My favourite Indian directors.

In my last post I talked about being a newbie and not knowing certain things or what's what when it came to certain things. I think one of the questions I couldn't have in any way answered during my newbiedom was "Who's your favourite director in Indian cinema?". For one, I didn't pay attention to directors - only the stars of films. Second, even if I had, I hadn't seen enough films by any director to know whether I liked them or not.

But, I'm glad to say, now that I've seen enough films, when the question is put forth, a number of names instantly come to mind.

What makes a favourite director for me? Well, for one, I have to have seen a lot if not most, if not all of their films. I have to (obviously) enjoy the films I've seen by them. I have to get why they make the kind of films they make. And I also have to anticipate their up-coming films (assuming they're still directing).

Sriram Raghavan

So, dude's only made two films, Ek Hasina Thi and Johnny Gaddaar, and you know what? Friggin' adore both films. And now he's in the process of making another film starring my on/off favourite actor, Saif Ali Khan. I think Raghavan is the Tarantino of Hindi films, if we must make such comparisons - he is a huge film fanatic, who loves films of all sorts, and he mixes these influences into his films (you only have to read his piece on Rediff about his favourite thrillers to know this). However, unlike Tarantino with his self-indulgent dialogues, I think Raghavan keeps his films tightly plotted. They're not perfect films, don't get me wrong - there are things I'd change about both of them, there are things I'm sure he'd change himself, but they are good films, no two ways about it. I hope he makes plenty more.

Kunal Kohli

Yeah, I am an eternal Kunal Kohli apologist. He made Hum Tum, which I loved (despite its flaws), he made Fanaa, which I loved (despite its flaws), he made Thoda Pyaar.., which I loved (despite its flaws and the fact nobody else did). This critic-turned-director is not generally immensely appreciated. But I like him, and I get him - like Raghavan, he's a filmi fanboy. Sometimes, that can be a good thing - he constructs films that aren't the tightest or the best when it comes to plot, and that really require suspension of belief. Sometimes, it's not necessarily a good thing. For example, I get the sense he loved everything Aamir did in Fanaa so much he didn't necessarily direct the actor much. But I think Kohli makes films that feel right, and have those magical filmi moments that just click with me as a viewer so strongly I adore him for it. Like the antakshari scene on Fanaa, or the argument scene in Hum Tum, or the sindoor in Mujhse Dosti Karoge. To Thoda Pyaar's disadvantage I have to say, the film lacks those moments in large part. But it's fun fluff regardless.

Manmohan Desai (pictured with Rishi Kapoor)

King of Masala. King of Mass-entertainers. King of crazy, funky, fantastic entertainment. I wonder, how this man was talked about back in the day? Was he considered the David Dhawan of his time, sort of looked down on but very popular regardless? The Priyadarshan? I want to say no, because I think Desai really believed in the type of cinema he was making - he wasn't just making it to make money. There's wildness in his films that captured the imagination of the audiences. I mean, I can think of a story wilder than Dharam-Veer, for sure, but I could not imagine it into a blockbuster that would live on as a classic masala film to this day. The over-the-topness, the fantastical story tropes, but also the heart at the core of these films, all of these make Manmohan Desai a name I can trust.

Prabhudeva

He debuted with Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (a film that flows through choreography), continued with Pournami (amicable effort, though not a huge favourite) and began in Hindi industry by giving them Wanted (a show that Southie rules in action masalas, but the format can and does work for Hindi audiences, too). Plus he's an awesome dancer and choreographer. Again, he's not done a whole lot when it comes to directing but I love what he has given to the world and I anticipate his future efforts.

Bala

I've talked about his guy a lot but I can't get over how spell-binding his latest effort, Naan Kadavul (review here) was in all its grimness. Plus I adore Pithamagan, for not being so totally hopeless. And this guy, if there any directors who make films like his somewhere in India, I've not heard of them. I think he has a totally unique vision, the kind that looks that things that are grim and dark and awful, but also rooted in some sort of strange humanity. And all these characters that are outsiders, and characters who do bad things but who still feel relatable - in other words, complexity.

S. Shankar

Another Southie director! This guy is the real successor to Manmohan Desai, if anybody in Indian films is. He makes the most bombastic, insane, masala to the nth degree that has everything, visuals, comedy, music, CGI, star power. In true Thamizh style the heroes smash social problems with a simplistic philosophy - curing social ills one baddie at a time. I adore Anniyan but I also enjoyed Indian and his Hindi venture, Nayak: The Hero. And then there's Sivaji, and the up-coming Aishwarya-Rajni film Robot/Enthiraan. Shankar is something you have to experience to understand, and then experience it again, to truly understand.

Bubbling Under: Gulzar, Vishal Bhardwaj (lovelovelove this guy, also as a composer, but feel like I need to see more of his films), Shankar Ali (Bunty aur Babli & Jhoom Barabar Jhoom), Rajkumar Hirani (I love him but who doesn't?), Guru Dutt (again, feel like I need to see more)...

Gosh, there's actually quite a number of people whose films I love. Go figure.

What are your favourites? Feel free to make your own post, or just answer in the comments. I'm really curious!

Delicious Thursday sundry.

1. Siddharth, a gift that keeps on giving in the form of a young man hailing from Tamil Nadu, has awarded us, his international fans, an amazing opportunity. According to his Twitter, Striker, his new Hindi feature film, is going to be available on youtube on the day of its theatrical release. With subtitles.

Apparently Indian netizens and American ones won't have the benefit of this precious treat, thanks to the movie appearing on their screens in actual theaters, but we Euros do and let me tell you on the behalf of this great continent: we are romba santosh (that is, very happy). Oh and Americans have to cough up a few bucks to view it, I hear, so they'll still be able to view it.

I have no idea how the thing will work in practise but February 5th is the date this movie hits screens, online and off, and I am marking my calendar with a big heart-shaped circle.

Hence excited capital letters: HOLY CRAP HOW AWESOME IS THIS I CAN'T HANDLE IT AT ALL.

2. Yahoo! Mail and its Citibank advertising banner thinks I'm an NRI and hence worth appealling to with this:

I like Saif. I'm fine with Bipasha. But you cannot, and WILL NOT entice me to apply for a checking account for a free download of Race. That movie is no-go.

3. The above Siddharth screencap is from Oy, which I'll review shortly now that I have screencaps. You know what I really enjoy about Bhavani DVD's releases? Sure I have to jump through monetary hoops to get to them, but in return I get no annoying anti-piracy ads and this:

See, this is what all those Western DVD makers haven't realized. You can't put anti-piracy ads on a legal DVD. That's a turn-off. Why not instead thank us for supporting the legal product?

This feels like a good time to link to two things:

Memsaab's brilliant Indian DVD rant

Adam Buxton's (British comedian) hilarious song about piracy

4. Has anybody read Pran's biography simplistically titled ..And Pran - A Biography? I kind of want to read but am hesitant to order it as I've never tried to track down Indian books from unknown Indian sites.

And while we're at it, any Hindi/Tamil/Telugu film related recommended reading in book form? I have Fantasies of a Bollywood Love Thief (brilliant overall look at the industry and making of Omkara, essentially) and Maximum City (on all aspects of Bombay/Mumbai, fascinating read) already.

5. Don't forget the poll!

IFAC #22: My top five of Bollywood heroes.

I wrote a post about my favourite heroines nearly two years ago and decided to finally work out a top five ..ish of my favourite heroes. This one was arguably a lot harder to make. It bears mentioning that since male characters are at the forefront of pretty much every film, they tend to also be better-written and developed and simply more interesting. So this list was pretty much impossible to compose and I had to leave out a bunch of characters I love. I suppose more accurately this could be "top five of my favourites right on this moment", as it might look different if I typed it two months from now, or even tomorrow.

In no particular order.

Amar from Andaz Apna Apna

I know you're all thinking, what, seriously? Yes. Seriously. Heroes come in all sorts; ranging from pacifist to violent, poetic to plain-spoken, funny to serious, but rarely are they as mistakenly ambitious and as absolutely certain of themselves as Amar is. He's an absolute riot as the selfish, cocky, confident bewakoof (fool) that he is, and I love him for it. I think more often than not, my love for an actor boils down to one role that I absolutely loved them in, and for Aamir it's probably this one. I liked a lot of what I saw of him after AAA, but Amar was something else. Truly.

Raj from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge

Oh how cliché of me. But as I've said before, Raj is the reason I will always love Shahrukh on some level, even if I don't understand what his biggest fans see in him, or why he's king over all others. There's something so great and simple about this character - he's an inconsiderate goof but learns to be more than that, and ends up being the quintessential romantic hero. And he maintains that sense of humor throughout the movie. It's just wonderful.

Rikki from Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
and
Bunty/Rakesh from Bunty aur Babli

Two Abhishek Bachchan characters get to share this spot simply because I couldn't really choose between them. BaB was the film where I knew I had to see more of this actor, but both roles sort of encapture why I love Abhishek so much. They're both funny, goofy characters, but terribly lovable because of it. The sort of roles I think Abhishek was truly meant for .. though I don't want to undermine the quality of his serious roles, either.

Santosh from Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana

The more I think about the parameters of this post, the more characters I want to include. It's tough, especially considering how I now notice similarities between these heroes; they all seem to be carved out of the same tree. Most of them are more funny than romantic, which is exactly the kind of thing I don't mind at all. NVNN takes from DDLJ and Maine Pyaar Kiya, both movies I really enjoyed. I'm not sure how much Santosh as a character takes from Prem and Raj, but I do know I love him, at all stages of his journey, from the hyper child to the determined young man.

What's interesting is that I also noticed how similar my favourite heroine characters were - and how no film, at least according to these lists, has both my favourite heroine types and my favourite hero types in them. I guess it's all about how a film is a driven by one character. The heroines I named definitely seemed to be driving the story in their films - at least in some ways. In other instances, the hero is usually the one who the film is centered around. Sometimes it's pretty much equal between the two (like BaB).

Fifty Bollywood films BBC thinks I ought to own.

Thanks to Beth for linking to this - it's a great excuse to detail some movies I've seen, and whether I appreciate them enough to make this list. Link: BBC Asian Network's 50 Bollywood movies

There's plenty of films I don't own and have not even watched but here are some random comments.

1. Black? Devdas? I know I'm sometimes in the minority as a Bhansali nay-sayer but come on. Really now.
   
2. Guru and Yuva are both quizzical choices. I'd like to have one or the other, for Abhishek's fantastic performances in both, but Guru just was not overall great and Yuva had plenty of boring, trite stuff, too. Bombay I agree with fully, though. It might be my favourite Mani Ratnam film - if nothing else, it is amazingly touching and moving, guaranteed to make you cry.
3. Agree with Beth on this - Munnabhai MBBS ought to be Lage Raho Munnabhai. The first one is good, the second one is absolutely stellar and one of my favourite post-2000 movies.
   
4. Naseeb - goddammit, I own this movie, it has Amitabh, it has Hema and it's a Manmohan Desai. Why haven't I seen this yet? I need to prioritize!
5. Rangeela, wow, really? Does anybody remember anything but bad fashion from that movie? If I was forced to pick a cheesy, classic but not amazing Aamir Khan film from the 90's, I would go with Raja Hindustani. It's not a clever film, far from it, but it has tons of heart. Rangeela has none, unless you count shots of the area where Urmila's heart is, I guess.
6. Some of my ultimate favourites on the list; Seeta aur Geeta, Sholay, Dil Chahta Hai, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Lagaan, Omkara, Rang De Basanti. I also really like Maine Pyar Kiya, Mughal-e-Azam, the previously mentioned Munnabhai, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. Good on you for including this, list. Not all faith is lost.
   
7. Sarkar? Yawn. Life in a Metro? What the hell! That one was mediocre at best! Page 3? I don't know, I'm not really into these 'exposé' type of films. Yes, media and the glitz and glam of celebrities hides a lot of dirt and ugly behavior. Big shocker.
8. Films from this list I really want to see: Maachis, Taare Zameen Par (European DVD release, please? anybody?), Pinjar and of course, Naseeb.

Two posts within 24 hours, would you believe it? Go me!

PS. Should each of us Bollywood bloggers create our own "must own" 50 film list? I'm thinking while it might be a favourites list for most, and of course, excludes those who haven't really even seen 50 movies (my numbers are only at 200 at this point..) but it's a good way to evaluate whether you think you've seen a great variety in movies or if your viewing has been more focused towards your biggest favourites or whatever. 25 must owns might be more doable? I'll sleep on this, maybe work on my list tomorrow.

A list of filmi fondness topics.

Random pic of Hema Malini, from the film Dillagi (1978).

In my blog's sidebar I have listed a bunch of things I enjoy in Indian films. For all the crap Hindi films get about being "all the same", there's an admirable amount of variety in there, and after having seen a fair amount of films, you tend to recognize what sort of things you enjoy, and what you don't. Of course, I have favourites in actors, actresses, music directors, playback singers and directors - sometimes even production houses and other crew members (I often surf cinematographers' filmographies to get a sense of their capabilities and style). Then there are things I enjoy that do not fit in these categories but are rather about genre, or plot stereotypes or something similar. I wrote the sidebar thingy as a sort of an introduction into my tastes - why somebody may disagree with it, and why somebody else may relate to it.

youthful love stories - So many examples, from DDLJ to its 21st century Telugu daughter, Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana. From QSQT to Dil Chahta Hai, Bommarillu, Kaadhal, Jab We Met. Young people falling in love is included in so many movies, and in the best ones, it's oh-so-wonderful.

comedy - I was thinking yesterday that while I agree that Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro moves slowly as hell, it's still one of the funniest comedies out there. Then you have Andaz Apna Apna, Bluffmaster, Munnabhai films, so many good ones. It ain't all Johnny Lever, and even Johnny can be good on occasion (Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega). Priyadarshan comedies rarely work for me, but I have to say Paresh Rawal in Hera Pheri and Phir Hera Pheri (and indeed the whole trio in Hera Pheri) gets me laughing every time.

women kicking ass - I believe I kind of elaborated this in my Top Five Hindi Film Heroines list but yeah, tough ladies are rare and awesome. For whatever reason, it makes me happier to see a girl kick ass in a Hindi film than an English one. Maybe it's the fact that especially in the past, girls who do a little ass-kicking (think Zeenat Aman, Hema Malini) were not sexualized graituitously. And in newer films, it seems that if the girls are wearing skimpy skin-tight outfits while doing action, the guys are also objectified equally (think Dhoom 2). It's clear that Hindi films are not ideal for displays of gender equality, but sometimes I think they get certain things very, very right.

Bharatanatyam dancing - Thillana Mohanambal, Sagara Sangamam, Sangamam... It's mostly Southie films that feature this beautiful form of dancing. Films introduced me to it and since then I'm always on a look out for BN or BN-inspired dancing.

Aamir's moustache twirl - Mangal Pandey. The best thing about Mangal Pandey (though I am in the minority who didn't absolutely hate the film).

films parodying themselves - There are a lot of movies out there that seem aware of the fact they're films, or make fun of other films, or take clichés to a parodic extreme, and a lot of those films are Indian and plenty of them are very effective with this kind of mocking about. Hindi films especially seem to often be all about paying tribute to the stars and the films of the past, as well as back-patting and laughing at its own tropes (but in a loving way). My favourite of this kind is probably the outrageously funny Andaz Apna Apna, and less goofball but also very creative and charming Jaan-e-Mann.

dishoom-dishoom - One of my favourite things on any film ever is Amitabh Bachchan making gun sound effects in Sholay. And of course, glorious 70's fight scenes is where it's at. Completely. Not to mention Tamil films and their often interestingly choreographed fight-sequences that take up much time in the movie and never fail to establish the machoness of the hero character.

Hinglish silliness - ..makes my dil go mmm. No, seriously, I understand how much it can pain the native speakers of the language to cringe at their gorgeous Hindi or poetic Urdu mangled next to the supposedly 'hip' angrezi. But I don't know, to me the most peculiar examples are usually the funniest, and the most delightful. They amuse me as much as they sometimes horrify me.

good filmi kisses - At first, discovering Bollywood meant discovering the fact that lovers on-screen do not have to kiss in order to be believable at portraying love. Your screen can be melted by sizzling chemistry even without any body contact at all (similarly two actors can make out and not have an ounce of chemistry between them). But regardless of this fact, on-screen kissing is lovely when carried out right, in the right film and in the right scene. My favourite kisses are probably in Hum Tum, Jab We Met, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Bunty aur Babli.

the way Tamil/Tamizh sounds - The first Tamil film I watched, I couldn't tell the difference between it and Hindi. Little by little, my experience grew and I began to learn the distinct sounds of Tamil, it's long words and a bit about its sentence structure, too. I'm not necessarily saying it sounds better or more beautiful than Hindi/Urdu, it's just that I really enjoy the unique sound it has.

good ol' masala - It all comes back to the reliable formula. Of course, even just the elements that masala has vary from decade to decade. And naturally every now and then it's wonderful to step out of that comfort zone and watch something from the thriller genre or artsier cinema, off-beat or just lower budget non-masala.

cheesy 90's anything - Sure the modern films may look better, be better scripted, too, and often more contain more variety in stories and subject matters. And the golden oldies are indeed golden. But 90's Hindi films have a certain appeal to them. It's the era that gave us the most important lot of stars, the uber-romantic college movies, the family value fests ala HAHK, bad hair, worse fashion, Anu Malik soundtracks you cannot get out of your head, star-studded disasters like Ishq or so-bad-it's-good Karan Arjun... 90's has it all. I'm not hopelessly infatuated with it, but I am pretty fond of it none the less, cheese and all.

Manmohan Desai - I've not seen all of his films, nowhere near it, but his name on a film is always a promise of something good, something outrageous, something exciting.

Top five Hindi film heroines (to me).

I set out to do a Top Ten but didn't get far with it, hence a top five instead. Maybe it's because the standard for my favourite Hindi film heroines (as in, characters, not actresses) is quite high. It needs to be a good performance, a memorable character and above all, I feel like the heroine needs to shine brighter than the hero, which is a very difficult thing to achieve in movies that have been male-focused for the past three or four decades. If I brought down my standards, I might have a Top Ten. (Also, quite often the most interesting female roles aren't starring roles at all.)

Screencap from MariaKaefer.
Basanti from Sholay

A huge part of why I love Hema Malini today is her portrayal of Basanti, the chatterbox tongawalli and her mare Dhanno. It was really love at first sight, I had just finished marvelling at the combination of comedy (jailer!) and action (on a train!) of the movie, and then in walks this girl, and Veeru makes a move on her, and Jai acts indifferent, and she just keeps talking. I just loved her. She's just a burst of energy on-screen and always a pleasure to watch. While she has her share of typical damsel-in-distress moments, her spunk in general makes her stand out as one of the best things about the legendary film.

Geet from Jab We Met

The character of Geet owes to Hindi film's previous spunky heroines but the reason she's so great is because, well, she's one of those spunky heroines! They aren't too many, let me remind you. Film scripts sometimes tend to not give heroines any personality but this is not the case with Jab We Met, where the romance and characters are above all well-written, and Geet is absolute brimming with personality and character. She's lively and fun and talkative, with a strong sense of who she is, which is exactly why Shahid's Aditya falls in love with her, and most of the viewers do, too.

Sarika from Ek Hasina Thi

Yeah, I realize it's not a very typical masala feature, this one, so of course it will have a meatier, more interesting heroine role. But there are plenty of movies like that, and the reason I pick Sarika out of all of them is simple: a lot of such movies are good for a watch or two, but not many of such heroines have stayed with me the way Sarika and Urmila Matondkar in the role have. Sarika is many things; she starts out a slightly scared urban woman living alone, but develops into a dangerous lady who is afraid of little, extremely cunning and a little unbalanced, too. I love watching her journey, as awful as it is, over and over again, because she comes out on top, and that's what really counts.

Rhea from Hum Tum

The great thing about Kunal Kohli's two recent films - to be honest, my memories of Mujhe Dosti Karoge are vague - is that he always seems to give his heroines a choice. Rhea is a good example of a heroine whose choices dictate the entire story. She doesn't give the hero a time of the day until he grows up and learns some respect. She has a career, and she marries a guy out of love. She refuses to re-marry despite people pressuring her to do so. Overall, Rhea is a true individual, who thinks and decides for herself, and that's what really makes her awesome.

Geeta from Seeta Aur Geeta

Our second Geeta, who the first one owes a fair amount to. Geeta is the heroine who will raise hell when she sees injustice, and it's really very satisfying to see her do it - verbally, physically, she has the guts and the attitude to deliver in both ways. If Basanti was who made me curious about Hema Malini, the roles of Seeta and Geeta are what sealed the deal of her as a favourite. As most Hema roles are more Seeta than Geeta, I really cherish Geeta and Basanti as performances, not just because they were the first times I saw her in films, but also because they're really special, even considering the whole of her career. And as awesome, spunky heroines go, well worth the hype.

I leave you with an awesome Geeta fanvid to "These Boots Are Made For Walking" that I found on youtube just tonight.



So ..who are yours?