Taare Zameen Par

Another amazing movie by Aamir Khan, hats off to him. It was very touching, moving and heart-wrenching experience. The boy who played the part of Ishaan, Darsheel Safary was simply great. His expressions were so real and his face so innocent but at the same time mischievous. When Aamir mentioned this boy is going to steal the show from him, in his promotional appearance on TV he was so right. A great find with a bright future. Also an amazing lineup of stars with superb performances. The mother played by Tisca was a very lovable character. Her relationship with Ishaan was very beautifully depicted. The song played when she leaves him behind at the boarding school "Main andhere se darta hoon Maa" brought tears to my eyes. Also the over ambitious father was played pretty convincingly too. His boarding school pal and his supportive brother were good too. All in all Aamir shows his directorial talents.

The movie is an awakening for the over ambitious parents and teachers who expect nothing less than top grades from the young ones. With parents pushing for doctors and engineers in most Indian households this movie is so right on the dot. The message conveyed of letting children follow their dreams and treating them as special was very noble. Actually it reminds me of the Montessori school principle which was developed by Dr Montessori based on her learning’s from teaching mentally challenged kids. The principle emphasizes on letting children learn at their pace as well as driving them towards their interests. Every child is different and should be respected for being so. Most schools these days try to groom kids all in the same way as if they were units produced in a factory. I could hear so many people reminiscing their strict childhood teachers and school days in the interval. It was just such a true depiction of the competitive world of young children today.

I would highly recommend it. A 4 starrer!.

Aaja Nachle

Yesterday we decided to celebrate our anniversary desi style. We went to see Aaja Nachle as we both like Madhuri and my husband would just not agree to see Saawariya :-). Overall a good movie I enjoyed it. Madhuri looks pretty stunning in her blue ghaghara in the title song. Sometimes you can see the age but mostly she looks good. She plays a dance teacher from NY who comes back to India to revive a dying theatre. The songs are pretty hummable. Kunal Kapoor looks awesome as he always does to me. Konkana Sen's acting is good , but I would have preferred a little more good looking laila against Kunal. Also a pretty good lineup of supporting stars too like Akshaya Khanna, Mukherji lady (kitty from karamchand fame), Divya Dutta and Irfan are all good. All in all a 3 starrer. If you are a Madhuri fan you should watch it.

Mumbai Salsa

This movie is about 3 couples living in mumbai that end up meeting at a salsa club. The cultural picture painted was sometimes alien. But then metro's like mumbai are closest in aping the west so I shouldn't be surprised. No familiar faces in this one all new stars. I was hoping to see some good salsa numbers but there was just 1 or 2 small ones nothing great. The movie is definitely a dvd watch. I would give it 2 1/2 stars

Om Shanti Om

We truly had a happy diwali! yesterday, watching om shanti om starring Shahrukh and Deepika Padukone. The show was house full as expected. Folks were dressed in diwali wear even the guys showed up in silk kurtas. We stood in a long line for about 30 min to get in. People were really enthused it was difficult to keep them out, we entered the theatre even before the previous show had exited. :-). Which was fun! The movie started with Rishi Kapoor's song om shanti om and the whole theatre was humming along. Now I understand why movies are released during Diwali

The movie was a funny spoof spanning the 60's and 90's. If you are a bollywood trivia fan like me you will totally enjoy it. I am sure some of the funny dialogs will be reminisced in party jokes to come. Actually I think I like Shahrukh more in a comic role than any of his other stupid ventures. Deepika was sweet but could have had a longer role. Vishal and shekhar's music was great. Vishal even got to play a small role. Overall I would give this 3 and half stars. I am even leaning towards to a 4 considering the diwali timing and the fun we had yesterday. Its a must watch! Good job Farah.

Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa

This bollywood version of Dancing with the Stars helps cater to my bolly dance addiction. With some odd pairs and funky new people this year, it has kept my interest. What is sad about the bolly one are the costumes though. They simply dont live up the mark and sometimes make a really good performance not so good. Also the dance moves lack the agility and finesse sometimes of their western counterparts. I guess we have more work to do on our sambas and rumbas.But then there is always the bollywood masala which makes up for the flaws :-). Like the occasional appearance of the stars. like the new duo sonam and ranbir. The madness of Mika, who is obnoxious. Negi's simple and adorable dance and Cyrus' total bakwas. My favourite here was Mini Mathur but she was ousted too soon :-(. If I had to choose one now it would be Prachi.

But to my dismay she was dismissed too. Now my only hope is that she might come back in the wild card entry. Finally mika left. Urmila's reaction to his comments were pretty funny though. Will be voting for prachi.

Johnny Gaddar

This saturday after a great time pass day with our friends we started to see Johnny Gaddar at 11:30 PM. I had a hard time keeping awake. It was hard for me to decide if it was the late night or just the movie itself. The hype surrounding the movie did not live up to my expectations. Some of my friends had a different view point though. It has a pretty predictable plot inspired by the amitabh thriller parwana. Though predictable still mananged to keep everyones attention watching it :-). I have to admit though it was a well made movie, all characters gave a good performance. A well planned plot that kept going wrong at each point. Keeps you thinking how will it all end, what will happen next. I would give it a 3 stars. Definitely worth the watch for the effort put in to make it a different movie. Makes it a good dvd watch.

Bhool Bhulaiya

Also this weeks bollywood shot was truly the new movie Bhool Bhulaiya starring Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan directed by Priyadarshan. I would give it 3 and half stars. I liked the movie. Had a good laugh and a scare both at the same time. The song "Hare Krishna Hare Ram" is my new favourite to boogie on. The palace in which most of the movie is shot in was pretty beautiful, wonder where in India it was from?. Akshay was funny. Paresh Rawal and the lady who played his wife stole the show though!. Vidya Balan was good but did overact in some scenes. Amisha patel was convincing. I think I liked Shiny Ahuja more in his other movies.

I also wanted to see "Laga Chunari me daag" but was discouraged by the bad reviews and my husband.

Sa re ga ma - Oct 13 2007

I managed to wake up early this weekend to catch the sa re ga ma finals my favorite tv program. It was a good show. I was sad that Raja my favorite did not win. Looks like the votes always goes to folks from assam and bengal like last year with debojit. Nevertheless all the singers were excellent this year. i was happy that they gave the girl winner poonam a car too. Looks like next week Sonu Nigam is going to join the show should be interesting.

My inspiration

Growing up in India and in a family hooked on to hindi movies. Be it my cousins from IIT who perfected their studies both in academics and bollywood masala, or my mom who always has her pulse on the bolly gossip. I too am totally hooked and crave my bollywood shot every once in a while. Be it my favourite hindi movies, or the tv music shows like sa re ga ma or the bolly aerobics dance classes I just joined, I am a total bollywood buff. My husband knows he can make my day when he offers to take me to the local hindi cinema here in the US. What would be more fun but to write about them in my blog.