The Magic of Re-Watching

Re-watching is much like growing up. 

When you're a child, everything is bare emotion - hatred and passion, coldness and warmth. But as you grow up, your emotions start to become more refined and varied; you sense the layers of things and you're able to understand the relations between them.

Did you know that one of my favourite films as a child was Barbie in Swan Lake? Anyhow, it's a pinkish film with a pinkish story. As a child, I loved this film, and the reason was "Well, because it's awesome!". Now to a confession; I still like this film, and I still own the DVD. But the reason I like it, is because I adore indulging in the thoroughly kitschy and pink story along with some of the greatest classical music I know. I see myself, the child, watching the film - and I see myself, the teenager, watching the film. I'm somewhere in between, and I enjoy this.

A different and more recent example, is that of Sean Penn's extraordinary drama Into the Wild, which I borrowed from the library last winter. I watched the film one lazy Sunday afternoon with my mother, and we were both awe-struck by the drowsiness and enlightenment the film caused us to feel. Into the Wild is currently on rank 20 of my favourite films list, and I know that this is just the right place for it; nevertheless, I was utterly surprised by its greatness when we watched it in class the other week.

The feeling of greatness was always in my mind when I thought of Into the Wild, but there was no way for me to pinpoint the exact reasons for this. And now that I could see the reasons, I just couldn't believe that I had been so right about the movie - because normally, most movies turn out to be not as great as I thought when I re-watch them.

Having said that, the best and most favourite movies I know are the ones that have held up for many, many re-watches. Especially the ones I watched before I was old enough to have a real side job, the time when I didn't know how to get movies for free (I'm talking about the library) and when the price of a DVD was that of three months' pocket money. We re-watched a lot back then. And that's for example why I like movies as Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, or Mohabbatein. My re-watching wasn't the same as it is now, and the more I watched these movies, the better they became. They couldn't get worse, because I didn't even know they could. 

Of course, there are also always those movies that don't change status after re-watching. Take Adam's Apples. It's a very fun dark comedy that just doesn't get better than "good". It's not great. It's cool and something else (in comparison to American comedies), but just good. And I can live with that.

Then, there are also the movies that change just slightly after re-watching, as Happythankyoumoreplease. I don't know if I want to call it "great" but it's one of my favourite films, and remains one of my favourite films. Only, when I re-watched it a week ago, I saw several sides of it, or several points-of-view of looking at it. There was the common point-of-view: fun but nothing more, a sweet idea but not daring enough. The haters point-of-view: hipster, doesn't tell us anything. And there was my point-of-view: a beautiful collection of snapshots that add up to an enchanting and thought-provoking collage. Furthermore, a film that reminds me to be happy and thankful sometimes. Examining the other points-of-view helped my realize how confident I felt with my own, which I hadn't been so sure of after reading a couple of not-so-enthusiastic reviews.

What one must remember concerning re-watching, however, is that no matter how insightful and revealing re-watching may be, it's also a question of the right dose. In this case, we can compare it to Coca Cola. I don't like drinking that sweet sugary stuff too often, but at the right moment, when my body is screaming for it, it's like an explosion of happiness that flows down my throat.

The magic of re-watching may not be overexcited, for then it will not work.

... And you wouldn't have time to watch new films that will put your re-watchings into context.

"Sweetheart, I Have to Confess"

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES

(USA, SINCE 2004)

„It is often said that confession is good for the soul. No one knew this better than a certain blonde. Edie Britt had been confessing her sins to father O'Maley once a week since she was a child. As the years had passed, much to father O'Maley's dismay, a theme began to emerge. And once she had been forgiven, father O'Maley would tell Edie Britt, to go out into the world, and sin no more. Unfortunately for Edie, temptation seemed to be… everywhere.“

9 Great Bollywood Films You Shouldn't Watch With Outsiders

"Bollywood kitsch revisited by Ritan Chauhan" - image source

It has never been easier to convince friends and acquaintances of the normality and non-kitschy/awkwardness of Hindi films by showing them a contemporary one.
Be it Luck by Chance, Dhoom:2 or Dostana - all of these count as successes for my inner missionary of Bollywood. Personally, I would even prefer many other films over the latter two, films that are more profound, to put it that way. It is important to keep the balance between trash and snobism when introducing your friends to an exotic film industry.

But while my journey through and with Indian films has certainly broadened and improved my cinematic taste, there is another phenomena amongst non-Indian Bollywood-viewers, namely one I don't mention very often.
I'm talking about the side of Bollywood, that is darker than any Anurag Kashyap film you have ever seen... In fact the secret of this darkness is a mixture of bright colours that blind the eye, which is already confused by curtains of glycerin tears, all of this resulting in a never-ending darkness of... greatness.

Believe it or not; the more Bollywood films you see, no matter what quality they are, you will feel yourself more and more accepting and in the end getting closer to the dark side of Bollywood, until finally, it has become a part of you. You may try to shake it off with the help of long Fellini-DVD nights, but there is nothing you can do. Once a member of the club, always a member of the club, that's the only rule.

If however, you feel too ashamed by your little dark secret, there are ways to conceal it. Most of the ways to do this are in fact passive ones, in casual conformance with the motto "Don't ask, don't tell". So don't start a movie blog. And if you have one, don't write posts called "9 Great Bollywood Films You Probably Shouldn't Watch With Outsiders", or anything similar. Everybody will know then, and you don't want that to happen, do you?
Another advice from my side is: don't talk about the films, to any. body. Not your sister, your brother, your parents - even your best friend might be a spy from the commission of officially high-quality motion pictures.

Any unsolved questions? Oh yes, thank you for reminding me: what if the films from the dark side have become such a big part of your life that you loose the ability to distinguish between dark and bright films?
In case you are confronted with this problem, there is little I can do for you. But if you're truly in desperation, this list I just created might be a help for you - these are the worst great films I could think of, and you should never. ever. mention the titles of these films in front of anybody else than yourself or your lawyer. Did you understand me? You look a little pale... Hey, it's for your own safety.
And remember: the higher the film is in the list, the more dangerous is it to mention its name in public.

List of those-who-must-not-be-named-ever-after

9. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) Karan Johar

Too childish for an adult movie to be taken seriously by people from ages 11+... ahem.

Your official opinion: „I'm so glad these freakin' 90s are finally over.“

8. Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000) Rakesh Roshan

Almost the same as the previous, but even less realistic. And the two halves fit even less (officially).

Your official opinion: „Well, Hrithik had to start at some place.“

7. Josh (2000) Mansoor Khan

A guilty pleasure that many people don't even know... seriously, Romeo and Juliet in Goa? Awe... I mean gruesome!

Your official opinion: „Shah Rukh can't sing, salla.“

6. Mohabbatein (2000) Aditya Chopra

I still hear Amitabh speaking the introduction-speech... this film is just epic. 

This is the essential epic kitsch fiesta. Which can be seen as a negative or positive description.

Your official opinion: „See, nobody of the youngsters got famous. Told'ya, Aditya.“

5. Murder (2004) Anurag Basu

Most people will either be embarrassed or crazy about the first half, but they most probably won't like the second half. I don't care - and by the way, I have no idea why I like this movie either.

Your official opinion: „Disgusting. Hitchcock for poor teenagers.“

4. Yes Boss (1997) Aziz Mirza

The kitschiest and cutest introduction sequence ever. 

I want this movie to become a teddy bear so I can put it in my bed and cuddle up to it whenever I feel sad.

Your official opinion: „No wonder Juhi never got her big breakthrough.“

3. Action Replayy (2010) Vipul Shah

Why was this film not bad again? Oh yes, because it's freaking hilarious.

Believe me, I wanted to hate it. It wasn't my fault.

Your official opinion: „Annoying and far beyond its time.“

2. Tees Maar Khan (2010) Farah Khan

And the same for this one: I practically hated it before seeing it. 

Little did I know about the genius Akshay Kumar.

Your official opinion: „Another slapstick mass production from the hands of Mr. Kumar. Farah Khan disappoints with her second feature film.“

1. Ram Jaane (1995) Rajiv Mehra

This film... Don't watch it. Just don't. 

You still have time to run away - this is something nobody should know nor like.

Damn. WHY did you do this to me?!

Your official opinion: „Do I need to say anything?“

-------------------------

I hope this will serve as a little help for you.

Song of the Month (June 2011)

Almost since the very begin of this blog, I've had a Gadget called "The Month", where I choose a Song of the Month and a Movie of the Month - each month. It is always a song, and a movie, that I've listened to a lot/ seen the previous month, and that I'm just crazy about.

Because I always write at least one sentence (mostly much more) about every film I've seen in the previous month at the start of the new month (I'm not confusing anyone, am I?), I didn't find it necessary to make a whole post out of Movie of the Month. (Read about this month's movie, Devdas (2002) here).
However, Jack had the idea, that I could write about the songs I choose every month - you know, thoughts on them, and the reasons I choose them.

Why didn't I think of that? I love music, but it happens that I love a lot of things at the same time, so it's hard to write about all of those things (I even often think that I don't write enough about films).

Anyways, one post a month? I think I can handle that.

So, let me present to you, the Song of the Month, June 2011:

The Sound of Silence

by

Simon & Garfunkel (Soundtrack of "The Graduate)

There are two versions of this song, one is more calm and acoustic, while the other one has some more instruments and is a bit "louder". Both are used in the film, but the last one more frequently. 

Here's the last one I mentioned:

I can't find the acoustic version on youtube, but you can buy it or listen to it on iTunes.

Both versions are awesome, but I think that the acoustic version is just a little, tiny bit better, because it... it really comes from the heart, do you know what I mean? (Though it sounds corny, yes, I know).

And after some time, when you've listened to the song like... 10 times or more, and you look up the lyrics... you will be even more enchanted of this masterpiece, and in awe of the two musical Gods that wrote and sung this song (I'm not sure if they also composed it...), because the lyrics are so poetic and true, and... awesome. Simply awesome.

My classmates were quite annoyed by the song - it appears a lot in the film, and every time it did, you could hear sighing from every corner of the room. After we finished the film, some went like "Yeah, great movie, ya know, awesome soundtrack..." and stuff like that (I mean, they said it in a very sarcastic way), while I was still up in the air/ the movie... (Oh, I forgot that, in case you didn't know: we watched the film in English class, in school).

It has been a really long time since I've been so obsessive about a song... Of course, I often find music that I love and listen to a lot, but it's not like this most of the time... 

I'm not an expert concerning love and all that, but I think you can be truly in love with a song, maybe even more than a film...

Here are some of the songs I've been falling in love with over the past few years:

Acoustic version of "Thinking of You" that Katy Perry sang at the KISS FM Spring Live Lounge (before she became famous).

Katy Perry is one of my favorite singers, but her new album is kind of crappy. Her voice has been modified in every song, and most of the songs seem so fake, just mediocre pop-crap.

The first album is wonderful, but the very best is when she sings her old songs live...

Straight from the heart (here it is, again).

"Never Think" by Robert Pattinson (please ignore the video, just listen)

You can discuss Twilight, even I don't think they're good films, I mean... they're just candy, if you get that... You can also discuss Robert Pattinson, and I understand that a lot of people don't like him, also because they've mostly not seen more of his films, except for... Twilight.

But this song. This song is wonderful, just wonderful.

And I won't discuss that.

----------------------------------------------

Writing about music wasn't as hard as I had imagined, though I haven't really written that much.

So, what do you think - do you like this new feature? Would you like me to write more about the songs, or are there any other improvements you can think of? I'd like to hear all of your thoughts.

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.

15 Movie Questions Meme - Desi Edition

AKA: Pandrah "Filmon ke baare men Savaal" Meme

Want to know more? Click me.

PS: I've been learning Hindi for about 4 years now, but I'm still not perfect at it - so be free to correct me.

1) Movie you love with a passion.

Fillum, jisse tum sachaa pyaar karti ho. 

My first choice for this answer was Kal Ho Naa Ho, one of my all-time favorites - Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham isn't even one of my favorite films - but I decided to choose this incredibly kitschy and not-good-in-my-traditional-taste-for-movies film, because: it brought me to Bollywood. 

Might be that I would have "met" Bollywood however, under different circumstances, but I will never know, so that's why I appreciate this film so much.

No, it's not really good. It has many flaws. But it's a childhood memory, that I share with my sister, and with my best friend. And this is my tribute to it.

2) Movie you vow to never watch.

Fillum, jo tum kabhi nahin dekhogi, kasam se.

There are a lot, but there also a lot that I watched without reason, leaving me feel like a complete  lunatic, because I watched them (Army, Yeh Lamhe Judaai Ke, Azaad...). 

But I'm sure I'll never watch Naughty @ 40. There's no reason for doing so whatsoever. 

... Yes, I'm not a fan of Govinda. He can be fun, but he can also be a total mess.

3) Movie that literally left you speechless.
Fillum, jisne tumhe sachmuch avaak chod diya hai.

Just like in my World Edition, while my choice for the first answer isn't a true favorite, the choice for this answer is.

Dil Se is a film I can watch over and over again, it will never fail to impress me. I think that it was one of Shahrukh's best, best performances until know, same for Manisha Koirala and even Preity Zinta ("even", because her part was so small). I never understood, why Manisha was waisted in so many other productions, but rumor has it, that this was also her choice.
The whole film is so close to perfect, and almost all of its contributors are genuine favorites of mine today (music director A. R. Rahman, director Mani Ratnam - just to name a few...).

4) Movie you always recommend.
Fillum, jiska tum hamesha sifarish karti ho.

Not many (read: maybe one) of my friends watch Bollywood from time to time, and if they do, then mostly the "old" films we watched, when we were younger (Chalte Chalte, Main Hoon Na, Kal Ho Naa Ho etc.). However, if I had to recommend one Bollywood film to all my friends, I would probably recommend Luck By Chance. 


I watched it with one of my friends, and she really liked it (except for the many songs). It's the kind of film that many people will like, because it's not too commercial nor boring, not too serious and political, and not too filmy and kitschy.








5) Actor/actress you always watch, no matter how crappy the movie.
Actor/actress, jisse tum hamesha dekh rahi ho, yadhyapi fillum bakvaas hai.

Seriously?

Let's have a guess, I think it's... Hm... Hard to tell...
Forgot his name...

King of Bollywood, King Khan, Baadshah of Bollywood (same as the first, but koi baat nahin), The Rukhster...

SHAH RUKH KHAN! 









6) Actor/actress you don't get the appeal for.
Actor/ actress, jiska tum appeal nahin samajh sakti ho.

I have to be honest: every - single - role I saw her in, she completely failed.

Surely, it wasn't hard to get through Om Shanti Om without anyone noticing she only had a face but no acting skills, but after Bachna Ae Haseeno, I definitely had enough of it. Sadly, I still watched Love Aaj Kal. Shouldn't have done so.

Deepika, I don't know what you did in acting school - and I don't even think I want to know. Just please don't make any more films.

I'll rather watch Katrina Kaif struggling to receive some decent reviews, than you.







7) Actor/actress, living or dead, you'd love to meet.
Actor/actress, manda ya zinda, jisse tum bahut milna chahti ho.

Sorry Raj Kapoor, you came really close, but I've only seen very few of your films, and He is... well, He's my idol. No, more, much more.
If Shahrukh is the King of Bollywood, then He's the God of Bollywood.

AMITABH BACHCHAN-JI. 


Iconic.
(And after Slumdog Millionaire, even the Western world slowly seems to "detect" him).


8) Sexiest actor/actress you've seen. (Picture required!)
Sabse sexy actor/actress, jisse tumne dekhaa hai.
A hard one, because with most actors I feel that they look very different from film to film. Take Hrithik Roshan: Hot in Kites, but Mujhse Dosti Karoge? Not quite.
Or Shahid Kapoor: Fida - fail. Kaminey - wouw!
Secondly, I feel there's a lack of sexy young actors. And thirdly, none of the actors are just really, really, incredibly sexy.

Except for Shah Rukh maybe - when he was younger. Nowadays, I must say that he has grown away from me. Not only in age, but also, I just don't find him quite attractive anymore, personally. I mean, yes, I can see he is attractive, but it just doesn't appeal to me anymore, in his newer films.

Whatever, here are the sexiest characters I've seen:

Siddhart in Rang De Basanti (didn't find a better picture, this one is kinda not-sexy, and he doesn't look like himself).

Vivek Oberoi in Saathiya - again, no better picture

Saif Ali Khan in Parineeta

Shah Rukh in Dil Se - now this is a good picture. Except it's an animation.

Wow, now I got going, I can think of so many. Anyways, I'll stop at this point - as I already said in the World Edition, we don't want Blogger to get cracked again.

9) Dream cast.
Tere sapnon kaa cast.


Shahrukh, Preity, Saif.
Oh, and Amitabh should've been in it - you do know what I'm talking about, don't you?

Yeah, I had to quote Atonement. And by that tell you that Kal Ho Naa Ho is my dream-casted film. Except for Amitabh (who's not in it).


10) Favorite actor pairing.
Sabse favorite jodi.

Forever and always Preity + Saif.

Why aren't they making films together anymore?

You were perfect together...















11) Favorite movie setting.
Sabse favorite setting.

No comment.

By the way; Yes, many NRI-films are good. But there are too many of the bad ones/ too many in general.

12) Favorite decade for movies.
Sabse favorite fillum kaa dashak.
Right now.
Which is similar too: Every decade.
I like all of it. Perhaps I don't watch all of it (yet), but every decade needs attention and appreciation.
Just remember, that it has all been "right now" once. And also remember, that "right now" will be "back then" sometime.

13) Chick flick or action movie?
Chick-flick yaa action movie?

I've only seen one good Indian chick-flick (Aisha), so without doubt, I'll go with Chulbul...













14) Hero, villain or anti-hero?
Hiiro, villain yaa aintay hero?
As much as I love, love, love villains, Bollywood often has its problem with them: many of them are either embarrassing to a villain-fan, or hilarious.

The hero is not any better: either embarrassing, or hilarious. Well, or boring.

So regarding this multi-faceted problem, I'm going to choose the aintay-hero, which is what Bollywood is best at (at the moment).

We'll never know if he was intended to be an aintay-hero, but he most certainly is: Shah Rukh in Darr.

15) Black and white or color?
Kaala-safed yaa rangiin?


To this, I can only write, what I already wrote in my World Edition:
As much as I love black and white, it's more of a "snack" to me. Something you need once in a while, but you couldn't live on it.

And that's the end of it.

Hope you had fun!

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.

PS: Some small Hindi-flaws have been corrected.

Fifteen Movie Questions Meme - World Edition

Jack L. made me notice this blog, hosting this blogging meme.

Instantly, I decided I'd do this, also because I do have time left today (I wrote yesterday, that I didn't).
But you know me, I have to make two versions of this; a world and an Indian one. I couldn't imagine doing it differently.

So here are my answers to the 15 Movie Questions Meme, World Edition.

1) Movie you love with a passion.

It has to be Dirty Dancing. I couldn't live without it. Of course, it's not the best film ever made, and it's not my favorite film of all time (I have several of those, couldn't choose one), but I can honestly and truly say, that I love this movie. With a passion.










2) Movie you vow to never watch.

That would probably be Jackass 3D. Sorry, but I'm not really into this s***-humor.

Many people I don't particularly like (and let's not talk about their taste of films), loved this film, which is another reason for me, not to watch it.

Otherwise, I think I'd see anything.











3) Movie that literally left you speechless

Atonement.

(This is supposed to be the "speechless" part).















4) Movie you always recommend.

I really don't have an answer to that question. The people I talk to about movies are so different - and how wouldn't they, if I'm talking about movies every day, to every person I can? So, logically, they have a very different taste for films, and I don't recommend one "special" film everyone likes to all of them.

I decided, therefore, to answer this question with the film that was recommended to me the last time:
Winter's Bone. I liked it very much.

5) Actor/actress you always watch, no matter how crappy the movie.

No one else, but Jackie Chan, would make me watch a film that has received the worst reviews ever. No matter how crappy the movie, it can never be genuine crap with him in it.

That doesn't mean I watch all of his films. But there are actually no actors or actresses outside of Bollywood, that I would try to watch all movies of.

More likely directors...










6) Actor/actress you don't get the appeal for.

Incredibly unsympathetic.

Not seen many of Gwyneth Paltrow's films - but that's not the reason why I don't like her.
















7) Actor/actress, living or dead, you'd love to meet.

My hero, Marlon Brando.

I think I've only seen three of his films, but that's enough to already be crazy about him.
















8) Sexiest actor/actress you've seen. (Picture required!)
This is a tie between James McAvoy, Robert Pattinson (yes, I do now, how typical and teeny-like that last one is, but I wanted to be totally honest) and James Franco.

He did have some weird roles, or roles that were looking weird, but that just makes me realize how hot he really is, when I watch one of his "better" roles. 

I heard Robbie is now officially a good actor? Whatever, I don't care if he is, I just care about his looks.

Sometimes I wonder, if he's gay... I mean, have you seen "Milk"? Well, I don't care anyhow.

And yes, I do realize they all resemble James Dean (except for James McAvoy). I was going to choose him as well, but there'd be an over-saturation of hotness here. And James'es.
We don't want Blogger to delete posts another time, do we?

Aaron Johnson was really hot too, once, but not anymore. And he married a 40 year old woman, so I don't like him anymore. I also didn't like his latest film.

9) Dream cast.

Mads Mikkelsen, Kate Winslet, Marlon Brando, Juliette Binoche.

10) Favorite actor pairing.

Going with the classic example for incredible on-screen-chemistry: Kate and Leo.

By the way, isn't that picture cute?

11) Favorite movie setting.

I like fantasy places (I think I did mention, that I'm a fantasy freak concerning books, didn't I? Not as much in movies, because a lot can go wrong here, but if they're good, I'm mad about fantasy movies.).

Avatar

The Lord of the Rings

Harry Potter

12) Favorite decade for movies.

No one in particular. I haven't watched tons of old films, but I don't really think they're all better than today, if I'm able to judge here. The best ones have been remembered and recommended a thousand times, but there must have been millions of bad ones as well, so I think it's been almost the same situation as today.

Of course, some people might still have their favorite decades, but I personally don't.

13) Chick flick or action movie?

Please don't ask me to choose between breakfast and dinner.

Action movies are mostly the better films, but I, as a girl, still need my chick-flicks in between.

14) Hero, villain or anti-hero?

I'm with the villains here. 

I do like my anti-heroes, and even heroes, but villains have always fascinated me, since I was little. 

Mostly, when we have to play theatre or make a short film in school, I'll play the villain. It just comes so naturally...

No, honestly, the dark, really really dark side of people is one of the most intriguing and interesting things to philosophize about, to me.

15) Black and white or color?

As much as I love black and white, it's more of a "snack" to me. Something you need once in a while, but you couldn't live on it. 

Wow, that was really fun. 

I'll be back with my Indian Edition, some time this weekend.

(And I have plenty of time because... we don't have school next week! Yeah!)

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.

The Weekual Thursday PP: Misspellings, guns n' boxes

Dear Blogger,

I think the best way to express my feelings is with this song:

After squeezing in the task of writing my weekual posty-post, between practicing for choir and for ballet, you deleted my post! You don't know what this means to me, right? You don't know, how little time I have at the moment, and that thursday is a very busy date (!!!) for katten/fanden/satan da, sgu!!!

All right, after swearing in Danish (I don't want this blog to be polluted by the vulgar English swear words), I can now take my time to write, what I already wrote on Thursday:

This Thursday (rhmr: Saturday), the Weekual Thursday PP is celebrating its 1-month-anniversary:

THE 4TH WEEKUAL THURSDAY PP

A sad aspect is, that I now don't have any time/ energy left, to participate in Madhuri Week with more than my current two posts. But I'm looking forward to tomorrow, when Gaja Gamini will list all contributing posts on her blog.

I also wanted to say, that yes, I have checked out some of the ratings for the three films releasing to... yesterday, but I haven't read any review yet, so my opinion is only half-influenced.

Whatever, let's take a look on Friday (the 13th, hehehe) 's releases, which include 3 new-coming directors' works:

Another bland-looking misspelling/ Amrita-ka-the-final-end

Most promising child-film for a long time

M & M's mixed with "Love, Sex aur Dhokha" - interesting...

The guns n' Nanas - awesome.

Love U... Mr. Kalakaar!

Director: S. Manasvi (debuting)

THEATRICAL TRAILER

It's such a shame that Amrita Rao is wasting her talent again and again. 

The trailer looks bland, uninteresting and unoriginal.

Not even the drawings are new - they look very Hum Tum to me, hai na?

In Katy Perry's "Ur So Gay", I could just look away from that misspelling, but I quite like the song - and I don't like the trailer from this film, so that's a different situation. At least they spelt Love right.

But has anyone got a English dictionary in Mumbai at all? 

Stanley ka Dabba

Director: Amole Gupte (debuting)

THEATRICAL TRAILER

It's only the Creative Director - but anyone from the Taare Zameen Par crew is someone I have confidence in for making a good child film.

Stanley ka Dabba looks fun, original and much better than "Zokkomon" (which I talked about in a previous edition).

The poster is kept simple, just as the trailer, and the combination of both make me want to hear more about "Stanley's lunch box".

Ragini MMS

Director: Pawan Kripalani (debuting)

THEATRICAL TRAILER

Looks a bit like "Paranormal Activity" to me, but I haven't seen that one yet, so I'm not the one to decide about how far it is inspired by the Hollywood Superhit.

All I can say is, that this seems to bear all potential to become the best Indian Horror flick by far - not that it's hard to do so, but it really looks promising.

I am personally a big fan of Horror films, even the bad ones - they're just so much fun! Oh, I love them, I just love them...

Perhaps, I'm even looking more forward to this one, than to Shagird...

Shagird

Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia (Haasil/ Charas)

THEATRICAL TRAILER

Considering the fact that Dhulia is releasing approximately 8 (!) films this year, I really hope he worked hard on each one, and that it was pure coincidence they all are released in the same year (you know, long production time etc.).

Just by listening to the melody in the trailer, I get excited for this film. 

Ah, can you feel the cold metal in your hand, can you sense the smell of dark humour mixed with the flavour of Delhi - and can you hear this Western-y soundtrack in your background?

I do.

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Let's hope that Blogger warns us next time they decide to burn off thousands of posts, and otherwise: be sure to check out Gaja Gamini's list of Madhuri-Week-posts tomorrow.
Oh, and to the Europeans amongst us: don't vote for Germany tonight - so embarrassing they chose the same singer as last year (and the song is not good at all).

Thanks for reading,
Mette M. K.