:: Sunday, June 08, 2003 ::

On Tivo June 2003
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
1995, dir. Aditya Chopra
Credited cast:
Shahrukh Khan .... Raj Malhotra
Kajol .... Simran
Amrish Puri .... Chaudhry Baldev Singh
Farida Jalal .... Lajjo
Anupam Kher .... Dharamvir Malhotra
Karan Johar .... Raj's friend
Pooja Ruparel .... Rajeshwari/Chutki
Satish Shah .... Ajit Singh
Anaita .... Sheena

Was just looking over and updating parts of the website again after many months of unuse/neglect, and noticed that this site seems to be in need of a name change to "Electric Cartoons" since it seems that's all I'm interested in these days (by looking at the entries in this site, at least). Well, that's not true, I just don't write as much as I watch, and I hadn't "been here for a while" when I started talking about Miyazaki (and his entry was deleted but there was more talk on the site before the crash, I just didn't rewrite it.) and the Animatrix shorts.

Last week TMC began a Bollywood Festival and I tuned in to the station probably first because I am truly interested in the fact that India produces about 800 films a year (and I understand the industry is in a terrorism fueled slump right now) and I haven't seen any of them. Also, the "Bollywood Style" can be distilled into a simple formula,the stettings and production design are lush, and there are always elaborate musical numbers, which drive the plot. Much like the heralded 1940's and 50's MGM Musicals. This of course is a formula I embrace fully.The musical I chose to watch just happens to be the most heralded and loved movie in India,the almost unpronounceable "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" (The English translation is something like: "Persistent Young Man will Eventually, Even after two or three hours of film time, Win the Heart, Mind, and Very Soul of the One True Love that He has Been Chasing through six or seven Countries Even though she Has Been Promised to and is Destined to Marry Another in the Land of Her Father".
I'm only kidding. I am thouroughly transfixed with this movie. A short comparison would be "Flower Drum Song" with Hindis instead of Chinese and Punjab, India instead of San Francisco. The movie is a Full Blown Musical Comedy, a form which I have been preaching about for years, which American audiences seem to thave tired of in the sixties (except now that Chicago got an Oscar a trend that will soon change, I hope) and (to a Westerner, especially an American) a very involving and interesting look into another culture and a clue as to how throughout history "foreign" cultures have been colonized and force fed the Western Way, and their very existence is a mishmash of their own and intruding cultural references, some of which they exploit, some of which they embrace, and some of which they abhor. I am charmed at how some of the "imported" Hollywood conventions have been "Hindi-ized" in the Bollywood style.
To wit, the dialogue is scrumptious. I haven't even finished watching the movie, by the way, as I write, because I just wanted to put up another post not involving cartoons.But the rapid fire exchanges between Shakrukh Khan as Raj, the hero (the titular Persistent Young Man") and his father, who is not credited above, because he isn't in many scenes, reminded me of Marx Brothers routines. And as I mention, this is not a major part of the film. The plot concerns Raj's exploits to win Simran (an amazing turn by Kajol, whom I understand is a major Indian talent and poster girl, and no wonder, she is dynamite, sort of like a young Ann-Margret.) who is engaged to be married to the son of her father's neighbor in India in an arranged marriage.
Well, more to come. I'm going to tune in again, now that writing about the movie makes me want to see it. Great thing about that Tivo, I am truly almost living in a world of movies on demand.

:: Michael Nyiri 12:17 PM Leave a Comment on this Post ::
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