Introduction to Hindi Parallel Cinema

Including mini-reviews of 

BHEJA FRY (2007) and MIXED DOUBLES (2006)

 

When thinking of Hindi films, your thoughts immediately turn to the films that could be classified as mainstream Bollywood, even though many of them are good films. Mainstream is not a bad label, it is nothing the more intellectual viewer should be afraid of watching or "being caught" watching.

But one should always be aware of the parallel and independent cinema, which also exists as a part of the Hindi film industry, as in every other film industry I'm familiar with. The difference between mainstream and independent Hindi cinema is actually very small; basically, the independent cinema films have a very small budget, and you can sense that they're made for a special audience. Off course, most directors and producers would like to earn money with their films, mainstream or not, but the the mainstream cinema tries to appeal to the biggest audience possible. Meanwhile, independent films know they have a rather narrow amount of viewers, but for them, the most important thing is just a few people liking and thinking about their films.

The Hindi independent cinema has its roots way back in the time of silent black and white, when the well-known director V. Shantaram released his Sawkari Pash in 1925. The film is about a poor peasant, who looses all his money and is therefore forced to try his luck in a big city. (Source). I have not seen this film, as I'm not that familiar with Indian films before the 60s, but it sounds like being worth a watch.

Guru Dutt and Satyajit Ray are remembered as pioneers of Indian independent cinema in the 50s and 60s, especially Satyajit Ray's films are also famous in the Western hemisphere. Guru Dutt's Pyaasa (1957) was featured in the TIME Magazine's 100-movie list of "All Time's Best Movies". Again, I must disappoint you by not having seen the independent works of that era, but I will live up to that as soon as possible. However, it was only in the 70s and 80s, that the Indian Parallel Cinema reached a larger amount of viewers, also in India, and some of the contributors were Gulzar (which most of you probably know as lyricist of many well-known soundtracks, for instance this year's 7 Khoon Maaf), Shyam Benegal (still making critically acclaimed films today) and Mahesh Bhatt, who especially made some famous thrillers like Jism, and is the co-owner of production house Vishesh films.

This was also a time for many new talents to be discovered in Parallel Cinema, like Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and Om Puri. Rekha and Hema Malini also took a chance to work in some Independent films, which had been rather unusual for popular actresses before. Today, it is a more commonly seen phenomena. 

Meanwhile, the movement (at that point called "Indian New Wave") dispread to various regional film centers, such as the Tamil and Telugu film industries, and the Malayalam film industry even experienced a so called "Golden Age" with its contribution to the Indian New Wave. As I've only watched three regional Indian films, this is obviously not my field of expertise, but my plan is to investigate this era and movement further.

Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1989)

After those years of joy and exhilaration for Art-house, Independent and Parallel Cinema, came the 90s. If you've ever seen a Bollywood 90s film (honestly, who hasn't, except for some of my non-BW-bloggers or readers maybe), you know that this was a time far from experimentation or cinematic independence. The romantic comedy Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, released in 1989, was a guideline the largest part of films released in that decade. It was a blockbuster, and the two main actors Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla became famous over night. The story line was based on stories like Romeo and Juliet, but however, it still brought some fresh air into the mainstream Hindi films. But because of its giant success, film makers orientated themselves by this film, producing thousands of cheesy, overlong, incredibly colourful and fashionably horrible films that overshadowed the independent productions. Off course, this is generalizing, and there were also good and unusual films in the 90s. While Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is not what I'd call Art-house, it's a great film that I could watch over and over again, just like Darr or Baazigar were entertaining thrillers (Darr was a tad better). Speaking about those films, you made have noticed they're all starring Shahrukh - the 90s were the times of his big breakthrough, and he starred in a lot of crappy nonsense, but also in some of my favorite films. One of them was actually what comes very near to Independent Cinema, personally I consider it to be so, and one of my all-time favorites: Dil Se, which if you haven't seen yet, you must see immediately.

Vikram Bhatt's Ghulam, released 1998 and produced by Mukesh Bhatt, is also known for focusing on social aspects and problems, and I would also recommend it - if you can stand the seas of blood, and the fact that Rani's loved, smoky voice was dubbed, for whatever reason. Deepa Mehta also directed to famous pieces of Independent cinema in the 90s, which I have already written about here - the boundary-breaking film about two lesbian sisters-in-law, Fire, and the Indian-independence-investigating acclaimed Earth.

Another reason for the lack of Parallel Cinema in the 90s, was the big influence the Indian mafia had on Bollywood at that time. It was hard to find sponsors for controversial films, because the mafia basically was the sponsor of Bollywood back then.

With the millennium change though, Hindi Parallel Cinema slowly regained its strength and is again recognized as an important part of Bollywood, and I think the future looks bright for these films.

There are various labels for these films nowadays, as the border between Mainstream and Parallel Cinema is also beginning to smudge. Yuva, Omkara, Bas Ek Pal, Dev.D and also last year's Tere Bin Laden are examples for films that had success and are often described as "Off-Beat Films". Within the 2000's, another new label/ genre has evolved in Bollywood: Mumbai Noir. The term has already been used in the late 1990's, known as films that revolve around the Indian mafia based in the underworld of Mumbai. Pioneer of this genre is known to be Raj Kapoor, who already in the 50s made films concerning this particular subject. Nowadays, it is Ram Gopal Verma who seems be a leader in this genre, though some of his newer films turned out to be more or less disasters. However, his latest project, Rakht Charitra, which has been filmed in two parts, has gained much success and also good critical response. I've seen the first part only, and I think that RGV is back in his best shape, which is delighting. But Mumbai Noir is today also used as a label for urban-set films that deal with social problems in the city of Mumbai, such as this year's Dhobi Ghat - Mumbai Diaries by Kiran Rao, which I'm dying to see. Another trend inside Hindi Parallel Cinema is films spoken in Indian English, which might be useful for attracting an international audience. Deepa Mehta was one of the first ones to take advantage from this, in 1996's Fire. Also, like in various Independent cinemas all over the world, Hindi parallel cinema is often based on literature, western or Indian. Omkara, for instance, was based on Shakespeare's Othello. 

Independent and critical Coming-of-Age films are also up-and-coming, last year's Udaan being a good example. It was even nominated, and won, several Indian awards, which is actually uncommon, as the awards tend to focus on Blockbusters and big names (not what awards are supposed to be about, I think).

I'd like to finish this article off with my mini-reviews of two often discussed Independent Cinema films, which by the way can be viewed free and legally on bigflix.com - though I'm sad to tell you, that only Bheja Fry has English subtitles. Bigflix seems to offer various films of Hindi Parallel Cinema, which is something I really appreciate, and will definitely take advantage of in the future. 

BHEJA FRY (2007) Sagar Ballary

Plot: Rich music producer Ranjeet and his friends meet every friday for a special dinner, where everyone has to bring at least one "idiot", which they all find quite amusing. For one of those dinners, Ranjeet plans on bringing Bharat Bhushan, a tax-office-worker, who thinks he's the best singer in the world. When Ranjeet invites Bharat to come to his house before the dinner, the madness begins...

According to Wikipedia, "Bheja Fry"-director Sagar Ballary is planning to produce a sequel of the film this year, this time with a larger budget and an international setting (Malaysia). Therefore, it was high time for me, to watch the original film. 

You immediately notice, that "Bheja Fry" is a low-budget-production, but in a positive way. The makers wanted to produce an independent and unusual film (even though it's based on the French "Le Diner de Cons"). Especially the 1,5 hours of play time are almost revolutionary (even though there are films as short as this one, it's still not very common). If you're used to films with at least 2 hours of play time (normal is 2,5), this shortness can be quite refreshing. I don't mean to say, that long films are bad, but a equation of longer and shorter films would be desirable. With shorter films, however, the danger of being amusing only, is very big, and "Bheja Fry" does suffer from this at times. It's also a little disappointing, that even though one smiles almost end-to-end, there's no way we're talking about real hysterics or grand joviality. For that, the jokes are just to foreseeable and half-baked, though in a charming kind of way. Rajat Kapoor is an actor, from whom I haven't heard or seen to much until now, but also nothing negative yet. He plays the role of the rich anti-hero very well, though maybe a little bit too understated. Vinay Pathak, who's supposed to portray the "idiot", seems very familiar to me, and one gaze at his filmography tells me why, but funnily, I cannot remember a single one of his roles. In this film, however, he delivers a brilliant performance and masters the difficult tightrope walk between slapstick and good humour. 

I don't know anything about the director, Sagar Ballary, except for my little pearl "Mixed Doubles", in which he was Associate Director. But I'm excited for a sequel, even though a little skeptical because of the increased budget and "international setting". 

Rating: 6.7

MIXED DOUBLES (2006) Rajat Kapoor

Plot: To heaten up his 10 year old marriage, shy office-worker Ranvir asks his wife Malti to take part in a thing called "wife-swapping", where they'd swap their partners for one night. After a couple of discussions and fights, Malti finally agrees, without being really sure about this decision...

The name of my latest obsession is: Rajat Kapoor. After seeing "Bheja Fry", I discovered his work as a director in "Mixed Doubles", which I had only heard about in an interview with Konkona Sen Sharma, and a couple of reviews.

The film is a low-budget and independent-production, just like "Bheja Fry", but in contrary to last one, it was not at all successful at the box-office ("Bheja Fry" turned out as a surprise-hit). All the same, I find "Mixed Doubles" a lot better than the hit, because it's not only more recondite, but de facto even funnier. It is that subtile humour, which is not only caused by Rajat Kapoor, but also the rest of the cast (except for Koel Purie, she was good, but not that funny).

The second actor that I had already noticed in "Bheja Fry" (negatively), is Ranvir Shorey. He truly demonstrates talent in his portrayal of the shy, but at the same time nagging and somehow sweet husband. Most of you might know, that I admire Konkona Sen Sharma. She's not only one of the best actresses of India, but of the entire current film world (and I'm not overdrawing). By the way, I was very disappointed by her 3-minute role in 7 Khoon Maaf. She deserves so much better.

What I especially liked about the first half was, that everything seemed so incredibly realistic: the interplay between the young, but long-married couple, the small apartment, that every-day-life, which seems so familiar, even though it's actually unknown (I hope you know what I mean). 

Perhaps this was also due to the fact that there were no parents-in-law living in the apartment, which is otherwise very common even for Indian middle class and rich families.

The second half is slightly different, as most of it takes place in the apartment of that other couple and also in a situation, that most of us are not familiar with (especially not teens like me). 

But still, one can relate to the characters, and the second half is really fun.

Actually, I could imagine what was going to happen at the end, but it was still nice to see my thought confirmed.

With its 1,5 hours play time like "Bheja Fry", "Mixed Doubles" serves airy and entertaining reflectiveness off the beaten track, and all that without side-effects.

Rating: 8.0

...............................................................

I don't yet know, if I'm going to have internet or even time to write during my internship, so this might be the last post for the next two weeks. I hope you enjoyed reading, at least I had writing, and please wish me luck (and maybe watch some Hindi Parallel Cinema while I'm gone). 

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.

Mission "AFAD" - March 2011

In a way, it's funny that the amount of films I watch each month has grown smaller in every post I've done until now. On the other hand, it's not that funny, because off course, I'd like to fulfill my mission, which would make about 31 films per month. 21 out of 31... It's okay, but not perfect.

21 fillums....

But you know, I was on a class trip this month, and I had to write an important book project for school as well. So that might be an excuse.

I also made a little improvement on this project, namely I'll cut writing the date, when I watched the film.

The films will still be in the order of when I watched them, but I don't think you're interested in the exact date - also, it's a bit irritating when reading, at least that's my opinion.

Striker (2010) India, Hindi

First view. It's striking (haha), that I didn't watch this film before, as it's available on youtube for free (legally, I mean), and the youtube-release even was parallel to the cinema release. The film, however, turned out to be one of those films you want to like, and you know many people are going to like, but you just don't. 

Siddhart performed as fantastic as in RDB, but I liked his look in the last one much better; he was a little less muscular there, and his hair was shorter. Almost falling asleep during the (frequent) carrom-scenes, wasn't helping me like it either. I mean, it's a great idea and "special offer", the camera was really good... But nothing for me. I don't even really remember the second half.

Terminator Salvation (2009) USA & more, English

First view. Spent a weekend with my Danish guest family to celebrate my birthday, and as always, we ended up watching an action flick - entertaining, (often) exciting and not too complicated. I don't know, how many terminator films they've actually made, I know I've seen one with Arnie... Whatever. Well, you know what you can expect, and if you know that, this film is actually action-flicky satisfying. 

Not that I'd have watched it otherwise... But did I mention I really like Sam Worthington? Like, in action flicks? An action flick with him never fails - he's some kind of new Arnie. Just a bit different.

Black Friday (2004, but was released several years later in India) India, Hindi

First view. Good camera, good plot... But boringly made. You knew what was going to happen, because you saw it in the beginning already, also too many side plots.

I did like the idea, and also the braveness of the director for making a film about this, though.

Babettes Gæstebud ("Babette's Feast") (1985) Denmark, Danish & Swedish

First view. Oh, how I love Danish films. And old films. And old Danish films. If you've ever seen a Danish classic, you know what I mean (at least I think so - I don't really know, what "outsiders" meaning not Danish people think about their film industry). The Danish director Susanne Bier just won an Oscar for "Hævnen" - which I absolutely must see - and when I walked around the Danish library of Sydslesvig (district where I live, which has shifted being Danish and German in history), this film popped up in front of me. I only read "Oscar", and had to rent it, then. It's a rather quiet film, but with this awesome sense of humour, that I love about Denmark and the Danes, and with a story so heartwarming, that you almost have to wipe a tear of your eye after finishing it.

Arundhati (2009) India, Telugu

First view. What I think has already been expressed deeply in my review, so if you have a few more minutes, I recommend reading it. In a nutshell: Good film.

Match Point (2005) UK, English

First view. What a film - what a film! (I know, F. Scott Fitzgerald told us to "cut those exclamation marks", but I couldn't help it). "Match Point" was only the second work of hyped director Woody Allen I watched, and in contrary to "Vicky Christina Barcelona", this indeed is a master piece of cinema. By the way, I forgot how hard it is to write about incredibly great films. Music and picture are combined in a way I haven't seen before, the story exposes human desires in a yet subtle way and don't let me start about the actors. 

Chokher Bali (2003) India, Bengali

First View. Good that the DVD had subtitles - I just realized it was filmed in Bengali. That would explain, why I didn't understand everything. Actually, I did think it had a Bengali-cinema-touch to it... off course I knew, that it was based on a Bengali novel, though. Hm, seems like Bengali is very similar to Hindi, as I did understand a lot... Interesting. The film itself is, well, very Bengali; slow-paced, quiet and very, very subtle. Personally, I liked it. Aishwarya Rai and Raima Sen are to fantastic actresses, and Rituparno Ghosh is also one of the directors I admire (though this was only my second film of his, first one was Raincoat). If you like the style I mentioned, you should give this film a try.

Milk (2009) USA, English

First view. If you'd ask me, why I watched this film, I could imagine so many intelligent answers, but I must admit that the only reason I rented it (from the Danish library), was James Franco. So, starting with him: his hair cut wasn't the cutest, but he assured me that he's a good actor, and not only a cutie I met by incident, just because he starred in a Danny Boyle-Rahman film. Only thing that frightens me a little is, that his performance of a gay person was really convincing. But also the film itself is good, very good. 

My Name Is Khan (2010) India, Hindi

Second view. Why do those DVDs I get as a present or buy myself, always lay in my shelf for at least one month? I got MNIK as a christmas present, and only now, I managed to watch it - together with my Mum and sister. It was also the first time I watched the director's cut, but I think I like the cinema version a little more. It was less filmy. 

Billu Barber (2009) India, Hindi

First view. After thinking this thought I mentioned, when watching MNIK, I pushed myself a little and watched the three DVDs I bought for a gift card from my uncle and aunt - Billu Barber, Dostana and Salaam-E-Ishq. This one was a good take on how to combine regional setting and conflict/ story with some filmyness and also making it a mainstream-film, actually. I liked it, not because of SRK (not his best performance), but because of Irrfan (for non-BW-ers: the cop from "Slumdog Millionaire").

Azaad (2000) India, Hindi

First view.  I'm warning you: Do not watch this film. If you see it on a flee market, walk by. Don't buy it. If you still do so, you're probably just as Bollywood (and film) addicted, as I am. The DVD even looked really bad, I think the only reason I bought it was Shilpa Shetty. She's not even in the film for a long time. Well, no more details, just don't watch this boring, 3 1/2 hours old chewing gum.

The Truman Show (1998) USA, English

I only watched the end, but my mother told me what it's about and I really need to see the whole of it.

Dostana (2008) India, Hindi

First view. Putting this in the DVD-player, I was awaiting some nice flowing-by entertainment for about 2 hours, so I'd never thought it was that hilarious. John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan really are the Jodi No. 1 in Bollywood - and by the way, this is the first time I noticed this side of Abhishek. He was the most convincing of the two.

Mehndi (1998) India, Hindi

First view. A new mission of mine is, to watch a film of my favorite directors/ actors etc. whenever it's their birthday, and I started with Rani. As I've already seen her latest motion picture, I wanted to check out her debut "Biyer Phool", but apparently, it has somehow "vanished". Next one was also unfindable, I already knew "Ghulam" and KKHH, so that left "Mehndi" for me. If you want some of that rocking-Rani, just younger, less experienced and in a not-so-good production, watch it. The story is actually rather interesting, and at least full of Girl-Power. I wouldn't watch it another time, though.

Inside Man (2006) USA, English

First view. My submission for the LAMBS in the Director's Chair-event featuring Spike Lee. Read my review here. 

Salaam-E-Ishq (2007) India, Hindi

First view. I liked it better than I thought I would, many people not liking it, though off course, it never came near the f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s "Kal Ho Naa Ho". Biggest fault was the length. And Sohail Khan.

Raja Hindustani (1996) India, Hindi

First view. E-Bay is such a nice invention. You can buy DVDs for 1,40 EUR. Okay: Aamir Khan was the star of this film, and I wouldn't have liked it without him. But he's in it, and Karishma Kapoor was also all right, so I could really indulge in a heavenly demonstration of 90's Bollywood, including horrible fashion, loud and shrill songs / Karishma-voices, dishoom dishoom and Switzerland. Oh no, I mean Palankhet.

7 Khoon Maaf (2011) India, Hindi

First view. Did I write somewhere, that NOKJ was the best of 2011's Bollywood until now? I changed my mind now, "7 Khoon Maaf" takes the lead for incredible usage of daaaaark humour.

Priyanka gets better and better every time I see her (this month I even watched three films starring her), and when I watched "Krrish" about 4 years ago, I never pictured her in a film like this (though I was only 12 then, I did think about stuff like this). And who does not catch him/herself singing "Daaaaarrrling" during the first Russian-Indian song-mix I've heard until now? 

"Daaaarling, dadadam, dadadam dadadam...".

The Last Song (2010) USA, English

First view. I have a sister. Who... is very interested in Disney films and those stars and you know... She has a big collection of all those movies, and I can tell you: High School Musical outshines its sequels by far, though the second one was ok as well. Zac became to muscular in the third film, so that's why...

Okay, you're probably not interested in that. However, I think that Miley Cyrus is a good actress objectively (and that has nothing to do with me watching "Hannah Montana" when I was smaller - by the way, don't you think the series is not as good as it was once?...). (Clearing throat). Where was I? Yeah, the film is very sad, and maybe a little predictable, but so many movies are predictable. Is that always wrong? Everyone knew the Titanic was going to sink, so basically, it's the way that matters. And "The Last Song" is not as bad as it sounds, starring Miley Cyrus and being based on a Nicolas Sparks novel (haven't read any of his books).

Saudagar (1991) India, Hindi

First view. I'm planning on writing a big article/ kind of love-hate letter about 90's Bollywood, which is partly why I watched "Saudagar". The other two reasons: 1) It's Manisha Koirala's Bollywood debut film (and I miss her...), 2) It's available on bigflix.com - free and legally. And 2 1/2) It's by Subhash Ghai. Not my favorite director, but he did make "Taal".

Anyways, even if you love Dilip Kumar or Raaj Kumar, this is not the biggest must-see. It's actually rather boring and long-drawn. But it's also very 90's, so... love-hate.

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PS: I'm going to Hamburg on Sunday for a 2-week internship at a hat maker, and I'm really excited. We have to do an internship from school, and I think it's a great idea. Not only is the hat maker situated in a beautiful old mall (see picture above), and also an interesting craft, but also: Hamburg is the 7th largest city in the EU, the 2nd largest in Germany, really beautiful (and big, I love big cities), and also full of shopping possibilities, cinemas (where they show more than just the mainstream flicks at our cinema) and Indian shops (YEAH). Meaning I can walk around in a beautiful city (maybe with a Starbucks in my hand, just really cool [we don't have a Starbucks where I live]), maybe buy some beautiful clothes and off course buy some (or many) Indian DVDs. 

I'm also a little scared, but never mind. And maybe hysterical. I... won't bother you any more with these thoughts and my personal life.

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.

Stylish Blogger Award

Only (really) blogging for about 4 months now, I'm feel very proud and honoured by receiving this special award, which Jack L. passed to me. Once more: thank you so much, Jack.

The special thing about this award is, that the receiver must name 7 facts about him-/herself, and then pass it of to seven bloggers, that he/she admires (seems like 7 is a really special number - thinking about "7 Khoon Maaf", for example). At least that's what it says in Jack's post (I hadn't heard about the award before, and I don't even know, where it "came" from).

To start with, 7 facts about myself:

1. I have only two real movie pictures in my rooms. At my father's, it's a poster of Band Baaja Baaraat (which I haven't seen yet, by the way), and also a picture of Marilyn Monroe in that white dress, but I don't think that counts. At my mother's, there's a tiny postcard with the movie poster of Rebel Without a Cause, which I think I've seen when I was little... Oh, and then there's the big black/white pop art poster with pictures of different actors from the late Hollywood era.
2. I'm not only a film buff, but also crazy about books. Well, not only books, but everything readable. If there's nothing to read but a bad-looking book or magazine, I'll read it. I can't go from a flee market without buying a book (or a movie, for that matter), at least most of the time. There are about 16 unread books on my book shelves, because I just need to buy them when I'm in an Antic shop or something similar. And I don't want to count the rags of magazines that are laying around in the cupboards. Some of my books don't even stand on shelves, they're just stacked in some corners.
3.  My favorite TV shows are Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mother and the fabulous, award-winning Türkisch für Anfänger ("Turkish for Beginners", read more). I don't watch them on television, though, except for DH... And the only one I've seen all episodes of is the last one, which I have on DVD - all three seasons. Sadly, it's ended now, but I can re-watch it a 1000 times with my sister and/or best-friend: It's GENIOUS.
4. I don't know what I want to be, or where I want to be, after I finish High-School in 3 1/2 years. I know that I'm going to study, and I know that I'm going to be in a large city, but where and what... I don't know. Some of my child/teenage job dreams include: marine biologist, astronaut, dancer, actress, director, fashion journalist, journalist, lawyer, dentist, designer, language-something and more.
5. Not that I want to bullshit or something, it's just that this might interest you or whatever: I've always been the best in my class. I was being offered to skip one class two times, also last year. I decided to stay with my class and friends though, but I think they're a little jealous and maybe "sad", whenever we get a test or our grades. My favorite subjects are German, History, Geography and English, but I'm really into politics, and it's sad we don't have a subject like that yet. 
6. Just as with movies, I don't prefer any certain genres in music... Well, apart from Soundtracks: There are so many different songs and genres in Soundtracks, and often songs are not composed for the films itself... I just love how music and picture is combined so beautifully in many films. That's why there is a lot of film music on my iPod (the nano 5g, red). Only thing I absolutely hate regarding music is this sleek, auto-tuned disco-pop, which is the most frequent played on our radio stations here. Most played songs on iTunes: Suno Aisha (movie "Aisha), Wouldn't it be Nice (The Beach Boys, but also featured in "50 First Dates"), Selfmachine and Spirit Golden (I Blame Coco), 80 Years (Dúné), Khwaja Mere Khwaja (movie "Jodhaa-Akbar"), Never Hear Surf Music Again (127 Hours) and that's it for you folks. I won't reveal more... Oh, other than my newest obsession: Opera, namely since I watched Match Point. I fell in love with the song "Mi Par D'Udir Ancora"... And this: though I dance Ballet, I do like classic music, but it's not my favorite or something.
7. Parties are up and coming within my social environment, now that we all turned 16 and so on... I think it can be fun, really, with good friends, just dancing (even though the music is not the best, obviously), but it's nothing I want to do every weekend. Also, alcohol is fine with me, though I don't really like it, but I think many people my age (also friends of mine) cross the line sometimes. They just want to be mature and prove they're old enough to make own decisions and stuff. It's the same with sex. I'd never planned on writing about sex on this blog, but why not - someone needs to say this: It's too early for many of them, and they don't prove anything by doing it. But they'll never realize, I just hope that not everyone is that stupid...

So, that was a lot about myself, but nothing that I wouldn't say in public, nothing that I would hide from anyone, and that's why I'm not scared of saying it online.

And finally, these are the bloggers that I hand this award out to:
Amaluu - http://bollystalgia.blogspot.com/
Beth - http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/
Dolce and Namak (split personality) - http://dolcenamak.blogspot.com/
Gaja Gamini - http://bollywood-ish.blogspot.com/
Louella - http://masalawbigosie.blogspot.com/
Ness - http://shahrukhislove.blogspot.com/
The Movie Snob - http://www.themoviesnob.net/

I know there are many other talented writers out there, I follow many of them, but these are the ones I think deserve this award the most. I'm aware of the fact that six of them are Bollywood blogs, but I think this part of the film blogger community needs something like this, and these are really good blogs.

Congratulations to all of you.

Mette M. K.

Spike Lee feat. Rahman

Recently (maybe a month ago, or so), I have officially become a member of LAMB (The Large Association of Movie Blogs). The idea of communities like that is something I appreciate very much, because that's what the internet really is: a community, society - made of smaller communities and societies. 
There are different "events" in the LAMB, and it says on the site, that they really like, when members participate in those events. I don't think the possibility that one of those events will revolve around Indian cinema is very big, and that's why I'll now publish my first post on a Hollywood movie. If you've read the "About"-page though, you'd know that I watch everything, every genre, every industry - everything that falls into my hands. This event that I'm participating in is "LAMBs in the Director's Chair - Spike Lee". I chose to write about his film "Inside Man" on this occasion... And you may guess, why...

INSIDE MAN (2006)


Director: Spike Lee

Starring: Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, Clive Owen

Please notice, that this review will be slightly different from "normal" reviews - it's going to be held as an interview with myself. I just thought, this is the first Hollywood review on Lime Reviews, so why not try something else than the usual stuff.

Just for fun, off course.

I hope you like it, if not, think about it as some sort of fancy project.

It is, somehow.


Why did you choose this film, instead of Lee's other known and acclaimed films, while this film is commonly called a Mainstream-production?
Well, I just... thought...

"Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya, Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya Chaiyya..."

And by the way, you should all have a look at the original song, everyone loves it, even non-Bollywood-enthusiastics. A shame it wasn't listed on the soundtrack (at least, wikipedia says so).

 - It's by my favorite composer, A. R. Rahman (just in case you didn't get my post title).

Did the song "Chaiyya Chaiyya" distract you at the beginning?

Yes, it did. I don't remember the start of the film... aside from Clive Owen telling us his name. Or saying, that he told us his name.

What about his (Owen's) performance - impressive?

If you call walking around with a poker-face impressive, then, yes. Personally, I think that only Marlon Brando can pull something like that off. I also didn't like that his character was such a anti-hero, that you're supposed to like - also this can be pulled off better by someone else, namely Hrithik Roshan. Off course, the bank robber had to tell the 8-year-old that he shouldn't play violent video-games. Audience is meant to laugh at that "funny" scene, and then think: "Hey, that guys actually cool.". However, I did like the scene where he tells us that he's told us his name.

So you prefer Denzel Washington?

I do. Well, first of all, I like men wearing hats. But forget about that; Denzel Washington is one of the actors that I'm quite fond of. He brings a impressive (here it is: impressive) realism into his characters, they actually seem to be real people. Many actors try to do this, but never truly success. Just that one scene where he lifts his voice saying "Pina Colada", which just makes you wake up again, because the rest of the dialogues and scenes is so monotone. That's also what I like about the film: When you just start to think it's boring, something changes, an interesting camera angle pops up or... well, Washington lifts his voice. There's also one scene, where he just coughs in the middle of a sentence, and I started thinking: "They don't cough. Most film characters don't cough, excluding they're sick or something. Or in a church.". Just very small details, that make you wonder, and I'm fascinated by that.

How about the flash-back investigations - did you like how they were... blurry?

Nothing against blurriness, but no, those scenes reminded me of the glitter-scene in Twilight - as I confessed already once, I like the Twilight-series, but that scene was too much (not to forget, that it was different in the book). And it's the same in this film - too much. Too cheap-looking.

Now, for the actors: What did you think about Jodie Foster?

Jodie... I've appreciated the way you act ever since "Silence of the Lambs", and you act different every time I see you. Different - but always as qualitative as the first time we met (your accent stays the same as well).

Did you know the "bank robbers" were talking Albanian?

I don't want to spoil anything, so let me just say: No, I did not, and I also didn't know, who it was, but I knew "where" he was talking, if you get me. And that was just too obvious.

Do you think the scene where the officers discuss the substations etc., while there are hostages in the bank, was macabre?

I think that scene was really good. First, I thought it was just what you proposed - macabre. But just for one split second. Then, my thoughts revolved about, how this was being realistic. It was. You need to think about, that there are people doing this every day, and how they just need to be calm, and get out of the situation sometimes. So, that was nicely done.

What was the most exciting part of the film?

The most exciting part was guessing what was going to happen. That's a common "trick" in hostage movies, and off course, it is working, though problem is: 1) it can grow boring very quickly and 2) when the end has come, you don't want to watch more of that movie, because the excitement has gone. Just what happens in this film - at the end, when the hostages have been released, you want to turn it off. Off course, the total solution comes just at the very end, but the time in between is a little boring. 

What did you think about the scene, where the hostages are released?

I thought: "There's a lot of people in blue painting suits here", and "I bet Cameron created the Na'vi after seeing this". 

And finally, what is your opinion?

"Inside Man" is very mainstream, but heading towards the positive corner of that section (so many mainstream movies - some of them have to be good). (Mostly) exciting plot (though well-known), without any big twists, but with two great actors and a fab soundtrack. That would be 2 1/2 stars, but it gets 1/2 more because of "Chaiyya".

Rating: 6.3

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.

Review: Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji [3 Idiots and... Love]

DIL TOH BACCHA HAI JI (2011) दिल तो बच्चा है जी

Title-translation: "The heart is still a child"
Director: Madhur Bhandarkar
Author: Madhur Bhandarkar, Anil Pandey, Neeraj Udhwani, Sanjay Chhel
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Omi Vaidya

Plot: Naren moves back to his child home - his parents are dead. Because the house is so big, he searches for some tenants and finds them in a shaadi.com employee, who'd like to be a poet - Milind - and the unemployed fitness teacher/ toy boy Abhay. All three of them have problems concerning love: Naren is attracted to a 17-years younger intern, while Milind falls in love with a radio VJane, interviewing him after a poet contest. Meanwhile, Abhay indulges in the luxury of being toy boy an ex-Miss-India, when suddenly he falls in love with her (grown-up) step daughter.



Written the 13th of March 2011
Madhur Bhandarkar is known for experimenting in his films, trying out unusual tactics, and establishing his actors welll (I'm talking about Fashion, Traffic Signal, Page 3 and the only film I'd seen from him until now: Corporate). With DTBHJ, he's jumping into the genre of rom-com for the very first time, this time with two well-known actors plus Omi Vaidya, who could already bring home the bacon in 3 Idiots. Besides, we have three until now rather unknown ladies. The male cast is one of the evident powers of the film, while it's possible to discuss the female part: In a unusual role for him, Ajay Devgn earns sympathy as charming pencil pusher/ male Naina (the one from Kal Ho Naa Ho). He also proves, that his otherwise nice voice isn't exactly adequate for singing.

Take a look at Emraan's trousers... 

Can't have everything. Shazahn Padamsee plays his "Object of Desire" - and here's the first crossroad we have; she's looking sweet, she's charming, her acting is all right, and I might be able to get used to her squeaking voice. Sadly, I also know, that most people won't be able to do that, and also they won't be able to accept her (current) lack of "X-factor". That's why I can already see her undergoing the same destiny as Kim Sharma and Esha Deol . That is, unless people are so attached to her, like for example to Deepika Padukone (and I'd rather see Sharma or Deol instead of her), that she can make it somehow. If that is what'll happen, I hope she takes that chance and get's it right.

Rumour has it, that Madhuri Dixit has been thrilled by Emraan Hashmi's portrayal of the usual Casanova-role, and as always, I agree. It's especially nice that he's able to portray this character in a slightly different filmic level than otherwise, and I think I'm not alone with that thought. Even though the main theme of the film is sex (and not love, though I bet the makers wanted it to be love), the level isn't drowning as much as it uses to in similar films, but stays near Sex & the City (a show/ film that I like, but don't idolize). Only huge minus is caused by the distinct discrimination of homosexual persons, which is much more conspicuous than in Anjaana Anjaani for instance. A "reputable" filmmaker does not need this, especially with a film, that's quite entertaining otherwise. Then there's one sentence at the beginning, about the life of Emraan's character Abhay, which should have been edited away quickly - just like the rest of those "introducing" sentences. Not working here; the audience doesn't like to be treated as if it's totally dumb or stupid.

I also wasn't very fond of Abhay's big love, Nikki: She pitches herself as a big charity-lady, and talks about original Indian qualities - in born-and-bred Hinglish?! Face covered with make-up, wearing an outfit that doesn't even have a touch of traditional Indian clothes? Furthermore, we never get to know her very well, which is why the sudden falling-in-love also lacks a fundamental credibility.

Somehow, I also don't have big problem with the age
difference. Reason: It's mentioned (!).

The "Hinglish-source-of-irritation" shows up in a different situation as well, namely when Milind recites his poems, which seem to be "good" only because they're in Hinglish. Not a patch on Hinglish, I don't see a big problem in using it, but however there are circumstances, under which its usage is rather semi-optimal. Apart from that, Omi Vaidya is adorable and cute - by the way, I was surprised that I liked his "Dream Girl" Gungun, played by Shraddha Das, somehow. She was indeed both honest and fake, and very capricious against him, but she just had something. Perhaps Shraddha Das just comes with a bigger portion of talent than the rest of that female guard, but I'm not able to tell after one film only.

What I liked about the film was, that it never became "uncomfortable", you were (almost) never ashamed, and that despite this... well, not very fancy story. Just one scene at the end got one or two soap-opera-splashes too much. I don't want to tell you to much, but to the makers: a little less dharamdham, when someone tells his/her girl/boy friend, that he/she has fallen in love with someone else. Better let the still piano go on. Apropos music: The soundtrack is okay, nothing special, but nice.

Then what is my conclusion, now... Let's put it this way: You can see this film, but you don't have to. In the field of films-named-after-great-songs, it delivers a much better performance than many others, like for example Aashayein (2010).

Rating: 5.0

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.