AŠOKA AND THE ASHES

I just saw ‘Ašoka’. Shah Rukh Khan is flaming HOT in this movie. Why did no-one tell me this?Oh my gosh, he is just so delish, so scrummy, so… sigh. And the way he handles that sword of his… UNBELIEVABLE. I love him in many movies, but I think his cuteness factor in ‘Ašoka’ is through the roof. But I say the very same thing after watching a lot of SRK movies…

Hot smiling (sort of)...

Still hot scowling...

I’ve stayed away from ‘Ašoka’ for a long time, because I’m always a bit suspicious of movies that are always in the Bargain basement on Amazon.co.uk, Play.com and the theHut.co.uk (which is where I get a lot of my Bollywood DVDs. The ‘Beliefs, Blackness and Bollywood’ blog (see, Sheetal, I can do it, bahut bahut shukriya!!) has just turned me on to Nehaflix, and I’m not sure whether to thank t-hype or not for unwittingly showing me another place to spend money! – but I digress. Nehaflix is cool, though). Anyway, ‘Ašoka’ was always cheaper than other movies on my ‘regular’ websites (although, to be fair, so was ‘Monsoon Wedding’ and I really liked it), so I thought it just might not be very good. And the reviews I read on different sites were a mixed bag.

But I am SOOO glad I got this film. Apart from the fact that SRK is the very hotness in this movie:

it’s quite a good film. The fight scenes are really nicely shot, good cinematography, nice sets, good costumes, really well-produced. There are one or two discordant notes – some of the music is too ‘modern’ for the film, for example; but altogether it’s really solid and praiseworthy, as far as Bollywood productions go.

For those not in the know, in ‘Ašoka’, Shah Rukh Khan plays Prince Ašoka, a very brave (and according to SRK’s version, tres sexy) ancient prince. Kareena Kapoor plays an ancient warrior princess, Kaurwaki. Ašoka and Kaurwaki are both victims of power struggles, and they are also from enemy kingdoms. And so, naturally, a lot of ‘stuff’ happens – political intrigues, family tensions, divided loyalties fighting, and of course… prem. Kareena Kapoor is a pleasant surprise in this film. I almost despised her after watching her performance as ‘Poo’ in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. But here she is solid. Her acting in ‘Ašoka’ really cannot be criticised, she steps up to the plate and does a very good job in a pivotal role. I actually liked her strong but emotional and nuanced performance in ‘Ašoka’. Now I’m forced to acknowledge that Bebo actually is a good actress (so what happened in K3G?).

Random thought: the cute little Prince Arya (Kareena’s character’s brother) is played by an adorable kid. He looks especially sweet dancing with SRK in one of the musical numbers.

‘Ašoka’ is a good watch… I enjoyed it.

And now for the piece de resistance (my favourite SRK shot in this movie):

Gotcha!!

AND HERE I AM, EATING MY WORDS…

Okay, alright, I was wrong. I take back ‘whatever’ I said plus jara. PRIYANKA CHOPRA CAN ACT! (Am I the only one who notices the ‘whatevers’ in English subtitles of Hindi films?) But yes, I admit it, Priyanka really can act. I take back all I said about the ‘vacant-ness’ in her acting in a previous post (scroll down to see my 'Bluffmaster' post). Sadly, being a very inept blogger, I don’t know how you do that cool thing when you link things without having the ugly ol’ link show.

Anyway, my volte-face is as a result of just seeing ‘Yakeen’, which stars Priyanka Chopra and Arjun Rampal. From the opening scene, Priyanka captured my attention. Her character, Simar, was nicely developed and fleshed out. Priyanka made her interesting. I was impressed, and now I happily admit that although she isn’t that good in some films, girlfriend can actually act.

‘Yakeen’ is about a man (named ‘Nikhil’, played by Rampal) who loses his memory after a terrible accident, and has to rebuild his life with the support of his wife (‘Simar’, played by P. Chopra). In the process, he falls in love (with wifey, that is), but later discovers that things are not quite what they seem. As a Bollywood thriller, ‘Yakeen’ is not bad, but it’s certainly not a masterpiece either.

I liked the waaay-over-the-top bit in this film where Nikhil shouts ‘Simar, I love you!’ in the mountains. I’m not sure if it’s a conscious tribute (probably is, though), but there’s a scene in ‘Aradhana’ (starring Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore) where Arun (played by Khanna) shouts in the mountains, ‘Vandana, I love you!’, and Vandana (played by Tagore) very shyly and sweetly does her own ‘Arun, I love you!’ shout. I know, it’s sickening (my sister can’t even bear to watch that scene in ‘Aradhana’), but hey, it’s Bollywood.

Rampal is quite good in some parts of this movie, and less competent (even a little boring to watch) in others. Overall, I would say he’s good. I like the fact that his pre-accident Nikhil and post-accident Nikhil are so distinct from each other, even in mannerisms. I’m glad to say the actress who plays Nikhil’s secretary in ‘Yakeen’ does a very competent job. See my comment on actors playing secretaries in my 'Okada ka Rishta' post (scroll down to read). The music in ‘Yakeen’ is pretty good, but a lot of it sounds like I’ve heard it before. But it’s good.

There’s a fair bit of fake-pretend (again, credit to Beth for the term) piano-playing by Priyanka in this film. Can they just stop doing this? Although Priyanka’s fake-pretend instrument-playing is bad, I’ve seen worse in Bollywood. The worst I’ve seen so far was SRK in ‘Mohabbatein’. His fake-pretend violin playing was simply awful, and it seemed like he did it for at least 92% of the movie. The filmmakers must’ve thought he was doing it well. Er, noo. I was so excited to see Dilip Kumar in ‘Ram aur Shyam’ (very good – but old - movie) playing an instrument correctly. That was cool.

The makers of this film obviously have some sort of shower fixation – there were 2 shower scenes. And not to forget, the obligatory rain scene… (see my post on rain scenes in my 'Teri Meheribaniyan' review).

Come on now, nobody but nobody looks this good standing in the rain...

Props to Priyanka, her performance in this film is really quite good, and I shall now proceed to be silent on the subject of her acting skills. For now.

OKADA KA RISHTA, DIL KA RISHTA, AISHWARYA RAI AND THE FRENZY OF ECSTASY

I’ll start this post off with my okada fantasy. For any non-Nigerians reading this, an ‘okada’ is a commercial motorcycle, sort of like a cab on 2 wheels. So, anyway, I was on an okada last night and closed my eyes… and transported myself to a fictional Bollywood world. I was on a beautiful black and silver motorbike behind a handsome Bollywood star (first it was Abhishek, then it was Hrithik, then it was Dharmendra (but much much younger)). The wind was blowing through my hair (well, it actually was in real life), and there was lovely music playing in the background. We were somewhere in Bangalore, I think. It was lovely. The one thing I could not do, which I would definitely have done if my fantasy were real, was hold on tight to my Bollywood hero. NEVER! The VERY last thing you want to do on an okada is touch the okada-man. No disrespect to okada men everywhere (it’s an occupational hazard), but they aren’t very clean, to say the least (and some of them are pervs, but this certainly isn’t exclusive to okada-men). Anyway, I eventually opened my eyes and returned to the real world. My okada man went through a mucky puddle and splashed water on both of us (eww), I gave him a scolding and got off five minutes later at my house. Well, it sure was a nice fantasy while it lasted.

Okay, on to ‘Dil Ka Rishta’ (DKR), starring the khoobsurat Aishwarya Rai. I wasn’t really expecting much from this movie, basically because I hadn’t heard anything about it before I got it, and also because it doesn’t star any of my favourite actors (Ash is beautiful and dances beautifully, but she’s not a great acting talent, in my opinion). I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It was good enough to keep my attention. I guess it’s good to have low expectations – if I’d been expecting to really enjoy this one, I just might have been disappointed.

Check out those pots... colour-coded to match Aishwarya's outfit.

DKR starts out with Aishwarya’s character (Tia) stomping all over a man’s heart (his name is Jai, and he’s played by Arjun Rampal) when he summons up the courage to tell her he loves her. Instead of at least giving him a polite ‘no’, she looks horrified, runs away and jumps on her boyfriend Raj’s bike (Raj appears just in time). At first, I thought this was harsh, but it turns out that Jai is a big fat LOSER, and the chump flat out deserved it.

Interestingly, by the end of the film, Tia is all over Jai (yes, the same Jai), like a brazen hussy. She wants him to love and marry her so badly, it’s almost embarrassing. She throws herself at him, but he’s not biting. Why? That’s what this film is all about – the bit in the middle.

"Hey, Jai, I love you and I know you love me, so put that anklet on my ankle and marry me NOW, dammit!!"

"I wish... I wish... I wish Jai would just fall in love with me and marry me already!"

"Come on, Jai... you know you want to."

And the bit in the middle is the good bit in DKR. The lead actors are all pretty competent. Arjun Rampal, who I haven’t liked in anything else I’ve seen him in, is quite nice here, and so is the guy who plays Raj – can’t remember his name. I recognised the actor who plays Jai’s dad in the movie from ‘Hera Pheri’. He was good in this film if a bit of a meddler (a huge humongous gi-normous meddler, actually). The legendary Rakhee is also in this movie, and is as good as ever, even though I haven’t quite forgiven her for breaking Amitabh Bachchan’s heart (well, technically, the heart of his fictional character, Sikandar) over 30 years ago in the film ‘Muqaddar Ka Sikandar’ (which, by the way, is a good film). The woman who plays Jai’s secretary is absolutely dreadful. What is it with secretaries in films – does the role go to a family member of the film-makers for kicks or what? They are consistently bad. The music in DKR is quite good, especially the title track. And I like the fact that the storyline tackles the issue of drink driving, which is an important issue that often gets overlooked. If the film makes one person stop his/her drunken friend from getting behind the wheel of a car, then it will have done a great service.

Random thought: there’s also a café called ‘Café Bistro’ in the film, which struck me as quite funny. Another random thought: Don’t you just love how Bollywood films create fake-pretend illnesses (I borrowed the term ‘fake-pretend’ from Beth, she who loves Bollywood)? I mean, they just create all kinds of sicknesses, unknown to medical science, just to propel their storyline. (He has a rare type of disease, a timpanic dysfunction where he can only hear words spoken from the lips of the one he loves – hey, I’ve just come up with one!). And don't even get me started on fake-pretend cures to fake-pretend illnesses. I must admit I like that sort of resourcefulness. After all, new diseases are discovered everyday, hai na? Up fake-pretend illnesses!! As we say in Nigeria, ‘carry go!’

But back to DKR: although the character of Jai is a LOSER, he does kinda sorta shape up by the end, and I kinda sorta liked him. But the ending is a bit annoying. They find a way to patch things up very nicely (and in true Bollywood style unrealistically) and emerge with a happy family and smiles all round, but… what about Raj? I really, really liked him. Is he now going to be forgotten while Tia and Jai now play happy families? Is his son going to be raised as another man’s child? Is it fair for Tia to just move on with her Jai while forgetting all about her husband (although it’s not her fault)? And why am I now Raj’s champion? (Hmmm… just realised the 3 main characters all had 3-letter names: Raj, Tia, Jai). Anyway, like I said, the end is annoying, but the film ain’t half-bad.

Aishwarya is alright in this film, as she is in most of her movies. She looks great, dances great, and acts – not great, but good. And I noticed something interesting about her in DKR… she had a ‘frenzy of ecstasy’ (or two, or three). In fact, I realised that in almost every Ash film, they manage to covertly sneak in one or two frenzies of ecstasy. What is a frenzy of ecstasy, you ask? I’ll show you a couple from DKR:

Okay, so both photos are from the same frenzy of ecstasy.. but it was a long one.

And here are a couple of frenzies of ecstasy from ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’:

And there’s even a semi-frenzy-of-ecstasy in ‘Devdas’. You can see it rising in the eyes, but doesn’t quite become full-blown. A mini-frenzy-of-ecstasy, if you like:

BollyBitch, who has a really great blog (the link is on my sidebar) has a photo of Aishwarya having a very unattractive frenzy of ecstasy at some press event. Go look at it, I know you want to.

So that’s a frenzy of ecstasy.

For me, the star of this film (DKR), though, is this guy:

He is just so adorable, and the camera absolutely loves him! Cute little guy!

But if I were his mum and dad, I sure as hell wouldn’t be letting anyone to do this to him, especially so close to a precipice like that!! Sheesh!!!

SOME RANDOM BOLLYWOOD-RELATED MUSINGS

In my last post I wrote that I was torn between doing a 'Dharmendra post' next or a 'Bollywood post. Well, I've decided to post some randomness about what I got up to in the world of Bollywood this past weekend.

LAKSHYA:

I saw 'Lakshya', which stars Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta (Amit-ji too). Lakshya is one of those 'Jai Hind' patriotic war movies, and it's a decent effort, in my opinion. It's about a guy who finds his 'laksh' (objective, goal, focus) when he joins the Indian army. There was a nice love story, a little father-son drama, and some shooting (with guns, I mean). The only problem I had is that I would've like to see all the characters (particularly the soldiers) fleshed out a wee bit more, so I could actually feel bad when they were killed in battle. As it was, I didn't feel much (and that's not because I'm unfeeling - honest!) I think the whole story needed a bit more oomph to it, so I could really get into it.

This was quite an interesting film although I must confess that I zoned out during the battle scenes. I don't blame the filmmakers, I'm just not a fan of those scenes where all you can hear is shooting... in fact I'm not a war movie fan. I liked Hrithik's acting in this film, and this was also one of Preity's stronger outings. The music was partially very good and partially bad (but I would say mostly good). The tone of the film is a bit too dark, I understand the use of darkness as a device but it was a bit of overkill.

I always wondered why Farah Khan was always going on and on about Hrithik's great dancing skills (I always thought that hip action in 'Ek Pal' from 'Kaho Naa..' was annoying, but guess that Farah's fault). Anyway, I finally saw Farah's point in one of the musical numbers in this film (I think I counted only 3 numbers as it's a war film, personally I think only 2 were necessary). Anyway, in the song (can't remember its name), he was really good. It was kinda arty (by Bollywood standards), with him in a straitjacket at the beginning and end. Interesting (even if derivative) choreography... and Hrithik CAN dance. I now agree with Farah. His acting is really good in this film too, I think the young lad has prospects.

Amit-ji was good in this film although he seemed a bit bored and tired at times - and the use of darkness in most of his scenes wasn't particularly flattering. I once read a review of KANK where the reviewer said something like 'Bachchan's wrinkles are now too scary for the big screen' - think that was VERY unfair (I love love love Amit-ji and think he should go on acting as long as he likes), but... I was a bit scared myself in this film, I must admit.

Preity was really good in Lakshya, mad props to her. She plays a nice strong female (always nice to see in Bollywood). Her performance had depth, but I wasn't convinced as to why her smart and pretty character even likes Hrithik's character in the first place, as he is a total 'duffer' and 'loafer' and not even cute (before he enters the army). A charity case? Wan't convinced, but that's not Preity's fault, guess the scripting is too blame for that. Anyway, Hrithik cleans up really good in the army and becomes a different man, having found his 'laksh'. His ears are really big (as his army beret highlights), but he's still tres cute, and I still have a little demi-semi-crush on him.

Re-watching K3G and Mujhse Dosti Karoge (well, bits of them, anyway): I am not a big 'Kabhi Khushie Kabhie Gham' freak, but I surprisingly enjoyed re-watching bits of it. I steered clear of all the 'Poo' bits (where I come from, we flush poo down the loo), and watched all my best bits, which are:

1. The bit where Jaya B finally (after years of silent suffering - not cool, Nandini!) lays into Amitabh and tells him 'bas. I've said it, haven't I?'

2. My favourite musical numbers, which are, in descending order: 'Suraj Hua Maddham' (wet SRK!!), 'Bole Chudiyan' (this time I noticed they borrowed 'Wah Wah Ramji' from HAHK and used it here), and 'Say Shava Shava' (I always love watching SRK and Amit-ji dancing, but for very different reasons).

3. All the Kajol/SRK bits (except the super-saccharine 'Jai Hind' bit at their son's school).

4. SRK and Hrithik on the park bench.

5. DJ finally recognizing her Baaba.

6. Amitabh Bachchan breaking down at the end.

The rest of the movie can go down the toilet with Poo, as far as I'm concerned (ok, that was a bit mean, Daddy's Girl).

Watching Mujhse Dosti Karoge again was nice, too. Again, I tended to avoid the Bebo bits, and enjoyed the Rani/Hrithik bits more. It's a bit of a silly movie, actually... especially all the random Yash Raj touches (like the irritating 'uh oh' sound effect everytime Kareena says something daft). Kareena's character deserves a denseness award, but I guess that's not her fault. Her acting is actually okay in this movie (it's bad at the beginning but picks up about 20 minutes in), although anything is better than Poo. And of course MDK features the lovely 'Medley' ending with KKHH... why must Yash Raj rip off their music in every one of their films? I mean, enough already. But it was quite sweet here, I think.

The 'L' Word: Now this was a revelation... for those not in the know, 'the L word' is a slightly (actually, quite) trashy US TV show about a group of lesbians living in LA... their lives, their loves, their lesbianism, you get the picture. Sometimes this show displays a few strokes of genius, and can actually (at its very rare best) be thought-provoking.

A lot of the time, though, the acting is very very weak (the cast features has-beens (that's a bit harsh, Daddy's Girl) like Jennifer Beals from the classic 'Flashdance' (whose acting is actually quite good on this show, along with Mia Kirshner - feel a bit sorry for them when they have to say stupid lines and do silly things), and whatsherface from 'Foxxy Cleopatra'... oh yeah, Pam Grier) and the writing is even weaker. I hear this is down to the fact that the writing team is constantly changing, leading to inconsistency.

Which is a pity, as this is a groundbreaking show (in terms of subject matter) and, if handled properly and maturely, (which it is not) could raise very some interesting questions about women and sexuality in America. The show is now in its 3rd season, though (go figure), which I personally think is down to the fact that they liberally sprinkle each episode with some quite-risque-for-tv girl-on-girl 'action' (they can cos it's on Showtime). Just my opinion. Oh, and the theme song is one of the most irritating things I've heard in a looong time (sorry, I always notice the music).

Anyway, was watching an episode of the show and this girl who looks very familiar, with a crisp British accent and wavy brown hair, comes on. It takes me a minute (I know, I can be a bit dense), but I finally cotton on the fact that it's Rachel Shelley, yes, 'Memsahib' from 'Lagaan'! Yes, the one that sang 'I am in love, I am in love, I am in LOOOOOOOOVE!!' (with Aamir Khan). The one that didn't quite convince me that 'Memsahib' was actually in love with 'Bhuwan', and not under the delusion that she was starring in her own personal Mills and Boon novel. Anyway, Rachel's acting in the L-word is actually pretty good (although quite a bit of it, the episode I saw, was horizontal, if you know what I mean). I think, just maybe, she's going places.

And here ends my random musings... have a great week!

TIME TO FINALLY FINISH THIS!

(or Part 3, and the Concluding Part, of how I fell in love love love with Dharmendra)

Warning: This post may get very very silly indeed, but please indulge me.

Okay, it's time to get back to this story and finish it off. So I started watching Bollywood movies after those 4 movies got me hooked. I discovered that I liked the oldies just as much as (and often, more than) the new stuff, so now I have loads of Bollywood DVDs, and am always looking out for something new and interesting to watch.

I first saw Garam Dharam in 'Anpadh', an old black-and-white picture. It's not a bad movie, but it's a real downer. I mean, if you aren't struggling with depression, you will be after watching this one... and if you are, you might just end up suicidal. So a bit too sad for me, plus I wasn't really feeling the black and white. I like old movies but... it gets a bit much.

Anyways, in 'Anpadh', Dharmendra plays a young, handsome (very handsome), well-educated man who (unbeknownst to him) gets married to an illiterate woman who can't cook. When he discovers this, he treats her horribly (brute!), until he discovers that she has got quite a good heart. Naturally, he repents and falls in love with her and starts teaching her to read and write. Then the scriptwriters decided it was all too cheery and something nasty happened... which I won't disclose just in case someone reading this decides to watch 'Anpadh' someday.

My next incursion into the world of Dharmendra was 'Sholay', which I absolutely loved. It's a great movie, even if I hated Hema Malini's wig. I think they made her wear it so they could put it on her stunt double (for the exciting caravan chase sequence in the film) without it being too obvious that the stunt double is... a man. Err... it sooo did NOT work. Hairy muscular arms and broad shoulders don't work very well with a wig. Anyway, I think 'Sholay' is a brilliant film and everyone in it was superb. I didn't single Dharmendra out for special praise after watching this, cos I liked Amit-ji (always love him), Jaya B (always love her), Hema Malini and the rest of the cast just as much.

Hema Malini (as Basanti) (plus wig) and Dharmendra (as Veeru) in the Bollywood classic film 'Sholay' (1975). They got married in 1980, but apparently Dhramendra was already in love with Hema by the time 'Sholay' was made (which was why he agreed to play 'Veeru' rather than 'the Thakur' which was his first pick. Thank goodness he went with 'Veeru') . The fact that Dharam had been married for a long time was probably a factor which impeded their romance. Happily for them, their eventual marriage did not create a scandal (which in this chauvinistic world would have spelled doom for Hema's career but probably not affected Dharam's). Anyway, People liked them enough to overlook it.

My next Dharmendra film was the one which made me fall hopelessly in love with him: 'The Burning Train'. 'The Burning Train' is known by most Nigerians because it was very popular here in the '80s. During one of my usual Hindi movie searches here in Lagos, this guy who sells them showed me 'The Burning Train', and was like 'it's very very interesting'. so I bought it and took it home.. but alas, no subtitles. It looked interesting enough for me to try again when another movie-seller offered me the same film and said he was sure it had English subtitles. I wasn't too keen on a movie about a burning train, but I loved it. It's a really exciting thriller, with some nice drama elements to it and a good storyline. The film stars Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Hema Malini (as Dharam's love interest), and Parveen Babi (as Vinod's love interest).

Many (sooo many) things made me love Dharam in this film, but I'm going to mention only a few of them. The first is the song and dance number 'Pehli Nazar Mein Humne' featuring the 4 leads. I've watched that number a gazillion times and could watch it forever. I don't even know why I like it so much. It's just a combo of a great song, great chereography, and the way the actors interpret it. They do exactly what you think their characters would do. It's just so cool. It's a pretty standard love song featuring tandem bikes (is that what those 2-on-1 bikes are called?), boats, trees and stolen kisses, but I just think it's awesome. I honestly can't explain why I love it so much. I just do.

The second thing is Dharam's voice in this film. It's so sexy, when he says (sorry, can't write hindi but) 'Sunnu Seema, I love you', and 'Seema! Kya Hoa? Eh Bhagwan! Kyun Seema?', I just want to melt. There is that husky, throaty, heartfelt element to his voice and men, I just want to be Seema when he talks to her like that! His voice is just so awesome in this film, and the expressions on his face, gosh I can't even write about it anymore!

Third thing is, Dharam was looking pretty Garam for someone who was 45 years old at the time TBT was made. 45!! And still looking major-ly fit, playing a physically demanding action hero role. His character was probably meant to be about 30 at the oldest. Dharam matches Vinod so well here, although Vinod is like 10 years younger (and you can kinda tell, but it's not too obvious). Dharmendra just looks so good, and he does the action hero thing so well and...(swoon)

There are so many things I love about Dharmendra in this movie, the way he smacks the guy's legs off the back of his seat, the way he shatters the glass in his hand (ok, I know it's a stunt, but he looked hella good all angry like that), the way he touches Seema's leg, the way he kisses the policeman's face when he discovers the 2 girls have fallen for him and Vinod, the way he pulls at Seema's arms and goes 'Haan haan haan ji wada', the way he brushes the flower petals off his head at the engagement, the way he tells Vinod that he and Seema will be married with a baby as soon as Daddy come back, the way he rides that bike, ... my goodness, I could go on and on. But I won't - cos I'm starting to feel a bit faint now (LOL). Instead, here are some screenshots from the movie that made me fall in love love love with Dharmendra...

Hema's thinking, "I'm so lucky, I got me a mighty fine man!"

Dharmendra's thinking, "When I get you alone..." Hema's quite pretty, hai naa? She still looks good today: check her out in starring roles with the Big B in 'Baghban' and 'Veer Zaara'.Wish a gorgeous guy would look at me like that! Checking Hema out...

This film was released in 1980, and these two got married in the same year. Isn't that just cute? Would be even cuter if that were me on the left...but not in yellow, I don't think!

After TBT, I watched 'Ghazab' (1982), which is quite a nice movie. A bit kitsch, even a bit annoying, but quite nice. Again, Dharmendra, at 47, looks much younger (he's quite buff in this movie... bulging biceps and all) and plays an action hero very nicely... and his voice is still so sexy. Ghazab proved to me that TBT wasn't a fluke. Rekha is also pretty cool in this movie... must add her to my sidebar, she's not only beautiful, she can act.

So now I love love love Dharmendra, even though I'm a pretty miserable Dharmendra fan, having watched only 4 of his over 200 movies. Beth has been a doll and has recommended 'Chupke Chupke', I would love more recommendations. I am on a mission now and I aim to watch many more films starring my dear Dharam Singh Deol.

And here ends my tale of 'how I fell in love love love with Dharmendra'. Don't know what I'll be writing about next time... a regular Bollywood post or a strictly Dharmendra one? Any advice?

The Whole Thing Is That...

So I finally saw 'Bluffmaster', and I'm glad I've added Mr. Abhishek Bachchan to my sidebar of fave Bollywood actors (thanks Maja and Uzo for the heads up), because I am now a firm fan.

The movie was quite entertaining and I enjoyed it, although it seemed like halfway it morphed into a different movie altogether. But it was good fun and well worth watching. Abhi has proved he can carry a movie... unlike in 'Bunty aur Babli', he wasn't sharing top billing with anyone else in 'Bluffmaster'. I won't say much about the plot so as not to spoil the movie for anyone, but Abhi plays 'Roy' a conman, and Priyanka Chopra plays his unsuspecting girlfriend, 'Simmi'. There was a fair bit of comedy in the film (Riteish Desmukh - hope I spelt his name right, was quite funny, as was the actor who played 'Dr. Bhalrao' and the guy who played the villain of the piece). There was a some drama, a bit of action, and a little romance... and a nice satisfying ending. I liked all the tongue-in-cheek references to oldies like 'Sholay' and 'Do Aur Do Paanch'. I like tributes like that. The direction was pretty cool and creative. I really liked this bit, for example:

Nice touch, n'est-ce pas?

On the female lead, Priyanka Chopra...there is no doubt that she's very beautiful, as these pictures prove:

I must confess I quite liked this scene... I thought it was very nicely shot although the vein in the centre of Abhishek's forehead apparently pops out when he's lying down... (hence no photo of him in bed)

But there is something very wet-blankety about Ms. Chopra's acting. I mean, you never believe her. She is really unconvincing as an actress, there's something 'vacant' somewhere. Almost as though she's a bit bored. It always seems a bit superficial. Even when she's doing an 'emotional' scene, you don't quite believe it:

"Really, you've run out of my favourite magazine? Again? What happened this time?"

It isn't a matter of subtlety (Tabu is a subtle actress, but she's quite convincing).

"Really? I hope I haven't left the oven on at home..."

Priya just always seems to lack depth as an actress. But anyway, she is very pretty. And I like the fact that her make-up never looks as though it was applied with a miniature shovel, which is more than I can say for some people (e.g Ms. Rai). Priyanka is not, in my opinion, a bad actress. She's... okay. She just needs to put her back into it. I've seen her in 'Waqt' and now 'Bluffmaster' and been so far unimpressed. I hope she can change my mind sometime soon. As as aside, I actually enjoy her dance numbers more than her acting... maybe (if she can sing) she would actually be more suited to the music industry than movies.

You sure are pretty girl, but loosen up and ACT!

But back to Abhishek... I like his style, and he had truckloads of style in this movie. So instead of going on and on about 'Bluffmaster' (if you haven't seen it already, go see it, it's good); here are some pictures of my newest semi-crush just because:

(L - R on each row of pictures)

1. The Bluffmaster himself...

2. Abhi 'in a pensive mood' (that's a Nigerian joke)...

3. Abhi looking very goofy (he's walking on sunshine, ooh ooh)...

4. Abhi on the beach (in a word, NICE)...

5. If you look really closely at this 5th one, you can see his nostril-hairs. Priyanka's checking them out and thinking "if I were Ash, I'd give you a good fortnightly trim."...

6. Abhi looking tres cool... this shot reminds me of Abhishek's daddy in his old movies...

7. Want some more Abhishek? ...

8. Pleased to oblige.

Isn't he just so cute?

And even if he did chat up the wrong girl in the movie...

(I love the look in his eyes here, maybe he was thinking about his true love)

...at least, after shooting, he and I left together for a nice romantic stroll on the beach:

Aaawww..... it was soooo romantic (the stroll on the beach, that is)...