It's been almost a year I haven't been all that keen on watching Hindi films. I also lost interest in following all the ups and downs of the lives of Hindi stars. In fact I lost touch with my fascination for India.
Of course I have watched films.. an interest, an obsessive hobby doesn't just disappear into thin air, but my desire to write about the films, or discuss them with everybody and anybody disappeared.
Maybe until recently.
Several times I tried to formulate entries to my blog... sitting on the over crowded metro on the way home from work I mentally wrote a sentence or two but they felt fake and out of place.
Looking back on the past year I have to say I haven't seen much that has really inspired me. The yucky Kismet Connection comes to mind. The even yuckier Tashan. What the hell was Thoda Pyaar, Thoda Magic. My goodness, last year was just BAD YEAR where Saif Ali Khan films were concerned!!
And what was that Mission Istanbul? When I came across a dvd in my local DVD store I jumped for joy. A rare Hindi movie had made it to Istanbul- it was about Istanbul or set in Istanbul- so I had a platform from which I could trick highly skeptical, uninterested friends to watch the Indian vision or interpretation of our beautiful city... I didn't even make it to the end of the film. I was fed up with the crap storyline- I felt embarrassed for Al Jazeera- and I could not figure out why every scene needed to be SO loud.
Bhoothnath? vay. vay. vay. It was a year for didactic, overly moralistic children's films.
I liked Superstar. But I couldn't think of much to write about it.
I wasn't exactly thrilled by Ghajni. I could not get the point of all the gratuitous violence and why the hell did Aamir Khan need a 6 pack stomach? is this some bizarre trend? Akshay has one. Shahid Kapur had one, so Shah Rukh got one so we all have to jump on the bandwagon? is it some bizarre fear of growing old and undesirable? last chance to look good?
I should point out, I was ok with the 6 pack in the 'memento' segments of the film. Howelse were they going to show all those tatoos? and we had precedents with 6 packs. The part that troubled me was the romance scenes. Those bore the feeling of desperation.
I was actually really tempted to write when I first saw Slumdog Millionaire. I know it is not 'Hindi' or 'Bollywood'. But I thought I would make a comment any way. At that time it was in early January - some weeks before the film won the Golden Globes and every other award, no one had heard of the film. But I was too slow and by the time I was ready to write anything at all, everyone and anyone was talking about the film. Half my friends had made comments on facebook and every other form of digital communication - nothing wrong with writing together with or after everyone else, but I had run out of anything to say by the time I had read everyone's comments. In fact, I was no longer sure what I had to say in the first place.
Mid- January I returned to Australia- first trip after many years- and wow!! I was impressed with the many Indian grocery stores selling the latest dvds. That's how I watched Ghajni.
I was also really impressed when I read the name Ghajni among the films being shown in the cinemas in Sydney. Some of the cinemas had specific 'Bollywood' special segments. Australia is way ahead of Turkey where Indian films are concerned. They get distributed there and they are available for the mass public. This remains a dream in my adopted homeland.
During the past year my hair grew long- or longer than it has ever been. And this has been my biggest wonder regarding Hindi films. How do all these Indian actresses cope with the long hair? I have no problems washing- drying- maintaining- but I have a problem sleeping... it gets caught under my arms or Alper's shoulders and I wake up because my hair is being yanked...
my hair get caught inside my winter jacket- between the back of chairs in cafes and restaurants... you name it. I live in a state of constant fear that my hair will be pulled- yanked- caught- stuck...
