Spare a thought for Ishq.

Ah, Ishq. You are the most entertaining bad film ever, or a hot mess that's a tragic wasted opportunity considering the talented, likable cast - depending on who you ask. You're the worst of Anu Malik soundtracks, or the best example of an Anu Malik soundtrack - again, depending on the listener.

I'm in the camp of Ishq lovers, and unapologetically so. But as with any bad movie, to actually value it in that perverse The Room type of cult phenomenon type of way is just not on (I mean that in the sense that I've had people praise The Room to me as a pinnacle of film-making, like there's some kind of wild genius hidden in its badness). This is a bad film, superb in its badness, but not necessarily to be admired for that quality. A bad film is a bad film is a bad film. Some bad films just happen to be entertaining.

All the characters and events in Ishq are hysterical and over-the-top. The comedy of the first half, what with the ape driving the car and Juhi spreading tooth paste all over Aamir's face in a fit of anger, is just so out there you wonder how anybody thought it was a good idea. The songs are a constant joy; the first one, "Humko tumse pyaar hai" fits neatly into the weird category of pervy love songs that have picturisations like out of a horror film. "Ishq hua" is every 90's Bollywood love song cliché neatly squeezed into one package, with the kind of lyrics that didn't seem to take that much thought (ishq hua / kaise hua? / accha hua! / jaise hua! - congratulations, that's four rhymes worth of "hua"). "Neend churayi mera", the song picturized above, is a ripped off disco tune with some pretty cheesy dance moves, and of course, a villain trying to shoot our foursome of heroes.

And of course, there are just no words for "Mr Lova Lova" apart from this one: why?

Then there's the epic second half, where angst reaches heightened proportions, there's attempted suicide and some other really deeply messed up stuff. Again: hot mess of story-telling. And yet weirdly enjoyable.
I should probably do a proper write-up of Ishq, with screencaps and all. But for now, spare a thought for Ishq - if for nothing else, than for the fact that grave mistakes ought not be forgotten..

Lost and found; stories of filmi love.

Hey blog! Missed me? I missed you. Well, I kind of missed you. I missed having the sudden itch to write a new entry; I missed browsing through other people's entries to see what they have been watching, enjoying, loving. I miss being in the loop of things.

What's happened as of late? Well, since I've been gone - and I swear, this is me getting back, maybe not to 7 entries per month but for crying out loud, 1 or 2 at the very least - lots of things have happened!

1. I've been rewatching films with friends and NIFs (Non-Indian-Film fans/enthusiasts/whatevers) alike. I have plenty of stories to tell about those film nights, and I shall, definitely. Like the story of 420 In a Skate-Boarding Video or How Rain Didn't Stop 5 Idiots or How My Friend Learned to Love Salman Khan. I love stories like this, so I'll continue to share them.

2. I haven't actually watched anything new since Raavan at the Helsinki International Film Festival (review here). I had tons of plans to get through my to-watch pile of DVDs and to rewatch favourites but you know, no inspiration.

3. Finland had their own version of So You Think You Can Dance and they had a Bollywood routine on it! Lucky for you, you can watch it on youtube. They dance to a song from Billu Barber! Personally I was mildly unimpressed. I like some moves but am always puzzled why what is thought of as Bollywood dance so rarely resembles what we see in films.. What films are these folks watching? Still, the performance has a good energy level throughout.


Sometimes I kind of wonder, what is it about Bollywood that makes me fade in and out of the fandom but never quite enough to totally lose grip on it. I still follow stars on Twitter - I still somewhat keep up with the news. I might still put on the Kaminey soundtrack and just let the music wash over me. I will still gaze up at my Sholay poster and lovingly call Main Khiladi Tu Anari my favourite bad film out of all other films out there.

My friend Steve asked me last night what kind of an answer I give when somebody asks me for my favourite films (as we'd just discussed how little music taste tells of a person, but how taste in films can actually reveal something crucial about your personality). I was unsure but listed some of my favourite non-Indian films anyway (from Casablanca to Hot Fuzz, from My Sassy Girl to It Happened One Night) but then when I got to Indian films I felt as if I stood on firmer ground (from Andaz Apna Apna to Pithamagan, from Dharam-Veer to Wanted). Maybe it's simply the curse of a film fan at play - the fact that it's only after you limit the era or the type of film you're supposed to name favourites of that naming favourites actually becomes easy.

But still, it is strange. Indian films are a hobby as much as they are a passion. I have opinions on them, much more so than for industries or things I don't really feel as passionate about. When Hollywood remakes this that or the other, I shrug and call it the way of the world. If some modern Hindi film director came out tomorrow and said they were planning on remaking Chalti ka Naam Gaadi, I'd scrutinize the project every step of the way.

So there you have it, some pointless thoughts on the relationship between me and Indian films -- sometimes red hot and current, sometimes light-blue and nostalgic. Does it say more about me that I like Siddharth and Vinod Khanna films than that I listen to 80's The Cure or that my favourite Korean film is a rom-com? I really couldn't tell you. But the relationship is there and it's solid, even if I am silent on these here parts. Trust me on that.

And now, to give you an idea what brought this post on.. Facebook told me I might like a show called Dance India Dance, so I watched some youtube clips of the show (it's a dancing competition, as the name would tell you) and ran into this performance by a girl doing some quite lovely Bharatanatyam dancing.

For whatever reason, the song stuck with me so I youtubed that as well..



I guess this time you can thank Juhi Chawla for bringing me back.

IFAC #12: Quotes of Bollymusings past.

Dug up from the archives of my Livejournal, the beginnings of my Bollywood obsession. I enjoy reminiscing.

1. Today I learned that straight in Bollywood equals several thrusting motions done with hips, in tight trousers, in the rhythm of music. Yeah. I love Bollywood, too. - Oct 2005
-- Nowadays I sort of cringe at this sort of "oh they're doing something that doesn't conform to my own culture's masculine ideals, that's so peculiar"-thinking but it's still very telling of the kind of thinking one does go through, without being able to help it.

2. I've discovered that the Finnish saying "Nälkä kasvaa syödessä" (= Hunger grows while eating) applies to Bollywood. I can't get enough. It's nearly scary. - November 2005
-- ...four years later, still here! It's true, all right.

3. I saw Parineeta, which was lovely, but felt way too short. Two hours? That's not a Bollywood movie! - October 2005
-- Oh 2005!self, you are a riot. You're often wrong, but you're still a riot.

4. indians are hotter than hot. - September 2005, title of a post on Ek Hasina Thi.
-- What was that about fetishization... Um. Yeah. So. Moving on (she says, embarrassed).

5. Bollywood films are crazy and have people dancing. I like that. - March 2004
-- Yeah, people dancing. How completely bizarre and insane. But still, it's nice that over five years later I can post on a blog called "so they dance" and still admit to liking the dancing aspect of these films a lot. Some things change, some things don't, y'know?

6. (About a dream I had.)
I bump into Shahrukh Khan at this mall I live close to (WTF #1), and ask him for a hug (WTF #2). Then I launch into full fangirl mode (WTF! #3), tell him, "I love you! You're so inspiring" (WTF?!? #4). He laughs and asks me, "Really? How so?". I proceed to tell him I'm going to write a script for him to star in (WTF #5). He says, "Okay, I'll do it." - January 2006
-- Watch out, SRK, it just might happen! I also love how the last bit is NOT a WTF in my books. Me hugging SRK and writing scripts for him - WTF. Him agreeing to do my script? Not a WTF.

7. You know the day sucks when even Juhi Chawla's face doesn't cheer you up. Meh. - March 2006
-- I hold this truth to be self-evident. Now and forever.

Superficial charms; hottest men and women of Indian films.

Inspired by an entry posted by Nicki, and by some thoughts that occurred to me during my umpteenth rewatch of Hum Tum last night, here are some stunningly good-looking people that grace our screens. Your mileage may vary, this is just a list according to my tastes.

Saif Ali Khan, here as not-a-good-man in Ek Hasina Thi, the film he looks best in and acts his best in, at least until we got Omkara.

Abhishek Bachchan, doing the guh-worthy eye-brow thing in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Mon amour, Ricki Thukral.

Vikram making clothes most reminiscient of tinfoil look good in Arul.

Vinod Khanna being his magnificient self in Sachaa Jhutha.

Surya looking smouldering alongside Laila in Nandhaa.
Random, slightly odd but stunning handsome pic of Akshay Kumar all the same.

R. Madhavan, dreamy as ever, in Guru.

And now onto the ladies..


Hema Malini then.

Hema Malini now.

North-Indian girl in South-Indian movies; Jyothika.

Not the best of actresses (not even close), but I can't resist her smile. Katrina Kaif from Singh is Kinng here.

The wonderful Kajol.

Always a darling, Juhi Chawla in Hum Hai Rahi Pyaar Ke.

Regal Zeenat Aman in Dharam-Veer.

Smile of the century: Rani Mukherjee in Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic.

Doll-esque pose of Preity Zinta in a recent magazine.

Classic beauty: Madhubala in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi.

Was that more gals than guys? I guess it just goes to show - Indian women are gorgeous! Indian men, well, only nearly as..

The good ol' days. Hum hai rahi pyaar ke.

How should I say this.. The title of the post is not me looking down on modern cinema, wistful for a time period in the past. It's just that Hum Hai Rahi Pyaar Ke reminds me of the sad fact that thanks to the years that separate present day and early 1990's, when the film was released, it's unlikely we'll see another Aamir Khan-Juhi Chawla collaboration as delightful as this one. (The reasons are probably known to most Bollywood lovers but in short; there was an argument between them and even though they later made up, their relationship has not been the warmest since, though I'm sure both respect each other.)

But I suppose I shouldn't dwell on the negatives. Regardless of whether we'll ever see Juhi-Aamir jodi again, HHRPK is one of my absolute favourite 90's romcoms. In fact, I rate it above the first and very popular Juhi-Aamir film, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. QSQT is not a bad film, by any means, but HHRPK is more my thing; innocent, fun fluff that also has its emotional moments.

The story is simple; Aamir plays a man whose brother and sister-in-law die in a car accident. Besides the family business, he now has to look after his two nephews and a niece, who can be quite a handful. Juhi, on the other hand, is a Tamil girl whose strict father is forcing her into a marriage that she opposes (with a groom who dances Bharatanatyam - the South-Indian presentation some may find disagreeable in the film, I personally do not mind, however). She runs off and ends up meeting the kids Aamir is looking after at a fair. They play tricks together and she ends up telling the kids her unfortunate situation; no place to go spend the night. The kids agree to let her stay over at their house, and Aamir discovers a new housemate the next morning..

Just writing about the film makes me want to rewatch it! Typically, child actors and child characters in light-hearted movies like this one, particularly when they play a huge role in the story, can be rather grating for me. Not in here! Juhi and Aamir naturally have excellent chemistry (and some cute kissing scenes!), and Juhi especially portrays her character well - I believe she won a Filmfare award for this one. Her comic timing is suberb, too.

The comedy in the movie is much of the silly slapstick variety, which may not go down with everybody, but I don't have any complaints. I've certainly seen worse, and the few comedy scenes that didn't hit the right mark, I can shrug off considering the overall quality of the film.

A stand-out song sequence was definitely Ghoongat ki aadh se.


(I've mostly been posting very positive reviews as of late. I can't help it. Every time I sit down to type something down, I feel myself drawn to write about some lovely movie I adore and want to recommend to others. Maybe next time I'll most something more critical.)