Archives For Stills

After the Razia Sultan movie starring Hema Malini back in 1983, the story needs a modern international-money-backed re-vamp… and Tabu should play her, am I right or am I RIGHT?

tabu-for-razia-sultan-right

Tabu is practically aching to do heavy action on a film (she just wants an action film really… I would put her as Wonder Woman if I could), and though ideally you’d pick an Indian director (Ashutosh Gowariker and Santosh Sivan come close to grand-scale production without the Sanjay Leela Bhansali masala), I’d like to see a full-on international production maybe at the hands of John Woo (enormous scale and grand battles a la Red Cliff are of his fancy nowadays) or have Tabu back with Ang Lee, or go the Korean route with Kim Han-min (War of the Arrows), Kang Je-Gyu (Tae Guk Gi) or Kim Sung-su (The Warrior).

I know Tabu chooses projects at times with set comfort in mind, and I don’t know how the others are on set (you don’t want one that’s as extreme as Von Trier… or such an asshole as David O. Russell LOL), so Lee would be a safe bet. Or… we could go the American-Indian, British-Indian or Indo-Canadian way. Asif Kapadia is looking like a good choice.

Historical political action drama sounds good, avoiding to outright do a dancing sequence unless it’s a court sequence and it’s not Tabu doing it. LOL

Ever since she said she wants to do an action film, I’ve been trying to think of a project for her to do… even though she wouldn’t be my first choice of an action star. But if she wants to put in the work for it, who are we to deny her wishes, right?

Seriously, these magazine names.

Anyway, Tabu’s heavier on promotions for Haider, and this time talks about her decision of doing Jai Ho after Life of Pi, going back to her filmi roots, the amount of work and dedication it takes to direct a movie, and sets the record straight on her image:

Personally, I have a very boring life. I don’t have many interesting hobbies and pursuits, though I often think I should cultivate some. I travel a little bit. I don’t like to read. I write a little bit, mainly personal notes about various topics. I don’t watch TV or movies though I like going to the theatre as recreation, to eat popcorn and hang out with my friends. I am trying to figure out what my true passion is and that should be interesting to unearth.

Livemint.com

tabu-haider-002

There’s also a whole lot other interviews [Mid DayIndian Express, The TelegraphTimes Now, Absolute India, Hindustan Times] with varying degrees of back and forth on her being shy/a recluse, boring or a party-goer, not being a reader, being a traveler, and choosing projects because the people or money are good or not.

However, this briefing with Deccan Chronicle does mention a bit of her rapport with her nephew Fateh,and her apprehension for joining social media, as well as a bit of talk on how people perceived her sister and her, and how things turned out to be. So I’m gonna go Chris Crocker for a moment and say “Leave Tabu Alone,” just let her be single for god’s sake. Seriously, and the moment she ever gets married- the moment THAT happens, people are gonna be up on her business if she’s pregnant and/or will she adopt.

People kept pestering Rani when she’d be getting married, and the moment she does, things shift to whether she’s pregnant. Girls can’t catch a break.

Anyway~ I do gotta admit, I’d rather prefer it when my biases don’t show up on social media, but I’m an old person now. LOL

joan-crawford-sadie-mckee

I would get a time machine, go back in time and have a torrid affair with 1930s Joan, if I could. xD I know this is a Sadie McKee still, but she was so good-looking in Dancing Lady.

It’s another double feature!

La Doña has been in the mood for fighting this week [1], and this time she’s taking Deepika Padukone- or I suppose El Peñon de las Animas (The Rock of Souls) is taking Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Ram-Leela, where both balas and golis are exchanged nonchalantly, and music is spared in between two families that have been warring for generations.

penon-de-las-animas-ram-leela

Though Maria Felix is playing much more of a señorita role on this one (than usual), and this western musical (that’s what all rancheras are, right?) gets some pretty nifty cinematography and sassy moments and lyrics, there’s one thing that Ram-Leela has~~~ and that is Supriya Pathak.

ram-leela-supriya-pathak

Are! Mashallah, mashallah~

Oh.mah.gosh.

queen-christina-greta-garbo-monja-alferez-maria-felix

It’s a battle of the horse-riding sword-brandishing tough ladies that -actually- existed in real life, with lives brought onto the silver screen, beautified while being personified by THE faces of their own Golden Eras.

In the case of Greta Garbo, of course, with Hollywood in her most fun and most relaxed Queen Christina, often mistaken for a man and featuring the infamous scenes of Garbo kissing a lady and being romanced by John Gilbert while in mannish get-up. Then there’s the Mexican and Latin movie classic diva La Doña Maria Felix as Catalina Erauso, escaping a convent and dragging it up as Don Alonso, making the ladies of the Peruvian Viceroyalty swoon in La Monja Alferez, with a twist ending to match Some Like It Hot.

And to quote Toni Collette:

We’re women dressed as men dressed as women!

This is a tough one. I do have a terrible Greta Garbo bias, but I think I’m handing it down to La Doña on this one. Maria Felix is like the awesome fusion of everything that’s good with both Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford.

The other day I caught a rerun of Moulin Rouge! on tv, and this is the first time I’ve lived it — I not only sing out loud, but recite as well as cry during the whole show… so, yeah~ I LIVE IT — since I started watching Indian films. The only thing that would make that movie better is to have had Urmila in there for the Chamma Chamma [clip] sample.

You can’t really get any more Indian -near masala levels- than this, and of course my mind had to have a Battle of the Courtesans between Satine, The Sparkling Diamond and Chandramukhi. It’s a visual battle between Baz Lurhman and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, a flawless duel between Nicole Kidman and Madhuri Dixit, and a fight for the dramatic between Moulin Rouge! and Devdas.

satine-moulin-rouge-chandramukhi-devdas

On one side, you got the courtesan manipulated to stay that falls in love with the mistaken penniless writer, until she finds out the evil duke will kill her loved one- oh, and she’s dying of tuberculosis. On the other, the courtesan lives in a mysteriously super posh and luxurious whorehouse, and is the most sought after until she falls in love with the rich lawyer who’s suffering of a broken heart and likes to get drunk to forget his sorrows… that is, of course, until he dies of liver failure after a long period of continuous intoxication.

Jesus, Chandramukhi. Forget, Devdas, and elope with Christian.

Finally got my full fix of Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno web series, as well as Seduce Me, the following Green Porno series, and this year’s Mammas. It’s all worth it, though I felt that Green Porno – Bon Appetit got a little bit preachy and lost the consistency of the other shows.

mammas-isabella-rossellini-green-porno

Sometimes I wonder why region restrictions still exists. It’s definitely taken me too many years to watch this.

… or maybe I’m just projecting too much, but I thought 2013 had a lot of Father/Son-Daughter relationship movies. Even when it wasn’t literally a blood-relation, like in the more clear case between Idris Elba and Rinko Kikuchi (et Ashida Mana) in Pacific Rim, or the more blurred relationship between Jiao Xu with Mr. Go in Mr. Go.

movies-dads-of-2013

I cried in a couple of these ones, but I won’t tell you which. LOL

From left to right, top to bottom: Koreeda’s Like Father, Like Son; Miracle in Cell No. 7; Metro Manila; Pacific Rim; Saving Mr. Banks; Silent Witness; About Time; Police Story 2013; Instructions Not Included; and Mr. Go.

I’m not gonna lie to you ‘coz it’s obvious. I’m dying to watch Haider because of Tabu, and because it’s Vishal Bhardwaj… and Shakespeare, and the trilogy finally completed. I’m also not entirely sold on Shahid Kapoor, but I haven’t seen much of his work and he was sorta okay in Jab We Met. Haven’t seen Kaminey yet.

But he does look extra super duper sexy with clipped hair and facial hair.

shahid-kapoor-haider

As Zoolander would say, Really REALLY RIDICULOUSLY GOOD LOOKING.

Sridevi’s lovely crowd-pleasing English Vinglish is going to Japan [Trailer, if you don’t believe me], and for a moment there I thought they might actually super-dub it [1] but no~ Japan is getting it subbed after 3 Idiots got a nod for Best Foreign Film in the last edition of the Japanese Academy Awards. For promotions of the film, they want to use this image of her 1993 film Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja:

sridevi-roop-ki-rani-choron-ka-raja-japanese

OH~ GODDDDDDDD

And it’s serious too- like, they totally mean to promote EV with Sridevi in yellow-face without a hint of irony. I wonder what Japanese people would think other than “oh, these silly foreigners,” I don’t know who the audience for the film is in Japan, somehow I don’t picture Japanese housewives going to watch a non-Japanese non-Hollywood (ft. Depp or DiCaprio or Pitt or Cruise) flick with subtitles, but maybe I’m underestimating them.

For casual watchers of “this is Chinese/Japanese/Korean” arguments online or real life, Sridevi’s attire though wanting to be Japanese is obviously more Chinese-inspired, like Disney’s Mulan’s match-making attire wanting to be Chinese but obviously Japanese-inspired.

Continue Reading…