Bollywood thoughts
I've been thinking more about Fanaa. I'd realized that usually there is one Bolly movie a year that I go insane for. This year it's Fanaa, last year it was Parineeta, the year before that, Veer-Zaara. It seems that for me to go crazy over a movie, it has to be an epic and very beautifully filmed uber-angsty love story. Not a suprise. Frex, I think Rang De Basanti is a better film, as a film, than Fanaa, but Fanaa somehow got under my skin in a much more crazy way.
I've also been listening to the Fanaa soundrack. That little bit before the first lyrics in "Chand Sirfarish," the one with clapping overlaid with a heavy beat, is my favorite thing ever. And it only gets cooler when I think of that same music being used when we first see Rehan as a mastermind, the beat still there, but somehow more mechanical, stripped of its beauty. And "Mere Saath Mein" is definitely in my Top 5 picturizations (together with SHM from K3G, Tujhe Dekha from DDLJ, Roshni Se from Asoka and the one whre Joythika imagines herself and Akshaye Khanna as story characters in Doli Saja Ke Rakhna). Though I am still impressed that neither Aamir nor Kajol came down with hypothermia. And "Des Rangeela" is one of those moments in the movie, where I am so happy watching something I wish it would go forever (Kajol spinning in Des Rangeela, or that Amitabh/SRK/Hema/Preity number in Veer-Zaara being good examples).
I've also been thinking about language and imagery. I love that Aamir and Kajol speak so largely in couplets in the first half, but in the second half the couplets are gone, except for the few that have personal meaning to them from the past association. It's such a symbol for the fact that in the first half, it's all about masks, false indentities, hiding your true self, not knowing, and the second half is about seeing, recognizing, true nature. And that is why I love the color palette change as well. The first half is romantic and happy and innocent, so there are bright vibrant colors. In the second half, everything is stark, chill, frozen, to fit the grim tone of the story and the frozen state of both Kajol and Aamir.
And that makes me think about Aamir versus SRK. (And that is why I'd never post this on Bollywhat. And Aamir/SRK comparison is liable to start WWIII). And how, much as I love SRK (he remains the only actor I will watch ANY movie with), I am so glad that no one but Aamir got to play Rehan. Aamir always has a certain steely core in his roles, something unbendable. He will die for love, but he will do so on his own terms. SRK always comes across as opening his heart like a carpet for you to walk on. Aamir has a certain darkness and SRK's vibe is nicer. The whole beauty of watching Rehan is that he has all these walls and the pleasure is to see them slowly come down, one by one, passion demolishing his reserve. SRK is someone who comes across as utterly open and vulnerable to emotion. (Btw, just to make it clear, I am just talking about their on-screen vibes. I know little about them outside their roles and care even less). Not that I haven't seen SRK play someone ruthless and frightening: his Asoka was a monster by the end, but his ruthless darkness comes across as different to Aamir's. I can't imagine Aamir as Asoka any more than SRK as Rehan. Of course, I could be wrong, and SRK could have made a brilliant Rehan and Aamir an amazing Asoka, but I think that's actually the talent of either of them: they take a role and make it irrevocably their own, such that I can't imagine anyone else in it, not even if the movie itself is bad (Josh or Dil).
And I was also thinking about how Bollywood treats the idea of love as paramount, larger than life, something Hollywood movies after 1940s don't do any more. And by love, I don't necessarily mean romantic love, though Bollywood loves their lovers. I mean every kind of love there is. In Bollywood, love can ruin a person (Devdas) or make him (Parineeta). It can ruin families (QSQT) or bring them together (HSSH). It can negate borders (Refugee), class (Baaghi), religion (Bombay), and death itself (Hamesha, Karan Arjun). It can take on a government and its army and win (Gadar), and it can result in body doubles of your dead soulmate (KNPH). It can save the soul of a terrorist (Dil Se, Fiza) or it can destroy one's humanity utterly (Asoka). It can win over stubborn elders (DDLJ), restore the sight of your blind mother (Amar Akbar Anthony), reunite a family scattered since childhood (also AAA), and even make animals into divine messengers (MPK, HAHK). Kinda amazingly cool.
I've also been listening to the Fanaa soundrack. That little bit before the first lyrics in "Chand Sirfarish," the one with clapping overlaid with a heavy beat, is my favorite thing ever. And it only gets cooler when I think of that same music being used when we first see Rehan as a mastermind, the beat still there, but somehow more mechanical, stripped of its beauty. And "Mere Saath Mein" is definitely in my Top 5 picturizations (together with SHM from K3G, Tujhe Dekha from DDLJ, Roshni Se from Asoka and the one whre Joythika imagines herself and Akshaye Khanna as story characters in Doli Saja Ke Rakhna). Though I am still impressed that neither Aamir nor Kajol came down with hypothermia. And "Des Rangeela" is one of those moments in the movie, where I am so happy watching something I wish it would go forever (Kajol spinning in Des Rangeela, or that Amitabh/SRK/Hema/Preity number in Veer-Zaara being good examples).
I've also been thinking about language and imagery. I love that Aamir and Kajol speak so largely in couplets in the first half, but in the second half the couplets are gone, except for the few that have personal meaning to them from the past association. It's such a symbol for the fact that in the first half, it's all about masks, false indentities, hiding your true self, not knowing, and the second half is about seeing, recognizing, true nature. And that is why I love the color palette change as well. The first half is romantic and happy and innocent, so there are bright vibrant colors. In the second half, everything is stark, chill, frozen, to fit the grim tone of the story and the frozen state of both Kajol and Aamir.
And that makes me think about Aamir versus SRK. (And that is why I'd never post this on Bollywhat. And Aamir/SRK comparison is liable to start WWIII). And how, much as I love SRK (he remains the only actor I will watch ANY movie with), I am so glad that no one but Aamir got to play Rehan. Aamir always has a certain steely core in his roles, something unbendable. He will die for love, but he will do so on his own terms. SRK always comes across as opening his heart like a carpet for you to walk on. Aamir has a certain darkness and SRK's vibe is nicer. The whole beauty of watching Rehan is that he has all these walls and the pleasure is to see them slowly come down, one by one, passion demolishing his reserve. SRK is someone who comes across as utterly open and vulnerable to emotion. (Btw, just to make it clear, I am just talking about their on-screen vibes. I know little about them outside their roles and care even less). Not that I haven't seen SRK play someone ruthless and frightening: his Asoka was a monster by the end, but his ruthless darkness comes across as different to Aamir's. I can't imagine Aamir as Asoka any more than SRK as Rehan. Of course, I could be wrong, and SRK could have made a brilliant Rehan and Aamir an amazing Asoka, but I think that's actually the talent of either of them: they take a role and make it irrevocably their own, such that I can't imagine anyone else in it, not even if the movie itself is bad (Josh or Dil).
And I was also thinking about how Bollywood treats the idea of love as paramount, larger than life, something Hollywood movies after 1940s don't do any more. And by love, I don't necessarily mean romantic love, though Bollywood loves their lovers. I mean every kind of love there is. In Bollywood, love can ruin a person (Devdas) or make him (Parineeta). It can ruin families (QSQT) or bring them together (HSSH). It can negate borders (Refugee), class (Baaghi), religion (Bombay), and death itself (Hamesha, Karan Arjun). It can take on a government and its army and win (Gadar), and it can result in body doubles of your dead soulmate (KNPH). It can save the soul of a terrorist (Dil Se, Fiza) or it can destroy one's humanity utterly (Asoka). It can win over stubborn elders (DDLJ), restore the sight of your blind mother (Amar Akbar Anthony), reunite a family scattered since childhood (also AAA), and even make animals into divine messengers (MPK, HAHK). Kinda amazingly cool.