This old chestnut: SRK on Hollywood.

I was reading SRK's reflections (see that picture? Get it? I'm too clever, honestly) on the state of Hindi cinema and the discussions it brought out in people on GetFilmy's excellent post about it, and decided to make my own post, as I have a lot of thoughts on the topic. Here's a link to the Forbes article, but I wanted to give credit to GetFilmy for bringing it to my attention.

In a way, I honestly believe that these comments have more to do with where Shahrukh Khan is at, than where Indian film is at right now. His films as of late have been successes, but they haven't been the kind of successes he probably hoped they'd be, and they certainly haven't punched through as films people would love to re-visit time and time again. His name brings people to the theater, but hardly anybody is going back for a second viewing, much less a third.

But, as more people flock to cinemas, Hollywood’s finesse will eventually win them over. India may make the most movies in the world, but “With all due respect, the production values are s***. Why will my kids watch that kind of crap when Hollywood offers something slicker?”

As far as arguments go, this is not precisely the strongest. Anecdotal evidence based on your kids? Look, dude, I get it. You're a self-made guy who made their career and fortunes through Hindi films, and now you see that your kids are growing up in a different world than you, so they'll prefer different things - and this is a new discovery for you, perhaps. But you just cannot extrapolate all that to include every child in India, every adult in India or every Indian abroad.

Here's what I've learned about Indian audiences and their love for Hollywood films - people like spectacle. People everywhere like spectacle. Finnish people will go see Avatar in huge numbers, as will Americans, as will Brits, Germans, Koreans and people all over the world. Spectacle is one of those things that no other format than film can provide quite like film, so of course flashy, big budget entertainers will draw in people, just for the novelty of it all.

Like GetFilmy pointed out, Bollywood is not suffering. Content is becoming better, genres are getting more diverse, we get tons of films breaking the 100 crore mark, which used to be a fanciful dream for producers, we have new stars and old stars having the kind of success they've never enjoyed before.

Even more importantly, films aren't just entertainment - entertainment forms a part of people's lived experience, and through that, shapes identities and in some ways, a national and cultural identity. This is why DDLJ spoke to NRI's, and people still listen to HAHK songs, or quote Sholay, or whatever have you. And because Indian films are intrinsically Indian, they will never cease to have that sort of significance in some people's lives. This is not to say that if you are an Indian person who prefers American or French or Iranian films to those of your own country, you're somehow less Indian - that's not what I mean at all (after all, I'm not less Finnish for not liking Finnish films much). It's just that to some people, this part of the culture is very important.

A bad Hindi film might not entertain anybody better just because they have a cultural connection to it, but I don't think people who are as passionate about their own films as Indian audiences can be will ever just abandon it because the visual special effects aren't as flashy as something Peter Jackson or Christopher Nolan can conjure up. That's pretty simplistic thinking on Shahrukh's part. Production value is not the only thing people go see in films - it's certainly what some people look for, perhaps even to the detriment of their own enjoyment of less flashy films (be it indie, arthouse, low budget).

They spend more on pop corn, samosas and fizzy drinks than on the tickets.

Newsflash - this has been the case in the West forever. Even before the advent of illegal digital downloads and all the things driving up ticket prices in North America and Europe. This also seems to mostly look at multiplexes. People see films in other sorts of film theatres as well, don't they?

I'm not a businesswoman, so I'm not one to criticize Shahrukh's moves in the business world - it's his company, he can run it as he likes. But I also think it's shortsighted of him to just think about visual effects, flashy spectacles and all this other stuff that Hollywood will probably make better than Hindi films do, most of the time, simply because of the fact that Hollywood has been doing this stuff for aeons. Indian films should push themselves technically, for sure, and I'm all for that - Eega was a good example. But no film would be anything without actually being good - good acting, good music, good stories. To say Hollywood is going to take over is based on almost no evidence at all - in fact, Hollywood is itself in crisis because its age-old business formula is losing in the world of online streaming and targeted marketing. Bollywood is going through changes as well, but it's not failing.

I don't mean to harp on the man's personal career graph too much, but I do strongly feel that had his latest film been his Dabangg or Three Idiots, he wouldn't be saying stuff like this. Come back to us, Shahrukh - make a damn good movie that rides on both the content (a good story, solid direction, great songs) and your star power. Jab Tak Hai Jaan probably should've been just that, but wasn't. Nevermind.

Come back to us.

Hire me, Bollywood: Kiss of the Spider Woman re-imagining

Argentinian author Manuel Puig's novel "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (illustrated here by the novel's stylish Finnish translation cover art) draws a lot out of a simple premise: the dialogue between two prisoners, one a staunch communist activist and the other an effeminate gay man, forms almost the entirety of the novel. Valentin, the former, listens to Molina, the latter, tell him stories from old movies - through these re-tellings they discuss each other, life, politics and love.

The novel was perhaps the first to be told almost entirely through dialogue (with some official documents and footnotes relishing the story on the side), and it was later adapted into a stage version, that was then made into an Academy Award-winning film.

And after I finished reading and mulling this story over, I just thought to myself, "This would make a fantastic Indian film."

Why do I think it's so ripe for an Indian film remake? If you've read the novel, you know it packs a punch precisely because there is so much there to get into. The stories of the films tell us something about the character who narrates them; Molina is an escapist at heart, stuck in a world that doesn't accept him, but as the novel also shows, stuck inside these gendered misconceptions of both himself and the world around him. This kind of escapism is what forms a large part of the tradition of Indian films - the other reality where the corrupt politicians get beaten up by brave populist heroes, where the beautiful girl and the handsome boy fight adversity and find love despite their families' disapproval, the classic melodramatic heroines singing poetic tunes about their woes.. 

These kinds of aspects would find an easy translation into the films of Hindi film yore. Then there are things about the character that would obviously be different. Molina's identification with femininity means he might be categorised as a hijra in the Indian context. Or the character might be more closeted in terms of who he really is, and who he wants to be. 

Valentin, on the other hand, is the revolutionary, whose movement relies on secrecy, but who suddenly finds it impossible not to share some of himself with Molina. The two men form a bond - and without spoiling, it's safe to say this bond is not easily defined, especially given their unusual circumstances. Valentin seems haunted by doubts about his cause, and his constant reading of political literature seems to be partly due wanting to educate himself, but also to make sure he remains committed to his cause. 

India's history has no shortness of revolutionary movements, and at least in some states, the Maoist Naxalite movement has been seen as gaining prominence (as well as being classified a terrorist organisation by official authorities). So again, this would not necessarily be a difficult thing to transplant into the Indian context. 

In the novel, they get through many films - six according to some counts, seven according to others. In the film and stage version, they only delve deeply into one. On the page, scenes can whizz by when narrated, but in film, telling a story takes longer. But the narration of the films are integral to the story, not just because they form such a big part of it, but also because they cut into the differences between these two characters - Molina's melodramatic tastes in film reflect popular cinema, whereas communist Valentin's dismissal of certain films, certain scenes in them, seems to suggest an elitism. A really good director could form a story, a film within a film, with this narration, that would dig deep into this particular contrast between the two characters. The political v the non-political, the progressive v the socially conservative, the popular v the high-brow.

As for casting, well, if you want to aim big,  then why not aim the biggest? Aamir Khan as the brooding, uncertain Valentin, plagued by his past regrets but committed to his cause. Shahrukh Khan as the equally uncertain but only as fragile as he allows himself to be Molina, the narrator of the films that stir such emotions inside them both, the eternal escapist, unhappy in this world but with little desire to change it. For both stars, these would be bold roles, and fascinating characters to play; and of course, I am fantasy-casting like it's going out of style, here.

If you've not read this novel yet, do so, as I highly recommend it. I cannot speak about the strength of the English translation, as I read the novel in Finnish, but I assume it'd be worth it.

30 Days of Film - Day 29.

29. A movie from your childhood

When you begin watching Indian films aged 16, it's largely debatable whether you can have a childhood favourite. A teenage favourite?

Regardless, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was maybe the third or fourth Hindi film I watched and probably the first one I properly fell in love with. I've waxed poetic about the film, and how it may not be that same magical experience for everybody, but on me it certainly worked like a charm. I can certainly see the film's flaws and problems, but it remains a film I'll gladly rewatch. The chemistry works, the story works, and even if the soundtrack is not the most amazing Jatin-Lalit soundtrack out there, that works splendidly on me as well.

30 Days of Film: Day 16

16. A movie you used to love but now hate

Kal Ho Naa Ho. By far. Easily. (I'm sorry.)

The first time I saw KHNH, I fell in love with Saif, and the songs so much I kind of forgot any problems I had with the plot. This was early days for me as an Indian cinema aficionado, so I was easily swept off my feet by an entertaining film that just gave you everything from big emotions to funny comedy, good songs to glamorous sets. 

And then I rewatched it. And rewatched. And rewatched it. And with each rewatch, the manipulativeness of Shahrukh's character on the second half, the ridiculousness of the plot overall, all of these problems added to each other until it was to the point where I could no longer enjoy the things I used to enjoy so much on the first watch. 

Perhaps my mistake was rewatching it in the first place, but then, when you really enjoy a film on the first watch, you don't tend to think the experience will turn sour on the second. 

Mini-reviews, part 6.

[Previous mini-reviews here.]

Sorry, I lack blogspiration nowadays. Better than nothing, isn't it?

51. Yuva (2004) - Probably the second Mani Ratnam film I ever watched and while it definitely has its good points (Abhishek, Rani-Abhishek, music), it felt like a disappointment by the time I was done. I assumed that once the storylines of the three heroes (Abhi, Ajay Devgan & Vivek Oberoi) would come together, the movie would more or less end. Well, it didn't. It goes on exceedingly long and it's just kind of, hmm, dull?

52. Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! (1994) - Damn, ain't sugar great? I remember watching this and just thinking what a perfect piece of fluff it was. The Rajshri megahit is just about two Indian families coming together, Salman and Madhuri's characters teasing each other, falling in love to the sounds of a million songs and it's all cushioned edges and niceties. They do mix in a little drama but it's nothing like the melodrama in Maine Pyaar Kiya (review here) or even the godawful follow up, Hum Saath-Saath Hain. HAHK is a fluffy classic. I really should rewatch. I yearned for more drama on my first (and only) watch but nowadays I think I might be more fine with no sharp edges and candyfluff.


53. Ishq (1997) - If you're sane, you hate Ishq. If you're lucky, you love Ishq. I love Ishq. Yeah, it's a wasted opportunity for a great 90's multistarrer (Aamir, Juhi, Kajol, Ajay), it's way too over-the-top, but it's so-bad-it's-good, and it's mind-boggling and every now and then I gotta youtube or pop in the DVD for the songs. It doesn't get more ballistic than this. Seriously.

54. Lamhe (1991) - This is one of those films where everything seems fine but where I can't get over the premise, where Anil Kapoor loves both Pallavi (Sridevi) and Pallavi's daughter (also Sridevi), after Pallavi died during delivery. Based on what I watched, it seemed like quite an okay film but once I realized what was coming I had to turn it off. I still feel kind of guilty about it, because it seems like a popular movie but eh there you go.


55. Nandha (2001) - I like Nandha but it is sadly my least favourite Bala film. For the purposes of keeping this short, here's my original review of it.

56. Doli Saja Ke Rakhna (1998) - Ohhhh boy. I talked about it here previously (in 2008!) and since I haven't rewatched it, my thoughts haven't changed. It's an okay Akshaye Khanna movie - which is saying something, but knowing the career of poor Akshoo, it's still not saying a lot. And Jothika is a shadow of the spunk she shows in her Tamil films. Oh and it's directed by Priyadarshan. Fantastic soundtrack, though, do youtube the songs!


57. Inkaar (1977) - Vinod playing policewallah detective proper in a 70's thriller I will discuss more during Khanna Week so ..til then!

58. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) - Blaaaahhhhhhh. Blaahhhhhhhh. Blahhhhhh. This whole movie is like my relationship with Karan Johar in a nutshell. He spends one half of the movie building something I might enjoy and the second half tearing it down in the most ridiculously melodramatic manner possible. The less I can talk about this movie the better so --

59. Main Hoon Na (2004) - God I'm going to come off as such a party-pooper but okay, please sit down, take a deep breath, you calm? Okay. I'm not a fan of Farah Khan. I really am not. I like her movies but I don't get the excitement others have for them. I think the parodying aspect is fun, but it doesn't make me develop any sort of emotional attachment to the characters, and when she rams up the emotional moments, it just feels so fake. So that's the kind of attitude I have towards both MHN and OSO. Fun watch, maybe rewatch for some scenes.. (Also, I have an irrational annoyance towards the fact she's a female director who does absolutely nothing with her female characters, they're mostly there to look gorgeous and glam.)


60. Swades: We, the People (2004) - Mini-review triple whammy for Shahrukh! Swades is quite a good picture. It suffers from the usual Ashutosh Gowariker trait of being a little too overly long and I think some people found Shahrukh's NRI character a little too sermonizing. But on my first watch, I really enjoyed. It has very little repeat value, though, I've discovered. Still, fab soundtrack - one of the first ones I ever got into.

Twitterati, twitterwasis, twitdoesntmatter...

I don't consider myself any authority on anything but if I may make some bold claims about Bollywood twitterati, I'll say this:

All hail R_Khanna.

"Back-to-back evenings full of glamour, dancing, sex, violence & raw, pulsing drama. Who needs Bollywood when it's wedding season in India?"
Weddings in India are masala films that also contain sex? If so, can I go to the ones Rahul Khanna attends? Please?

No wonder I rarely see this guy in mainstream films. He's way too busy. Way too busy being awesome.

He's so normal and flawed like the rest of us, but not in a cringe-inducing way!

"Walk briskly past Duty Free, Rahul. Do not make eye-contact with the Chunky Kit-Kat display. I repeat, do NOT make... Arrgh - too late!"
Kit-Kat addiction! Could this man be more adorable? I doubt it.

"Perhaps I can use my recovery time to write books under the nom de plume Ian Phlegming. Should I start with A View to a Chill or Coldfinger?"
Let's marry. Or at the very least, Twittermarry. Matwimony?

But as always, in Twitterverse, with the good comes the bad.

It is with a heavy heart that I return to my mortal twenemy, Uday Chopra.

"I can see the future...and i can see that tomorrow...I will wake up with a smile...good night my lovely twitteronians...a new word for y'all"
We didn't ask for a new word. Don't you remember what I told you about mid-chlorians? Why don't you just call us people? We're people, like you! Only better at tweeting. And acting.

"Ive discovered a truth about myself tday..I cant type with my eyes closed..ufrrk juhr u tu erute dubvet guvfso..guess its best 2 say gdnight"
I could've told you as much. And I'm typing this with my eyes closed, too.


And now we also have a new kid on the block, who doesn't ask "main aisa kyun hoon?" but instead makes us question everything we know. Like the meaning of life (inspirational poster by Ajnabi). And such. And ...time for the gym!

iHrithik, comes free with most Macbooks.

"Goodnite my beautiful tweeple,I'm humbled by ur love! GOd bless you ALL! N thank u from d bottom of my heart!may tom b beeautiful 4 u n me!!"
Everythings just real speciall!! In his world!!! Overusing exclamation marks!!! Is a sure-fire way to show you're new on the internet!!!

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE ?....... Whatever U WANT it TO BE !!! ;) goodnite tweeple! Good luck 4 Exams, work, and evrything else!!!"
Truly inspirational stuff.

But of course, even a great man such as the mythical iHrithik has to run into some questionable, fail-type waters. Such as not realizing that even if a Pakistani kid is being called "paki" and bullied, it doesn't really do much to stand up and be "proud" of your Pakistani heritage. I mean, in the UK it's a racial slur, not an insult against being Pakistani.

Anyway...

"My fav supplements- vit C, multivitamin, antioxident, L-glutamine, omega 3(never 6), creatine(only to bulk 4 short periods),.."
Write what you know, Hrithik. Write what you know.

Oh oh oh remember that Shahrukh guy who twitterized poetry last time I covered his tweets? Well, he's still tweeting, apparently. I guess he has a new movie out and he's trying to promote it. Sweet kid, I hope some people go see it.

"love u all my knightwriters. celebrating dark...silence...quiet...dreams...and shutting down of the day. will reopen tomorrow...goodknight."
What the what now? Dude, you gotta stop rewatching The Dark Knight. You are not Batman. I mean if Mumbai needed a dark knight, you have enough moolah to go all Bruce Wayne on it but you're not Batman. Or are you? Is this your way of telling us..?

"batman/trackpants/dont like visits...i am homebody/dont like to swim but have to for my shoulder/sundays at home/want to do a comedy now"
...Holy item number, Batman, it's ...Bombay ka Batman!!!

And with this revelation, I shall go away. But Bollycelebrities on Twitter, remember, I am watching you. I may not be following you because I like to keep my brain clean, but I am watching you.

PS. Rahul, '@' me anytime! I promise you I'm not the weird foreign chick who pervs on most males in your family. No, no. That's Beth, you see. I'm totally regular and well-adjusted.

PPS. Beth, sorry for throwing you under the bus there. All's fair in love and war and Khanna, hai na? ;)

Snarking star Tweets - the lazy person's blogfiller.

My choice with the picture for this post went something like this, "Oh if Bollywood stars had their own exclusive Twitter site, it should called be Sheroo for the falcon in Dharam-Veer or the pidgeon from Maine Pyaar Kiya. But dammit, I don't have a screencap of either. Oh well. Have a screencap of foxy Zeenat Aman."

Celebrity tweets. We all follow them, we rarely get anything too satisfying out of them. But since my post on Uday Chopra was so successful, I decided to weed through them anyway for some wisdom. Or pseudo-wisdom. Or whatever.

1. Siddharth (@Actor_Siddharth)

I love the heckins out of Siddhu (who on Twitter corrected the world he has no last name, so the whole Narayan meme is false and not to be used) but sometimes his idle tweet-sized thoughts, like those of many celebs, make me think they should learn how to blog before they tweet. Short thoughts are fine, but tend to need expanding on.

Please don't run through life. Stop to smell the flowers. Sometimes they have no scent, but mostly, smelling flowers is fruitful... Jan 2010

I know this is just an old riff on "Carpe diem", the classic, but really now. Smelling flowers is the least fruitful thing you can do. And as for flowers having no scent? Then they're fake and obviously not worth sniffing! Go, run, do whatever you must! No wonder actors are late for shoots..

If something is worth fighting for, I stop analyzing and go for it. I can't play games. I'm tired of being told what to do. Enough nonsense! Jan 2010

This is exactly what I mean. So much to process. We have no idea what "it" is that's worth fighting for and going for it. Why would you analyze if you know something is worth fighting for anyway? What can't of games can't he play? Mind-games? Games of social rules? He's tired of being told what to do. By whom? Being told what to do is your job, yaar. Unless he is talking about something personal, in which case very well, I think I saw a movie like this once. Or is he talking generally, tired of being told what to do, period? What? What is nonsense? The games? Being told what to do? Everything that's not fighting for? If I were to summarize each of my longer posts in 140 characters, they'd come out looking like this. Enough nonsense!

The rest of his tweets are very mundane, promoting his new Hindi release Striker and otherwise sweet. So moving on.

2. Shahrukh Khan (@iamsrk)

I think this guy's been in some movies so I thought I'd take a look at his Twitter.

do u think of the future.not like the future tomorrow and what u will have for breakfast. but the long term view & how the world will change - Jan 2010

Dude starts off light. Just a little bit of future speculation, quoting George Carlin in the mix. I'm a wild child, Shahrukh. I don't even think about what I'll have for breakfast. I don't stop to smell the flowers, I grab them as I run. Anarchy!

then the low fat fad followed. low fat yogurt. ok.low fat cheese..makes sense...but low fat butter and then low fat celery?how low can u go! - Jan 2010

I enjoy a bit of low fat gravel. (But seriously, I chuckled at this entry.)

COME 2 THE EDGE..no v cannot v r afraid COME 2 THE EDGE..no v cannot v will fall COME 2 THE EDGE..they came & he pushed them..and they FLEW! - Jan 2010

An anonymous poem recited by him ...on Twitter. New media, meet old media. Old media, prepare to get absolutely slaughtered. I want to pat this poor poem's head. And it ain't SRK's fault but man, don't recite poetry in 140 characters. C'mon man!

3. Abhishek Bachchan (@juniorbachchan)

Typo AGAIN!! Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes it's the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, I will try again tomorrow.

I have finally found my traffic song..... "Move b?#*@ get out the way" - mystikal and ludacris. MINDBLOWING!

Naughty by nature- hip hop hurray!!! Heyyyy, hoooo, heyyyy, hoooo

Yes! Coffee consumed! Feeling like leo in titanic (before it sank)!! KING OF THE WORLD!..ok just met dad. Back to pauper status! Ahh life.

I have nothing to say, apart from how I wish I had Abhishek's sexcellent taste in hiphop and even just a quarter of his joy d'vivre.

4. Riteish Deshmukh (@Riteishd)

Earlier NEWS was printed in lines, today papers print LINES that eventually become NEWS - Jan 2010

Wow, deep, bro. Except ... wait, what?

Which film are you most excited to watch IRONMAN 2 or SHREK 4 - Jan 2010

'Cause they have so much in common, like ... the ... thing with the .. uhh .. number in the title? And they're .. both in English? Oh man, battle of the century. It's on now!

One thing that strikes me as a go through Riteish's twitter is that I've got nothing against the dude, but as I read his twitter, it's just so magnificently boring. He does actually have some - short - commentary on what he reads in the papers and the films he watches but in general none of it is snark-worthy. Sigh.

5. Lara Dutta (@DuttaLara)

It took 250 million dollars to make AVATAR. Its a HUGE deal if a movie is made for even 25 million in India! We r a long way from an AVATAR! - Dec 2009

I can't really snark this tweet because it just annoyed me when I read it (though I typically enjoy following Lara's tweets, which are never stupid or even incredibly dull) and even more after I actually saw Avatar. Bigger isn't better. Even most Hollywood films can't reach Avatar's insane budget. Or the crappy, clichéd storyline. If a measure of a movie is really how much money is spent on it, it's a sad, sad state of things. Here's an idea; make a movie that's good with less moolah, make your money back easier, and everybody benefits.


Dear Every Celebrity on Twitter,

We get it's cool that people are supporting you. It's wondrous to be a filmstar and get to interact we fans. We get you want to be grateful. But for god's sake, step it up. Everytime you begin typing "thank you", stop, and type something else. Type a song lyric. Type a half-assed quote. Type a piece of wisdom, even if it's "food is for babies". Anything.

Do it for your followers. But most importantly, do it for me. I quite like doing these posts.

With love, affection, and anticipation for all your releases, no, really, I'm not being sarcastic ...or am I?

Veracious (@veraciously), of Sotheydance.blogspot.com

Indian Film Advent Calendar #24: The one script to ..be completely disgarded.

Writing a plot outline to a successful Hindi film - how hard can it be? Armed with only some pictures and an imagination largely unused for the better part of this decade, I set to task.

This is going to be largely nonsensical, probably terrible and any resemblances to existing Hindi films are intentional and nonconsequential because nobody's going to make this, right? Right?! (All producers reading, if you're crazy enough to give me money - it is the season of giving in my part of the world! - the email is culling.songs@gmailDOTcom.)

The film is simply called - Paramparaparamparamparamparapa... bas! (short international title: P..b! or Pb or What, Are You Kidding Me? or Nobody Is Going to Ever Make/Watch This Movie). Our story takes place in an alternative historical universe, where India exists in a peculiar timewarp between our current world and ancient Mesopotamia. Only not really. Think Dharam-Veer, only less sensical, because historical accuracy has never been my strong point. But to make this wildly unique, the universe is entirely of its own. Anything can happen ..and does!

Aamir Khan plays Ram, a humble prince of The Royal Kingdom of Neo-India (the old one was run into the ground by an emperor played by Uday Chopra - there was a flashback scene of this but we cut it out ..instantly), who just want to drink Coke and find the love of his life. Little does he know that he is actually second-in-line to the throne, and separated at birth from his identical twin (yes! wait, what?)..

..Raju, played by Akshay Kumar. As you can see, Raju works as a humble mechanic nowadays, constantly covered in oil but not always wearing shirts. But for the sake of the censors and the health and safety of the audience, he does always keep his jeans buttoned up. Promise!


Raju was kidnapped as a baby by an evil witch Roberta (played by black-and-white-Helen, because with modern technology we can do that sort of stuff). After the witch passed away, her clumsy, evil son Robert (played by Akshaye Khanna) left Raju to live with a childless mechanic Girilal (played by ..uhh we'll figure it out later - he'll probably die a tragic death early on in order for Raju to feel a sense of loss and make sure he stands up to the evil that is the Kingdom).

But little does he know that Robert is still around! Doing ..something evil! Look at that evil grin! So evil!


So Raju loses his guardian and after wiping some of the excess motor oil - but not all, are you crazy? - he goes to the King (which are mostly just images of Prithviraj Kapoor from Mughal-e-Azam because we gotta save money somewhere!) and demands justice. Because, you know, if it weren't for the awful kingdom and their taxes and something something, his guardian Girilal would be still alive today! There he meets Ram, and the two brothers clash over the issue of oil costs. Stern political debate follows. Statistics are brought up. We'll probably cut that bit out.

To solve the issue, Ram has to go visit Raju's workshop and there he runs into..

Sita, Girilal's daughter whose mother passed away years ago. She has separated herself from the world of motor oil and instead writes poetry, helps sick children and models on occasion. You know, the usual. Ram naturally falls in love with her but disguises the fact by pretending to be a university friend of Raju's. Sita questions this because Raju never went to university. Ram explains this is the university of mechanics design and time travel. He demonstrates this by singins a song where they are transported to 1990's Switzerland. Sita is impressed and falls in love with him.

Meanwhile Robert plots something evil to overthrow the King and kill Ram. His initial plan of turning the 90's Switzerland in which Ram and Sita (hey, that sounds familiar -- maybe I'm just imagining things) have travelled to into a molten lava pit, but his actions are thwarted by ...

Satyajit, a magical angel (played by Shahrukh Khan), who has protected the twins (yes, really!) Ram and Raju and has since their birth. He was, however, at a wedding when the evil witch Roberta kidnapped Raju, but can you blame him? Who wants to miss out on a wedding? Free food, good music!

Raju, after having cleaned up most of the motor oil off and wearing a shirt, meanwhile is researching the price of oil at the National Library of The Royal Kingdom of Neo-India's Capital City Archives, where he runs into...


..a university student named Nisha (portrayed by Katrina Kaif). They debate the cost of motor oil and whether one is allowed to dog-ear library book pages. Nisha thinks it's perfectly acceptable, while Raju thinks it's sabotaging otherwise good books. They part ways in anger but can't get the arguments out of their minds.

And they probably fall in love, too. There's a song.

At the palace, the little sister of our heroes, Princess Ratnapriya (played by Raima Sen), has a problem of being courted by our terrible villain Robert and as if that's not enough, he has cast her under a spell to manipulate Ram into killing Raju. Ram, after falling in love with Raju's beautiful sister, however doesn't want to kill the man, as he is now forced to pretend their friends, which they are not. Comedy ensues. (Possibly. It might actually not be funny at all. If all fails, we'll do another time-travel scene.)

Satyajit the Angel - or as the audience calls him, Shahrukh - is observing the situation and making popcorn. There is a song sequence where he romances The Devil (played by Kajol), because we've got to draw people into theaters somehow, and borrowing a page from Karan Johar never killed anybody (if it has, please contact me immediately).

As luck should have it, and because if you think you're tired of reading this, I am far too tired of typing it, the Chancellor Daman (Boman Irani) who is like an advisor type person to the King finds a hankerchief that belongs to the evil witch Roberta at Raju's shop while visiting it to get a repair job on his scooter. This proves to Daman that Raju is indeed Rajeev, the missing prince who inexpicably ended up with a similar name under the guard of his former father-figure Girilal. He rushes to let Ram know of this discovery, but his attempt is thwarted by the evil Robert who challenges Daman into a game of internet karom, his only weakness.

Then Robert realizes he could've used magic and so he does, making Daman fall asleep against his keyboard.

Upon seeing this, Satyajit decides it's time to swing into angelic action, but he finds his hands tied - his powers are limited and he cannot tell the brothers that they are indeed brothers as him speaking would blow up their puny human minds. So he does what any good employee does - call his boss to ask how to deal with the situation.

So the Creator Of All Things, Yes, All Things (Rani Mukherjee) decides to some stuff needs to go down and fast.

And she employs all of her powers and sends her God Squad to help out Satyajit.

There's Goddess of Beauty (Deepika Padukone)...

..God of Gambling (Abhishek Bachchan)...

Goddess of Grace (Sharmila Tagore)

God of Non-chalance (Saif Ali Khan) and finally..

..Goddess of Dance (Hema Malini). You know, all the important ones. Obviously.

The God Squad is set to help Satyajit prevent the marriage between Princess Ratnapriya and Robert, which would allow him to directly get the throne after poisoning Ram and Raju at the wedding banquet (this is so why I never eat at weddings). During all this, Daman has woken up and is rushing to the palace to deliver the hankerchief that proofs the connection between Ram and Raju. But as the wedding festivities begin, Robert has one more ace up his sleeve not even the God of Gambling could've detected...

..as Robert has the power of black magic to summon Death Himself (Vinod Khanna), pictured here with his missus, the lovely Lady Deceit (Neetu Singh), to aid him in his wicked deeds.

As Death Himself and the God Squad do battle on the metaphysical realm (which looks a lot like the glorious fields of Punjab), Raju comes to terms with the fact that Ram is in love with his (sort of-)sister Sita, and the price of motor oil is still rising. However, after developing a deep affection for books, he has now decided to quit his mechanic business and go to university to get closer to Nisha.

Little does anybody know that Nisha too is of royal descent, and secretly the princess of 1990's Switzerland, who has decided to study in Neo-India in order to avoid being recognized.

Wedding festivities continue (there's a song or twelve - hey, it worked for HAHK!) and Daman finally reaches the palace with the hankerchief that proves the brothers to be brothers. The truth comes out just as Satyajit reveals the wedding banquet to be poisoned and Robert's mother to be the evil kidnapper of Raju. Robert breaks down, claiming he did all his evil actions because of love for his mother, who has now passed away. He releases Ratnapriya from his spell, but it turns out Satyajit had already done that, and Ratnapriya was truly in love with Robert, secretly hoping her love would redeem him and his evil past.

Robert begs the princes to allow him to make amends with himself and being as magnanimous as Ram and Raju are, both being so humble and noble human beings, they agree to this - but they banish Robert from the Kingdom and insist that he transport himself to 1970's Hindi film industry, which they've heard is a pretty cool place. Ratnapriya decides to go with him, because she's a huge fan of Amitabh Bachchan.

Death Himself leaves the scene unnoticed and instead of a wedding between Robert and Ratnapriya, the festivities continue celebrating the reunion of the brothers and their love for the young women they met during these amazing (well, sort of) adventures they had and of course, the lowering price of motor oil.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Especially Satyajit, who took permanent residence in 90's Switzerland, and met a pretty cool girl on Eurorail...

THE END.


This is the final Indian Film Advent Calendar post as it's now Christmas Eve. Happy Holidays to those who celebrate something during this time of year, have a great end of '09 for those who do not. Thanks for reading and not getting bored with these posts. It's been fun writing them!

IFAC #13: The cheesier side of the industry's favourite jodi.

When I first saw Bollywood, I especially enjoyed three things about it; Kajol, Shahrukh, and the coupling of the two on screen. I wanted to see more of them, and so after K3G (my first BW film), I got my hands on Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (which I liked) and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (which I adored).

But I still had two SRK-Kajol films to watch, two films not so universally loved but still seen by most because, well, even if you don't love SRK-Kajol, who doesn't love 90's masala?

So here are the song clips people rarely associate with the legendary pairing ..one can only wonder why this is.



Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankheen from Baazigar. 90's Bollydisco with all the ridiculousness but also all the catchiness in the world. Sinfully long at 7 minutes but still guilty pleasure gold.



Baazigar O Baazigar from ..Baazigar. Also very long, but so worth it, what with all the delightful costume changes (from Zorro and bride to a sailing couple to whatever Spanish/Latin-American stereotype the next get-up is..) And never forgetting the bit where Shahrukh jumps out of the water with a trumpet in hand. Bless.



Jaati hoon main from Karan Arjun. Truly fabulous piece of farmyard eroticism plus general fun goofing around. I unironically adore what Kajol is wearing. And pretty much everything else, too. I need to rewatch the movie because damn, was it fun.

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.

Quickfire thoughts to fuel procrastination.

1. Kareena, if only you'd gotten your hands on this hottie during the 90's...

2. It's been brought to my attention that Wanted has several things I like, such as Prabhudeva in the director's seat, Vinod Khanna as a guest appearance and Prakash Dad as Prakash Something-other-than-Dad. As a result? Kind of dying to see the film now. Can't wait!

3. I finished watching Tum Haseen Main Jawaan on my brand new TV tonight. So, that movie was a little too crazy. Am I getting old?

4. Just make a movie together, guys. You know we want you to, we know you want to, and it'll satisfy Aamir's Shahrukh-hugging quota. Poor fella.

5. Abhishek and Aishwarya on Oprah. Question: why does anybody watch Oprah? Most pointless talk show ever. Superficial questions, short interviews, barely anything to them. Still, Abhishek's sense of humor salvaged the wreckage for me.

6. That TV show Psych's Bollywood episode: cute! Sendhil from Heroes got to actually do something! Not perfect (an Indian character mispronounced "Raj", come on now) but definitely a good effort.

7. And in a lieau of Bollywood-related things, America's Best Dance Crew's Bollywood challenge? The less said, the better. I dig this show a lot but it didn't mix. It just didn't.

8. I don't even remember which movie this picture is from but as it's named "ILUPRAKASHRAJ.jpg" (ILU = I love you), I guess so much needs to be said.

This is why, this is why I'm hot.

Here's what this post isn't: insightful commentary on the global popularity of hiphop and views on how non-American seem to adopt only certain ideas of the hiphop "life style" and music stylings from what is an incredibly complex cultural phenomenon born out of individual and group creativity and socio-economical conditions of 1970's New York City.

Here's what this post is: a shameless plug for my friend Smurphmurph's brilliant fanvideo effort where she mixed the otherwise embarrassing hiphop incarnation of Shahrukh Khan with the authenticity of USian hiphop.

The results are HOT.



Even though I specifically said this is NOT one of those posts, I have to say I do love the internet age for enabling these sort of things. And what's more hiphop than mixing and matching two materials in the way that people make these brilliant fanvids?

Billu (Barber), and the celebration of the ordinary.

Priyadarshan's an odd creature. His mindless cash-grab comedies, his shameless Southie remakes, his slightly more shameful Hollywood ripoffs, and the fact he once flat out admitted he doesn't make Hindi films for the art, but for the money, none of these things support my faith in him as a director. Sloppy is the first thing that comes to mind; passionless, perhaps.

Yet, when I watched Billu, I thought that maybe, just maybe, he was finally putting forth an effort towards a result that he cared about.

Of course, the story of a humble barber (Irffan Khan) and a superstar (Shahrukh Khan), has been told in other Indian languages before this version. I haven't seen any of the others, so I can't judge, but as with these stories that have trickled down (or up, I should say) from the Southie industries to the north, I always have this feeling in the back of my head the originals probably were better or simply more earnest.

Not that I didn't like it; as many others have said before me, Irffan wins you over as Billu and carries the movie with his warm exterior, ordinary problems and funny oneliners. Lara Dutta is fun, though pretty unfit for the unglamorous role of Bindiya, Billu's wife. The usual Priyadarshan comedy all-star team has their bits, some of them unnecessary and too long in scenes, and some of them genuinely funny.

To up the box office appeal, I suppose, Shahrukh has about twenty million item numbers (okay, there were three but still felt like one too many!) and not much else to do, and so he does what he does, projecting himself into the all-too-fitting role. The outcome works, and why wouldn't it?

I may sound completely unenthusiastic but the fact of the matter is, this movie is just fine. In fact, it's probably one of the best I've seen by this director. Still, if I was to ever use the label "timepass" (which I am still happily boycotting), this movie would one I'd use it with.

Star interviews - our favourites.

Stars don't have it easy, as this picture of the deeply frowning, pensive-looking Saif Ali Khan demonstrates. Interviews are a tough gig; how to not show your deep hatred of journalists while answering their questions to make sure you do your bit for some film's marketing. I don't read a whole ton of interviews but based on what I've read of Saif's, I can say this dude does not dig the journo's. As probably don't a lot of stars, he's just not as good at masking it.

But I was reminded me of some of my favourite star interviews when listening to the LoveBollywood podcast from months back which featured Shahrukh Khan and Lara Dutta discussing then-new Billu (Barber).

One of the hosts: Shahrukh, how should I do my hair?
Shahrukh: But then what will we do to your face?

Call me weird, but I laughed out loud at that.

So, some of my favourite interviews that come to mind...

BAFTA goes Bollywood with Aamir Khan - Aamir's interviews tend to be favourites of mine because the man has a lot of good stuff to say but this one stands out because in here he talks about getting into the physicality of his characters. While some non-fans will roll their eyes at his lite method acting discussions, it's a great interview, very interesting and a must watch for people who love the guy.

Most Salman Khan interviews - I don't get the vitriol some people have for this guy. Sure, he's past his heyday and has the worst picks in films sometimes, and there's a lot of very nasty rumors about him circling around. But in interviews he always seems like a really relaxed guy with a clear sense of self and a truly quirky sense of humor. I'd link to the CNN-IBN interview that made me well aware of this fact some years back but I can't find it.

Farhan Akhtar on LoveBollywood when Rock On!! was releasing - Since this is no longer available on the BBC website, download link here. Farhan talks about how he got into acting, how he wrote and worked on DCH, and his other films, too. He's a smart chap, and this is one of the best LoveBollywood interviews I've listened. I loved it the first time I listened through it, and after I saw Rock On, I had to go back and give it another listen.

Koffee with Karan, season 1, Abhishek & Preity - I thought KwK was always an incredibly overappreciated chat show. Karan was not the best of hosts, but some episodes really stand out because the guests are friends with each other, and friends with Karan and actually comfortable enough to discuss interesting things and even mock Karan a little. This is one of those episodes. And it made me want to see them together in a movie, which happened eventually in the form of Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Since the series got a DVD release, it must have been yanked down from youtube, but if you can, seek it out and watch it.

Siddharth on Filmfare (aka the True Angry Young Man Interview) - Scans of it here. Newsflash! Sidd is no big fan of journos, so much so I feel bad for the interviewer. This dude comes of as cold and refuses to discuss anything not to do with his movies. He has some very strong opinions on South vs North which I can agree with, and even on the success of his own movies. Siddharth's an unique character in the film industry - not really there to make friends and rub elbows with big names, just to work and do his best at it. Fascinating interview on the real personality behind Indian cinema's cutest face. (Only for true fans; some non-fans might be turned off by this.)

Bluffmaster's making of - This is either the most honest interview ever or the most honest deceitful one. Probably the latter. It's just fantastic. Riteish talks about how he's the real star of the movie, Abhishek talks about why people call Boman Irani a great actor because he's old.. It's just great. Search it on youtube if you don't own the DVD yet.

So here were my favourites (or some of them). How about yours?

Chak De India and its feminist glitches.

Contains some spoilers for the movie. Watch it before reading! (I doubt you'll regret it.)

I said I'd blog about feminist perspectives when I have something to say, and after rewatching Chak De India last night with one of my NIF (Non-Indian Film watcher) friends, I find I have things to say. (I feel the need to point out that this NIF friend, while still not being fanatic about Indian films, has done something revolutionary; she bought Rang De Basanti on DVD because she enjoyed it so much! Hurray!)

The thing is, I adore this film to bits. It's refreshing, it's gripping, it's got a cast of absolutely terrific characters and some rare, fascinating female-female dynamics that are usually reserved for relations between the sexes or just between men in Indian cinema. And yes, it is awesomely feminist -- boldly, explicitly saying, girls should be able to go out and do stuff, and they can do all stuff as well as men. So what I'm about to say is not to undermine the film's obvious achievements, it's more to examine it more closely.

But - ah, there's always a but, isn't there? - as the movie was winding down, and we see the last of Shahrukh Khan's character Kabir's journey, my friend commented, "But the girls couldn't have done it without a man, huh?".

Glitch number one, ladies and gentlemen (and I sincerely hope people of both genders are still reading!).

The film both triumphs and suffers from the character of Kabir. Triumphs because it surely helped the film's commercial appeal to have the biggest actor in Bollywood starring, and of course, who's to deny Shahrukh turned in a fine performance as the girls' coach. Suffers because it is clear that while these girls were all talented in their own right, they needed Kabir to pull them together as a team, lead them to victory. Even the very final save by the team captain Vidya was successfully pulled off thanks to the signal of Kabir.

You could see the film makers were sort of struggling to maintain a balance between the film's story being the girls' and one of Kabir. It's a tough balance to achieve, no doubt, and I think thanks to Shahrukh's presence, the scale ended up being tipped slightly towards the latter. On the other hand, this is what the audience, I think, expected and probably what I expected, going in. When it turns out the girls have character arcs, personalities and interesting, changing dynamics in a film that is pretty tight in terms of pace and script, I was blown away. The second time, I could take a step back and realize that at the end, Kabir's importance is highlighted as well. But is it at the expense of the girls?

That's really the big question. It can be problematic but it doesn't have to be. Of course, realistically speaking, the character of Kabir couldn't be female - a perceived betrayal of the women's team captain wouldn't be such a big media fuss as that of the men's team captain. But aside from that, it's a typical sports movie and it has its typical sports movie characters and plot structure. Kabir comes in with radical ideas, the girls rebel, but most eventually bend to his will, seeing its results. He is the archetype of the inspirational coach (or teacher) and such a role could be played by a man or a woman. The fact that the character is male carries some implications, but they don't need to be considered as overshadowing the girls' active roles on the field. At the end of the day, whatever training and tactics seminars the coach does, the players get the job done.

Then the other glitch, which my friend also pointed out during our viewing, and which Beth has blogged about (though I hadn't seen the movie at that point and couldn't join in on the discussions). It is the McDonald's fight scene, the bit where some guys and then some more guys get trashed by the girls for making lewd comments at the border state representatives, Mary and Molly.

My friend commented something along the lines of, "Well, that's not too fair." and Beth in her post seconds the notion of vigilante violence not perhaps being the way to deal with gross suggestive comments. Standing up vocally, yes. With fists and sticks? Maybe not.

But as my friend said that, I realized another thing. In the context of the film, my friend and Beth have a definite point - it is an exaggerated response to a situation, and to see Kabir just munching on his burger, not trying to stop the girls' "show of team spirit", is comical and weird at the same time. But the scene makes sense, through a different prism, and one that I'm sure certain female viewers, perhaps even all female viewers, can select to view.

It's this unfortunate worldwide fact that almost all - if not indeed all - women have faced sexual harrassment or even abuse at some point during their lives. Even if it has been of the milder variety, even if it hasn't left considerable trauma, even if it is not something they face every day, it simply is fact. (And now this isn't some call for all the women who don't feel they've ever been sexually harrassed to call me out for generalizing - if you're one such female, you can consider yourself lucky and recognize that some have not been so lucky. I personally prefer not to discuss my experiences with such matters, so I'll simply say I'm not a stranger to it, but also consider myself lucky.)

So the girls in Chak De are not just paying back for a couple of comments. They're paying back for all the comments, all the unwelcome touches they've suffered throughout their lives, and all the stuff they know their fellow females have suffered as well. For the female viewer, who probably has experienced such harrassment and discrimination based on their gender at some point, it can be an empowering, cleansing experience. Is it fair to take it out on a portion of the idiots who do such things? Not really. But it makes sense none the less.

(I should add I'm not some revolutionary thinker on this point -- many people who commented on Beth's post had similar ideas.)

Do these two glitches (and any I possibly didn't pick up on) kill the movie? Not in the least. But it's worth noticing they exist, so as to stay critical of what even the most progressive movies say about gender. So that not only will we get movies as good as CDI in the future, but movies that are, god willing, even better.


Another talky, non-picture-filled post from me. Next time I'll try to bring you more screencap gloriousness. (Summer job is keeping me pretty busy, apologies for not being up on all my blog following business.)

More mini-reviews.

11. Bunty Aur Babli (2005) - What's not to love about this movie? Colourful, fun romantic comedy filled with catchy music, costume changes and hijinks. Brilliance! Rani and Abhishek are fantastic in it. It's also special for me as it was one of the first Bollywood movies - if not the first - I anticipated, listened to the music beforehand and was otherwise dying to see. It did not disappoint, and it got better with rewatches. This one's a favourite for sure.

12. Dushman (1998) - I watched this revenge story when I decided I needed to see more Kajol films, and somebody told me her performance had really impressed them in this. I have to say I agree. Nevertheless, great Kajol performance great movie does not make. The film itself feels trite and boring. I just wasn't feeling it.


13. Jugnu (1973) - A damn fine 70's masala film starring Dharmendra and Hema Malini. I believe I've talked about this before (indeed I have!) so I'll just say it's still on my "to buy" list as I can't find the DVD anywhere! Thankfully most of the songs are on youtube - this film has some awesome Hema dancing.

14. Paheli (2005) - Visually stunning film with jewellery product placement like whoah, starring Rani Mukherji as the unsatisfied just-married wife of boring businessman (Shahrukh Khan). Naturally she falls in love with a ghost (Shahrukh Khan!) who enters her life and seduces her. I'm not big on infidelity stories - it's one of those tragic real life issues I don't particularly want to mix up in my romantic movies. Still, this one's not too annoying, and I loved seeing Shahrukh in the role of the husband - so un-Shahrukh, it was certainly refreshing.

15. Omkara (2006) - Amazing film I have naturally discussed previously, Vishal Bharadwaj's modern Othello interpretation. Very near flawlessness. Awesome performances. Of course, as it stands, not an easy watch - nevertheless, I've seen it multiple times. I look forward to viewing it again, but I think I need somebody to share it with .. otherwise I'll weasel out of watching it all the way through, right to the heart-wrenching ending.

16. Kya Kehna (2000) - Life is wonderful! Or is it? Not if you take nearly 3 hours of your life watching this movie. Okay, okay, I'll admit: Preity Zinta does give us a great performance in it. Saif Ali Khan has an unbearable mullet and a douchebag of a character to play, however, the movie is tiringly 90's and it's just ..not very good. It's just one of those films I'd rather not waste time thinking about.

17. Pithamagan (2003) - Director Bala's best work that I've seen, Vikram's award winning performance, stellar Surya - this one is hard-hitting Tamil cinema overall. Of course I've reviewed it before but I suppose it never hurts to re-recommend it to people. Just remember: don't go in expecting light entertainment.

18. Eklavya (2007) - Christ, what a waste of great cinematography and casting this film is. I cannot believe Vidhu Vinod Chopra kept writing and re-writing this movie for aeons - you'd expect such a huge effort to actually produce a good story. But no, the story is cliché and trite, despite being packed into a short running time. Sigh. Original review here.

19. Johnny Gaddaar (2007) - I still prefer Ek Hasina Thi but this one is another nice proof of talent from Sriram Raghavan. It's a who-dunnit where you know who did it, but are still on the edge of your seat. The pace could be better but still, I really enjoyed this movie. Now I just need to find the time to rewatch it!

20. Bheema (2008) - My original review pretty much says it all - what a dull movie. I'm hoping Vikram's future efforts are more entertaining than this one. However, seeing as how the release dates keep getting pushed back, I have my fears..