'YAMLA PAGLA DEEWANA' & 'KOFFEE WITH KARAN'

Well, it certainly has been a while!!

It's been over 6 months since my last post... certainly not by design though - my laptop gave up the ghost shortly after my last post, and I've only just been able to acquire a new one. I have kept up with all the developments in Bollyblogland, though - from Khanna-o-Rama to Sridevipalooza (and lots more besides). As usual, there's been lots and lots of fun stuff going on.

I remember when 'Apne' was about to come out in 2007 - I was super-excited at the prospect of seeing Dharmendra onscreen with his sons... when the movie eventually came out, I naturally traipsed off to the cinema to see it - and I really enjoyed it. Not because it's a great movie (it's certainly not), but because it was OTT, and fun, and emotional, and very silly in parts, and just total paisa vasool for me at that point in time. I haven't bothered to see it again since that day, and I don't think it would stand up to a second viewing, but I really enjoyed it at the time. In my post on the movie, I remarked that I would love to see Dharam, Bobby and Sunny do another movie... but I didn't think it was likely.

I was obviously totally wrong! Here's the trailer for 'Yamla Pagla Deewana', scheduled to debut in 2011:



Now I don't understand about 90% of what was said in that trailer (ze subtitles, zey are my friends!!), and it looks like the film will probably have a lot of cultural references that I won't really 'get', but it does look like a lot of fun - colourful, entertaining and just fun. The trailer is actually generating some nice positive buzz for the movie. Can't wait till it comes out... hope it makes it to one of my local cinemas, and I hope it's received well.

Another fun recent development, of course, has been the return, after a loooonnng hiatus, of 'Koffee with Karan', Karan Johar's irreverent and quite frankly, nosey, chat show. It's already stirred up the pot quite nicely with Deepika Padukone allegedly making bitchy comments about Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, and Ranbir himself pretty much 'fessing up to the world that he's a little bit of a player - an adorable one to be sure, but a 'playa-playa' nonetheless. I love how Karan Johar is not afraid to go after the salacious details on this show, and how he manages to get the celebs to say stuff they probably would not say on a 'regular' day. It's also great that he manages to get just about everyone who's anyone in Bollywood to do the show.

I really enjoyed the first 2 seasons of KWK - in fact, I raved about it on this blog early in 2007, and it made it to my list of favourite Bollywood-related things of 2007, although for me the formula got a bit stale and irritating by the latter part of the second season. The show started to lose its freshness and became a bit of a vanity thing, especially for people with new movies coming out. I was quite glad when Karan called it quits, really.

But I guess a good long break was just what the show needed to give it back its 'kick', and I think one can safely predict that the third season will give us quite a few memorable moments. Just some of the people I'd personally love to see on KWK this season: newlyweds Konkona Sen Sharma and Ranvir Shorey, Vivek Oberoi (not with his wife, though - maybe with Sushmita Sen or Ajay Devgn), Amrita Rao, Shahana Goswami, Sridevi, Akki & Dimple, Emraan Hashmi, Vidya Balan... and of course K-Jo's 'usual suspects' - like SRK, Kajol, Bebo.... The ultimate coup for Karan, of course, would be to get the 3 Khans - Aamir, Shah Rukh and Salman in the studio on the same day and for the same show... but I think we all know that's not going to happen. It's fun to imagine though - things would probably get pretty heated!

Anyway, just wanted to check in... will be back soon with some Dharam-centric posts and maybe some other non-Dharam-related observations... one thing's for sure, it definitely won't be another 6 months before my next post!

DHARMENDRA: THE ROMANTIC POET

I am working on a few new posts, including the next instalment of the Decades of Dharam series... but in the meantime I would like to share this Dharmendra interview from 2007, in which Dharam talks to Tina Ambani about poetry, patriotism, parenthood, prayer... and pyaar....

Excerpts:

Do you prefer Dharam, the lover, over the action hero?
Love is also action, Tina! I am driven by love. Love should never be demanding; it must be unconditional. Love is an exquisite pain and in that pain lies intoxication. And if your lover shares that pain, the intoxication reaches another level altogether. I have been privileged enough to share such a love for over 25 years and it is amazing.

And all the female actors still rave about your good looks. How do you stay so handsome?
Whatever is in your heart and soul shows in your face. For the past few years, I have been practising pranayama [yogic breathing exercises] every day. It has transformed my life. I find it intoxicating — it has the same effect on me that alcohol used to. I used to drink a lot but I stopped about five years ago.

How do you get along with your own children?
Wonderfully. My girls, Esha and Ahana, are more open with me, though. I guess daughters have that kind of bond with their fathers. Sunny and Bobby are a little shy. Sunny is also a bit of an introvert.


The full interview is quite a treat for a Dharam fan. I always enjoy reading Dharmendra's more recent interviews (the good ones, at least) because there's something very consistent about them - both in the things he says and the way he says them, and always underneath it all... a poignant, human touch of vulnerability.

25 THOUGHTS ON 'APNE'…

This is not a review… it’s just a fun post to note down some of my thoughts on ‘Apne’ (the Deol-fest). Some thoughts are sensible (I hope), others silly, but all part of the experience I had seeing the movie. It was really a lot of FUN, for me 'Apne' is a solid all-round entertainer. Many thanks to Nitin ji (of the wonderful chakpak.com) for all his support!

1. The scripting could have been better, tighter – the pacing was off. They tried to do too much in too little time. A lot of scenes should’ve landed on the cutting room floor, to give the better scenes ‘room to breathe’…

2. How cute was Dharam Ji? Yup, he’s still got it.

3. Who was that Igbo guy (“I told you, don’t go near the ring!”)? That was amazingly hilarious!! The guy was quickly christened ‘Chidi’ by the other cinemagoers. Up Naija! Igbo kwenu!!

4. The music was not as bad as I thought it would be – it was actually rather nice. Nice one, Mr. Reshammaiya – I may not be your biggest fan, but I don’t think you did badly at all.

5. The song picturizations were absolutely great (well, except ‘Mehfuz Rakhta Hoon’ – it was just barely ok). I loved that they didn’t try to make poor Sunny dance – the choreography was all really nice and natural, and the placement of the songs flowed well with the story. Dharmendra made me cringe a little, especially when he whipped his shirt out of his trousers – it was so great to see him having fun, though.

6. Ok, ‘cut me, Papa, cut me’ was a bit unnecessary… especially since we didn’t actually see any cutting! I’m torn with this one – on the one hand, as a MASSIVE ‘Rocky’ fan, I’m very appreciative of any nods to the Rocky films; but on the other hand… it was a little bit unnecessary.

7. The girls done good – Shilpa was so cute and I loved her acting (I’m warming to that chick these days). Katrina was lovely as ever, and her acting was not too bad. I didn’t think she could convince me that she was a doctor, but it kinda worked. She needs to work on that Hindi though. Loved the chick who played Dharam’s daughter as well – must find out who she is, I know I’ve seen her in something before...

8. Still on Shilpa, I think it was a silly idea to have her come into Sunny’s match so late… it made no sense in the context of the type of relationship they’ve convinced us that they have. And it just didn't work. ‘He… he’s my husband…’. Blech. (sorry)

9. Ok, so obviously the place they were claiming was the USA was so obviously not… no matter how many times they tried to flash the American flag in our faces. Actually, this is probably a good point at which to state clearly that this movie is NOT realistic. It’s a lot more fun when you realise you can’t make it realistic – it’s just not. It’s just a movie, chill out and enjoy it (at least, that’s what I did).

10. Back to Shilpa, she had Sunny had lovely chemistry together (based on ‘Indian’, in which they co-starred, I was expecting otherwise). It totally worked. Good on them.

11. I’ve always rather liked me some Sunny, he’s a big, brawny, often corny, quiet, tough-guy-softie – and I really liked him here. He was so adorable – his part was really emotional and he totally keyed into the emotion and made you believe him. Loved his fights with the ‘Luca Garcia’ character (angry Sunny rocks!) – and the swearing match with Luca (‘Bleep!’ ‘Bleeeep!!’ ‘Bleeeeeep!!!’) was absolutely hilarious! Loved his fights with his Daddy! Go Sunny! Go Sunny! I need to find me some more Sunny… he’s a guilty pleasure for me now (with all the emphasis on the ‘pleasure’ part).

12. Dharmendra’s character was rather selfish (and a little bit mean) for much of the film – I don’t think anyone could watch this without screaming at him the words ‘get over it, it’s not all about you!!’ at some point. Thankfully, he did redeem himself eventually, but it was all a bit rushed and bogus towards the end. As noted in thought number 1, the big problem of this film was the plot-pacing – they should have devoted less time to his self-obsession and more to him coming to his senses. The ending was a bit WTH?

13. If you don’t like outpourings of emotion, ‘Apne’ is not for you – it might make you gag. I thought the emotion was lovely, it didn’t get in the way of the film, and it just flowed so well from one character to the other. It was all really sweet and natural, the emotion was obviously real and sincere (if sentimental). I loved it. But then, I’m… obviously very partial.

14. Ooh, Dharam broke some glass with his bare hands (like he did in ‘The Burning Train’). Woohoo… I luuurrve it when he breaks glass! And he still does it sooo well…

15. Anyone who doesn’t get excited at Bobby’s miracle moment has a stone for a heart, I tell you. That was maaad exciting! Hot stuff…

16. Bobby bhaiyya, we’ve had this talk before… this longish, curly-furly hair that you so clearly favour does you no favours. You look so much nicer with short hair. And please, go easy on the hair dye and highlights – you must’ve had like 20 different hues in your hair in this film alone. That stuff’s not good for your hair, ok? One day it might all start to break off from all the heat application - all the tweaking, teasing and colouring – and where would that leave you? By the way, you did very well in ‘Apne’. You were rather cute, if slightly cheesy (but hey, it's a Deol-fest - I expected nothing else). Big ups.

17. Two brothers. One is covered in hair all over his chest and back – a veritable pelt. The other’s chest and back? Smooth as a baby’s bottom. Very striking contrast. (Don’t look at me funny, I’m sure everyone else who sees the movie notices this too!) If it’s a wax job in Bobby’s case (and I seriously doubt it – that ish was sooo smooooth), then I want his wax-person’s number (not for my chest of course)… and while he’s at it, he might want to hand it to Sunny too (at least for the rug on his back and shoulders). Ok, enough hair talk. I'm starting to feel grossed out.

18. The flashbacks to Dharam’s character’s boxing youth could’ve been better. They were a bit shoddily done – more work should’ve gone into making it look authentic. They really didn’t have to over-use that same black-and-white photo of young Dharam-ji that’s all over the internet (the said photo is even on this blog, in one of my ‘All About Dharmendra’ posts…)

19. The pacing could’ve been so much better. Some parts felt a bit incoherent and unfinished, some parts felt rushed, some parts were a bit overwrought. But hey, you can’t have it all.

20. The movie was a lot of fun to watch!!! A LOT!!! The drama, the excitement, the emotion… I enjoyed every single minute of it. (How could it have been otherwise?) But it wasn’t just me, (I would probably have been pleased with almost anything, even dross) everyone in the hall (including some people who mentioned that they haven't seen a Hindi movie since they were kids) was laughing, applauding, passing funny comments… there were even a few screams. ‘Apne’ was really entertaining to watch.

21. If you have a problem with boxing, or more importantly, with boxing-related violence, then err... this ain’t for you! It’s not as violent as any of the other boxing movies I’ve seen (contrary to what some reviewers have said, I thought the violence was a bit toned-down), but I guess it’s kinda violent – lots of khoon and fractures and such.

I have a problem with boxing as a sport, but I am a huge ‘Rocky’ fan (go figure) – so the violence did not bother me at all. I loved watching the boxing scenes, and I thought they were very nicely done – I was a bit worried that they’d look horribly fake, but they looked really good for the most part. The make-up was pretty realistic and the Deols obviously did a bit of training for the movie. The punch-sounds were too loud though – but that’s a small quibble. Bigger quibble: the pacing problems of the film affected the boxing bouts – they didn’t seem to know when to cut things short or let things roll out a bit.

But I think, to be absolutely fair: they did very well all told. You can’t expect perfection when a film-maker’s doing something largely unprecedented. Bollywood hasn’t done this kind of stuff before, as far as I’m aware, and they did a very good job when you take that into consideration. They really managed to hold the viewers’ attention – made you feel like you were ringside. Shaabash!

22. How random was the sudden entry of Luca’s girlfriend, and all the “I love you babys”? That was way too random and fake. They should’ve kept that character out of the movie. It would’ve been nice to have her if there’d been time to develop her properly, but there’s only so much you can do in 3 hours…

23. What was with all the ‘Luca, we want blood!’, ‘Luca will eat you alive!’, ‘Luca will kill you, destroy you and send you to hell!’ (ok I made that last one up) signs? That was ridiculous. Oh well, it was funny in a macabre kind of way…

24. Kirron Kher is such a good, consistent actress – totally loved her in this. And she and Dharmendra were really good together – very natural. And Victor Banerjee was really great with Dharmendra too. Dharam ji was just so awesome to watch in general… I loved his performance… I love Dharam ji, I just love the man… I could go on and on about how much I loved watching him… so I’ll just stop.

25. Did I mention how much FUN this movie was? Delightful is the word. It was so much FUN!! LOVED it. Random thought: I loved all the Hinglish parts and the way they switched between languages. I loved when Dharam told Luca he’d pick up the Hindi with time. Fab. The emotional parts got me emotional, the funny parts made me laugh, the clumsy/fake/silly/ridiculous parts (and yes, there were a fair number of those) made me laugh, the action was very exciting… what’s not to love? Nothing, that’s what! I LOVE ‘APNE’!! Ok, brief teenage flashback over…

But… GO DEOL MEN! Ya’ll need to get together and make a sequel or something – or at least another movie with all three of you… (I know, it’s unlikely to happen, but this was so much fun – so I’ll just keep dreaming that they come up with another 3-Deol film, thank you very much…)

'APNE'

I had to post this cute picture on my blog:


It's Dharmendra (who seems to have lost quite a bit of weight), and his sons Bobby (don't you just love how he's hugging his dad close?) and Sunny. These three Deol men are getting ready for the release of their new movie (and first movie together), 'Apne'. Many, many thanks to Sanket for directing me to the photo. I really hope 'Apne' is a good movie, and I also hope that it gets a good reception when it comes out. So far, it looks promising. My fingers are crossed.

DHARAM'S CHILDREN - Part 3

And so today I come to concluding part of my series on the acting children of my dear Dharmendra... the series has been a lot of fun for me and I've learnt a lot. I'm actually going to miss it. Today's star is the spunky Esha Deol.... but first the theme song...

Chorus:
Dharam’s Children
The series ends today
With the story of young Esha
First child of Dharam and Hema (the last line doesn't really work, but please bear with me)

Verse:
Esha is a Daddy’s girl
They are really close
She has a very bright future
Because she hates to lose (ha, so cheesy!)

(Repeat Chorus)

Esha Deol was born in India on 2 November 1982 to Hema Malini and Dharmendra. Her name means ‘the divine beloved’. She attended the elite Jamnabai Narsee School in Mumbai, a middle school which also lists Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, and Esha’s half-brothers Sunny and Bobby among its alumni.

According to IMDb and Wikipedia, Esha has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Technology and a Master’s degree in Media Arts, (I’m not sure which of these degrees she got at Oxford, but she apparently studied there). Other sources seem to contradict the whole Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees thing; and Esha implies in one interview that she left formal education after her twelfth year, preferring to focus on her acting career instead.

Esha looks like Hema (especially when she smiles), but she also looks a lot like Dharmendra – I think she’s got a nice blend of both parents’ features. Her features are quite strong and well-defined (which I like), like her dad’s; and she has her mother’s sweet smile. Esha is 5 feet 6 inches tall and has a really fit and toned physique thanks to a rigorous workout and dance regimen.
Esha and her younger sister Ahana are accomplished dancers in the Odissi dance form. Esha has performed onstage several times with her mother, who is trained in Bharatanatyam. Esha is also a football buff and plays the beautiful game (as well as other sports) very well, which I think is super-cool.

In addition to Hindi and English, Esha speaks fluent Tamil (as a result of which she was in one of Mani Ratnam’s Tamil-language films, ‘Aayitha Ezhuthu’ (2004)). Apparently, her Punjabi is pretty good too (Dad must be pleased with that!) Esha calls herself a ‘Daddy’s girl’ (she and I have that in common). In light of that relationship, her decision to become a Bollywood actress is really interesting, as her dad disapproved at first. I like the fact that she just did her thing.

Like her brothers, Esha’s entry into Bollywood was met with positive vibes – her performance in her debut film ‘Koi Mere Dil Se Pooche’ received good reviews, and with its release she was well on her way to success. Since kicking off her Bollywood career in 2001, Esha has made a princely 20 films – obviously she’s a hard working lady who is determined to succeed in her chosen career, so props to her for that.


Sadly, according to some, Esha just might be a bit of a brat. There are reports that she once slapped fellow actress Amrita Rao, and she also slapped actor Zakir Hussein rather hard during a scene (I find that really hilarious, which I guess is not very nice of me). I am not sure whether the whole ‘brat’ thing is true or whether it’s really just the usual unfair and negative stereotyping of a strong, opinionated, outspoken young woman. From her interviews, she definitely comes across as blunt, direct and a little bit of a diva (I personally like a bit of divaliciousness – in other people) – but not exactly a brat. I guess I’ll never know which is true.


Having acknowledged her talent and beauty, I must also acknowledge that until recently, I didn’t like Esha. She just seemed to me like one of those arrogant, temperamental, the-world-owes-me-a-big-fat-favour-’cos-I’m-just-so-fabulous drama queens; and the fact that she once was a close friend of Kareena Kapoor, a woman I often think of as Bollywood’s Paris Hilton (not quite fair of me, though, as she does have talent, whereas Paris has none) didn’t exactly help matters. And I had only seen Esha onscreen once, in an absolutely awful film. But since seeing her in another film and doing a bit of research on her for this feature, I can admit that my views have changed (or at least, that they’re now open to change).

I’ve only seen two of Esha’s movies, and here they are:

Kyaa Dil Ne Kahaa: Esha co-stars with Tusshar Kapoor in ‘Kyaa Dil Ne Kahaa’ (KDNK), surely one of the most irritating and tiresome Bollywood movies I have so far had the displeasure of coming across (I hate to sound mean, but this is on the real). The problem is not really the performances, although I really have nothing good to say about Tusshar’s acting in this film (I find him so annoying in general). But the story! It is really, really annoying – it just drags on and on and bugs the hell out of you like a mosquito constantly buzzing away somewhere close to your head. In fact, this movie is pretty close to torture in some ways. I stuck it out because I always like to finish what I start, but by the end, I wished I’d been bold enough to just stop fifteen minutes into it.

Basically Esha’s character (also named Esha) falls for Tusshar’s character, Rahul. But Rahul has no plans of marrying Esha, and instead wants to keep things ‘as they are’ (which is basically, nowhere). The reason for Rahul’s reluctance? He’s been raised by rich, but also embarrassing, neglectful, slightly pagal parents, who have turned him off the idea of marriage and scarred him for life (I wanted to feel sorry for him for a second, but he was such a drama queen that I quickly withdrew my sympathy). So far this is all slightly tolerable – but then the film-makers proceed to turn the bulk of this film into a ‘marry me’/‘no’ back-and-forth rigmarole between Esha and Rahul, an exchange which makes less and less sense as the film goes on, and basically drives you up the wall. It’s all shallowness, immaturity, and worst of all, fierce lashings of needless and ridiculous drama.

And the ending is simply abominable (I should warn that the next couple of sentences will contain a spoiler). After doing her best to persuade Rahul to marry her, and getting rudely embarrassed in return; Esha is pressured into another marriage by her family. Just before the wedding (in time-honoured Bollywood style), Rahul comes to his senses and decides to marry Esha after all – so he interrupts the wedding. But don’t except a nice, cute, heart-warming ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, ‘Muhjse Dosti Karoge’, ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ or ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’ type of ending (although by this time the characters have gotten on your last nerve and you truly don’t care what happens to them anyway), because Esha spoils the moment by abandoning her poor innocent groom (not that I care about him either) at the ceremonial fire and running off to tell Rahul that she doesn’t care whether he marries her or not and she’d rather ‘live in’ with her beloved forever and blah blah blah. I mean, come on, who is supposed to believe that she suddenly doesn’t care after she’s just spent the last few eons desperately trying to make Rahul marry her?
I’m actually getting cheesed off just recalling the silliness of this film. Anyway, for what it’s worth, Esha looks pretty (see picture above) in it and her acting is ok. There are a couple of funny moments and one or two ok songs. The rest, as far as I’m concerned, really should have been canned. It just makes you go ‘Aaarrghh!’ Never, ever, again.

Just Married: When I started my ‘Dharam’s Children’ series, I had only seen KDNK, so I was not feeling the least bit charitable towards Miss Deol – KDNK was not a good vehicle for her acting talent at all. I am so glad I was able to see ‘Just Married’, a film by talented writer-director (and daughter of great actress Rakhee and phenomenal screenwriter Gulzar) Meghna Gulzar, because it has given me a totally different and refreshing take on this young lady. I can now actually agree with the people who say that Esha got her dad’s acting chops and her mum’s star quality. Just shows what a huge difference some good material can make.



‘Just Married’ is the story of Rithika (played by Esha) and Abhay (played by Fardeen Khan, whom I now have a new-found respect for – now I want to edit my ‘Favourite Khans’ post now and put him in there somewhere), a newly married couple who know nothing about each other and go off to Ooty for their honeymoon after an arranged marriage. I really like this film – it’s sweet, mature and kind of gentle in a way. It explores all those delicate, funny, uncomfortable human emotions – uncertainty, nervousness, shyness, transition, forced intimacy; in a lovely way. I heard it didn’t do too well because it was released soon after ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt.’ and people thought it was the same kind of story. That’s a bit sad, I think because I’ve seen both films and they aren’t that similar. They’re both about honeymooning couples, and they both feature an older couple and a ‘modern’ couple, but that’s about it.

‘Just Married’ is a very different kind of film from ‘Travels’; it is really not a fun romp, it’s quite ‘quiet’ and grounded, although it does have its amusing moments. Where ‘Travels’ focused equally on the stories of each of the couples, ‘Just Married’ is very much Rithika and Abhay’s story, with the other stories kind of feeding into theirs, in a very sweet and interesting way. I’m not saying either movie trumps the other; they’re both very good, but they’re very different – it’s just a shame for Gulzar and her team that they both came out around the same time, and hers came out second.

Anyway, I loved ‘Just Married’ because it made me think, it entertained me, it was intelligently made, and I left the cinema feeling a bit emotional and wanting to fall in love (and that feeling doesn’t hit me very often). Esha and Fardeen were both fab in their roles – they were totally believable – Esha as the friendly, independent but also awkward and confused young bride; Fardeen as the sincere, but also a bit confused young groom. I just thought they were so sweet together, and each performance balanced the other out – I loved that their characters were both ‘modern’, but not in a stereotypical, shallow way. And the rest of the cast (Shatish Shah, Kirron Kher, and some other people I don’t know) did a great job of supporting them; each couple with very interesting stories of their own.

So I loved Esha in ‘Just Married’ – and just on the strength of that subtle, ‘real’ performance, I think she’s quite a good actress, when she’s got good material to work with. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her.

A few resources on Esha Deol:

http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2000/may/08esha.htm (an oldie, when she was just getting her foot through the door. Very interesting and cute – she once wore braces! (another thing she and I have in common))

http://www.rediff.com/movies/2003/jan/13esha.htm

http://www.webindia123.com/movie/interview/in010605.htm (an upbeat interview)

http://www.radiosargam.com/features/interviews/eshamain.htm

http://www.desipowerchat.com/bollywood/a33_esha_deol/esha_deol_not_just_sexy.htm

http://www.seasonsindia.com/cinemascope/iviewEsha_sea.htm

http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/32/3975 (Ouch!)

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/ar/i/actors/624/3/general/4/ (after ‘Just Married’)

http://www.radiosargam.com/features/interviews/eshamarch.html (Hmm... )

http://in.rediff.com/movies/2004/may/19esha.htm (now I want to see ‘Yuva’!)

http://movies.indiatimes.com/quickies/1792434.cms (this one is narcissism galore! This is one girl who luuurrves herself – it’s definitely a fun read!)

DHARAM'S CHILDREN - Part 2

Today’s star is Sunny D, as I like to call him. Not only does his name sound a lot like ‘Sunny Delight’, he’s very robust and intense (like the drink), and sometimes he can be rather (and oddly) delightful (mostly when he smiles and tries to dance). I don’t know why, but I think there’s an appealing little kid buried beneath all that brawn.

... But that hasn't stopped you from dancing anyway, has it, Sunny? Not your fault, I know, Bollywood is big on dancing. Nice line, though – the fact that you said it makes you seem like a really good sport…

But first the theme song – Bobby got only one verse last week, but as the ‘bhaiyya’, I say Sunny deserves two. I don’t play with seniority:

Chorus:

Dharam’s children
Want to be Bollywood stars
Just like their father
So they work real hard

Verse 1:

Next up we have Sunny
He’s the action man
He’s really big and brawny
And he cannot dance

Verse 2:

Sunny D is quite the badass
You don’t wanna mess with him
He’s got muscular substance
But there’s a big kid within

Sunny, the most successful of Dharam’s three acting children, was born Ajay Singh Deol in New Delhi on either, depending on whom you believe, 19th October 1956 (according to IMDb) or 19th October 1961 (according to BollyWHAT? and Wikipedia – although elsewhere on Wikipedia he’s listed as being born in 1956). So, he’s either 45 or 50 – I personally think he’s probably 45.

Despite being the older brother, he’s shorter than Bobby, about 5-11 (other sources say 5-9). He’s happily married to Pooja (although there’ve been rumours about dalliances with actresses in the past, including Dimple Kapadia and Raveena Tandon) and has two sons, Rajvir and Ranvir. Apparently, he’s quite the shy and quiet one… the strong and silent type (I'm very fond of that type, so I have a bit of a soft spot for him).

His first of 76 movies (as listed on IMDb) was 1983’s ‘Betaab’, which was a hit, the first of many Sunny-starrers to rake it in at the box office. Before taking on Bollywood, Sunny studied acting in Birmingham, England. It’s worth noting here that like Bobby (I remarked upon this in my Bobby post), his Bollywood career also began in his late twenties – maybe there’s no ‘reason’ for that other than they needed to be ‘ready’ before plunging into movies. His most successful movie is 2001’s blockbuster, ‘Gadar: Ek Prem Katha’. He directed ‘Dillagi’ in 1999, co-starring with Bobby for the first time – although it got good reviews, it bombed at the box office. He’s won several acting awards (for ‘Ghayal’, ‘Damini’ and ‘Gadar’).

I like Sunny Deol. I think he’s quite a good actor, and I really like the fact that he knows his niche (action movies) and hasn’t strayed too far from it, instead of pretending he can do it all. He has won many loyal fans for his reliability as an action hero. Despite the jibes of the naysayers, he has been consistently doing what he does for years, and I think he’s good at it. He’s really hardworking and does a lot of his own stunts. And I love that he made a great comeback with 'Gadar' - I always love comebacks.

I’ve found Sunny’s acting credible in the few films of his I’ve seen – but I don’t think he’s hot (at the moment, that is; that might change). I’m not sure why, especially as he looks very much like my darling Dharmendra. The resemblance is striking – he’s definitely not as handsome as Dharam, but he does look a lot like him. He even has the slight throatiness to his voice that I love about Dharmendra’s – it’s not as sexy as his dad’s, but it’s there. But I just don’t think he’s hot. I like the way he beats up the bad guys, but I don’t think it’s sexy. I guess this whole line of thought is the problem – the resemblance to his dad always makes you compare their acting, their hotness, their whatever. It’s so unfair really.

And now for the Sunny movies I’ve seen:

‘DARR’: ‘Darr’ was a film that shot two of its three stars to a higher level of fame. Playing ‘Kiran’, sweet and sparkly Juhi Chawla managed to revive the hype that had waned since her turn in ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’ a few years before. Even more notable was the rise of Shahrukh Khan, who handed in an excellent performance as an obsessed stalker who would do anything to get his ‘K-k-kiran’. While Juhi and SRK basked in the limelight of their success in ‘Darr’, the third star of the film, Sunny Deol, was left behind, looking and feeling like a lemon.

Sunny was mad when he realised that SRK was getting all the post-release attention – according to him, Yash Chopra completely manipulated and misrepresented his role in ‘Darr’. He felt deceived and even, in what must have been an exceptionally surly moment, put down SRK’s role as being easy-peasy (quite childish on Sunny’s part, I think). ‘Darr’ created a rift between Sunny and Yash Raj Films that continues today. And SRK, of course, went on to superstardom.

There’s nothing majorly wrong with Sunny’s performance in ‘Darr’. As Juhi’s Navy commando husband, he is strong, dependable, loyal, understanding and protective, doing his best to save her from her demented stalker. He had good chemistry with Juhi too. The only problem is that SRK had the opportunity to do so much more with his role – he just grabs your attention everytime he’s on the screen. He makes you believe in his craziness, and makes you understand Juhi’s terror. He also makes you, strangely enough, relate to his pain and angst. Sunny didn’t stand a chance… his character just didn’t have as much ‘meat’ to him.

While Sunny’s performance was ok in my eyes and he does all the action and romantic bits very well, there were two things I personally didn’t like about Sunny’s ‘Darr’ character – but I can’t blame him for them – it was the scriptwriter and director’s call (which makes me think they may indeed have done a number on poor Sunny). One was the scene in which his character is avidly watching a stripper on TV while on a private getaway with his new bride, who then has to come and ‘distract’ him by doing a striptease of her own. I thought that was a bit (no, very) cheap. The other was the very end of the movie when Sunny’s character mocks SRK’s ‘K-k-kiran’ stutter, and they all laugh uproariously. I found that in very poor taste, especially after what had happened to the guy, who was, after all, very sick and disturbed – no wonder SRK got more sympathy from the audience.

Even if Chopra did deceive Sunny about his role in the film (I think it seems possible), it was churlish of him to throw a public tantrum (that big kid coming through, huh?). Methinks ’twould have been more dignified to congratulate SRK and just move on. But I guess he had to be true to himself and express his feelings.

‘INSANIYAT’: Really, the less said about this star-studded, big-budget film the better. I hated it. Only watched it for five minutes and gave up – so I have no idea whether or not Sunny was good in it.

‘INDIAN’: Sunny plays an honest, tough, often brutal policeman who goes after terrorists, corrupt politicians and other bad guys. His job is made tougher by corrupt members of the police and sarkar, who secretly work for the terrorists. Shilpa plays Sunny’s wife and mother of his two cute little kids, who finds her marital relationship threatened by Sunny’s actions against someone she loves. Sunny faces difficult trials because of his determination to fight the bad guys, a duty he claims not just as a policeman, but as an Indian (hence the name of the film).

‘Indian’ is not a terrible film, but I certainly wouldn’t call it good either – I would say it’s watchable. There are huge holes in the plot, and some highly improbable situations, and sometimes it drags on a bit, but I guess it’s your basic ‘ok’ action movie (lots and lots of fight scenes, people getting beaten up, guns and bombs). There is some romance between Sunny and Shilpa, but it’s not that memorable, mainly, in my opinion, because there’s not a lot of chemistry there. I liked Sunny’s hard-as-nails, uncompromising performance, even if he did go waaaay over the top now and again. His dancing was awful as ever, but otherwise he was alright. I liked that you could tell he was putting his best into it. I think he did well.

‘JAAL: THE TRAP’: I found ‘Jaal’ surprisingly watchable. It’s another good-guys-against-bad-terrorists action film, but I thought it was quite well done. It has some of the same extra-patriotic overtones as ‘Indian’, with Sunny playing a patriotic musician called Ajay (he does a song called ‘Sher Dil Indian’, accompanied with bad dancing) who has also trained as a commando. He gets drawn into a trap by terrorists, and the story is about how it all happens and how he gets out. There are a few unexpected twists and turns along the way, and I liked that.

Sunny is quite good in this film – he has a good range – I of course found the whole ‘musician’ thing totally unbelievable (especially when he started to dance), but he does very well with the action bits, the romantic bits and even the odd comedic bit. He and Tabu (in quite a good performance by her, I thought) had very nice chemistry, right up to the end. Reema Sen basically plays an irritating brat - but she does it well, although there's zero chemistry between her and Sunny. As for Anupam Kher – I wasn’t quite convinced by his role, but it was ok. Amrish Puri is really good playing Sunny Deol’s dad in this film, and I loved all their scenes together – especially the one where they’re on a bike together. Farida Jalal had a teeny role as Ajay’s mother.

Another thing ‘Jaal’ has going for it is really nice music – I enjoyed all the songs and thought they were nicely picturised, in a way that tied in well with the story – there’s quite a bemusing bit where in the middle of a romantic song, Tabu and Sunny are interrupted by rampaging sheep, helicopters and terrorists. They do the same thing in another romantic song, this time with Reema. I have to say I liked the oddness of it.

‘Jaal’ has its faults – there are some holes in the plot and some undue violence and unnecessary killing (but then, it’s an action film, and you find that a lot, in Bollywood and everywhere else), and the train scene at the climax drags a bit. There are also some silly and overdone stunts, like when they try to make what’s obviously a bungee jump appear to be a freefall – twice. And the rom-com bits are just plain silly and nonsensical. But generally I liked this movie and I enjoyed Sunny’s performance.

The critics say Sunny Deol has no range as an actor, but I’d like to offer up a few specimens from ‘Jaal’ to counter that claim…

The don’t-you-mess-with-me-cos-I’m-such-a-baddddassss expression:
The if-I-wasn’t-such-a-baddddassss-I’d-be-peeing-in-my-pants-right-now expression:
The WTH? expression:
The you’ve-rocked-my-world-and-touched-me-to-the-depths-of-my-soul expression:
The I’m-such-a-cool-dude-with-my-collar-up-like-this expression:
And finally… the I-must-do-what-I-must-do-and-not-be-shaken expression:

And here are some of the many resources on Sunny Deol available on the web…

http://www.rediff.com/movies/2003/apr/10sunny.htm - An interview after the release of ‘The Hero’. He has some sweet words to say about this dad – totally love that.

http://www.bollywhat.com/Biographies/sunny_bio.html - His BollyWHAT entry.

http://entertainment.oneindia.in/movies/bollywood/interviews/sunny-deol-061206.html - Quite a sweet interview.

http://www.rhythminfo.com/ArtistInterview.asp?artistid=29&pagecat=Interview - The patriotic thing comes through here.

http://www.parinda.com/movies/sunny_deol.shtml - A good profile with some startlingly old-fashioned views on fatherhood from Sunny, and links to other resources.

http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2001/jul/07sun.htm - Basking in the success of ‘Gadar’.

http://www.indiaoz.com.au/bollywood/stars/sunny_deol/ - Very entertaining article on his films and personal life – a bit gossip-rag-ish, though.

http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2000/oct/19sunny.htm - A neat little bit of introspection.

www.imdb.com/name/nm0219971/miscsites - His IMDb miscellaneous links

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0219971/ - His IMDb entry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_Deol - His Wikipedia entry

DHARAM'S CHILDREN (PART ONE)

It occurs to me that I haven’t done anything really, really, hardcore-ly Dharmendra-related in a while… although I did mention Abhay in my last-but-one post. So I’ve decided it’s time to start executing an idea that was hatched in my mind a little while ago. It’s a series about the children of Dharmendra – not all of them, just the ones that act… Sunny, Bobby and Esha. This is fun for me, and helps me learn more about them – it’s also good prep for the much-anticipate movie ‘Apne’, which will be released later this year and will star Sunny, Bobby and Dharam all together in one movie (for the first time). None of the ‘Junior Deols’ can match Daddy’s success, but they haven’t done too badly either.

Each part of my series will consist of basic facts about each actor, as well as my impressions of them. Dharam is obviously proud of the fact that his sons are actors. As for Esha, who’s very close to him… he’s expressed the opinion that Bollywood is not a place for young women…. but she’s acting anyway, so good on her.

So let the series begin… today’s star is Bobby. Ain't he cute??

Ooh, forgot to mention that each part of this three-part series shall be accompanied by an original (and very bad, I must warn you) song, ‘Dharam’s Children’ to be sung to the popular tune of G. F. Handel’s classic, ‘Canticorum Iubilo’ (or ‘Zion’s Daughter’, if you’re into Boney M). Daft, I know, but I like it… here is the first part of the song…

Chorus:

Dharam’s children
By Hema or by Prakash
Almost all of them are actors
Bollywood actors

Verse:
First in line is Bobby
Kicking off this song
He’s not such a bad actor
He likes his hair long

(Repeat Chorus)

Bobby Deol was born Vijay Singh Deol on 27 January 1967 (he recently turned forty), to Dharam Singh Deol (Dharmendra) and his then-wife, Prakash Kaur. Bobby’s first movie was ‘Dharam Veer’, a star-studded epic starring his father, Zeenat Aman, and many other stars. He played the young Dharam, and was only 10 years old when the film was released. He is listed in the credits as ‘Bobby Junior Dharmendra’, which I think is pretty darned hilarious.

Anyway, since ‘Dharam Veer’, Bobby has gone on to become a fairly successful Bollywood actor, though not exactly one of the stars of the industry. Incidentally, after ‘Dharam Veer’, he didn’t act again until the mid-90s, when he was already almost 30 years old – quite a late start by Bollywood standards (I’m still trying to find out why). Anyway, with his late start in mind, I think he’s done well for himself.

Bobby is over six feet tall (this surprised me for some reason – maybe because all the extremely ugly and loud shirts he likes wearing make him look shorter - it was soo hard to find pictures for this feature because most of his pictures are of him in ugly shirts!), and unlike Sunny, doesn’t look very much like Dad. He’s still quite good-looking though, though not in a conventional way – I think he has very nice eyes, but I'm not sure about that hair he seems to favour - and he sometimes looks a little oily - but anyway, he's not bad-looking. He is married to Tanya Ahuja (daughter of wealthy finance guru Dev Ahuja) and has two little boys, 4-year-old Aryaman and 2-year-old Dharam (named after his Dad – awwww). He’s very close to his family, especially his big brother Sunny.

He is listed on IMDb as having appeared in about thirty movies, the latest being ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’ (apparently he and Preity Zinta had a fight during filming – over a curling iron LOL! Actually, it was apparently a prank by Preity that Bobby didn’t think was funny – she hid his curling iron – LOL!). Interestingly, he’s made two movies of the same name – ‘Barsaat’ (1995) and ‘Barsaat’ (2005). Some of his more popular movies are ‘Soldier’ (with Preity Zinta), ‘Ajnabee’ (with Akshay Kumar) and ‘Gupt’ (with Kajol). He’s done both action roles and and ‘softer’ romantic/dramatic parts. Bobby is known for not being a good dancer, a trait shared with his father and brother, although I personally think he’s the best dancer of the three (that’s certainly not saying much!) I think his dancing’s not that bad, actually (but many think otherwise).

Despite the fact that he has won a Filmfare Award (in 1996 for ‘Best Newcomer’ in the first ‘Barsaat’) and was nominated for another in 2003 for ‘Best Actor’ (for 2002’s ‘Humraaz’), Bobby is generally thought of as a fairly good actor who can make a fairly ok kind of movie – and who has had his fair share of flops. I happen to think he’s quite good as an actor, but he just hasn’t made great choices of material (or hasn’t been offered really great material). I know, I sound like his PR person… but I mean that. I also like the fact that he seems to just keeps trying…

Anyway, let me just talk about the two (measly number, I know) Bobby Deol movies I’ve seen. Both were made by Suneel Darshan.

‘Dosti – Friends Forever’ (2005): This film stars Bobby and Akshay Kumar. There are also rather lackluster performances by Kareena Kapoor and Lara Dutta; as well as a very cute, nicely-executed little role for Juhi Chawla.

Bobby and Akshay play childhood friends who grow up together into adulthood. Bobby is a spoilt, neglected rich kid on the outs with his parents (he took a poor kid – Akshay – under his wing as a kid and has lived with him since). So anyway, Akshay falls for another childhood friend, played by Kareena, and wants to marry her, but due to some family drama, things go awry. Meanwhile, Bobby is led a merry dance by the lively Lara, who later dumps him (with good reason). Things get even more angst-ridden later in the film, but perhaps I shouldn’t reveal why. Eventually, anyway, Bobby and Lara reconcile, and Bobby finally gets his act together, makes up with his family, and becomes a better man – all thanks to Akshay.

To be honest, the story of the film is a bit blah. It’s an uneven, lumpy mishmash of several Bollywood staples – rich kid/poor kid, love/betrayal, dying young, two lifelong friends blah blah. It doesn’t really work. There are other problems with it – like the fact that the kids apparently are 10 years old in 2005 but are also 30 years old in 2005.

What really works for me, though, is the way Akshay and Bobby interact as friends. I really like their performances and their chemistry together – the way they bounce off each other, support each other, and give each other space to ‘be’. One thing I picked up strongly on in this film is that Bobby is that rarest of the species – a generous actor. He really lets Akshay do his thing (but doesn’t use it as an excuse not to do his own part well). I love the scene where he’s railing at God – he doesn’t go over the top as almost any other actor would – he keeps it restrained and actually makes the moment a bit profound.

I really liked that I could follow the arc of Bobby’s character in this film, and see him grow and develop, and I liked the way he and Askhay did comedic bits and sad bits with equal aplomb. I enjoyed Bobby’s performance in this film – it was quite muted but I would not (as others have) call it half-hearted – I think it was really mature and interesting. And even his dancing wasn’t that bad.

‘Barsaat’ (2005): Finding out that Bobby actually won awards for his performance in a film of the same name over a decade ago makes me sad – because this second ‘Barsaat’ is just not good. The story, basically a remake of ‘Sweet Home Alabama’, is paper-thin. Bobby (funny enough, the role was meant for Akshay initially) plays an NRI who has ‘outgrown India’ and basically wants to live a rich and fabulous life with a rich and glamorous heiress called Anna, played Bipasha Basu. Unfortunately, the silly cad is already married to his childhood friend, played by Priyanka Chopra, who he’s left behind in India. He claims he is no longer interested in the marriage – so he tries to get a divorce during an emergency trip home.

If this story had been treated differently, it could’ve been ok. But it turns into a boring sequence of scenes with Bobby very rudely and horribly demanding a divorce from Priyanka over and over again, treating her like trash. Priyanka eventually gets to show Bobby that she actually has some substance to her, but even that is half-hearted and unconvincing. And Bips is just terrible in this role – it’s totally wrong for her and she comes off very fake and insincere.

What made this film a bit watchable for me are a couple of sweet scenes with Bobby and Priyanka – I like the one right at the end; and the fact that Priyanka looks and sounds great (she does some singing on the soundtrack) even if she is unconvincing as well (not half as bad as Bipasha though).

These two films, though neither is really a good movie, have made me want to see a bit more of Bobby – I think he has acting talent and there is a sensitivity to him that I like – very modern-noughties-man.

So that’s it for Bobby… up next in the ‘Dharam’s Children’ series is either Esha or Sunny…


Here are just a few of the gazillion resources on Bobby Deol available on the internet (I’ve read them, and they make me think he must be quite a nice guy in real life)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Deol - his Wikipedia entry

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0219967/bio - his IMDb entry

www.rediff.com/entertai/2001/sep/18bobby.htm (a good interview from way back in 2001, just before ‘Ajnabee')

www.bollyvista.com/article/a/34/5370 (‘I have not been lucky’ – good interview)


www.bollywood.com/archives/2006/07/celebrity_inter_56.html (a more recent, upbeat interview)

http://www.movietalkies.com/interviews/view-interview.asp?InterviewId=29 (he’s defending himself all the way here – in a very classy way, I think)

http://www.bollywoodgate.com/indian-actors/bobby-deol.html
(he talks about family, film and other interests)

www.bollywood.tv/free/Bobby_Deol_Interview--3125 (if you want to see him talk…)

http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/hindi/interview/6235.html
(I think he’s quite down-to-earth)

http://www.radiosargam.com/features/interviews/bobbydeolhumraaz.htm
(an oldie, quite sweet I think)