Bipasha and a lot of Nonsense ("Aa Dekhen Zara" Review)

I'm beginning to like the concept of writing a funpost and then a review and then always shifting between the two kinds - one of them takes advance of the more chaotic side of me, and afterwards I can focus on one single film, and what's most important: Write a lot about it.
I've written this review quite a long time ago, but I don't want to keep it back from you for that reason.  Most of all, many critics or review authors had a quite different opinion than mine on this film, and that's also why I'd like to share my own thoughts about it. And if there's something seeming awkward to you, let me tell you that this review was written at approximately 1AM...


AA DEKHEN ZARA (2009)

Title-Translation: "We will see" or "Come Let's See"

Director: Jehangir Surti

Autors: Sheershak Anand, Shantanu Ray Chhibber

Producer: Viki Rajani

Starring: Bipasha Basu, Neil Nitin Mukesh

Plot: Ray inherits a camera that shows the future of the thing that you take a picture of. At the beginning, Ray uses the camera to gain money and becomes a real bastard, but he's also in love with a girl, Simi, who wants him to be like he was before.

And there are, off course, other people wanting the camera for their own.

Written the 8th of August 2010
There are many things about "Aa Dekhen Zara" that really annoyed me. For example, let's take the rapid and numerous camera shifts, sometimes even shimmed by camera flashes - what's meant to be entertaining, rather alienates the audience. In addition, it's a little hard getting into the film at the beginning, because the leading man, Ray, is never really introduced. Truth be hold, we don't get to know much at all about him in the film.
I'm also not yet convinced by the actor, Neil Nitin Mukesh. He doesn't act horribly, but he truly could have done much more, and sometimes seems pretty cold and artificial. Bipasha Basu is, opposite to him, very good - I learn to appreciate this woman more and more! Also her role is sketched comparatively cursorily, but still, she manages to give it a minimum amount of deepness. By doing that, she also saves her male counterpart. There's no huge silver screen chemistry between the two of them, but they harmonize well, and some scenes are even somewhat sweet. By the way, the name of a sandwich in the film is also very sweet (don't remember it, though).

As I said: gratuitous

In other respects, I don't have much positive to say about the first half. Once more, Bipasha is forced to jump into a tiny disco outfit and sing & dance - the necessity of this is supported by her being a singer. Sounds like "Bachna Ae Haseeno" to me, no? However, the whole "scene" is gratuitous, the whole thing (Ray and Simi getting to know each other) could have been done differently. Ray's metamorphosis is also something that seemed very illogical to me - do you become an idiot just by becoming rich? This metamorphosis is also highlighted musically by a very high-class song, whose lyrics mostly consists of "Paisa" (= money), and which is indeed heard by Ray on full volume-up in his very expensive car. Yes, it is possible to exaggerate. Talking about the music: I don't like at all. Not in the film - and don't dare to think that I will listen to this in my leisure time. I do give some plus points for the background music, though. Well, not the score, but the music on the radio and in the shops - simple Hindi pop music, which adds a little authenticity to the whole scenario. Ray and Simi watching "Omkara" on DVD is also a tiny little bit amusing.
After a fair first half, the second one is actually a little exciting. We follow the leading actors on the escape through Thailand, and somehow are on the edges of our seats (well, I was, at least a little bit). We also meet a very botoxed female police officer - but I'm clueless about Indian civil servants, maybe they all look like that... And Bipasha may perform another absurd, unnecessary dance sequence. But that's half as bad as the first one, as it's much shorter. The end is also quite good (though, obviously, they were "inspired" by "Dhoom:2").

So in a nutshell, I don't seem find this movie as bad, as I ought to find it. For everyone just descrying their love for Bipasha, it is worth-a-watch. Certainly though, "Aa Dekhen Zara" doesn't reach the level of the real 2009 goodies.

Rating: 3.9

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.

5 cruddy statements I've heard about Bollywood

As a fan of Indian cinema, particularly Bollywood, I'm a lonesome soul in this town... All I ever hear about Bollywood ("Bollywood is the Indian film industry, right?"... Yeah, right, never heard of Tamil or Telugu films, have you? I won't even try with Marathi or Bengali), was R-U-B-B-I-S-H... Well, except for my sister and my best friend... They watch the movies sometimes, but that means like... not even once a month.
Actually, I've tried to talk another friend of mine into Bollywood - and I did succeed in some way, at least by convincing her that the Indian film industry is big and there's no universal thing you can say about it (or about Bollywood). I managed this by introducing her to "Luck By Chance", a film she loved, but it's not like she knows anything about Bollywood now. However, I don't hear any cruddy statements from her any longer. (If you want to know, what she said before, read statement nr. 3).

Have I mentioned I'm a big fan of lists? I think so...
Here's the list of the most cruddy statements I've heard about Bollywood, in no particular order:


1) "Are you sure that this is a Bollywood film? I've just been to India and whenever I turned on the TV or in the busses and stuff, they showed all that Bollywood and it was such junk!"
Where? At the (indie kind of) cinema in Flensburg (where I live), just before watching "Peepli Live".
Who? An (female) acquaintance of my mother, that we met in the cinema. She'd just been to India.
Why is this wrong? What do you see, when you turn on your TV at noon? Cinematic masterpieces, classics, milestones and artful or experimental films - or junk, that's not even worth being called a "film". And what do you see on a bus trip? Answer this question and you know, what I'm talking about.
Besides, what's Bollywood? I'd say, a film in Hindi language and/or produced in Mumbai.

2) "I'v seen every Bollywood film, because I had a friend from Malaysia, who was crazy about them - and I didn't like a single one."
Where? At school.
Who? A (female) friend of mine, who I really like, but she doesn't change her mind very often.
Why is this wrong? If there really is someone, who has seen every film of an industry (and I doubt there is), it's definitely not her. She's probably seen all those films that have been dubbed into German - and yes, they're not for everyone (it's mostly films like "K3G", "Mujhse Dosti Karoge", "Saathiya", "Main Hoon Na" etc - often good, but well, all quite similar, with many dance sequences and stuff). By the way, she watched "Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna" a few months later and had to admit, that she thought it was a very good and interesting movie. Despite the songs.

3) "I don't like Bollywood because of the singing and dancing."
Who? So many people, I've stopped counting them.
Why is this wrong? Go and watch "Black", "Kites" (ok, is this a BW... good question!), "My Name Is Khan", "99" and many others that I don't remember right now. After that, watch "West Side Story", "Moulin Rouge" and many others that I don't remember right now. You'll get the point.

4) "Bollywood is unrealistic."
Who? Even more people than at nr. 3.
Why is this wrong? Do you seriously want to know the answer? Really? Do you mean it? Sure? DUDE! Watch "Black Swan", "Lord of the Rings", "Star Trek", "Independence Day", "Shopaholic", "Slumdog Millionaire", "Sweeney Todd" and countless others and then tell me: Are some of the best movies not often unrealistic? Not that I'm generalizing anything. What I'm trying to say is just this: It doesn't matter, whether a film is more or less unrealistic or not. It has to catch you, entertain you, make you laugh or cry, make you think in new ways or make you forget everything... It has to be good, that's all.

5) "Bollywood is for poor, uneducated people in India"
Where/ Who? Posted by Anonymous on this blog post.
Why is this wrong? Would they earn enough money just by selling cinema tickets to poor people in India? Are all Indians poor and uneducated? Do the poor, uneducated people have DVD players, so that they can buy DVDs? Then why do they sell the DVDs?
Long pause, no answer.

Thanks for reading,

Angry Young Me

How I Fell In Love With the Bollywood 70's (Kabhi Kabhie Review)

Confused by the wide range of opinions on "Action Replayy" (this happened about a lot of other 2010 fillms, too), which was a film I thought would freshen up my curiosity for the world of the Bollywood 70's, I decided to jump into the cold water for real. I watched the two classics "Don" and "Sholay", an experience you can read about here... And as I found out, that I actually liked them, I watched "Kabhi Kabhie". You are the first ones to hear about this experience, too. Okay, I don't know anyone Bollywood-interested personally, so it's obvious, that you're the first ones.

KABHI KABHIE - LOVE IS LIFE (1976)

Director: Yash Chopra
Authors: Pamela Chopra, Sagar Sarhadi
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Waheeda Rehman, Raakhee Gulzar, Shashi Kapoor, Neetu Singh, Rishi Kapoor

Plot: The young poet Amit is in love with Pooja, but Pooja's parents arrange her marriage with architect Vijay. About 20 years after, the two meet again, and the next generation has to fight for their love.








Written the 15th of January 2011

This DVD has been laying around in my cupboard for almost one year now, courting for my favour with many other films. As I've mentioned previously, I've been quite lazy concerning old films. I could never pull myself together and watch those old classics, apart from "Mughal-E-Azam". Why, I don't even know the answer to that myself. Maybe because... old films are just something else, you need to yourself in the postition of the time and can't except a film that would have been made the same way today. However, I've already seen two old films since the beginning of the year, including this one. I do like it. It's not like I never watch old films (I've especially seen many Danish ones), but the list of Indian ones still leaves room for improvement (okay, the English and German ones too). Per contra to the other two films I've seen (remind: Sholay and Don), "Kabhi Kabhie" is no born-and-bred cult film idolized by everyone, but it is definitely a special film. Firstly, it starts quite unusual, very calm and quiet. We are introduced to the love story of Amit and Pooja, peppered with sweet dialogues and lots of poetry. Then we see a wedding song, in which, at the beginning, only Pooja appears - by the way, it is very well-filmed. The bridegoom arrives, he pulls up his veil, and... shock: It's not Amit! Amit(abh), who has put a spell on us from the very beginning, with all his poetry. Something, that not many actors succeed in, during the first few minutes of a film. Even less actors would succeed in actually allegorizing the, now on principle hated, bridegoom in a sympathetic way. Kudos to Shashi Kapoor, who I experienced for the first time (though his laugh reminded me of the bad guy in Sholay). I also liked Raakhee from the very first moment I saw her, she looks very healthy and beams down a motherly warmth. The chemistry is right, between her and Amitabh, as well as between her and Shashi... Effectively, in the second half, Shashi and Raakhee seem to be the couple having most fun together. Vicky and Pinky, played by Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, are also a cute couple, while I instantly liked Rishi, but had to get used to Neetu at the beginning. Talking about getting used to something: I'm shocked by realizing, how much I've gotten used to the ideals of beauty we have nowadays, though I never thought about it this way. I realized it, when I thought, that Neetu and Raakhee were kind of... chubby. But then my alarm bells rang, thank god! My mind is so manipulated by all those human clothes rails, which are dominating our media.

Amit and Pooja

Talking about clothes rails: Amitabh wears some really cute, cuddly sweaters, that I absolutely want to own... (Beth wrote a post on this, but I can't find it right now). Back to the review. I really liked the camera setting of this film, it was whether too brash, nor too boring. Just at two moments, it seemed unprofessional too me, because they used the "shifting-between-to-faces-1000-times" technique. Otherwise, the scene changes were quite good, mostly rather subtle, but sometimes also with the good old impact.

Funny was, that Amit didn't look like his father at all, in contrast to Vicky, whose father was played by his real-life uncle. In addition, I liked the scene, where Vicky's father tries to catch Pinky's mother, and the two fiancés look at each other and vanish silently. Yes, the film has humor, why else should Vicky ask his horse: "Eritéz mon ami, yaar?"?

Actually, there was just one thing annoying me: Sweety, alias Naseem. She was just disruptive and beyond all bearing. By the way, I just IMDB-ed her, and this was the only film she acted in. Good decision!

"Kabhi Kabhie" is indeed quite long, but I've gotten used to that now, that's just how it is with old films. Though also many new films suffer from this - if they're poor. Because this is the secret advise for a long film, that's able to entertain: It has to be interesting. To the makers of "Shakti", "Sehar" etc. - remember this.

Rating: 7.2

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.

Review: "The President Is Coming" (Satire-Goody)

THE PRESIDENT IS COMING (2009)


Director: Kunaal Roy Kapur
Author: Anuvab Pal
Starring: Konkona Sen Sharma, Shernaz Patel, Shivani Tanksale, Anand Tiwari, Namit Das, Vivek Gomber, Satchit Puranik, Ira Dubey, Imran Rashid, Paul Knox

Plot: It's the year of 2006, a special year - president of the USA, George Bush, will visit India, and one young, talented Indian is going to shake hands with him. Six candidates are chosen with the help of television, but only one can win... Who will be the chosen one: language coach Rohit, cosmetic Archana, social worker Ajay, writer Maya, rich guy Dev or software-nerd Ramesh?








Written the 29th of August 2010
When I had just seen “3 Idiots”, I somehow got used to the thought, that the Indian comedy was slowly going to evolve into something that's actually funny. I had to make up my mind again, when I watched this flick a few days later. “The President Is Coming” is by far the most funny Indian film, I've ever met. It is even considerably funnier than many of the western comedies known by me. In the beginning, it is a little confusing, that the film is described as a “documentary”. But very soon, you realize, that it's a fake documentary with a few real TV-scenes from the archive. The directing is quite unusual and fresh; many of the camera settings make you think of “Big Brother” or “Mitten im Leben” (German reality-TV) – formats that are wonderfully parroted in this film. The cast is perfectly picked and all of the actors really get into their roles (it must have so much fun filming this!). Konkona Sen Sharma is the only real “star”, but her presence does not at all keep the spotlight away from the other performers. It is kind of hard to describe this movie, or to say, what exactly is so funny about it, without ruining everything for you... America, globalization, homosexuality etc. - the film shows what's important in India at the moment, but also what's being not-said. A scene where I just freaked out, was when a TV show, called “Build-Yourself-A-Bush”, was shown. And that's how it goes on and on. Everything and everyone is being made fun of – but also in a loveable kind of way. I slowly got sympathized by the traditional macho type, and at the end even by the horrible, psychotic group leader.

"The President Is Coming” is a modern Indian satire, a first-class one.
Intellectual, but not too much, so that it can still be commercial, but miles away from the 0/8/15 comedies á la Akshay Kumar. (Whom I do like, but he often picks the wrong movies).
A little satirical masterpiece!

Rating: 7.9

Thank you for reading my review,

Mette M. K.

Holiday is what I want... (+ Fav. Movie Holidays)

My christmas holidays have just ended, and now it's back to school & homework. I know, that many of you have already been working since 1st of january, and I'm very sorry for you. You must feel even worse than I do. Or maybe not... My friends and I had a discussion going on today, at school, on whether it's better working or going to school. We came to the conclusion, that school is fun because of the friends you see daily, and the good teachers, but it's also not that fun, because of many teachers that are annoying and do a bad job, and because of the fact, that we actually have to work sooo long. Not only school - afterwards, there's homework and projects and etc. etc.
Now that the holidays have ended, I came to think about holidays in the movies... Thinking about that, I realized, there aren't too many movies including holidays. Anyways, I made a list of my favorite "filmi holidays". And here it is (no special order):

DHOOM: 2 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

We were already at the beach of Goa (?) in Dhoom, but as is well-known, Dhoom:2 mainly used its budget for sparkling stars, special-effects and... location!

Men and women with colorful (and not many) clothes, beach-feeling, glowing skin, latino-music... Oh yes, this is holiday-feeling. Add some Hrithik, Aishwarya, Abhishek and optionally Uday, and you have the perfect entertainer (no convincing skript needed).

Dhoom:2 may be totally exaggerated, unnecessary and meaningless, but it's fun (also because of the locations).

CHALTE  CHALTE - Mykonos, Greece

"Suno Na Suno Na, Sunlo Naaaaa....". I even had this DVD twice, but I sold one of them on ebay. A must-see for everyone, Rani's Big Break... got it.

I've never been to Greece, but my parents have, and they loved it. It looks a little like Malta, which is one of my favorite holiday destinations...

Would love to go there one time.


ANJAANA ANJAANI - Las Vegas/NYC/Desert 

Not one of my favorite films (read more about why), but I must admit that it was filmed on great locations... I really like the USA, because its such a large and complex country, but I've only been to Florida.

NYC is a place that I really want to visit one time, as well as Vegas. Funny is, that I actually watched "Hangover" just after watching this one.
The desert scenes were well-filmed, too.

DDLJ - Switzerland

Switzerland, die Schweiz, one of our neighbor countries... Never been there. Might be because its near, but not really near. You know what I mean? It's like, I've never been to Holland, either. No one of my family wants to go there, so... I'll have to wait, until I'm grown up.

Switzerland has been a holiday location in many, many Bollywoodfilms. I've once read, the reason might be, that Switzerland looks a lot like Kashmir, but you can't really go to Kashmir, because there's so much war.

However, a destination that I would like to visit one time (Switzerland and Kashmir).

DIL CHAHTA HAI - Goa, India

The " Dil Chahta Hai fort" has become quite famous after the success of the movie, and you can see some tourists posing on the pictures here.

Goa is not the only place I want to visit in India - I want to travel everywhere in that country. Mumbai, Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal... And I'd also like to see that fort!

Goa has been used as a location in several other films, for example "Aisha" and I think also "Dhoom".

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These are, off course, just a few of my favorite movie holiday destionations... If you can think of some, just tell me.

Buy the way, how's operation "AFAD" (a film a day) going? Well, good, but I didn't find the time for seeing one today. However, I bought a really expensive DVD today, the Jodhaa Akbar Special Edition for 22EUR! I don't usually buy such expensive DVDs, but I had a gift card, so whatever... Looking forward to see this one, but I have about 6 more DVDs waiting.
By the end of each month, I'm going to write one or two sentences about the films I've seen.

Kaal - Jungle, India
Wild tigers, snakes and ghosts... My worst nightmare absolutely favorite Bollywood holiday destination!

Thanks for reading,
Mette M. K.