Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Further firangi fame.

Wow, this is just too typical. I get e-mail interviewed and then it's a semi-random blog post that gets quoted. Still, I do rather like that there's the point to be made about non-Indian fans looking beyond the Mumbai fence for their dose of Indian cinema - I do try to maintain that mine is an Indian film blog, not a Bollywood blog since Bollywood implies Hindi and I have such a soft spot for Tamil cinema and the occasional Telugu wonder that I simply can't leave those out. Of course, regional cinema is often ignored simply because it's not as readily available for most people. And of course, some Hindi speakers don't want to read subtitles so they ignore those films. Just as well.

But anyway, here is something I wanted to be quoted on - when the journo responsible for the article asked me to compare modern stars to the past decades' big names. This was simultanously my most diplomatic answer and my least diplomatic answer.
I think each popular actor's popularity is a reflection of the times and the mindset of the audience of that era. I personally do not prefer older movies to newer ones or vice versa. I can appreciate "the angry young man" as well as Shahrukh's NRI dilwallah, Guru Dutt's tragic and poetic on-screen presence as well as Akshay Kumar's comedic Hera Pheri-avatar. This sort of variety is one of the things that makes Hindi cinema so appealing.
Why would this be my least diplomatic reply? Well, I just had this distinct feeling some people would get a heart attack upon seeing me praise Akshay Kumar and Guru Dutt in the same sentence. I couldn't imagine too actors with more different, distinct groups of fans. But hey, there you go. It's a varied field. There are a lot of good things out there. (Though I should also point out that like Amitabh's angry young man, I don't absolutely love SRK-the-NRI-lover in absolutely every movie. In moderation. Y'know.)

But yeah. Movies I hope to talk about in this blog soon: Kaadhal, Black Friday, Tashan. The first two I have seen but need screencaps for, the third is still on its way to me.

Anyhow, have a random gorgeous pic of Ileana, a Tollywood starlet. I got the photo from one of lapetitediva's picture posts, so a big thanks to her.


7 comments:

Filmi Girl said...

Dang! You're getting pretty popular up there in Finland! :D

I liked your diplomatic answer about popular actors. And I don't care for the NRI lover in every single movie, either. The older he gets the less it works, in my opinion. I wanted to strangle him all through Kal Ho Naa Ho. :P

I should delve more into South Indian cinema. Have you done a post of films to start with? You totally should!

Anonymous said...

The journo also emailed me a bunch of questions, which I answered as thoughtfully as I could---but then he picked stuff out of my blog, added some stuff he made up out of thin air, and voila!---I become someone I don't recognize :-)

I too would love a list of South Indian films to start with. Besides Mani Ratnam's, I have not really enjoyed the Tamil films I've seen. I do have Bommarillu (Telugu) to watch on a friend's recommendation...

ajnabi said...

Veracious the Filmi Journalism Superstar! :-) After reading memsaab's and your comments on the experience I have to pity the actors who are "interviewed" by the same people.

Can't wait to hear about Tashan!

Shweta Mehrotra Gahlawat said...

Insert: Applause, clappings and misc and many similar shoutouts of appreciation!

CCongratulations to both u and memsaab- such fame and paparazzi annoyances to boot! :)

veracious said...

filmi_girl - Yeah, I have a fondness for 90's SRK more than 00's SRK. The latter annoys me more often than I enjoy his performances.

I wrote up an email with recommendations to Filmi Geek.. It's a long e-mail but I could post it to livejournal and put it behind cut there. :)

memsaab - That's unfortunate. I'm glad I was at least not misunderstood or grossly misquoted. I do love Siddharth - the fact I was quoted on remains a fact.

Hmm, perhaps I should abbreviate the list and post it here, then. I hope you enjoy Bommarillu!

ajnabi - Oh tell me about it. It's no surprise that some stars act so rudely to journalists!

shweta - Thankfully no paparazzi encounters just yet. ;)

Anonymous said...

Ah the travails of fame - looks like the journalist didnt want a diplomatic answer! Hope this wont put you off popularity completely and you will still keep making diplomatic statements.

Completely agree with your statement about actors' popularity reflecting their times. The 50's was the age of the idealist and patriot, while the growing unemployment and angst in the young people of 70's found expression in the angry-young-man. Today's NRI hero appeals to the extremely large expat population as well as the Indians who'd like to be NRIs! As one who likes both Guru Dutt and Akshay Kumar, I dont see why liking one should exclude the other. :-)

Nicki said...

Hey girl. You're so popular on the net! Haha. I agree with you. I don't watch as many Tamil or Telugu films as you because of limited access but I would love to read your reviews. I do plan to write a blog on Allu Arjun, hehe