Soundtrack of the Month - November '11

The wonderful French romantic comedy I saw yesterday convinced me to have a soundtrack of the month this time, instead of just a song - a very special soundtrack, that is.

DIRTY DANCING. A film about music and coming-of-age, including a dash of 60s-nostalgia (those old enough to remember watching it on the silver screen might also say 80s-nostalgia). Countless teenage girls must have been introduced to it by their mothers when "the time was right" and fallen in love with not only the film, I'm sure. As for me, I didn't fall in love with Patrick Swayze for that matter, but the film initiated my chronic crush on dancing and the 60s - style, films, and especially music from that decade (or music inspired by it).

A night of celebrating international woman power

MIRCH - WO HU CANG LONG - VOLVER

Being all alone yesterday night, after one week of familial semi-claustrophobism ( we were testing out or new camper), was the perfect opportunity to go through my never ending stacks of yet unseen DVDs - many of them borrowed from various people - and eventually what started out as a not-at-all choosy night of light entertainment, turned into a legendary night of exotic power women. 

There are people saying one should start a film night with the "toughest", most demanding films, in order to not expect your sleepy brain to handle things it physically won't be able to handle at 2 AM. Other voices tell you not to commit the sinful act of a triple (or even more) film night. I didn't listen to anyone this time - and let me tell you, it was the best film experience I've had since being spellbound by THE TREE OF LIFE last month.

The oldest Indian film I've seen

MOTHER INDIA (1957)

Epic/ Melodrama

Directed by Mehboob Khan – Written by Wahajad Mirza, S. Ali Raza, Mehboob Khan

Starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar, Raaj Kumar

The 54-year old classic has been overdue on my watchlist for a long time, so yesterday I finally pluck up courage and flung my DVD into the player. After all, it's the first Indian film to be nominated for an Academy Award (it was also India's first submission ever). Plus, it's one of the two single Indian films included in the famous "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die"-book.

Realizing I'm not used to these overlong Melodramas anymore, I took a break at the Interval, finishing the whole thing this noon. Fun fact: the film is actually shorter than K3G, MOHABBATEIN and many tomes from the turn of the millennium.

"The scissors" - take #1. CUT!

About 90 years ago, women started cutting their long locks into bobs, and later on even as short as men's hair. Today, women with short hair don't need to hide, at least not in the western society. But long hair is still an important part of femininity and perhaps also female sex-appeal. The largest part of girls and women could never imagine ordering a short cut at the hair dresser. Sometimes, when many female celebrities, or one important one, cut their hair, it's "in" again, but not many actresses or singers have the guts to do so. One aspect is that it doesn't suit everyone, another one is that a lot of elderly women have short hair, and a lot of small children have short hair - and who wants to look like either a grandma, a baby or just plain ugly?

Two weeks ago, I decided to cut my hair. I went to the hair dresser with my sister - it was a very impulsive decision, but I haven't regretted it yet. Apart from one, my friends and acquaintances have all kept kind words and compliments at hand for my new hair cut.

While I'm waiting for the ACEBA results to be published, so I can finish my award comment, I decided to put together a list of female actresses that rocked the silver screen, the red carpet and their living rooms with androgyne hair...

Audrey Hepburn

One of the first women I thought of when starting to write this, was Audrey Hepburn. She's one of those starlets from which I've never seen a complete film (why? - not enough time?), but nevertheless admire. Everyone can see she's a beauty, maybe even more beautiful with short hair than long. But despite that, I've read that she had issues with her looks, and wasn't fully confident with herself. I hope that's not true - it would be very sad.

Emma Watson

From one of the classic icons to a very young actress, who just recently decided to get rid of "it". Emma was probably the first actress I ever looked up to, the first real role model of my life. Funnily, I always wanted hair like hers - and indeed, mine was quite similar, though maybe a little thicker. Now, don't think I cut my hair because she did. She was an inspiration, yes, but I loved her long locks as much as my own... In any case, we're both short haired now. Emma said cutting her hair made her feel sexier. I don't know about that.

Keira Knightley

Before she had her big break with Pirates of the Caribbean, Keira, one of my favorite actresses (I know, she has many haters), starred in the rather unsuccessful The Jacket, a film for which her hair was trimmed considerably short. My hair cut, it so happened, actually looks a lot like hers (we also both have an oval-shaped face), and I plan on letting it grow for the next 12 months, just like she did.

(Boys, if you're reading this you might be quite bored, so I don't mind if you quit reading at this point).

Natalie Portman

Natalie didn't just trim it a little, no, she is one of the few not stupid but brave women who have shaved it (an example for a stupid one: Britney Spears). I am astonished by how beautiful she looks, even without any hair. V for Vendetta is another one of those films I really, really want to watch, and wonder why I never do so.

Bipasha Basu

As one of the few Indian actresses, Bipasha decided to cut her hair shorter than shoulder-lenghth (oh - my - gosh). I wonder why we almost never see an Indian heroine with short hair - is Bollywood still that un-modern? And the longer we go south, the longer is the hair, generally (talking of Telugu and Tamil films). I think it's a great step from Bipasha to dare facing the scissors - not to mention the bob looks amazing on her. Lara Dutta also wore a bob for a while, just like Urmila Matondkar.

Preity Zinta

Now that I'm already talking about Bollywood... Okay, it was an awful cut/ wig Preity, my favorite Indian actress, wore in the second (or was it the first?) half of Lakshya. Nevertheless, it was short, and that's why I had to mention it. On the other hand, it might have scared other film makers and actresses away from short hair.

Camilla Belle

The Ballad of Jack and Rose is a very disturbing, yet wonderful film starring Camilla Belle. In the film, she cuts her hair all by herself, and the result is quite realistic (Anjaana Anjaani, we're all looking at you!) - not too pretty, at least. But sympathetic. I don't know if Camilla actually cut her hair, or if she wore a wig.

Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett is so damn cool.

I can't forget my grandma partied with her in Vegas, when she was still an unknown theatre actress. Short hair suits her just as well as the floor-lenghth waves in Lord of the Rings.

Shabana Azmi

One of Bollywoods last elderly divas went bald for the film Water - and yes, that wasn't a fake.

She didn't look just as magical as Natalie Portman, but still kudos to her for having the guts to shave it. For real. 

Other (honorable) mentions:

Mandira Bedi, a B-movie actress, I think, cut off her hair some time... It didn't look mind-blowing, though.

Charlize Theron isn't one of my favorite actresses, but she did look fabulous with the pixie.

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I don't want to have too many pictures of myself on this blog, but in this case, I guess the whole post has awakened your curiosity, and since the celebs stood by their short hair, I will do the same - so here I am, proudly presenting my new hair cut.

(That's my dog, Molly, in my arms - in case you wondered).

And PS: I changed the blog name from "Bollywood-addict" to "Film Addict". The header was also modified a bit, just like the side bar. I hope you like it (is the header too boring now?).

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Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.

There's a Macbeth in everyone - Review: "Ek Hasina Thi"

EK HASINA THI (2004) एक हसीना थी

Title-Translation: "Once, there was a beautiful girl/ woman"
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Authors: Sriram Raghavan, Pooja Ladha Surti
Starring: Urmila Matondkar, Saif Ali Khan, Seema Biswas

Plot: Sarika works at a travel-agency, and when one of her customers, Karan, asks her for lunch, she doesn't agree to begin with. However, the man seems to be crazy about her and finally she gives in. They're dating for a couple of weeks, and everything seems to be wonderful, though Karan is traveling a lot for his job. One day, a friend of Karan visits Sarika and leaves a suitcase in her apartment. After he's been out for a while, Sarika sees his face in the news: He's a wanted gangster and has just been murdered. The police finds Sarika's address with him, and thinks she's his mistress, so they arrest her...



Written the 17th of April 2011

The revenge of women that have been treated badly – this plot is enough to make a film be all right, if it is horrible (think of 1998's Rani-starrer Mehndi). What happens, when the film itself is good as well? In that case, the films turns out to be a very good film. 
Most surprising is the performance of Urmila Matondkar, an actress whose films have never crossed my way before, and to whom my expectations weren't high. Off course, when expectations aren't high, it's easy to cross them, but it's not just that easy to convince someone of your incredible acting skills - which Urmila definitely is in possession of. She is the center of attention in this film, also because I believe that the transformation of her character is the actual main subject of it.

The well-known pink glasses of love...

In the beginning, she's scared of many things, she doesn't know what she wants – she's a very dry and empty character one could say. Then, after having been to jail and facing those  problems and fighting for herself, she discovers an unknown side of herself; as one of the characters says, there's a lion hidden in the very inside of everyone. There is a scene, where Sarika embraces Karan in jail, after he told her that he'll do everything to free her, and there is that look in Sarika's eyes – pure, revenge-seeking hate. Not that Sarika is dull in the first half of the film, she does seem to be a nice girl and friend, but the perfectness is only achieved, when in the second half she imitates this nice side, and also the audience at some point doesn't know what's fake and what's real.
There was no chance that Saif Ali Khan would be able to be an equal to Urmila in this film, whether his character nor his performance. Luckily, he doesn't even give it a try by over-acting or so, he simply fills his part entirely and there was one scene at the end, where I was dangerously near to feel pity for him. But only for a split second. 
Is Ek Hasina Thi a film noir? It has been called one by some people, but I'm not sure if I agree. In some ways, it does resemble a film noir, containing cynical attitudes and the feeling that there's nothing good in our world. However, if I'd have to call it a film noir, then a very modern one, because there's a thing in particular missing: stylishness. Ek Hasina Thi really isn't stylish; it's brute, raw, dirty, and most importantly very Ram-Gopal-Verma (adj.), but not stylish.

Life in jail is not what I'd call "pink"...

The peak of brutality and dirtiness was in my opinion reached, when I was witness to the most realistic (and maybe even first?) fistfight between two females in Hindi cinema. Ram Gopal Verma proved, that you're able to dare something and still be successful at the box-office (EHT was a big hit). Daring might also be called, by some people, the lack of an actual soundtrack; there was only one single song, which is mostly a musical version of the film title. The film title, Ek Hasina Thi, means “There once was a beautiful girl/ woman” - and isn't it a brilliant title? Not only does it confirm my thought that Sarika's transformation is really what the film is about, but it also indicates that she was a beauty before – and now she's even more [rhyme]. She's still beautiful, but not only that. It is the story of a woman that found her strength, her power. At the end I couldn't help but wonder, how she could go on living with the guilt of blood-shed, if she would go back to her old life or whatever she'd do and feel. The film left me feel guilty, because I was on the seek for revenge, and I wanted that blood to flow, that heartbeat to stop – but when “I” (Sarika in that case) committed the “sin”, I didn't know if I (or Sarika) could live with it. Which reminds me of The Tragedy of Macbeth, that deals with the same problem and the drastic transformation of a character.
With this, I put an end to my review and officially declare Ek Hasina Thi recommended. 

Rating: 7.8

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.

All Good Things Come In Threes

Mini-Review of Deepa Mehta's Element Trilogy:

FIRE - EARTH - WATER

This is just my third mini-reviews-post, while the amount of normal-review-posts is 12 at the moment. I could say I'm proud of this, and I am somehow a little bit proud, but let's not forget that there's a certain virtue in writing/ reading mini-reviews, too. As for writing, it's clearly that you 1) don't need to write that much, 2) can write about more than one of your recent views and 3) can combine films that resemble each other in some way or another. 

For this (falling due) post, I chose to present these three films by Deepa Mehta, as they are not only my most recent "Indian" views (I, personally, categorize them as Hindi-Films, and therefore also as Bollywood, but others might not; the language in "Fire" is English, for example), but also three films that will stay with me for quite a while, and that are majestic epics to me (just like the quote on the "Water"-poster says - by the way, just because I call them this, doesn't mean they're my favorite films, but you'll notice what I mean, when reading the reviews). Finally, it doesn't happen very often that I borrow Indian DVDs from my library; they don't have many, and I've seen all of them - so I get really excited, when I find new ones. Actually, they had all three films in a collector's box, so I got even more excited. My weekend was saved (it was last weekend, so this post is a little behind schedule). Okay, I wish you a nice weekend, and hope you enjoy reading.

Fire (1996) फायर

I forgot to mention, that these were my first Deepa Mehta films (except for "Bollywood/ Hollywood", but that one wasn't really mind-blowing) and "Fire" was also my introduction to Nandita Das. 

The eye-catching thing about Deepa's films (except for B/ H) is that sedate, but still rebellious atmosphere, which is also how I think she is in real life (I saw some of the bonus material on the DVDs). The actors are of big importance in this connection, and it doesn't surprise me that she likes working with the same crew, or some of them. It's needless to say that Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das are magnificent, but I'd like to mention Javed Jaffrey as one of the impressive Indian talents we sadly don't hear enough of. 

Though I couldn't identify with the main characters on all levels, - and this is not about being lesbian; I was almost able to identify perfectly with two well-known cowboys - "Fire" is a great film dealing with a dateless problem. Also, it's a perfect match for Deepa-Mehta beginners, for the language is primarily English. As the other two films, it has a length that eases the question of when to watch it.

Rating: 7.3

Earth (1998) अर्थ

Earth is, until now, my favorite Deepa-Mehta-film. Why? Again, it's a matter of the identification; I said I was almost able to identify with those cowboys - but I have felt perfect identification with heterosexual characters in other films, so that's one of the reasons, and as for "Water" - the film made me feel angry, irritable and helpless, and especially the last feeling isn't my favorite thing to feel, so even though it was a great film with a superb screenplay, story, cinematography etc., "Earth" was the one film that'll stay closest to my... soul or heart, or whatever. 

Maybe it's the good old triangle-drama, newly-invented almost each year, which made a new impact on me, maybe it's Nandita, Aamir and Rahul, maybe it's the universality of the context; not everyone is homosexual, not everyone is a widow/ widower - but in every human soul we find, in whatever dimension, weaknesses, desires and brutality. 

Rating: 7.8

Water (2005) वाटर

According to Wikipedia, "Water" is a Canadian film, which brings us back to what I wrote at the beginning: I don't blame anyone for seeing these films as Canadian productions, or whatever else, but for me they are not only Indian films, but because of language and setting: Bollywood. 

One might also notice, that while the characters in "Fire" speak English, and in "Earth" a misc of English and Hindi (not to be confused with Hinglish, though), "Water" was filmed in Hindi, completely. 

As I already mentioned in the foregoing review, "Water" didn't leave me with the most desirable feelings. More clearly: this Gulabi and Madhumati were so freaking annoying, while both Kalyani and Chuyia - and Narayan, for that matter - were so freaking naive, that I really got some exercise, baling my fists or doing other aggressive movements. The subtitles for deaf people were also annoying (though I do speak Hindi, I don't feel secure enough to watch a film entirely without subtitles - what if I miss a word and then don't get the meaning of the whole scene?), but there were no normal subtitles.

But even though the nice A. R. Rahman music was always announced as "happy music", "romantic music", "playful music" etc., and even though it didn't kill me softly (in the pos. way), it was a nice score - but only nice, just as the film was, well, nice. 

One of the best things was the cinematography... Varanasi was captured in an almost poetic way, like a poem, I'd say, without having been there. I don't want to bash the movie, though: many people will probably like, or even love, it - and I can't say why not; the actors are superb, the story is fresh and not boring... but as I've told you now, it just wasn't made for me. So this rating is entirely subjective and not about the objective greatness of the film - because in an objective way, it is great.

Rating: 6.4

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.

Review: Aisha

AISHA (2010)

 

Director: Rajshree Ojha

Script: Devika Bhagat

Starring: Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Arunoday Singh, Cyrus Sahukar

Plot: The Indian version of "Emma" is Aisha, a girl of the Indian High Society, who spends most of her time putting her friends together to "perfect" couples. But that can't go well for a long time, especially, when Aisha herself falls in love...

Reviewed the 12th of November 2010

I’ve now seen all film versions of „Emma“(at least, these are the only ones I know); The American version “Clueless” (1995), the British Version “Emma” (1996) and now, finally, the Indian one, “Aisha” (2010). Without being biased as an official Bollywood-Fan (after all, it’s not about the country, but about the quality of the movie!), I must say: India made the best job! “Emma” stuck really almost exactly to the literary template, what wouldn’t necessarily have been that bad, if there hadn’t been miserable camera and those endlessly long scenes. I found “Clueless” a 100 times better, the movie has humour, irony and it contributes something own, modern to the theme. But since the 90s, a lot of things have changed… And off course, in “Clueless”, you kind of have that Hollywood-feeling – which is not a bad thing – but I think that “Aisha” just hits the point better, nowadays. True, the houses are huge and sparkly, too, as is Daddy’s credit card, but the flick is still, somehow, sweet and sensitive… You can identify with the characters, all of them. The camera setting is calm and clear, the pictures colourful and… the clothes are luscious – this is the kind of stylist Bollywood needed! “Aisha” is the third movie with Sonam Kapoor, that I’ve seen, and she gets better each time. In “Saawariya” I found her pesky and talentless, in “Delhi-6” I had doubts about how she would master a bigger role, but now, all my doubts have been blown away. Aisha is the perfects role for Sonam (whose personal style I also like very much), and the team seems to have been perfect for showing her talent. It’s all about choosing the right role. As most people know, Abhay Deol has been on my favourite-list since “Dev D”… Every time I’m surprised, how unimpressive he seems to be, when you first see him. Off course it’s not the hardest cinematic challenge to portray this modern Indian Mr. Knightley, but he makes a good job. I’d even say that it couldn’t have been done any better. All the other characters (which were many) can only get positive commentaries from me. I can’t remember all the new names, but really, all of the actors were good – I also liked the fact, that, though the script doesn’t let much room for describing the side characters, you still have the feeling of knowing them… They do not vanish in the background. I really appreciate seeing so many talented new faces – as you know, the latest trend in Bollywood was pairing the big (old) star with the new (young) newcomer. That was kind of witty in RNBDJ, but now it sucks. They somehow did it right with “Aisha”. Off course, the story is a little unworldly and isolated, but that’s what the main character is like, and subconsciously it’s almost a little ironic (as were all Emma film versions – and the book).

Finally, the movie is perfect for a nice evening with the girls (or even alone). If the movie is good for men, I can’t tell, but who came through “SATC”, will experience “Aisha” as a salvation: No Botox. Okay, I like “SATC”… But honestly: “Aisha” is just as good, and at least not that embarrassing.

And now, please: Pounce on the DVD-shelves (slash, Online-Shops)! (At least all the feminine creatures here).

Rating: 6.6

Thank you for reading, 
Mette M. K.