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.