New movie alert with Kenichi Matsuyama and Etsushi Toyokawa. Sakura Ando also supposedly appears in the film.
This is what ‘being obsessed’ with someone for a few years means, right? Noticing and nitpicking the little details normal people don’t pick up. I’m always eager to hear of new Yu Aoi movies and projects, even if I’m not as enthusiastic as before. I do get a kick whenever I see her act and she does her best smile making my day.
During my second watch, eager to watch that smile again, I noticed something… Continue Reading…
I ran into a set of photos on Weibo of Yu-chan with her eye-patch, and voila! According to Google Translate she had conjunctivitis, though I’ve never seen someone get it on one eye… so maybe it’s a stye.
On a Machiko Ono note… when I ‘met’ her via Mother and subsequently saw her on Carnation, I… just didn’t see the appeal. She got that “oh, must be a really good actress” comment from me (not a bad comment to get, I might add), but after seeing her on The Great Divorce, I’ve sorta started seeing her in another light. Like- she really does look extra good in this white dress.
Also~ Is Yu wearing extensions? I doubt her hair grew this long in such short period of time.
The mindmeister movie journey has sprung several arms and legs, probably a few dozen fangs and a few couple of eyes. Since the beginning of the year [1], I’ve watched some 56 Indian films.
New additions? Farah Khan has her own hub, and Mira Nair has shown up there, as did M.F. Husain. Lootera sprung Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha, and Ranveer sprung Anushka Sharma and Parineeti Chopra. Luck by Chance sprung Farhan Akhtar and Madhur Bhandarkar finally got his hub. Major new film additions to Kamal Hassan, Sridevi (GOSH, Sadma/Moondram Pirai), and Shabana Azmi.
Gulaab Gang is set to open next week (and I’m jealous of you), so they’re heavy on their online promotion. I don’t know how heavy the promotion in India (posters, billboards, tv ads, etc) actually is, but I supposed the production is hoping for a decent opening overseas in the limited regions (I suppose).
Besides the Koffee with Karan epi [1] — from which I ended up reading a bit more on Juhi — Madhuri Dixit has turned up in this YouTuber’s channel- known as Superwoman — in an episode titled What Bollywood Has Taught Me. It’s funny business if you know all the references, of course.
They’ve also been posting Behind the Scenes clips [1], as well as the mandatory Jukebox [1]. And of course, I just spoiled myself with the Juhi clip. It’s sorta been my way of watching Indian films, just go blind and be surprised. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t like Mr. India because I was all spoiled with the best bits featuring Sridevi.
Anyway, the clip made me wonder about the perception of anti-heroes and ‘bad guys’ on India films, and how that may have affected Juhi’s decision to play a negative role. I’ve also watched Kareena Kapoor’s Heroine which made me shrug at how sucky it is to be a heroine (anywhere in the world). In terms of acting, it feels like the filmmakers had a bit more confidence in Juhi’s abilities and charisma to play a bad guy. In the end, she seemed to have had fun.
Normally… normally I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to watch Vidya Balan and Tabu (together!) on a film, which is the case with Urumi (English complete title~ Urumi: The Warriors Who Wanted to Kill Vasco da Gama), but I just can’t shake the feeling that it’s gonna be more than two hours of cringe-worthy cartoon ‘demon-white’ colonialist with random musical numbers. I could maybe take it for two hours sans musical numbers and loads of pumping action fight sequences.
Plus, it’s a Malayaman film, so I bet they’ve got their voices dubbed. As an alternative, I found their item songs. Though I’m unsure if Vidya has a more extensive role in the film, Tabu’s credit on IMDb lists it as a special appearance.
The original track song is called Aaranne Aaranne [clip], but the Telugu dub upload is much better for obvious quality reasons.
I haven’t done a fake Criterion fanart in a long time — possibly in over 4 years [1] — but after seeing M.F. Husain’s films, I couldn’t resist. Besides Madhuri Dixit- DUDE! Tabu as Meenaxi. I can’t possibly resist.
I do believe that Tabu acted miles around the material that Madhuri Dixit got, and that M.F. Husain should’ve used a lot more of Madhuri’s dancing skills and charisma to get his muse concept across. Especially considering how she was his muse and all.
Oh, man. I ran into a random photo of Tabu when she did a small part in Hum Naujawan back in 1985. My first reaction was “she hasn’t changed at all.” Then, I was pretty amazed at how easy it was to find a clip of it.
I could see why some people would think Meenaxi was a self-indulgent movie, but who am I to deny myself the self-indulgence of a lens focused solely on Tabu? Beautiful cinematography with a soundtrack by A.R Rahman to top it all off. I can’t. I could watch this film forever.
Oh, gosh. It hurts just to look at all this gorgeousity.
[Talking about her traits compared to her The Namesake character] In six months, I will drive my husband mad. I will cry; I will not cook because I do not know how. I will crave for home food and he will have to take me to an Indian joint. I will cry more because I will have to walk to the taxi. I will feel hot; I will feel cold… and I will be miserable, even though I will enjoy meeting new people and eating at nice restaurants.
