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Free Video: Sholay - The Best Movie Ever Made
Sholay will forever be the best movie in Bollywood and given the size of the Indian population, it's clearly the most watched movie of all times around the world. It was awesome how the various elements came together in one movie. Even the team of Ramesh Sippy, Amitabh and others could never recreate that magic, though they tried again with Shaan. Sholay had terrific chemistry between Amitabh and Dharmendra, a chatty Hema Malini just short of irritating, Jaya and the widow marriage stuff, one of the best actors of all time Sanjiv Kumar, and of course the very first movie of Amzad Khan who redefined what an arch villain could be forever.
Enjoy the movie in the following two videos:
and the second half ...
Do leave a comment if there's any favorite video you'd like to watch.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Comeback Apsaras: Indian bollywood beauties in their second innings
Comeback Apsaras: Indian bollywood beauties in their second innings
As usual, Madhuri Dixit is making the most buzz with her movie Aaja Nach Le due to her return as a lead heroine after a five year hiatus during which she became the mother of two children. The Yashraj films movie is gaining notoriety due to some objectionable lyrics which were deemed casteist and led to a ban of the movie in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, which appears to now have been lifted now that the songs have been lifted. The dhak-dhak girl chose a movie in her second innings as one which closely mirrors her current life story - an Indian expatriate settled in the US who returns to fight for the preservation of her guru's dance academy. Her presence was clearly deemed the selling point of the picture to the point that Akshaye Khanna, one of the best heros and actors (not necessarily the same thing) of modern times wasn't even used in the movie's advertisements!
It's difficult to believe that she's as old as she is now just by looking at this video. Or from this promo for Aaja Nachle:
Here's another trailer for the movie:
Another actress whose comeback was widely anticipated was Kajol. After marrying Ajay Devgan, Kajol, one of the most intelligent actresses of modern time, took a back seat, though Ajay's movies significantly improved. It was as if an invisible hand was guiding his choice of scripts which focused on his few advantages while leaving out the traditional chocolaty hero roles for others.
Kajol had always been a bankable actress and her early retirement had caused a lot of pain for the producers. For her comeback, she chose Fanaa, a vehicle with Aamir Khan which was a bit unusual, since her pairing with Shah Rukh Khan had been the more popular one from Baazigar to Dil Wale Dulhaniya Le Jaenge! Here's the song Chand Sifarish from the movie:
Ever the great actress, Kajol played a blind girl beautifully in the movie. Another song Dekho Naa from Fanna:
The super-star at the top before Madhuri Dixit - Sridevi - didn't make a big screen comeback so far. After her two daughters were born, she tried her hand at getting behind the camera and made a couple of flops.
Aishwarya Rai is clearly expected to stay in the movies after her much publicized marriage to Abhishek Bachchan, showing a generational change in the Bachchan household where Jaya Bhaduri, one of the top heroines of her time took retirement from movies after her marriage to the Big B (who wasn't quite that big at the time). Except for a few specials like Silsilay, she primarily returned as a much older woman. Here she's in Mili, one of Amitabh's earliest movies:
The reigning queen before Rekha - Hema Malini - probably made the best comeback as a mother of all the yesteryear heroines - Rakhi Gulzaar, Sharmila Tagore, Wahida Rehman, and Jaya Bachchan. The actress turned politician hopes to play the role of Sonia Gandhi some day, but in the meantime, she's primarily become the best pairing with an older Amitabh, that is when he isn't frolicking about with the younger girls like Tabu as you can see in the video of Cheeni Kum.
As usual, Madhuri Dixit is making the most buzz with her movie Aaja Nach Le due to her return as a lead heroine after a five year hiatus during which she became the mother of two children. The Yashraj films movie is gaining notoriety due to some objectionable lyrics which were deemed casteist and led to a ban of the movie in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, which appears to now have been lifted now that the songs have been lifted. The dhak-dhak girl chose a movie in her second innings as one which closely mirrors her current life story - an Indian expatriate settled in the US who returns to fight for the preservation of her guru's dance academy. Her presence was clearly deemed the selling point of the picture to the point that Akshaye Khanna, one of the best heros and actors (not necessarily the same thing) of modern times wasn't even used in the movie's advertisements!
It's difficult to believe that she's as old as she is now just by looking at this video. Or from this promo for Aaja Nachle:
Here's another trailer for the movie:
Another actress whose comeback was widely anticipated was Kajol. After marrying Ajay Devgan, Kajol, one of the most intelligent actresses of modern time, took a back seat, though Ajay's movies significantly improved. It was as if an invisible hand was guiding his choice of scripts which focused on his few advantages while leaving out the traditional chocolaty hero roles for others.
Kajol had always been a bankable actress and her early retirement had caused a lot of pain for the producers. For her comeback, she chose Fanaa, a vehicle with Aamir Khan which was a bit unusual, since her pairing with Shah Rukh Khan had been the more popular one from Baazigar to Dil Wale Dulhaniya Le Jaenge! Here's the song Chand Sifarish from the movie:
Ever the great actress, Kajol played a blind girl beautifully in the movie. Another song Dekho Naa from Fanna:
The super-star at the top before Madhuri Dixit - Sridevi - didn't make a big screen comeback so far. After her two daughters were born, she tried her hand at getting behind the camera and made a couple of flops.
Aishwarya Rai is clearly expected to stay in the movies after her much publicized marriage to Abhishek Bachchan, showing a generational change in the Bachchan household where Jaya Bhaduri, one of the top heroines of her time took retirement from movies after her marriage to the Big B (who wasn't quite that big at the time). Except for a few specials like Silsilay, she primarily returned as a much older woman. Here she's in Mili, one of Amitabh's earliest movies:
The reigning queen before Rekha - Hema Malini - probably made the best comeback as a mother of all the yesteryear heroines - Rakhi Gulzaar, Sharmila Tagore, Wahida Rehman, and Jaya Bachchan. The actress turned politician hopes to play the role of Sonia Gandhi some day, but in the meantime, she's primarily become the best pairing with an older Amitabh, that is when he isn't frolicking about with the younger girls like Tabu as you can see in the video of Cheeni Kum.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Free online video: Parineeta - Vidya Balan's wonderful debut!
Parineeta - Vidya Balan's wonderful debut!
Parineeta is a nice Bengali classic marking the debut of the wonderful actress Vidya Balan, ably supported by Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Diya Mirza.
Enjoy the show!
Parineeta is a nice Bengali classic marking the debut of the wonderful actress Vidya Balan, ably supported by Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Diya Mirza.
Enjoy the show!
फ्री वीडियो: परीणिता: विद्या बालन, सैफ अली खान
परीणिता: विद्या बालन, सैफ अली खान
विद्या बालन की पहली ही फिल्म मे कमाल का अभिनय छा गया.
देखिये और आनंद उठाइये.
विद्या बालन की पहली ही फिल्म मे कमाल का अभिनय छा गया.
देखिये और आनंद उठाइये.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Free online video: Lage Raho Munna Bhai: fine sequel
Lage Raho Munna Bhai: fine sequel
It's always fun to watch 'Circuit' even though he doesn't get enough of a role in a Sanjay Dutt movie. It was worth watching Lage Raho Munna Bhai, the sequel to Munna Bhai MBBS.
Enjoy!
It's always fun to watch 'Circuit' even though he doesn't get enough of a role in a Sanjay Dutt movie. It was worth watching Lage Raho Munna Bhai, the sequel to Munna Bhai MBBS.
Enjoy!
Outsourcing Bollywood
Outsourcing Bollywood
Couldn't resist passing this along as well! Some of these are really old videos from the early days of video.google.com as it started to come online.
I know, I know! Not as much fun. But then to continue the outsourcing theme, here's a fun episode from The Simpsons!
Have fun!
Couldn't resist passing this along as well! Some of these are really old videos from the early days of video.google.com as it started to come online.
I know, I know! Not as much fun. But then to continue the outsourcing theme, here's a fun episode from The Simpsons!
Have fun!
Apsara Wannabes
Apsara Wannabes
I guess Bollywood has had some converts around the world. We can expect this after all since it's a small world after all. Enjoy these 3 videos!
and the same group again attempting to lip synch on my favorite Baadshaah song ...
and then there are these folks ...
I guess Bollywood has had some converts around the world. We can expect this after all since it's a small world after all. Enjoy these 3 videos!
and the same group again attempting to lip synch on my favorite Baadshaah song ...
and then there are these folks ...
Free Online Video: Bheja Fry
Bheja Fry: A different kinda comedy
Loved it! Terrific acting, great concept! Though it started out a bit slow, it picked up speed when it mattered. And I had never thought I could like Milind Soman and though mostly he had to stand around and laugh, it was still great. There were some uncomfortable moments around an Indian Muslim rooting for Pakistan in an India-Pakistan cricket match, but it's all good.
Enjoy the show!!
Loved it! Terrific acting, great concept! Though it started out a bit slow, it picked up speed when it mattered. And I had never thought I could like Milind Soman and though mostly he had to stand around and laugh, it was still great. There were some uncomfortable moments around an Indian Muslim rooting for Pakistan in an India-Pakistan cricket match, but it's all good.
Enjoy the show!!
Hungama: Beautiful Comedy
Hungama: Beautiful Comedy
Recently, I managed to catch one of my favorite movies - Hungama - once again. This movie, though not perfect, manages to bring quite a few elements together to make for some good situational comedy.
Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav are now well established as good comedy actors, but it was fun to see Akshaye Khanna in a comedic turn.
Rimi Sen was pretty though her ultra fast dialog delivery made it seem like a dub movie from South. Some of the South Indian languages are denser than Hindi, or at least the movie dialogs tend to be. When they are dubbed in Hindi, the lip movements have to accommodate a lot of dialog. Hence the super fast speaking! Dunno if that was the case with this movie.
It's available online in several chunks. Here they are in sequence. Enjoy!
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src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
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src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
Recently, I managed to catch one of my favorite movies - Hungama - once again. This movie, though not perfect, manages to bring quite a few elements together to make for some good situational comedy.
Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav are now well established as good comedy actors, but it was fun to see Akshaye Khanna in a comedic turn.
Rimi Sen was pretty though her ultra fast dialog delivery made it seem like a dub movie from South. Some of the South Indian languages are denser than Hindi, or at least the movie dialogs tend to be. When they are dubbed in Hindi, the lip movements have to accommodate a lot of dialog. Hence the super fast speaking! Dunno if that was the case with this movie.
It's available online in several chunks. Here they are in sequence. Enjoy!
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
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src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Bipasha Basu: Bengali Apsara
After Madhuri Dixit, Bipasha Basu has probably done the most to push the envelope further. While in a different league than Madhuri, Bipasha has her own place in Bollywood, and was recently voted the hottest Asian woman by a British group (Madhuri was the second).
Given her western style, Bipasha typically acts in remakes of hit western movies like Jism which was the (unofficial) remake of Body Heat. Since bollywood movie makers don't like to mess with a hit movie when they are copying it, most such movies use Goa as a locale since it's easier to bring some of the background elements in that place. Here's a song from the movie. Like her other songs, and for that matter most Bollywood songs, viewer discretion is advised!
With the rise in popularity of item numbers, it is an easy way to pick some cool moolah, and here's Bipasha in a recent hit - Beedi Jalaye Le - from Omkara, which was based on Shakespeare's Othello.
Ajnabee was yet another remake of Alfred Hitchcock. To keep things simpler, this time the locale was Switzerland. The movie 'raised' people's expectations by hints of the taboo subject of wife swapping widely shown in the trailers.
Bipasha played a tarot card reader in an almost frame by frame copy of the movie The Gift where Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth fame) plays that role. Her typical stuff was handled instead by Amrita Arora and of course the item number O What a Babe got the most fame. But here she is a relatively mute performance.
Bipasha recently received critical acclaim for the movie Corporate where she acted as a fixer executive at a soft drinks company. The movie was rather different from her usual fare, and she was nicely paired with K K Menon.
Given her western style, Bipasha typically acts in remakes of hit western movies like Jism which was the (unofficial) remake of Body Heat. Since bollywood movie makers don't like to mess with a hit movie when they are copying it, most such movies use Goa as a locale since it's easier to bring some of the background elements in that place. Here's a song from the movie. Like her other songs, and for that matter most Bollywood songs, viewer discretion is advised!
With the rise in popularity of item numbers, it is an easy way to pick some cool moolah, and here's Bipasha in a recent hit - Beedi Jalaye Le - from Omkara, which was based on Shakespeare's Othello.
Ajnabee was yet another remake of Alfred Hitchcock. To keep things simpler, this time the locale was Switzerland. The movie 'raised' people's expectations by hints of the taboo subject of wife swapping widely shown in the trailers.
Bipasha played a tarot card reader in an almost frame by frame copy of the movie The Gift where Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth fame) plays that role. Her typical stuff was handled instead by Amrita Arora and of course the item number O What a Babe got the most fame. But here she is a relatively mute performance.
Bipasha recently received critical acclaim for the movie Corporate where she acted as a fixer executive at a soft drinks company. The movie was rather different from her usual fare, and she was nicely paired with K K Menon.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Aishwarya Rai World Apsara
Aishwarya Rai is rumored to have lost her Miss India crown in 1994 to Sushmita Sen due to a trip on the ramp during the show. As a runner up, she ended up going to the Miss World competition, and that year, India ruled the beauty scene with Sushmita willing the Miss Universe title and Aish, as she's popularly known, winning the Miss World. As was expected, both tried their hands at acting. Aish is clearly the more successful of the two.
While she got her big break in the south first, she soon came to Bollywood with a movie with Bobby Deol whose story was neatly lifted from the Robert Downey Jr romance Only You. Here's the song Thoda Sa Pagla from that movie and you can see shades of Madhuri's Choli Ke Peechhe dance moves in there.
Her western looks didn't work very well in the Hindi cinema world and eventually it fell upon the showman Subhash Ghai to make her a bit hit with Taal. Here's a beautiful song Ishq Bina with Aishwarya and Akshaye Khanna.
Here's another song from the same movie - Taal Se Taal Mila.
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam in the same year - 1999 - finally got her the well deserved place in Bollywood and started her down the path of becoming the recipient of the crown from Madhuri Dixit. Here's the popular song Nimbooda from that movie.
Shaadi.com Matrimonials
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam also showed the terrific chemistry between Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai as can be seen in the popular number Dholi Taro below.
She's probably best known for the role of Paro in the umpteenth remake of Devdas. This movie also brought Madhuri back after her marriage and gave her one of her biggest hits. Here's a hit song Dola Re Dola from that movie.
Item numbers are an easy way of making a ton of money for the pretty actresses. Karishma Kapoor is rumored to have been miffed by the fact that Aish's item number - Ishq Kamina - in Shakti upstaged her role as the heroine in the movie in 2002.
Her romance with Salman broke rather violently and among other things, that also broke things between Shah Rukh and her who tried to patch them up. She found solace in the arms of Vivek Oberoi and the couple had decent chemistry in their movie - Kyun Ho Gaya Na in 2004. Here's a song Aao Naa from the movie.
It didn't go anywhere, but that's where she got close to the mighty Bachchan khandan. She almost managed to upstage Rani Mukherjee with her item number in Bunty Aur Babli where she danced seductively with both the father and the son together in the superhit song Kajra Re in 2005.
While she got her big break in the south first, she soon came to Bollywood with a movie with Bobby Deol whose story was neatly lifted from the Robert Downey Jr romance Only You. Here's the song Thoda Sa Pagla from that movie and you can see shades of Madhuri's Choli Ke Peechhe dance moves in there.
Her western looks didn't work very well in the Hindi cinema world and eventually it fell upon the showman Subhash Ghai to make her a bit hit with Taal. Here's a beautiful song Ishq Bina with Aishwarya and Akshaye Khanna.
Here's another song from the same movie - Taal Se Taal Mila.
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam in the same year - 1999 - finally got her the well deserved place in Bollywood and started her down the path of becoming the recipient of the crown from Madhuri Dixit. Here's the popular song Nimbooda from that movie.
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam also showed the terrific chemistry between Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai as can be seen in the popular number Dholi Taro below.
She's probably best known for the role of Paro in the umpteenth remake of Devdas. This movie also brought Madhuri back after her marriage and gave her one of her biggest hits. Here's a hit song Dola Re Dola from that movie.
Item numbers are an easy way of making a ton of money for the pretty actresses. Karishma Kapoor is rumored to have been miffed by the fact that Aish's item number - Ishq Kamina - in Shakti upstaged her role as the heroine in the movie in 2002.
Her romance with Salman broke rather violently and among other things, that also broke things between Shah Rukh and her who tried to patch them up. She found solace in the arms of Vivek Oberoi and the couple had decent chemistry in their movie - Kyun Ho Gaya Na in 2004. Here's a song Aao Naa from the movie.
It didn't go anywhere, but that's where she got close to the mighty Bachchan khandan. She almost managed to upstage Rani Mukherjee with her item number in Bunty Aur Babli where she danced seductively with both the father and the son together in the superhit song Kajra Re in 2005.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Ek Chidiya, Anek Chidiya
While not quite an apsara, or even real, this TV character captured the hearts of Indians when it appeared on Doordarshan the venerable government owned TV channel. The story of strength in unity was presented in a cute hand drawn animation of a story of a bunch of sparrows who manage to escape a trap by acting in unison.
Doordarshan had several such pieces played out over time and later on, during Rajeev Gandhi days, we had the Mera Bharat Mahaan series. And then of course the public service ads - Marzi Hai Aapki, Aakhir Sar Hai Aapka!
Enjoy Ek Chidiya!
Doordarshan had several such pieces played out over time and later on, during Rajeev Gandhi days, we had the Mera Bharat Mahaan series. And then of course the public service ads - Marzi Hai Aapki, Aakhir Sar Hai Aapka!
Enjoy Ek Chidiya!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Madhubala: Queen of Apsaras
Madhubala, the queen of black and white cinema, set the bar which forever served as a challenge for all other heroines. Madhuri came closest to her charm and beauty.
It was ot all blakc-and-white though. Here she is in probably the most famous song of hers, dancing as Anarkali in front of Emperor Akbar with Dileep Kumar as Saleem.
Like most beautiful heroines later, Madhubala tagged along with Kishore Kumar a relatively small hero for her movies (Madhuri did that with Anil Kapoor, while Karishma Kapoor with Govinda, though calling Karishma beautiful is stretching the truth a teeny weeny bit). Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi was one of the best comedies of Kishore Kumar's and the song Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhagi Si stays a cult classic.
It's easy to forget that Ashok Kumar was a young hero at a time given his long career as dada muni. Here's Madhubala doing a Helenesque Aaiye Meherban with him and K N Singh.
It's no wonder that the remix generation fell back to Madhubala's songs. Here's her Ek Ajnabi which has been remade several times since!
Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi had several beautiful songs. The combination of Kishore's comedy and Madhubala's beauty was able to make a song like Paanch Rupaiya Barah Aana so popular!
Here's Madhubala in Ruk Jao Na Jee in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi.
Evergreen Dev Anand has acted with a wide range of heroines but he never looked as good with someone as he did with Madhubala. Here he is in Kaala Paani with Madhubala singing Achchha Ji Mai Haari.
Madhubala left us in 1969 but her posters are still the most popular today just as they were when she was being called out by Bharat Bhushan in this song - Jo Baat Tujhme Hai.
It was ot all blakc-and-white though. Here she is in probably the most famous song of hers, dancing as Anarkali in front of Emperor Akbar with Dileep Kumar as Saleem.
Like most beautiful heroines later, Madhubala tagged along with Kishore Kumar a relatively small hero for her movies (Madhuri did that with Anil Kapoor, while Karishma Kapoor with Govinda, though calling Karishma beautiful is stretching the truth a teeny weeny bit). Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi was one of the best comedies of Kishore Kumar's and the song Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhagi Si stays a cult classic.
It's easy to forget that Ashok Kumar was a young hero at a time given his long career as dada muni. Here's Madhubala doing a Helenesque Aaiye Meherban with him and K N Singh.
It's no wonder that the remix generation fell back to Madhubala's songs. Here's her Ek Ajnabi which has been remade several times since!
Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi had several beautiful songs. The combination of Kishore's comedy and Madhubala's beauty was able to make a song like Paanch Rupaiya Barah Aana so popular!
Here's Madhubala in Ruk Jao Na Jee in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi.
Evergreen Dev Anand has acted with a wide range of heroines but he never looked as good with someone as he did with Madhubala. Here he is in Kaala Paani with Madhubala singing Achchha Ji Mai Haari.
Madhubala left us in 1969 but her posters are still the most popular today just as they were when she was being called out by Bharat Bhushan in this song - Jo Baat Tujhme Hai.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Madhuri Dixit: The Gorgeous Apsara
Beauty is typically associated with the Aries sign, the sign of Venus. Madhuri was born slightly later and is actually an earth sign - Taurus. I don't think it's any of our business to know the year she was born in, but her debut was a little known movie Abodh.
She got her a big break as a protoge of showman Subhash Ghai who did Uttar Dakshin with her. However, it was N Chandra's blockbuster Tezaab which gave Madhuri her first major hit, especially with the song Ek Do Teen, penned by Shabana Azmi.
In Tezaab Madhuri demonstrated both her dancing abilities as well as her incredible acting prowess. In almost all of her follow-on movies Madhuri had a great song, and often that song was credited with the success of the movie itself!
Movies with a male name in their title were often modified in popular discussions to the female name. For example, Beta, a remake of a South Indian movie, was dubbed Beti by fans crazy for Madhuri's trademark Dhak Dhak song. The song was especially sweet for her since it was originally filmed on her competitor Sridevi in the south Indian version.
Shah Rukh Khan started out in anti-hero roles. One of the more severe was Anzaam which had Madhuri perform so much violence in revenge that she refused to give dates for the movie's completion before she was sued by the producer. Good thing she finished the movie, since it gave the viewers some of the best songs of hers. Here she is enacting the story of a girl lost in chane ke khet.
Hindi movies have often been inspired by Sidney Sheldon's novels. One of his stories had the heroine helping the paralyzed husband get better by forcing him to swim after tipping his wheel chair in water. In Anjaam, Madhuri has to fix SRK before she can enact her revenge and so she does what she does best as seen in the song Barson ke Baad.
Rajshri Productions' Hum Aapke Hain Kaun is considered one of Madhuri's best films, though the entire movie appears to just be about a wedding! Her song Didi Tera Dewar Diwana made the backless blouse very popular in India.
Julia Roberts' Sleeping with the Enemy was remade at least thrice in Bollywood. Madhuri's version - Yaarana - had her trademark dance show song Mera Piya Ghar Aaya (you can see similarities with the much older Tezaab song which stayed with her forever).
Aditya Pancholi has never been a big hit in the movies despite his good looks. But he has definitely been lucky. His movie Sailab with Madhuri was probably his biggest movie and had some great songs from her. Humko Aajkal Hai was her standard item number.
Madhuri also pushed the envelope with her songs going places where it used to be the job of the Helens and Bindus to go to. It had to be the combination of Madhuri and Subhash Ghai again which would create that cultural phenomenon Choli Ke Peechhe with one of her few acknowledged lovers - Sanjay Dutt - in Khalnayak.
While Choli ke Peechhe got all the attention, my favorite song from the movie is Palki Me Hoke Sawar Chali, which made the obligatory Subhash Ghai appearance (he had originally arrived in Bollywood to become a hero!).
Madhuri was blamed for putting on some weight by the time she played with Rishi Kapoor in Prem Granth. But she was still terrific in Jungle Me Sher.
Madhuri's marriage to a doc in Denver broke many a heart. Her return to movies has not been as successful yet but it would be interesting to see if she can recreate herself!
She got her a big break as a protoge of showman Subhash Ghai who did Uttar Dakshin with her. However, it was N Chandra's blockbuster Tezaab which gave Madhuri her first major hit, especially with the song Ek Do Teen, penned by Shabana Azmi.
In Tezaab Madhuri demonstrated both her dancing abilities as well as her incredible acting prowess. In almost all of her follow-on movies Madhuri had a great song, and often that song was credited with the success of the movie itself!
Movies with a male name in their title were often modified in popular discussions to the female name. For example, Beta, a remake of a South Indian movie, was dubbed Beti by fans crazy for Madhuri's trademark Dhak Dhak song. The song was especially sweet for her since it was originally filmed on her competitor Sridevi in the south Indian version.
Shah Rukh Khan started out in anti-hero roles. One of the more severe was Anzaam which had Madhuri perform so much violence in revenge that she refused to give dates for the movie's completion before she was sued by the producer. Good thing she finished the movie, since it gave the viewers some of the best songs of hers. Here she is enacting the story of a girl lost in chane ke khet.
Hindi movies have often been inspired by Sidney Sheldon's novels. One of his stories had the heroine helping the paralyzed husband get better by forcing him to swim after tipping his wheel chair in water. In Anjaam, Madhuri has to fix SRK before she can enact her revenge and so she does what she does best as seen in the song Barson ke Baad.
Rajshri Productions' Hum Aapke Hain Kaun is considered one of Madhuri's best films, though the entire movie appears to just be about a wedding! Her song Didi Tera Dewar Diwana made the backless blouse very popular in India.
Julia Roberts' Sleeping with the Enemy was remade at least thrice in Bollywood. Madhuri's version - Yaarana - had her trademark dance show song Mera Piya Ghar Aaya (you can see similarities with the much older Tezaab song which stayed with her forever).
Aditya Pancholi has never been a big hit in the movies despite his good looks. But he has definitely been lucky. His movie Sailab with Madhuri was probably his biggest movie and had some great songs from her. Humko Aajkal Hai was her standard item number.
Madhuri also pushed the envelope with her songs going places where it used to be the job of the Helens and Bindus to go to. It had to be the combination of Madhuri and Subhash Ghai again which would create that cultural phenomenon Choli Ke Peechhe with one of her few acknowledged lovers - Sanjay Dutt - in Khalnayak.
While Choli ke Peechhe got all the attention, my favorite song from the movie is Palki Me Hoke Sawar Chali, which made the obligatory Subhash Ghai appearance (he had originally arrived in Bollywood to become a hero!).
Madhuri was blamed for putting on some weight by the time she played with Rishi Kapoor in Prem Granth. But she was still terrific in Jungle Me Sher.
Madhuri's marriage to a doc in Denver broke many a heart. Her return to movies has not been as successful yet but it would be interesting to see if she can recreate herself!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Indian Screen Apsaras
It is no wonder that a country of a billion people has some of the most beautiful women in the world. Given the wonderful new world of youtube and the availability of videos from all over Bollywood and its sisters in Tollywood etc it is now feasible to show all these beauties on one page and not just the static images that were in vogue earlier.
Be careful as you go over the videos though. Indian movies have been known for some strangely erotic stuff, especially given the supposedly puritanical society created by a mish-mash of first Mughal and then Victorian rule which together pretty much cleansed the country of the past which gave it that tome kama sutra. So I'd recommend that you move off to other pages if you are under 18. For the most part, I'm counting on youtube's age appropriate check mechanisms to manage the viewer appropriateness.
MADHUBALA
No talk of Indian apsaras can start without the all-time favorite Madhubala, the screen Goddess of black and white celluloid. The term bollywood wasn't even coined yet! An untimely death took her but not before she managed to usher in an era of color movies in Indian cinema.
MADHURI DIXIT
Though several beauties before, during, and after Madhubala reigned the screen, there was none like the scorching hot Madhuri Dixit Nene. Madhuri movies became hits due to her songs, and often created new controversy which only made them more popular. The song 'Choli ke peechhe' took this to new heights and it was only the blessing of Mumbai supremo Bal Thackarey which stopped theaters from being burnt down when they showed Khalnayak!
Sridevi came to bollywood after a long successful stint down south. She took the mantle from Rekha and reigned the silver screen until Madhuri essentially took over. A highlight of her career was the movie Mr India. Here she is dancing to an invisible hero.
Aishwarya Rai is probably the one heroine who can safely claim the super status abandoned by Madhuri's marriage (Indian heroines tend to quit the star roles after marriage). Often called a director's actress, here she is in a folksy song.
Before her career imploded due to alcohol abuse, bad relationships, and a general mismanagement of life, Manisha Koirala, a Nepali girl found by Madhuri, appeared to be all set to take her mantle. Though now she's known more for her scenes seducing a young kid in Ek Chhoti Si Love Story, her career got a huge boost with the love story based on the backdrop of Indian Independence Movement: 1942 a Love Story.
Kajol, the daughter of a beautiful actress of yesteryear, was probably the only actress who guaranteed a hit after Madhuri. She recently returned after a mandatory going away period after marriage. Here's a song from her super-hit movie Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge.
Rani Mukherji, Kajol's much shorter cousin, is one of the most bankable heroines of today, despite her reported break-up with the very powerful Amitabh Bachchan camp. Here she's romping with Abhishek Bachchan in one of the superhit movies of recent times - Bunty Aur Babli.
Preity Zinta, another intelligent actress, in a world dominated by bimbos, has been popular lately due to her brave testimony against the Mumbai underworld connections wiht bollywood. But the dimpled girl is also one of the biggest stars of today. Here she is enjoying down under with Saif Ali Khan, son of another hot actress of yester-years - Sharmila Tagore!
So here's my list of the top 10 beauties of Bollywood:
Be careful as you go over the videos though. Indian movies have been known for some strangely erotic stuff, especially given the supposedly puritanical society created by a mish-mash of first Mughal and then Victorian rule which together pretty much cleansed the country of the past which gave it that tome kama sutra. So I'd recommend that you move off to other pages if you are under 18. For the most part, I'm counting on youtube's age appropriate check mechanisms to manage the viewer appropriateness.
MADHUBALA
No talk of Indian apsaras can start without the all-time favorite Madhubala, the screen Goddess of black and white celluloid. The term bollywood wasn't even coined yet! An untimely death took her but not before she managed to usher in an era of color movies in Indian cinema.
MADHURI DIXIT
Though several beauties before, during, and after Madhubala reigned the screen, there was none like the scorching hot Madhuri Dixit Nene. Madhuri movies became hits due to her songs, and often created new controversy which only made them more popular. The song 'Choli ke peechhe' took this to new heights and it was only the blessing of Mumbai supremo Bal Thackarey which stopped theaters from being burnt down when they showed Khalnayak!
Sridevi came to bollywood after a long successful stint down south. She took the mantle from Rekha and reigned the silver screen until Madhuri essentially took over. A highlight of her career was the movie Mr India. Here she is dancing to an invisible hero.
Aishwarya Rai is probably the one heroine who can safely claim the super status abandoned by Madhuri's marriage (Indian heroines tend to quit the star roles after marriage). Often called a director's actress, here she is in a folksy song.
Before her career imploded due to alcohol abuse, bad relationships, and a general mismanagement of life, Manisha Koirala, a Nepali girl found by Madhuri, appeared to be all set to take her mantle. Though now she's known more for her scenes seducing a young kid in Ek Chhoti Si Love Story, her career got a huge boost with the love story based on the backdrop of Indian Independence Movement: 1942 a Love Story.
Kajol, the daughter of a beautiful actress of yesteryear, was probably the only actress who guaranteed a hit after Madhuri. She recently returned after a mandatory going away period after marriage. Here's a song from her super-hit movie Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge.
Rani Mukherji, Kajol's much shorter cousin, is one of the most bankable heroines of today, despite her reported break-up with the very powerful Amitabh Bachchan camp. Here she's romping with Abhishek Bachchan in one of the superhit movies of recent times - Bunty Aur Babli.
Preity Zinta, another intelligent actress, in a world dominated by bimbos, has been popular lately due to her brave testimony against the Mumbai underworld connections wiht bollywood. But the dimpled girl is also one of the biggest stars of today. Here she is enjoying down under with Saif Ali Khan, son of another hot actress of yester-years - Sharmila Tagore!
So here's my list of the top 10 beauties of Bollywood:
- Madhubala
- Madhuri Dixit
- Sridevi
- Aishwarya Rai
- Manisha Koirala
- Kajol
- Rani Mukherjee
- Preity Zinta
- Priyanka Chopra
- ...
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