Searching for Shahid, Part 2

So, I found Vivah through the "search for anything with Shahid Kapoor in it" technique, and it was maybe the fifth Bollywood I ever watched. As I look back on finding and watching Vivah, it occurs to me that it's a little odd that I like this film so much. It's a bit slow. OK, more than a bit slow. It is intensely saccharine. It doesn't have the exuberant dance numbers that I enjoy so much. The characters are all unbelievably upright and honorable and nice, except for a token angry character who comes around in the end. It's just very... sweet and slow.

 BUT Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao are so ridiculously beautiful that you CAN'T LOOK AWAY.

Also, I found it very intriguing to see such an idealized depiction of traditional arranged marriage. With the disapproving fascination Westerners have for the concept, we tend to think we understand a story about fighting against an undesired arranged marriage, but this is a movie about an arranged marriage that works just exactly the way it's supposed to, with everyone happy and no conflict.

The story is about how Prem and Pooja meet when their families decide they want to match them together. The fall in love in that brief first meeting, agree to the marriage, and the movie follows their engagement period as they get to know each other better. The night they are supposed to marry, there is a terrible accident that leaves Pooja's family worried that the marriage won't happen. But love triumphs, and I don't consider that a spoiler, because it is made obvious the entire way through that only a picture perfect happy ending would be allowed here!

Shahid is excellent, utterly charming and adorable. He fleshes out a pretty one-dimensional character with heart and soul. Amrita does pretty well with what she is given, as well, and she is just stunning. I thought their chemistry was wonderful, and they kept up a pretty sizzling sense that both were greatly anticipating their wedding night. 

I also loved getting to see the full wedding costumes and all of the pomp and preparations involved. Shahid looks fabulous all decked out in wedding clothes. Why do we dress our men so uninterestingly in the West? Dark suits for everything. Yawn.

I thoroughly enjoyed Vivah. But I would never have the husband watch with me, since the appeal would be completely lost on him, and he may well take to hiding whenever I suggest watching a Bollywood film. If you are disinclined to enjoy cloying sweetness, a lack of action, and/or a slow pace, the appeal may well be lost on you, too. However, if watching Bollywood for interesting cultural tidbits appeals to you, or if you could happily stare at Shahid Kapoor being adorable for three hours regardless, take a gander at Vivah.

Next up, one of my kids' favorites. Dil Bole Hadippa!

I searched for Shahid and found Rani Mukerji. This was my first exposure to Rani, and when I watched this, I had no idea what a big star she was. I was actually somewhat surprised that Shahid has relatively little to do, but this is really Rani's movie.

The story is that there is, in the Punjab, a young girl who is fantastic at cricket, and dreams of playing for India and winning the World Cup. (Or something... I think they said it was the World Cup, but I know next to nothing about cricket, and before watching this movie all I knew was that it was a game that people in Britain and India like.) But when she wants to try out for the team, they won't let her because she's female. So she disguises herself as a man and gets on the team, which is coached by Shahid, a big shot cricket player from London. Shahid has also met her as herself, and she claims her male persona is her brother, and romance becomes involved as they are gearing up for a big game against their rival team from Pakistan.

Rani gives an exuberant performance and I love her expressions, but I don't think she really fits her role here, in that it is hard to believe anyone buys her disguise. Even my kids asked, in genuine confusion, "Why can't they see that she's a girl?" To which I could only respond, "Well... she has that fake beard..."

And they gave me pitying looks that made it clear that they were sorry to think I could be taken in by such a thin disguise. And they have a point.

This movie is not going to change anyone's life, but it's a very fun watch. There were some elements that I have since heard others describe as overdone that I really enjoyed, although perhaps because I didn't have a lot of Bollywood experience when I watched it. The patriotic Indian girl defending her country in the face of snobby Londoners... the "we can be friends with Pakistan" message... the London-raised Indian character (Shahid) learning to appreciate his cultural roots... apparently these are recurring themes that some have grown quite tired of, but I was not too jaded to enjoy them! There was also a reference to the staggeringly popular Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, but, well, I hadn't even seen it yet, and so the reference went right over my head.

As for the music- I love it and the kids love it! For awhile is was the go-to when the toddler needed Bollywood Therapy. (Discowale Khisko is excellent for stopping a tantrum, if you're interested.)

Now, on to the very amusing (often unintentionally funny) Milenge Milenge...

I will tell you right from the beginning- this is not a good film. However, if you are the type who enjoys watching a bad movie because you can make fun of it, this may be a good candidate! It overflows with mock-able scenes.

Just a little taste: Shahid falls in love with Kareena when he and his friends dress in drag (!) so that they can go to a party in the girls' dorm.

He loses his way and stumbles into her dorm room, where he watches her sleep, entranced by her beauty. Not satisfied with that level of creepiness, he spies her diary and steals it, where he reads her account of how a fortune teller told her the signs that would reveal her true love to her, and naturally he decides to arrange for them to happen so as to indicate himself as her true love.

Of course she finds out. She never wants to see him again! He begs her to forgive him. She tells him she'll only take him back if it is decreed by fate, and devises a test whereby they can discover fate's opinion on the matter. WILL THEY END UP TOGETHER IN THE END?

Unfortunately, it is difficult to care. This movie is only recommended if one is on a quest to see every film Shahid Kapoor and/or Kareena Kapoor ever made. Not that anyone would do such a thing...

So far, a bit of a mixed bag for Shahid. Next time: Badmaash Company and Kaminey.

Searching for Shahid, Part 1

After falling head-over-heels for Jab We Met, it seemed a logical way to find more Bollywood movies to love would be to check out the filmography of that charming Shahid Kapoor. I liked him so much in JWM, he was sure to lead me to many more fine film experiences, right? Right?

Well, let us see...

I found Chance Pe Dance, Kismat Konnection (Yes, I watched the whole thing! ...Why do you ask?), Chup Chup Ke, Vivah, Dil Bole Hadippa!, Milenge Milenge, Badmaash Company, and Kaminey.

The first one I watched was Chance Pe Dance, which was entertaining enough, but, especially considering I was searching for something as good as JWM, a disappointment. Also, for a movie with "dance" right in the title, it is surprisingly light on dancing. And the dancing we do get is the kind of hip hop designed to show off Shahid's muscles.

You see? Not that his physique is unimpressive, but I prefer some impressive choreography. And the dancing was all just so... Western. So that was disappointing, but the story is engaging enough, about a wannabe movie star trying to make it in Bollywood, and his misadventures on his way to the top. There is romance, there is the tension between honoring family commitments and chasing your dreams, there is professional betrayal. There is also a major sideways step in the plot involving Shahid taking a job teaching dance at a school when he can no longer foot his bills. But then there is a happy ending with Shahid looking fantastic on a red carpet. I was entertained but not riveted.

Personal hygiene happens in the school bathroom when he can no longer make rent.

To be fair, I must mention that my 10-year-old son says this is his favorite Bollywood movie. It's true that he has only watched six, but all of the other five that he has watched (Veer-Zaara, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Dil To Pagal Hai, Dil Bole Hadippa! and Billu Barber) I would put ahead of this one. So I asked why, and he said, "It's the first Bollywood I got to see all the way through."  There is something fascinating about this phenomenon; I've heard others say the same thing. Others who have had wider experience in Bollywood cinema. Apparently, if you are destined to like Bollywood at all, the first film that brings you to this world will hold a special place in your heart forever.


On to Kismat Konnection...

Ok, I think I almost gave up on Bollywood after Kismat Konnection and wrote Jab We Met off as a fluke. The premise is that Shahid is a struggling architect who can't catch a career break. He visits a psychic who tells him he has to find his lucky charm, and then as long as his charm is with him everything will go right.

"Of course I can tell the future! Look what I'm wearing!"

Well, his lucky charm turns out to be a person- yes, a woman (naturally). Not only that, she is someone he only recently met but already managed to antagonize. So he has to get on her good side and convince her to be there for all his business interactions. And of course they fall in love. This was set in Toronto, and was my first introduction to what I have come to find is a not uncommon Bollywood phenomenon: atrocious acting by white characters. Just extras, but still. I don't know where Bollywood filmmakers find these people. After all, Toronto has a pretty vibrant film scene and is probably stuffed to the gills with hopefuls who would love to be cast in a movie. Surely they could find white people who don't act like they've just been inhaling paint thinner? The good news on this score is that, according to the movie, it is fairly easy to live and work in Toronto while pretty much only interacting with Hindi-speakers.

All-in-all, watching this movie was not such a great experience. But Shahid did well with what he had to work with- he really can act! I remember one scene in particular, when Shahid and his lucky charm are starting to fall in love. Shahid is staring at the heroine while he thinks she can't see, and he looks so sweet and wistfully besotted. But still, this movie had a mega-dose of the Bollywood corniness without its larger-than-life charm, and without any of the beautiful costumes or scenery. And really, without the heart and charisma that just makes it work. Also, the music was so forgettable that I've literally forgotten it. I'm assuming there was some, but I don't remember it at all.

Say whatever you must to get out of watching this movie.

And then I found Chup Chup Ke. Not only Shahid, but his Jab We Met co-star Kareena Kapoor as well!

I actually love this movie a lot, but oddly enough, the first time I tried to watch it I gave up and turned it off. There is a particular reason for that, though. The movie involves two bumbling fisherman characters (on the cover above), and they provide a lot of physical comedy. At the point that I turned it off on my first go-around, it involved one of them mistakenly getting a tooth pulled (without pain meds).   I feel vicarious pain too acutely, I suppose, because not only was that not funny to me but it made me feel faintly sick. Perhaps I've just had one root canal too many. But for some reason I kept thinking about this film, and the beginning had intrigued me, so after a little interval I went back and tried again, using the special technological feature known as "fast-forwarding" to avoid the scene I had so disliked the first time.

It is a lot of fun! But a bit strange, yes, definitely a strange story. Shahid is a would-be entrepreneur who has racked up a lot a debt from various failed enterprises. He decides to commit suicide so his family can collect life insurance on him and escape hounding by the debt collectors. He throws himself into the ocean, but of course, as Shahid is far too handsome to die, he is fished up by the aforementioned fishermen and ends up getting his lot thrown in with them. Oh yes, and he pretends to be deaf and dumb (there's a reason!). The fishermen have their own problems with debt, and Shahid and one of the fishermen end up working in a rich family's house as a consequence. In that house lives Kareena, who is mute, although not deaf. I won't try to explain more, because the plot is on the convoluted side and will suffer from being laid out for viewing out of the context of the film itself. But watching it is a lot of fun. Romance! Angst! Love triangles! Misunderstandings! Friendship! Family ties! AND (drum roll please) Shahid Kapoor dancing! My husband came in while I was watching Dil Vich Lagiya Ve, and even he remarked, "Well, that Shahid Kapoor guy certainly can dance." Yes. Yes, he can. Anyway, I recommend giving Chup Chup Ke a try!

Beautiful people dancing in beautiful clothes make me happy.

Coming up in the next Searching for Shahid installment- Vivah, Dil Bole Hadippa! and Milenge Milenge. What do you think of Shahid Kapoor's filmography?

Jab We Met-- When I fell for Bollywood. And Shahid Kapoor.

Jab We Met came out in 2007, starring Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor, and directed by Imtiaz Ali. It was a big hit in India, as I understand, but it was four years before I ever got wind of it. This is because I didn't watch Bollywood. I had heard of it. Remember that exchange in the Muppet Movie?

"Gonzo: I always wanted to go to Bombay, India, and become a movie star.

Fozzie: You don't go to Bombay to become a movie star. You go where we're going, Hollywood!

Gonzo: Sure, if you want to do it the easy way.

I had a notion that it was silly and involved dancing. A big part of this impression I had was from the "Benny Lava" video  which made the rounds on the internet a long time ago. Now that I have done some exploring in Indian Cinema, I can tell you that that is not actually from a Bollywood film, it's from a Tamil film (Tollywood?). And I want to watch that movie now...

So, in 2011, I was putting my nursing baby to bed, which involved a routine in which I sang to him and nursed him, and then, when he was basically asleep but still nursing, I would turn on the tv and watch a little something until he let go. I like foreign films, and since I speak Japanese and have lived in Japan, I have a particular fondness for a good Japanese film. I also lived briefly in Taiwan, and every now and then I pretend I'm going to try to bring my Mandarin level to something above that of a two-year-old. Now, if you have Netflix, you know that the program keeps track of what you watch and has rows of suggestions for you based on your viewing history. Apparently, Bollywood fits in some "Asian foreign film" rubric for them, because after watching several Japanese and Chinese movies, Jab We Met showed up in my recommendations. On a lark, I decided to check it out.

I'll be honest. The first thing to keep me interested was Shahid Kapoor as Aditya. I didn't mind watching him wander, depressed, through the city during the opening sequence. Acting depressed does not impair his considerable good looks. I didn't mind it one bit. And then he boards a train and Kareena Kapoor shows up as Geet, armed to the teeth with effervescence, and... I kept watching. I watched Geet try to take Aditya under her wing, end up missing the train as a result, and turn on him to demand he escort her home. I watched some ridiculous "special effects" involving a toy car that left me scratching my head, but I kept watching. I watched them arrive in Bhatinda and get welcomed by her large, effusive family. And then I saw Nagada Baja.

That was when I was really and truly sold. To say it was fun to watch doesn't quite capture it. It was joyful! They were having fun performing and I was having fun watching it and I hadn't felt quite so satisfied with a movie experience in a long time. That was it. I was entranced. And I was hooked.

I loved the rest of the movie, too, extending broad forgiveness for slight flaws it might have because of the deep pleasure it gave me. I recommend this film to everyone. If you haven't seen it yet-- find it. Watch it. Love it. My own copy is lent out at the moment to a friend who had never seen a Bollywood film before.

After I met Jab We Met, I had two thoughts. "Why have I never tried watching Bollywood before?" and "I have to see more!"