movie a million times but I usually get bored halfway through. I love the song, though.

Na Tum Jano Na Hum from Kaho Na Pyaar Hai. LOL... I found the first half really difficult to get through (it took me 3 months) but I loved the second half of this movie. How so melodramatic. Hahaha... if you think too hard (or even a little), you'll hate this movie. You just have to leave your disbelief at home.

Taal Se Taal from Taal. It's an average movie but the songs are great.

And of course, Ishq Bina.

Kasam Ki Kasam from Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon. The movie has been universally panned and I never plan to watch it but I love the song. In fact, seeing this video made me watch another movie with the Hrithik and Kareena pairing (because I couldn't get a hold of this one) called Yaadien and that was just plain awful. But yeah, the song is so sweet.



Lal Dupatta from Muhjse Shaadi Karogi. Gosh, I love all the songs from this movie but the movie itself is just not good. It's one of those overdone comedies and every time I try to watch it, I just end up only watching the songs.




Yenna Solla Pogirai from Kandukondain Kandukondain. I think I just love the picturization. It's the Tamil movie version (kollywood and not bollywood) of Sense and Sensibility. The book is my least favorite of Austen's work and I really lost interest in this movie even though quite a few people like it. But the songs from the movie rock, sha.

Soona Man Ka Aangan from Parineeta. The movie turned out to be nicer than I'd expected. The same predictable stuff but nice cinematography and acting.

Maar Dala from Devdas (2002). If the movie had come out a lot earlier, I would have said that the word overrated was probably created just to describe it. Seriously. What a piece of CRAP. I hated this movie with a passion and I am not too fond of Shah Rukh Khan either. But I like Madhuri and this song.

Saajan Saajan from Dil Ka Rishta. This movie sucks. Plain and simple. I couldn't watch it past halfway and I have a high tolerance for Bollywood B.S. But I like this song - it's fun.

In the spirit of the last two songs, here is Tujhe Yaad Na Meri Aayee from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Unlike most of the movies mentioned in this post, I love this film. It's the same ol' bestfriends-become-lovers story but who cares? I live for that stuff. And first watched it when I still liked Shah Rukh Khan.



Saajan Tumse Pyar from Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya. Another not-so-good comedy. It was a hit but I'm still yet to finish it. And it's been over a year. But I like this song.

I've finally seen Salaam-E-Ishq

It was a nice, cute movie. Comparable to Love Actually as in there were numerous couples linked together. In fact, I hear it was inspired by that movie but luckily, unlike many Bollywood movies, it's not a copy at all.

My fav songs from the movie (in order of preference):

Dil Kya Kare

Salaam-E-Ishq

Saiyaan Re Priyanka looked hot in this song...

Such a touching song!

I love this song. In fact, everyone that watches Rules Pyaar Ka Superhit falls in love with it too. And this song is the reason I started uploading songs to youtube... now I'm a maniac. :D Well, now I can enjoy the subbed version anywhere in the world. Woo Hoo!

Chhodo Na Mujhe

Romance done right.

One of my favorite things about Bollywood is when they do romance well, it's just unbelievable and has this way of lifting your spirits.

Now, Kal Ho Naa Ho, is nowhere near perfect and riddled with a lot of crap (the SRK parts) but this song is just a great example of "Romance Done Right."

Kuch To Hua Hai

Aye Udi Udi

Why do I love this song so much? Perhaps it's because it's from Saathiya which is one of my favorite films. Period. And it's so fun and flirty. I really loved Rani and Vivek in this movie.



Then of course, I have to listen to Chhalka Chhalka Re which is also from Saathiya.



And since I'm talking about this film, Chupke Se is sooooooooooo cute and awesome. This movie just rocks.

If have this sneaking suspicion that my new story sucks... :(

lol... I don't know. I attempted to start writing Chapter 4 but I felt bored. Maybe it's because I updated two days in a row... I think I'll just chill today and not write any more. Maybe I'll love my characters tomorrow. I am sick of this intro though :( I want to get to the cute parts ASAP!

But speaking of cuteness...

I love this song (even though it's a rip off of "The closer I get to you" by Roberta Flack). I actually rented this DVD just for this song :D

Bolo Na Tum Zara

Bolo Na Tum Zara

And this song always makes me think of another song from a movie starring Dia Mirza. I do love it too.

Zara Zara

Zara Zara (RHTDM)

Then another Zara song comes to mind. Maybe all songs with the word "Zara" rock!! :D

Sun Zara. But I do love pretty much all songs sung by Sonu Nigam

Sun Zara

Yay, I've finally updated!

Gone over the hurdle and I hope it will all be smooth sailing from now on. Chapter 2 of M:MHM is done. Now I can enjoy one of my fav Bollywood songs from Tum Bin (an extremely underrated film).

Chhoti Chhoti Raatein