Thank you,
S and J

Story by: Imtiaz Ali and Muazzam Beg

Cast by: Nargis Fakhri, Aditi Rao Hydari, Ranbir Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Piyush Mishra, Shernaz Patel

Rating: 4.5/5

Review type: The one where Sona was so moved by a movie that she actually wrote a review.

This movie. It was like I was in this haze. In that field, beyond right and wrong. I know when you read this, you’re going to think Sona’s making another lame pun/joke. Nope, so serious. It was funny and I laughed out loud and it was real, and emotional and heart-wrenching. But not in that weird dramatic Hindi movie way. At the end, seriously all I could think was that it was like a spiritual experience. Dil choo liya yaar.

I’m sure there’s some critic out there who noticed the flaws, something that was off. I didn’t. After a long time, all I did was experience the movie in a pure way. I had lost that and I’m sure I’ll get it back with the next one. But this is how I want to experience watching movies and I know it’s only going to happen rarely.

“Yahan se buhat door. Ghalat aur sahi ke paar…ek maidaan hai. Main wahan miloonga tujhe.” I fell in love with it even before I saw this movie. Goosebumps every time! This quote by Rumi, pretty much the most brilliant thing ever, it gets down to the essence of the movie and the characters. I don’t know if it was just me, but their actions did feel beyond right and wrong. I mean they’re having an affair and otherwise it’s impossible for me ignore it when characters cheat in movies or shows. It didn’t feel like that in this movie because you actually, truly, felt it from the characters’ perspective. Heer is of course torn and you can feel that. But the fact that Jordan doesn’t really care is obvious, but I didn’t care that he didn’t care. His passion overwhelms you and you don’t give a shit. You live it one moment at a time, one scene at a time.

Ho mujh pe karam sarkar tera

Araz tujhe kar de mujhe

Mujhse hi riha

Ab mujhko bhi ho deedar mera

Kar de mujhe mujh se hi riha

Mujh se hi rihaaa…

Mann ke mere ye bharam

Kachche mere ye karam

Leke chale hain kahaan main to jaanu hi na

This is my favorite part of ‘Kun Faaya Kun,’ the lyrics are so beautiful. He’s singing that he doesn’t know where his deeds are taking him and Ranbir’s face just personifies that so well. I just LOVE Jordan’s character and obviously didn’t have a choice, since the story was about him and it’s just written so well. Ranbir just adds to it by like ten-thousand times. He did such an amazing job, which I’m going to keep saying over and over again, be prepared.

What’s brilliant with that character is that I had the most intense feeling of wanting to know what he was thinking in many parts of the movie. This doesn’t really happen in Hindi movies, which I only consciously realized after I watched this movie. What I really, really hate about Hindi movies is that they’re always literally showing what the person is thinking. With those flashback scenes or freaking monologues. So many movies have this problem.

Not here, at the end Kun Faaya Kun, when he walks toward the tomb and is resting his head against the wall, I wanted to go inside the movie and ask him to tell me what he’s thinking. Because you know in real life you want to know things about people that you find intriguing and are invested in, sometimes even strangers. I loved that I wanted to know this character and I also loved that I could kind of glean what he was feeling but not completely – exactly like real life.

The music is amazing. It’s character driven and Rehman did an amazing job, what a surprise (haha)… really though, can’t remember the last time the music enhanced the characters so much. Like in ‘Aur Ho’ you can see their desperation and restlessness. Of course you can’t not mention Irhad Kamil, the lyrics are so touching. In ‘Nadaan Parindey’ when he sings …

“kaaga re kaaga re mori itni araj tujhse chun chun khaiyo maans

khaiyo na tu naina more, khaiyo na tu naina mohe piya ke milan ki aas..”

He sings to the crow that when he eats his flesh to leave the eyes because he’s still hoping and waiting to see his love. And when Jordan is singing the second verse, he’s just shaking with pain and you can literally feel it – I started sobbing here. Didn’t cry at all throughout the movie, but just couldn’t stop myself it was so painful. 

I love all the songs and they all evoke such different feelings. Before I watched the movie, Katiyaa Karun, Tum Ho and Tum Ko, Aur Ho and Phir Se Ud Chala were on the top because they’re easy to like. I loved the lyrics of ‘Katiyaa Karoon’ and Phir Se Ud Chala and there’s this piano section in Tum Ho that just gets me every time. I can feel myself slipping from this world and into another one. I still love those songs and have been listening to every single one continuously since yesterday.

But, now the list is reversed. Kun Faaya Kun and Naadan Parindey, just because I remember Jordan’s face, his confusion and the pain in those songs. I really can’t emphasize how much I loved Ranbir’s performance. Also, using Mohit Chauhan as Jordan’s voice was brilliant. His voice is contemporary enough for all the guitar, but still has that Indian thing where sometimes you want to cry uncontrollably because everything sounds so wonderful. And I know that doesn’t just happen to me.

Also the lyrics of ‘Jo Bhi Main Kehna Chahoon.’

Maine yeh bhi socha hai aksar
Tu bhi main bhi sabhi hai sheeshe
Khudhi ko hum sabhi main dekhein

Great stuff. Really, I can do this for all the songs.

And the dialogues, which is no surprise, are amazing. Imtiaz’s movies really do have the best ones and some great one liners. ‘Palang tod!’

Although my plan was just to talk about how I felt about the movie because I felt so much, I can’t help but get some technical stuff in there now that I’ve watched parts of the movie over and over again. Editing, cinematography (how good was the lighting?!), costumes (everything made sense and loved Jordan’s look!) were really good. I really liked the back and forth in the movie, it added to the movie and the feeling of getting to know to the character slowly, like you would in real life. And that Kashimiri bridal outfit, WOW! And all the Kashmiri embroidery, wanted every single thing!

Oh did notice one negative thing. I wish Nargis was a better actor. Even in the haze, I could notice it a lot, especially next to Ranbir’s awesomeness. But, I did like the scene right after she fights with him and tells him to go to hell and never again and all that (she wasn’t good in that part), but right after she cries for a second and sorts herself out, she was good. A lot of the times I could just ignore how bad she was, but sometimes it was reaaaally bad. The blame goes to the casting director and of course the whole problem with Bollywood and their fascination with a pretty face, but not the acting. Katrina Kaif anyone, Deepika (granted they’ve improved, if slightly)? I get why they wanted a new face, I really do and what a beautiful face – physically she was perfect for the role (Kashmiri girl and all that). I just wished that they had spent more time on honing her skills then. This is painful, but I’m looking at you Imtiaz – how you can okay a take if it’s not perfect.

Also, SHAMMI KAPOOR guys! I got so happy and sad when I saw him. I loved when Jordan and Heer do ‘Tareef Karoon Kya Uski’ from Kashmir Ki Kali. So cute and so funny!

And. Prague and Kashmir. So beautiful!

Le freaking sigh. I’m not going to get over this movie. It’s going to take a long, long time…maybe forever. I keep thinking about it and talking about it and listening to the music.

Cast by: Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakrobarty, Madhvi, Neelam Kothari

Rating: 0.5/5

Review type: The one where Sona’s cousin will continue to save the blog and will wonder why she went through watching this movie.

So maybe I missed something, but what’s all the hulabaloo around Agneepath? I’m still wondering why you would remake such a terrible film? Let’s start with the story line which was completely unoriginal. It was like all other 70′s, 80′s, and 90′s films about revenge. Father is a good man who gets killed and the son wants revenge. One word: Deewar. Deewar starred Amitabh also and was made before Agneepath and had the same basic story line, but of course it was much better. The story was more concise and more believable, no scenes where people are shooting with machine guns and miss the good people and only kill the bad guys.

Some people say the reason the movie was so good because Amitab’s acting was so good, uhmm really guys? It was like whatever and his stupid voice made me cringe every time I heard it. Why was the voice necessary?!! It was so distracting and honestly had to pause the movie several times…it was that annoying. The supporting actors like the sister and his wife were so random and unnecessary in this film; they added nothing to the story. This is a really grueling review for me to write because all I want to say is the movie was bad period. Honestly don’t watch this movie, just watch Deewar you’ll enjoy it more.

If you disagree, as I’m sure most of you do, please tell me why? I would like to know why you think this is a good movie and why Amitabh Bachchan’s acting was so raved about, when he’s much better in other movies.

Directed by: Yash Chopra

Cast: Sri Devi, Rishi Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, Anupam Kher, Waheeda Rehman

Rating: 3.5/5

Review type: The one where Sona’s cousin had to come in and save our blog from ourselves.

Hi guys! So, my name is Arjoo. I’ve recently been re-discovering all the Hindi films I watched as a child and also the ones that are classics and never watched. For a brief period of time I stopped watching Hindi films. I conformed to the American norms and watched American movies. Now don’t get me wrong, I love American films, but Hindi films have a ‘jadoo’ that only Hindi films have.

I’ve watched so many these past few weeks that I don’t know which one to talk about first. Hmm…. well OK! I got it! CHANDNI!! I had no idea what was going to happen in the movie… I was mostly just excited to see the all beautiful Sri Devi. Sri Devi was absolutely stunning, her eyes oh baghvan those eyes!! The songs were amazing, I finally got to know where the songs I’ve heard all my life came from. Well the beginning was typical – man sees a beautiful women dancing and  falls in love instantly. Afterwards, the guy convinces the girl she should love him too. Once they get together it’s all unicorns and rainbows until they want to get married.

Rishi Kapoor’s character is rich and Sri Devi’s family isn’t so of course his family doesn’t approve of her especially the mother-in-law, I know shocker. Then things happen and they break up. Then Chandni creates a new life for herself and starts to work. Her boss ends up falling in love with her and holy crap his mother is the sweetest.  He was such a romantic and so nice! I was so excited when both of them ended up together… then, oh god the loser had to get his life together to get Chandni back. I was like really now you want her? You left her and treated her like shit and let your parents treat her like shit and now you want her back? Randomly after hella months.

The most infuriating scene was when he thinks that she’ll just go back to him even though he was such a evil butthole. Like you serious? She said no and I was ecstatic! Finally a different ending, but then no that’s not the end. At the wedding Rishi Kapoor falls down the stairs, drunk, and she screams and shows her boss that she actually still loves him. So, in the end she ends up with the guy who was a jerk with the horrible family who hates her and leaves the amazingly lovely man with the mother who adores her.

Oh my baghvan! This was such a gandi ending! Realistically speaking when you marry someone, you marry their family also and if they don’t approve your life is going to be a living hell. I was so sad when the poor boss was left alone and he said he just wasn’t meant to be with anyone.

My poor little black hole* couldn’t take it. I know it’s just a movie, but I love when the endings are different and not what you expected. Overall, it was a good movie with great songs and I really loved gawking at Sri Devi.

Well guys, that’s it for the review. You will definitely be hearing from me since I’ve been watching sooo many Hindi movies. Hope you guys liked it, ’till next time!

Arjoo

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*black hole is what I call my heart, because it’s so small – because I can never completely suspend belief and be okay with some shit, like Rishi Kapoor’s character in this movie, that happens in Hindi movies. But I LOVE them anyway, so much. It doesn’t make sense, but it kind of does.

***********

This is Sona, I was just editing the post for Arjoo and I’d just like to add these things. Me singing, ‘Mere Haathon Mein Nau Nau Choodiyaan Hai and Chandni O’ Meri Chandni and Mitwa and Sri Devi in white and that yellow sari and how beautiful is this movie and also cognac shraab nahin hoti. That’s all. I LOVE Yash Uncle, yeah that’s right we call him Yash Uncle and also Waheeda Ji aaaand, Vinod Khanna amiright?! I’m also speaking for Jasmine and she completely agrees.

So, Bipasha Basu (thank you for breaking up with John Abraham so we have a chance even though we really liked you two together as a couple – the babies would have been blindingly beautiful) is in the land up north and east of here – with the cold and the snow, well not right now.

We also present evidence of this news, with pictures from the Internet. First, you’ll see her at the airport – is she wearing Uggs? Because if she is then uggh (so clever we are sometimes – imagine bad Indian accent). Just because you’re at the airport doesn’t mean you get to wear those…yeah yeah they’re comfortable – well so are many other shoes…cute round-toe flats for example.

The third picture is of her again in a cutish dress (the fate of that dress shall be decided upon seeing le shoes)…the Internet, specically Filmicafe, said that she was walking the green carpet at Brampton IIFA Buzz. She’s not, you can clearly see that there’s no green carpet but a stage. So…I guess that’s it for today.

Oh you know I (Sona) was reading our reviews for Break Ke Baad and I Hate Luv Storys and we totally sound bi-polar, contradicting…I’ve decided that both movies were bad.

So you know obviously we’ve been missing but we recently realized that we pay for this website and you know we should use it because otherwise it’s a waste money and we don’t really have any…

also…

We were you know doing things, like trying to make that money we were talking about, which actually didn’t really pan out, but we had fun…more or less…doing it. We have stories to tell and hopefully this won’t be another fluke and you’ll get to hear them…we’re 99.9% sure you’ll get to hear them. Also, we’re still trying to become Priyanka Chopra’s stylists – it’s really hard! In the meantime we take that energy and direct it to this blog.

But we got news gaaon waalo! There’s some big shit brewing.

Sona: yeah big tatti (shit in Punjabi)

Jasmine: hahahahaha

Sona: we can’t say this

Jasmine: haha really we can’t?

Sona: only some people will understand it…

Don’t bad words sound worse in your own language? Not that anything pertaining to feces is necessarily bad, just…distasteful. We’re also taking less “diplomatic” approach to life and blogging. Apparently.

But yeah anyway big things…we’ll be covering iifa for you guys!!

Adaab fellow Filmis! Hopefully all is good and well with you guys. We’re alright, if you’re wondering. So, yeah about this movie….hmm, where should we start? Mogambo khush hua!! But, there’s a caveat…he died of a headache by the time the movie ended. It wasn’t a good movie, it really actually gave us a headache. There’s always details to mention though…

Lilette Dubey’s character had really fun dialogues that we can add to our daily vocabulary inspired by Filmistan, so that’s a plus.

The beginning was really cute and there was this whole thing the main characters had, “Shahrukh and Sunita,” which was really cute. (Clarification: main characters are not Shahrukh and Sunita) All the good and the cute was very superficial, otherwise the dialogues, screenplay and the story was an unimpressive, drawn-out, boring, yawn and headache-inducing blubberfest. There was another moment, which we related to…in a scene Deepika’s character, Aaliya, is having a freak-out because her mom won’t agree with her into letting her major in Mass Communication…it was funny (mostly sad) because that was one of our majors and well we’re still unemployed.

There were a lot of filmi references, as it seems have become the trend with the Karan Johar camp these days, and even though it was a Kunal Kohli production, it’s the same thing. So the filmi-loving filmis in films, that’s great and all because we get those references and it’s funny and nice to see that there are people who think like we do. Because the whole thing, where the kids had memorized all the dialogues to the movie, well that’s us. But, these cute little details don’t make a good movie. The story and the characters have to hold your interest and yes you say it was a romantic-comedy…it’s the same old, same old, but it’s not because each story has something unique, like life. But, this one was not that. Unique. No. Blah. Yes.

See, this movie would’ve been really good if Imtiaz had made it…oh wait! He did! Except, not this one because it was so bad, you get our point. That’s right bitches, why don’t you (the moviemakers, never you readers!) try writing some real movies and stop trying to make money off of one script for the rest of your lives. We’re so fed up with movies this year!! Was there anything exceptional?

We have a headache and you probably do too. As promised!

Love,

Sona and Jasmine

Retweet this post]]> http://thefilmistanconnection.com/2010/12/review-break-ke-baad/feed/ 0 http://thefilmistanconnection.com/2010/11/khabrein-14/ http://thefilmistanconnection.com/2010/11/khabrein-14/#comments Tue, 23 Nov 2010 07:18:57 +0000 S/J http://thefilmistanconnection.com/?p=3195 As we had told you earlier, we were working on a movie and we also started a new fashion blog that’s been keeping us really busy. However, we’ve decided to be regular in bringing you filmi khabrein once again!

John Abraham’s eight-packs to beat Aamir’s six-packs from Ghajini. So, now we know why John’s been roaming around looking like a bodyguard! John is playing a cop in the film Kha Kha Kha…haha the name is hilarious…literally translated in Hindi…eat eat eat! While looking up filmi news, we also read that John’s dad is really ill. We really hope that John’s dad gets better soon, poor Johnny boy must be going through such a hard time.

Katrina aur Deepika ki dosti…taaliyaan! Well, they’ll be seen in Housefull 2 but it’s not confirmed yet. What is confirmed, however, is that John Abraham will be in the film…we did like Akshay and John in Garam Masala so let’s hope this one’s good too.

Remember, we had interviewed Shirish Kunder while back, well his next film Joker will star Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha. This movie will be the first ever 3-D movie made in filmistan…yay for Shirish!!!

WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON A MOVIE.

A HINDI/TAMIL MOVIE. (It’s close enough for now.)

Unfortunately, that’s all we can discuss with you. Under contract. We’ll try to update soon, but yay for us!

Love you guys,
Sona and Jasmine

Oh, lots of good music coming out lately and some good movies, that we’ll mention as soon as possible. Here’s an example of one, a combination of both…music and film.