film review: Khabi Kushi Khabie Gham

FINALLY.

Lots of dancing, wacky outfits, incomprehensible family drama, and an ever-present bobbling of heads. THIS is what i expected from bollywood. call me shallow, but i'm glad i finally found a flick that exemplifies indian cliches.  not to mention an all-star cast including, among others, Amitabh Bachchan. You may know him as the dude that kid in slumdog millionare swam in poo to get to. He is the biggest actor in the history of indian cinema, a totally educated dude and has that stylish two-tone hair / goatee thing going on.

you have to see some of this dance numbers for yourself (apologies for the german subtitles) not only do they take place in elaborate sets with hundreds of extras, they last for like 10 minutes a piece. seriously - the big number at the dad's birthday was like five chapters on the DVD. on top of all that, you've got the gorgeous Kajol (aka Kajol Devgan) who unfortunately is married. however, her husband does look like clive owen after being run over by a truck full of tanning lotion so who knows, maybe it's a wash. indian audiences, according to everything i've read, love a long movie and this one clocks in at 211 minutes with 130% of that being music and dancing. you heard me

the title, Khabi Kushi Khabie Gham can be interpreted a number of different ways. Kushi apparently means, more or less, "happy" while Gham means "sad." Wiki and other sources have the title as "Sometimes happy, Sometimes sad."  The subtitles of the DVD i watched translated it (rather poetically) as "Through Time and Tears." I'll take the middle road - "Though Happiness, Through Sadness."  Sort of a great title, considering the film is about the love and respect a parent has for their child, and the service and reverence a child shows for their parents.

before you run off to another, better written blog, do yourself a favor and watch this additional clip from the film. the really good stuff gets going at 1:19 with expert, break-neck head wobbling. expect me and eliot to dancing in several videos exactly like this.

film review: Aetbaar

the daughter of a protective father meets a mysterious dirt-bike riding, dark-and-mysterious type after class one day. he has the deep, brooding allure that good little girls can't resist. he's rough with her, and creepy and has a deep voice. BUT THIS ISN'T A VAMPIRE MOVIE. 

then they dance together when he somehow knows she will be at this one club. he says he is something like a demon.  the whole room fades away and he keeps biting her neck while talking about feeling her heartbeat. BUT THIS ISN'T A VAMPIRE MOVIE. 

then, he beats up a bunch of women and follows the girl around, even when she's on vacation. her mother approves but her father thinks he's up to something. in the final confrontation, he is bloodied and beaten but seems to have an almost supernatural strength - hellbent on having her love forever at any cost. BUT THIS ISN'T A VAMPIRE MOVIE. 

it's Aetbaar. 

i sat through two and a half hours of this junk waiting for a bollywood-style vampire dance off (maybe a nod to Thriller?) and got nothing. nada. zilch. turns out the dude really was just creepy as all heck. if you thought christian bale's batman voice was bad, wait till you see Not-A-Vampire in Aetbaar. interestingly, the wiki on this movie indicates it's a remake of 1996's "FEAR," which is funny because another one of the movies i have to watch, Zinda is an obvious rip-off of Oldboy. India, like America, seems obsessed with the reboot / remake. 

anyway, beware the Aetbaar: which may or may not be a vampire.

film review, salaam namaste

the other night eliot and i thought we'd watch SALAAM NAMASTE as part of our ongoing education in all things india. this theatrical one-sheet should tell you everything you need to know about the movie:

the male lead was of ... questionable sexual orientation and spent the whole movie prancing around wearing pastel clothing and jumping off steps in a mentos-esque explosion of euphoria. the female lead was exactly as annoying as you'd imagine someone who wears a skirt with "Von Dutch" written across the back would be.

while the movie started out light hearted, about halfway through it takes a really serious turn. the happy music stops as the characters debate whether or not they should abort their love-baby (spolier: it's twins!). the supporting cast seems to be made of cut-out of western stereotypes viewed through an Urdu lens. really disconcerting. especially the crocodile dundee guy.

on the plus side: australian babes dancing like indian babes. i forgot to mention - the movie takes place in australia.

anyway, if you can figure out what's going on in this movie, more power to you. i couldn't make heads or tails of what i felt for these characters short of contempt. oh and NOT ENOUGH DANCING. there was only one decent bollywood dance-a-thon. some interesting trivia: the male lead is apparently royalty and part of a film group called the Illuminati?

boooOOOOOOOOoooooorrring

idealism

on monday i was listening to the Diane Rehm Show ("one of her guests is always you!") when who should be on but none other than former U.S. representative and current director of the national endowment for the humanities, the honorable Jim Leach. you can hear the show here.

representative leach spent the hour talking about civility and a series of talks he's giving on the subject. he also spent a good portion of his time talking about the need for citizens to be civil to one another, both in public discourse and abroad. he made a special point about citizen-diplomats and not relying on the government to be the sole diplomatic entity speaking on your behalf. in other words (with apologies to mr. leach) show some respect when you're talking to people. be a good guest and be gracious with your words and actions. anyway, i thought i'd drop him an e-mail:

Good Morning -

I'm still listening to you on the Diane Rehm show but I wanted to drop a note and say how much I am enjoying your talk - with special regards to something specific you said: that the government isn't the only diplomatic entity in the United States; that each citizen, in every way is an extension of diplomacy and has an obligation to remain civil. Powerful stuff, and I couldn't agree more! If you get a chance, please briefly check out http://ghost-runners.blogspot.com. A dear friend and I are going to be traveling through India as "ghost runners." We took our name from the suburban tradition of having an invisible man who plays for both teams during a baseball game, who helps how he can, and leaves no trace. We want to travel the country and meet with people one-on-one to just talk.

I think it's truly important to interact with people across the globe face to face - it's a chance to show respect to others and learn a bit about culture first hand. I deeply endorse the idea of citizen-diplomats and was overjoyed to hear that such an accomplished individual in such a prestigious position agrees whole heartedly. Thank you for being straight-forward and honest. We'll keep doing the same.

- Drew Hicks

http://ghost-runners.blogspot.com

and mr. leach's repsonse came shortly thereafter:

Thanks for the note. I am intritgued with your perspective and term: "ghost runners." Sounds a bit conspiratorial but the intent couldn't be more idealistic and as few understand, idealism and practicality are frequently synonomous.

what a thoughful, stand-up dude. we'd love to hear more from mr. leach, and we'll keep you posted if we do. his ideas about civility and respect hit right to the heart of what this trip we're taking is about.