Info about Bollywood movies for canadian_jay
At the beginning of July, in Sunday chat at primeval-denial, I promised canadian_jay some info about three Bollywood movies.... Now, more than a month later I finally managed to complete getting the info into a post.
Firstly, sorry for taking so long. RL can be a bitch and me being an all out lazybone doesn't help much either :(.
Secondly, to avoid cluttering up my f-list, I'll put the info, which contains spoilers for Main Hoon Na, Om Shanti Om and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi behind a cut
The movies I mentioned are all Shah Rukh Khan movies.
Main Hoon Na ( Trailer at YouTube) was my introduction to Bollywood in 2005.
The short plot info at the film's Imdb page is nicely short and to the point: "An army major goes undercover as a college student. His mission is both professional and personal: to protect his general's daughter from a radical militant, and to find his estranged half-brother." (If you click on "Full summary", I think the only one that's any good is the middle one by Soumitra.)
The movie is what is called a masala movie, because it is a mix of a whole lot of types: comedy, action, drama, love story. What is also fun is that the movie does not take itself all that serious. It is full of nods to other Bollywood movies and other movies in general (Jackie Chan type stuff, Matrix etc).
Om Shanti Om ( Trailer at YouTube (image quality is not very good, but it has subtitles)) is similar in a way in that it does not take itself seriously at all, it is poking fun at the Bollywood industry is chock full of nods to and quotes from other famous Bollywood movies.
The story is told in two parts: before intermission we follow the adventures of Om Prakash Makhija in the 1970s. He is a "junior artiste", basically an extra (or if he is very lucky he has a very small supporting role). He is a fan of actress Shantipriya, the new female star in Hindi movies at the time. In one of his mini roles he ends up saving Shanti from a fire (whilst her male co-star, the "hero" of that movie, runs screaming). When she comes to thank him for his help, his friend Pappu (also an extra) pretends that Om is a star himself in southern India and is trying to make a break in the more northern Hindi film industry.
Of course it does not take long before Om admits the truth. Shanti still agrees to spend an evening with Om.
When Om sees her again on another job, she does not take notice of him and seems very preoccupied. He follows her and finds out some very unexpected news by overhearing a conversation /argument between her and one of the producers.
The first half of the movie ends with Shanti and Om trapped in a burning film studio set, Om being thrown outside by a blast and finally dying in a hospital after being hit by the car of star actor Rakesh Kapoor. (He blindly ran out on the street, Kapoor couldn't really avoid hitting him and took him to the hospital. While Kapoors wife gives birth to their child, Om gives his last breath.
After Intermission we see the spoiled brat that has become of the son of Rakesh Kapoor. Himself a movie star, Om Kapoor goes by the moniker OK. OK is notoriously afraid of fire and has a burn mark of the "Om"-sign in the same spot where Om Makhija had a tattoo of an "Om"-sign.
Certain events make OK realize that he is actually a reincarnation of Om Makhija and who is to blame for the events that lead to Om and Shanti's deaths. With the help of his own star power (and his influential father) and Om's mother and Pappu, they set out to try and see that the one responsible is punished for what he did.
There is a scene at the Filmfare Awards (Bollywood's "Oscars") which allows for a veritable parade of stars on the red carpet giving statements on OK. One of the songs is another star parade. In these scenes it is really fun to identify all the big names in Bollywood (or try to identify them if they were really big stars some 20-30 years ago and are still well known in Bollywood but not so much to the usual European viewer).
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (Trailer at YouTube ) is the newest of the three movies (it came out in 2008).
Surinder "Suri" Sahni is a middle-aged, middle class employee of electricity provider Punjab Power. While visiting a former professor on the occasion of the daughter of the professor getting married he falls in love at first sight with the girl, Taani, from afar. The fact that she is about to be married of course means that he would not even dream of mentioning these feelings to anyone.
As is to be almost expected in a Bollywood movie, disaster strikes and the groom and most of his party die in a traffic accident. When the message reaches the festivities, the professor suffers a heart attack.
Since he is afraid that his daughter could end up alone and unsupported if he does not survive, the professor suggests that Surinder (who used to be his very favourite student) and Taani get married, so she will have someone to provide for her.
Being the good Indian daughter she is, Taani agrees and the professor indeed dies.
Taani follows Suri to his home in Amritsar, where he clears out his own room for Taani and moves into a room in the attic.
He quietly and a bit clumsily tries to show Taani he loves her without actually saying the words, even after Taani tells him she may never love him, since she really loved the man she had been about to marry and now she is not sure if she will ever love any other man.
Taani tries to be a good wife (in the traditional Indian sense) and so she asks for his permission to join in a dancing contest, "Dancing Jodi" because she loves dancing. Suri does not agree right away, but a short time later, Taani finds the money for the entry fees on her side of the dining table.
Together with his hairdresser friend Bobby, Suri decides to secretly join the dancing contest in disguise. At first, he only wants to go there once, to see Taani enjoy herself while dancing.
Bobby gives him a make over, giving him a completely different look.
Because Suri is not allowed to only watch the class that opens the competition, he is forced to mingle with the other participants and ends up being paired with Taani, since the competition is a pairs contest ("Jodi" means pair (especially romantic pair) in Hindi).
He introduces himself as Raj (and ends up quoting one of Shahrukhs famous one liners "Raj, naam to suna hoga" which means "Raj, you've probably heard my name before" in the sense of "you've probably heard about me before").
Since "Raj" behaves very over the top (Suri tries to behave like the film heroes he knows Taani enjoys), Taani isn't quite sure what to think about him at first, but they end up becoming good friends. Raj brings an element of fun into Taanis life and makes her realize that she indeed can fall in love again, which she had not thought she would experience again.
Certain events lead to Taani asking Raj to run away with her, which he agrees to.... leaving Suri understandably reeling.
Nevertheless, on the day of the final of the dancing competition, Suri takes Taani to the Golden Temple to pray for her success, which makes Taani realize that running away is not the solution to her problems, so she tells Raj that she can't leave with him.
The movie ends with the competition and the end credits include a bit of what happened after that.
Firstly, sorry for taking so long. RL can be a bitch and me being an all out lazybone doesn't help much either :(.
Secondly, to avoid cluttering up my f-list, I'll put the info, which contains spoilers for Main Hoon Na, Om Shanti Om and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi behind a cut
The movies I mentioned are all Shah Rukh Khan movies.
Main Hoon Na ( Trailer at YouTube) was my introduction to Bollywood in 2005.
The short plot info at the film's Imdb page is nicely short and to the point: "An army major goes undercover as a college student. His mission is both professional and personal: to protect his general's daughter from a radical militant, and to find his estranged half-brother." (If you click on "Full summary", I think the only one that's any good is the middle one by Soumitra.)
The movie is what is called a masala movie, because it is a mix of a whole lot of types: comedy, action, drama, love story. What is also fun is that the movie does not take itself all that serious. It is full of nods to other Bollywood movies and other movies in general (Jackie Chan type stuff, Matrix etc).
Om Shanti Om ( Trailer at YouTube (image quality is not very good, but it has subtitles)) is similar in a way in that it does not take itself seriously at all, it is poking fun at the Bollywood industry is chock full of nods to and quotes from other famous Bollywood movies.
The story is told in two parts: before intermission we follow the adventures of Om Prakash Makhija in the 1970s. He is a "junior artiste", basically an extra (or if he is very lucky he has a very small supporting role). He is a fan of actress Shantipriya, the new female star in Hindi movies at the time. In one of his mini roles he ends up saving Shanti from a fire (whilst her male co-star, the "hero" of that movie, runs screaming). When she comes to thank him for his help, his friend Pappu (also an extra) pretends that Om is a star himself in southern India and is trying to make a break in the more northern Hindi film industry.
Of course it does not take long before Om admits the truth. Shanti still agrees to spend an evening with Om.
When Om sees her again on another job, she does not take notice of him and seems very preoccupied. He follows her and finds out some very unexpected news by overhearing a conversation /argument between her and one of the producers.
The first half of the movie ends with Shanti and Om trapped in a burning film studio set, Om being thrown outside by a blast and finally dying in a hospital after being hit by the car of star actor Rakesh Kapoor. (He blindly ran out on the street, Kapoor couldn't really avoid hitting him and took him to the hospital. While Kapoors wife gives birth to their child, Om gives his last breath.
After Intermission we see the spoiled brat that has become of the son of Rakesh Kapoor. Himself a movie star, Om Kapoor goes by the moniker OK. OK is notoriously afraid of fire and has a burn mark of the "Om"-sign in the same spot where Om Makhija had a tattoo of an "Om"-sign.
Certain events make OK realize that he is actually a reincarnation of Om Makhija and who is to blame for the events that lead to Om and Shanti's deaths. With the help of his own star power (and his influential father) and Om's mother and Pappu, they set out to try and see that the one responsible is punished for what he did.
There is a scene at the Filmfare Awards (Bollywood's "Oscars") which allows for a veritable parade of stars on the red carpet giving statements on OK. One of the songs is another star parade. In these scenes it is really fun to identify all the big names in Bollywood (or try to identify them if they were really big stars some 20-30 years ago and are still well known in Bollywood but not so much to the usual European viewer).
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (Trailer at YouTube ) is the newest of the three movies (it came out in 2008).
Surinder "Suri" Sahni is a middle-aged, middle class employee of electricity provider Punjab Power. While visiting a former professor on the occasion of the daughter of the professor getting married he falls in love at first sight with the girl, Taani, from afar. The fact that she is about to be married of course means that he would not even dream of mentioning these feelings to anyone.
As is to be almost expected in a Bollywood movie, disaster strikes and the groom and most of his party die in a traffic accident. When the message reaches the festivities, the professor suffers a heart attack.
Since he is afraid that his daughter could end up alone and unsupported if he does not survive, the professor suggests that Surinder (who used to be his very favourite student) and Taani get married, so she will have someone to provide for her.
Being the good Indian daughter she is, Taani agrees and the professor indeed dies.
Taani follows Suri to his home in Amritsar, where he clears out his own room for Taani and moves into a room in the attic.
He quietly and a bit clumsily tries to show Taani he loves her without actually saying the words, even after Taani tells him she may never love him, since she really loved the man she had been about to marry and now she is not sure if she will ever love any other man.
Taani tries to be a good wife (in the traditional Indian sense) and so she asks for his permission to join in a dancing contest, "Dancing Jodi" because she loves dancing. Suri does not agree right away, but a short time later, Taani finds the money for the entry fees on her side of the dining table.
Together with his hairdresser friend Bobby, Suri decides to secretly join the dancing contest in disguise. At first, he only wants to go there once, to see Taani enjoy herself while dancing.
Bobby gives him a make over, giving him a completely different look.
Because Suri is not allowed to only watch the class that opens the competition, he is forced to mingle with the other participants and ends up being paired with Taani, since the competition is a pairs contest ("Jodi" means pair (especially romantic pair) in Hindi).
He introduces himself as Raj (and ends up quoting one of Shahrukhs famous one liners "Raj, naam to suna hoga" which means "Raj, you've probably heard my name before" in the sense of "you've probably heard about me before").
Since "Raj" behaves very over the top (Suri tries to behave like the film heroes he knows Taani enjoys), Taani isn't quite sure what to think about him at first, but they end up becoming good friends. Raj brings an element of fun into Taanis life and makes her realize that she indeed can fall in love again, which she had not thought she would experience again.
Certain events lead to Taani asking Raj to run away with her, which he agrees to.... leaving Suri understandably reeling.
Nevertheless, on the day of the final of the dancing competition, Suri takes Taani to the Golden Temple to pray for her success, which makes Taani realize that running away is not the solution to her problems, so she tells Raj that she can't leave with him.
The movie ends with the competition and the end credits include a bit of what happened after that.