POLL RESULT: SRK'S Leading Ladies

I was going to finally do my Bollywood-related-stuff-from-my-trip-to-India post next... but erm... it's not quite ready. (If you'd like to check out non-Bollywood photos from my trip, there are loads on my other blog, check them out here, here and here.) In the meantime, it's time to talk about my latest poll.

Thank you SO MUCH to all you for voting in the SRK-leading-lady poll. I loved the results because they were a little surprising in a good way – the margins were slimmer than I thought they’d be, and our winner didn’t cart off quite as many votes as I’d anticipated. Thanks again for voting.

This is the results post… this has been such a fun poll to watch, and a new one will be going up as soon as I hatch a suitable idea… I hope to come up with something radically different (and female-oriented) for the next one.

The question again was which of 11 listed female actors you consider to share the best onscreen chemistry with Mr. Shahrukh Khan…

KAJOL: No surprises here. The unibrowed-one captured 54 of your votes, to win this poll. SRK and Kajol have actually only done a handful of films together, but almost all of them have been super-hits (some have even attained iconic status), with the pair leaving an indelible mark on the minds and hearts of audiences worldwide. From ‘Baazigar’ to ‘Karan Arjun’ to ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ (DDLJ), to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (KKHH)’, to ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ (K3G), this couple has always struck just the right note.

I think what makes the SRK/Kajol work is that they look great together (two unconventionally attractive and interesting-looking people), they are both good at expressing the emotions of their characters, and they have a great vibe between them – so that whether its humour or trauma or passion or drama; they just bounce off each other and make their jodi both believable and lovable. I have loved all the SRK/Kajol pairings that I’ve seen, and I have a very soft spot for the picturisation of ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ from K3G, a film which (ironically) is not one of my favourite SRK/Kajol films (for me, DDLJ and KKHH are much better films) – I simply love SRK and Kajol in that song.

RANI MUKERJI: Again, this actress has made just a few movies with Shahrukh Khan, but apparently those few movies have made such an impact that Rani has received a very decent score of 32 votes in this poll, second only to her cousin Kajol. I think Rani is a very different kind of actress from Kajol; where Kajol is more instinctive and gives freer rein to the emotions of her characters, Rani is more thoughtful and controlled. But I think SRK is equally adept at creating a vibrant and interesting dynamic between himself and each of the very talented and lovely Mukerji cousins.

In her first pairing with King Khan, Rani played Tina, the third character in the KKHH love triangle. Since then, she’s had memorable performances opposite him in ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’ (KANK), ‘Paheli’ and ‘Chalte Chalte’ (as you can see from my screencaps, I love the picturisation of ‘Tauba Tumhare’ to bits). And I should also mention ‘Veer Zaara’ – I think Rani and SRK did a great job together even though they weren’t THE couple of the film.

JUHI CHAWLA: I have to say I love SRK and Juhi together. In fact, if I were to vote alone in this poll, Juhi and Kajol would tie for first place, and Rani would be second. Kyun ki I absolutely love Shahrukh Khan with Juhi. I think they are just excellent together. What I like best about this jodi is the sheer fun and joy that they exude together in most of their films together (with the exception of ‘Darr’, of course, in which SRK’s character basically hunted ‘K-k-kiran’ down – I actually liked them both in ‘Darr’ as well).

Juhi and SRK are so cute together, adorable really; and they always just seem to be laughing and having a blast, making me (the viewer) want to jump right in and join them. Their real-life friendship really shines through. SRK/Juhi have shared the spotlight in films like the oh-so-fun ‘Yes Boss’ (‘Main Koi Aisa Geet Gaon’ is one of my favourite Hindi movie songs ever, and I just think SRK and Juhi are tres cute and charming in the film), ‘Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman’, ‘Duplicate’, ‘One 2 Ka 4’, ‘Phir Bhi Dil Hindustani’ and ‘Ram Jaane’. The cute Juhi garnered 28 of the votes cast in this poll, to come in third… very close to Rani.

MADHURI DIXIT: The gorgeous Mrs. Dixit-Nene grabbed 15 of all the votes cast in the poll, putting her in fourth position. I’m a huge fan of Mads, I think she is so awesome – she’s just a star in every sense of the word. And one of the great things about her is her professionalism, the way she throws herself into every performance and does her best to create the right dynamic between herself and her leading men. Sometimes the chemistry is so convincing that it’s unforgettable, as in the otherwise-unmemorable ‘Dil’ with Aamir Khan; but even when it’s not quite that striking, it’s still thoroughly convincing.

I’ve liked Madhuri and SRK together in the films I’ve seen in them in together (not as much as I’ve liked either of them with other actors though), and I think that’s down to their hard work, professionalism and star quality. Films which have featured Ms. Dixit and Shahrukh Khan in lead roles include ‘Koyla’ (I really liked them together in this), ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ (which I loved more for the Madhuri/Karisma dynamic than for the Madhuri/SRK jodi, actually), ‘Devdas’ (not a great pairing here in my opinion, but a great performance by Madhuri), the oft-criticised ‘Anjaam’ and the pretty darn awful ‘Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam’.

PREITY ZINTA: As far as I know, SRK and Preity have only co-starred in a movie thrice – they’ve shared the marquee in ‘Veer Zaara’, ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ (KHNH) and KANK. In KANK, they aren’t a romantic couple even though they’re playing a married couple, so I would guess that Preity earned 12 of the votes cast in this poll (placing her in fifth position) on the strength of her memorable pairings with Shahrukh in ‘Veer Zaara’ and KHNH.

I am not a HUGE fan of Preity, but I do think she’s a good actress given the right roles, and I think her performance as Zaara in ‘Veer Zaara’ was one of her best. SRK also handed in a superb performance. One striking thing about this couple is the way they were able to portray such a strong emotional bond so well… there wasn’t too much physicality or even sentimentality about them in the film, but they still made you believe in their prem kahani. Great job by both actors. I am less enamoured with Preity’s performance in KHNH (and with the film in general) – I really liked Saif Ali Khan’s dynamic with SRK in the movie, but I was less taken with SRK and Preity as a couple. I still think that they were still pretty good together in the film – and I actually loved the melodramatic scene in the storm (after Preity’s character discovers the truth).

SUSHMITA SEN: Up next is the gorgeous Ms. Sen, in sixth position with 7 of the votes cast. She and Mr. Khan (in a nice, age-appropriate pairing) burned up the big screen in ‘Main Hoon Na’. I remember thinking how nice it was to see these two more mature characters together, both just enjoying their mutual chemistry and doing the whole silly-serious thing. I also thought they were too cute together with the whole sexy-teacher thing and the spontaneous-bursting-into-song thing… I just thought they were great together and played off each other well. Ram and Miss Chandni were really into each other and they were also having fun. Works for me.

AISHWARYA RAI: In seventh position, we have the poised and beautiful Aishwarya Rai, with 5 votes. The lovely Mrs. Bachchan has co-starred with SRK in films like ‘Devdas’, ‘Mohabbatein’, and ‘Josh’ (in which they play siblings). This jodi also had a very memorable dance number together in ‘Shakthi - The Power’. The thing that struck me about this number was that although both dancers were technically brilliant (two of my favourites, actually) and executed some very difficult moves extremely well, the whole thing just didn’t move me. It was like a very beautiful work of art that just doesn’t speak to your heart. I think this is true of a lot of the work SRK and Ash have done as co-stars – beautiful but sorta ‘soulless’ and just not very interesting or compelling. I think they just don’t make a very good couple for some reason. (But she was great opposite Hrithik Roshan in 'Dhoom II' and Akshaye Khanna in 'Taal' (well the first half of it, anyway)).

There are three actors in eighth position, and each one garnered 1 vote in the poll -

MANISHA KOIRALA: ‘Dil Se’ is a film that is difficult to forget – in addition, it’s not happy viewing, it’s disturbing and leaves you wanting some comfort food or a phone conversation with your mama… it’s very tough viewing – especially at the end. But at the centre of it all, we find two central characters that, when they encounter each other, bring home to us all the pain, longing, angst and suffering that are such a reality of our world. I think Shahrukh and Manisha did some amazing work in this brilliant film – I think Ratnam chose just the right cast for his story. Manisha also acted opposite SRK in ‘Guddu’, which I haven’t seen.

SHILPA SHUKLA: This actress, who played the fiery senior player Bindya Naik from ‘Chak De! India’ handed in a very strong performance. I really liked this young lady opposite SRK, she just did the business and ‘brought it’. No-nonsense acting. Not a single sign that she was over-awed by SRK’s star presence. The scene in the locker room was excellent – the way they eyeballed each other. Loved it! And it seems that at least one of you liked it too.

GAYATRI JOSHI: I really liked this elegant actress with a very restrained mien in ‘Swades’. What I liked about the couple in this film was that both the man and the woman were mature – no silly childish mucking around. Gayatri’s character came to SRK’s character when she was good and ready, and she told him exactly how she felt about him – with no hysterics or unnecessary emotion, but quietly and with conviction – like you would expect from her strong, independent character. She knew what she wanted and I loved that. I really liked Gayatri and Shahrukh together in this film. And at least one person agreed, which is cool.

And finally, down at number nine, we have -

MAHIMA CHAUDHARY: To the best of my knowledge, Mahima and SRK have only done ‘Pardes’ (which my mother calls ‘I love my India’ after the film’s super-saccharine signature number) together… ‘Pardes’ is not that bad, but I didn’t like it much either. For me, it was a one-watch-only kinda movie. It was Mahima’s first film, though, and her performance struck me as being quite young and fresh. I think she and SRK were good together, but not memorable, which I guess explains why she didn’t pick up any votes in this poll.

So that’s it… I would have liked to have Bebo in the poll to see how many votes she’d have picked up, but it skipped my mind until it was too late to include her. I actually liked her opposite SRK in ‘Asoka’. Anyway, we’re done with this poll… another will be up soon! Take care…

HINDI MOVIE SONGS I AM LOVING RIGHT NOW (or... DG rambles on and on about music)

WARNING: After finishing this post, I’ve realized I am probably the only person on the face of the earth who will enjoy reading it or find it even remotely interesting. All I really do in it is gush about songs and say how much I love them. So… umm… you probably won’t like it. But I will come back with something less… less utterly-boring-to-everyone-but-myself soon.

I recently became the proud owner of an iPod Shuffle, thanks to the benevolence of my brother who decided to give me his older model (thanks bro! I love you!) My Shuffle is one of my favourite possessions at the moment – I really love the fact that it’s a bit battered – it makes me think of my lovely, lovely big brother and all the hours he's spent with it. I’ve had a Creative mp3 player for quite a while now, and I love it, but the sound quality the iPod delivers is definitely superior, and the Shuffle gives me twice as much room as my Creative does – much more space to cram lovely, delicious, wonderful songs in. So much sheer bliss!!

My new (well, new to me) gadget gives me a new reason (as if I needed one) to rave about the music I’m digging at the moment. Music is not only my drug of choice, it keeps me barely sane and somewhat balanced and makes me a much better and happier human being overall – so I think it’s definitely time to celebrate it again on this blog – it’s been a while.

While I’d really love to rave about my how funky and cool I think Lucy Pearl were on their first album, my ongoing love affair with the ‘Dreamgirls’ soundtrack, my re-discovery of Michelle Branch (‘Tuesday Morning’ is fantastic) and The Cranberries (‘Linger’ is still amazing as ever), how much I love the smoothness of Justin’s voice on ‘Summer Love’, how much I love Common (I really need a man like him to write me some beautiful poetry and look extremely hot while delivering it – actually, no I don’t but I still think he’s very hot), how much I like Awillo’s ‘Ndombolo Cache Cache’, how MJ still is and will always be the king of pop even if he needs a lot of help, how great Mariah Carey’s voice is even if she knows absolutely nothing about age-appropriate dressing, how much I like Lagbaja’s sound, how fabulously and effortlessly delicious Aretha F. and Gladys Knight always are, how very cool I think Sound Sultan’s ‘Area’ is (very strange since I don’t like Sound Sultan normally – thanks Uzo for the hook-up), how there is just something so amazingly inspirational about Donnie McClurkin’s voice, how much I love Joann Rosario’s ‘I Hear You Say’, how much I love Jill Scott’s poetry, how catchy and cool I think Rihanna’s new stuff is (she definitely needs more ‘Umbrella’s and less tacky ‘I don’t wanna be a murderer’ stuff), how much I love the ad libs at the end of ‘Umqombothi’ and the way Yvonne goes ‘Um-qom-bo-thi’, separating all the syllables like that, how brilliant Brenda Fassie was (‘Memeza’ and 'Vulindlela' are beautiful), how Keyshia Coles and a killer backbeat and strings made ‘Last Night’ one of the only good songs on P. Diddy’s ‘Press Play’ album, how much No Doubt’s ‘Spiderwebs’ reminds me (in a very good way) of Blondie’s ‘Hanging on the Telephone’, how much Twista and Kanye always crack me up with ‘Celebrity Overnight’ although it’s WRONG, how crazy D-Banj is with his ‘no long ting’, how John Legend just might live up to his name, how Jay-Z has madd skillz and is super-talented despite my disagreement with most of what he says, how much I dig Keane’s ‘Everybody’s Changing’ and Athlete’s ‘Half Light’ and still go a little crazy for Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Take Me Out’ and ‘Michael’, how Robin Thicke can do no wrong in my book, how much I love Annie Lennox’s voice and ABBA’s songwriting skills, how much I miss Lauryn Hill and almost feel like crying whenever I hear ‘Just Like Water’, how much I enjoy the Sugababes and their corny but ballsy kind of pop, how sweet I think Styl Plus are on ‘Olufunmi’ and ‘Call my Name’, how much I love David Bowie’s ‘Thurday’s Child’ and ‘Life on Mars’, how much I enjoy hearing Bey really let it rip on ‘Lost Yo Mind’ (the song that proves that – OMG! She really has lost her mind – just kidding, but it is kinda crazy), how sexy Eric Benet’s songs were (maybe that should’ve tipped Ms. Halle off – anyone who looks that hot ( remember that so-sexy stride down the street, with girls on each arm, in the ‘Love Don’t Love Me’ video? So not very PC of me to find that super-cool, but I so do) and sounds that hot (e.g. his riffs on ‘Georgy Porgy’ which, BTW, remind me of Ms. Evans, who’s really coming into her own now) just might be, umm, a little TOO hot), how much I am feeling Kano (‘it’s just one of those days’) and Estelle (does she have new album out?), how much Corinne Bailey Rae’s voice reminds me of summer, picnics and warm moments, and how much The Osmonds’ ‘Love Me For a Reason’ still makes me smile every darned time (somebody make me stop!!), as does ‘God Only Knows’ by the Beach Boys (such a perfect song)… this IS a Bollyblog after all (maybe I need to start a music blog – but heck no, there are not enough hours in the day), so I’m going to talk about the Hindi movie music that’s making me very happy at the moment. Can’t believe I actually just wrote all that, guess I really needed to let it all out.

I’ll start with my more recent discoveries – I’m not one to listen to music from a movie before actually seeing the movie (I just don’t get the whole concept of doing that), but I made an exception for ‘Salaam-e-Ishq’, which was probably the first movie soundtrack I got this year. It was love at first listen. I love all the songs although I’m not too crazy about ‘Babuji’ (recently found out that it was a remake of a much better song from the 70s – not surprised). I think S-E-L have really outdone themselves with this absolutely brilliant set of songs. I love the Highland feel to the title song, the plaintive cries of ‘Rabba’ at the end of ‘Ya Rabba’, the fun playground feel of ‘Tenu Leke’, the danceability of ‘Saiyaan Re’ (so perfect for Priyanka), the way ‘Dil Kya Kare’ reminds me of how cute Vidya and John were rubbing noses on the train in the movie… I love everything about this soundtrack. It makes me happy. Bas.

Speaking of fun and upbeat music, I also really love the songs from ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt.’ I think they are really ‘different’, borrowing from interesting influences – ‘Albela Albela’ has a fantastic soulful James Brown feel to it, and is really well done – kudos to the singer. I love the salsa feel to ‘Pyaar Ki Yeh Kahani Suno’ – I don’t know why but I especially love the ‘ek ladka tha, ek ladki thi’ line. For me, though, the ultimate jam of the soundtrack is ‘Sajanaji’ with that fab repeated line ‘aisa mera pyaar hai’– it never fails to get me dancing. Totally infectious. A great set of songs.

Still on the upbeat tip, I recently saw Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji in ‘Tara Rum Pum’. For any fans of Saif and Rani (and I am one of them), this movie is a must-see. Rani looks fabulous and it’s great to see her (in the first half of the movie) showing Preity Zinta that she can do young and sassy just as well (don’t get me wrong, I love Preity, but Rani just rocks – go, Rani!). Both Rani and Saif were really good in this film – very nice acting, although the script could definitely have given them more to work with. But on to the music. My gem from this soundtrack (I downloaded it the following day, couldn’t wait to hear it again) is the fun, highly danceable, pop-rock song ‘Ab To Forever’, which was beautifully picturised in the movie, with Saif and Rani really getting down in the street at night in New York (I love the whole ‘West Side Story’ feel of the picturisation, love the way the number was lit and shot – it’s just, for want of a better word, hot).

‘Hey Shona’ is the token romantic ballad of the soundtrack, it’s an ok song, and the picturisation is so cute (love the little jig Rani and Saif do – and I just think they’re so adorable together) – but it’s just a regular ok song. The second half of the movie takes a dark turn (a bit too dark, some scenes were actually rather disturbing for a family movie) and featured some questionable moments that really should’ve been left out (maybe I’ll do a proper review sometime), and the songs from that half are less remarkable. The two ‘family’ songs (one of them, the title song, is semi-animated) are ok but nothing special. What I really liked, though was the sweet version of the title song that Rani teaches to the kids (who, by the way, are just too cute) – it’s stuck in my head now and won’t go away.

This year Uzo and I also saw ‘Eklavya’ – a movie that really features only one song (‘The Moon Song/Chanda Re’) – but what a song it is. I love that song, it’s beautifully sung and just so hauntingly evocative yet somehow so soothing at the same time. Love it. Another slow one I am really feeling is the charming and beautiful ‘Gudgudee’ from ‘Just Married’ (‘Baat Pakki’ from the same soundtrack is a nice jam BTW). And how can I fail to mention ‘Tere Bina’ from ‘Guru’, which I just cannot stop listening to? Fantastic, brilliant music – I love everything about that song from start to finish – everything. I also like ‘Barso Re’ from ‘Guru’ – always makes me think of Ash’s beautiful dancing and the great scenery at the start of the film. But back to slower numbers – I really, really love ‘Bole Re Papihara’ from ‘Guddi’, a charming Jaya Bhaduri movie I saw this year and loved to bits. The song is so simple, but so pretty and so sweetly sung. Lovely, lovely music.

I recently downloaded ‘O Sathi Chal’ from ‘Seeta aur Geeta’ (another recent viewing for me), and it never fails to make me smile. Fun song, and putting the hero and heroine on skates for the picturisation was a very nice – and memorable – idea. I am currently also loving the title song from ‘Do Aur Do Paanch’ which I recently downloaded (although in a way I guess it’s not really the title song, as it’s called something different). The soundtrack from ‘Namastey London’, another movie I saw this year (and surprisingly, liked a lot) can be summed up in one phrase: ‘waaay too much of Himesh Reshammaiya’ – but there’s one song from it I really liked, ‘Chakna Chakna’. And of course ‘Beedi’ from ‘Omkara’ is a fabulous song.

Ok, so that’s some of the newer (i.e. newer to my music collection) Hindi movie music I’ve been rocking to, smiling to, and just adoring in every way. But I have not forgotten my older loves, some of which I talked about in a previous post. I’ll highlight a couple here. Kishore Kumar’s voice on ‘O Saathi Re’ still does something to me – and it’s something wonderful; R. D. Burman’s music from ‘The Burning Train’ I still find totally genius and so great, the music from ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’ – wow, just thinking about it makes me smile and makes me want to sing each and every 10-minute song on that soundtrack – ‘Dhiktana Dhiktana’ is crazily long but I never tire of it, nor of ‘Joote Dedo’ or ‘Didi Tera Dewar Deewana’ or anything else on that soundtrack.

‘Veer Zaara’ – not a popular choice, I know, but I just love and adore this soundtrack to bits, can’t get enough of the lyrics to ‘Main Yahaan Hoon’ – sure, I don’t understand most of it except ‘I’m here’ (or something), but I just know Javed saab was saying something powerful. (One day I must make time to seek out translations of my fave Hindi songs.) I usually hate Bollywood remixes – it seems like they often just take a nice song and spoil it with some out-of-place bhangra beats, but there is this wonderful, gently soulful remix of ‘Tere Liye’ that I just can’t get enough of – it really lifts and (to borrow a Beyonce-ism) ‘bodies’ the song.

I still love ‘Main Hoon Don’ from the new Don and am still shocked that Shaan did not win awards for his rendition (although he did for ‘Chand Sifarish’ from ‘Fanaa’, which I must say he also did extremely well). Shaan, I think you were brilliant in this one – you definitely get my award, absolutely worthless though it might be.

I could go on (and on) but I think this is long enough – I still can’t get over the crazily long paragraph I did on non-Bollywood songs, can’t bring myself to delete it though…

...anyway here’s to more (loads more) brilliant, creative, sometimes rock-able, often very sweet Hindi film music. I’ll be seeing ‘Life… in a Metro’ this weekend, haven’t heard anything remarkable about the music, but who knows? Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

‘TAAL’, ‘CHORI CHORI’ AND ‘PYAR KIYA TO DARNA KYA’

There’s been quite a bit of activity in my Bollyworld of recent. I recently watched 3 movies, to be discussed in the lengthy post below. I also saw ‘Just Married’ at the cinema yesterday, to be discussed in my Esha Deol post ('Dharam’s Children' Pt.III), whenever I get round to it. And I have quite a few movies to look forward to in the coming weeks. Yum.

‘TAAL’

I watched ‘Taal’ over the weekend. I like when you can tell that a writer/director has made a film close to his/her heart. With ‘Taal’, Subhash Ghai set out to make a modern story with a strong musical element. The musical element, provided by A. R. Rahman, is indeed strong, with a soundtrack that’s quite varied and a bit adventurous. While I didn’t like every single song, I enjoyed most of them, especially ‘Ishq Bina Kya’, sung with beautiful, emotional nuance by Alka Yagnik. I wasn’t surprised to discover that A. R. Rahman and Alka both won Filmfare awards for this film. In line with his focus on the power of music, Subhash Ghai also gives himself a cute little cameo singing along to his Walkman in a market.

As far as the story goes, it’s nothing ground-breaking. A rich boy named Manav (played by Akshaye Khanna), on a visit to Chamba, falls for a lowly village damsel named Manasi (or Mansi, played by Aishwarya Rai), and she (after a little resistance) returns his affections. When Manasi’s father, a renowned folk singer named Tarababu (played by Alok Nath) finds out, he tries to bring the affair into the open (and to forge suitable family ties) by visiting Manav’s father (played by Amrish Puri), who has lately become a friend. Things don’t go very well during the visit, and Manasi and her father are despondent until they meet a famous pop singer named Vikrant (played by Anil Kapoor), who gives Manasi a shot at fame and a new lease of life. But Manav still wants Manasi, and isn’t prepared to take ‘no’ for an answer (in fact his unshakeable confidence that he will get his Manasi back is a bit weird and annoying).

While the story is nothing new, I like the way it was told. I enjoyed the beautiful scenic shots in Chamba, and I thought the song picturisations were very lovely. As mentioned above, the music is charming, and some of the choreography is very good (some of it is dodgy). While the film as a whole is a bit uneven, with some really good scenes and some bits that were just out of place, I enjoyed the way it was wrapped up. I liked the emphasis on relationships, and the fact that all the relationships in the film got some attention and resolution, from the obvious (Manav and Manasi, Tarababu and Manav’s father), to those that would typically be considered less significant (Manav and Vikrant, Manav and his father, Manasi and Vikrant).

I thought the performances were quite strong. Akshaye Khanna hands in an understated and quite mature performance, and although I found his character very annoying in some parts of the film, I think Akshaye handled him quite well. He lets you see the courage, strength and confidence of the character, although some of that I felt was a bit questionable. He is also quite sweet in some scenes, especially with Ash.

I loved Aishwarya in the first half of the film – or perhaps I should say I loved what Ghai did with her (and the character of Manasi) in the first half. It was an unusual treatment – Ash (nicely stripped down, with wavy, simple hair and little make up) plays an innocent girl becoming aware of herself, the opposite sex (in the person of Manav) and most interestingly, her power over the opposite sex. I like that Manasi was depicted as fighting a battle she not only did not want to win, but one she knew she would eventually rejoice over losing. Ash plays this Manasi well, with a sexual awareness, sensuousness and intensity that is compelling, yet simple and without guile. The second, post-fame and success, meek and a bit majboor, burdened with love and divided loyalties, Manasi we meet in the second half of ‘Taal’, I found much less interesting, because she was someone I’ve seen many times before.

Alok Nath is good with these kinds of roles, and ‘Taal’ is no exception. I especially liked him and Ash in the scene at Manav’s home in Bombay (it was a bit of a stretch, though – I think realistically, most people would have just upped and left after a while). Amrish Puri is very good in his role as well. And there is a sweet little pooch called Brownie who had no wondrous abilities and was just so cute.

But for me, the standout performance in this film is by Anil Kapoor, with a gorgeous, meaty comic role (he won a Filmfare award for it). His character, Vikrant Kapur, is self-consciously over-the-top and dramatic, but also intelligent and even a bit sensitive. Vikrant is a showman, constantly playing ‘pop star’, surrounded by lots of spandex-clad dancers who just never seem to stop dancing and just seem kinda trippy. He even has his dancers on the go when he’s recording songs in the studio. He’s really crazy (his scene expounding his ‘7 Commandments’ is priceless comedy), but somehow you don’t find him annoying or grating (at least, I didn’t). Even when he starts acting out of character (as he does later in the film), he does a funny little scene to remind you he’s still the wacky Vikrant you’ve come to like. And in the midst of all the craziness, there’s a depth to his character that comes through here and there.

This scene was hilarious: 'Arrest him!' 'No, why should I?' 'Arrest him!' 'No!' 'Then dance!' Loved it...

All-in-all, I liked ‘Taal’. Not sure if I’d like to watch it again, but I enjoyed it very much and think Ghai and his team did a good job.

‘CHORI CHORI’

This was such a chore to watch. I just found it flat and bland, there was nothing particularly cute, or sweet, or endearing, or enjoyable about it. It was just a load of ‘blah’ for me. And it’s a bit perplexing for me because the film stars two of my favourite Bollywood actors, Rani Mukerji and Ajay ‘the hotness’ Devgan. I so wanted to like their performances, to enjoy the movie, but it just wasn’t happening.

Let’s start with the obvious – the tagline for this movie is ‘Everyone falls in love’. It should’ve been ‘Everyone falls in love except the stars of this movie’. I did not believe that they fell in love, I could not relate to their angst, torment and emotion, there was less than zero chemistry between them, and it was just… not good. And then the story – it wasn’t charming, or sweet, or witty – although it was obviously trying to be. It wasn’t even offbeat, edgy, black comedy – which I think it was also trying to be. It was just blah – a bit annoying, if anything.

I didn’t like the characters – Rani’s character is meant to be street-smart and sharp, yet somehow likeable (I think). I didn’t feel any of it – I just thought she was such a big fat liar and kept lying with an amazing casualness and ease which I found somewhat appalling. Maybe I need to loosen up, but I didn’t like her at all. Ajay’s character was a big fat bore and just seemed empty, uncaring, selfish and uninteresting – even his excitement and passion was half-hearted. The depiction of Ajay’s family is no more than an unwieldy caricature, and Ajay’s ex, played by Sonali Bendre, really does nothing except look sad/regretful.

The music in the film is not particularly great either. In fact, there’s nothing particularly great about this film. It looks pretty enough, but it lacks heart and substance. And it’s sad, because it has potential (I guess). And because I’m always searching for slightly sensational theories to back up observed phenomena, perhaps the biggest lesson of ‘Chori Chori’ is: never make a romantic movie opposite your cousin’s husband, especially when you and said cousin don’t get on well enough to laugh over a few drinks at the movie launch party.

‘PYAAR KIYA TO DARNA KYA’ (PKTDK)

Once upon a time I tried to watch this film – but then a few minutes into it, a shirtless guitar-playing Salman Khan leapt out at me and I was exasperated. I think I was in one of those I-don’t-want-no-crap moods that day – I skimmed over a few scenes and then just gave up. Looking back, I think I had just suffered through Salman’s ‘Lucky – No Time for Love’, which I absolutely hated – so my Salman tolerance-level must’ve been at an all-time low. Recently, I got a chance to borrow a few DVDs from a fellow Bollywood fan, and there it was in her collection – PKTDK. I thought to myself, why not give it another try? At the very least, you’ll be able to give your ‘slacking’ Dharmendra movie list a much-needed boost. I’m glad I did.

PKTDK, like ‘Taal’, is basically a rich boy (played by Salman) meets and falls in love with lowly girl (played by Kajol) movie. However, on this occasion, the major obstacle to the lovers’ bliss is Kajol’s over-protective and rather violent bhaiyya (played by Arbaaz Khan), who takes fierce delight in battering all of Kajol’s prospects. Salman does not help his case by making a terrible first impression on bhaiyya, and also by being a young, happy-go-lucky kinda fella. Despite his best efforts, bhaiyya remains stubbornly unimpressed. Can’t believe I haven’t mentioned my darling Dharmendra yet, who plays Kajol’s wise and strong chachu, who has looked after her and her brother since the loss of their parents. To cut a long story short, obviously there is much drama but love prevails at the end because the protagonists (Salman in particular) are determined to take risks in the name of love, and not to give way to their fears (hence the title).

I really enjoyed this movie – it was actually fun and kinda sweet. Kajol and Salman both did well, and I think they made a nice couple, surprisingly. The songs are mostly cute. There’s a scene with ‘duplicates’ of Bollywood stars that’s really quite funny. And there are quite a few hilarious subtitles, some of which are showcased below (we always love that!)

Don't know why I love this... I just do.

'Wed me thee'?? If you're going for the Shakespearean approach to subtitling (nothing wrong with that, it's always fun), at least do it right and say 'wed thee me'...

And of course, it was so great to see my Dharmendra kicking bad guys’ behinds and being all fatherly and sweet. And his voice still does ‘it’ for me. If I have any complaints about Dharam in this film, they are (a) it would have been nice to see more of him; (b) his dubbing skills seemed a bit off – there was sometimes a glaring lack of sync – like once his lips said ‘strong boy lakhta hai’, but his voice said ‘he’s a strong boy’ (I think I'm nit-picking); and (c) there were a few ‘voiceless’ scenes where they deliberately don’t let you hear the character’s voices – and I would've liked to hear his. Anyway, whatever, I don’t care enough about this to bother about it much. It was just nice to see him again.

But the craziest thing about watching PKTDK was the realisation that I AM CHANGING (and not in a cute, inspirational I’m-getting-stronger-and-wiser Effie-White-in-Dreamgirls way either). No – I am changing: from a girl who didn’t like Salman at all, to one whose Salman tolerance-level is currently rather high! I mean, the shirtless scene didn’t bother me that much this time. I didn’t wince much at his silly, goofy wiggling-his-bumbum scenes. I wasn’t constantly rolling my eyes at his frequent corniness – OMG! I think he just might be (gasp!) growing on me. I find this very, very, very disturbing.

I FINALLY GOT KANKED… AND A BIT ON ‘EKLAVYA’…

So, yonks after the rest of the world, I finally got KANKed yesterday. ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’ (KANK) is not a bad film, even if it’s not exactly good. It seems like Karan Johar is losing the plot a bit – always trying to make the big, over-dramatic, overly-contrived, star-studded epic even when the story clearly does not call for it – K3G had the same problem. Shankar Ehsaan Loy also seems to have lost the plot a bit for KANK (although it was obviously – and thankfully – a bump in the road, as they’ve done some great soundtracks since KANK), with a distinctly uninspired set of songs – I particularly hated ‘Rock n Roll Soniye’. I also hated the choreography and picturisation of the faster ‘disco’ numbers – even the special appearances by Kajol and John Abraham couldn’t save them for me. The slower songs I thought were a bit better – I like ‘Mitwa’.

What else did I hate about getting KANKed? The film was too long, they dragged it out too much and put in some unnecessary stuff – especially near the beginning. The truth is they didn’t need all that time to tell the story – thinking over it now, I can pick out the key scenes –some scenes just should have been cut from KANK in their entirety. It also seemed really unevenly scripted – some scenes were really good and nicely done, and some were just so blah. What else bugged me? The ‘Sexy Saaam’ thing they played almost everytime Amitabh Bachchan came onscreen, the often unfunny and irritating attempts at comic relief, the over-‘perfectness’ of all the sets, clothes, make-up and hair (although one just has to learn to live with that in many contemporary Bollywood films). Oh, and, is it just me or does Preity Zinta look kinda funny in this movie? There’s something about her eyes, it seems…



Okay, now that I’ve got all that out of the way… it’s really not a bad film. It actually works on some levels. As a story about relationships, communication, honesty, and all that good stuff, I think it works. My friend who lent me the DVD told me it’s a story about ‘real life issues’, and I agree. It’s a cautionary tale in some ways, but it’s not preachy. I think some scenes captured the discomfort, tension, conflict, and frustration of modern marriages very well – this might actually be a good film for married couples to watch together and have a ‘discussion’ about – but then what do I really know about marriage? Anyway, I liked the way they brought out some of the messiness, the false starts, the skewed timing, the complexity, the layers beneath all the ‘mundane-ness’ of modern relationships.

I think the performances were strong, even if none was particularly brilliant, and most had some rough patches (partly because it was all a bit too much, I think). I think I liked the older actors’ performances (Big B and Kirron Kher) best, actually. And what (asks, rather predictably, this SRK fan) is it with all the SRK-haters saying Shah Rukh Khan’s acting was terrible in this film? I really don’t get it. I thought it was a decent portrayal of who this guy is supposed to be – disenchanted, disappointed, frustrated, tired, self-seeking, but also (to me anyway) kinda appealing. I could actually see what Rhea and Maya saw in him. Which takes me to my next point – call me crazy, but I don’t actually see why the character of Dev is so maligned in all the reviews – he’s not a nice considerate guy, he’s really kinda mean, but I thought he was just a fallible messed-up human being, just another selfish man with a chip on his shoulder… not an evil person.

I can’t say I really LOVED anything about this film but I liked a few things. One major thing was the fact that it emphasizes the need for self-discovery and introspection, understanding who you are and what you need BEFORE you go and take on all the responsibility of marriage and children and having to put another person’s needs alongside yours. It also explored our human-ness, our weakness, our constant need to connect with someone else – I think my favourite scene in the movie is the little bit where Dev hugs the guy on the park bench near the end. Ultimately, the story of KANK is one well worth telling, but Johar just didn’t need all of the extra big-production stuff – I think the film would have fared much better if he had stripped it down some – no, a lot. It was just rather overdone.

And now that I am no longer a KANK virgin, I’m off to read Angela’s review (and the other KANK reviews I couldn’t read in depth before now).




AND A BIT ON ‘EKLAVYA’…

My friend Uzo and I saw ‘Eklavya’ at the cinema on Saturday. Although we were the hapless victims of an elaborately-orchestrated act of sabotage played out by the people in the row behind us (LOL), we really liked it. This is definitely a must-see for people who, like me, are fans of Amit-Ji. He is really, really good in this film – I fell in love with him all over again in the role of Eklavya – I want an Eklavya in my life to love me intensely and keep my scarf for years, and be all loyal and noble too (well, not really, but I kinda did when I was watching him). Saif Ali Khan (his real-life mother Sharmila Tagore also plays his mother in the film, although they actually never share the screen) is pretty hot stuff too as the tortured prince – I so wanted to hold him and ease his pain, but Vidya Balan apparently has all the luck. Sanjay Dutt has a smallish role as a policeman, but he rocks it out in style.

The performances are uniformly lovely (Boman Irani, playing the king, was really really good, and Jackie Shroff was also very good in his role as the king’s brother – and I rarely find reasons to praise him) and the chemistry between the leads (especially between Amitabh and Saif) was great. The beauty of the royal fort (where the story takes place) is something to see – not overdone in Bhansali style, but very authentic. The story is engrossing and compelling (we were at the edges of our seats more than once) and the dialogue very moving (made me wish I understood Hindi), but what stood out for me even more is the way the film was shot. It is absolutely beautiful – very creative, very stylish, very provocative, and just NICE. That’s really all I want to say about this film.

Oh, that and ‘poor, poor, poor Jimmy She(i)rgill’. You’ll see what I mean when you see the movie.

One more thing - don't go reading any of those reviews that tell you the whole story before seeing this movie (unless, of course, knowing exactly what's going to happen in a movie is your thing).

CRUSHING ON COUPLES...

I sort of made a resolution to be more serious on this blog this year – and to do fewer silly posts about crushes and the like… but as this, my very first post of the year, is undoubtedly very silly, it’s pretty obvious that the resolution has been chucked out the window (resolutions are made to be broken anyway, right?). The thing is, being silly is so much fun that I just can’t resist it…

When I have a crush on a particular guy I see onscreen, there are certain things I do. It’s really very funny, I entertain myself all the time. I smile goofily at him on the screen, I touch my heart when he makes it beat a little faster, I fan myself with my hand when I feel the ‘temperature rising’, I go ‘awww’ when he does something particularly cute, I blush (or do whatever the equivalent of blushing is for black people) when he does something really sweet and romantic, and I talk to him… like ‘You’re so cute!’ (for when he looks just mega hot), ‘I want to marry you!’ (for certain rare and random things), ‘Go on, just do it!’ (for when he’s stalling, like when he wants to tell a girl he loves her but can’t quite summon up the courage) and ‘That’s my guy!’ (for when he kicks some butt in a very awesomely cool way). Sometimes (when he gets like, unbearably cute or corny), I have to cover my eyes for a second because I just can’t bear to look. I also usually make up a silly and razz name for the fictional character, like ‘Jackostic’ or 'Jackoski' if his name is ‘Jack’ (one of my current TV crushes is named Jack, actually). And of course there are the random moans and gasps of sheer crush-induced delight. I know, I sound like a total nutcase, but I should make it clear that I only do these things when I am either watching alone (which is pretty much all the time) or with someone of similar sensibilities.

I recently discovered that many of the above silly things I do when I have a crush on a guy I’m watching on TV or in a movie; I also do when I am watching certain couples. Because they are just sooo cute. They just make me fall in love with them. I just absolutely adore them… and so I’ve realised that not only do I have crushes on guys, I also have crushes on couples. (Is that bizarre?) And so I’ve given myself an assignment – to do a post on my three most crushed-on couples in the following five categories: Nollywood, Hollywood, Nigerian TV, Other TV and (of course), Bollywood. It should be a lot of fun. I was going to wait till Valentine’s Day, but hey, it shouldn’t be hard to come up with something romantic to write about on Feb. 14 – this IS a Bollywood blog after all –you can’t escape romance in Bollywood, it’ll chase you down (and smother you). But first I have to point out that the couples I’m about to list are only the ones I actually have an honest-to-goodness CRUSH on, not the ones I like or admire in other ways. For example, I love Cliff and Claire Huxtable very much, and they are probably my fave TV couple, but I don’t have a crush on them. And so on to the fun…


NOLLYWOOD

STELLA DAMASUS-ABODERIN & RICHARD MOFE-DAMIJO (RMD): These two actors are probably one of the most successful couples in Nollywood. They have really nice chemistry together, and you can tell that they like and respect each other in real life. These two are so good in all their movies that there have been rumours (untrue) of a real-life romance between the two. An example of their work together is Charles Novia’s ‘The Bridesmaid’, but there are many more. RMD is a great leading man, he does well paired with almost anyone, but I really like him with Stella.




GENEVIEVE NNAJI & RAMSEY NOUAH: These two have done a lot of movies together; unfortunately I can’t remember the name of a single one at the moment (Nollywood movie titles can tend to be forgettable). Just found a picture for one called 'Super Love' - don't think I've seen it, though. Anyway, these two look really good together and act very well together… I like them.

STEPHANIE OKEREKE & ST. OBI: Steph and Saint make a very handsome couple, they’re both tall and striking. And they had great chemistry in the one film I’ve seen them do together – I can’t even remember what it was called but they were fantastic together. Haven’t been able to forget it. They had my aunt in tears in the final scene.


HOLLYWOOD

Okay… this is going to be hard… I can’t possibly do just three in this particular category because there is so much material for this category in ‘old’ movies (which I love) alone… ok, I’m going to bend the rules a bit and do seven.

LESLIE CARON & LOUIS JOURDAN IN ‘GIGI’: Aww, they were so cute. Leslie Caron as ‘Gigi’, the irrepressible tomboy growing into a woman and falling in love at the same time, and Louis Jourdan as ‘Gaston Lachaille’, the playboy finding out that love has been under his nose for years. I love the moment when walks around Paris singing the song ‘Gigi’, he has this wonderful look of exhilaration in his eyes like he’s just coming alive, then at the end of the film, there’s resignation, but also still that passion, as he realises that his life has changed forever – but he likes it. Kinda corny, but beautiful.

TALIA SHIRE & SYLVESTER STALLONE IN ‘ROCKY’: I am a ‘Rocky’ nut – a real junkie. I have all the ‘Rocky’ movies and can’t wait to see ‘Rocky Balboa’. There is just something I love about the movies. In the first movie (which is really the only one which really focuses and zooms in on the romance between this couple – for which reason it’s the least loved of the more macho ‘Rocky’ fans), Talia and Sly play ‘Adrian’ and ‘Rocky’, a couple of neglected, socially inept, lost souls who find a new lease of life in each other. I love their chemistry, and the fact that they don’t need to say much to express their feelings. It’s like they’ve found themselves in each other. I love the moment when they kiss and slide down the wall together. Awesome.

JULIE ANDREWS & CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER IN ‘THE SOUND OF MUSIC’: This movie was a big part of my childhood and I still love it. A friend of mine expressed its appeal well – it has everything: music, comedy, thriller elements, war, villains, and of course, romance. I love how Julie Andrews betrays traces of her attraction all through the film, while Christopher Plummer tries desperately to maintain his state of denial. And I especially love the moment in the garden when Maria and Captain von Trapp finally come clean. When I was younger, I used to cover my eyes when watching it ’cos I just thought it was so embarrassingly romantic.

MEG RYAN AND TOM HANKS IN ‘YOU’VE GOT MAIL’: These two have done a number of movies together, but ‘You’ve Got Mail’ is my fave, which I guess is unusual as most people prefer ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ (‘Sleepless’ was of course inspired by an older classic movie starring another couple I have a crush on – Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr). Anyway, I just love their intelligence as a couple in ‘You’ve Got Mail’, the way they bounce off each other, the way their attraction and connection is so much more than physical – it comes off as way deeper than it should – after all, it’s portrayed in a 90 minute film.

JACK NICHOLSON & DIANE KEATON IN ‘SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE’: Old people in love=cute. I am not a fan of Jack Nicholson, but I have to admit he’s a great actor – and a great (if highly unlikely) leading man. I loved him playing against Helen Hunt in ‘As Good as it Gets’, and Kathy Bates in ‘About Schmidt’ (although they weren’t a couple), but I loved him most of all with the divine Ms. K in ‘Something’s Gotta Give’. They are soooo cute. I love that they made it 100% believable that Diane’s character would leave a hunky young doctor (played by Keanu Reeves) for Jack Nicholson’s aging-Lothario character.

REESE WITHERSPOON & JOAQUIN PHOENIX IN ‘WALK THE LINE’: I love the way these actors portrayed the connection between Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. I love the fact that they showed all the ‘ugliness’ as well as the beauty of the relationship. I love the way they made the friendship between the characters come alive, not just the romance. I just loved them together – my favourite bit is the proposal scene at the end when Johnny stops singing and just stares at June like she’s the most amazing thing he’s ever seen, and she’s staring right back like ‘What? Do I have a wart on my nose?’

CATE BLANCHETT & JEREMY NORTHAM IN ‘AN IDEAL HUSBAND’: I am a Cate Blanchett fan and I really liked the chemistry between her and Jeremy Northam in this film. They play a husband and wife who find out the truth about each other (well actually, it’s more Cate’s character finding out the truth about Jeremy’s). I like the progression in their relationship from utopia to disenchantment to a greater appreciation of and deeper love for each other. I love the way Jeremy Northam says ‘my wife!’ in this film – quite random but I love it. Rupert Everett and Minnie Driver, who play the other couple in this film, are cute too.


NIGERIAN TV

ENE OLOJA & MACARTHUR FOM IN ‘BEHIND THE CLOUDS’: Ene played ‘Efe’, and MacArthur played ‘Nosa’. This was a fantastic couple, they did the whole ‘young love’ thing so well. Efe stayed in love despite the strictures of her father, Mr. Okonzua (we preferred to call him ‘that wicked Mr. Okonzua’), brilliantly played by the great Zack Amata; and Nosa was just a young sweetheart – he was adored by all the Nigerians who were addicted to their weekly dose of ‘Behind the Clouds’ (8pm every Sunday, just before ‘Newsline’). When MacArthur died tragically, Nigeria mourned him, the cast cried onscreen, and the show was never the same.

EGO BOYO & RMD IN ‘CHECKMATE’: Ego as ‘Anne Haatrope’, and RMD as ...can't remember his name ( but he had this cool tic where he ran his finger under his eye) were just a great couple. They had great chemistry, and kept us glued to their characters’ games with each other.

IRETIOLA DOYLE & RMD (AGAIN!!!) IN ‘SOLITAIRE’: Iretiola Doyle is, in my opinion, one of Nigeria’s best actresses. In ‘Solitaire’, she and RMD play the stereotypical Mills & Boon-type couple who ‘hate’ each other but have all this attraction and sexual tension simmering beneath the surface. They work together, and RMD’s character can’t seem to stop baiting Ireti’s character. They have loads of witty repartee to exchange in the script, and it’s a lot of fun.


OTHER TV

Again, I must bend the rules – I’m doing five…

CARLOS BERNARD & REIKO AYLESWORTH IN ‘24’: This is my ‘crush du jour’. Now I just love these two. I don’t know why. I love them to pieces. There is just something about the way their characters, ‘Tony Almeida’ and ‘Michelle Dessler’ really just fancy each other to bits. They are just so cute together, surreptitiously checking each other out while all busy saving ‘millions of lives’. Even in Season 3, when they are playing a married couple, they’re still cuter than high school sweethearts. And in Season 4, even when they’ve split up, they’re still so cute exchanging ‘secret’ glances. I just love their chemistry. When they kissed for the first time in Season 2, I was in raptures. And they are both so cute and so… well-matched. A pity their chapter's closed for good.

JANE LEEVES & DAVID HYDE PIERCE IN FRASIER: These two do a great job of playing ‘Daphne’ (a brassy, blunt, down-to-earth broad from Manchester) & ‘Niles’ (a posh, finicky, drama queen and neat freak), two characters who are different as chalk and cheese. I love them together. Great chemistry. I think I’ve watched the scene when they finally ’fess up to loving each other a million times.

‘GABRIELLE SWANSON’ & ‘TONY CLEMENTE’ IN ‘THE LADY OF THE ROSE’: These are fictional characters from a Mexican telenovela I watched on Nigerian TV in the 90s (yes, I used to watch telenovelas – very cheesy, I know, and I can’t imagine watching them now, but I used to like them). I don’t know what the actors’ real names are, but they were great. They were rarely onscreen together, but everything they went through in the series was about each other… and it was beautiful how they kept trying to hurt each other but finally had to succumb to ‘the love’.

JENNIFER EHLE AND COLIN FIRTH IN ‘PRIDE AND PREJUDICE’: In this BBC TV adaptation of one of my favourite novels ever, Jennifer Ehle plays the witty, independent Elizabeth Bennet, and Colin Firth plays the aloof and haughty Mr. Darcy. The scene in which Elizabeth and Darcy meet unexpectedly at Pemberley is lovely. Jennifer does very well as a girl who thinks she knows it all but finds she is just as prejudiced as she perceives others to be, but Colin Firth completely overwhelms as Darcy. He is just so… so hot, and so believable, and you can really follow the arc of his character’s development. And he does ‘the look’ beautifully. Absolutely brilliant.

ADAM BRODY AND RACHEL BILSON IN ‘THE O.C.’: I have always wished for a fictional version of this fictional show, in which there’d be no Mischa Barton playing ‘Marissa’ (I find her annoying) and no Benjamin McKenzie playing 'Ryan' (although I think he’s very cute, he’d be totally redundant in my fictional version). There would only be ‘Seth’ and ‘Summer’, who I think are just very cute together. Seth makes me laugh, and Summer is sweet. Adam Brody is great, I love him in ‘The O.C.’, but I also really enjoyed his work back when he was on ‘Gilmore Girls’.


BOLLYWOOD

SHAHRUKH KHAN & KAJOL: I love them together, you can tell they enjoy working together, and I think they bring out the best in each other. They do comedy together very well (the ‘college’ bits in ‘KKHH’), and they do the dramatic moments very well too – like the moment in the rain in ‘KKHH’. I’ve seen only three SRK/Kajol movies – ‘DDLJ’, ‘KKHH’, and ‘3KG’, and I loved them together in all three. ‘3KG’ isn’t one of my favourite movies, but I love the SRK/Kajol bits – in fact, ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ is my favourite SRK/Kajol picturization. I could (and have) watch it over and over again. And every time I watch it, it makes me happy. Kajol is all graceful and beautiful (love her clothes and make-up), and SRK is… well, SRK is… wet. Watching SRK in all the see-through shirts (and as if their transparency were not enough, they have to be all wet as well – so not fair) in ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ makes me feel a bit… ummm… voyeur-ish and slightly dirty… I mean, I really do NOT want to see his nipples peeking through the fabric (or do I?) I so cannot believe I am going to publish that last line… but I guess I am.

JAYA BHADURI & AMITABH BACHCHAN: These two are so cute. One all ‘long’ and gangly, the other cute and petite. Both so intense and great to watch. I’ve seen them together in ‘Abhimaan’ (love it when she wakes him up and he grabs her hair and pulls her down), ‘Zanjeer’ (love the bit where they just stand apart and stare at each other for eons, and the bit where he tells her he loves her with the most serious expression ever on his face), ‘Mili’ (love the exchange of letters), and ‘3KG’ (love Jaya getting up on her stool to fix Amit-ji’s tie). I love them.

RANI MUKHERJI & ABHISHEK BACHCHAN (A.K.A. ‘BUNTY AUR BABLI’): Now Bunty aur Babli are just the cutest couple. Yes, they lie, they cheat, they steal, but they are like two kids just having a blast with each other. They are two misfits who suddenly find their ‘fit’. For me, Rani is always great to watch, I’ve seen her do well against several other actors, but I really like her and Abhi causing mayhem and having a big ol’ blast in ‘B&B’. Part of it is that I think they have a similar kind of dynamic to Abhishek’s dad had/has (onscreen) with Jaya. A shame they didn’t hit it off in real life – I don’t find the Abhi/Ash energy quite as appealing (although of course onscreen chemistry is very, very different from real life stuff). Good luck to them though.