Beth Loves Bollywood

Hasee Toh Phasee SO GOOD. A heroine who is a complete, complex, smart, funny, imperfect person—and by imperfect I mean full of conflicting needs and passions, not just "falls down endearingly in front of the hero." And a hero who's an actual nice guy whose struggles are equally empathetic. That scene when he opens the door of the room where she's been hiding just breaks my heart—there is such love in it, and so many films would have played that moment as humor or pity rather than the moment of very precious affection and understanding that this film chooses.  For all the misleading/inappropriate "SHE SO CRAZY" style promotion this movie has (the DVD cover, for example), the romance in it is utterly natural and makes so much sense. There’s nothing cuckin’ frazy [note from Editor Self: UGH] about it.    Gunday  (did not finish) SO BAD. What a spectacular waste of a decent concept and the charisma of Ranveer Singh. In the parts I could get through,

(The screen grabs are from the 3D version of the film, so they look awful here.) "A Hindi version of Harry Potter ca. 2004" seems like sufficient description, but even after watching the amazing reports on the film from both  Pretentious Movie Reviews * and  Neon Harbor's Deja View **, I still didn't quite realize what I was in for. It does tick certain boxes dictated by basic Harry Potter elements and Bollywood standards: moppets in uniforms, a blonde bully, both helpful and mean adults at the school of magic, an airborne sporting event, filial loyalty, family vengeance, useless comic relief, grating child actors, big dance numbers, plenty of familiar faces, and a frankly more awesome than anticipated villain lair with a fanged entryway flanked by vaguely Ashoka-capital-esque pillars. It also throws in much, much more, like imported glamor; Though maybe I shouldn't assume combodia is videshi? the twin of Shania Twain's outfit from "That Don