Bollywood anyone???

[ladywhizbee]

Okay, so I have a bit of an unusual request. My girls love musicals. LOVE them. Eric and I have seen a few Bollywood movies and really think that they would enjoy them. The color, the music, the dance numbers, the fantastical characters, and the classic--boy meets girl but something REALLY BIG stands between them getting together until the very end

Comments

[megan29]

The only movie I know is Slumdog Millionaire, which I'm sure you've already thought of. It's probably not kid-friendly. And that's the issue, really. I remember seeing a couple of Bollywood movies when I was a kid, but I was older than your girls (maybe 12 or so?), and I still thought they were tough. Someone always died or lost a limb or something. There were always a couple of tear-jerking scenes or ten. Once I figured out this was their recipe, I stopped watching Bollywood movies altogether.

On the other hand, the few Hollywood musicals I saw as a kid were always happy and sunny. If they had Fred Astaire in the cast, I was sure to like it! So why not go for the home-made goodies and oldies?

[ladywhizbee]

We have already gone for the homemade goodlies--although there are certainly more we could see. The girls (particularly Sophie) love them all. I don't think she's seen any Fred Astaire yet though, so that is a good suggestion.

We have a A.R. Rahman (the composer for Slumdog) station on Pandora which is where this whole idea started. We've been making a lot of Indian dishes lately and listening to our Rahman station while we eat just for fun. You should see the girls when they get up and shake their little hips to the music. It's hilarious. Thus the idea to expose them to more. We'll see. If we can't find a good one to watch all the way through maybe we'll settle for snippets of big number dances on YouTube.

[megan29]

You are the coolest parents! I LOVE your idea of 'immersing' yourselves in another culture via food and music and movies. I really wish I could see your girls dancing.

Btw, I forgot to comment on your other post, but that photo of Will and Grace (or is it Sophie?) is so cute!!! Their outfits are absolutely adorable, and very chic! Someone has an eye for fashion. (And I believe you mentioned once that that someone is Eric!) But of course, sunglasses are an absolute must, da'hlin', to finish off a look. Tsk tsk tsk. What an oversight to let Will out of the house without a pair of his own. Good thing his sister was there to take care of it! :-)

[ladywhizbee]

Eric and I are firm believers that the kids should eat what we eat and be exposed to all sorts of things. We want their little brains to be open. It is harder here than it was up north to find the more unusual ethnic foods (particularly the grocery stores), but with a little digging things can be found and thank goodness for the internet! Anything can be ordered off the internet. Even a 40lb bag of garam masala if you wish. :-)

[magglenagall]

The only Bollywood movie I've seen is Bride and Prejudice, which was filmed in English, but it's also kind of... Bollywood Lite? Bollywood watered down to make it more palatable to American audiences? I'm not sure. Anyway, as the title suggests, it's a Bollywood version of Pride and Prejudice, with Aishwarya Rai in the Lizzie Bennett role (and a few other likely familiar faces). It's cute, and to the best of my memory it's reasonably age-appropriate for your girls.

If you like, I can ask on fail_fandomanon for suggestions. Rec threads are common there, and I know the subject of Bollywood recs has been raised before, so it won't be an intrusion. (Of course, you could ask yourself, if you're reading there anyway, and/or don't mind posting to an anon meme.)

[ladywhizbee]

Oh would you ask? That would be wonderful. I just took a look and it seems like the perfect place, but I was uncertain *where* such a post/question would happen. I'm sure with a little more investigation I could easily figure it out, but I think I need some hand-holding.

I am glad that you enjoyed Bride and Prejudice. I have it on our Netflix queue--which has become a unwieldy beast given how many things are on it(!)--but eventually we will see it. Perhaps I will make a point to move it up if it seems appropriate.

[magglenagall]

Happy to help! Here's the thread, if you want to track it: http://fail-fandomanon.livejournal.com/40856.html?thread=185921176#t185921176 (Fingers crossed it won't morph into a wank thread - you never know!)

[ladywhizbee]

You are AWESOME. Thank you. I will keep my eye on it. Even if I get one good musical rec it will have been worth it. Thanks, Mags!

[zia_montrose]

I, too, have seen Bride and Prejudice and don't remember too much inappropriateness, but it's been a looong while and my memory is hazy.

[ladywhizbee]

I just went to take a look at it on Netflix. I couldn't remember if it was a musical or not --it is--but it is also rated PG-13. I think Eric and I will watch it first and see if it is ok for the girls. We haven't let them watch anything higher than PG yet. It does have English though which would be really nice!

[zia_montrose]

The tomboy in me wants to recommend Bend it like Beckham as a side dish to the Bollywood fare, but that may be for a slightly older age group as well. Can't remember the rating, but it's most likely PG-13. Basically, it's about an Indian girl who plays soccer, much to her family's chagrin.

[ladywhizbee]

I *loved* Bend It - I particularly loved Parminder Nagra who played the lead. I just checked, it is PG-13, but it's definitely one I want to share with the girls when they are older. :-)

[gabrielladusult]

I've seen Bride and Prejudice, which is a pretty standard adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. The only other Bollywood movie I've seen is Kuch Naa Kaho which Netflix recommended based on my love of standard American musicals. I don't remember anything exceptionally inappropriate in it, but it has been a while. Cute overall story about an Americanized Indian man being pushed into marriage by his uncle while he is visiting India. The woman he falls for is the one his uncle hired to make sure he meets the right woman.

[ladywhizbee]

Gabby!!!

So changing it up on you, which musicals would you recommend? The girls have seen all of the really kid friendly ones -- Annie, Mary Poppins, Wizard of Oz, The Music Man, My Fair Lady, Meet Me in St. Louis -- are there any that you would highly rec that they see? Perhaps some that are aren't usually the first to come to mind?

(soooo good to hear from you) :-)

[gabrielladusult]

Well, Singing in the Rain is my favorite movie of all time (not just musical). I first saw it when I was learning a dance to the title song in tap class when I was about 6 and my dad decided that I needed to put it in perspective or something and took me to see the movie at a local community college that had classic movie night or something.

After that, I would watch anything with Gene Kelly in it -- though some (Les Girls for example), might not be appropriate (there are affairs and scandals). On the Town, Take Me Out to the Ball Game and Anchors Aweigh are all great. An American in Paris is a classic, but also has some adult themes in it and in my opinion ends too abruptly.

I also think Sound of Music is a great one for kids, since kids singing feature so strongly in it, although there are some scary moments when the Nazis come after them (no worse than the witch in Wizard of Oz, though).

Oliver! is another good kid-related movie and (I can't believe I'm going to say this) more recently, Newsies. The latter has just been

[ladywhizbee]

Thank you so much for all the wonderful recommendations! I appreciate having all of your insight

[sirip]

Hi! If you are still looking for a good Bollywood movie, I would like to suggest 'Jab We Met'. It has everything that you asked for, like a great love story, a big fat Indian family and culture including a big finishing song. I live in India so I am not sure if English dubbed version is available but please try it. Its a light hearted romantic comedy.

What makes it even better is that the leading pair sort of resemble H/G. A lost his way in life Hero and a vibrant, full of life Heroine to revive him. But that could be me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jab_We_Met

Let me know if you need any more Indian movies.

[ladywhizbee]

Oh, thank you! We are still looking, so I was very excited to get your post. :-)

I did some quick research and found that I can easily get a copy, but I only get it with subtitles in English so it won't really work for my girls. However, I plan to rent it anyway because *I* would like to see it. It sounds like a lot of fun, and anything remotely H/G is always interesting. :-)

Thank you so much for telling me about it. If you have any other thoughts on musicals that might be dubbed in English please let me know, I would love to look into them.

[sirip]

So did you like 'Jab We Met'? Have you seen it