Indian Movies Thread IV

[ramana]

Would like an essay say 500 to 750 words on Bollywood perception of Kashmir terrorism as depicted in "Sarfarosh", "Mission Kashmir" ,"Roja", Pukar and Fanaa. Can add other relevant titles as needed. Any takers?

[ramana]

Guess no one. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> Sigh!

Here goes for starters......
The Yash Copra produced Aamir Khan starrer film “Fanaa” provides an updated snapshot on the Bollywood perspective on Kashmir and terrorism. Early Bollywood movies depicted Kashmir as an idyllic Switzerland of India for example in ‘Junglee’ and populated with exotic beauties like in ‘Kashmir ki Kali”. Soon terrorism drove the film producers to Ooty in South India and with liberalization to the real Switzerland and other exotic locales and the depiction of Kashmir as an idyllic place ended.

The Mani Ratnam produced film “Roja” was a landmark film for it brought home to viewers in India that Kashmir terrorism affected all of them and not only the Kashmiris in particular and North India in general. It made Indian people identify with the national cause in Kashmir. After that films started pointing to the cross border links to the terrorism e.g. “Sarfarosh”, “Mission Kashmir”, “Pukar” etc. The high watermark of such genre were LOC and Lakshya which were based on the Kargil conflict.

Soon after the peace process between India and Pakistan, Bollywood started eyeing export markets and the cross border linkages depiction was dropped. In “Fanaa” terrorists just exist due to local reasons- plebiscite, resentment etc. No outside national support whatever. Yes some helicopters and terrorist controllers are shown but without any nationality.

What is happening is the naming of enemies is being shunned in another peace process move. More subtle is the conditioning of the viewing public to mass whitewashing of the origins of terrorist support.

Fanaa also has another low point of implying that Indian nuclear weapons are somehow vulnerable to falling into wrong hands through infiltration. This is a Leftist disarmament agenda which was not there before. Earlier Leftist themes were about social change in India and some even presented the Naxalite version of society for example “Mrigaya” etc.

[Bharatvarsh]

I haven't even watched all those movies, the one I watched is Roja, that was a groundbreaking movie (though psec at times) because it not only presented the Paki angle well but also aired not so politically correct messages (for those times), for example when the heroine Roja asks the terrorists to leave India if they don't like India, I guess that kind of stuff would be unthinkable today with all the PC crap prevailing.

[Guest]

How to find out Fanna financier's and writer’s information?
Bollywood writers gets input from master's in UK.

[utepian]

Ramana,

I have'nt seen all of those movies and certainly not Fanna. I know you have word limitation, but here's a couple more observations you might want to point out.

1. While terrorism in Kashmir gets its due in Bollywood movies, films on the victims of terrorists - the Kashmiri Pandits - have seen little of their struggle depicted. Except for a poorly produced "Sheen", there has been no significant film in this direction.

2. There have also not been many movies that have explored the relation of the security forces (Indian Army) with the local Kashmiri population. "Yahaan" again is the only saving grace that delves into that relation, albeit with the Bollywood twist of a love story.

[ramana]

Utepian, The word limit was to encourage members to review the films but didnt get any response as you can see.

Folks,
Any comments on Benaras?

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"Sarfarosh", "Mission Kashmir" ,"Roja", Pukar and Fanaa<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Add "Maa Tujhhe Salaam " also in this list.

Only I can say, they had shown Kashmiri Pandit suffering and lot of curse word to Mushy. Photography is excellent, picture story was loose and so was editing. But only plus point was 100% paki and Mushy bashing. As a cinema, it was bad; I think some amateur with full hatred of Pakistan and Mushy and love for photography made "Maa Tujhhe Salaam ".
Best part, I saw "Maa Tujhhe Salaam " in Paki Theater in 2001-2002. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Few good dialogue from movie-
<b>"Doodh maangoge to kheer denge
Kashmir maangoge to cheer denge !!! "</b>

[Guest]

Last week Pakistani govt denied Visa to Javed Akhtar. His kid pulled the plug on screening his movie in Pakistan. Javed's visa status changed overnight.

Ramana:
I believe after Sarfarosh, Amir apologized to Pakistan.
When Mushy and his co took issue with Veer Zaara, others in Bollywood hardly supported Veer Zaara producers/directors (B R Chopra?) and I believe as usual Mahesh Bhat was grovelling on his feet before Pakistan.
Recently when Feroze Khan made mincemeat of a Pakistani TV host in Pakistan, again, not many from our Bollywood stood behind Feorze.

Are these guys putting profits before anything else?

[ramana]

Viren, Veer Zaara was produced by Yash Chopra who also produced Faana. So its sort of making amends by not mentioning TSP for its terrorist role.
The Bollywood glitterati might be quiet due to the underworld connection. Its very clear that GOI cant do much about Dawood Ibrahim's gang which is very prevalant in the Bollywood financing business. They might get it in their shorts if they get too vocal.
The way out is to raise the cost of production very very high so that they have to corporatize the film production companies which seek money in the market and not in the underworld. Hollywood too was under Mafia control for quite sometime till the studio system broke down due to high cost of production and Robert Kennedy led the mob clean up in the early sixties.

But as long as there is no campaign finiance reform in India this underworld connection will be preserved as it gives the party in power an unfair advantage.

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-ramana+Jun 27 2006, 01:27 AM-->QUOTE(ramana @ Jun 27 2006, 01:27 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Viren, Veer Zaara was produced by Yash Chopra who also produced Faana. So its sort of making amends by not mentioning TSP for its terrorist role.
The Bollywood glitterati might be quiet due to the underworld connection. Its very clear that GOI cant do much about Dawood Ibrahim's gang which is very prevalant in the Bollywood financing business. They might get it in their shorts if they get too vocal.
The way out is to raise the cost of production very very high so that they have to corporatize the film production companies which seek money in the market and not in the underworld. Hollywood too was under Mafia control for quite sometime till the studio system broke down due to high cost of production and Robert Kennedy led the mob clean up in the early sixties.

But as long as there is no campaign finiance reform in India this underworld connection will be preserved as it gives the party in power an unfair advantage.
[right][snapback]52926[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

On a related note, while it is absolutely true that the Mumbai Film Industry is almost fully controlled by Islamist Gangsters (not just Dawood), there is a way out it seems. And that is very related to what Ramana just wrote. I just saw <b>"Krish"</b> at India Movie Center in San Jose/Santa Clara.

Now, the thing is, the movie is .....<i>okay</i>, decent story, acting and special effects - while not the Matrix Variety are very good for a Desi film and a Desi Budget. The good part is that we know (almost 100%) that Rakesh Roshan does not make movies with Mob money. He uses Corporate sponsors. While it gets a little irritating to see : Lays, HeroHonda, Samsung, Star TV etc. get so obviously promoted...at least we know some scum <i>hafta-collecting </i>gangster is not the financier of the movie.

So that is a way out. All the actors in the movie (save Priyanka Chopra...but then again, those may be rumors) are not mixed up with the mob at all....and hence no <i>zabardasti </i>wale scenes about "hindoo fundamentalists" "suffering hindoo women" or the "good muslim" thrown in.

For example, in the movie "<b>Phir Hera Pheri</b>" (which was an okay movie overall) the Main Gangster/Bhai is a man named <b><i>Tiwari</i></b>. That's right, the good people of Uttranchal are the main bad guys in Mumbai underworld.

Another side note about this movie, Krish. I think Rakesh Roshan is the first Desi Director (IIRC) who is tinkering with Sci-Fi. Also, in the movie, there is an orangutan in Singapore named "Mao" <!--emo&:eager--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/lmaosmiley.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='lmaosmiley.gif' /><!--endemo--> . Don't know if it was deliberate, but quite funny.

[Guest]

Yet another example is Paki Lover Akshay kumar's "<b>Humko Dewana Kar Gaye</b>". As if it is not insulting enough that Gulshan Kumar was murdered in cold blood outside a temple, T-Series now produces movies where Pakistanis are shown in a positive light (I am sure Akshay Kumar also has a hand in this). In the movie, his "roommate" is played by Vivek Shauk (who plays the role of "Nawab Sharif") who tells him" Main Pakistani hoon, koi problem to nahin hai na?". Sure enough <i>Rajiv Bhatia</i> has no problems.

In Sub ki itni phat ti hai, its amazing. When will Mumbai film industry grow some gonads? <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

Hi,

can some one get me the link of hindi song Hum Honge Kamyab ek din.

Thnks,Bhar <!--emo&:cool--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /><!--endemo--> gav

[Guest]

Shyamalan's luck runs out at the box office
Not surprised, Sixth Sense seems like flash in pan compared to his other movies. It's just been one downhill ride since 6th sense.

[Guest]

Mira Nair appears to be Mirabella Nair according to http://www.fineartforum.org/Backissues/Vol...ext/orient.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->POSTSCRIPT
Trinkets Of The Asian Identity: Actress Gong Li and Director Mirabella Nair
[...]
Mira Nair is the Indian director of films Salaam Bombay!; Mississippi Masala, the highly acclaimed The Perez Family and her most recent film, Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Is it merely an assumption on the part of the writers that 'Mira' is short for Mirabella or is there any truth to this? It would explain the anti-Hindu take in "Monsoon Wedding" (the only film of hers I've watched and it was so bad that I will never watch her drivel again). Although, she needn't be a Christo to be anti-Hindu: p-sec 'Hindus' are the same.

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"Monsoon Wedding"<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
horrible movie, after 15mins I stopped watching. Total junk.

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Mira Nair was born in 1957, Bhubaneshwar, India, a small town 300 miles south of Calcutta. She is the youngest of three children from a middle class family. Her father was a civil servant, and her mother was a social worker. Mira is married to Hehmood Mamdani; an Ugandan national.

She first left her home town at 13 to attend an Irish Catholic missionary school in Simla. She then went to Delhi University to study sociology
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

Anyone seen OMKARA (online review), supposedly based on Shakespeare's OTHELLO?

[Guest]

<!--emo&:angry:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif' /><!--endemo--> <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:red'>Army wives' film wasn't cleared: Pranab

HT Correspondent

New Delhi, August 10, 2006

Contrary to claims by the Army that permissions were taken and granted for shooting a film by wives of senior officers, including the Army chief’s wife, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee stated that the ministry had not given clearance to any such proposal.

In a written reply in Lok Sabha, the minister said that a proposal was received seeking Army assistance for the proposed film but was declined by the Ministry.

In the issue dated June 12, the Hindustan Times had revealed that the Army Chief’s wife, Anupama Singh, was acting in a film being produced by Director General Military Intelligence D Summanwar’s wife, Sharayu Phalke.

Sumanwar’s daughter Arti was in the lead with Kunal Mehta, whose father is a Major General.

The film is based on a book Sharayu authored when her husband was posted in Kargil.

While security clearances for shooting are under the purview of Military Intelligence, the Ministry in its reply stated: “A proposal was received from M/s India Connect Pune seeking Army assistance for its proposed film Shaurya. Army assistance for shooting of films/TV serials is provided as per Army Order 12/88 to such of the films/TV serial as have the potential to enhance the image of the Armed forces subject to payment of charges as per laid down rates and completion of other formalities. However, in case of film Shaurya the proposal has not been agreed to by the Ministry of Defence”.

Though the Ministry in its reply stated that no public money has been spent for this purpose, there was a move to rope in the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) at the time of the release. Singh, incidentally, heads AWWA in her capacity as the Army Chief’s wife.

Summanwar had, on her part, earlier told HT that the film was being produced at a “shoe string budget” with support from family and friends.

Unconfirmed sources aver that a vigilance enquiry has been ordered and some senior officers have got the rap for bending over backwards for facilitating the shooting and rolling out a red carpet for the high profile production team.</span></span>

[Guest]

Great Indian movies:
- <i>Kandukondain Kandukondain</i>
Typical Hindu movie showing Hindu culture in Tamil Nadu. It's got great songs (A.R. Rehman does the music) with even better lyrics. The centrepiece is Aishwarya Rai's dance "Kannamoochi Yennada Yen Kanna" ('Why play hide and seek, my Krishna?') during Navarathri. The dance itself is based on Bharata Natyam, but made a little lighter for film. It's often said that Aishwarya never looked more beautiful on film or had a better song sequence. I concur.
It's got a very good plot too, loosely based on Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, but in a very Hindu setting. There are lots of amusing in-jokes on Indian, particularly Tamil, cinema. Other stars include Ajith, Tabu, Pooja Batra. Directed by Rajiv Menon, a Malayali, in 1999.
The best DVD edition is the UK version, which is the same as the version in Tamil Nadu. It's anamorphic, 5.1 DD and DTS. The English subtitles are very bad unfortunately. The US release is letterbox and 2.0 DD so it's not too good, the subtitles are only marginally better from what I understand. The first time I watched it was when I was flying in Singapore Airlines, and they had commissioned well-translated subtitles for it, a shame that these are not available on any DVD that's been released. But I'll keep an eye out if there are any subtitle files for the film floating online.

- <i>Sampoorna Ramayanam</i> <!--emo&:clapping--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/clap.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='clap.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Bharatavarsha, you've probably watched this one already.
The best version of Ramayanam ever made, with a real <i>blue</i> handsome Rama, a beautiful, perfect and compact Sita, a charismatic Ravana, and other all-round brilliant actors.
Made in the mid 70s. The original language is Telugu and it sounds so divine that I've never watched it in any other language.
The DVD is available (NTSC, region 0) in the US and Aus with 4 audio tracks: Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi (all from the time the film was released); and with 3 subtitle tracks: English, Japanese and Spanish.

[Bharatvarsh]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"Kannamoochi Yennada Yen Kanna" ('Why play hide and seek, my Krishna?')<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That movie came out as "Priyuraalu Pilichindi" in Telugu and in Telugu the song starts as "Dhoobuchulataelara Gopala" and means rougly the same thing, Gopala being substituted for Sri Krishna.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->- Sampoorna Ramayanam
Bharatavarsha, you've probably watched this one already.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yes I watched it but a long time ago when I was a kid so it's vague now, during those times a lot of movies used to be made in Telugu based on religious themes (these were called "Pauranika chitramulu"), a lot of them were based on Mahabharata and Ramayana, by the end of that era the word Krishna was synonomous with NTR in Telugu minds because he used to play Sri Krishna in most of the movies. Nowadays they don't make those kind of movies much anymore but once in a while good movies on various Bhaktas come out such as the one on Annamacharya and the recent one on Bhakta Ramadasu (different from Samarth Ramdas), both of them (especially the first one) turned out to be super hits.

Coming to Tamil, I watch them when they have English subtitles (not a lot though), the one that I thought was good was "Kannathil Muthamittal" (Amrutha in Telugu) about the conflict in Srilanka and of course Roja (there is also a Telugu version).

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Judge to probe allegations by Bipasha
link
George Joseph in New York
August 15, 2006 21:50 IST
Last Updated: August 15, 2006 22:32 IST

Indian Business Association, which organized the India Day Parade in Edison, New Jersey on August 13, has instituted an inquiry about allegations of harassment by actress Bipasha Basu.

Heading the Committee is Judge Richard Plechner; a former Superior Court Judge with decades of experience with the US Legal System. Others in the panel are Smita (Micky) Patel, a local philanthropist who also teaches dance to New Jersey children, and Jyotindra Patel, chairman Board of Trustees of Gandhi Temple.

The investigation committee is independent of the IBA and has been given expansive power to investigate the matter in a comprehensive manner, a statement by IBA said.

"No time frame is stipulated to conclude the investigation," Satish Poondi, a spokesperson of IBA said, adding, however, that the IBA expected it to be done at the earliest.

He said Bipasha had not made any formal complaint to the organization. But other sources said that she had hired an attorney in the United States, though she has not filed any complaint with the police so far.

'The Indian Business Association takes the allegations made by very seriously. As an Association with over 15 years of experience representing the community and fighting for the community, the IBA announced within hours of Bipasha's allegations that it would appoint an independent investigation board to review all facts and conduct a comprehensive investigation,' the statement said.

Unconfirmed reports said that Bipasha claimed that she was harassed in the car for three and a half hours. But those close to the accused denied the allegations stating that Bipasha was angry right from the moment she got into the limousine.

The movie star was scheduled to lead the parade through Oak Tree Road, a centre of Indian businesses, as Grand Marshall. But she did not turn up for the parade, which started at 3 pm. The organisers said she would join at the stage at the end of the parade, which was led by Edison Mayor Jun Choi, Congressman Frank Pallone, Woodbridge Mayor Joseph Vitale and others.

Before the parade reached the venue near Middlesex Avenue in Iselin, New Jersey, Bipasha appeared on stage and accused the two organizers of harassing her physically and mentally.

<b>"I wanted to attend the parade, but I could not," she said, adding that she was harassed physically and mentally in the car by two people who were taking her to the parade. The actress noted that she could not turn up for the parade after the bitter experience. "The event is to celebrate Independence Day of not only men but women also," she said.

At this point, one of the organisers intervened, and she stopped speaking. "See, they do not even want me to speak the truth," she said, leaving the stage in protest</b>.

<b>Poondi earlier said that Bipasha had breached the contract with the Indian Business Association. According to the contract, she was to attend the programmes on time. "She came two hours late for the programme organised on Saturday night and did not turn up for the parade," Poondi said.</b>

Bipasha, who arrived in the United States on Saturday, left New York after the incident. She could not be contacted.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Looks like attention seeker or just for publicity.
They should stop inviting these third rated scums.