Blog Archives

Om Shanti Om (2007)

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Posted on November 17, 2007 by Ching Yee

No one and I mean no one could have been having a better time at the cinemas than I did last Sunday. If they claimed they did then they’re fibbing. That or they were part of the raucous crowd who were cheering along with me. Such was the effect of Farah Khan’s sophomore effort – a splashy, cheeky and retro-looking masala film that made everyone walk out with a smile on their faces and no socks on (they were blown … (read more)

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Don (2006)

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Posted on September 30, 2007 by Ching Yee

Don… If your first thoughts were of Don salami, then allow me to introduce you to the other non-cured meat variety — a suave criminal, a stylish James Bond-like figure ruling the underworld with vicious tenacity. A seminal film of 70s Bollywood, with a big star cast (Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman), it was a blockbuster that spawned several hit tunes, notably “Khaike Paan Banaraswala”. It was a slice of 70s action movie, in the vein of Bond and Dirty Harry … (read more)

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Main Hoon Na (2004)

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Posted on March 11, 2007 by Eugene

Woot. A back to school hijinks caper. Does not sound like something that’s too inspiring does it?

Well if Bollywood can come up with an amazing film about cricket then surely one must be prepared to be surprised by even the most staid formulas of old.

Of course, with that kind of telegraphing, is it really any surprise to say Main Hoon Na is a surprisingly great film to watch and enjoy? Well I hope not because if you saw … (read more)

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Devdas (2002)

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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)

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Asoka (2001)

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Posted on March 3, 2007 by Eugene

Like any genre, Sword and Sandals seems to go through its up and downs. It certainly seemed the thing to do in the days of Gladiator and it seems, with Troy to be seen soon as not to mention the Alexander the Great biopics, it still maintains a certain respectability. Of course quality films don’t rely upon the wistfulness of the general populace but it certainly helps with the marketing.

So Asoka, at its most basic, is a Sword … (read more)

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Saathiya (2002)

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Posted on November 25, 2005 by Ching Yee

My experience of Bollywood is pretty limited up to the point of this movie, I’m going to be honest here: Lagaan, Heart’s Desire and the one that SBS keeps showing where a woman in thrown into a river of ferocious crocodiles by her evil scheming rat of a husband. She comes back after astonishing plastic surgery and wreaks revenge on said rat. Tis rather a tragic number I know but I’m working hard to rectify my meagre Bollywood consumption. My … (read more)

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Swades (2004)

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Posted on October 29, 2005 by Shafiq

The story of Swades begins with the introduction of Mohan Bhargava (Shahrukh Khan), an Indian living and working in the USA. Mohan, a scientist for NASA is assigned to the Global Precipitation Measurement Satellite project. From the exterior all seems well for Mohan, but he is troubled with the thoughts of his childhood nanny Kaveriamma (Kishori Balal) who still resides in India. With the thoughts plaguing his mind, he instinctively decides to travel to India and trace the whereabouts of … (read more)

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