Monday, May 9, 2011

Madhuri. What else?

Gaja Gamini from Bollywood-ish Blog, who (as we all know) is deeply in love with Madhuri, started this thing called "Madhuri Week". This week celebrates Madhuri's 44th birthday on Sunday.

Picture of Madhuri from the 44th page of google pictures (!)


As I said before, I don't have that much time this month, but I will be trying to contribute with more than one single post. 

Keeping that on mind, my first post will simply be about the films I've seen with Madhuri until now, in the order of which one I like most:


5

Dil (1990) 

I do like "Dil", it's not a bad film - but I just don't remember much about it. All I do remember is, that Madhu is the cool girl in school, and Aamir is the cool guy in school, and they don't like each other to begin with. Then there's a kiss sometime... And that's all.

4

Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam (2002) 

This film is also not one I watch very frequently, even though I'll always remember the soundtrack. Just by reading the film title, the title song will start swirling around in my head. But is it a good film... Why don't I remember? I do remember, that Salman's amount of hair is changing during the film, because it had a production time of almost 10 years. And off course I remember the story...
And the song "Aa Gaya, Aa Gaya...". Yeah, that's it.

3

Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) 


One of those ultimate romantic-switzerland-honey-dripping 90s blockbusters... Even though it's starring Shahrukh-how-could-I-not-love-you-Khan, I must rank this behind "Aaja Nachle". Might be, because I've not seen it very often, or because I've seen "Aaja Nachle" more recently - I cannot say.
Maybe it's due to my love-hate-relationship to 90s' Bollywood.
Let's face it: seen from a cinematic and intellectual angle, most 90s Bollywood films are terrible - even the hyped ones (except for DDLJ and some others). But then again: sometimes you just need a burger instead of the spinach-casserole, right?

2

Aaja Nachle (2007)


Madhuri's comeback film had it all: entertaining plot (and at least more realistic than a certain "fearless" Salman-flick), perceived supporting actors, groovy soundtrack - and last but not least Madhuri in her best shape. Nevertheless, it became a flop. Why? Well, we'll never really find out (though many, many bollywood-fans have wracked their brains about this question).
I watched the film with my dear granny, and it was perfect. The perfect granny-grandaughter-happy-film. We had so much fun. Then, I watched it one more time, alone.
And it was still fun!

1

Devdas (2002) 


Devdas. What else?

We've all experienced re-watching a film that we loved at the first sight - and when we watched it for the second time, it turned out to be not as magical as at first instance. 
The opposite, though, does not happen very often: re-watching a film that you've only seen once, a long time ago - and realizing how mind-blowing it really is (and has always been, but you had forgotten).
That's what happened when I watched "Devdas" for the second time in my life, yesterday.

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Honestly, I don't think that my choice for the best film is ever going to change, no matter how many (good) Madhuri films I will watch. I do realize, that I haven't seen many of her films, and also not the best ones, probably. But perhaps Madhuri Week will make some of my favorite bloggers produce some posts about her great don't-miss-it films, and thereby inspire me to pay more attention the the (mostly older) films of Miss-Magic-Madhuri.

There is one more DVD in my newly bought DVD-suitcase, that I'm definitely going to watch this week: "Koyla". That's going to be fun - I might be blogging about it.

Thank you for reading,
Mette M. K.




14 comments:

  1. I totally agree with your top 3! I honestly don't remember Dil too much since I watched it a very long time ago. And despite my love for SRK, I wasn't a fan of Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam (though, for some reason, I watched it multiple times!)

    I love that you put Aaja Nachle at number 2! I don't think it was completely well-received but I LOVED it!!! And Devdas/DTPH are of course classics :)

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  2. Great post! :)

    Dil was my third Bollywood movie and is one of my absolute favourites.

    HTHS was a good film, that sadly was technically very outdated, but SRK/Madhuri saved it for me.

    DTPH.... well, you read my review :)

    Aaja Nachle deserved to be a hit. Not a blockbuster, but a hit for sure. It is a pure entertainment. It did not promise anything else.

    Devdas....oh my Devdas. How do I love thee!!! :)

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  3. Ooh cool idea, although I've seen way too many Madhuri movies that I can't even remember them all :P

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  4. And I neraly forgot - prepare yourself for Koyla because it is BAD. I love it only because it was my second BOllywood film, had that amazing Madhuri/SRK chemistry, beautiful music, and because I am not completely sane. :)

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  5. The Bolly' Hood: I also watched HTHS multiple times, and I don't have a clue, why... Maybe because I didn't have many DVDs to choose between...

    @ Gaja Gamini: We seem to agree, except for DTPH maybe - you truly love it, I remember from your review.
    And thanks for warning me about Koyla - the music is indeed great, but I won't let my expectations rise to high, then.

    @ Nayika: I'd love to be able to say that :)

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  6. I was sure I had commented on this one.

    Anyway.. I re-post...

    Dil is one of my favourite movie of the 90s era. It was just sweet and fun.

    Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam is reaaaaally outdated. But I still really liked it, because the characters were human, and I could relate to them.

    Dil To Pagal Hai is a movie which quite disappointed me. It is really average, and everything from the characters to the story is not deep enough for me. SRK/Madhuri and the amazing soundtrack was the saving grace of it, IMO.

    Aaja Nachle - pity it flopped because I just loved it! It was one of my first Bollywood movies, and it's just perfectly entertaining. I do not ask for more.

    Devdas - now this is a movie I will never be able to say how much I love it. It is just the most beautiful moment of cinema I have ever lived.

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  7. While you're checking out Madhuri, try also Mrityudand. It's an interesting girl power movie though OTT at times. :) It's one of only two Madhuri films that I personally love (the other one being Aaja Nachle). But that's just because I'm difficult :D

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  8. @ Siham: Don't know what happened, I didn't delete your comment - but you know blogger. But thanks for writing it again: I think I need to watch Dil once more, then. Even though I remember there was that weird not-rape-scene.

    @ Dolce and Namak: You don't love Devdas? Since I've only seen 6 of her movies, it's pretty normal that I only love two of them.
    I'll be sure to check out Mrityudand.

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  9. Wasn't there another comment on this one... Yeah, I think so. Whatever.

    @ SIham: I think we agree on most of these. Maybe I should re-watch Dil, some time.

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  10. Hi I discovered your blog through A2line's, and stumbled on this eulogy of Madhuri! Very nice! This brings back some very nice memories! Thanks...
    cheers
    yves

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  11. @ Yves: Thanks for visiting by - I have no clue, what A2line's is. I hope you'll be around again :)

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  12. Hello Limette,
    A2line's blog (in French) is http://bollyblog-films.blogspot.com/, and the person that runs it called A2line!
    Yes, I'll be back, now that I know the address!
    cheers

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  13. "Wasn't there another comment on this one... Yeah, I think so."

    That was me :( My comment fell pray to the Great Thursday Uprising of Blogger. It's ok, I wasn't saying much, just recommending Mrityudand, the only movie other than Aaja Nachle that I personally really enjoyed from Madhuri.

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  14. @ Yves: Oh, that's what you mean. I'm following the blog, trying to better up my French :)

    @ Dolce and Namak: Ah, now I remember... I even commented on your comment, that I wanted to check out Mrityudand.

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Let the discussion begin!