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So… I thought I was wrong [1], but now I’m not so sure.

One of my pet-peeves with Indian cinema (and Chinese… and Russian) is when some sort of dubbing is involved. The Russians, of course, are the worst offenders of that when they just slap some Russian over-dubbed without even caring if it’s a man talking over a female character. It’s not even like it’s properly dubbed, it’s just lazily slapped onto the original track without even lowering the audio.

Then the Chinese mess around with you because you got Hong Kong actors that don’t necessarily speak proper Mandarin working with Mainland actors who wouldn’t necessarily speak proper Cantonese (or at all). The result? You don’t exactly know which one is the original audio track. The way I go about it is to choose always Cantonese when film is set in Hong Kong, and go for Mandarin in most epics. Anything historical epic HK production pre-97 also gets the Cantonese favoritism. xD

India has suchhhhhh an array of languages that I’m not entirely familiar with that it would mean little to choose one language over the other, unless you’re bothered with lips syncing. Though Hindi now sounds familiar, I must admit. What bothers me is that I get accustomed to people’s voices. It seems people in India find certain voices more appealing than others, and could -in a whim- dubbed you over. One of the reasons I can’t stand Ghulam is because it bothers me that Rani’s dubbed voice doesn’t match my idea of Rani.

Tabu has done a bit of non-Hindi films, and though her acting can be epic- Telugu dubbing, man. I know and I like Tabu’s voice, and it freaks me out a little how different the dubbing voice can be. As a general dubbing rule, companies tend to go for voices that are similar to the original audio… or they go for someone with a similar flare. Not generally in Indian cinema.

All this talk is because I found a clip of Vidya Balan from Urumi, for which I complained that they probably dubbed their voices. However, in the clip, it sounds… almost like Vidya. For a very long moment I thought it was her, until I read the comments… now, I’m not sure. LOL

If it’s dubbed, it’s the best dubbed I’ve seen. It’s a Japanese super-dub!

If it’s Vidya’s voice, she apparently speaks perfect Malayalam for the movie.

I ran into this deleted clip of the Rapid Fire Madhuri and Juhi did for Karan. I wonder how it’s decided what questions or answers make it onto the show.  Madhuri kept being her usual diplomatic self, especially that answer about who’s the best dancer- it does make me wonder~ I do know that she could totally pull off most dance numbers in most movies most of the times…

Post-Madhuri, I haven’t seen any actress being able to pull off what Madhuri was able to give to the screen… though Aishwarya came close for a while back there. However, there are… on rare occasions… when a choreography is so full of energy from a particular actress that it seems only that actress can pull that number alone. I’m not HUGE on Deepika, but post-Cocktail she improved quite dramatically and she sorta impressed me with Nagada Sang Dhol [clip] – a part of me wants to see whether Madhuri could pull that number right now. It’s the stamina involved.

And though I’m pretty sure the track has been sped up, Discowale Disco [clip] and Dil Bole Hadippa [clip] could also prove a bit of a challenge. But… could Madhuri pull off the funny swag that Rani put into Bhangra Bistar [1]? Ha! I’d LOVE to see that~

Anyway, going back to the clip~ I do think Juhi’s questions were a lot more difficult and expose her a bit more, especially the one asking her about who she considers a current sexy actor, what would happen if a younger co-star would hit on her, and the impact that marriage (and kids) can have in people’s (specifically women) careers. People have also been milking the “rivalry” that should have, so there’s been a lot of focus on Juhi’s character. It shows… err- the shades of her as a person. She’s not the super human that exudes confidence and always has an opinion on anything- she seems like a human being that has had insecurities throughout her life in an industry that heightens everything, and she’s had to lived under that microscope.

In theory, it should bother me… but I find her oddly endearing. Juhi makes me feel like I want to give her a hug, and ALWAYS hope for the best for her. The other day when I found out she voted “for the first time,” my reaction was… “Juhi, you’re in your forties, I can’t believe this is the first time you vote.” LOL Though voting is mandatory down here [two 2-round presidential votes, one for city mayor and one to kick out the major LOL], I do have a really strong sense of politics. I’m the snotty late-twenty-something talking to the thirty-somethings and forties about South and North American politics (I’m a little fuzzy in Central American dealings), East Asian, English, and West European politics.

And I do have too many older friends.

I wonder what it’s like to be Juhi Chawla’s friend. Sipping a cup of coffee or tea and chat.

I’m still not sold on Netflix- never to this date I’ve ran into a film that I wanted to watch on it. At least in terms of this region, which doesn’t count with as much content as the US or Canada one. Similar issues with iTunes… and Amazon is out of the question.

I used to subscribe to MUBI for a long while (at least for a bit over a year), but eventually turned off my subscription because I wasn’t watching anything, while things I had added to my watchlist stopped being available, and the selection of their films eventually was reduced to their now curated content. I’m only subscribed to EROSNOW now, and have seen a few couple of films there, but had to turn to other mediums when found links that were region-restricted or surprisingly without subtitles.

My experience with streaming has been decent- and for as cheap as $5-9 bucks you can watch a lot in a month, and it just makes your life quite easy. Similar flawless experience with my first Vimeo On Demand watch. Thanks Joss Whedon for the heads up, and actually putting the film up there right after its premiere. To top it all off, subtitles in Spanish, German, French, Portuguese and Japanese (plus English CC) were available making it the smoothest watch if you decided to watch it with any bunch of people.

Paying $5 to stream a new movie can seem like the best way possible to make it look as if you’re going to the cinema. It takes me back to those days where I would watch 2 or 3 new movies a weekend. If studios ever decided to really go off their way to online distribute their new movies almost simultaneously, I’d be willing.

Here’s In Your Eyes.

Apparently Vimeo streaming is not as smooth (or at all) if you don’t have a Vimeo account, though. Take it as a good chance to get one, or don’t complain. I really don’t know any other streaming (paying) website that would let you use their content without an account. You need one in iTunes, in Amazon, in Netflix, HBO, et all. So please, people, stop complaining about THAT.

Spanish (more serious) related note.

I broke MindMeister a while back. Around early March actually, so I went back to FreeMind. It doesn’t look as slick, and you gotta install it… but the interface works in the most straightforward of ways. And their PNG export works really good.

Since March, there’s been a bunch of changes in the list, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra got his own hub after a watch of Delhi 6 — which is the change that broke MindMeister. Mani Ratman also got his own hub, and a watch of Fire sprung a Deepa Meetha hub.

I’ve watched a bunch of Sridevi movies, but not a big fan of the movies themselves except for Sadma / Moondram Pirai. Also added random single titles, catching up with films as varied as Udaan (which sprung a Vikramaditya Motwane hub), Stalin, Highway, and Student of the Year (Alia Bhatt is YUCK in there), and single film additions for Aamir Khan, Shahrukh, Juhi, Madhuri, Rekha, Shabana Azmi, Seema Biswas and Tabu.

According to IMDb, it’s nearly 200 movies already.

indian-film-journey-apr2014

I also bought a bunch of Indian movies. The first batch arrived yesterday with Rani Mukherji (2 titles), Vidya Balan (1), Tabu (2), Mani Ratman (1) and Sanjay Leela Bhansali (1) titles. I still wish and hope for SLB Bluray releases for everything pres-Saawariya.

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.

You can try it out even without subs.

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.

Vidya’s number after the break~

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I gotta admit that I haven’t watched many of Juhi’s films yet. She’s certainly popped up quite a number of times in supporting roles here and there, but in terms of fandoms, Madhuri’s filmography has taken the lead. Having said that, I was taken by how candid and honest Juhi was with her answers.

While Madhuri is strictly diplomatic with her answers, revealing enough but not too much; Juhi’s relationship with her rise to fame and her mistakes through the course of her career seemed… refreshing. I’ve barely seen her, but it feels like I got a small window to get to know her. That’s an interesting quality in movie stars nowadays.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bWZtqQ4eQ4

But seriously- THE moment of the day is Ranveer Singh’s tribute to the both of them. How could anyone be sexy, sweet, cute, funny, dorky and such a good actor.

— EDIT Nov 7, 2914 —

For some reason, StarTV has made the clips private, but you can still watch the episodes on their website.

xD

I ran into this episode of India’s Most Desirable featuring Rani, and watched it through the night. She explains the development of her personality, which resulted in her character in No One Killed Jessica. I find it a bit odd, but okay- I’ll take it.

What I found most interesting was her relationship with her parents, and the thing she said about having one set of parents in your lifetime really struck a chord with me.

Then she plays the games- the 2 Truths and 1 Lie game was a bit odd. She does elaborate on one hard to believe truth (a baby switch when she was born), but she totally skims through another one (almost married at 14?) ; I’m not sure if she was joking or not. LOL The fan questions segment was a bit weird, but Rani participates in all good fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QvavnYh2s8

Tabu Ranked

January 23, 2014 — 1 Comment

Two weeks before the end of the year, I was already done watching all the Rani Mukerji movies I could get my hands on [1], and by Christmas I had already devoured about ten movies with Tabu [1], casting her in my Joan Crawford Indian re-adaptations. So I’m pretty much done watching Tabu’s main basic filmography. I might have two or three more that I want to watch (Prem, Border and Khudam Kasam) that I’ve been able to locate with subtitles, while Kala Pani I haven’t been able to find in a subbed version.

Her alongside Rani and Vidya Balan are my current top contemporary Indian actresses. I wish the first two were as eager to get lead vehicles (nowadays) instead of supporting… like Tabu in the last decade! Be it a lead or supporting role, though, Tabu remains interesting and slightly girl-empowering.Ghaath and Hu Tu Tu (and to a degree: Aamdani Atthani Kharcha Rupaiyaa) had Tabu in a tux or sporting a short hair with a tomboy-ish attitude, urging people to be revolutionaries (or terrorists, depending on your POV), and doing all those sneaky subtly sex scenes in things like Maqbool (to a degree -though not hidden- in The Namesake), Ghaath, and definitely Astitva.

I was amazed at how consistently good she was even in poor vehicles like Hawa or Silsiilay. She’s also a straight-forward no bullshit kind of person. Even if you give her the best role to fit her schedule, if she doesn’t like you, she won’t work with you. That means she’ll probably never agree for a Lars Von Trier movie, and that Ang Lee is the best.

Also, there are two new Tabu movies coming up~ Jai Ho with Salman seems like it can be crap because Stalin (the Telugu movie it’s a remake of) was so, and I’m completely unable to stand Salman Khan except for Maine Pyar Kiya. Then there’s Haider by Vishal Bhardwaj, so that’s -at least- some kind of relief. That has got to be somewhat interesting, even if it turns out not superb.

*Updated Apr’16*

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I found this episode of Koffee with Karan extra hilarious… or maybe this is symptomatic of my Indian movie-watching. In any case, if you have not yet met Vidya Balan- please, get acquainted as soon as possible.

And I just gotten acquainted with Farhan Akhtar in Luck by Chance -literally- just a few hours ago.

Having said that… Vidya Balan talks about her married life and how she arranges books by their thickness (and her husband by height). I was going to ask “Who DOES that?” but my mother came to mind, and she suggested arranging books by color. So there you go~ As for me? I arrange books by topic or function. In the case of educational books (programming, design, photography, etc) or dictionaries. Fiction (books, plays, collections etc) is divided by West/East content arranged by author… and then I have a comic and graphic novel section mostly arranged by author and genre.

And Vidya is such a tease. She knows how to push Karan’s buttons.

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

She also left us with this quote:

Women like it,need it, want it as much as men do.

I didn’t know you could actually watch The Dirty Picture subbed online. Thank you, Shemaroo.

— EDIT Nov 7, 2914 —

For some reason, StarTV has made the clips private, but you can still watch the episodes on their website.

I actually am not sure whether Pepel (Пепел) is a series or a TV movie. It doesn’t seem to be a theatrical film, though. It’s supposed to air on October 27th (so about now) in Ukraine and on the 28th in Russia (through Channel 1). If my reading is okay, this seems to indicate that Pepel is a 12-episode series, and its got the whole historical war mystery setting.

The show stars Yevgeni Mironov, who also worked with Khamatova in Dostoevsky, as the title character, alongside Vladimir Mashkov, Elena Lyadova, and Sergei Garmash. I’m not sure who Khamatova is supposed to be playing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDMIQ9FJET8

I wonder if it will eventually get subtitled.