Thursday, December 27, 2007

Jaan-E-Mann (2006)

Man of disguises
Hides his love in another
Should love conquer all?
I picked this video up in a random impulse moment at the library. It, along with Humko Deewana Kar Gaye, was laying on the "return" counter. Knowing that anything worth watching has been recently checked out, I went for it.

The film was distinctively different. I'm still trying to decide if that's a good thing. Any film that opens with a scene in a space station, that also isn't about NASA, can be a bit perplexing.

To sum up the story line, it's something like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam with a dash of the surrealism in Moulin Rouge. Complete with both a fake dwarf and real ones, my personal highlight of the film is our friend Salman punching the lights out of a few guys in Times Square while dressed in a dress. The halter cut was a nice touch. lol.

In other news, Akshay Kumar is definitely growing on me. I had seen him in Namastey London earlier this year and enjoyed his performance. I haven't seen any of his action stuff but he seems to have reasonable facility as the "jilted lover" which isn't easy to play gracefully.

So, final vote, see it.
Cyrano de Bergerac type storylines are always a hit. It's terribly melodramatic but when is that a bad thing? And, this movie features the cutest little baby you've ever seen.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Bollywood Business

There's a nice little piece in Newsweek about current rumblings in the Indian film industry. In some ways, it's kind of sad to hear that folks are going the way of Hollywood. Gangsters and film families are way more interesting...


In other news, Night Shyamalan has one more mess up before he's on my "Do Not Watch" list. lol. I hope he doesn't bankrupt his producers with this latest venture.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Well, maybe not proud.





It looks like the old Rimi Sen post is picking up some heat. First there was the "just toeing the line" comment:
It's not that Indians think dark skin is ugly - they just think that it's not "ideal".... it's personal choice, not racism.

PS: Riya Sen and Bipasha Basu have dark skin and one of the most beautiful women in the world!
*sigh*
I've said my fair share of embarrassingly ignorant things so I'll let this one go unchallenged. I know I'm an outsider but when people call Bips "dark" I'm like, WTH do they call Johnny Lever?!?

Moving on. The discussion dissolved into this comment which sincerely made my jaw drop.
as a black woman speaking (half nigerian, half antiguan), i can't help feeling that we are the least desirable people on earth...i can't think of many beautiful celebrities who are 100% black.
I was still waiting for the punchline when I read this part:
i am surprised to learn that a third world country (india) is THIS advanced and can make very well-made movies.
I don't think that's the punchline but it sure was funny. (Not "funny ha ha" either.)
but africa (except north african/arab africans) and carribeans (expcept indian descended carribeans) isn't very beautiful and advanced and the traditions is not very nice too. the black african western culture is really bad too
The commenter takes a few moments to describe black Western culture (as relayed by Southern rap, no doubt) and she's still not done. To sum it all up:
i wish i can say that i am black n proud, but then i would be a hypocrite.
Damn.


*moment of silence*


*another moment of silence*


I'm not the type of person to dis someone for being honest. If that's where you are in your emotional journey, then that's where you are. Granted, from time to time you have to assess whether or not where you are is where you want to be.

So, the primary reason I'm still up typing this when I should be easing my sleep deprived self into bed is because of the comment that followed which launched a petty personal attack on the previous commenter and included these choice words:
You being a black woman, I feel bad for you. You will never find a man.
Excuse me, WHAT?! I'm willing to tolerate some level of ignorance but I do mean ignorance, in the dictionary sense of the word: lack of knowledge, education, or awareness

I do not tolerate insult. Did someone just walk into my house, insult one of my guests, and try to sucker punch me at the same time?!

NOT COOL.

Lakeesha may not be down but I'm black, proud and will lay the smackdown.

As for the essence of her comment, most of which has been discussed here, the point about there being no 100% African celebrities is moot. (Un)fortunately? America is the entertainment capital of the world and most black Americans are "mixed" so that's the look you see on screen. Likewise, "the look" for Indians in America is brown--mochalicious brown. Well known Indian super hotties in the US probably wouldn't get hired for lead roles in Bollywood because they're *gasp* "dark".

So no, there's not many African celebrities but I don't think that's for lack of beauty. Miss World 2001 was Nigerian. It's more about of lack of proximity. Djimon Honsou's done reasonably well but he came to Hollywood via Paris. When the resources are there, the faces are there. End of story. Celebrity is an indicator of little more than a good publicist. Check out the website Jamati to see more African celebs if you like. [Random aside: the handsome fellow in the photo is a staff member from Invisible Children in Uganda. Check them out.]

Thanks for commenting lakeesha. Don't let the cyberbullies send you into hiding. Sing along with India Arie and holla back.

Friday, December 07, 2007

Pertaining to nothing and everyone

Is this phenomenon wired into the female DNA?
Apparently, Chinese moms use the exact same phrases.
Any votes for South Asia?
;)

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007)

I know this isn't really up to snuff as far as come-backs are concerned, but here's the extent of my "review" for JBJ which I watched this summer. I didn't make it past the haiku.

WTH? Old man
your outfit is cool but the
movie is still lame.
The End.

*sigh* Jaan-e-Mann is on the way...