Ketan Mehta’s film 'The Rising', a tribute to the great martyr Mangal Pandey responsible for the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 is reminiscient of an athlete who almost makes it to the finish line to win, but loses out by a few seconds.

Mangal Pandey, ‘The Rising’, Ketan Mehta’s tribute to the great martyr who was responsible for lighting the first spark that led to the long and glorious Indian Freedom struggle, made me look back at the chapters of an old history book with a little less disdain than before (which was 12 years ago, before a test), even if it was for strictly fact-checking purposes, which the movie seemed to boast among a lot of other things.

Based on the Sepoy mutiny of 1857, which was sparked by Mangal Pande who refused to use rifles rumored to be greased with the cow and pig fat for fear of being deemed an outcast, ‘The Rising’, although potent in its subject matter and star power (which remains grossly untapped till the end of the movie), unfortunately fails to impress on the whole.

Before I rant on, a little bit of background of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. Often referred to by historians as the first war of Indian Independence, it was instrumental in ending the rule of the East India Company. The ‘Sepoy’s’ as they were called, were high cast Hindus recruited by the British Colonial forces to help them make more conquests. Since the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the East India Company had exercised its sovereignty over India. There were isolated incidents of unrest among the people, but nothing was serious until ‘The Sepoy Mutiny’ as the British called it. The Hindu and Muslim sepoys in the army rose up and protested against what they considered an obvious effrontery to their religious beliefs - being asked by the British to use rifles greased with animal fat, which both religious communities considered unholy. After the mutiny, the British government discontinued the rule of the company and took the governance of India in its own hands.

	Mangal Pandey Website

Now to Ketan Mehta’s version of the story, the movie starts off with a chained and bruised, gallant-knight-looking Aamir Khan marching to meet a death sentence by the British, when the hangman runs away, unwilling to hang the revered leader. The movie slips into flashback mode after that. Mehta does a mediocre job of developing the story leading to the Rebellion staged by Mangal Pandey, since he chooses to richly lace it with incidents of little or no historical relevance, including a lip-twitching, bosom heaving song sequence by a gaudily attired Rani Mukherjee in a brothel: cheesy and avoidable. And not to mention the completely forced ‘tenderness’ between the British Officer and Amisha Patel, the permanently and unnecessarily in distress damsel, who is saved from the clutches of a society eager to burn her with her dead husband in keeping with the sati tradition. At very climactic moments of the story, there were script-stretching and out-of-place song sequences such as the Banjaran song with its disturbing abundance of Banjaran bosoms, and the Holi Hai song, a seemingly deliberate attempt to show allegiance to the 1970’s Bollywood school of film making. And why? A powerful film of such immense historic significance deserves to be fast paced and intense, and should induce a sentiment of awe and respect, rather than being interspersed with disappointing digressions such as the above.

That said, very successful attempts are made in the movie to depict the times and the society back then, especially in the villages, including addressing widely held beliefs around untouchability, the auctioning of women, slavery, the lifestyle of the British high society, all of which contribute in some measure to the development of the story and to the motivation behind the rebellion. There is also a very colorful and authentic display of the life in Indian villages back then, the folk-song-singing group on the brightly painted elephant, the village achchut (untouchable), the rabble-rousers who gathered around for their daily chai-hookah-pani meetings where they decided the fate of the world, all of which tip the scale a little in Ketan Mehta’s favor for his story telling prowess.

Aamir Khan, of course, delivers a stellar performance, with the right power and passion expected from the portrayal of Mangal Pandey’s character as a soldier and martyr of the Indian Independence struggle. His performance is nothing short of perfect. India’s much-loved star has so gloriously evolved as an actor of such extraordinary skill and talent, that he is able to carry a mediocre execution such as this, completely on his shoulders. He has achieved unparalleled stardom strictly on the basis of his brilliant performances evident from the fact that most of his hugely successful movies are neither backed by very established directors, nor do the movies have the Yash Chopra - like watchable-but-not-necessarily meaningful character to them.

Another actor worthy of much praise is Toby Stephens, who not only speaks near-perfect Hindi, but has all the right expressions as well, and certainly does not fail to impress. Another Kyra Knightly in the making? Om Puri, as the narrator of the story, gives a very welcome, but all-too-familiar, ‘Discovery of India’ type feel to the movie .Apart from these few people, performers of great talent like Rani Mukherjee, Amisha Patel and Kiron Kher (who once pledged on prime time TV to never accept a role unless its central) are all wasted, and for understandable reasons, as a story such as this, does not offer enough scope to these fine performers to demonstrate their skill, although, if the director cooked up so much in the movie anyway including the characters of all the women mentioned, he might as well have done a good job at it .

On Friday, August 12th, after the first show of the movie, the audience clapped at the end of the movie, but left the theater feeling the way they would feel for an athlete who almost makes it to the finish line to win, but loses out by a few seconds. The movie had a lot going for it: Aamir Khan, a timely release, and a story never told before about a martyr worthy of worship. Makers of historic movies must understand that they are taking on more responsibility to their audience and to history. A little more thought, a little more research and maybe a little more respect and understanding of the subject matter – and we would have had a classic, about a subject reminiscent of an inspiring victory that every Indian is proud of, and would love to be reminded of a million times over.

All images courtesy The Rising website.

Like many other HOT foreign names in Hollywood in the past, Aishwarya Rai seems to be everywhere, from appearances at Cannes “declaring the festival open” to having the latest “Asian” Barbie dolls modeled after her.

Like many other HOT foreign names in Hollywood in the past, Aishwarya Rai seems to be everywhere. From appearances at Cannes “declaring the festival open”, having the latest “Asian” Barbie dolls modeled after her, shooting in foreign locales, being put on the cover of a Russian magazine, having a tulip named after her, appearing on David Letterman, Jay Leno and Oprah Winfrey or being named The Next Step World Diversity Champion by the UK government.

This week itself, Ms. Rai is to start shooting for her first Hollywood movie. Last Legion, starring Sir Ben Kingsley (who can be South Asian and not know that he played Gandhi in the movie Gandhi?) and Colen Firth (the ladies know him as the dishy Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice and the Bridget Jones movies) is slated to start shooting in Tunisia.

Ms. Rai seems to be on a roll in the West right now. Just take into account some of her Western movies in hand –
Last Legion, touted as an “action adventure”, with Ben Kingsley and Colen Firth, starts shooting in Europe this August.
Racing the Monsoon with Michael Douglas
Chaos with Meryl Streep
Singularity with Brendan Fraser and Vivek Oberoi
Provoked, based on a true-life drama, with Naveen Andrews and Nandita Das
Mistress of Spices, based on Chitra Divakauni’s novel, with Dylan McDermott
Bride & Prejudice, based on Jane Austen’s “Pride & Prejudice”, with Martin Henderson, Naveen Andrews

The list seems stupendous, especially when you consider the plethora of Hollywood stars that she will be acting with. Even more amazing is realizing that besides doing her usual brand ambadress work for various products, Aish continues to do Bollywood movies and says that she still puts them first. Although of course it already looks like she is losing her Indian movies to other eager-beaver starlets ready to step into her shoes – but that is another story.

We just hope that she won’t follow Sophia Haque and Penelope Cruz, in just as easily disappearing from the big banner Hollywood movies. It will be particularly difficult, what with having to juggle Bollywood and Hollywood; especially as we are told that she let Switch, with Will Smith, slip by due to date conflicts.

But for now Aishwarya Rai truly is everywhere - I go to a Chinese deli in Queens and her picture is stuck up next to the register, I go see my non-desi lawyer and he demands to know whether I know Ms. Rai and how he can get to meet her, people at a wedding in Martha’s Vineyard tell me they think she is the most beautiful woman in the world when they hear I am Indian. Despite the peeves we may have against her, from her sometimes silly giggle, to her non-desi outfits at Cannes, we have to thank Ms. Rai for one thing- she has forced the world to accept what we have always known – that the desi woman is just as lovely and charming as any other.

There are two types of women in classic Bollywood films: the Good Girl and the Bad Girl. The Good Girl is virtuous and chaste and is happily married off to Handsome Hero. On the other hand, the Bad Girl is outspoken, often smokes and drinks and dances like her hips are on fire.

There are two types of women in classic Bollywood films: the Good Girl and the Bad Girl. The Good Girl is virtuous, chaste, and possesses traditional Indian values. In the end, Good Girl is happily married off to Handsome Hero. On the other hand, the Bad Girl is outspoken, often smokes and drinks and dances like her hips are on fire. You can be sure that at the end of the film Bad Girl will either a) die, b) develop cirrhosis of the liver (or some other vampish disease) and die, or c) bleed to death in some way, alone and unloved. Over the last few decades, film critics have drawn the obvious parallel between good/bad and east/west.

Well, duh.

But what is it about the Bad Girl? There is a seductive darkness about her. She's the outsider. The rabble-rouser. She reminds us of the hidden parts of our animal nature. She's the thing we love to hate. As depth psychology pioneer Carl Jung taught, whatever we hate is the very thing we have repressed in our own psyches. It's our shadow.

Within this dualistic symbol of the virtuous woman/whore, we can see the direction that Indian independent cinema is heading. It's not that crossover films are analogous to the outspoken heroines of Bollywood films in that we love to hate them. In fact, it is the opposite; crossover films are becoming more and more popular. Desi audiences are clamoring for more films that speak to their own dualistic realities as progressive traditionalists, as eastern westerners.

Crossover films as entities, therefore, are not looked at with suspicion; it is the subject matter and its honest interpretation of that subject matter (i.e., homosexuality, racism, inter-cultural relations) that is still shunned by conventional Indian cinema. While "real" topics like terrorism are in fact being addressed in mainstream films such as "Dus," it is with little more than action-packed flash and panache, not human experiential realism.

So is the Good Girl that much better? Or are her methods simply more socially palatable? Looking at a typical Bollywood love story, for example, you can bet you'll be treated to the earnest, anguished voice of the hero singing about his love for a woman who has done nothing but shun him. After a few handfuls of the same scenario, you have to think: How much can these poor guys take? Granted, this could be the result of my debauched western view of things. My father gave me one piece of advice before I entered the world of men: "Don't be a tease." (Actually, that wasn't the exact word he used. Let's just say it was a compound word that ended with "tease" and started with something that rhymes with "sock." You get the picture.) Yet in countless Hindi films I saw women in the solitude of their bedchambers, awaiting their suitor, scenting their hair with sandalwood only to then turn coyly from the man's longing.

I was shocked. Was this not the same caliber of cruelty as kicking a starving dog? Was the passionate man not acting in his god-given nature, as we women do when we paint our faces and adorn our bodies to be attractive? Would it then imply that a woman agreeing to sex would somehow make her less worthy? Perhaps the Good Girl becomes Bad the moment she embraces not only her lover's desire but her own -- the moment she accepts her own truth. Perhaps the Indian independent film that bares its own truth is fated to suffer as the Bollywood Bad Girl does.

Who is more misleading, then: Good Girl or Bad Girl? East or west? Bollywood or "Bindiewood"? Perhaps no one.

Life will always need balance. With light comes dark. When I think about the future of Indian independent filmmaking, I have hope it will eventually emerge from the shadows and take its place as an accepted facet of popular Indian cinema. Until then, crossovers will have to remain on the fringe, undulating, seducing with their bold honesty, reminding us of who we really are and how we really live -- but most importantly, still being seen.

Asif Kapadia's first feature film is the heroic tale of a man turning from a life of violence to face solitude in the wilderness. The film is a marvelous adventure that possesses what every good film does: cinematic images that are symbols of how we live when we finally accept our true nature.

Asif Kapadia's first feature film is the heroic tale of a man turning from a life of violence to face solitude in the wilderness. At first, the story may sound similar to a Hollywood Western or a Japanese samurai epic. Although the setting of Kapadia's film is the harsh frontiers of Northwestern India, the soul of the story is the same. Director and co-writer Kapadia was heavily influenced by these enduring genres and their distinctive visual richness. All of this, and more, is evident in "The Warrior."

Irfan Khan plays the role of Lafcadia, a Rajput warrior devoted to serving the cruel local lord (Apunam Shyam). Many of Lafcadia's tasks, along with the other warriors with whom he serves, involve punishing villagers by beheading them or even raiding and pillaging entire communities. It is during one of these raids that Lafcadia has an epiphany. As he instinctively thrusts his sword at a figure that has come up behind him, he sees not a threatening man, but a little girl. Further, she is wearing his son Katiba's (Puru Chhibber) pendant which, unbeknownst to Lafcadia, the boy had given to her earlier as a gift. Moved by this image of transference -- son to girl, life to life -- Lafcadia receives a vision of the ice-capped mountains of his native home. He drops his sword, collects his son and heads on a homeward journey. Unfortunately, his desire for peace is cut short when the remaining warriors are sent to hunt down Lafcadia and kill him.

"The Warrior" is a marvelous adventure that possesses what every good film does: cinematic images that are symbols of how we live when we finally accept our true nature. Both literally and metaphorically, we experience through Lafcadia the anguish of losing as well as the celebration in gaining. As with any hero quest, there is a running away and a running toward, a departure and homecoming. "Lafcadia lives in a violent world," Kapadia says, "but on his journey he seeks the strength to turn his life around -- to become a much better person and, in a sense, a better father."

The production was a huge undertaking for a first-time director, filming in the sweltering Rajasthan Desert as well as the frigid Himalayan region of Himachal Pradesh. Despite these challenges, Asif Kapadia did justice to his passion for this story. "The Warrior" is essentially an 88-minute visual poem that shares one human being's inward journey set against the backdrop of the outward world's vast and sometimes terrifying beauty. It's a journey that traverses genres and cultures to awaken the hero in each of us.

Sunil Dutt personified the kind of Bollywood star who handled his celebrity with immense grace, and who rose above his stardom to embrace his country and his ideals. Sunil Dutt was soft spoken, amicable and approachable, and went on to become one of India's most loved actors.

She swore she would be by his side for eons to come, she wanted no one else, she loved only him. He pleaded, he wasn’t for her to love, that he was a nomad, he had no one, loving him would only bring her pain, misery and anguish – A song two fabulous actors sang to each other from opposite sides of a wall, symbolic of their sentiments. Every time the song played on TV, I’d run to see it. Not so much Talat Mahmood’s beautiful, unmatched voice, not so much for the song which bore the signature of the classic 1950’s black and white Indian cinema at its best. It was his face, charming, tranquil and sincere and so not the conventional Indian cinema face.

The movie - Chhaya, 1961, not among his better-known movies, the star - Sunil Dutt, the song - a personal favorite ...

Unlike his role as Birju in Mother India, the movie that is often chosen to symbolize Indian cinema, Sunil Dutt was soft spoken, warm, amicable and approachable, and sure enough, went on to be among the much loved and respected actors in India. On the sets of Mother India, he saved co-actor Nargis’s life from a fire. A passionate romance ensued between the two, and soon the two were married. Just like the movies. Together they had three children, of whom Sanjay Dutt is a noted movie star.

Born in 1929, as Balraj, in Pakistan, Sunil Dutt bore the scars of partition throughout his life. Separated from his uncle during partition, he came to India in 1947 with his mother, sister and brother. What followed is a remarkable story of misfortune, struggle, perseverance and triumph. He moved to Mumbai in the early 50’s for an undergraduate degree in Jai Hind College, where he wrote and acted in plays. Keymers, a British advertising company, soon chose him to host a show on radio where he interviewed top movie stars of the day. His job brought him in close contact with producers and directors. The radio programmes became very popular with people; he covered the making of movies, the sets, and premieres.

"Yes, I would be interested, but only as a hero", he said with a twinkle to Ramesh Sehgal when he asked Sunil Dutt, if he wanted to star in a new movie. He wasn’t even being cocky, especially since he thought Ramesh Sehgal was only teasing him. Much to Dutt Sahib’s surprise, he got a screen tested and auditioned for Ramesh Sehgal’s new movie Railway Platform. A man of principles, Dutt risked pending his first movie offer from a successful director, to keep his promise to his mother about finishing school before he went on to movies.

A spate of fabulous movies followed – of which Mother India fetched Sunil Dutt international stardom. Ek hi Rasta, Sadhna, Sujata, Main Chup Rahungi, Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke, Mujhe jeene Do, Yaadein, Gumrah,Mehrbaan, Milan and Humraaz are just a few of the fabulous star’s notable achievements.

All the glamour and glitz apart, his was not an easy life. Pained by his wife’s death and son Sanjay Dutt’s drug addiction, and involvement with the Mafia, Sunil Dutt was exemplary in his faith and determination. He dedicated himself to efforts for bringing peace in the Indian subcontinent. He even became a member of the parliament to be better positioned for such efforts. A cancer hospital in Nairobi, the Nargis Dutt foundation, numerous peace efforts in Punjab and medical equipment worth millions of dollars are all fruits of his efforts.

In May 2005, Sunil Dutt succumbed to a massive heart attack. Movies, India, peace, humanity and secularism – Sunil Dutt stood for all of this and much more. It's one thing to be a great movie star, win awards and be an icon, and another to inspire millions to face all odds with a smile, and to stand by your people in the face of adversity. Sunil Dutt will remain etched in the hearts and minds of people, for both.

Does sex sell most things in most places? No, sex sells everything, everywhere. What is surprising is seeing who succumbs to its pressures. In the new Bollywood cinema, almost every heroine has to do some amount of disrobing to win herself a decent fan base.

Does sex sell most things in most places? No, sex sells everything, everywhere. What is surprising is seeing who succumbs to its pressures.

Whereas once it was either the siren's role to show some skin or cabaret artistes like Helen doing special numbers in sexy outfits, in the new Bollywood cinema almost every heroine has to do some amount of disrobing to win herself a decent fan base, however indecent they may be.

Esha Deol, daughter of yesteryear heartthrobs Hema Malini and Dharmendra, set the screen on fire in her itty-bitty-showing-lots-of-t$tty dresses on her well-oiled body in the song "Dilbara" and the title hit “Dhoom” of the movie Dhoom. Whereas her mother Hema Malini prided herself on delivering smash hits in the 1970's without ever having to expose, this young debutante has found that a little exposure never hurts anyone. Esha Deol's first movie was Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe where she played the part of the nice virginal girl next door. Needless to say, it sank without a trace. Certain people claim to be shocked by Esha Deol’s recent skin-baring but the exposure is done tastefully and the ticket-buying public is definitely voting in Esha'a favor.

In a similar manner, model turned actress Bipasha Basu’s acting career was also only salvaged after her intimate scenes with boyfriend John Abraham in Jism. But again, as she is quick to point out - she is sexy without taking all her clothes off in front of the camera, unlike Mallika Sherawat and Sameera Reddy. However, exposing herself to the fullest has not hurt Mallika Sherawat in the least - she was taken note of at the recent Cannes festival and included in a list of the “World’s Beauties” amongst the likes of Madonna, Angelina Jolie and Naomi Campbell!

If we just look back to the 1980s, even Madhuri Dixit underwent an image change with the "Ek, Do, Teen" dance number, before catapulting from the sweet innocent ladki to the hottest top of the charts diva.

Kajol, always lauded for her acting skills in Bollywood, also played her initial roles perfectly sensually. Her wardrobe was always a little titillating starting with movies like Bekhudi and Baazigar. So not only was she noticed for her acting skills, but also her voluptuous figure.

Another newcomer with a pedigree, Soha Ali Khan, whose mother is Sharmila Tagore, father the famous Tiger Pataudi and brother Saif Ali Khan, insists that she will never expose. Although her mother Sharmila Tagore did risqué (for that era at least) song sequences for An Evening in Paris opposite Shammi Kapoor, Soha plans on building her career with her acting and hard work alone. Clearly after her first movie Dil Maange More that bombed, she may want to rethink selling abstinence in Bollywood. But for now, with a couple of big releases lined-up for later this year, it looks like she is waiting to see which way the audience decides about her. Even Abhishek Bachchan, also leveraging all his family clout, only worked out his groove after about movie number 10. He didn’t indulge in any skin-show to achieve this. But then he’s a boy and the Bollywood rules seem to differ for them.

Ultimately, we must admit that sex is necessary to add reality to film. Not all women go covered from head to toe, spurning lovers’ sexual advances; couples don’t just lip synch and run around Swiss locales when they are in love. Yes there is romance in love, but we mustn’t forget that there is also a whole lot of lust and sex in love. In Hollywood, directors show lusty scenes to add some spice to their already strong storylines, whether it be Goldie Hawn with her derriere in Bird on a Wire, Uma Thurman’s nude scene with John Malkovich in Dangerous Liaisons, Kate Winslet disrobing for The Titanic, Catherine Zeta-Jones in The Mask of Zorro or Nicole Kidman in Cold Mountain; and it’s not just the girls, guys like Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Will Smith also get in on it. The list goes on and on. While Hollywood actors are not shy about baring it all onscreen, Bollywood ones seem revved-up to catch-up. Anything for true art. Or, what is more likely the truth – Anything for kick-ass box office sales.

My Brother Nikhil, filmmaker Onir’s directorial debut, is a simple yet groundbreaking movie. It's groundbreaking for mainstream Hindi cinema because its main character, Nikhil (Sanjay Suri), is a gay man diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

My Brother Nikhil, filmmaker Onir’s directorial debut, is a simple yet groundbreaking movie. It's groundbreaking for mainstream Hindi cinema because its main character, Nikhil (Sanjay Suri), is a gay man diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. The movie does not ridicule or vilify Nikhil’s sexuality, and it does not completely define Nikhil by his sexuality or his HIV+ status. What is does, in a straightforward yet ultimately moving way, is present Nikhil as a complete person – a brother, son, friend, lover, athlete, not just a tokenized gay man – who is experiencing a crisis in his life.

Set in Goa in the late 80s/early 90s, the movie is framed as a mock documentary. It begins with interviews of Nikhil’s family: sister Anamika (Juhi Chawla), mother Anita (Lillette Dubey), and father Navin Kapoor (Victor Bannerjee). Nikhil’s story as a star athlete and a loved and loving family member unfolds through the reminiscences of his parents and sister. Dubey and Bannerjee expertly capture the parents’ grief, their guilt about their rejection of son, and their reluctance to talk publicly about what is still a difficult topic for them - their son’s illness. Their performances are subtle and heartbreaking and serve to ground the movie in a sense of non-filmi reality. Chawla, while warm and endearing, retains too many of her filmi mannerisms, and so doesn’t quite blend with Dubey’s and Bannerjee’s naturalistic acting.

	My Brother Nikhil Website

The film succeeds in large part thanks to Sanjay Suri’s performance as Nikhil. Suri does not play Nikhil as a one-note character defined by his sexuality, but as an affectionate, ambitious young man who also happens to be in a relationship with a man. He never resorts to clichés or insulting stereotypes about gay men, but offers instead a nuanced, compelling, performance. Suri’s performance and the film itself quietly challenge myths and stereotypes, not by hitting us over the head with a trite “gays are people, too” message, but by getting us to care deeply about Nikhil as an individual, not as just a symbol.

The movie follows Nikhil as he is diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, a disease that is barely understood and largely feared in the late 1980s. The consequences are swift and painful: Nikhil, a championship swimmer, is kicked off the state swim team (in a chilling moment, his teammates quickly scramble out of the pool as soon as he gets in to practice), and his parents, driven by shame and ignorance, reject him and kick him out of the house. His father actually beats him severely, and his mother says that she would have preferred that he’d died at birth.

Within three days of his diagnosis, Nikhil is arrested and forced to live in isolation. These are the film’s most harrowing sequences, perhaps even more painful than the scenes of Nikhil’s eventual decline with the onset of full-blown AIDS. According to the existing laws, Nikhil is confined to a rat-infested, decrepit shack; we can only imagine how his desolate surroundings exacerbate his hopelessness and grief.

Thanks to the constant support and organizing efforts of his sister Anamika and his partner Nigel (Purab Kohli), Nikhil wins a landmark court case and is released from isolation. The rest of the film charts Nikhil’s decline as his disease progresses. His parents Navin and Anita eventually overcome their anger and confusion and ask Nikhil to move back home. Onir spares us any melodramatic speeches, offering instead a quiet reconciliation between Nikhil and his parents that’s all the more powerful for its understatedness.

It’s interesting to note that we never find out how Nikhil becomes HIV+. We know that he did not contract the virus from his long-time partner Nigel because, after Nikhil is diagnosed, Nigel tests negative for the virus. Nikhil could have contracted the disease from another sexual partner (possibly a woman – the film doesn’t definitively rule out the possibility that Nikhil has had sex with women), through drug use, or from a tainted blood transfusion.

The director Onir claims that the ambiguity is strategic – he does not want to distract from the issue of what happens to someone after they’re diagnosed with HIV/AIDS by getting caught up in a discussion of how he or she contracts the virus. Onir wants to avoid common reactions to the “how did he get AIDS” question: if Nikhil contracted it from another sexual partner, perhaps a sex worker, it would negatively color our perception of him; we’d be able to blame him for his sickness. If he contracted the virus from a blood transfusion, it would make us view him more sympathetically, as an “innocent” victim.

Coming years after works like Philadelphia and Angels in America, My Brother Nikhil does feel a bit dated at times. But it is nevertheless a milestone for mainstream Indian cinema and an effectively moving film. Without becoming preachy or didactic, Onir makes us care deeply about Nikhil, not just because he’s a gay man or an AIDS patient, but because we recognize something of ourselves in Nikhil’s love for his partner and family and in his struggles to live and die with dignity.

All images courtesy My Brother Nikhil website

This summer is off to a promising start at the box office, with some breakaway hits driving crowds indoors to beat the heat!

Click on the link to the film's website

#1 Bunti Aur Babli

#2 Sarkar

#3 Paheli

#4 Parineeta

#5 Dus

#6 Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya

#7 Yakeen

#8 Fareb

#9 Silsilay

#10 D / Matrubhoomi (tie)

BUT, with the much anticipated Mangal Pandey: The Rising, and others--Chocolate, Siskiyaan, and Mere Jeevan Saathi-- coming before the end of summer, there's no telling who will fall out of the chart, and who will be remembered as the best summer movie of 2005.

The quintessential Bollywood bad boy is back in the news again. After making headlines in the hit-and-run accident that left one man dead and four injured, the actor is back in the limelight after a newspaper in Mumbai released transcripts of phone conversations between Salman Khan and ex-girlfriend Aishwarya Rai where he brags about his strong links to Mumbai underworld figures like Dawood Ibrahim and Chota Shakeel. The actor is heard threatening to kill Ash and her family if she refused to participate in a stage show financed by underworld gangster Abu Salem. The breaking news has caused a rumble all over India. Theaters across the country saw numerous protests causing many cancelled screenings of his latest movie "Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya"

Salman's violent nature has certainly brought him a lot of negative publicity over the years. There have been numerous stories through the actor's career about his abusive nature and alcoholism. He allegedly broke a bottle of alcohol on his ex-girlfriend Somy Ali's head and also repeatedly abused Aishwarya Rai, physically and emotionally, during their relationship. His links with the underworld brought him under scrutiny during the making of "Chori Chori Chupke Chupke", a film that was entirely financed by the underworld.

To view transcripts of the Salman-Ash conversations, visit www.chalomumbai.com

Summer 2006 will bring us a much-awaited sequel to the super-blockbuster, "Munnabhai MBBS," titled "Munnabhai MMG"

MMG? Apparently an abbreviation for 'Meets Mahatma Gandhi,' the filmmakers have issued the following warning for the movie: Caution, this movie may contain non-violence.

Technically not a sequel, the second Munnabhai movie will bring back favorite characters, but in a completely different situation, rather than continuing series. Everyone's favorite professional poser is back in trouble, having been arrested. Munna decides to defend himself in his court trial and sets off for law school. Gracy Singh returns as Dr. Suman Asthana, aka Chinki. Also reprising his role as Munna's sidekick, Circuit, is the very comedically gifted Arshad Warsi. Shah Rukh Khan will also appear, in an undisclosed special appearance, and Munna's love interest will be played by "Parineeta" favorite, Vidya Balan.

The rights to produce the English version of "Munnabhai MBBS" were purchased by Fox, and are presently negotiating with director Mira Nair and actor Chris Tucker to star, as reported by EGO Bollywood Pulse.

With the temperatures skyrocketing and the summer humidity heavily upon us, the trend in the Top 10 songs is for hot dance tracks and heavy rhythms. Breaking up the heat-wave on the charts, are a few cool numbers from Paheli and Parineeta. Whether you want to dance all sweltering night long, or chill with some quiet music, summer of 2005 has some killer tracks to provide the soundtrack for your adventures:

Click on the link to listen to the song from Raaga.com

#1 Dus Bahaane from Dus

#2 Just Chill from Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya


#3 Deedar De from Dus


#4 Naach Baliye from Bunty Aur Babli


#5 Piyu Bole from Parineeta


#6 Kaal Dhamal from Kaal


#7 Kangna Re from Paheli


#8 Chup Chupke from Bunty Aur Babli


#9 Tauba Tauba from Kaal

#10 Dil Di Nazar from Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya

If Amol Palekar’s Paheli is your first acquaintance with the tale of a woman who fell in love with a ghost, you might be kinder towards it than me. The Rajasthan Palekar creates is vibrant and lush, but the movie is at best “a simple, lovable film.”

If Amol Palekar’s Paheli is your first acquaintance with the tale of a woman who fell in love with a ghost, you might be kinder towards it than me. I profit from having read Vijaydan Detha’s short story, on which it is based, in the book “The Dilemma and other stories” (translator Ruth Vanita, editor Madhu Kishwar) and perhaps judge it on standards other than those it aspires to.

“The Dilemma”, the story that has been made into the film, is the only one in Detha’s collection to depict a marriage where a man and a woman are happy, and the man here is a ghost. Like the other stories, it walks a narrow path between reality and phantasma where women – spirited women, desiring women – take precarious steps to grab at life or revenge.

	Paheli Website

Paheli lacks this edge, this sense of menace. I got a hint of it in the dazzling Rajasthani baoli (stepwell) where Rani Mukherjee first glimpses the ghost, and right at the end, with Shahrukh Khan convincingly playing the dazed, righteous, frightened son as well as the pokerfaced ghost and Amitabh Bachchan appearing in his customary role of an eccentric wise ol’ guy.

At other places, the film could have been tauter, leaner. Songs are colorfully shot – in fact the cinematography by Ravi K. Chandran is what gives the film that luster – but there are too many of them and by the time we were into the fourth one, had lost their charm. The music is by M.M. Kreem and in Dheere Jalna, he almost touches the Tu Mile magic. The rest of the songs are good for a listen but didn’t induce me to ecstasy.

Watch out for Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah: as the voices of the ghost’s well-wishers (and family elders?) they are a real delight. They call each other “maharaj” and “maharani” and I wish we had seen more of them. At least more than the other subplots: a brother-in-law who leaves the house in shame after losing a camel race; a sister-in-law who advises Rani to be patient, patient till her husband gets back; the camel race ghost-directed by SRK (aaargh! This has to be the worst directed race ever. What was the point?) and the totally unconvincing foes of the merchant. There is a reason why Mani Kaul’s Duvidha, made on the same story in 1973, was so spare (I haven’t seen it but take a film buff friend’s word for it). Folktales work because they’re allusive; they leave so much to the imagination. The more you try to explain, depict, the less there is of a slippery yarn, the more there is of rocky reality.

SRK, who is also the producer of the film, flew in experts for the special effects, and to their credit the special effects (except for the blue bird at the beginning of the film) look completely unforced.

Whether as the ghost or as the merchant’s newly-wed geeky son who is miles apart from his wife and angsts, gazing at the moon, then takes back the ber she had coveted during their journey after the wedding, Shahrukh is brilliant. Rani fields her role competently, and Anupam Kher is simply terrific as the avaricious father.

Amol Palekar, after Anahat, continues his quest to direct films with understated feminist messages: this film celebrates the woman’s right to choose (although I thought Rani’s voice got somewhat muffled among the numerous other voices in the film).

The Rajasthan Palekar creates is vibrant and lush. With a tighter control over the script and fistfuls of otherworldliness, Paheli could have become a blistering tale instead of “a simple, lovable film.”

Typically I’ll play a new CD several times over the course of a week, but by the end of the week I find I am a bit tired of the songs, and take the CD out for a little break to my ears. Not true with Dus;I haven’t been able to stop playing this CD all month.

Typically I’ll play a new CD several times over the course of a week, but by the end of the week I find I am a bit tired of the songs, and take the CD out for a little break to my ears. Not true with Dus;I haven’t been able to stop playing this CD all month. I haven’t seen much on the movie, as far as previews or video trailors, but the music was a real shock to my jaded system; I’m dying to see the movie, and all because of this blindingly hot soundtrack.

Releasing July 8th, Dus looks to be a dangerous, mysterious film, full of action and passion, excuses and truths; the soundtrack is faithful to the emotional landscape which director Anubhav Sinha has worked so hard to create. All of the tracks have a haunting, shadowy feel that translates as eerie, dark, or sexy, depending on the song.

	Dus Website
	Dus Songs on Raaga.com

From the opening track, “Dus Bahane,” you will be in-your-face confronted with the powerful energy of the movie. Undoubtedly, this song is the runaway hit single, on its way to becoming this year’s “Dhoom Machale.” Spiced with Caribbean rhythms and hot drum programming, this song will surely steal the show, long after the movie is out of theatres. Perhaps knowing this, music directors Vishal & Shekhar have included an extended version, later on the soundtrack CD. I suspect that this song will drive the initial push at the box office, just from audience excitement to see this song picturisation; sung by KK and Shaan, the song is set on doubly sexy, handsome cool-guys Abhishek Bachchan and Zayed Khan.

Another stand-out track is “Zalzala,” featuring the vocal acrobatics of Sukhwinder Singh. Charged by a classic Sukhwinder desi-scat and sweeping guitar track, the driving pulse of this song will leave you unable to sit still. Sukhwinder Singh’s vocal power lies in his mid- and upper vocal ranges; he’s made his career from his unmistakable strong piercing voice. However, during the verses of this song, Sukhiwinder drops into his rarely showcased lower vocal register, and the tease in his assured growly tone is incredibly captivating.

“Deedar De” also makes a double appearance on the soundtrack, with two distinct remixes, by Nikhil & Naved Z and Ranjit Barot. Both versions are compelling in their own right, for entirely different reasons. The former, featuring a more Arabian instrumentation, is a clean dance mix with heavy focus on Sunidhi Chauhan’s confident, sexy vocal. The Ranjit Barot mix is a more aggressive, fiery dance mix, sure to get non-stop play in clubs for months to come.

A chilling ballad, “Jaaniya Ve,” evokes the tense electricity and powerful beauty of a thunderstorm. Eerie and haunting verses lead to a graceful, climactic chorus. Hearing this song, you can feel the temperature drop as the wind picks up. But always you sense the shadows of a secret untold, an obsession, or danger. Truly a beautiful composition, I am sad this song will probably not be a chartbuster, but it is truly one of the underappreciated treasures of the CD.

“Saamne Aati Ho” and “Unse Poochen” are both pleasant and satisfying, with sweetly coy male vocals by Sonu Nigam and Udit Narayan, respectively. “Chaam Se,” I can already assume, is the great big family grandiose number, in the style of “Bole Chudiyan,” as it sweeps through Hindi, Punjabi & English. The remainder of the album is unique and enjoyable if you forgive some awkward moments or stunted transitions. From trance to electronica, to a couple of really bizarre tracks that sound like Nine Inch Nails got held hostage in “The Matrix”… well, it’s different.

If the soundtrack is at all indicative of the movie’s fire and ability to captivate, audiences are in for a treat this summer. And honestly, even if Dus the film is a super-flop, the soundtrack compositions need no movie or song picturisations to support them; the CD is rock solid. As one of the best soundtracks to come out in several years, the music of Dus is not to be missed!

Bindiewood: a whole new movement in Indian cinema. The films of this movement would marry the majesty and traditions of Bollywood with modern and authentic situations happening to real people in both India and NRIs in the States and elsewhere.

I am having an in-depth conversation with my New York cab driver, Vijay, about the quality of music on the soundtrack to "Dil Chahta Hai." It is December 2002. I have just broken my right foot, and he is driving me to the hospital. My swollen stump is wrapped in a makeshift bandage and shoved into a bedroom slipper, its persistent throbbing forgotten as I lean forward on the back of his seat, chin on folded arms. His critique is of utmost importance to me. I wonder what his take is on this hip new Bollywood film that's gotten a lot of desi buzz.

"I like the title track," my cabbie says, as he turns onto Nineteenth Street.

"Me, too," I concur.

"But after that..." he shakes his head." I don't get it. Too much going on. I like things simple."

"Interesting," I say quietly, and lean back in my seat.

"How did you break your foot?" he asks.

"Dancing at a party," I say off-handedly, still lost in thought, "to Bollywood music."

"Is it?" my cab driver asks, a broad smile on his face.

"Yeah," I tell him. "Never dance Bollywood in high heels." I look at him in the rearview mirror. He is still smiling. "Let me ask you something. Do you like Bollywood films?"

My cab driver shifts his deep brown eyes to the mirror and regards me a moment. "Of course. Yash Chopra's are the best. You know him?"
Did I know him? I had only recently begun my research into Hindi cinema, but even then I knew Yash Chopra was to Bollywood love stories what Steven Spielberg was to Hollywood Action/Sci-Fi blockbusters.

The previous fall, I had experienced the death of my father, followed shortly thereafter by the end of a three-and-a-half year relationship. I moved into my own apartment in Gramercy, bought a huge television, digital cable, and a couch. One sleepless night, after a thirty-minute meditation on what had gone wrong with my life while standing in the kitchen eating fistfuls of organic coco-puffs out of the box and staring at the magnets on my fridge, I decided to watch some late-night cable.

Trancelike, remote in hand, I channel-surfed, landing eventually on a small village of brightly-dressed people singing hopefully to the sky in anticipation of rain. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but there were subtitles and the music was intoxicating. So was the dancing. In fact, never in my life had I seen so many straight men moving their hips so...well. An hour or so later -- at about two in the morning -- I realized the remote was still poised to flip over yet I had not...and the film showed no signs of ending. I was entranced. I made a note of the film's name, and the next day launched into voracious research that opened the entire world of Bollywood to me.

Right, so. Where was I? Ah, yes. A busted foot.

I spent the next three months at home in a cast, with nothing to do but watch Hindi musicals and Indie films on IFC. At some point, in a Vicodin-induced haze -- caught somewhere between the spectacles of colormusicdancing and angst-ridden thirty-somethings trying to make sense of their lives on High-Definition Video -- I had an epiphany.

There should be a whole new movement in Indian cinema. The films of this movement would marry the majesty and traditions of Bollywood (the archetypical symbols in nearly every film: good/evil, masculine/feminine, spirit/body) with modern and authentic situations happening to real people in both India and NRIs in the States and elsewhere. No more stock characters and cliché story lines. Just the way Hollywood has its "Indie" movement, I figured it was high time for Bollywood to have the same.

It could be called "Bindiewood."

Yeah, well.

Maybe it was the Vicodin -- which, admittedly, I had been mixing with red wine out of sheer depression at being incapacitated -- but it seemed like a fantastic possibility.

In fact, at that time, no one was really doing crossover films. Remember, this was late 2002. "Bend it Like Beckham," the film that is considered to be the pinnacle of the Indian crossover craze of late -- had not yet been released in the US. ("Monsoon Wedding had been released in February, but it did not receive the exposure "...Beckham" did.) Only three years ago, it seemed the closest thing we had to Indian crossover cinema were the Hanif Kureishi-Stephen Frears films like, "My Beautiful Launderette" and "Sammy and Rosie Get Laid."

Things have changed. Radically.

But Bindiewood is in its infancy. In India, the concept of broadening its scope to include kissing scenes, sexy scenarios, and even a bit of nudity, has resulted in many Hindi films becoming akin to soft porn. "Jism" was an early example. And recently we got treated to Jackie Shroff getting a blow job under his desk in "Boom." Once Indian filmmakers get this sensationalism out of their system and begin to handle sexuality as well as other serious issues more honestly in film -- in other words, merge it with the values of Indian culture in a healthy way -- real progress will occur. It has already begun in small doses, and there are indications of an impending wave of Indian releases in "Hinglish" with cross-cultural themes.

Here in the States, the UK, and Europe, the Indian crossovers are already addressing topics that speak to the lives of NRIs in a real way. Some of the films, like "The Guru," "Bend it Like Beckham," and "Bride & Prejudice," are wide-release, potential international box office smash hits. Some are small, like "Flavors" and "Indian Fish in American Waters" from the US, and the UK's recent "Chicken Tikka Masala."

That's the nature of Bindiewood: Some musicals, some crossovers, but truth within the fantasy of film. It's a perfect combination, and if it's handled correctly, the universal themes of these films will speak to us all -- from villagers in rural India to the urban cab drivers of Manhattan...and everyone in between.

Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan recently revealed that he has been working on an autobiography since the making of Duplicate in 1998.

Who is Shah Rukh Khan you may ask. He is only the actor who despite his 39 years was picked as MTV India's youth icon for 2005. He is the biggest star of Bollywood's current generation. Whether it be "Veer Zaara" that just won the most awards at the IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) in Amsterdam, the longest-playing movie "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge" which is now in the Guinness Book of World Records or "Devdas" the most expensive Indian movie ever to be made when it was released in 2002, this Khan reigns over Bollywood and his fans' hearts.

Shah Rukh Khan is said to have completed 7 chapters for his book and is very sincere about wanting to have it published. Khan tells his fans to expect a "sweet book", written from his heart which will tell of his arrival in Mumbai to work in Bollywood, his efforts to succeed in the industry and ending with the completion of his family with one son and one daughter. He warns his fans not to necessarily expect great writing. Knowing his fans worldwide however, good writing or not, there will be much clamoring after anything he offers that may provide a closer link to him and his thoughts.

Incidentally, it seems there is also a biography by Anupama Chopra in the works.