Nag Panchami Film Fessssstival: a blasssst from my filmi passsst
With all this snake-watching going on, how could I have almost forgotten a essssssential serpentine scene from my own cinematic history?
Hey! I recognize that song!
Mary Bennet/Maya Bakshi doing a cobra dance for all of her family, Mr. Darcy, the Bingleys, and Mr. Collins!
Say what you will about Bride and Prejudice, it will always hold a very special place in my heart, partly for some clever migration of Regency social awkwardness of but primarily because it was my gateway into Hindi films. When B&P was released, I was desperate to see it for all the reasons you'd expect of the nerdy white lady with librarian glasses: Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite novels, and I'm a sucker for any adaptation of a Jane Austen story. One day I went to B&P's official website and noticed that Gurinder Chadha had created a list of Bollywood conventions that she would be playing with or winking at in the film. As I read through the list, I thought "Wow, these sound amazing! Why haven't I seen any?" With a huge love of Monsoon Wedding and Bend It Like Beckham already in place, I spent some time on Bollywhat looking at the newbie guide and then raced off to my fantastically stocked local independent video store (That's Rentertainment, which had everything I ever wanted for over a decade before Netflix existed). Once I was face to face with a rack of over 100 Hindi films, I had a momentary panic before grabbing Lagaan because it was in the Bollywhat starter guide and Mujhse Doste Karoge because of the happy people on the cover. Guess which one I watched first?
Leave it to Tina!
Hey! I recognize that song!
Mary Bennet/Maya Bakshi doing a cobra dance for all of her family, Mr. Darcy, the Bingleys, and Mr. Collins!
Say what you will about Bride and Prejudice, it will always hold a very special place in my heart, partly for some clever migration of Regency social awkwardness of but primarily because it was my gateway into Hindi films. When B&P was released, I was desperate to see it for all the reasons you'd expect of the nerdy white lady with librarian glasses: Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite novels, and I'm a sucker for any adaptation of a Jane Austen story. One day I went to B&P's official website and noticed that Gurinder Chadha had created a list of Bollywood conventions that she would be playing with or winking at in the film. As I read through the list, I thought "Wow, these sound amazing! Why haven't I seen any?" With a huge love of Monsoon Wedding and Bend It Like Beckham already in place, I spent some time on Bollywhat looking at the newbie guide and then raced off to my fantastically stocked local independent video store (That's Rentertainment, which had everything I ever wanted for over a decade before Netflix existed). Once I was face to face with a rack of over 100 Hindi films, I had a momentary panic before grabbing Lagaan because it was in the Bollywhat starter guide and Mujhse Doste Karoge because of the happy people on the cover. Guess which one I watched first?
Leave it to Tina!
Comments
Also, it's so much fun to go back to the Snake Dance in B&P now that I've seen the source material!
And I agree, I have a whole new appreciation for the Cobra Dance now that I know what it's all about :D It's got an extra layer of awkwardness now. Though I must admit I have struck several snaky poses while brushing my teeth etc this week just to see what it's like to walk around with my hands cupped over my head.
Memsaab - If you are repeating, I sure didn't remember, so I am glad you said so! :D I need to rewatch it - it's been ages!
Beth---it might be a good watchalong?
I think Lagaan was my second or third Bollywood movie, after Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham and Kal Ho Na Ho.
...did I miss what the cobra dance is "all about"? I'm so curious.
As for the dance, I just meant that in addition to be horrendously cringe-worthy, it's a nod to snake films :)
I don't think I remember a Susan, but I think the years I took the class were 2007-2009. Maybe we missed each other.
Wow, small world. Nice meeting you! I dig your blog!
I liked Bride and Prejudice too, but it's weird because I didn't watch it until after I'd watched a bunch of Bollywood movies, and I think I was kind of disappointed by the English songs.
Thanks for commenting and nice to meet you too! I need to give B&P a rewatch at some point, I think - people often ask me what I think of it and I really don't remember it well enough to comment intelligently.