Bolly Volley Volume IV

Arup specializes in any job that requires stretching out his legs - whether it is on a reclining chair at the beach, or in the Economy Plus seat of United Airlines, or on the shoulder of the person sitting in front of him in the theatre. And when dreaming, travelling for work and watching movies is not keeping him busy, he tries to write. He lives in Naperville with his wife and son, who are cinema freaks as well.

A monthly shower of Bollywood previews, reviews and my unsolicited views

Volume 4, By Arup Raha, Thursday8-September-2011

I am ready with a new edition of Bolly Volley (late again!). I know many are eager to watch the major Bollywood release this weekend - “Mere Brother Ki Dulhan” (doesn’t the title itself almost tell the entire story?!). However, today I will talk a little about some movies which some may say are not so “Bollywood”. What is “Bollywood”? It is perhaps what the world knows or pretends to know as Indian Cinema, but it definitely is not all of Indian Cinema. “Bollywood” of course represents an amazing genre of Indian Cinema, which is unparalleled in the world. It can often appear unreal, inane and weird to the cynical but to those who know how to relish it, it has the ability to mesmerize and entertain like no other cinema can. In the 2009 movie Harishchandrachi Factory, Dadasaheb Phalke (known as father of Indian cinema) tells his wife who is worried whether she will understand the first movie she is ever watching (in 1911) “What’s there to understand? Just keep your eyes open and watch”! That dialogue, to me, defines “Bollywood”. Phalke got it right and no wonder he managed to create the largest film industry of the world! He was a professional magician before he became a film-maker, and that magic still shows in every Bollywood movie. (By the way, if you have not watched Harishchandrachi Factory – a very unBollywood movie – go watch it now, it’s an awesome tribute to Phalke and was India’s entry for Oscars).

In all this increasing fascination around “Bollywood”, the world however seems to not notice some extremely good cinema that may be “unBollywood” in style, yet they are the shining stars of Indian Cinema. These are movies where the film-makers replace the magician’s hat with the thinking hat. I do talk about some of them in Bolly Volley but unfortunately they hardly ever hit the theaters outside India.

Not always though. E.g. people in Chicagoland now have this great opportunity to go to the Chicago South Asian Film Festival (CSAFF), Sep-30 to Oct-2, and watch these movies with other cinema lovers. Think about the opening night with Ketan Mehta’sRang Rasiya - starring Randeep Hooda (he was great in RGV’s D) and Nandana Sen (Amartya Sen’s daughter, an excellent actress who acted in Black and many other movies). It is a fascinating movie about the famous artist Raja Ravi Varma, his paintings and his muse. You can also watch I am Kalam, I Am or Stanley Ka Dabba – all of which have been featured in Bolly Volley earlier. All these 3 movies got great reviews on their screening in India earlier this year. There are many other films like Shuttlecock Boys and Troublemaker that will premier at CSAFF. You can get more information and buy tickets at http://www.csaff.org/film-selection.htm. It promises to be a great cinematic experience. I was there last year helping them on opening night and can tell you that if you buy tickets for the opening night, the red carpet event is just electrifying!

Going back to “Bollywood”, I have to say that no actor embodies its lovable craziness more than Shammi Kapoor who passed away last month. His ashes have been immersed in Jhelum in Kashmir and rightly so because every time I think of him I see him jumping and singing yahoooo with Kashmir in the backdrop. He had a style which no one can ever match. This is perhaps a good time to look up DVDs of movies like Junglee, Kashmir Ki Kali and Teesri Manzil.

Talking about craziness, isn’t it crazy that Salman Khan keeps giving hits after hits? Even Bodyguard is a Blockbuster! (It is his 3rd Eid release super-hit in 3 years, after Dabangg in 2010 and Wanted in 2009). And now ,I heard, he may play Rajnikanth in a biopic being planned on Rajnikanth’s life. That will be some combination to remember, and a guaranteed blockbuster! I can imagine people queuing up from Chandigarh to Chennai to watch it (irrespective of how that movie turns out to be, if at all it gets made).

More festivals are coming, which means it’s time for some more big releases of the year. I will save them for the next edition (pre-Diwali)! For now, here is my shortlist of the soon to be released Bollywood movies you can pick from:

Coming soon to a theatre near you

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan – Releasing Sep 9. Not sure what to expect. It should be fun –it’s a romantic comedy. Imran Khan and Katrina are extremely likeable and I will particularly look out for Ali Zafar who was very good in Tere Bin Laden. The music is interesting and hope the movie is too.

Mausam – Releasing Sep 16. The story – IAF officer falls in love with beautiful girl, problems happen, they separate and then they get together again! Sounds impressive? I will watch this anyways, simply because one of the best actors ever Pankaj Kapoor, is making his debut as a director. (and his son Shahid Kapoor is the actor)

Saheb Biwi aur Gangster – Releasing Sep 30 . This is the one I am looking forward to. Jimmy Shergill, Mahie Gill and Randeep Hooda (who by the way is coming to CSAFF – see above) are all cool. Director Tigmansu Dhulia has been very impressive with his movies so far. This movie is a thriller based in a small town with a lot of twists and turns involving a Nawab, his Begum and Babloo !

Coming soon to a store near you

That Girl in Yellow Boots– Anything from Anurag Kashyap should be seen, even if it is not his best. This is a thriller revolving around the female character, played by Kalki Koechlin (yes, she was in ZNMD), searching for her father. An interesting watch with some excellent film-making.

Rivaaz– A woman oriented film on the subject of family-based prostitution. Based on a hard-hitting theme, it is likely to be a serious and a shocking movie, worth a watch.

And now, as always, I close with a question for you. Please leave your answer in the Comments section. If your answer is correct, you will be rewarded with a feeling of being a proud Bollywood fan!

QUIZ

Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic, Inception etc) and Tobey Maguire(Spiderman) have started filming for a new epic. The movie will also star a famous Indian actor. Who?

Read recent editions of Bolly Volley:

http://thoughtfulindia.com/2011/05/bolly-volley/