The SONSOFBITCHES snubbed Harry Potter!

Wait a minute - did you just see me choosing the film series that won the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema in 2011, the film series that was nominated for a total of 12 Academy Awards - the film series that is loved, even worshipped by thousands of people all over the world - for the worst snub ever?

Yeah, I guess so.

Because, although Harry Potter collected many a metallic statue over the 10 years it "lasted", I don't think that it has been getting all the attention it really deserves. Yes, Harry Potter has an enormous fan base, yes, the critical response has been primarily positive over the years, and yes, it didn't get snubbed as in "ignored".

Not in The United Kingdom, that is.

What's always been a thorn in my side - or has been since I started keeping an eye on awards and generally got "involved" with movies - is the Academy Award snubbing. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I wish I could say that their actions and choices are despicable and that I'm not going to support or pay any attention to their little (or big) games anymore. But no, I agree with a lot of their choices, have been watching the ceremony three years in a row and have been trying to catch up on new and old nominees and winners. This research has proven that the Academy Awards might not be as big or as great as they think they are, but they're a great parameter for film history - historically and currently.

That being said, sometimes I really ask myself whether they actually watch the movies. 12 nominees for 8 films, mainly in the art department, could be approvable if one of the films had actually won an award one of these times. But no, Harry Potter is ignored, and ignored - and even with the final movie, no award for the overall achievement. Talk about disappointing. 

Comment on the ISHQ Awards and the ACEBAs 2011

You all know the IIFAs, the Filmfare Awards the Zee Cine Awards and all those other corrupt awarding ceremonies in Bollywood (yes, Bollywood is the right expression here).

But I doubt that many people have ever heard of the ISHQ Awards, have you? The ACEBAs (Annual Central European Bollywood Awards), however, are a little more famous, even having a real awarding ceremony with real people this year.


Explaining: The "ISHQ Awards"
The "ISHQ" is the most-read Bollywood magazine in Middle Europe, and if I'm allowed to give a little subjective comment: the best Bollywood magazine I know, especially in Germany. It is German, high quality and couldn't live without it.
The first ISHQ was published in november 2006, I believe, and instantly gained much success in the German fan community. By then, there were no other German Bollywood magazines. There are some others now, maybe one or two, but they can't compare to the ISHQ, in my opinion.
Last year, the ISHQ editors decided to put up the ISHQ Awards, where readers and editors could vote for their favorite films, actors, actresses etc. of the year that passed. They decided to keep the project going this year. Sadly, I wasn't able to vote myself - I missed the deadline.
Well, that's no reason for not commenting the results...

Read more about the magazine:  http://www.ishq.de/ (only German)
The results were published in magazine #48, August 2011.

Explaining: The "Annual Central European Bollywood Awards"
The ACEBAs are the most important Bollywood Awards in Europe, founded by Marco, the host of the largest German (the language, not the country) Bollywood forum, http://bollywoodforum.ch/, and owner of the review site http://molodezhnaja.ch. The awards have existed since 2004, and have improved a lot over the years. The voting is held online, and there's just one vote for everyone. There's also no fixed amount of nominees - it depends on how many films, performances, songs etc. are good enough to be nominated, which also means that sometimes, a whole category drops out for one year.
This year, the awards are presented by not only molodezhnaja, but also BNA Germany and IFFI Goa.

Read more about the awards: http://www.bollywoodforum.ch/aceba/index.htm
The results of the 7th ACEBAs were announced the 10th of August 2011 and published this weekend.

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Will the results be more honest, more elitist or maybe just more fair than at most of the "big" awards? Let's take a look.

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The results are listed chronologically - most votes is 1), least votes is the last.

BEST FILM

(The ISHQ has a lot of nominees but only 10 "winners", from which only one is the true winner, off course, and furthermore they've divided this section into "Reader's choice" and "Editors' choice").

ISHQ Reader's choice:

1) My Name Is Khan 

2) We Are Family

3) 3 Idiots

4) Kites

5) Guzaarish

6) I Hate Luv Storys

7) Band Baaja Baaraat

8) Anjaana Anjaani

9) Dabangg

10) Ishqiya/ Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai

only nominated:

Break Ke Baad - Action Replayy - Baava - Aisha - Do Dooni Char - Badmaash Company - The Japanese Wife - Jhootha Hi Sahi - Love, Sex aur Dhokha - Knock Out - Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey - Karthik Calling Karthik - Peepli Live - Phas Gaye Re Obama - Raavan/ Raavanan - Rakht Charitra 1 & 2 - Enthiran - Striker - Tere Bin Laden - Tees Maar Khan - Thanks Maa - Udaan - Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa - Well Done Abba

A very typical result, and just what I had expected from most of the German readers/ viewers. I had hoped for better, though. MNIK on the first place is acceptable, as I personally liked it a lot as well, but honestly, We Are Family on the SECOND place??? Kites, Guzaarish, Anjaana Anjaani - I can find a more suited winner for all of them in the nominee's row. A problem is that probably many readers just haven't seen many of the films that were nominated. Which is sad, I think. I do like that there's a good variety in the nominees: some southies, too, some blockbuster, some flops, some main stream, some parallel cinema. Sadly, no big variety in the results. Maybe the editors know better?

ISHQ Editors' choice (only 5 wins):

1) My Name Is Khan

2) 3 Idiots

3) Udaan

4) Raavan/ Raavanan

5) Ishqiya

Now this I like. A piece of everything. Not sure if I would've picked Ishqiya, but then again: it might not be the best film, but it's an incredibly important film, especially for the future of women in Bollywood. Good job, ISHQ editors!

ACEBAs:

1) My Name Is Khan

2) Dabangg

3) Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai

4) Raajneeti

5) Udaan

6) Peepli [Live]

7) Ishqiya

8) Raavan

9) Aakrosh

10) Rann

Again, the usual suspects: Shah Rukh and Karan Johar. That's what works here in Germany. 74,49 % - that's almost 10 times as much as Dabangg got. Good I mentioned it already: Dabangg? Dabangg? Admittedly a more suited winner than WTF, I mean WAF, but still... I am, however, fully contented with the rest of the results. My personal vote was for Udaan... Maybe not the best of last year, but still one of the best, and I wanted to vote for one of the more unknown films.

BEST DIRECTOR

ISHQ:

1) Karan Johar: My Name Is Khan

2) Rajkumar Hirani: 3 Idiots (editors' choice)

3) Vikramaditya Motwane: Udaan

4) Abhishek Chaubey: Ishqiya

5) Habib Faisal: Do Dooni Char

Good choices, I would stick with the 3 Idiots - Karan Johar didn't really impress me. I just liked the film.

ACEBAs:

1) Karan Johar: My Name Is Khan

2) Sanjay Leela Bhansali: Guzaarish

3) Vikramaditya Motwane: Udaan

4) Mani Ratnam: Raavan

5) Anusha Riza: Peepli [Live]

6) Ram Gopal Verma: Rann

... ... Is there anything left to say? "Karan Johar, so boring, bla bla", "SLB, who set a high personal standard with Devdas and also a little with Black, and who since then has failed to impress me with his later works, even though Guzaarish is a tiny step towards a better filmic tomorrow of his - he is nominated???"... You know what I have to say. I don't have to write it. I voted for Motwane, he's made one of the most impressing debuts I've seen. Mani Ratnam is my favorite director. I loved Peepli Live. 
... Ah, just remembered that a copy of Rann must be laying around somewhere...

BEST SCREENPLAY [only ACEBAs]

1) Raajneeti

2) Peepli [Live]

3) Ishqiya

4) Karthik Calling Karthik

5) Udaan

6) Well Done Abba

I wonder why the ISHQ doesn't honor the technicians, even thought they tend to write the Bollywood awards don't honor them enough... But then again, it's a young award, it can still improve. Though I'd rather honor the technicians than some "love scene". But whatever. Raajneeti is a deserving winner, and all the others are deserving nominees.

BEST ACTRESS

(Yes, Ladies first - my choice).

ISHQ:

1) Kajol: My Name Is Khan (also editors' choice)

2) Vidya Balan: Ishqiya

3) Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan: Raavan/ Raavanan

4) Anushka Sharma: Band Baaja Baaraat

5) Deepika Padukone: Break Ke Baad

While I think that Kajol delivered a good performance in MNIK, I don't think anyone (including her) can compare to Vidya Balan in Ishqiya. Kajol's role wasn't as layered and deep as Vidya's, so in my opinion, she didn't even have the chance to be better than Vidya. 

By the way: Deepika? Really? I didn't watch BKB, and I have good reasons.

ACEBAs:

1) Kajol: My Name Is Khan 

2) Anushka Sharma: Band Baaja Baaraat

3) Vidya Balan: Ishqiya

4) Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan: Guzaarish

5) Kangna Ranaut: Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai

6) Minissha Lamba: Well Done Abba

Remarkably, Kajol won with only 62,05 % (!). But Vidya is and will always be the best actress of 2010. Dot. Nice that Anushka came second, though... But Aishwarya for Guzaarish? She was much better in Raavan... don't you think? Well Done Abba is one of the few 2010-ers I'm yet too watch, by the way.

BEST ACTOR

ISHQ:

1) Shah Rukh Khan: My Name Is Khan (also editors' choice)

2) Hrithik Roshan: Guzaarish

3) Aamir Khan: 3 Idiots

4) Boman Irani: Well Done Abba

5) Rishi Kapoor: Do Dooni Char

Suck... I didn't expect this to be a genuine MNIK show... But what else should I have expected? And the year didn't really well over by overwhelming male performances... Maybe I would've picked SRK as well, I mean he was good. 

ACEBAs:

1) Shah Rukh Khan: My Name Is Khan 

2) Salman Khan: Dabangg

3) Hrithik Roshan: Guzaarish

4) Ajay Devgn: Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai

5) Boman Irani: Well Done Abba

6) Paresh Rawal: Road to Sangam

The winner is Shah Rukh? Really? Oh my Gosh, that came so unexpected! 
That's all I have to say.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR [only ACEBAs]

1) Arjun Rampal: Raajneeti

2) Arshad Warsi: Ishqiya

3) Nana Patekar: Raajneeti

4) Ronit Roy: Udaan

5) Paresh Rawal: Aakrosh

6) Randeep Hoda: Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai

Woooohooo! This feels like a personal win - the nominee I voted for won! Ah... magical. In contrary to the main actors, it was easy to find good supporting performances in the cinematic archives of 2010. And in my opinion, Arjun Rampal's was the best one.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS [only ACEBAs]

1) Kareena Kapoor: We Are Family

2) Sonakshi Sinha: Dabangg

3) Bipasha Basu: Aakrosh

4) Amrita Puri: Aisha

5) Dimple Kapadia: Dabangg

6) Ira Dubey: Aisha

If there's one good thing about WAF, it's Kareena. She didn't save the film for me, but she was my personal highlight, a flash of cinemagity in the dullness of a kitschy-bitchy "children's drama/comedy/wtf". That's why she deserves this award.

BEST SOUNDTRACK

ISHQ:

1) Vishal-Shekhar: Anjaana Anjaani (btw: An Education-poster, anyone?)

2) A. R. Rahman: Raavan/ Raavanan

3) Sajid-Wajid: Dabangg

4) Ishqiya (editors' choice)

5) Amit Trivedi: Udaan/ Aisha

I'd say 1) Raavan, 2) Udaan/ Aisha, 3) Ishqiya, 4) Dabangg, 5) Anjaana Anjaani. Meh.

ACEBAs:

1) Band Baaja Baaraat

2) Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai

3) Dabangg

4) Guzaarish

5) Aisha

6) Ishqiya

Thanks for reminding me: Why wasn't BBB nominated in the ISHQ awards? Meh. There was music in OUATIM? No Raavan in the ACEBAs? Well, I kinda can't get no satisfaction regarding the music awards of both the award-thingies.

BEST SONG [only ACEBAs]

1) Pee Loon: Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai

2) Munni Badnaam Hui: Dabangg

3) Pe Pe Pepein: Chance Pe Dance

4) Tere Liye: Prince

5) Wallah Re Wallah: Tees Maar Khan

6) Chal Halke Halke: A Flat

Sorry for the latter comment, now I remember at least one song from OUATIM. Beautiful song. But the true winner is "Beera" from Raavan, can't believe it wasn't nominated. Don't remember any of the others except for "Munni". Good choreography, not the best musical work. 

BEST SINGER - MALE [only ACEBAs]

1) Mohit Chauhan - Pee Loon - Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai

2) Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Dil To Bachcha Hai - Ishqiya

3) Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Aas Paas Khuda - Anjaana Anjaani

4) Atif Aslam - Tere Liye - Prince

5) KK - Jaane Yeh Kya Hua - Karthik Calling Karthik

6) Krishna - Kaise Jiyu - Hide & Seek

I'm listening to "Pee Loon" at this moment, and I must say it's much better than I had remembered. Definitely worth a best singer award for Mohit Chauhan. 

BEST SINGER - FEMALE [only ACEBAs]

1) Sunidhi Chauhan - Udi Udi - Guzaarish

2) Bela Shende - Sun Le Dua Yeh Aasmaan - We Are Family

3) Mamta Sharma - Munni Badnaam Hui - Dabangg

4) Alyssa Mendonsa - Uff Teri Ada - Karthik Calling Karthik

5) Rekha Bhardwaj - Badi Dheere Jali – Ishqiya

6) Reena Bhardwaj - Khili Re - Raavan

Sunidhi Chauhan would've been my second choice, but Reena Bhardwaj convinced me the most. How sad that she's last in the row...

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

ISHQ:

1) "Dum Dum": Band Baaja Baaraat

2) "Zoobi Doobi": 3 Idiots (editors' choice)

3) "Sheila Ki Jawani": Tees Maar Khan

4) "Munni Badnaam": Dabangg

5) "Chhan Ke Mohalla: Action Replayy

One of the results that I almost completely agree with. The ISHQ Awards 2011 included 3 Idiots, because the DVD was released so late. Considering that, my personal favorite would be "Zoobi Doobi", but from last years' releases, "Dum Dum" is probably the best. I do, however, prefer "Munni" over "Sheila".

ACEBAs:

1) "Dum Dum": Band Baaja Baaraat

2) "Sheila Ki Jawani": Tees Maar Khan

3) "Pe Pe Pepein": Chance Pe Dance

4) "Munni Badnaam Hui": Dabangg

5) "Fire": Kites

6) "Nakhre": Action Replayy

Don't have much more to say than to the ISHQ result... Nice that they included a song from Kites - Hrithik is my favorite dancer ever. He is simply perfect. Some may say too perfect, but I like being perfect (Black Swan, if you know what I mean... and I take ballet classes myself, by the way).

BEST NEWCOMER - MALE [only ACEBAs]

1) Ranveer Singh: Band Baaja Baaraat

2) Omkar Das Manikpuri: Peepli [Live]

3) Ali Zafar: Tere Bin Laden

4) Aditya Roy Kapur: Guzaarish

5) Rajat Barmecha: Udaan

6) Pradhuman Singh: Tere Bin Laden

Aditya Roy Kapur, "that I'm not laughing!" (German expression, I felt nothing else was appropriate). I voted for Omkar Das, it was before I had seen BBB. I'd probably vote for Ranveer now. 

BEST NEWCOMER - FEMALE [only ACEBAs]

1) Sonakshi Sinha: Dabangg

2) Zarine Khan: Veer

3) Shraddha Kapoor: Teen Patti

4) Arya Banerjee: LSD

5) Nushrat Bharucha: LSD

I voted for Sonakshi, of course. But I'd like to see the two LSD-ladies on the second and third place. 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY [only ACEBAs]

1) My Name Is Khan

2) Guzaarish

3) Raavan

4) Kites

5) Aakrosh

6) Rann

Raavan, Raavan, RAAVAN! Phew, calming down...

BEST ART DIRECTION [only ACEBAs]

For a lot of screencaps, click here

1) Guzaarish

2) Kites

3) Action Replayy

4) Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey

5) Tees Maar Khan

6) Raavan

Okay, deserved. I agree.

MOST DISAPPOINTING FILM [only ISHQ]

1) Tees Maar Khan (also editors' choice)

2) Veer

3) Dulha Mil Gaya

4) We Are Family

5) Guzaarish

Unbelievable that both We Are Family and Guzaarish made it into the Top 5 of the Best Films. Tees Maar Khan was much better - and I know I'm pretty alone with that opinion. Yes, I liked the film, and I'm not going to apologize for that (I also didn't expect much, so how could it be the film I was most disappointed by?). Haven't seen neither Veer nor Dulha Mil Gaya (again, good reasons), so We Are Family would definitely win this section if I were to decide. And Tees Maar Khan would be 5) - even Guzaarish was worse.

BEST COSTUMES [only ACEBAs]

1) Band Baaja Baaraat

2) Golmaal 3

3) Guzaarish

4) Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai

5) Kites

6) Tees Maar Khan

Agrrrrrreeed! (I want those clothes!).

JODI NO. 1 [only ISHQ]

1) Shah Rukh Khan & Kajol: My Name Is Khan (also editors' choice)

2) Shahid Kapoor & Genelia D'Souza: Chance Pe Dance

3) Anushka Sharma & Ranveer Singh: Band Baaja Baaraat

4) Vidya Balan & Arshad Warsi: Ishqiya

5) Abhishek Bachchan & Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan: Raavan

Shah Rukh + Kajol is nothing new, we've seen it a hundred times - but then again, don't we still love. Don't they still enchant us with their mind-blowing chemistry on screen? Come on... yes, they do. And that's why they won over the fresh newcomers of BBB and the interesting pairing of Ishqiya.

BEST EDITING [only ACEBAs]

1) Band Baaja Baaraat

2) Kites

3) Ishqiya

4) Aakrosh

5) Prince

6) Rann

Yeah, go on... (good choice, yap).

BEST GERMAN RELEASE [only ISHQ]

1) My Name Is Khan: Extended Director's Cut (DVD)

2) Koyla - Glut der Rache

3) Tanz um dein Glück - Chance Pe Dance

4) Kites - Auf der Flucht

5) My Name Is Khan: shortened cinema version

6) Sag Ja zur Liebe - Dulha Mil Gaya

7) Gestern, heute und für immer - Love Aaj Kal (editors' choice)

8) Live aus Peepli - Irgendwo in Indien (Peepli Live)

I don't buy many German releases, as they are mostly a lot more expensive than the Indian ones, but I do own the "Director's Cut" of MNIK. It's only called "Director's Cut", because the cinema version was shortened - which I didn't like, but whatever. The German DVD is good, I mean, I didn't watch the special features yet, but... 

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS/ STUNTS/ ACTION [only ACEBAs]

1) Dabangg

2) Toonpur Ka Superhero

3) Prince

4) Veer

The only one who was qualified enough to win this. 

BEST "LOVE SCENE" [a special ISHQ Award]

1) My Name Is Khan ("Marry me!") (also editors' choice)

2) Kites (Kiss scene)

3) Anjaana Anjaani ("That's not funny anymore, Kiara.")

4) Aisha (Balcony scene)

5) Band Baaja Baaraat ("Let me rest...")

Come on, guys... this is getting really boring and foreseeable. I'm not blaming the magazine - they had good nominations - but the general viewer is almost as unspectacular as the general public... Man. I can agree on Kajol and Shah Rukh being the Jodi No. 1, we already discussed that, but it's not equal with having the best "love scene", because it's not equal with having the best screenplay-writer to write it. 

THE 5 MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS [a special ISHQ Award]

The editors didn't vote for this one.

1) Don 2 (Shah Rukh, Priyanka)

2) Ra.One (Shah Rukh, Kareena)

3) Untitled (Aamir, Rani, Kareena)

4) Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (Hrithik, Farhan, Abhay)

5) Mausam (Shahid, Sonam)

As the two Shah Rukh films are the ones most likely to have a theatrical release in Germany, I understand why they are the most anticipated ones. Also because of Shah Rukh himself, of course. And because Don 2 was partly filmed in Berlin (yes, I wanted to go there, but long story). I chose Untitled, though - the pairing is too interesting. 

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Phew, that was some hard work, putting this together. I hope you enjoy.

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.

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

Anjaanas and Anjaanis in the Wide World

First of all, Happy New Year to all of you! I hope you'll have a nice 2011 and watch a lot of good Bollywood films! But now, let's have a deeper look at "Anjaana Anjaani"...

Have you ever wondered, how all those Indian boys and girls around the world can at once can tell, that their adverse Anjaana/Anjaani is not only from India, but from the part where people speak Hindi? You're not alone. It's the same thing all over again every year, as in last years "Anjaana Anjaani", which buy the way has a couple of inconsistencies (I mean, where exactly did that boat go???). 

Priyanka and Ranbir freezing to death, because their
boat has disappeared within the single minute
they've been in the water... 

In one of the first scenes, Ranbir tries to kill himself by jumping off a bridge and get's interrupted by Priyanka - who immediately accosts him in Hindi. Guys, we're in New York City and neither Ranbir nor Priyanka look that eye-catching Indian. I mean, I wouldn't recognize a German or Dane before I hear them talk (at least very few ones). But, well, this isn't just an intern Bollywood problem, a couple of Hollywood movies suffer from the same illogical thinking minds who tinker screenplays. 

It's sad, because you kind of sit their in you arm chair and you pause, because you get to think: "Ahm, this is odd.". And if you start to think thoughts like that, you can't concentrate about the good things in the movie, because you always have the illogical moments in the back of your mind. 

All that trouble in your head could have been avoided easily, if the writers had used some more of their grey matters and inserted just a few changes in the script. Why couldn't the two Anjaanas start their conversation in English and then one would say: "Hey, that accent of yours - Hindi?". "Yeah, that's right". "Oh, main bhi Bharaat se aayi hoon". "Great, to hum saath-saath Hindi bol sakte hain". (I hope the congruence is right, harrumph). 

This year, I don't want to see any more of those avoidable errors in any film industry, please do my that favor!