The Filmi Nationalism Years: Masala Poetry

I thought to myself today, when i was tidying up my exercise books from high school, and found a pattern. Masala or filminess was in my veins, and in my writing, I couldn't help but say to my friends, "Ya know isn't Vijay the Vigilante such a confusing anti-hero?" or "OMG i love Saira Banu's print dresses in this film!"
My friends got used to these blurted out utterings as it was part of my BollyHollymusicalitis. Many stays over at my house, they all were converted to Bollywoodism, in my grade 12 year I attempted to make a short film that naturally was all Bollywood, I wrote the silly script which was soo convoluted and abound in cliches. This film was a fluke as I got lazy, actors were unavailable, but mostly I got lazy.
But my filmi nationalism continued to come out in my Creative Writing class which I got my first consecutive A for each of the three terms! Alas filmi nationalism didnt extend to science and maths which I was terrible at! To put all this rambling to a stop, here is some of the filmi poems that I wrote back then! They are horrendously cheeesy and not that great, but i couldn't not post my silly years!

The Burning Train
Funky music, the buuurrrrning traainn, coos Asha
On this Super Express to somewhere
3 heroes, destinies intertwined on this blazing train
One clad in a Travolta suit, following the heiress
Gold jewels and gem of a girl, he wants
A handsome rogue, clap goes his energetic hands
Drumming on his knees and between the aisles,
What a handsome rogue is he
Here he comes, cigarrette dangling, ooff go the women on the train
Who is he? A macho man, lovesick by his unfaithful wife
Passengers he charms, children he saves, and women swoon for him
Admonishing the villain, youuuu son of a baastarrdd
Speaking in english, he commands the audience with laughter
Dharam gets garam, running through fire to save all
The train is blazing and burning, only an intelligent hero can help
Bellbottom clad, with swagger in walk and knowlegable talk
Vinod, explain what to do, save your son on the fuming train
Three heroes unite in silver suits warring against fire
Useless servants that left gas on, the cause of this catastrophe
Silver suits kick away at the villain
Falling to his death on the traintracks
Hugs, and chest hugs returned as the Super Xpress burns away
Women swoon in thanks, men gruffly congratulate
Thank you our sexy silver suited saviours!

(OMG I actually wrote this rotten piece, I had a far more eloquent other poem on The Burning Train but couldn't find it today! I will find it if it kills me, this poem is awfully bad, but hilariously terrible too. I just recited the whole storyline!)

Pantoum
Dark hair glistening and blowing in the wind
Her arms outspread in the field
Golden ghungroos stamping at the earth,
She spins like a delicate cotton wheel (crossed out was cow bell, how ddlj!)

Her arms outspread in the field
A name she whispers to the air

She spins like a delicate cotton wheel

Bring me my Saawariya

A name she whispers to the air

Each moment of effort makes her pant

Bring me my Saawariya

Her dance is felt across his town of blue

Each moment of effort makes her pant

The feet marching to her heartbeat

Her dance is felt across his town of blue

Even in his cold heart, saregama warms his heart (LOLOL Saregama!)

The feet marching to her heartbeat

Dark hair glistening and blowing in the wind

Even felt in his cold heart, saregama warms his heart

Golden anklets stamping at the earth

(This pantoum is where you repeat lines in different stanzas, its pretty cheesy I wrote it quickly in spare block before this, and maybe it helped that I'd seen Saawariya the previous night as part of my birthday along with Om Shanti Om! Its a role reversal here, that nasty Sonam is asking for Ranbir's love in that blue town!)

Things That Won't Happen Today

A huge cloud comes over the school and it hails

A miraculous announcement of a snow day

Gene Kelly dancing around lamposts with me

English teacher gives his fellow Englishwoman an A

Shahrukh Khan bursting into this class, and carrying me away

The boy I like to jump to his knees, singing a disco qawalli of his love

That my friends would be silenced with a "Door Hojao mere nazron se" (Lol i guess i watched Shaan that night!)

A hangover will evaporate from my head

That someone athletic like Hritik will complete my Pe hours for me

The school will present a Bollywood tribute to me at graduation

My camera will come in the post

Like Gulzar, I'll master films and all poetry

Ranbir Kapoor will come to school in his bathrobe and I'm in one too!

That I get asked to prom (I did and he sucked)

Ranbir does a happy dance when i say I love you forever, unlike Sonam!

(I quite like this one, again this November 07, and I'd just seen Saawariya and was besotted by Ranbir Kapoor, and disgruntled at the ending of the film, but more importantly and more teenagerly I squealed when we saw his BUM, as did the ton of aunties in front and my mum gave me a withering look!)

A Sonnet: Dirty!

The rain dripping, clothes dropping to the floor

Bodies sway together in the moonlight

Hands moving up a sinewy surface with no fight

A roaming finger sends current to every pore

One body hides from the other in the dark,

An arm catching a time for a caress

Lips on lovers' cheek, leaving sparks

A feeling the mind needs to posess

The mouth calling for a name

Unspoken words, silenced by pleasures

The faceoff begins, circling eachother, let's start the game

A voice on the neck, something to treasure

A halki saas, say it softly, say it
Words form, 3 magical words, just admit it

(When i read this again, I went Hai Ram, Chi Chi, like Lalita Pawar would as a villainess, its pretty okay, it was inspired by the hilariously quick sex scene in Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. It was shocking to me as it was "OMG SRK, SEX, EEEEEEEE" moment for me! How teenagerly and hormonal I was back then, not say i don't have the same reaction when i see Dard-E-Disco where its "OMG, SRK, WATER, ABS, EEEEEE!" Love my teacher who gave me 4/5 despite the terrible rhyming scheme!

7 Ways to Spot Devdas
The sea is his drink
Cleaning his dhoti, sipping the poison from the bottle
Chanting the last rites of his soul
Proclaiming the only name, he knew

The courtesan performing her mujra
Ghungroos stamping, arms flailing
Blood dripping, alcohol sipping
Death approaching him by the gutter

Creeping into the dark night
Laying her life at his feet
He turns away, ashamed
And into Kolkatta he runs

In a place of filth, a prince lies
Escaping his soul mate
A love so true can’t be found again
He is my Dev-da

Her breaths are his
Her heart is his
Her pride is his
Her devotion to her diya
His death is hers

Where is she?
Where is Paro?
Where can I find her?
Will she love me?
Can I say sorry to her?
Of course
All in this bottle

Three breaths left in him
Among the filth he lives
Lying on this marble floor
Two breaths left in him
Ohh why wait till now for the truth?
An arm baring his identity
His heart bears only one name
One breath left
Paro...

(I think this is one of my favorites or even best, I don't know its one of the poems on the same subject and I guess I must have watched the new Devdas and the old one to write this. It was a companion piece to my Saratchandra project where I wore a silly dhoti and acted like a drunk Sarat!)

Coconuts
Am I a coconut?

In the middle of the fence is a coconut
Too much, rock music and grungy looks
Too little Lata, Asha, Usha playing
Sooo many boys leaving my room
Sooo few Indian ones?
Small sneakouts to curfew breaking parties
Small meetings with good Southall girls
Less Saira Banu eyeliner or mini skirts
Less kurtas and lenghas are worn
Always with a gang of goras
Always ignoring your own kind

Which side will it fall, the mud or the sugar
More gym going, diet watching
More ladoos and gulab jamuns to be eaten
Ample breasts to be stared at
Ample time to buy turtlenecks
Few good reports from school
Few C-‘s and D’s on the destiny deciding paper
Big cars, Bhangra blaring, bass jumping
Big beemers, crackly Sunrise radio
Fat arms, bigger than your average
Fat chance of fitting in this sari blouse
Wads of cash from the job at Boots
Wads of cash could come from Auntyji’s newsagent

The coconut still on the fence, where to go?
Lots of mobiles, texting the mates, sending saucy pictures
Lots of Auntyji’s checking the dowry rates
Legions of boys asking for snogs in the parks
Legions of men viewing wife material
Tons of concerts, dancing among the vibrations
Tons of drunken uncles singing with no hesitation
Many drunken nights of haze and fun
Many days till you can have Shivas Regal
Gobs full with sweets and paan on birthdays
Gobs shoved with cake, hand fed from everyone in the room

Not in the mud, the sugar won’t recognize it
Mass numbers of people gathered at the bar
Mass numbers in year 12 Calculus
Many a body piercing and tattoo adorned in secret places
Many a look of shame from Auntyji’s in the street
Excess assimilation into the Western world
Excess traditions of the Eastern world
A lot of happiness in arty jobs
A lot of smug cousins in science, look with disdain
Hordes of whistling and whooping boys
Hordes of uncleji’s giving winks and pinches

Not in the sugar, the mud would shun it
Heaps of time to travel the world
Heaps of time in uni to be a lawyer doctor newsagent!
Loads of club hopping, bhangra gig going
Loads of intelligent books to be read
Only Bollywood films being researched
Only one facet of your Indianess
Coconuts under palm trees, on an Ibiza beach
Coconuts smashed to mark arrivals at doors
Coconuts at every doorstepCoconuts sitting on walls, forever in mud and in sugar

(I love this one, it was published in an anthology as well as a terrible piece on travelling in India, which is just godawful that I can't post it! But a coconut is what i felt I was during my "who am i?" phase of introspection! Lol it didnt last too long but I love this poem as it combines all my influences of London and India and not fitting in either culture~But like Chaplin said "I'm an internationalist!"

Classic Poem: Villanelle
Define skinny, define big, define plus size
Dirty looks, snide whispers, cruel laughter
Your perception is every girl’s demise

Magazines shoved in my face, that is you
I am normal, just bigger than the average
Define skinny, define big, define plus size

Why am I scorned and given that look
Because I am big, chunky, buxom, fat?
Your perception is every girl’s demise

Flabby arms, big breasts, wide hips, jiggly thighs
Must I be a size zero to look sexy, fit in any clothes?
Define skinny, define big, define plus size

Sizes don’t matter, it’s the feeling of sexy, the feeling of beautiful
A look of amazement and shock from boys and spectators
Your perception is every girl’s demise

I am sexy and beautiful revelling in my bigness
Words are just words; fat is just a word not my label
Your perception is every girl’s demise
Define skinny, define big, and define plus size

(Lol I don't wanna hammer it in everybody's head what I feel about the size zero fad, but trust me this was written before my ire grew for the new phase in Bollywood. This was written when I watched soo many old films where the heroines were bigger and bountiful and BEAUTIFUL, and it made me feel a bit happier about myself. I love it and its my uplifting poem!)

Hope you liked these cheezy and filmi nationalist poems I wrote in youth! Keep voting for your favorite Satan, it looks like a certain shaitaan in Pran will be the Satan of the Paradise lost Production here at the Masala Pradesh!

Jai Filmi Secret Santa-ji Jai!

I love this Filmi-Secret Santa in the Bolly blogosphere, as I'm a lazy girl I thought I'd post all my presents from my Secret Santa all in one go, and may i say whoever you are "I Luuve Youuuu" (this shouted in a hilarious Ranbir Kapoor way, like the end of Wake Up Sid)

My Secret Santa-Ji seems to know my tastes very well as my excellent first gift was:
AWWW SHEROOO, My Santa-ji also wrote out a lovely ditty of "Santa Sheroo" as sung to "Santa Baby":
Santa Sheroo
You save babies and, that's not all
You are oh so brave, and come at a call
Santa Sheroo, help the filmi fans tonight
Santa Sheroo
Could you fly some prezzies up Vancouver way?
Shiny costumes that swing and sway
Santa Sheroo, help the filmi fans tonight
Think of all the swag yet to send
Think of the films that never end
This year we'll try to do it right
So next year we can try again
Santa Sheroo
These bloggers aren't as troublesome as some
you see.
The filmi bloggers just dig you and Bolly
So, deliver love to filmi fans tonight!

On the second day my gift was this hilarious nugget:

With the little cap saying:

Masala villains arrive in Vancouver, prepared for nefarious doings. They are charmed by the decorations at the botanical gardens. Their hearts are warmed. Evil doing will have to wait another day.

My third gift was nicely tied in to my ANil pyar:

"Anil celebrates the lack of evil doing with the citizenry of Vancouver" Santa-ji~

My fourth gift was a fun cap of Bhaiyaji from that arguable classic Tashan:My fifth gift was an excellent cap of Dharam-Veer:

"Newly found footage proves Beth right about only the TARDIS could be responsible for the wackiness of Dharam Veer" Lol santa-ji how lovely that screencap is!

And my other gifts I'm having some trouble uploading some of them, hope you all enjoy these wonderful masala gifts! And don't forget to vote on who Satan should be in the Masala Pradesh Production of Paradise Lost, in the poll to the side!

Annual Bakwaas List of 2009: Pie Inducements and Ire-boiling films!

Yes its that time of the year again, the most dreaded list is back with a ire-filled bang! There were a lot of films I didnt like this year, some of them were mostly oldies, some were classics and new films from 2009. I encourage all of you to do a list of your faves of the year and a nice pile of hate in the bakwaas list too, it lets out some pent up energy! If this turns into spewing of hate and swearing then do excuse me if you can, because i've built a masala loving shield anything idiotically masala doesnt go in Masala Pradesh! 1. Dhool Ka Phool - "SEX IS BAD" bakwaas
This maybe some sort of a classic because it introduced Yash Chopra to Bollywood but UGHHH he couldn't have chosen a more message movie than this one! Perhaps his bhai BR Chopra convinced him to do a socially relevant film but it was soo bad! It introduced the whole 60's film about unwed mothers and deadbeat dads and sex that was such a PAAP! NAHIII screeches Mala Sinha when she gets pregnant, well duhhh you silly fool why would you do it when its raining and you so obviously need to go to that secluded greenhouse with your hot yet very pancaked up boyfriend Rajendra Kumar! I just didnt like the two lovers as they kept blaming each other for commiting the bad deed as if it anyone's fault and the terrible act she does later by ditching her son in a windy forrest! I hated this film, it annoyed me so much with its treatment of sex and the poor Sujit Kumar who was the "paap bachha" of this whole film was a mistake at the beginning and then gets his maa back when he was much happier with a cute and wise Manmohan Krishna! I think Sujit is gonna have to join the Masala Youth - Filmi Baccha Orphanage!2. Kambakht Ishq - "Did Akki actually do this?"bakwaas

I'm a bit conflicted about this one as I watched it on the plane and hooted with incredulous laughter as the film went from bad to worse to rubbish, but I remind myself now i was heavily medicated on sweets and chocolate. I watched on the way home in a sober way, and I was so upset that two respectable actors Kareena and my FAVE Akshay would want to star in something sooo bakwaas. I can appreciate lowbrow comedy, hell Paying Guests and Shortkut I enjoyed, but something about this film really irked me. True the film has the Bebo song which I hum along to sometimes and the RDB version of Om Mangalam, but grrrrrr Kareena's character was such a "bitch" as Akki calls her repeatedly, there's no reason to break Akki's heart if you were in bed with him the next day, after putting an injection in him to operate on him, grrrrr what an idiot doctor! Maybe I'm taking it too literally but it just sucked!

3. Ek Phool Do Mali - "Deadbeat Dads" bakwaas

I think it might be a habit I've gotten into to watching frustrating 60's films, with 'sex is bad' messages with deadbeat dads played by the heroes. In this film Sadhana plays a gaon ki chori, who meets the city boy Sanjay Khan, and they have a silly courtship where he stalks her in the field after she takes his cricket ball, its supposed to be "awwww" but its just a bit "urrrm..hi sanjay, hanging outside my house again?" She eventually gives into his stalking love, I think i watched this film as a turning in my film watching where stalking isnt soo cute after all, well its cute if they both reciprocate and its presented cutely but here Sanjay ingratiates himself in her house and with her maa. Naturally there has to be sexy time, this comes after the only fab song where Sadhana dances in her tribal outfit. And as a deadbeat dad, Sanjay buggers off to go to war and leaves Sadhana behind who SHOCK!HORROR is gonna be a maa, her family are sick and tired of waiting and some good news is that Sanjay's dead! Enter second banana role for a poor Balraj Sahni who's a man who's always wanted children and it gets worse when a message-laden song about the joys of being a father, and how kids are soo necessary! I almost remembered the Monty Python song "Every Sperm is Sacred" when that was sung, Balraj is tormented by this and so was I! Dont watch this, because if you don't want kids then you won't appreciate a "Kids are so Necessary" song!

4. Satyam Shivam Sundaram - "See-through Saris" Bakwaas
I recently did a humungo essay on the Raju films of Raj Kapoor, and while reading his biography by daughter Ritu Nanda, I was struck by how heartfelt and earnest his filmmaking thought process. I know RK was a bit of a shit to the women in his life and a gluttonous man, but I love him all the same. He was blobby, womanizing, flawed, human, and a wonderful director, but when I saw SSS at 16 I went, "WOAH you can see her boobs in that sari, Hummma, look she is in a waterfall! Hai Hai, Chi Chi!" and after reading about his complaints about this film of how he wasn't exploiting her Zeenat's gorgeous boobs and figure for his profit, I didn't believe him. There are so many books I've read where he has said "Let them come to see Zeenat's t**s" alas I'm rambling but i HATED this film! It was supposed to be a sort of Shakuntala tale, where the ass like Shashi rejects her baby and etc = gives her hell, but it just felt porno-like to me. And i never thought i could feel like throwing a pie at Shashi but i do, it was just painful to watch and the way he mistreats the poor Zeenat made me so mad! And the above cap made me hoot with laughter sometimes when i look in the mirror I think of Shashi's ovvvverrrr melodramatic Nahiiiiiiiiiii when he sees his ugliness in circus mirror, lol i felt like saying "your not that Ugly, Shashi! But you sure act ugly!" In my closing arguement: Look in the mirror and imagine a NAHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII~

5. Jail - "Cliches in the lockup" bakwaas
I wanted to like this film, especially because I love Madhur Bhandarkar's explosive reveals of different parts of society as I loved Traffic Signal, Page 3, Fashion, and Chandni Bar but this started off well. There was that controversial nude scene that Neil dropped his kit off for, maybe they shouldn't have censored that part because when watching this I laughed out loud as a huge box with mega pixels tried to hide his area! Not very good censoring, or maybe I have a gripe with the censor board! But it started off well, telling how Neil ended up in the jail, and his unease into fitting in, but then it veered into Cliche land, with the gangster-played wonderfully by Arya Babbar, who looks n sounds like Suniel Shetty- the gay guys, the nice guy, the poet, the various prisoners are not characterized well and they have just a quirk like I've named above. And the nice prisoner, played by Manoj Bajpai starts turning into a Shawshank tale as he observes Neil, come on Madhur! There's tons of material he could have used to highlight about Jails in India, but what most annoyed me was there was far toooo much voiceover from Manoj, and too many scenes where we see court-scenes play out but with no talking(lol i sound like a dumbo right here) but if your gonna put Atul Kulkarni as Neil's lawyer I want him to speak dammit! Neil was wonderful in this but in the solitary confinement scene would he really be going crazy on day 2! I dont thinks so!

6. Devdas - "Over opulence" bakwaas

I remember watching this in London, I was in a huff with my mum who wouldnt buy me sweets to eat during the film, so I sat away from her and watched this 3 hour epic, and I really needed sweets for this! A few years, later I had my sweets and sat down to brainwash my friends with the Devdas tragedy, they loved it and were in awe of the songs and beauty of it, but even with sweets this was still a crap film. I watched it again a few days ago, I can see why it appeals to filmi fans as a first time film or as a Bollywood film, it works it has dancing, singing, ennui, and a love story. It just didn't work for me, and this is coming from a crazy filmi gal who did a whole project on Sarat Chandra's novels during my filmi nationalism phase in high school! Lol I remember my project where we had to act as the author and explain their life and books, I was a pagali who dressed in a silly version of a dhoti and acted as a drunk like Saratchandra/Devdas! SORRY i digress as usual, but this film just overdid the opulence and lost the story for me, Paro in this film is shown as slightly more immature with her attachments to Devdas, the sting of rejection for her was not shown properly for her and though SRK performance was good, it made Devdas into a drippy wet hero that I didnt feel sympathy like i did with Abhay or Dilip's portrayal. Madhuri was excellent in a role that was her swansong unless she comes back again with the Indira Gandhi biopic which doesn't look likely. Alas this film was sometimes an assault on the eyes with the sets, houses (how can you tell if Paro is lowlier than Dev if there homes are that jumbo), and costumes. It was bakwaas for me, because it just was too much of one thing that diminished the storyline

7. Aan - "Reiterating the Rubbish" bakwaas

Yes, this a scandalous film to hate, I may be kicked out of film criticism school with this opinion but Aan which is regarded as a fine classic, a merging of the Hollywood swashbuckler with the Indian musical. But like I said in my non-objective masala mini reviews post, it doesn't click with me, I just dont like Nadira or Nimmi in this film. They are both very competent actresses, maybe Nadira less so as she relies on her facial expressions tooooo much! Dilip was okay in this but he seemed out of his depth as I bet he wanted to find some sadness in the swashbuckler he played coz he was just loud and floundering, and Nimmi UGHHH soo annoying with her chattering and acting. LOL atleast there was a scene where her hair was all puffy and she looked like me after i wash my hair! Nadira was just annoying and i reiterate my silent movie expressions that i use in everyday life come from her and Harpo Marx, nothing wrong with bulging your eyes out when Dilip says something impertinent to the princess, but to do that in every scene and scowl its just rubbish. If Nargis hadn't been involved with RK and done this role that Mehboob Khan offered her then it might have made the film easier watching for me! All in all this sucked I wasn't impressed, lovely sets and new introduction to Technicolour didnt make me sway! Sorry Bollywood film history, this is one film i cant watch!

Masala Honourable Mention - A Good film, panned by silly critics!

8. Chandni Chowk 2 China - Happy-Inducement!

There is something wonderful about this movie, many people may say "Rum what the hell you sayin?" Well I dont care what people say, this film is soooo not the Worst Film of the Year, I think that goes to the above and Shortkut, which unfortunately was produced by My ANil! But I think this film goes on my best of the year as its self-referential, cute, innovative and AKKKIII! I think this has been the year of Akki, though this, and Tasveer flopped, I could watch Akki read out of the phonebook and i would still pay my limited budget on that. I watched this a few days ago, it was just a happy-inducing movie, I loved the kung fu and the continuous references to even Lust, Caution and the funny scene where Akki dances to his own song with Ranvir Shorey, or when he dances to Salaam-E-Ishq in a cute Rekha style! It was fun, I didnt expect a Pyaasa from it, it was just a cute film that entertained me, and the critics in the media went overboard in their hate, its not THAAAT bad, I mean Yuvvraaj was THAAAT bad! It was amazing to see the great Gordon Liu showcasing his kung fu as Hojo, its crazy they got him in a Bollywood film, after Bruce Lee, and Sonny Chiba he's up there for great martial-arts guys I mean even Quentin Tarantino put him in the Kill Bill films! This was a great film, not path-breaking and it didn't claim to be, but I was happy and entertained and I got my money's worth for this!

Hoped you liked the list, its a bit small as I didn't watch too many films this year, and the ones I did watch were good! The next post think will be a Masala Pradesh Production of Paradise Lost, a fantastical version written by me! Who could be Satan, Adam, Eve, God??

Masala Pradesh's Best of 2009 or Films I liked this year!

As leader of the Masala Pradesh, I have neglected my duties in masala consumption and awareness as I missed the long lost brothers/sisters/cousins/hamsters, the vengeful Vijay's, the miraculous cures from blindness/ugliness/and otherness. I have been watching the classics this year and the news films that were out, and it was a very good year for Bollywood atleast for me, lots of Akshay, lots of fun broad comedy, some comebacks, and some blehhh.... But here is the some of the best that I've seen this year, and the worst gets its own post next week as the Annual Backwass list is coming up! Get ready for the pie inducements, but here are some happy-inducements!

5. Kaminey - Yup, I loved this film. It was so fresh and different from what Vishal Bhardwaj usually does which is Shakespeare or his music, but this film was not Tarantino as QT(lol like the robot from Love Story 2050!) makes films to impress himself and me with his filmic references and cracking dialogue which is his own style. Whereas Kaminey has a windy plot that relies on dialogue to develop the characters of Guddu and Charlie, and the action is cool and stylish too.

And it has a masala-ish plot that I approve of: 2 estranged bhai's and some bag of money! The chemistry between Priyanka and Shahid is cute and they look good together and they both turned out great performances. Especially Shahid who I did write off for a while as he did impress me in Jab We Met but didnt do much after to make me go WOW, but this movie put him in the big league.
4. Luck By Chance - Loved it, this was the most satisfying films I've seen this year though it paints a harsh portrayal of the film world and its driven hero, its not a scathing Sunset Boulevard, but it comes close to it. It observes, thinks, and lets us pass judgement on the characters who are fuelled by many things to be on top. Farhan Akhtar, what a great actor I was so happy he didnt sing in this, coz didnt like his voice in Rock On, i know that sounds bad as he was the singer in that film! I digress as usual, he was so good and nuanced and Konkona who i think is the new favorite actress of mine, she just killed in the last few scenes. And the supporting ensemble of Hritik, Rishi, Dimple, Sanjay, Isha, Juhi and Aly Khan were just spot on in their roles especially Hritik though a short role he really was so great in that scene in the car, such a cutie!

3. Dil Bole Hadippa - Well i was guranteed to loving this half-hearted film, I know it was a bit average but hell it was the comeback that i waited for from Rani, but alas the box office didnt reveal so. Which is such a shame, because I'm sure she put her all in to this film, she lost her weight(GRRRRR) for the silly item number at the end, she sexed herself up and she was glorious in the film. Its all hers, she owns every scene when she's Veer or when she's a bubbly Veera, and she obviously outdoes the bland Shahid in the film and I guess i might stare as creepily as he does when he sees a Rani like that!

2. Love Aaj Kal - LOVED IT, I rewatched a few times while i was in London and on the plane, and each time it had more nuances to the story than I'd noticed but it was a good film especially the paralell story in the 60's with a turbaned Saif, who looked pretty hot! It was a cute love story and Deepika was pretty good in it for some parts but that voice really grates sometimes especially in the "i'M sorry for being a cow, Rahul Khanna" speech which was super annoying. But i cant pull her down for trying earnestly and she does act very well in the second half and in spurts in the beginning, she will blossom as an actress if she doesn't sound too annoying! What a digressor i am! I loved it for Saif and Rishi who were in top form, but its mostly Saif's show he steals the applauds and indulges himself!

But i must make note of the hilarity of the "Twist" song, Saif you lovely hairy bandana wearing cutie, please dont get botox, i think it may affect your dancing skills as you try to keep up with your younger friends in the dancing but look too concentrated and end up looking like an oldie which you are not!

1. Dev D - Simply wonderful! I completely adored this remake of the Devdas novel, i did a whole project on Saratchandra's novels in high school, coz even as a teen I had to filmi at school as well! And when looking through his novels, his protagonists are very self-destructive, sado-masochistic in their actions, and sexual. Not overtly sexual but the characters seemed melancholy because they couldnt get some or they fantasized. But Dev D brings out the sexual side of Devdas who does thrust himself into a sleazy world of courtesans and drink and I loved how Anurag added that. There are gonna be sticklers for the old versions who dont like this one but its just cool, sexy, edgy, alternative and ABHAY!!! Abhay Deol is the new indie king of my dil, i loved his performance in this, he portrayed Devdas in a modern avatar that seemed real and not phoney, and the gals too were great. Especially Kalki who brought vulnerability to Chanda that wasnt that obvious in the other versions, and Mahi Gill as Paro was lovely too, she captured her haughty and playful personality very well! I loved the colour of the film, it was almost like a Douglas Sirk film on acid!

So these were my fave films a lot them are repeats but i just love them all the same, and watch out for the Annual Backwass list soon!