Tag: fandom

  • Olympic Chulpan Khamatova

    My TV signal is not working :( though I doubt the local channel is broadcasting the whole event, being famous for cutting the lightning of the cauldron at the London Olympics to continue with their regular programming [1][2], so I had to wait over 12hrs for *cough* ahem- watch it. My Sochi search on Twitter revealed two spoilers~~~ the spoiled snowflake that didn’t turn into the fifth Olympic ring that’s already been spoofed online, and Chulpan Khamatova.

    I didn’t get to read when she’d be appearing — during a skit? during the show? waving? carrying the torch? — I just saw the comment of “Chulpan Khamatova!!!” multiple exclamation points and all. I was already giddy. And she didn’t disappoint.

    chulpan-khamatova-sochi-2014

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  • The Harmony Can of Worms

    I’m sorry, JK. Not gonna play beyond this, but you just stirred a can of worms full of fandom feelings that a lot of people didn’t want to deal with. I hope you didn’t just do it for PR.

    For years (and years) I had moved on from fandom. I was fine, we were fine. We (probably) weren’t spending money or time on it. Now you come in to nudge that nasty fandom shipping war of name-calling and eye-rolling. What for? So you can make a quick buck on your next Harry Potter or non-HP endeavor?

  • Tabu Ranked

    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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  • It’s ALIVE! And Growing~

    The Indian film journey mindmap [1][2] collection is a little monster, and it keeps on getting bigger. This time some of the additions included about 21 films with Tabu, a few with Aamir Khan, a couple more from Madhuri Dixit… and about half a dozen with Konkona Sen Sharma.

    Oh, and Juhi Chawla now has her own hub.

    The connections now seem unreadable.

    * RED bubbles denotes films from Jenna’s Beginner’s Guide to Indian Film
    ** BLUE bubbles are film hubs where a lot of actors show up.
    *** PURPLE bubble is RED + BLUE. Duh.

    indian-film-journey-continues-jan1814

  • Tabu’s Joan Crawford Traits

    For the past week or so, I got into my Tabu movie journey and while watching Hawa, there was a particular shot that just struck me like a lightning bolt (pun!) and reminded me of Joan Crawford.

    tabu-crawford

    It’s a strong eyebrow thing (I have going on). Plus, Tabu’s got a nose with character (and the character to back it up). With her acting chops, she could totally pull off- let’s just skip The Women, coz I can’t picture a catty Indian version of that and just go straight into Crawford’s 40s- A Woman’s Face (or its En Kvinnas Ansikte version), Mildred Pierce (of course, I would love that), Humoresque, Possessed (1947), Daisy Kenyon, Flamingo Road, and The Damned Don’t Cry. Tabu is also at the perfect age.

    The only thing about her that’s off is that… she doesn’t have the hunger for fame and power that I sense from Crawford.

    Possessed and Mildred Pierce in contemporary Indian are topping my list.

  • This Journey…

    … is getting ridiculously messy [1].

    indian-movie-journey-dec0113-update

    But I gotta admit I’m loving it.

    So… the Ram-Leela thing didn’t pan out (boo hoo!). Instead, we’re getting Dhoom 3 for the New Year, so I gave Dhoom a watch. Without noticing (much) my life had also been inundated by Bachchan Jr., not that I mind much… I had a better first impression of him (I think it was in Yuva), than I did with Aamir Khan, as well as Kareena Kapoor. Poor the both of them, I hated them from the get go. However, I found that I kinda liked them together. Talaash was a good one, but they really reeled me in with 3 Idiots to the point that I don’t think I hate them any longer. I’d better avoid Aamir from most things pre-2006, though.

    Besides getting acquainted with Vidya Balan — I’m on my third Kahaani re-watch and still loving it — as well as getting cozy with Madhuri Dixit’s filmography, I’ve been getting to know Sanjay Dutt, whom I totally thought was Salman Khan’s dad (from the Deewangi Deewangi number on Om Shanti Om). I was really REALLY surprised by the range of his acting, since I thought that he was gonna be one-note like the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Schwarzenegger, or Bruce Willis. I even found him endearing as Munna Bhai. I’ve never had that happened to me with any of them.

    As for the rest? I like Preity Zinta more outside in the real world (interviews and maybe Twitter), Hrithik Roshan isn’t all that bad (and he’s super hot), and I still find SRK more endearing than cool (or anything else). I re-watched Life of Pi, and I’m super psyched about embarking on Tabu’s filmography, and I just found out (like a couple of hours ago) that Naseerudin Shah played Gandhi on Hey Ram. Totally gasped at that one.

    I’m so totally game for the third Munna Bhai installment, excited for Dedh Ishqiya… and I don’t think I mind Dhoom or Don. I also daydreamed SRK made a Don-esque movie set in Hong Kong alongside Jackie Chan. I’d be totally game for that. I’d hate to see Jackie losing to him, though, so they should both play bad guys… or SRK should play good cops with him, even if that may result too much like a Rush Hour movie. It’s gotta be a serious funny action movie with them.

  • Is It Yuuuuuuu?

    I noticed a few people popping by searching for Yu Aoi, so I went looking for news on her tonight and I ran into this photo tagged with her name on Pinterest.

    is-it-yu

    If it is, in fact, Yu Aoi. This is the first time I haven’t recognized her in a photo. Not like I’m like an expert or anything (though I do daydream someone calls me for a documentary on her life LOL).

    First- the hair throws me off. So it may be one of those rare instances. The themes and styles seem to fit, and the whole shoot gives you strong Dandelion vibes for some reason. But one of the reasons, I don’t think it is Yu-chan is because I don’t see her freckles. She has three particular spots that always show up on her photos: the two marks on the right side of her right eye (the ones that looked like Shiro), and the mark on her left cheek near her nose.

    Top suspect? One of them Korean look-alikes [see also and this]. At first, I thought it could be Hwang Seung Un [1][CM], but after a quick read, I decided it’s more likely Son Soo Hyun [1]. Seriously, some of their similarities [check the Busker Busker MV] are uncanny.

    I wouldn’t mind one of those crazy comedy projects in which the two of them play sisters but speak completely different languages when speaking to each other. Specially directed by Satoshi Miki.

  • Candid Rani~

    I ran into this off-shoot photo of Rani around. Is it me? Has anyone else thought that Rani doesn’t photograph too well for fashion shoots? I really like her on film (and movie stills), I like her on regular snaps, but magazine shoots are just so~~~ I often tell myself that they don’t do her justice.

    What are her best photoshoots?

    This Filmfare shot is one of the rare photos I’ve liked her in.

    rani-mukerji-filmfare-off-shoot-mar2011

  • Khamatova for Pepel

    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.

  • Let’s give it up for Madhuri Dixit’s Eyebrows!

    Ever since I saw Madhuri Dixit on Devdas, I was fascinated with her eyebrows because… well, BECAUSE!

    madhuri-dixit-devdas-eyebrows

    source.

    Can you do that? HAVE YOU TRIED TO PULL THAT OFF? That’s a talent right there. And it seems to be her thing. I mean, I can move my eyebrows alright- one up and up the other goes, but it looks more like a look of mad confusion than the actual ease with which she uses.

    Here~

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