Tag: actor

  • I’m Ready for Yeh Fitoor~

    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?

  • Khamatova + Mironov Dance for The Puppet Syndrome

    I ran into this clip of what seems a rehearsal of Yevgeny Mironov and Chulpan Khamatova dancing for the sequences of The Puppet Syndrome. If you do get a chance, do check it out.

  • Braganza vs. Bélier – FIGHT! This Heart Is Flying!

    Yeh Dil Vole! xD

    Anyone who’ve seen both Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 1996 directorial debut Khamoshi: The Musical (Silence: The Musical) and last year’s Belgian-French La Famille Bélier -by Eric Lartigau- can spot the similarities between the two (as well as the 1996 German film Beyond Silence (Jenseits der Stille) by Caroline Link). You can even spot the similar plot points by either reading the outline or watching the trailer.

    In the pivotal emotional punch of the movie, the daughter (played by Manisha Koirala and Louane Emera respectively) auditions to the coveted singing position, when her (deaf) parents -who had been against the idea- show up to see their daughter perform both vocally and in sign language. Koirala (voiced by playback singer Kavita Krishnamurthy) doing Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hain (This Heart Is Listening), and Emera singing Je Vole (I Fly).

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM5SDobPdi0

    Though Lartigau’s more modern take is much more musically accessible (let’s be honest, the film starts out with 2008 staple That’s Not My Name [1]), it’s also lighter. Bhansali’s story focuses a big chunk of his running time to tell the story of Manisha’s parents, also incredibly played by Nana Patekar and Seema Biswas, their struggle to raise a (hearing) child in near poverty levels, to the point that Patekar goes door to door with his daughter to make a living selling things.

    Of course, both also have a love interest, and both Salman and Ilian Bergala are the weakest link.

    I declare- DRAW!

  • Chang Chen for Femina China Sept’15 by Sun Jun

    A gorgeous of a man with photos by a photographer that knows gorgeousness xD

    chang-chen-femina-cina-sep15-sun-jun-001

    I didn’t know Femina had a Chinese version!

  • Chang Chen for Esquire HK

    This is an oldie pic of Chang Chen for Esquire Hong Kong photoshoot published back in December 2014, credited to KAON [Instagram].

    chang-chen-esquire-hk-dec14-kaon

    More photos on Esquire HK. And here’s a video of the shooting done by BOKEHK Creations.

    There’s also a shoot and video of Aaron Kwok for the August’15 edition, shot by Kaon R Workshop, and sharing because- WHY NOT?

  • Yu Aoi & Odagiri Joe for Nobuhiro Yamashita’s Over Fence

    Tell me the truth- did you miss this enthusiastic me? All these up to date project announcements take me back years into fandom when we all used to talk about all things Yu! Anyway, the latest in one of the few project announcements in Yu Aoi’s repertoire [1][2] is that she’s set for Nobuhiro Yamashita’s latest film titled Over Fence (オーバー・フェンス), which is an adaptation of a story in the anthology Kogane no Fuku (黄金の服) by Sato Yasushi.

    yu-aoi-odagiri-shota-matsuda-nobuhiro-yamashita-over-fence

    The film also stars Odagiri Joe and Shota Matsuda.

    Over Fence completes a trilogy based on Sato’s stories, beginning with Sketches of Kaitan City (海炭市叙景) and The Light Shines Only There (そこのみにて光輝く).

    Sources: Eiga.com, Film Business Asia

  • Aaron Kwok and Chang Chen for Monk Comes Down the Mountain

    monk-mountain-heart-kwok
    monk-mountain-heart-chang

    – Master, I wanted to see someone, but couldn’t.
    – Have you not seen him in your heart?

  • Khamatova for Miss Julie at Lincoln Center

    Cry tears of regret with me.

    Evgeny Mironov and Chulpan Khamatova live, right in front of your faces.

    evgeny-mironov-chulpan-khamatova-miss-julie

    This whole week, starting today until Sunday. Check the Lincoln Center site for more info.

  • Perhaps Love~

    I, of course, also ended up finally watching Peter Chan’s Perhaps Love (如果·爱), which is China’s -possibly- only formal foray into the musical genre. They were probably so into Moulin Rouge! and Chicago at some point, they got Farah Khan to whip some of her Bollywood 90s magic. You can see all the influences.

    But, of course, Chinese people don’t believe in happy endings… even in musicals! Farah Khan probably watched this and was bored out of her mind because she probably doesn’t get us tortured East Asian souls. I did buy into all the grown-up lamenting love story.

    ru-guo-ai-perhaps-love-zhou-xun-takeshi-kaneshiro

    To misquote Ron- I want to suffer, but I want to be happy about it.

  • The Most Scandalous Side of Ghaath

    I’m maybe one of two (or three) people that actually liked Ghaath. Actually, scratch that- IMDb is showing me that, at least, 20 people have voted this movie over 6. So there you go, we’re about 20 people. But maybe I have a strong bias, the film has a political moralistic theme of the late-90s early 00s era but avoids the masala shenanigans for the most part, it also has Anu Malik music — with two great songs that I enjoy — and the chemistry between Tabu and Manoj Bajpayee, who are also getting back together this year (after Salman in Jai Ho, Ajay in the upcoming Drishyam).

    When a titillating item song comes on screen, I’m usually the one rolling my eyes at some of the embarrassment… and the Telugu film industry has usually taken the cake when it comes to silly sexism. Not even Tabu can escape it (her number in Pandurangadu gets the crown with that orange juice moment). However, I do remember the first time that I ever gasped seeing a Bollywood movie because *gasp* They kissed! It was the Chup Chup Ke [clip] number in Bunty Aur Babli. It was before I realized I did enjoyed seeing Abhishek and Rani together [1], but they were always married on film!

    In the number for Teri Aashiqui Meri Zindagi, Tabu’s character is never married to Manoj’s, they fairly recently met at their family/friend’s wedding and had their moment in Hum Bhi Samajh Rahe Hain [clip] — there sure is a lot of rain and white-wearing caressing and singing, but it’s just playful boy-meets-girl girl-meets-boy, a lot of face-touching… but never EVER an engagement or wedding, yet… yet… there’s this 20-second love-making behind a torn down hellenistic column that results in a baby. LOL

    There’s all sort of face and neck action foreplay (I’m like “Omo, omomomomomo I swear she’s licking that neck“) before the hellenistic column action, as well as the obvious after scene.

    Of course there was a baby. There’s never a sex scene in these movies that doesn’t end with these consequences… it happens here in Ghaath, as it happens in Raiou.