Bollywood Confidential
I love Bollywood movies. Love! I love the romance, the drama, the fact that the good guys win – and the bad guys come to dastardly ends. 
And yes, I love the singing and dancing and the often stunning costumes.
So today, let me take you on a tour of Bollywood. All of these movies come with subtitles, and since I’m a bit behind on my movie watching, most are one to two years old.
First, Jodhaa-Akbar, a gorgeous historical with a stunning love story as its center – about a princess who must marry an enemy emperor in order to avoid war.
Staying with Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai (the actors in the above movie), we have Dhoom 2, an action movie about the cat and mouse game between a master thief and the cop out to catch him.
Another movie with lots of twists and turns is Race (links goes to trailer) which leans more toward the thriller angle. Who did it? Not who you thought!
Then there’s the awesome Chak De India, which is very much a sports movie, about the Indian Women’s Hockey team. (The trailer below is for the German release – I couldn’t find one with English subtitles!)
And for flat out cute romance, there’s Jab We Met (translates as “When we met”).
Another great romantic movie (though this one might make you cry) is Kal Ho Na Ho (translation: Whether Tomorrow Comes or Not).
Shahid Kapoor, the (adorable!) actor in Jab We Met, has a new release out now called Chance Pe Dance, which I would really like to see. It’s about a struggling actor who enters a dance competition.
Okay, I’ll just stop there before I break Oddshots with all these videos. I know some of you watch Bollywood movies. What are your favorites? And for those of you who don’t watch, have I tempted you?
ahhh… sorry, but bollywood’s just not my cuppa tea. too much color, too much song and…. sharuk khan (sorry if I misspelled) who kinda gives me the shivers… in a weird way. I don’t even know why.
h2b’s sister likes to watch bollywood movies and I sat down with her and watched my way heroically through one and half way through another (which amounted to 5 and a half hours in total!!!!), but it simply is not my kind of movie
but I say: everyone should enjoy what he / she wants
wouldn’t it be booooring if we all had the exact same taste?
*GASP* you don’t like Shah Rukh Khan?! Inconceivable!
He’s one of my favorite actors, but yep, Bollywood doesn’t work for everyone. At least you gave it a go!
I don’t understand it either! I’ve loved Shah Rukh Khan since Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman! The love affair has been going on ever since!
I love bollywood! Great picks, Nalini. My favorites would include a lot of recent Aamir Khan movies, the best one being Dil Chata Hai. 3 Idiots, his latest, is really good too.
And of course, the classics from the 90s, like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
People keep telling me to go see 3 Idiots but I haven’t had the time. I’ll probably catch it on dvd when it releases.
And I love those two classics!
Pri, you mentioned the two movies I had in mind. Kajol….I miss her in movies
She did a very, very quick guest appearance in Kal Ho Na Hoh – it was as part of a dance sequence.
A long time ago my father was sent to Kuwait to set up cleaner meat markets and of course I went (too young not to). Not much television except for Bollywood!! Loved Loved Loved them. They kept us entertained for the year we were there.
They’re definitely entertaining!
*g* Do you know Koi Mil Gaya? or Krrish?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBpZH-CFgZ0
(couldn’t find one with english subs)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0wzwujpkFg
“Your comment is awaiting moderation.” Huh? What does that mean?
I just sprung you from the spam filter
I really liked both of those, too.
I’ve never watched Bollywood before, but now I’m tempted.
I think part of the appeal [for me] is that they’re in a different language. You’re able to sit there and let the words flow over you.
If you decide to give them a go, let me know what you think of them
I think the closest I’ve come to Bollywood was Bride and Prejudice. That was fun.
I admit, the historical and the action adventure sound tempting.
Bride & Prejudice is a good intro. If you enjoyed that, you’ll probably enjoy some of the Bollywood movies.
I don’t have much experience with Bollywood, but a friend of mine really enjoys it and has given me a few movies to try, including Dhoom 2. I haven’t gotten to them all, but I am definitely interested in exploring more. That trailer for Jodhaa-Akbar looks really good. I might have try hunting it down.
BTW, am I the only one who thinks Aishwarya Rai is one of the most beautiful women ever? I’m always amazed by how stunningly gorgeous she is!
And the thing is, she looks beautiful no matter what! I saw her in an interview and she was obviously just relaxed and not particularly made up and STILL gorgeous!
The few Bollywood movies I’ve seen, I’ve loved. The color is a nice change from a lot of movies out there. My only problem is I can’t find them.
Jodhaa-Akbar looks fantastic but I would need English dubbed because I find I can’t read fast enough and watch the action at the same time. And Amazon doesn’t have it.
Hmm, I don’t know if I’ve seen an English dubbed one. But if it helps, the subtitles in the actual movie are much bigger and fairly easy to read.
Ooh I love Bollywood!
My favorite is Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham (otherwise known as K3G). The color, the drama, the songs, this movie had it all!
I also liked Jodhaa Akbar, very colorful and I liked how there was a strong female role. Too often in historical movies the female is an accessory or worse, just part of the scenery. This woman despite the societal pressures of her time refused to marry unless she was able to keep her religion. That’s pretty significant.
Lagaan was another favorite. It was brilliantly directed and I liked how the color palette reflected the mood of the people.
Chandini was interesting. I can’t remember much but I do remember being angry that it was just like one of my spanish soaps in that despite all the wrongs the guy committed against the girl, it was “true love” so they lived happily ever after.
I’ve seen a few others but of those only Kashmir stands out. That was a heart wrenching thriller.
Lastly, I’d just like to say that Hrithrik = hot. Hrithirk dancing = *die* lol
I loved K3G! Especially “Pooh”
Yes! She was quite a character
The movie of K3G has been my favorite, of all the Bollywood films I’ve watched.
Saathiya’s soundtrack sounded promising in the previews. I haven’t gotten to watch it sadly…Netflix doesn’t have it
For me, the best part of Bollywood movies are the costumes. I love how colorful the world is in mainstream Indian movies.
By the way, did you watch “3 Idiots”? Its a non-stop laughathon
As we say in hindi, total paisa-vasool
Haven’t seen it yet – it keeps getting recommended though!
Oh my God, I want to see the first one!
*off to look in amazon*
Hope you enjoy
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I need to catch up on my Bollywood movies but I’ll watch anything with Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan it.
Lol – me too
I’ve seen a bunch of movies like Monsoon Wedding, the Namesake, Slumdog Millionaire, and Bend It Like Beckham and a few with Aishwarya Rai, but the closest I have got to the louder Bollywood style is Bride and Prejudice, which kind of left me without any kind of words (good or bad) because I had no idea what it was going to be. I did watch an older Indian classic (or so I’m told), but I don’t remember too much about it, except that I liked it and it was tragic at parts.
I have actually seen previews for some of those movies you mentioned and want to see them! I <3 films, and love romances. I'm a big fan of the Korean drama and movies.
Ooh yes I’ve seen those too! I’d quite forgotten
Slumdog Millionaire was quite fabulous I thought.
Bride and Prejudice was funny but the music fell rather flat and I thought the Elizabeth persona was a bit too sharp tongued.
Bend it like Beckham had unrealistic soccer scenes but the evolution and execution of the plot more than made up for it.
I’ll have to investigate Korean Dramas
Hi, I watch alot of bollywood movies and Jodhaa Akbar is one of my favourites. I recently rewatched it on Channel 4′s indian season (in U.K). It had english subtitles and you can probably still watch it on the 4od website. Also love Jab we met.