Asoka

[meganbmoore]

So that is a Bollywood movie.  *pokes it with a stick*

I find your tendency to randomly break out into song and dance rather disconcerting in an historical epic and your hero's tendency to randomly have a nosebleed for no apparent reason rather odd.  Despite what little I know of his history telling me he'd live for quite a while, I kept expecting

Comments

[telophase]

Aabra Ka Daabra!!!!

And the Asoka stuff is here and here.

[meganbmoore]

Thankies.

*editted*

I had forgotten that the severed leg when Kaurwaki collapses inappropriately cracked me up.

[shediao]

as long as they don't ALL randomly break into unexplained nosebleeds

They will however break into songs and dances every so often. This is like the basic tenet of Bollywood movies.
If you like romantic comedy - the immensely popular Kuch Kuch Hota Hai?

[meganbmoore]

Yeah, I think the song and dances I can get used to, esp. in something lighter.

What's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai about?

[tigger_01]

Only the most AWESOME SRK/Kajol film ever made (I'm sorry - I watched that film when I was eight years old, so I've got some very fond memories. :)
It's basically about two close college friends - a player and a... well, "sporty" girl - Anjali and Rahul. Anjali loves Rahul, but Rahul falls in love with another girl, (can't remember what she's called!). Anjali leaves for home, Rahul and girl marry and have a little girl (they name her Anjali) - and "girl" dies in childbirth. Years later, little-Anjali recieves a letter from her death mother that asks her to find Anjali and reunite him with her father, because "girl" knows that after her death, her father would be alone and unhappy and needing "Anjali". And that's basically it - soppy, but funny and gorgeous and little-Anjali is adorable. xD
*giggles and clears throat*

[shediao]

The above reply should say it all. Or if not, here is what Wiki says.

[scottishlass]

Just imagine when they break out into song and dance you can be fairly certain the main couple either is making out, having sex or some such thing. In the 1960 and 1970's masala filmi (they only call them Bollywood since the late 1990's to seperate them from Bangla and Telugu movies) everytime you had a song sequence with waves crashing against rocks or rain pouring down and the couple dancing you immediately knew they had sex and/or making out with serious petting/kissing. It's the visuality of the whole Indian film industry.
Some song sequences are beautifully shot (like Suraj Hua Maddam from Kabhi kushi Khabhie Gham: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILaK-1X87nI - just ignore it is set in Egypt of all things)
The songs are the calling cards for most films.

I liked Asoka, but then I'm a big fan of SRK every since I saw him in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jeyange (another movie I recommend with Kajol and SRK).

[meganbmoore]

Yeah...I caught onto the song=makingout/sex bit...the fact that the white clothes when in the river were supposed to mean whe was naked helped. I think I'll get used to the song/dance routines if the material is less heavy(oddly, I was perfectly fine with the first 2, it was just the others that kinda had me going "huh?")

What's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jeyange about?

[scottishlass]

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jeyange or DDLJ was the first movie where SRK was cast as a romantic lead and which actually founded his Baadshah of Bollywood status. It was his second movie with Kajol and it is a complete romance set in London, Switzerland and India.
Simran from a traditional ex-patriate family living in London is allowed to make a Eurotrail journey around Europe before she has to go to India for her arranged marriage. Raj is a rich, spoiled boy also living in London and who happens to go on the same Eurotrail ride. The movie is adorable, first Raj only playing pranks on Simran and making fun of her traditional upbringing and then when he falls in love with her, chasing after and trying to get *the right groom taking the bride* (that's what DDLJ means) in India. He grows up without becoming too serious or stuck-up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RJWKTv6rWY
It's a cute love story and still (after 11 years) still my favourite Kajol/Shah Rukh movie.

[fivil]

My problem with the film was basically reducing the great historical figure into a typical Shahrukh Khan lover character and making him have a random non-historical angsty love thingy just so Shahrukh could do some romancing. I'm all for showing bloodlust but really, when the man is known for spreading Buddhism, the lack of Buddhist mentions, the lack of showing his *real* great deeds is just ..I don't know, such a waste

[meganbmoore]

That was the chief problem I had with the movie. Sure, the swords and bloodlust and such were what lured me in, but a lot of what interested me was a cursory glance into his history that told me he went from that to the man who spread peace, so I was expecting to see the conversion from one stage of life to another, so I felt cheated when it just...stopped, right when it was about to happen.

And I completely understand about things that make you ranty, especially when it's something everyone else loves, but you don't.

I wouldn't remotely call Asoka a swashbuckler, actually. I think I'll just assume that what works best in dramas for me will work bet for me here, too, which is comedy, romantic comedy, and period pieces.

For Main Hoon Na...I actually really, really love well done parodies, even if they must indulge in melodrama.

[wistfulmemory]

So that is a Bollywood movie. *pokes it with a stick*

While I could never watch a Bollywood movie by myself, I don't mind watching them with other people. One summer some of my friends used Bollywood movies as an excuse to get together every couple of weeks, and we had a lot of fun mocking the movies while hanging out together. Some of my friends would even randomly start singing and performing a dance they learned from one of the movies. That provided hours of entertainment.

[meganbmoore]

I don't know that I'll end up a big Bollywood fan, but I think I'll like them from time to time. It'll really be determined when I see more "normal" Bollywood movies, as I understand this is a departure from the average.