Bollywood Films (Part 2)
Here are more Bollywood films (including 3 Bollywood meets Hollywood type of films) I've seen most recently. The first 3 were Bollywood/Hollywood produced films and the last 5 were Bollywood/Hindi Independent Films.
Brief Synopsis: A PECK ON THE CHEEK, tells the story of a young girl named Amudha, who is separated from her Sri Lankan parents by the war and raised by a young Indian couple. Amudha is a bright and mischievous girl, whose life is turned upside down when her parents tell her that she was adopted as a child. Although her adopted parents love her as much as could be, and have raised her without prejudice along with their biological children, Amudha cannot help but want to learn more about her biological family.
My Comments: This lil' independent movie was one of the best Bollywood/Hindi/Tamil Films I've seen thus far. It was simply amazing, bold, artistic, and just brilliant. The story was very-well written, great cast (they were all brilliant esp. the young girl who portrayed Amudha), the direction was superb, and the cinematography was visually stunning. The visual effects was great too. No wonder it won several film festival awards, which rightly deserved so as it was It was just simply amazing to watch. Very good story-telling, acting, and just different from the usual Bollywood/Hindi films. This film made me laugh, sad, smile, and cry all at the same time. I highly recommend this movie for those looking for a great family/drama movie with great story-telling, acting, directing...just about everything in this movie was excellent.
Warning: Slight spoilers within!
(Starring: Ali Larter, Salman Khan)
My Bollywood Bride (USA title: My Faraway Bride)
(Starring: Jason Lewis, Kashmira Shah)
Brief Synopsis: My Bollywood Bride tells the story of Alex, a copy-writer dreaming of being an adventure novelist someday, who meets and romances Indian beauty Reena, while she is vacationing in California. Torn by her blossoming feelings for Alex and her Indian family values and obligations, Reena returns home without saying goodbye. Alex, distraught by the turn of events, decides to follow her to Mumbai and win her back. The trouble is, Alex couldn't be more out of his element on the sub-continent, not helped by the fact Reena has kept something very important about her from him (Reena is the top Bollywood film star - the Julia Roberts of India)!
(Starring: Lisa Ray, Rahul Khanna, Jessica Paré)
One Two Three
(starring: Tusshar Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Sunil Shetty)
A Peck on the Cheek (Hindi Title: Kannathil Muthamitta)
(Starring: Madhavan, Simran, J.D. Chakravarthi)
Brief Synopsis: Ali Larter plays an American actress, Marigold Lexton, who becomes immersed in the Bollywood film world.
My Comments: I thought this movie was very good despite its low ratings at imdb and that I've never heard of it till I was browsing through Blockbuster's new releases of films in their shelves. The funny thing was I kept on seeing a glimpse of the dvd cover, but didn't think of renting it at all. I didn't even read through what the movie was about, since I seem to always have other movie titles in mind to rent, lol. Then, one day, I couldn't find the titles I wanted to rent and I ended up noticing this movie. It finally got my attention. Guess it was waiting for me to rent it, lol. So, I did and I was glad I did. It was very good. It was one of those few Hollywood meets Bollywood movies that I thought was very well-made. Not too mention, an American filmmaker wrote, produced, and directed this film and the movie was in English. So, I didn't need to have subtitles on (as it doesn't have one anyway) and it's no wonder it wasn't too long as the usual Bollywood movies. 
Ali Larter was the main star in this movie with Salman Khan co-starring with her. I thought she was familiar and have seen her on tv or movies, but I couldn't remember which, lol. Then, I saw NBC's "Heroes" and that's when I remember seeing her as well as the movies, Final Destination and Final Destination 2. Anyway, she was very good in this movie as the title character, Marigold Lexton, a B-list Hollywood actress who was on her way to India to film a movie only to find out upon arrival on the country that the movie's finance was in trouble and got cancelled. She also found out her plane ticket was one-way and that her luggage was late to arrive as it got misplaced in the wrong plane. So, talk about having a bad luck all at the same time in the same foreign country, lol. Ali Larter as Marigold was very good. She was bitchy and seems to be mean at the beginning of the movie, which made the people who work for her (and with her) either afraid or uncomfortable. No wonder they sent her to India to get away from her or perhaps teach her a lesson, lol. She got stuck there till she meets and befriends an Indian woman who works in the film industry in India. She also met Salman Khan's character Primm, who is a dance choreographer for Bollywood films, but has a secret. He taught her how to dance. Wow, I didn't know Ali Larter could sing (she did the vocals on "Listen To The Music" song on the movie and soundtrack) and dance. She was very good esp. on her dancing. Her surprise improvised dancing on the scene where she was filming a dance number in a Bollywood movie her character Marigold had a cameo part on was my favorite scene. I thought she was very good and impressive. I kept re-watching that scene, lol. Salman Khan was very good in this movie too. His English was very good. Not too mention he sounded sexy with a deep voice when he speaks in English. I, surprisingly found him sexy in this film because of that, lol. It's odd, when he speaks in English he has this deep, sexy voice, but in Hindi...he doesn't, lol. I'm not a Salman Khan nor am I fond of his acting in the few other Bollywood films I've seen him in. But in this film, I actually liked him as he wasn't his usual bad boy or showy self like he usually does in his other movies. I enjoyed watching him with Ali Larter. They had chemistry and were cute together in this movie. Their dance numbers together were cute and pretty good, in my opinion. The songs/music in this movie were good and catchy too even the Hindi songs I don't understand, but they were danceable and catchy to listen to, lol. I ended up buying my copy of this movie (to add in my dvd collection of movies) as I loved and enjoyed watching it as well as downloaded the songs including "Listen To The Music" (which I can't stop listening to in my iPod, lol). This movie was visually stunning and just fun to watch. I definitely recommend this movie for those who love romantic/comedy/musical/Bollywood-Hollywood type of film. This movie was not too long either and even referenced Bollywood films' usual longer length of running time for their movies. In the movie, Marigold mentioned that she saw a Bollywood film while she was on her long flight to India and said that the movie was "5 hours long with lots of singing, dancing, and crying." lol...I thought that was funny, and so true.
Read more in this really nice and detailed DVD Review: Marigold.
Ali Larter was the main star in this movie with Salman Khan co-starring with her. I thought she was familiar and have seen her on tv or movies, but I couldn't remember which, lol. Then, I saw NBC's "Heroes" and that's when I remember seeing her as well as the movies, Final Destination and Final Destination 2. Anyway, she was very good in this movie as the title character, Marigold Lexton, a B-list Hollywood actress who was on her way to India to film a movie only to find out upon arrival on the country that the movie's finance was in trouble and got cancelled. She also found out her plane ticket was one-way and that her luggage was late to arrive as it got misplaced in the wrong plane. So, talk about having a bad luck all at the same time in the same foreign country, lol. Ali Larter as Marigold was very good. She was bitchy and seems to be mean at the beginning of the movie, which made the people who work for her (and with her) either afraid or uncomfortable. No wonder they sent her to India to get away from her or perhaps teach her a lesson, lol. She got stuck there till she meets and befriends an Indian woman who works in the film industry in India. She also met Salman Khan's character Primm, who is a dance choreographer for Bollywood films, but has a secret. He taught her how to dance. Wow, I didn't know Ali Larter could sing (she did the vocals on "Listen To The Music" song on the movie and soundtrack) and dance. She was very good esp. on her dancing. Her surprise improvised dancing on the scene where she was filming a dance number in a Bollywood movie her character Marigold had a cameo part on was my favorite scene. I thought she was very good and impressive. I kept re-watching that scene, lol. Salman Khan was very good in this movie too. His English was very good. Not too mention he sounded sexy with a deep voice when he speaks in English. I, surprisingly found him sexy in this film because of that, lol. It's odd, when he speaks in English he has this deep, sexy voice, but in Hindi...he doesn't, lol. I'm not a Salman Khan nor am I fond of his acting in the few other Bollywood films I've seen him in. But in this film, I actually liked him as he wasn't his usual bad boy or showy self like he usually does in his other movies. I enjoyed watching him with Ali Larter. They had chemistry and were cute together in this movie. Their dance numbers together were cute and pretty good, in my opinion. The songs/music in this movie were good and catchy too even the Hindi songs I don't understand, but they were danceable and catchy to listen to, lol. I ended up buying my copy of this movie (to add in my dvd collection of movies) as I loved and enjoyed watching it as well as downloaded the songs including "Listen To The Music" (which I can't stop listening to in my iPod, lol). This movie was visually stunning and just fun to watch. I definitely recommend this movie for those who love romantic/comedy/musical/Bollywood-Hollywood type of film. This movie was not too long either and even referenced Bollywood films' usual longer length of running time for their movies. In the movie, Marigold mentioned that she saw a Bollywood film while she was on her long flight to India and said that the movie was "5 hours long with lots of singing, dancing, and crying." lol...I thought that was funny, and so true.Read more in this really nice and detailed DVD Review: Marigold.
My Bollywood Bride (USA title: My Faraway Bride)
(Starring: Jason Lewis, Kashmira Shah)
Brief Synopsis: My Bollywood Bride tells the story of Alex, a copy-writer dreaming of being an adventure novelist someday, who meets and romances Indian beauty Reena, while she is vacationing in California. Torn by her blossoming feelings for Alex and her Indian family values and obligations, Reena returns home without saying goodbye. Alex, distraught by the turn of events, decides to follow her to Mumbai and win her back. The trouble is, Alex couldn't be more out of his element on the sub-continent, not helped by the fact Reena has kept something very important about her from him (Reena is the top Bollywood film star - the Julia Roberts of India)!
My Comments: Another Bollywood meets Hollywood type of movie I enjoyed watching. Jason Lewis (of Sex & The City and Sex & The City: The Movie) was very cute and easy on the eyes to look at in this film. Though I'm not fond of his speaking voice (he should have been the one with Salman's sexy English speaking voice, lol), but he's still very sexy and good-looking guy. I could careless if his voice wasn't as sexy as Salman Khan's was in Marigold 'cause I could just stare at him and mute the volume for his handsome face alone, haha! Ok, back to the movie, I thought it was a very nice romantic/comedy film that I just recently noticed while browsing at imdb.com for more Bollywood films to watch. Interestingly enough, it was actually inspired by a true story from the female lead star, Kashmira Shah, who also co-wrote the screenplay of his film. Like, Marigold, I enjoyed watching this movie too.
Bollywood/Hollywood(Starring: Lisa Ray, Rahul Khanna, Jessica Paré)
Brief Synopsis: The Seth family reside in Canada. While Mr. Seth has passed away, his mom is still alive, living with her daughter-in-law, her son, Rahul, and daughter, Twinky. Both Rahul and Twinky are of marriageable age. Rahul shocks them all when he brings home a gorgeous Kimberly, who he wants to marry, and does get reluctant blessings from his mom and grandma.
My Comments: I thought this movie was ok. Not as good as Marigold and My Bollywood Bride, in my opinion. The title of this film already suggests that it's a Hollywood meets Bollywood type of film. It's another romantic/comedy, but more of a parody of Bollywood/Hollywood movies, which was set in Canada. Not as fun and interesting to watch as Marigold and My Bollywood Bride. The actors were mostly unknown (with one well-known, surprise cameo appearance by Bollywood actor Akshaye Khanna of Taal and Dil Chahta Hai films). The only interesting actress and character to watch here was Canadian actress Lisa Ray (who is of an Indian/Polish descent) as Sue. She was good and funny here. Though I've recently seen her in Deepa Mehta's other film, the controversial, Water. I thought she was very good in that film. This movie had some funny moments, but lacks the catchy songs/music, dance numbers, fun and excitement that other Bollywood films it was referencing to (ie. Devdas). So, it was just ok.
Brief Synopsis: The film examines the plight of a group of widows forced into poverty at a temple in the holy city of Varanasi. It focuses on a relationship between one of the widows, who wants to escape the social restrictions imposed on widows, and a man who is from the highest caste and a follower of Mahatma Gandhi.
My Coments: I thought this movie was great. While I find an eight-year-old widow to be unheard of and unusual in this film, I thought the story was different and very well-written. The cast were brilliant. Great casting. The direction and cinematography were great too. It's no wonder this film won several film festival awards and got an Oscar nomination. It was controversial, intriguing, interesting, and sad to watch all at the same time. Lisa Ray was very good in this film as Kalyane, one of the widows...as does the young actress Sarala who portrayed the youngest widow named Chuyia. John Abraham (good looking guy) as Narayan, who fell in love with Lisa Ray's character was good too. I particularly liked Kalyane & Narayan's love story in this movie, but unfortunately, they didn't have a happy ending. Still, the movie was very good, overall.
Brief Synopsis: The film examines the plight of a group of widows forced into poverty at a temple in the holy city of Varanasi. It focuses on a relationship between one of the widows, who wants to escape the social restrictions imposed on widows, and a man who is from the highest caste and a follower of Mahatma Gandhi.
My Coments: I thought this movie was great. While I find an eight-year-old widow to be unheard of and unusual in this film, I thought the story was different and very well-written. The cast were brilliant. Great casting. The direction and cinematography were great too. It's no wonder this film won several film festival awards and got an Oscar nomination. It was controversial, intriguing, interesting, and sad to watch all at the same time. Lisa Ray was very good in this film as Kalyane, one of the widows...as does the young actress Sarala who portrayed the youngest widow named Chuyia. John Abraham (good looking guy) as Narayan, who fell in love with Lisa Ray's character was good too. I particularly liked Kalyane & Narayan's love story in this movie, but unfortunately, they didn't have a happy ending. Still, the movie was very good, overall.
One Two Three
(starring: Tusshar Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Sunil Shetty)
Brief Synopsis: This comedy film was about 3 men with the same name: Laxmi Narayan. They are all different except for their name and all were involve in a deadly game.
My Comments: This movie looked to be funny with catchy title track song, at least in the first 30 minutes or so into the film. Then, the rest of the movie just dragged on and confused me. There were some funny moments, but everything else were unfunny, corny, waste of my time (lol), and confusing with 3 lead characters of the same name: Laxmi Narayan. The one prominent character name Laxmi Narayan and its repeatative catchy title track were the only 2 things I could remember from this movie. Everything else were a blur, lol.
My Comments: This movie looked to be funny with catchy title track song, at least in the first 30 minutes or so into the film. Then, the rest of the movie just dragged on and confused me. There were some funny moments, but everything else were unfunny, corny, waste of my time (lol), and confusing with 3 lead characters of the same name: Laxmi Narayan. The one prominent character name Laxmi Narayan and its repeatative catchy title track were the only 2 things I could remember from this movie. Everything else were a blur, lol.
A Peck on the Cheek (Hindi Title: Kannathil Muthamitta)
(Starring: Madhavan, Simran, J.D. Chakravarthi)
Brief Synopsis: A PECK ON THE CHEEK, tells the story of a young girl named Amudha, who is separated from her Sri Lankan parents by the war and raised by a young Indian couple. Amudha is a bright and mischievous girl, whose life is turned upside down when her parents tell her that she was adopted as a child. Although her adopted parents love her as much as could be, and have raised her without prejudice along with their biological children, Amudha cannot help but want to learn more about her biological family.
My Comments: This lil' independent movie was one of the best Bollywood/Hindi/Tamil Films I've seen thus far. It was simply amazing, bold, artistic, and just brilliant. The story was very-well written, great cast (they were all brilliant esp. the young girl who portrayed Amudha), the direction was superb, and the cinematography was visually stunning. The visual effects was great too. No wonder it won several film festival awards, which rightly deserved so as it was It was just simply amazing to watch. Very good story-telling, acting, and just different from the usual Bollywood/Hindi films. This film made me laugh, sad, smile, and cry all at the same time. I highly recommend this movie for those looking for a great family/drama movie with great story-telling, acting, directing...just about everything in this movie was excellent.
Saawariya
(starring: Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Sonam Kapoor)
Taare Zameen Par
(starring: Aamir Khan, Darsheel Safary)
(starring: Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Sonam Kapoor)
Brief Synopsis: Two souls arrive in a small town, one on vacation, the other to meet a lover. They spend the most magical dream-like days of their lives in that town... with each other.
My Comments: This movie was just ok, in my opinion. In fact, I didn't even finished watching it. I got bored and fell asleep. I just didn't get into it. I tried to watch it after my first unfinished viewing, but I fell asleep, lol. This is just one of those few Bollywood movies that didn't catch my attention or failed to impress me. So, I don't have much to say other than I didn't even know Rani Mukherjee (along with Salman Khan...I at least noticed him in this movie, but he had a small role here) in this film. Though I thought one of the actresses looked like her, which I recently just noticed from looking at the cast credit at imdb.com that it was indeed her, lol. No wonder, I kept thinking it looked like her. It was her. She was at least very good in her minor supporting role. Very pretty too, which was the only one I enjoyed watching just before It made me fall asleep, lol. I must say, the visual/cinematography for this film was stunningly beautiful, but the movie, unfortunately, just didn't capture my attention. Not even Salman Khan and Rani Mukherjee could save this movie for my two times of unfinished viewings...I just got bored and fell asleep, lol. Well, It wasn't their fault, they were just in minor supporting roles with new unknown actors in the lead. Perhaps if they were the lead actors, they could've saved or made this movie a lot better and interesting to watch, in my opinion. It's ashamed 'cause this movie was distributed here in the U.S. (it even got a U.S. DVD release, which was why I saw this @ Blockbuster the day it was released on DVD), but failed to get noticed...and I can see why it did.
My Comments: This movie was just ok, in my opinion. In fact, I didn't even finished watching it. I got bored and fell asleep. I just didn't get into it. I tried to watch it after my first unfinished viewing, but I fell asleep, lol. This is just one of those few Bollywood movies that didn't catch my attention or failed to impress me. So, I don't have much to say other than I didn't even know Rani Mukherjee (along with Salman Khan...I at least noticed him in this movie, but he had a small role here) in this film. Though I thought one of the actresses looked like her, which I recently just noticed from looking at the cast credit at imdb.com that it was indeed her, lol. No wonder, I kept thinking it looked like her. It was her. She was at least very good in her minor supporting role. Very pretty too, which was the only one I enjoyed watching just before It made me fall asleep, lol. I must say, the visual/cinematography for this film was stunningly beautiful, but the movie, unfortunately, just didn't capture my attention. Not even Salman Khan and Rani Mukherjee could save this movie for my two times of unfinished viewings...I just got bored and fell asleep, lol. Well, It wasn't their fault, they were just in minor supporting roles with new unknown actors in the lead. Perhaps if they were the lead actors, they could've saved or made this movie a lot better and interesting to watch, in my opinion. It's ashamed 'cause this movie was distributed here in the U.S. (it even got a U.S. DVD release, which was why I saw this @ Blockbuster the day it was released on DVD), but failed to get noticed...and I can see why it did.
Taare Zameen Par
(starring: Aamir Khan, Darsheel Safary)
Brief Synopsis: An art teacher, Ram Shankar Nikumbh teaches at a local boarding school and thinks that every child is special and must have his chance of enjoying his/her school days, so he breaks all the rules of 'how things are done' in the school to let his motives became successful, all the children respond to him with joy, all except a small boy named Ishaan Awasthi, of eight years old who seem to be in a different world all the time. Nikumbh soon finds out that Ishaan is unhappy about something. He attempts to help him. The questions remain will he be successful or will the errant prove dangerous for him.
My Comments: This movie was another one of the best Bollywood/Hindi films I've seen thus far. Brilliant movie. Aamir Khan produced, co-starred, and directed this film. He did a brilliant job in all 3 of them. Not too mention, he was very handsome in this movie. I couldn't stop staring at him whenever he appears on-screen, lol. The acting, story, direction, cinematography were all superb. I loved and enjoyed watching this film. A beautiful family/drama film for all ages. I highly recommend this movie for everyone.
My Comments: This movie was another one of the best Bollywood/Hindi films I've seen thus far. Brilliant movie. Aamir Khan produced, co-starred, and directed this film. He did a brilliant job in all 3 of them. Not too mention, he was very handsome in this movie. I couldn't stop staring at him whenever he appears on-screen, lol. The acting, story, direction, cinematography were all superb. I loved and enjoyed watching this film. A beautiful family/drama film for all ages. I highly recommend this movie for everyone.
More Bollywood Films previously posted here ...
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