Will also keep this updated.
*Updated every February 5th.
Customary MUBI list.
Archives For Misc.
Ice-skaters Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov did a rendition of Nagada Sang Dhol [clip] in their ice-skating routine (which, apparently, won them a gold medal) that made me want to watch Devdas on Ice~~~ or specifically Dola Re Dola on Ice because I’m like that!
As you know~ Russia is big on the ice-skating events, even more so than the Koreans (who had the reality Kim Yu-na’s Kiss & Cry[1]), the Japanese who broadcast ice-skating competitions quite regularly throughout the year, and the Americans (the other day I caught a broadcast of Musselman’s Apple Sauce Family Skating Tribute on ESPN).
I never thought I’d see this fandom crossover. xD
Though Fitoor might get trapped by remaking Alfonso Cuaron’s version of Great Expectations… I’m still looking forward to Tabu as Begum. I’m also looking forward to see Haminasto (aka. also romanized as Haminastu) [YouTube] because it’s my favorite track in the whole soundtrack, even though I’ve been butchering some of the other songs out loud late at night. xD I like the song so much that I ended up looking for Zeb Bangash, found Pakistani duo Zeb and Haniya, discovered Coke Studio [1][2][3][4][5 non-Zeb related], and downloaded the compilations on iTunes [S2][S6].
It messed up my language library because there’s so much Punjabi, Urdu and Pashtu, and Turkish… I don’t know which is which xD
ANWYAY~ OCD frustrations aside~
Fitoor promotions are at full throttle~ and it includes the release of this micro clips of dialog, which I don’t understand at all… but Tabu’s just saying “Firdaus, Firdaus, Firdaus” gives me the chills.
You probably know I’m excited for Abhishek Kapoor’s Fitoor, of course, mainly because of Tabu xD but also because of the whole tortured emo broken-heart soul of the story. Plus, it’s Amit Trivedi’s music. I was (and usually always am) less excited about the leads… even less with Katrina “I can’ts but I tries” Kaif. Like- I don’t even know why I sat down to watch Phantom, because that’s hilarious.
But I’m always surprise to hear people saying that Katrina sucks at dancing… because I’ve never seen that. I think the first time I saw her was in YRF’s Jab Tak Hai Jaan, and — okay, I was mostly in love with Saans [clip] because that’s a damn good sexy song. LOL — but I don’t remember her sucking in the Ishq Shava [clip] number at all. In fact, I remember I actually said she wasn’t a bad dancer.
And I know everyone EVERYONE loves to hate and hates to love Sheila Ki Jawani [clip], but it appears on so many movies I’ve come to accept its catchy qualities despite movie and content. And even then when it appears people say she’s not a good dancer, she dances alright.My Kaif knowledge ain’t extensive, but even in Dhoom 3 [Kamli][Dhoom Machale Dhoom], she does totally fine. I can’t picture her at all doing Indian dance, but she totally nails modern and contemporary.
They looked pretty good doing this. Who choreographed it?
I already published my list of 2015 Best Films, now I’m just segregating all the content from each other. I even have my Top10 Films Directed by Women.
The journey, you guys, the journey is two-and-a-half years old [1][2][3][4][5] already and counting. I’m no longer tracking what I’m watching because it got way too complicated. And though the number of Indian films I get to watch is minuscule to the actual output; at 38 films this year (of 203), it’s the most I’ve seen in a year. It’s almost one movie a week (!!) and it almost reaches my mark of 46 (of 274) of last year. And it totally surpasses my 33 mark in 2013 when I started it all.
*Note: Though 113 films (over 55% of the list) is English-based, not all of them are Hollywood movies. The number also considers UK, Canadian, Irish and Australian productions and some other mix-and-match co-productions.
Of course, I’m way more comfortable navigating mainstream Hindi cinema than I am Tamil or other industries. But Anupama Chopra has just released her video of the Best and Worst of Hindi Cinema in 2015, so I got inspired to have my own segregated list. xD
The Best of Indian Cinema 2015
- Dil Dhadakne Do (dir. Zoya Akhtar)
- Talvar (dir. Meghna Gulzar)
- Piku (dir. Shoojit Sircar)
- Masaan (dir. Neeraj Ghaywan)
- Dum Laga Ke Haisha (dir. Sharat Katariya)
- NH10 (dir. Navdeep Singh)
- Margarita, with a Straw (dir. Shonali Bose)
- Bajrangi Bhaijaan (dir. Kabir Khan)
- Baahubali: The Beginning (dir. S.S. Rajamouli)
- Angry Indian Goddesses (dir. Pan Nalin)
The Worst of Indian Cinema 2015
- Dirty Politics (dir. K.C. Bokadia)
- Badlapur (dir. Sriram Raghavan)
- Phantom (dir. Kabir Khan)
- Katti Batti (dir. Nikhil Advani)
- Hawaizaada (dir. Vibhu Puri)
Haha, Kabir Khan in both lists xD
Still Pending~
- Aligarh
- Ayal Njanalla
- Bajirao Mastani
- Charlie (dir. Martin Prakkat)
- Dilwale
- Dhanak
- Kothanodi
- Main Aur Charles
- Orange Mittai
- Premam
- Shaandaar
- Tamasha
- Thani Oruvan
- Thoongaa Vanam
- Umrika
- Zubaan
