Wednesday, October 03, 2007

ANOTHER POLL...

THANK YOU to everyone who's participated in the Amitabh Bachchan leading-lady poll so far... the results are still coming in, so the poll will be up for a little while yet (I'll take it down when it runs out of steam). The results are pretty interesting and indicate that more than half of you feel that Rekha and Amit-ji have great onscreen chemistry.

Here's a breakdown of the votes as at today (was going to do this properly with pictures and all, but the image thingy is acting up - so when I take the poll down for good, I will do a proper results post with pictures):

The intense and beautiful Rekha has a whopping 44 votes, 57% of all the votes cast... so the Rekha/Amitabh jodi is definitely a HUGE hit with you all.... When I started the poll I noted that I've only seen Rekha and Amit Ji together in one movie ('Muqaddar ka Sikandar' - I also recall that they had a scene together in 'Kasme Vaade' but I don't think it counts 'cos it was an item number - I've also seen them do the classic song 'Pardesiya' together - not sure what film that's from ('Mr. Nawartlal' or something like that?) - I quite liked that song actually)... I would really love to know why this jodi is so popular, so please, if you voted for Rekha, I'd really love it if you could leave a comment saying which films you've loved them in, and why you think they work so well together... thanks!

Amitabh's real-life wife Jaya-ji (one of my favourite actors ever) has a very respectable 20 votes, 25% of all the votes cast so far (I'm kinda sad about this - I'm sure you've guessed by now that I was rooting for her - and I really didn't wan't her to be in second place behind Rekha - I mean, sheesh...) I've absolutely loved the Bachchans together in films like 'Abhimaan' (wonderful film), 'Mili', 'Zanjeer', 'Chupke Chupke', 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham'...

Next up is the gorgeous and sassy Parveen Babi, with 15 votes, 19% of the total... I think she was great with Amit-Ji - loved them together in the fun 'Amar Akbar Anthony' and the wonderful 'Deewaar'...

In fourth position we have the ageless beauty Hema Malini, with 13 votes, 16% of the votes cast so far... Hema-ji and Amit-ji were great together in 'Baghban', and they were paired together again in 'Baabul' which is err... not a good film. But they were also lovely together in films like 'Veer Zaara', 'Do Aur Do Paanch'... I know I've seen them together in at least one more film but can't seem to remember which...

Fifth, with 7 votes (9% of the votes cast) is the uber-babe Zeenat Aman, who I actually thought would do better than this in the poll... she and Mr. Bachchan were great together in 'Laawaris', and although 'Pukar' is such a weird film, they were alright in that too... again, I'm sure I've seen them together in some other films but my memory fails me... (Aha! How could I possibly forget 'Don'??)

In joint sixth position, with 6 votes apiece (7% of the votes cast so far) we have the lovely and talented Rani Mukherji and the accomplished Rakhee. I had a feeling Rani wouldn't do too shoddily in this poll, even though she and Amit-ji are far from being contemporaries and have never acted (and should never act!!) as a romantic pair... but we all remember how good they both were in 'Black' and how well they related onscreen... they've also shared the credits in films like K3G and KANK, but 'Black' was their main gig as co-stars... on to Rakhee - like Zeenat, I thought she would do better. She and Amitabh did quite a few movies together - I've seen them co-star in 'Kabhi Kabhie, 'Kasme Vaade', 'Ek Rishta', 'Muqaddar ka Sikandar', 'Trishul'... I'm actually not a huge fan of Rakhee so I'm not as bummed about her tally as I am about Jaya's, but... a lot of her films with Amit-Ji were really quite memorable...


At number 8, with 3 votes (3% of the total vote so far) is Amrita Singh, Amit-Ji's co-star in the very wacky but kinda wonderful 'Mard'... Amrita and Amitabh were absurd, and deliciously so, in this film... haven't seen them together in any other films but I enjoyed her and Amit enough in 'Mard' to have her on this list.

Oh dear... the bottom of the list, with 2 votes each (2% of all the votes cast)... actually I have to thank the two voters who were kind enough to vote for the vampish and seductive Ms. Bindu - my friend Uzo thought she should've been knocked off the list, and she was probably right - after all she and Amit-Ji never truly co-starred, she was always the naughty item girl trying to steal him away and detract from his steely resolve... she did that (the naughty, seductive part) really well, even if it never quite worked on the super-cool Amit-Ji - Helen also did this really well... and as for the fabulous and cute Sharmila Tagore, whom I've only seen opposite Amit-ji in 'Viruddh'... well, guess she didn't make such a huge impression on y'all opposite the Big B either...

A couple of actresses have earned honourable mention from you - Filmi Geek liked Tabu opposite Amit-ji in 'Cheeni Kum', and Beth thought Neetu Singh was good opposite Amitabh... thanks all for participating, and please vote if you haven't yet - I'm not delusional enough to think Jaya can still win it, but please do vote while the poll's still up...

Ok... so today another poll is up... one thing I really love about Shahrukh Khan (he's one of my favourites for sure) is that he is the quintessential leading man - he always makes you believe that he is in luuurve with his leading lady - he gives her loads of attention, allows her to shine, and is not afraid to be romantic - and I really like that. So which female actor have you liked best opposite him?

Now I think I know who will win this one, in fact I'm 90% sure she will win it, but I still would like you to vote - I'm very interested in who gets second, third, fourth etc place... and who knows? Maybe the obvious isn't quite so obvious after all... so please vote!!! Dhanyavaad... and as before, you can vote for more than one actress; please tell me who's missing from my list (I'm already kicking myself for leaving out Bebo (Kareena Kapoor) who had great chemistry with SRK in 'Asoka'); and also who should really not be on there... and by the way, it's not a typo - Shilpa Shukla played the feisty Bindya Naik in 'Chak De! India'...

PS Isn't it rather disturbing what these 2 polls say about Bollywood? The fact that one male actor can hold sway for years, running through a list of young beautiful leading ladies with rather more limited career arcs? (Of course, this trend is not limited to Bollywood.) Eeeuw... it's sooo wrong.... In the interests of gender equity, the very next poll will be all about the men vying for the lady's hand in some way (I will think of something)... I promise!

3 comments:

Uzo said...

KAJOL OF COURSE.....I think you should have put up a few pictures of Shah Rukh just to drive the point home...I lie...just for ey candy value

Anonymous said...

Oh, polls are fun. Your first poll finally inspired me to start doing them as well, so I'm happy to see you having another.

However, I have to take a pass on this one. I know this is not a popular position, but I'm not a fan of Shah Rukh Khan, and I tolerate him least of all in his "romantic" avatar. I don't find him charming at all in those roles, just cocky and aggressive. And so I don't tend to like him paired romantically with anyone; I'm not eager to see the romance win out. It just doesn't work for me.

The only exception I can think of, where I really thought he was cute with a woman, is *Main hoon na* - but that doesn't translate into a vote for Sushmita. It wasn't "chemistry" that I liked (I don't really believe in the concept), but rather it was the way the story was written.

Daddy's Girl said...

uzo: You know what, the thought did occur to me, but the picture thingy was acting up today... yes it would have been totally irrelevant and gratuitous eye candy but hey... we must take our little pleasures when we can ;)

@carla: Oh dear :) I must say I'm not surprised you're passing on this one... and I wouldn't say yours is an unpopular position - there are plenty of people who feel the way you do - I think reactions to SRK are polarised, such that it seems like 50% of Hindi film viewers love him and the other 50%... don't (although a good number of those who don't still watch his films, otherwise he wouldn't be as successful as he is)... I agree that there most definitely is an arrogant side to some of his characters and the way he plays them... especially in films like DDLJ (although, for me, he sorta made up for the cockiness with the 'not gon' eat for the love of you' scene)... but I think he knows how to do a certain lovely and tender thing too - in films like the one you mentioned (the bursting into song thing was so ridiculous and goofy and I loved it) and K3G and 'Veer Zaara' and 'Koyla' and 'Chalte Chalte' and 'Swades' and... and I'll stop right here because I know I have absolutely no chance of convincing you... the SRK jadoo simply doesn't work for you and that's perfectly alright... it would be weird if it worked on everyone... and now it's confession time - I have only seen one of the movies listed in your poll but I still couldnt resist voting for it - so you might have to subtract one vote for 'Masoom' when you close the poll.