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Anupama, where the dream-fairies slumber
Anupama , by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, centres around the character of Uma (Sharmila Tagore), a shy and silent girl, sole daughter of a cruel father (Tarun Bose) who lost this beloved wife when she gave birth to this daughter. He blamed her for the death...
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Yash Chopra, the power of Passion
Yash Chopra passed today; because of the importance of the guy, I decided to post this eulogy of him written some time ago, but which I still feel is appropriate. Yash Chopra… Say this name and immediately vast landscapes appear, green slopes where lovers...
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Shree 420: Raj Kapoor's masterpiece
Another classic ! Raj Kapoor (actor and director) and Nargis are once again at the top of their art, and create a masterful, a superb story of love and temptation, of self-deception and redemption. Not only is the story a moving and profound parable on...
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Mother India, the mother of Indian movies
Mother India…That title resonates like everything a Bollywood-lover should pine for: aren’t we all somehow in love with Bharat mata? Aren’t we all her children up to some extent? As for me, I’d say that ever since I’ve been writing this blog (more than...
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Khamoshi: Unutterable music
I've seen Khamoshi: a musical. Watching it has been like a revelation. Everything it says, everything it hints at, everything it suggests, because it cannot be said, I have avidly drunk as one drinks from a familiar well, knowing that the effect is exactly...
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Manzil (1979): do you mind lying and deceit?
Have you ever wondered why you were born poor and not rich ? (if it’s the other way round, you often don’t wonder) Have you asked yourself why this injustice continues in today’s developed world? And if you are a victim of this injustice, have you never...
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BR Chopra's Naya Daur: the prophecy of a new India
The Brave New World of Naya Daur (New Era, BR Chopra 1957) opens with a striking quote by Mahatma Gandhi: So from the start we know that the film is going to be about the biological (bios = life) relationship between men and the Earth, and that this bond...
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The nature of love (Andaz)
Well, my foray into Bollywood oldies opens up with a bang ! This 1949 classic “love triangle” film which supposedly deals with the clash between traditional India and its Westernisation, errs, says IMdB sd268 in a perceptive commentary, because it equates...
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Aishwarya Rai's dilemma: how does she cope with her beauty?
Ever since I discovered her, I have seen Ash as a wonder, a miracle of womanhood. Or of creation. One hears sometimes that Creation isn’t perfect, that it isn’t finished, that it’s flawed with sin and marred with injustice. Well, for once, on that face,...
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Ek din achanak: emptiness...
"I wish I could start from scratch. I have done good, bad and indifferent films. I wish I could erase it all and start afresh like the Professor of "Ek Din Achanak" who walked out on his family in a rainy day without even as much as informing anybody....
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Tere ghar ke samne - more delight!
Tere ghar ke samne (1963) has a Molièresque quality to it. I don’t know if English-speaking readers know about Molière, but this story of two young lovers who want to marry in spite of their cantankerous fathers immediately made me think of L’Avare, or...
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The white tiger
The white tiger is a rare genetic variation of the normally ochre-skinned feline that is both feared and respected as the king of animals in Asia. But it’s also a 2008 novel by Aravind Adiga which the press has acclaimed and which I’ve just finished reading....
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Sangam, Raj Kapoor's murky waters
I don’t know how many of Raj Kapoor’s movies are called “his best”. This one belongs to that collection, judging by most IMDb user comments (on the other hand, very few bloggers have written about it…). Sangam (“Confluence” in English), which came out...
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Is renunciation wisdom? (Swami 2007)
Swami (2007) is choreographer Ganesh Acharya’s first try at directing a film, and in spite of some clumsiness, it’s full of good surprises. It is inspired by a desire to uphold the values of honesty, faithfulness and humanity which the director obviously...
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My name is Khan, or: what can blunt truth achieve?
We shall overcome... Karan Johar’s My name is Khan (2010), starring Shahrukh Khan and Kajol – her great comeback since Fanaa (U me aur ham being not much more than a Devgan promotional), is a movie about truth and violence, like Fanaa in fact, with which...
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Chhalia, Nutan's contribution to the Indo-pakistani peace process
In Chhalia (Manmohan Desai, 1960), we have another of Raj Kapoor’s avatars: his character personifies a “chhaliya”, translated by Philip as a cheat, or artful deceiver, but who in fact doesn’t deceive anyone, and I wonder whether we shouldn’t say “cunning...
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Bandini, Bimal Roy's ode to purity
I remember feeling annoyed when, a few years ago, somebody to whom I was voicing my pleasure at recently discovered Bollywood movies, bluntly told me: “oh yes, but Indian movies now… you want to see those from the 60s and the 70s!” Whether he was right...
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Kanchanjungha, the moment of revelation
I owe Sharmi an IOU because she’s the lover of “threadbare movies” who watched and beautifully reviewed Satyajit Ray’s Kanchanjangha (1962) on her blog and made me want to watch it! Well, everybody whose review I read ( check here and here ) calls it...
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Tabu, the dark queen on the Bollywoodian chessboard
I’d seen other films with her before, but I really discovered Tabu thanks to Cheeni kum. “Cini kam” means “less sugar”. And that’s what Bollywood has to offer with Tabu: a less sugary actress! With Tabu, the sweetness of many other mainstream actresses...
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Subarnarekha, Ritwick Ghatak's ode to Life
What is the soul of poetry? Isn’t it a kind of universal music which, universal as it is, springs fresh and clear from a homely and unique source of inspiration? When Tagore writes: Nahin kisi ko pata kahaan mere raja ka rajmahal Agar jaante log, mahal...
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Baarish (1957) no rain, but drenched in beauty and fun
I’d been wanting to watch Baarish (1957, Shankar Mukherjee) for a long time, but as there were no subtitles, I knew I was in for a more strenuous viewing than usual. Still, this film was a little like the missing link in my Nutan experience! It’s a pleasant...
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Nuts about Nutan!
Basant (1960) is a loony movie where what you see is more important than what you understand. There is a story, sort of, (tolerably interesting in the first half but totally zany in the second!) but you must forget about it, because the chief interest...
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Those movies that shaped my beginnings and which I never reviewed
This is going to be ABSOLUTE INDULGENCE. Veer-Zaara . Ah, lieutenant Veer, Zaara… and miss Saamiya! I think this is the movie I watched most, perhaps 4 times… Not a lot compared to some, but for me, yes! This is for me the “foundation movie”. Why did...
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Nutan film posters
Hello, well, it seems that only Nutan ki janmadin can rouse me from my silence these days! Sorry to say, but there's just too much OTHER stuff to do, sigh! Anyway, I had been collecting these for the day, so even if you know most of them (true lovers...
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Pardes - (Bad Bollywood)
This 1997 film, compared to the one I’ve spoken about previously, will be my example of what is NOT so good about Bollywood. Careful: there are many films in Bolly, but well, I’ve just seen that one again. It starts rather well, with Alok Nath, Amrish...