The Whole Thing Is That...

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

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

Nice touch, n'est-ce pas?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(L - R on each row of pictures)

1. The Bluffmaster himself...

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

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

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

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

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

7. Want some more Abhishek? ...

8. Pleased to oblige.

Isn't he just so cute?

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

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

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

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