ON KAREENA KAPOOR... AND 'JAB WE MET'

Hmmm... I think I may have just jinxed myself with the very optimistic 'more regular updates' prediction at the end of my last post... which I put up two whole months ago! Hilarious. Oh well, the best laid plans... but I really do plan to post more often from now on...

So anyway, here's the subject of my post looking stunning at the recent Filmfare Awards, at which she took home the statuette for Best Actress...

My first Bebo experience was with 'Poo' in 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham'(K3G) and I COULD NOT STAND her! I thought I would be scarred for life by that performance and in some ways I think I might be - sometimes, when I start to think positive things about Kareena Kapoor, a mental image of Poo (complete with sound effects - the horrible way she spoke in that film) flits into my head and I shudder and try to think of something or someone else!

Such was the repugnance of 'Poo' to my very soul that I convinced myself that not only was Bebo really, really, cringeworthily, ANNOYING, she wasn't even cute, or pretty, or attractive! But I was prejudiced, andI've long since revised my views and admitted to myself that, especially on her 'good days', Kareena is actually quite lovely in a striking, 'different' sort of way - and seeing her stunning image on billboards in Mumbai convinced me of that 110%. The eyes are set quite close together (not a sign of 'classic' beauty), the jaw is strong, the lips are remarkable (can't think of another description for them), the regal nose, the sassy chin - altogether the features make up a lovely, interesting face. And I also have to acknowledge that 'Poo' is not solely Kareena's 'fault'. Poo is simply a very annoying character, and I guess Bebo was only doing her job...

I've seen Kareena Kapoor in quite a few films, but until recently, I've only really liked her (as opposed to thinking 'not too bad' or 'good in some parts, bad in others') in two: 'Asoka' and 'Omkara'. And I once wondered if there wasn't something a little mean-spirited and perverse on my part for liking Bebo in only those movies - Dolly and Kaurwaki are both very tragic characters who meet with very sad ends... could it be that I just like watching Bebo suffer?

Happily for my conscience, the answer is a resounding 'no' - in 'Jab We Met' (JWM'), Bebo's character, Geet, is a happy-go-lucky, fun-loving, carefree young lady, who, although she does suffer alittle, ultimately gets her very happy ending. But unlike some of Bebo's other 'less tragic' turns (think 'Bewafaa', 'Aitraaz', 'Dosti' (oh wait, that was tragic but I still hated it), 'Mujhse Dosti Karogi' and of course the Poo-tastic K3G), I found her portrayal of Geet really fresh, lovely and perfectly charming. Considering that the character is a little over-the-top (and that's putting it mildly), I thought Kareena's portrayal was pretty much perfect. She did a great job of creating a distinctive, but also very relatable and 'real' character.

Also spot-on was the lovely liplock at the end of JWM... like big sis Lolo (the star of my 'Bollywood Kisses' post, which was one of my all-time funnest posts to do), Kareena has proven that she can do areally good onscreen kiss... I love how Shahid's fingers go through her hoop earring by the way, there's that sweetness and pleasure but also the intensity and abandon of the moment... love it.

There are tons of places where you can read about JWM in more detail and more compelling language, so I won't lay my thoughts on you. All I will say is that its message is pleasantly and refreshingly positive about life in general; that it's about self-discovery, freedom, forgiveness,and living an authentic life (messages I love); that there's: lovely chemistry between the leads, very cute and witty dialogues, and fun songs with fun picturisations; that Shahid is very, very cute (have to say I am loving him these days) and Bebo is very lovely, and... must leave it there or else I'll go on about it forever. Definitely worth checking out of you're a fan of good romantic comedy. Finally Bebo and Shahid got it right even if it was at the end of their real-life romance... a befitting 'au revoir', I think. And now I'm off to find another good Kareena performance to keep her glowing in my heart alittle longer - I'm thinking 'Yuva', 'Chameli' or 'Refugee'... what say ye?

(Actually, since writing this post, I've seen Kareena in '36 China Town' in which I think she did well... so (sigh), it looks like I'll be eating my words once again and starting to like someone I declared I never would!)

Up next... my first 'Faces' post...

2007: MY BOLLYWOOD YEAR

At the end of 2006, borrowing an idea from Maja, I did a post on what that year had been like for me as far as my enduring love for all things filmi was concerned - the highs, the lows and all that good stuff. Although it's kinda overdue (seeing as the new year has commenced), I still thought it'd be fun to do a Bollywood-related recap of 2007...

I saw a LOT of Hindi movies in '07 - I think that I manage to squeeze in more and more viewings every year, as my interest grows and I become more certain of what I like. Some of these movies allowed me to expand my Bollywood 'horizons', while others were just a continuation of the things and people I've always loved...

I'll start with the new discoveries - here are my top 5...

Sridevi: As a child, I think saw one of her movies but my memories of it are extremely vague - so I think 'Lamhe' may safely be called my first Sridevi movie. I've seen her dance on TV, but watching her act was a revelation - I didn't love the storyline of 'Lamhe' but I loved her in the film. I'm definitely up for more... up next is 'Chandni'...

Ayesha Takia: I am currently fascinated by this young woman's face, and she will probably the first subject in my 'Faces' series (the series will really just be an attempt to share some of the many, many screencaps I've accumulated over the past couple of years). I also think she's a very good actress - this year I caught her in 'Dor' and 'Salaam-e-Ishq', and loved her in both (especially in the former).

Shreyas Talpade: Loved him in 'Dor' and 'Om Shanti Om' - he has a great flair for comedy coupled with an emotional depth as an actor that makes him a joy to watch. And he has this twinkle in his eye that I just love. I think he was perfectly cast in both of these films and look forward to seeing him in more films that play to his strengths. Up next for me is 'Iqbal'.


Irrfan Khan: In 2007, I saw him in 'The Namesake' and 'Life in a Metro'. In 'The Namesake', I could've sat and watched him for hours although he truly broke my heart by reminding me of someone special that (like Ashima in the film) I loved dearly and lost. In 'Metro', he brought such life to a character that was absolutely wonderful but could have so easily been ruined - Irrfan did him perfect justice and I love him for that.

Shabana Azmi: It's very very strange to look back and realise that at the start of 2007, I hadn't seen any of Ms. Azmi's movies. A lot's changed in one year - I've caught 'Amar Akbar Anthony', 'Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd', 'Masoom', 'Arth' and 'Fire' (the last couple of links are to reviews at Carla's brilliant Filmi Geek blog) - and loved Shabana in every single one. I can't get enough of this woman's acting - and I totally blame Carla for making me a convert! Up next is 'Fakira' (co-starring Shashi Kapoor), which I recently acquired along with 'Jab Jab Phool Khile', which very neatly leads to the next item in my review...

... turnarounds of 2007 - Sometimes you've just gotta admit that you were wrong - either that the thing you've praised to high heavens actually kinda sucks, or that the thing you've never liked at all is actually kinda neat. I don't have many volte-face moments where Hindi cinema is concerned - I am very constant that way - I pretty much love everyone and everything I've always loved and dislike everyone and everything I've always disliked... but I did have 3 big turnaround moments in 2007...



Shashi Kapoor: Before 2007, I'd caught Shashi in 'Do Aur Do Paanch', 'Trishul' and 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram', and I was not a fan. I didn't dislike him exactly, but I just didn't get what all the fuss was about, really. One film changed all that in '07 - 'Deewaar', in which his performance is spellbinding. Now I'm definitely ready for more Shashi...

Salman Khan: Why do I feel so charitable towards this guy all of a sudden? I started 2007 really really REALLY disliking him... but watching 'Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya' and a number of other films changed all that, and while I don't really have serious affection for Sallu (the way I do for SRK, for example), I have loads of respect for him, and I actually like him (gasp).

'Koffee with Karan': I started out absolutely loving this show, but towards the end of its run I got sick of it. The formula started to wear thin and to grate on the nerves - it just wasn't as much fun - and it started to feel like the show was becoming a platform for stars to promote their films or successes, rather than just a fun 'chill', the way it used to be. Karan Johar is a smart guy - I think he put paid to things at just the right time, even though he didn't get the coveted Abhi-Ash interview at the end of the day. I still have loads of great memories of the show, though - it was a real treat in so many ways...

My top 5 KWK shows are the one with the Kapoor siblings, the one with Rishi/Neetu, the one with the Deol brothers, the one with SRK and Kajol (the premiere), and the one with Azmi/Akhtar - but there were other good ones as well - I loved Bips/John, for example, Zeenat/Hema, Gurinder/Farah, Mira/Tabu and Bips/Lara... KWK was a good show, and although it got really tired towards the end, I enjoyed it very much.

Unlike the above 3 moments, some things never ever change - my love for certain things/people in Bollywood remains truly constant and consistent - if anything it only waxes stronger and gets better - here are my top 5 I-love-you-mores...

Dharmendra: Obviously! In 2007, I had many more reasons to love this man - he made his big comeback to the movies in '07, and it was lovely to see him in 'Metro' and 'Apne', and making a special appearance in 'Om Shanti Om' (I'm still looking forward to 'Johnny Gaddaar'. I also enjoyed catching a number of his oldies - and the love is stronger than ever. It's funny, but I feel kinda protective towards Dharam ji, and I wish him a wonderful 2008.

Shahrukh Khan: If there's any Bollywood actor that could possibly begin to compete with Dharam ji for my affections, it would have to be this guy. I started 2007 loving SRK and ended it loving him even more - and not just because I got to see his gorgeous house. I loved SRK to bits in his 2 big movies of the year - 'Chak De! India' and 'Om Shanti Om' - these movies are very different but I think he totally rocked in both of them.

And in addition to his new work, in '07 I caught up with some of his older stuff: 'Deewana' (his first feature - his is raw and earthy and a lovely shade of brown, with a speaking voice that's TOTALLY different from what it is now), 'Duplicate' (absolutely LOVED it), 'Baazigar' (a very disturbing but memorable performance)... and here's a prediction: this love is certain to only grow stronger in 2008.

Jaya Bhaduri: I adore this woman's acting and I just cannot get enough of her. I also can't get over how many people do not seem to recognise the sheer and utter brilliance of Jaya ji. Anyways, in 2007 I fell deeper and deeper in love with this woman's masterful yet minimalist acting. I saw and loved her in films like 'Chupke Chupke' and the recent 'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag', but the real treat for a Jaya fan like myself is to watch her sink her teeth into a formidable leading role... and in 2007 I had that pleasure with films like 'Guddi' and 'Kora Kagaz'.

There is this unforgettable visceral moment in 'Kora Kagaz' (which is a poorly-edited and generally quite flawed film in terms of production value - strangely, it even borrows a frame from 'Abhimaan', but anyway) in which Jaya expresses frustration in a restrained way that just slammed me in the heart with its impact. Love this woman's acting to bits.

Abhishek Bachchan: The Baby B, Jaya's beloved son, is a guy everyone loves to love. He's cute, he can act, he's funny - what's not to love? This past year he broke a million female hearts by marrying the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai, and he also wangled his way deeper into my heart with 'Guru', a film many regard as morally ambiguous (although, as I stated here, I think they totally missed the point). One point remains crystal-clear though, Baby B is building his own identity as an actor and developing a fine set of chops. I also (yonks after the rest of world), finally saw 'Dhoom' and 'Dhoom II' this year and loved him in both... and he was yummy in 'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag' and fun in 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom'.



Konkona Sen Sharma: I am most definitely a fan. In 2007, she blew me away with her performances in 'Metro', 'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag' (she was totally the best thing in the movie - even better than Jaya ji), and 'Omkara'. And I can't wait to see her (and Madhuri, whom I love) in 'Aaja Nachle' (Update: Done! I've seen it).

And now, to round out the round-up, here are a few random 'awards' for '07. (There's no award for which film I liked the best in 2007, because that's just too hard!):

My most amazing filmi experience:
Nominees: Trip to India, Trip to India, Trip to India, Trip to India, Trip to India
Winner: Trip to India

My Bollywood tearjerker of the year:
Nominees: Mother India (oh Nargis!), Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (heart-wrenching), The Namesake (damn near broke my heart), Masoom (that child!), Deewaar (Shashi and Big B made me bawl!)
Winner: C'est tres difficile. I guess I have to say Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, just because I really wasn't expecting it to hurt so much. I thought it would just feel like typical formulaic romance fluff - and I knew how the film would end but it was still a surprising sucker-punch...

My favourite (Bollywood) experience of the year in an actual cinema (as opposed to watching at home - I have to say I had a lot of great cinema-seat experiences in 2007):
Nominees: Chak De! India (swoon), Just Married (made me feel all mushy inside), The Namesake (despite the best efforts of the mouthy teenage girls sitting beside me), Guru (made me want to go out and make someone else's life better), Apne (I just had so much fun!)
Winner: Chak De! India (SRK all lean and tortured and restrained and rangy! Girl power and lots of positive inspirational messages! Come on, what could really compete?)

My Bollywood 'aawww' moment of the year:
Nominees: Bobby Deol and Dharmendra at the IIFA Awards, SRK and his daughter in 'the picture' (love it so much),

the Kapoors on 'Koffee with Karan', 'Apne' (the entire thing), Nargis and Raj in 'Awaara'
Winner: There were SO many 'aawww' moments (it's Bollywood after all) in 2007, that even to pick out the above-mentioned 5 was tough, but I think I'll give it to Bobby and his father for the natural intensity of that emotional moment. Loved it!

My worst Bollywood movie of the year:
Nominees: Shakalaka Boom Boom (tripe!), Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage (rubbage!), Mere Jeevan Sathi (the Akshay one - really really bad!), Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya (Govinda + Tabu in a weird story about fatal attraction = a really rubbish film), Bol Radha Bol (David Dhawan, tell me just one thing: why??)
Winner: Tough one - they were all just so so so bad! But I guess Shakalaka Boom Boom wins it, just because it was the only one I couldn't force myself to finish...

So... now that 2008 has commenced, all that remains is for me to talk about a few of my goals for the year - here are my top 5:

More diverse Indian cinema: I am hungry for some Tamil and Telugu movies; I've been very neglectful of non-Hindi films and I feel totally ignorant about work from the south - I've got some great recommendations and will dedicate time and effort to hunting them down.

More Nargis: Yes, I am greedy for more of Nargis - loads and loads more... and can you blame me? She's simply magnificent.

More great movie dates: I definitely took advantage of all the screenings of Hindi films over the past year - and I plan to continue doing so... it's a great way to relax and de-stress. Over at Silverbird, 'Welcome' is currently showing, and I'm definitely NOT at all interested in seeing that. But 'Taare Zameen Par' is showing at Nu Metro and it's gotten really great reviews plus I'm a fan of Aamir, so I definitely want to see it - and 'Aaja Nachle' just might still be on at City Mall - must find out... (Update: It is, and I've seen it).

More of the Kapoor men: Nobody ever seems to say this, but I love me some Rishi. I saw quite a bit of him in 2007, from 'Namastey London' (loved him), to 'Kabhi Kabhie', to 'Khel Khel Mein', to 'Deewana' (let's just say it was WAY past time to stop with the young-singer/loverboy roles), to 'Naseeb' (loved him in it), to many, many more. I've just acquired 'Karz' and 'Doosra Aadmi' and am looking forward to both (especially, after seeing the opening scene of 'Om Shanti Om', the former). I've only seen one Shammi Kapoor film, 'Junglee', and I really want to see more of him - so I just picked up 'Teesri Manzil' and will watch it soon. I've already mentioned that I've got a couple more Shashi movies which I'm really looking forward to. And I'm desperately hunting for more stuff by Raj...

More blogging about Bollywood!: I definitely plan to do better with keeping this spot updated this year. I'm changing jobs soon - leaving behind my current 15/16-hour-a-day one and taking on one with saner hours, so hopefully I will have more free time... I think I can make it work.

Up next I'll be doing my first 'Faces' post; and also in the works is a results post on the latest poll - please vote if you haven't done so yet!

INDIA - Bollywood-related stuff (Part II)

So I’m back to complete my Bollywood-related tales… one of the most thrilling things we did in India was writing fan mail to our favourite actors and actresses and actually visiting the homes of a few of them. We had already agreed before leaving for India that we were going to act like true fans – a little pagal, a little OTT... we were just going to go for it and enjoy it – and I think we totally did. It was SO MUCH FUN! We bought our kagaz and lifafaa, wrote loads of fan mail and went off to Bandra and Juhu in search of our favourite Bollywood stars… we knew we probably wouldn’t spot any stars, but we decided that just seeing their homes would be fun enough for us.

First on our list (of course) was ‘our boo’, Mr. Shah Rukh Khan, who lives at the wonderfully-named ‘Mannat’, really close to the beach, in Bandra. SRK got some special attention, as we bought him some beautiful yellow roses near Flora Fountain, grabbed a cab and went off to search for Mannat, roses and letters in hand. It was so exciting… especially when we got there…

First though, on our way to Mannat, our taxi driver, the very lovely ‘Sir-ji’ (that’s what I called him and just about every other taxi or auto-rickshaw driver we met in India) pointed out to us the home of renowned singers Lata and Usha Mangeshkar – apparently they live on the second floor of this block of flats…

I loved the piano sign outside…

So anyway, we got to Mannat and were just so excited, jumping around like little ping-pong balls… here’s the sea close to SRK’s house…

...here's the gate to Mannat...

…here’s the imposing villa itself…

…and this is the Mannat sign opposite the gate (and a little bit of me and my bangles)…

The guards outside SRK’s house were very amused at these black female tourists who had come all the way from Nigeria to see Mr. Khan. They didn’t speak or understand much English so we had to find a way to explain that ‘yeh phool’ were for Mr. Khan. They really were amused – they inspected our flowers (for hidden recording/explosive devices, I guess), read our fan mail and generally had a good laugh. Heck, we didn’t care, we were just so excited to be there… especially when the gate swung open and…

… we were almost faint with anticipation, I kid you not… but then out rolled a boring police van… but that moment, when we thought SRK just might come out, was just sooo incredible… one of the definite highlights of our time in Mumbai.

Anyway, so that was all really exciting... after Mannat, Sir-ji took us to Salman Khan’s house, which is only a few minutes away from SRK’s…. Here it is – he lives in a flat on… the third floor, I think.

The guards at Sallu’s house weren’t quite as friendly as SRK’s – the security there is (understanbly) quite tight…

On that day, we also tried to find Pooja Bhatt and Sanjay Dutt’s homes, I think, but there was too much traffic and so we decided to call it day as far as star-home-hunting was concerned. Sir-ji drove us back to Churchgate, where we had a nice dinner at the lovely Gaylord’s restaurant and caught up with some amazing scenes taking place at the stadium right opposite our hotel, as India defeated Australia at cricket.

I just cannot tell you how special it was to be so close to the action… and as we watched, we speculated about the likelihood of SRK being at the cricket match with his son Aryan (my friend Uzo even spotted a car outside the stadium that looked like the one she saw in a documentary on his life), and we actually thought up a couple of hare-brained schemes as to how we could meet him – like trying to sneak into the stadium without tickets, then finding the nearest cameras and telling members of the press that we’d come all the way from Nigeria to see the man and would SO love to see him (or else, we would not be leaving)… we had a good laugh about that plan.

The next morning the Times of India was slid under our door just before breakfast… and sure enough, there were pictures of SRK and Aryan on the cover… sitting close to Shah Rukh’s ‘Om Shanti Om’ co-star Deepika Padukone at the cricket match… so he probably sat in this box....

After lamenting over being so-close-yet-so-far-away-from SRK over our breakfast (and after lots of sightseeing and shopping), later that day (which also happened to be our last full day in India), we decided to take a taxi to Juhu, in search of more celebrity cribs… it turned out to be quite a ride… it was Dussehra and so the streets were extremely busy – it was great to watch all the colourful celebrations, from the hordes of worshippers walking down to the sea to the many shrines to Durga, to the decorations and lights everywhere…



Anyways, so we finally got to Juhu amidst heavy traffic, and we managed to find ‘Amitabh Bachchan ka bangla’ – it was no mean task I tell you…. We introduced ourselves to the guards and they pretty much promptly (but politely) told us to get to stepping… and so we did… but not before I snapped this photo of his gaily decorated gate (with lots of other fans hanging around)….

And so that was the end of our starry adventures in Mumbai. We did send out all our fan mail as well… and just in case you’re wondering where the picture of the gate leading to ‘Dharmendra ka bangla’ is, we realllly wanted to get to it but it was getting realllly late and we had a lot of things to do that night, so we took it off the schedule (but of course I still have nothing but love and mad respect for Dharam-ji).

Here are some other Bollywood-related pictures from my trip... these ones were taken at this ‘resort’ where we stopped for lunch, somewhere between Agra and Delhi…

Mr. Bachchan’s visit to the resort was obviously a huge highlight for the owners of the place…

And I really liked this rather dated but very attractive advertising on the back of an auto…


And of course movie posters… ‘Laaga Chunari Mein Daag’ was everywhere – it was easily the most-advertised movie while we were in India… a bit sad really, cos it didn’t do too well at the box office...

... 'Saawariya' had some billboard presence as well...
And there were some very cool and retro-looking posters up on this lovely brick wall in Agra…

And also some really pitiful and/or slight tacky-looking ones…

Seeing the billboards for Beyonce's tour dates was interesting...

And seeing the brawny Sunny Deol advertise girly Lux soap (Correction: actually he's advertising Lux Coxy underwear - thanks Ashish for the tip!) was pretty amusing...

Of course, TV soaps get loads of advertising as well… I really liked this one…

Speaking of TV, Uzo and I speculated that this shoot we observed at Humayun's Tomb in Delhi might be for some sort of TV programme...

It's too far away for you to see it properly in this shot, but this billboard for Indian Vogue is really cool - Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra and Preity Zinta appear on it... this one is from Mumbai...


.... and Deepika looks ethereal on the cover of Vogue...


I think that just about covers it for the Bollywood-related stuff from my trip to India… I’m already working towards my next trip, and looking forward to even more fun adventures…

...And here are a few random shots from my time in Mumbai to help you look forward to seeing the city for yourself (if you haven't yet). It is so fab.

We walked past this cricket game during our long search for Flora Fountain...

... this is Victoria Terminus - I badly wanted to get some really good shots and go inside but we just short on time...

I loved the Gateway to India... and watching SRK's first film ('Deewana') recently got me all nostalgic - it forms the backdrop to one of the movie's songs...

... I forget what this building is called... something very gravitas-laden I think... I loved it...

...and I loved Marine Drive ('the Queen's Necklace')... Uzo and I took an evening walk there just before leaving India... great atmosphere...

... and here's a bus driving in front of Flora Fountain...

This is my fifth and last post about my trip to India. It's a testimony to how amazing those ten October days were, that there is SO much more I could say... reminiscing has been great fun and I must thank all of you for sharing my journey and experiences with me...

Thanks for all your votes on the latest poll – please vote if you haven’t done so yet!

See you soon…