Asoka

Although this Shah Rukh Khan film did not do well at the box office, the film is a real tear jerker. Shah Rukh plays the role of Prince Asoka with conviction and aplomb. The movie begins with an exposition of Prince Asoka's situation as brother to the crown prince. An excellent warrior, Prince Asoka is sent hither and yon to fight the good fight, conquer the enemy, and to eventually be killed and so removed from competition to the throne. However, being such a good fighter and all, it's not so easy to kill the prince. Accordingly, the crown prince resorts to trickery and persuades the prince's mother to convince Prince Asoka to leave the kingdom and live as a commoner.

Prince Asoka makes his way through the wilderness and encounters his true love, Kaurwaki, princess of Kalinga (Kareena Kapoor). Eventually wooing and winning the princess as Pawan (the Wind), Asoka is summoned home by his mother and promises Kaurwaki that he will return quickly. Things do not turn out according to plan and Asoka becomes Emperor and embarks on a legendary killing rampage across India. The final scenes of the movie remind the audience of the frailty of life, the disappointment of accomplished goals, and the human lot of suffering.

Asoka is the story of a legendary historical figure who converts to Buddhism and leaves a humanistic legacy to India. This film provides the backstory to the legendary figure. Shah Rukh Khan is not only convincing, but is able to move the audience to tears. The several beefcake scenes do not detract from the overall excellence and serious purpose of the movie. In spite of the good looks of Shah Rukh Khan and pandering to the salacious interests of the audience, the film tells a good story and communicates a compelling message - the battlefield is the place where the beloved one lies. What cost victory? ...to what end?

Kismat Konnection (Hindi 2008)

Kismat Konnection stars with Shahid Kapoor and Juhi Chawla. SRK is the voice of the narrator. This is a cute story about a guy who is at the top of his class in college and just has a streak of bad luck after. He meets a girl, Priya (Vidya Balan), and his luck seems to change. The movie is all about their relationship and the preservation of a community center. Plans are afoot to build a shopping mall on the property, but Priya has other plans and she's the one with luck! More than luck, it's a film about the value of personal relationship and networking, no matter how the relationships happen. The significant person who turns the tide is a "waving friend." For me, this movie was a good reminder about keeping in touch and maintaining relationships.

Jab We Met (Hindi 2007)

Jab We Met is a great little comedy with good acting from Kareena Kapoor (Geet) and Shahid Kapoor (Aditya). The two meet on a train. Aditya has just finished watching his girlfriend get married and is feeling very down. The talkative and sparky, Geet, befriends him and tries to cheer him up. In her attempts, she ends up getting off the train and being unable to reboard it in time. The two end up traveling through Northern India together in an attempt to catch her train and luggage. Aditya accompanies Geet to her Sikh home in Punjab. Aditya wants to elope so that she can marry her true love, Anshuman. Aditya is persuaded to accompany her and drops her off at the doorstep of Anshuman and leaves. 9 months pass. Aditya has become very successful in business and has had a positive change in attitude due to his meeting Geet. On the other hand, Geet's parents look him up and demand that he produce Geet. Geet is nowhere to be found. It turns out that Anshuman had rejected her and Geet had been living in a religious teaching order. Aditya goes to look for Geet to return her to her parents. Ironically, he ends up doing for Geet what Geet did for him 9 months earlier. All's well that ends well and the ending is a good one. I recommend this movie for music, fun, interesting culture, great scenery, and good music.

1942: A Love Story (Hindi 1994)

The story of revolutionaries involved in India's separation from Britain, 1942: A Love Story is set in the Himalayan Mountains of Northern India - possibly Kashmir. The scenery is gorgeous and I've seen some of the locations and houses in other movies ( Jab We Met). Naren (Anil Kapoor) is the son of a rich pro-English landowner. Naren falls in love with Rajeshwari, the daughter of a revolutionary. When Naren attempts to ask permission from his father to marry Rajeshwari, the father turns in the revolutionary and his daughter in an attempt to prevent the marriage. The father dies in a bomb blast and the daughter is saved by a fellow revolutionary (Jackie Schroff). The revolutionary attends a ceremony where he hopes to assassinate an English general. Naren, having broken with his family, attempts to help the freedom fighter and uses a pistol in an attempt to help the revolutionary plan. He is captured and taken to be hanged. The revolutionary saves him and they both accomplish the impossible together. This is a love story with a happy ending, unlike what the beginning of the movie leads us to believe.

The movie won several awards; the music is especially good.

Taal (HIndi 1999)

Taal is a love story between a rich returned from London son with the daughter of a famous folk singer. Aishwarya Rai plays Mansi who falls in love with a man who, returned from school in London, disregards social convention and courts a woman who is below him in caste. Though his father honors the father of the girl who is a famous folk singer in his village, he refuses to recognize him or give him honor in the city. Mansi, insulted on behalf of her father for the treatment he has been given, disavows her love and turns to Vikrant Kapoor (Anil Kapoor), a famous pop singer, producer, and director. Recognizing her talent as a singer and dancer, Vikrant Kapoor catapults Mansi to stardom and asks her to marry him. She agrees. In the meantime, her forsaken love, Manav, vows to win her back and follows her career and attends her wedding ceremony. While there, he confronts Mansi who is unable to hide her feelings for him. Vikrant sacrifices his own interests in the interests of true love and encourages Mansi to leave him and express her feelings for Manav. She runs from his car and embraces Manav as the two fathers forget their differences and embrace also.

While something of a cheesy plot, the acting is good and Aishwarya Rai is great as always.

Devdas (Hindi 1955)

This older Devdas with Dilip Kumar, Suchitra Sen, and Vyjayantimala was quite good. Filling in the story of Devdas and Paro as children, and then fleshing out the Chandramukhi (Vyjayantimala) character added quite a bit to the story. While much simpler than the more recent Devdas, the costuming and sets are simple, this Devdas delivers more of a story and provides more motivation for the characters' acting. Filled with longing, suffering, pride, and irony, Devdas is deservedly considered a classic. The musical score is also quite good. Dilip Kumar's Devdas is a weak man who can't come to grips with his decisions or lack of will power. He is impulsive, loyal, and prideful. His alcoholism seems accidental and then an excuse to avoid responsibility. On the other hand, SRK's Devdas is a tortured soul who truly seems to care for Paro. While I like the back story provided in the older Devdas better, I like the acting in the newer Devdas best.

Kaal (Hindi 2005)

Kaal is a Hindi thriller set in the Jim Corbett National Park in the central northern part of India. Ostensibly a thriller about naive encounters with man-eating tigers, this is actually a story about a ghost who lures unsuspecting tourists who do not follow the park rules to their death. John Abraham, Laura Dutta, and Ajay Devgan star. This is an entertaining story with some startling moments.

Gaja Gamini (Hindi 200)

A movie unlike any other, Gaja Gamini is a meditation on women. Without plot, the movie proceeds as a collage of images and scenarios. Madhuri Dixit plays the mysterious woman, Gaja Gamini. Leonardo Da Vinci's muse, Gaja Gamini smiles secretively and personifies women across the centuries. The movie is set on a stage divided by a big black wall. On the one side is reason on the other, art. Madhuri plays five distinct characters. Shahrukh Khan makes an appearance. Some people really like this film and some people really dislike it. It is an art film, the subtitles are poor, only about 1/2 of the dialogue is translated. Much of the dialogue seems to be in couplets, but it's difficult to tell. If one thinks of this film as a play set on stage, fractured into pieces much like theater of the absurd, it's a little easier to accept. While I'm not sure that I'd recommend it, I found it very difficult to follow, it is interesting for what it tries to do and how it tries to do it. The director, MF Husain, is a famous painter and was 85 when he directed this film, supposedly inspired and dedicated to the leading actress, Madhuri Dixit. (The painting at the beginning of this post is by M.F. Husain.)

Pardes (Hindi 1997)

Pardes is a wonderful film about the difficulties of being an NRI and the difficulties of adjusting to a new land. After 25 years, Kishorilal (Amrish Puri) visits his dear friend in India. He becomes enamored of Ganga (Mahima Chaudhry) and decides the village girl would be perfect for his prince of a son, Rajiv (Agnihotri). Arjun (Shah Rukh Khan) is commissioned by his adopted father, Kishorilal, to plead the suite of Rajiv. He does so successfully and Ganga agrees to the engagement. She visits America, Rajiv's homeland, for a month prior to the marriage. Rajiv shows his true colors and even Arjun can not put an acceptable spin on his behavior. In the meantime, Arjun and Ganga have gained one another's trust and have fallen in love. The movie is their love story and the troubles attendant upon differences in culture. This is a great little movie with strong Indian values contrasted with shallow American values. There is an awesome scene where Arjun demonstrates his unselfish love for Ganga by clasping a naked blade and running his bleeding hand along it...

Parzania (2007 - American/Hindi)

Parzania is a movie about the communal riots in the Indian State of Gujarat. Hindus set fire to Muslim communities, destroyed people and families, and police stood by, watched, and laughed. The movie traces a middle class Parsi family who lives within a Muslim community. Suddenly, without warning, riots erupt, people try to save themselves, and Parzan, the young son and brother, is separated from his mother. The parents spend years trying to locate him. The movie also gives a phone number to call with any info. Starring in the movie is Nasaruddin Shah and Sarika Masterm. Both of these two are very good in their roles. The actors who play the young son and daughter are also good. The American role was annoying. The character cussed every two words and drank continuously from a flask. I'm sure all Americans who visit India are not this uncouth, at least I hope so.

Yeh Mera India (Hindi 2009)

This movie is a melange of different characters trying to make it in Mumbai in the span of one day. Yeh Mera India is about bias and prejudice. By the end of the span, several of the main characters have realized their bias and addressed it. This was a good movie, but much of it was untranslated. About 2/3 was translated and 1/3 was not. Unfortunately, there were periodic episodes of a voice over, I suppose making an editorial comment about the action, that were not translated. Particularly moving was a scene wherein a Muslim terrorist is readying himself to shoot a Hindu target. By chance encounter, he is reminded that one can look at the good in interactions with the other or one can focus on the bad. He remembers being saved during the time of Muslim terror when Hindus were lighting the Muslim neighborhoods on fire and remembers that it was a Hindu home that gave him and his child shelter. After this memory, he witnesses a lost Muslim girl on the street. She is crying and a small boy, whom we and he later find out is Hindu, gives her succor. Her mother finds her and is grateful to the Hindu boy. The terrorist watches. Then another Muslim terrorist plants a teddy bear bomb under a political rally grandstand in the same vicinity. The Hindu boy, seeing the abandoned teddy bear, wants it and reaches for it. The Muslim terrorist watches this as his mark comes out, his partner yells at him to shoot, and he chooses to rush to the aid of the boy, grab the bear, throw it, and is blown to bits himself. Later, another character confronts patrons of a restaurant who are overheard talking about Muslim terrorists and confronts them with their stereotypes, reminding them that all terrorists are not Muslim. Issues dealt with in this film include, economic status, religious affiliation, immigrant status, newcomer status, competition for jobs, attribution of responsibility, and appreciation of the good in people. I recommend seeing this film, but possibly look for a version with better subtitles. I watched Adlabs.

Dostana (Hindi 2008)

Starring what has to be three of the most attractive people on the planet, Dostana is a comedy about two attractive "hot" guys who say they are gay lovers in order to get two rooms in a desirable condo in a Miami high rise. Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham play the two guys and Priyanka Chopra plays the girl who owns the apartment and rents to the two. The guys are actually convincing as gay boyfriends. There are several amusing scenes between the two. Abhishek lets himself go more and John Abraham reminds one of George Clooney. One scene between Kunal (John Abraham) and Neha (Priyanka Chopra) features a background of SRK dancing in the rain during the movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai; they imitate SRK's dance moves. I enjoyed the irony of using SRK to move the romantic plot of the movie along... This was a good little comedy although the gay theme was stereotypical...

New York (Hindi 2009)

New York is not typical Bollywood fare. There are a couple song numbers, but no big group dances. Rather, this is a story about the aftermath of 9/11 and how it affected the Muslim population of this country. Expecting a typical Bollywood romance, I was surprised by the framing of the story. The movie begins with the arrest and detention (under the Patriot Act) of a young Muslim youth who has come from India on a scholarship to study at New York State College. To escape unjust incarceration and probably torture, Omar agrees to work as an undercover agent by infiltrating a supposed terrorist inner cell. The twist is that his good friend and wife are the ones under suspicion. Omar is expected to win their trust after not having seen them for 7 years and to live in their house in an effort to uncover terrorist activity.

The movie explores the issue of terrorism, loss of dignity, racist policies towards Muslims, Muslim oppression and response to unjust police practices under the Patriot Act, and the waste of talent and human potential that goes on because of the policy. The four main actors were new to me, but all were quite good. Neil Nitin Mukesh plays Omar; Katrina Kaif plays Maya, his love interest; John Abraham plays Sam, the highly competent American Muslim who is detained for 9 months under suspicion of being a terrorist and who exits the detention center a changed person. Finally, Irrfan plays Agent Roshan, an undercover FBI agent.

I haven't seen a movie like this produced by an American company. Having seen it, I hope that I don't get on a list somewhere as a terrorist sympathizer. However, the movie did give a very human face to terrorists and explored some of the issues that could push a person towards it. I'm glad that this film was suggested to me and that I purchased it. I recommend it highly. By the way, the film is produced by Yash Raj Films - Yash Chopra; these productions are always very well cast, acted, directed, filmed, written, etc. I haven't yet been disappointed with films produced by this company. I identify it as a label of quality.

Trimurti (Hindi 1995)

The Power of Three in One is the story of Trimurti. Shah Rukh Khan stars as the younger brother, along with Anil Kapoor( the host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in Slumdog Millionaire) and Jackie Shroff (another long time Bollywood actor). The movie commences with a policeman mother who tries to protect the shrine of the "Mother" for all instead of just the man who has paid for the renovations. To keep the poor from accessing the temple, Kooka (the villain) frames Satyadevi (the mother) to take the fall for killing three policeman. She is sentenced to jail for 18 years and her two sons are left to care for the son newly born in jail. The movie relates the story of the two older boys to raise the younger son, their parting of ways, and their eventual reacquaintance prior to the mother obtaining her freedom. The song and dance in this movie tends to be more religious in nature, devoted to worship of "the mother." The movie is entertaining and Shah Rukh is filled with puppy enthusiasm. His acting is amusing and endearing. He's good as the youngest brother and the other two male leads are also good as the 1st and 2nd brother.

Provoked: a true story of a battered wife (Aishwarya Rai)

Filmed in England and delivered mostly in English, Provoked is the true story of a woman who lights her husband on fire to escape his daily beatings and abuse. Aishwarya Rai delivers a great performance in this movie. Opening with a scene playing off the title of the book, Circle of Light, from which the script was taken, a small flame creates a circle of light as it moves through a darkened house to the bedroom where a man lies sprawled out in bed, asleep. In a moment, the bed is alight and the man is screaming and running from the house. When the police investigate, they come across a weeping, unspeaking woman who is clutching her children to her. In his hospital bed, the burned man accuses his wife, the bitch, of having lit him on fire. The woman is accused of attempted murder and sent to prison to await trial, the children are sent to live with the mother-in-law, and the husband dies. Thus the scene is set for a trial, incarceration, and eventual appeal of Kiran (Aishwarya Rai). During the sequence of these events, Kiran's relationship with her abusive husband is revealed and her character and sufferings are established. Kiran finds freedom in prison and learns to stand up for herself and her friends. She, with the unselfish help of her cell mate, maintains honor and dignity and develops courage and conviction. This is a very fine movie that showcases Aishwarya Rai's acting talents.

Salaam/Namaste (Hindi 2005)

With Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan, Salaam/Namaste is a movie about two people who initially despise one another and trade barbed comments. Ambar (Preity Zinta) is a medical intern who pays her way through school by working as a radio talk show host on station 101.5 Salaam/Namaste. Nick (Saif Ali Khan) is scheduled to be interviewed as a guest on her talk show one morning; however, he is late, as always, and does not make the show. Ambar proceeds to assassinate his character on air and in the process trashes the restaurant where he works as head chef. This causes a series of problems and Nick calls her on air and threatens to sue the station. Later, at a wedding, the two meet without knowing each other's identity, and fall in love. Identities are revealed, Nick apologizes and having fallen in love, invites Ambar to move in with him so that they can get to know one another better. Ambar eventually agrees and the rest of the movie traces their relationship for the next year. The music and dance is catchy, the two have good chemistry together, and there are some amusing moments. Basically a relationship movie, it's good for easy entertainment. The delivery scene at the end is way over the top, almost offensive...

Bhoothnath (Hindi 2008)

A children's movie about a mischievous kid who befriends a ghost, Bhoothnath showcases Amitabh Bachchan's talents. He plays a ghost haunting a "bungalow" in Goa that has been rented by a young family. Banku, the young son, is always getting in trouble -encouraged to do so by his absent father (Shah Rukh Khan). His mother with smiles, love, and humor supports her son and sets herself the task of cleaning and running the haunted household. The ghost receives salvation through the good services of Banku and balance is restored.

This is a good movie about both healthy families and families that have come undone. It moved me to tears in several parts. Amitabh is very good as the ghost. This is good family entertainment with something in it for everyone.

Hum Tum (Hindi 2004)

A Yash Chopra production starring Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji, Hum Tum is a cute Bollywood movie that tells the story of two friends that fall in love. Meeting on a plane for the first time, playboy Karan flirts with Rhea who expresses interest in his Hum Tum cartoon. They meet accidentally through the next 10 years or so. Karan develops his cartoon strip about a male and female character who have a sparring relationship; Rhea marries and becomes a widow. Eventually, the two begin to spend more time together and develop a relationship which neither can admit to needing for life. Eventually everything works out. What makes the film notable is the HumTum cartoon animation that provides editorial comments on the relationship of the two main characters. Quite cleverly done.

Cachimba (Latin American Cinema 2004)

An ironic look at nationalism and the art world, the humor of Cachimba is underplayed and painful. Marcos, a dull accountant is dating Hilda, a chubby and insecure young lady. Marcos makes moves on her while Hilda continues to repulse him, holding out for marriage. Eventually, Marcos persuades her to do the naughty and in hopes of a daylight romp persuades her to vacation with him for a few days in Cartegena. While negotiating the physical aspects of their relationship, they stumble across a dilapidated museum of art. A crotchety old man, Felipe, is the caretaker of the museum and the corpus of a little known and neglected Chilean artist. Marcos finds himself enamored of the art work and determined to save the works for the posterity of the Chilean people.

Based on a book of the same name by Jose Donoso, Cachimba is, then, the story of what happens when commercial interests become involved with art. In spite of his best intentions, Marcos begins a sequence of events that leads to the destruction of Felipe and the exploitation of the art work. Corruption wins out and even Marcos and Hilda fall prey to it, albeit in a "nice" way. The cinematography is very good. This movie won over 20 festival awards and is well worth seeing. It is fairly slow moving, but the story, scenery, music, and acting are so good that one just goes along with the flow.

Temptation: As Never Seen Before

A traveling stage show starring Shahrukh Khan, Priety Zinta, Rani Mukherji, Saif Ali Khan, and Priyanka Chopra, Temptation runs for 223 minutes. There are a couple of good bits in this and several slow ones. When the five named above are on stage, the shows has energy and charm; however, when others are on, such as the finalists for the Indian Idol or the choreographer, the show lacks sizzle. Shahrukh's interaction with audience members is interesting. This video is a compilation of his 18 stop world tour, featuring bits from Dubai, Bangkor, Toronto, London, New York, Atlanta, LA, etc. One part of the video featured a little humorous home movie with the six main stars acting, dancing, and singing - that was very entertaining. Many familiar songs, Chaiyya Chaiyya (from Dil Se) being the most memorable.