Friday 27 March 2009

Singstar Bollywood Karaoke

As a bollywood lover, i knew i had to get my paws on this game, i've had it for about a year now, and i never have enough time to play, but whenever i do, i always have so much fun. As i'm a non hindi speaker, it has been helping me a lot with my hindi pronounciations. I really wish they would do more titles and give this game a worldwide release, but looks like its set to remain a one off and its only mostly available in the UK/Some of Europe. I have included screen shots of the game plus a demo video of the game below, i hope you won't mind my bad singing voice




More Information about Singstar here and here

Oh and the trailer of the much talked about 'Kambakkht Ishq' which features appearances from Sylvester Stallone, Denise Ricahrds & Brendan Routh has finally been released, it looks so exciting and fun-filled,I CAN'T WAIT



Tuesday 24 March 2009

Love Story (1981)

Love Story is a romance, drama, action, comedy movie (yes this movie has it all). This movie like most films i review on here became a blockbuster at the Indian box office.

Vijay (Rajendra kumar) and Suman (Vidya Sinha) are lovers
One night they go to a Club called GayLord (with only straight couples apparently), while there Suman comes across an old friend Ram (Danny Denzongpa) who happens to be Vijay's enemy, as the two had clashed over Ram's refusal to accept Vijay's Bribery
Ram asks Suman for a dance, Suman agrees contrary to Vijay's advice that she should ignore Ram. A jealous and angry Vijay then breaks up with Suman due to her failure to obey him, before she leaves him, a weepy Suman curses him out telling him that this love story will come back to haunt him
Vijay remarries and his wife gives birth to a son, but she dies upon deliverance, meanwhile Suman and Ram also marry and they give birth to a daughter. When Vijay's son Bunty (Kumar Gaurav) grows up, he decides to be a pilot but his father wants him to be an engineer, due to their conflicting opinions he runs away from home
Ram and Suman's daughter Pinky(Vijeta Pandit) also comes of age as well and her father decides to marry her off , Suman isn't happy with her father's decision and she runs away from homeBunty and Pinky meet each other while on the run from home, however they're both unaware of their parents history. Their parents became very worried and they order a warrant for their arrest should they be found.
What hardships will Bunty and Pinky face? Will their parents allow them to get married? How long will they be able to escape the police? How will the Love unfold between Pinky & Bunty? For these and many more answers watch Love Story.

Some little insignificant things kept me amused through this movie, i've listed them below

Kumar Gaurav's fishing Outfit
What is it with this 'ssshhh' picture (see below) and bollywood movies in the 80's, i can't count the number of times i've seen it, keep your eyes out whenever you're watching a movie from the '8o's and let me know of any sightings, we shall call this the 'Ssshhh watch'

Love Story like most other romance movies of its time is very cheesy but yet entertaining to watch, if you like cheesy romance stories served up with some masala action then you're bound to like this. Kumar Gaurav whose dad (Rajendra Kumar) both in the film and in real life directed the film, became a heart throb after the success of the movie, however none of his other movies matched the success of Love Story

The music of Love Story scored by R.D. Burman is one of the best movie soundtracks of the 80's, Amit Kumar won his first filmfare award for the song Teri yaad aa rahi hai.

Aruna Irani also appears in an item number for the song 'Kya Gazab' (See Video below), its one of my favourites from the film


Total Score:6/10

Thursday 19 March 2009

Bhagyashree, is that you? Wow

Found these recent picture of Bhagyashree form a recent photoshoot and might i add, she's not looking bad for 40, even though i know that picture has been mightily airbrushed. Bhagyashree is one of my fave bollywood actresses she stole my heart ever since i saw her in MAINE PYAR KIYA, her career never really took off after Maine pyar kiya as she got married and insisted on doing roles only opposite her husband, however she made a comeback in 2006 ,and has since been doing one or two movies a year. She was also recently on the Indian dance competition show Jhalak dikllla laja


As a tribute to Bhagyashree, i've included a video of one of my best songs from Maine pyar kiya below, make sure you check out her smooth moves at about 04.19 :0)




Thursday 12 March 2009

Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985)

RAM TERI GANGA MAILI (O Rama your Ganga is Tainted) was the last movie Raj kapoor directed before his death in 1988. The movie became one of Raj kapoor's biggest hit and it became the 3rd highest grosser of the 80's at the Indian box office.

Naren (Rajiv Kapoor) the son of Jeeva (Kulbushan Kharbanda) a corrupt politician is fed up of the corruption and hypocrisy of his father's ways (Naren's father and Bhagavat Chaudury (Raza Murad) are involved in a poltical campaign to cleanse the River Ganga when in reality they contribute to the contamination) he decides to go on a college trip to Gangotri to analyse the origin of dirt found in the river Ganga, his father is reluctant to let Narendra go, but he eventually allows him. On his way Narendra's grandmother asks him to bring back the fresh clean water in gangotri to her
When Narendra gets to Gangotri, he meets a young innocent lady from the Mountains by the name of Ganga (MANDAKINI), the two eventually fall in love. As per the tradition of the Mountain girls, at every full moon they can choose a groom for themselves, Ganga chooses Narendra as her love and they make love to one another

When Narendra's time at the mountain is over he returns home to Calcutta, but he tells Ganga he would return again to take her with himWhen Narendra returns home he finds out arrangements are being made for his marriage to Radha (Divya Rana) who happens to be a family friend, Narendra breaks the news to his grandmother that he has found a wife in the mountains. Unable to take the news, his grandmother collapses, when she awakes, she's more accepting and before she dies, she tells Narendra to bring Ganga to her. Narendra tells Radha about his love for Ganga and how he has to get her from the mountains, Radha informs Narendra's father Jeeva who then keeps him on surveillance and thereby is prevented from getting to Ganga.
Back in the mountains a heavily pregnant Ganga keeps awaiting Narendra's return, she gives birth to a boy and then decides to go to Calcutta to visit Narendra
While Ganga is on her way to Calcutta she experiences a huge number of difficulties, she almost gets sold in a brothel, a priest tries to rape her and when she finally boards the train to Calcutta, she gets left behind as she had left the train to feed her thirsty son
......................................................the controversial breastfeeding scene
Will Ganga make it Calcutta, will she be reunited with Narendra? What will Narendra do about his marriage to Radha?

RAM TERI GANGA MAILI, while having all the features of a typical bollywood romance story e.g. Lost love, different class background etc. is a commentary about hypocrisy, the moral and political corruption in society. The film is drenched in so much symbolism that a single watch would not be sufficient to interpert or grasp all its meaning fully. Ram teri ganga maili is gripping and hard hitting, while you might feel you're watching a romance story, it constantly hits at your heart and
draws your attention, a tad too dramatic at times but the melodrama didn't stop me enjoying it.

Mandakini gives a great performance as Ganga, and totally owns the film, i found myself immensely rooting for her character. Following the success of the film, Mandakini did many more movies, but none could compare to her role in Ram teri Ganga Maili, and such a pity that all she seems to be remembered for these days are the wet sari shots and controversial breastfeeding scenes from the movie, many believed that the success of the movie owed much to the sexy shots of Mandakini, and many feel she was exploited, however i feel the shots weren't vulgar but were artistically executed.

The songs in RAM TERI GANGA MAILI were scored by Ravindra Jain, from the soulful Ram teri ganga maili, to yara o yara

Beautiful Mandakini in the fun catchy Sun sahiba sun
the traditional Ek radha ek meera
'Tujhe bulayeh' (see video below) which sees Mandkini in a wet see through Sari, which has become an iconic and much talked about aspect of the film. It even has a pervy youtube clip, a google image search on Mandakini also shows the popularity of this scene.....................................................The hugely popular & Iconic wet sari scene





Total Score : 8/10

Tuesday 10 March 2009

Prem Rog (1982)


Prem Rog (Love Sick) is a 1982 romantic movie directed by the showman himself 'Mr Raj kapoor', the movie became a box office super hit upon its release in 1982.

Prem Rog tells the story of a wealthy girl Manorama (Padmini Kolhapure) and Devdhar (Rishi Kapoor) a lower class man whom her grandfather Raja Thakur (Shammi Kapoor) had sponsored to higher education

Upon Devdhar's return to the village from Higher Education, he and Manorama develop a deep friendship and Devdhar falls in love with her. When Devdhar's sister Radha discovers he's in love with Manorama, she warns him about the gap in their status and urges her brother to marry someone in a similar status as himself, but Devdhar disagrees, and tells her of his intention to ask for Manorama's hand in Marriage. Upon getting to Manorama's house he finds out she's being married off to someone else. Devdhar is heartbroken, but he hides his pain from Manorama who is excited about getting married

Shortly after Manorama's marriage to Monty, she returns home briefly for a day and Monty promises to pick her up the next day. On his way Monty loses control of his car which leads to his death
(Interesting symbolism, when her husbands car crashes, Manorama's bangle shatter synonymously)
Following the death of her husband, Manorama is put in charge of the household by her sister in law (Tanuja), as Manorama settles into the household, her life gets interrupted once more when her drunken brother in law (Raza Murad) rapes her
A distraught Manorama then returns to her father's home, where she's denied her former priviledges by her Aunt (Sushma Seth), who insists on making life different for her, as she's now a widow. Through all this Manorama finds comfort in her mother (Nanda) and Devdhar who attempts to bring happiness back into her life
Beautiful Nanda
What would life be like for Manorama, will Devdhar still love her, What will society make of her as a raped widow, Will the traditions of society let Manorama remarry?

Prem Rog was an entertaining watch and Raj kapoor does a great job of highlighting the issue of how tradition often stifles peoples lives through the back drop of what could have just been a 'boy meets girl they fall in love' type story.

Other issues the film explored that really touched me include how the Rich set the standard for the rest of society, and how those at the lower strata of society often have no voice/power. Another movie that touches on the theme of tradition stifling peoples lives was the 2006 Rani Mukherjee/ Salman Khan movie Baabul, however baabul didn't touch me as much as Prem Rog did.

Padmini Kolahapure's performance was superb, i'm surprised she was only 16/17 at the time this movie was shot, she also became the second youngest actress after Dimple Kapadia for Bobby to win a filmfare award for her role in Prem Rog.

The songs of Prem Rog were scored by the fabulous Laxmikant Pyarelal, who as usual provided the film with wonderful songs, from the upbeat Main hoon prem rogi, to the flirty Mohabbat hai kya which includes a trippy dream sequence in classic Raj kapoor style

A mid tempo item number 'Yeh Pyaar Tha' with the sultry Asha Sachdev
The beautiful 'Bhanvre ne khilaya phool phool' shot in the fields of Holland with mouth made bee noises
And my favourite 'Yeh Galiyan'




Total Score: 8/10