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10 Things About the Trailer of Sajid Khan’s Himmatwala

Posted in Bollywood by Sujoy

Himmatwala

I am pretty vocal about my dislike for everything Sajid Khan. He is an intelligent man, and I do get his Bollywood fandom completely (which is evident from his TV shows – Ikke Pe Ikka, and the other one which used to air on Sony India). But when it comes to his movies, they are completely not my cup of tea. Heyy Babyy and the two Housefull movies (with help from Rohit Shetty’s flying cars) have collectively recreated the dumbed down 90s of Bollywood. And now, Khan has taken up the big task of reviving the Ooty Production of the 80′s upon himself. The Jeetu white trousers, the matkas, the saris, the apsara bikinis, and bazillion background dancers – what the hell could that be? But of course, it is Himmatwala.

There is no reason why I should be remotely excited about a remake of a movie that I did not like in the first place. Jeetendra’s epileptic dance routines, and hyper-melodrama storylines that consisted of premarital pregnancies, Shakti Kapoor, and terrible background score; all of that is just the recipe for a quintessential 80′s movie – an era long gone (and for good). Would that old (and stomach churning) wine serve well in a new bottle?

From the trailers so far, things look pretty meh! And the font looks like the designer picked up MS Word, and vomited out something on WordArt. Pfft! Here are ..

10 things About The Himmatwala Trailer

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Top 10 Bollywood Moments of 2012 [ OKS List ]

Posted in Bollywood by Sujoy

Bollywood 2012 Best Moments

I recently contributed a snippet on my most favourite Bollywood moment in 2012 for the year-end special podcast on Upodcast (listen to this mammoth 3 hr special here). And I got my thinking hat on, and recapped the year 2012 in Bollywood cinema. It has indeed been a year of lovely moments that stayed with me, long after the end credits had rolled. I had to squeeze out just one moment out of the following, and I’ll leave the guess work to you, as to which one I chose for the podcast.

But for now, here are my 10 most amazing and awesome Bollywood moments of 2012 (in no particular order).
[Of course, as I will be discussing specific scenes, these are mega-spoiler material. So, you've been warned ]

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Top 10 Akshay Kumar Movies [OKS List]

Posted in Bollywood by Sujoy

Akshay Kumar Top 10 - From Khiladi to Rowdy Rathore

Often dismissed as the man who makes way too many movies, almost at a “Mithun-da Ooty production” pace, and also one of the highest money making machines of Bollywood, Akshay Kumar’s long acting career spans across many flops, hits, superhits and 25 years. Yes, it is Akshay Kumar’s Silver Jubilee year in Bollywood, as he started his career with a little known film called Aag, back in 1987 as a Karate Instructor. Through the most part of 90′s that was what the Akshay Kumar image was – the Bangkok returned, hairy-chested, and bushy eyebrowed guy, who does not look like a superstar, has Deepak Tijori as his sidekick, but can definitely kick some serious ass. He was the 90′s action superstar, trying to sneak in an Abbas Mustan hit here, and a Rajiv Rai hit there. Serenading “Mast Mast” ladies , and simultaneously beating the crap out of one-eyed villains, Akshay Kumar emerged as the Khiladi, a bankable movie hero.

But even so, he never emerged as the one with the most fangirls, or the one getting nominated at any movie awards show. He’d make an appearance and charge a hefty sum, but would hardly make it to the nominees list even. Even though he is one of the busiest of movie stars, churning out 4-5 movies a year, it took me a while to actually remember the last Akshay Kumar movie I really liked. With 4 movies set to release in 2012 – Rowdy Rathore, Joker, Housefull 2, and Once Upon A Time Again, we can only wish Akshay Kumar the best for 2012. And here is our favourite 10 from his strong 100 movie filmography.

TOP 10 AKSHAY KUMAR MOVIES

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Top 5 Bass Slapping Tracks Of A.R.Rahman [Rahmania]

Posted in Bollywood by Sujoy

Rahmania

[Rahmania is where my fanboism for A.R. Rahman's musical genius, will find a good home. Here, I will be discussing many of the gems composed by the Mozart of Madras - A.R.Rahman]

One of the most common instruments that A.R.Rahman features in his sound arrangement is the Bass Guitar. I know how wide ranged Rahman’s musical spectrum is, and yet there is a unique structure and sound to Rahman’s compositions which make it uniquely Rahman. Just like other musical greats, you can tell when it is a Rahman song, or even when others tend to start sounding like Rahman. Coming back to the topic of Rahman’s “bass”-i-licious tracks, we can categorise them into 3 different categories.

a) The Groove – aka the Bass groove song, on which the song rides -
e.g. Urvashi, Urvashi -Kadalan, Mustafa Mustafa – Kadal Desam, O Bhanvre – Daud, Choti Si Asha – Roja, Dil Se – Dil Se, Chaiyya Chaiyya – Dil Se… the list is endless here.

b) The Rhythm – one where the bass guitar is played as a strong Rhythm section.
e.g. Dhaka Laga Bukka – Yuva, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na – Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.
P.S. In Dhaka Laga Bukka, the bass has a prominent ‘harkat‘ which you can clearly notice, a tune of its own.

c) The Slap – And then we have the slappers; the ones which remind us of bassists like Flea, the ones where the bass is not a guitar but almost a percussion instrument.

Here we list 5 of those gems. Yes, 5 big ones. There are a few more contenders, but not all of them can make it to this prestigious list. So hold your breath, as we unleash..