Blog Archives

Jodhaa Akbar (2008)

(from , dir: )
Posted on March 23, 2008 by Ching Yee

If you dialled 1300-FILM EPICS in India, I’m sure you’ll get a direct line to Ashutosh Gowariker. The man seems to have a penchant for making big epics. Note his body of work – Lagaan, Swades, Mangal Pandey. His most famous work outside of his home country is the nearly 4 hour long Foreign Film Oscar Nominated Lagaan. So what is he offering this time with Jodhaa Akbar, a historical epic set in the 16th Mughal empire?

I’m … (read more)

Comments Off on Jodhaa Akbar (2008)

Devdas (2002)

(from , dir: )
Posted on March 3, 2007 by Eugene

You watch Devdas and you hear it’s the most expensive film made and you can see where the money’s gone. It is one of the most opulent films I have seen in a long time. No longer do we care about the masses, but instead we focus on the big people who live big lives in big mansions – who love big and lose big.

Basically everything about Devdas is big.

The movie has an operatic air about it where … (read more)

Comments Off on Devdas (2002)

Straight From The Heart (1999)

(from , dir: )
Posted on September 4, 2003 by Alison

What can you say about 3 hours of musical melodrama? “Ick” might be the response of some of you. “Yippee!” might come from others. Me, I can say that I survived, but it was a close thing.

This was my first Bollywood experience, and I hadn’t realised that it was so melodramatic. One minute the characters were emoting their eyeballs out, the next they were singing and dancing with joint-cracking vigour. And while some of the singing was quite beautiful, … (read more)

Comments Off on Straight From The Heart (1999)