Senselessness in 7aum Arivu

SPOILERS, though nothing too bad…

Embedded somewhere in A.R. Murugadoss’ 7aum Arviu is a film deeply interested in communicating the importance of preserving cultural history and memory, an all the more resonant gesture because this is the director’s followup to a movie entirely focused on the unshakable persistence of memory—2008′s Ghajini. Unfortunately getting to that noble gesture is a somewhat trying task, buried as it is underneath an often predictable and overlong narrative that in its most problematic moments ventures rather deeply into troubling, even downright offensive terrain.

Manto on Ashok Kumar (OPEN Magazine, Oct. 20-26, 2011)

[This is a must-read for all those interested in, not just Hindi cinema, but Indian popular culture: an essay by arguably the most lauded (in our day; in his, the most controversial) Urdu prose writer of the twentieth century) on the first male numero uno of the Hindi industry. The reference to the "village" of Malad (now, very much one of Bombay's mall-istans) is itself tremendously evocative. -- Qalandar]

When Najmul Hasan ran off with Devika Rani, all of Bombay Talkies was in turmoil. The film they were making had gone on the floor and some scenes had already been shot. However, Najmul Hasan had decided to pull the leading lady out of the celluloid world into the real one. The worst affected and the most worried man at Bombay Talkies was Himanshu Rai, Devika Rani’s husband and the heart and soul of the company.

S Mukherjee, Ashok Kumar’s brother-in-law, who was to make several hit movies in the years to come, was at that time sound engineer Savak Vacha’s assistant.

Ro.one.y recommends Ra.one

Ra.one reminds you B grade popsoda flicks that just fizzles out, and non application of mind at its best, but the reason is its purely a kiddo flick, and as i am no longer a kiddo, i may not understabd whether its well made on that front!

Ambition is there to be seen but with intelligence far worst than that of Krish, though vfx are better.

Also potholes are far worst than roads of madhya pradesh, but that isnt a compliment.

IT ALSO reminds one of generation of series like POWER RANGERS, REMBRANDT, MORTAL KOMBAT like fighting and structure, also ofcourse TRON, but fact remains the origin story in KRISH is far superior!!

Mission Impossible trailers (updated)

Ra One London & Dubai premieres (updated)

Hugo trailers (updated)

Immortals trailers

Ra One trailers (3) (updated with the Rajni cameo!)

once again the older thread was getting too unwieldy…

Ra One and nothing else at the box office!

last week’s thread

Images from Khiladi 786

Cultural Exchange: The action hero comes to Bollywood (Anupama Chopra in the LA Times)

LINK


Early in the Bollywood film “Bodyguard,” leading man Salman Khan performs what is arguably the world’s first muscle dance. That is, wearing a sleeveless denim jacket, he glares into the camera and flexes his biceps to the beat of the song. In case you miss the point of the pulsating brawn, the lyrics of the song noisily declare that the Bodyguard is the hottest and toughest man in town. After which, the story of his extremely convoluted love affair with the lady he is guarding proceeds.

Images from 7 Aum Arivu (updated)

Images from Ra One (updated)

Bombay Dyeing ad (1984) with Ardhendu Bose (updated)

thanks to Nitin Kumar..

Aamir Khan’s TV debut

LINK
thanks to Prateek for the video..
VIDEO BEGINS AROUND 18:30 mark

Aamir Khan is the latest Bollywood superstar to debut on the small screen as a talk show host. The actor will anchor a show based on social issues on Star Plus from early next year. “The show is about India and real life stories… stories of common people…real people. I am sure people will connect with the show. It is not a fiction show. One can call it a talk show,” Aamir told reporters here today.

Sherlock Holmes 2 — Game of Shadows trailers (updated)

Is Bollywood out of ideas?

Is Bollywood out of ideas?
By: Divya Unny
Most films announced recently are either sequels or remakes. Is Bollywood going through the lowest phase as far as originality is concerned?
It is said that it’s better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. Obviously not everyone from Bollywood agrees.

read more

Flowers of War trailer

Last down-memory trip before boarding the metro to future

Courtesy :Bangaloremirror.com

Plaza, #18, South Parade, Bangalore — 560001. That address harks back to an era most neo-Bangaloreans would be unfamiliar with. It was a period when watching films was a rarity, when English soldiers used to waltz on the wooden-floor ballroom at the Plaza Theatre, when hard drinks were served to patrons who came to watch movies there…

As 70-year-old A K Ananth Narrain, who has seen the South Parade transform into M G Road, skims through old property documents of this address and goes over black-and-white photos of a bygone era, he fondly remembers how The Ten Commandments, an epic film dramatising the biblical story of the Exodus, ran for 41 weeks. Today, as Namma Metro rolls into the MG Road station for which Plaza Theatre was acquired, the family gets nostalgic but has no regrets.

Saif Ali Khan, the new Nawab of Pataudi

LINK

Saif Ali Khan will soon be crowned the tenth Nawab of Pataudi. Following his father Mansoor Ali Khan’s death on September 22, 2011, Saif, in keeping with tradition, will become the head of the princely Pataudi state in Haryana.

A source revealed, “The people of the princely state were keen to crown their chhote nawab. Princely states were abolished in 1971, and Mansoor Ali Khan was the last Nawab who reigned from 1952 till 1971. For purely sentimental reasons, the people of Pataudi wanted Saif to be the crowned Nawab.”