Monday, August 13, 2007

Top Ten Tuesday - Bollywood films

We are going out for Indian Food tonight with one of our Indian friends. We are taking the kids too. We will see if they like curry. Our friend was really surprised that we, my husband and I, watch foreign films. I guess it is a habit formed from years of watching International Cinema at BYU. We have no problem watching a film while reading subtitles. It is amazing how many really good films are made overseas only to be turned into a hollywood film. The hollywood film almost always pales in comparison to the original foreign film. So in honor of our friend who is going to take us for real indian food tonight I came up with list for this tuesday

If you have never seen a Bollywood film you are in for a treat. They are always musicals. The main characters break out in song through out the film. Some of the musical numbers are amazing. Bollywood films are very colorful! The plots are all kinda cheesy. They love romance in India. These films are usually long so plan to either spend 3 hours in front of the T.V or just stop when it comes to the intermission and watch the finish the next day. One of the things we really appreciate is that these films are very clean. In Hindu culture they can't kiss or do anything more then hugs so there is no reason to be embarrassed by seeing "too much". So today I thought I would share my top 10 Bollywood films.

1. Laggan This was one of my first introductions to Bollywood films. This movie taught me a lot of Indian/British History but more than anything else this movie taught me the rules of Cricket. I have never understood the rules until I watched this film. The music was so beautiful that I now have the soundtrack as well.

2. Veer-ZaaraThis film's story was different than so many of the formula films. Great love story. The ending is worth sitting through the entire 3 hours.

3. Kuch Kuch Hota HaiThis was the first film I saw Shahrukh Khan in. I think he is the Tom Cruise of Bollywood. This is a cute story and fun to see modern mixed with the traditional.

4. Bride and PrejudiceThis one is a little bit of hollywood mixed in so be warned. I would say it is PG in stead of G like most Bollywood films. But a great retelling of the Pride and Prejudice story. Any Jane Austen fan out there will love this one. This one had us laughing and laughing.

5. Kuch Naa KahoThe opening of this film is one of the things I remember. It is very creatively done. The story is much like many other Bollywood films but it is still a well done film.

6. I have found it - This is another retelling of a Jane Austen story. This is Sense and Sensibility retold Bollywood style. All the things you love about Bollywood mixed with a great Jane Austen story. What could be better?

7.Hum Saath-Saath HainThis was a movie that one of our Indian friends gave us to watch. It was a fun film that really showed the family relationships and some of the traditions of the culture.

Ok... so that is all the ones we have watched that we can recommend. There have been a few we have watched that we just didn't like the story or that are getting too Hollywood.

So to finish off my list here are 3 that are on my netflix queue. We will be watching them sometime in the next little while. I make no guarantees with these but they are given good reviews on amazon and netflix so they should be good.

8.Straight from the heart (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam) Aishwarya Rai is one of the most famous Bollywood actresses. You will recognise her in many of the films on this list.

9.Maine Pyaar kyun KiyaSalman Khan is another famous actor. He too is in many of these films.

10.Dilwale Dulhania Le JayengeAnother Shahrukh Khan movie

2 comments:

my5wolfcubs said...

Lagaan is the only Bollywood movie that I've seen, but I loved it! I'll have to see if the library has some of the titles you listed!
Lee

Sea Star said...

Lagaan is definitely my favorite. Maybe it is because it was the first one I had seen but I really liked the history aspect of Lagaan. The others are all modern stories which is very interesting.