tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post563679288318770875..comments2023-11-10T08:26:51.182-06:00Comments on Beth Loves Bollywood: a little gutsy: Doosra AadmiBeth Loves Bollywoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05540154833326987567noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-39633496124264438312010-01-22T13:05:28.924-06:002010-01-22T13:05:28.924-06:00Oh you were sooo much nicer than I was. The combon...Oh you were sooo much nicer than I was. The combonation of the evil Rishi and the self-serving Nisha just iked me to no end. <br /><br />And yes! The ending was SO unsatisfying! And Timsi apologizing first! NO! Ugh.<br /><br />I mean, on the whole I liked the moive, it's interesting and thought provoking but something just left a funny taste in my mouth, so to say...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15459814867428777470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-76728477929594467902009-08-31T11:43:44.338-05:002009-08-31T11:43:44.338-05:00I liked the character of Satyen Kappu, the boy'...I liked the character of Satyen Kappu, the boy's father as well. He is non-interfering in his son's life, but steps in to point him in the right direction with great tact when necessary.<br /><br />Of course I loved the movie.<br /><br />As for fashions, how was that silver neck peice that Rishi gifts Rakhee? Cool eh?Avahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17274222598587327676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-33391984329945160282009-08-11T09:29:24.947-05:002009-08-11T09:29:24.947-05:00It's been a while since I last saw Doosra Aadm...It's been a while since I last saw Doosra Aadmi, but I think it might be my favorite offering from Yash Chopra. I like your thoughtful analysis, Beth and responded to the film in a similar manner. <br /><br />I think your point about "Doosra Aadmi" really being about Nisha and her emotional journey is really interesting and makes the ending, which has always frustrated/puzzled me, more palatable. While I was pleased that Nisha got a credible, sympathetic resolution, the Timsi/Karan thread felt like it was tied-up half-hazardly. But, if you approach it from the Nisha-as-the-main-protagnist angle, then the cop-out ending for Timsi/Karan may have been more a matter of expediency in wrapping up a secondary (and perhaps less interesting to the filmmaker?) plotline than a deliberate concession to a conservative desi audience.<br /><br />I think I need to see the film again.:-)Shalinihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13254643642104251964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-31809416301474288622007-09-23T16:14:00.000-05:002007-09-23T16:14:00.000-05:00You certainly may! Email me if you want more. Crap...You certainly may! Email me if you want more. <BR/><BR/>Crap Shashi MUST be overcome! My personal choices for such a cause would be <I>Sharmeelee</I> or <I>Do Aur Do Paanch</I>, but he's great in this too.Beth Loves Bollywoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05540154833326987567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-13973586037311509222007-09-23T16:10:00.000-05:002007-09-23T16:10:00.000-05:00I've been doomed by crap Shashi lately (Mukti! Fak...I've been doomed by crap Shashi lately (Mukti! Fakira! OK... Fakira was better...) and I think I'll go for this next. Also, can I steal the last pic (Shashi, Rakhee) to Photoshop it and possibly make it the logo of a new PPCC project? Thanks!a ppcc representativehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03533616493105736109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-51372213360626042592007-03-27T09:18:00.000-05:002007-03-27T09:18:00.000-05:00Actually if you think about it, Vedic philosophy i...Actually if you think about it, Vedic philosophy is just one among many that Indians understand, assimilate and guide their life by. There are other philosophies that hold different values dear. And that's just in Inida. And that is what I like about it most of all - many philosophies, all absorbed, enhanced and redeployed. It's a brilliant playground to be playing on.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08060207061740733110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-18968701915526083282007-03-26T19:50:00.000-05:002007-03-26T19:50:00.000-05:00When have I pushed my values on Bollywood? I have ...When have I pushed my values on Bollywood? I have looked at Bollywood through my own lens, which includes my own values, which is what anyone watching a movie does, even if their own values include those of various other cultures, years of study, years of experience, whatever. I feel you're implying that I think I'm right. I don't think I'm right. I think I'm right for my own experience of the movie. And of course I know there is a lot in any Hindi film that I don't get. I'm working on trying to understand more (which includes studying Hindi, admittedly slowly), discussing more, etc. - which is why I bother to write and discuss all of this in public. If I weren't interested in expanding my experiences, knowledge, etc., I would just keep to myself.Beth Loves Bollywoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05540154833326987567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-18836580810053631772007-03-26T13:55:00.000-05:002007-03-26T13:55:00.000-05:00once again, wrong. There is a separate moral unive...once again, wrong. There is a separate moral universe, one dominated by Vedic philosophy that informs much of bollywood, governed by the concept of dharma, which does in fact dictate that the highest virtue is in self-sacrifice and fulfilling one's duties to the family and society. Just because you hold certain values to be dear, do not push your Occidental values onto a completely different society.Anonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07564172442767814171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-88862934845741270292007-03-21T18:53:00.000-05:002007-03-21T18:53:00.000-05:00Hi Darshana - agreed, agreed, so very handsome - a...Hi Darshana - agreed, agreed, so very handsome - and, like you say, a real presence, unlike some other pretty boys (and girls) we could name. <BR/><BR/>Thanks to all for the movie suggestions! I have so many things to hunt down - and what a good problem to have.Beth Loves Bollywoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05540154833326987567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-82077848804816365102007-03-19T18:27:00.000-05:002007-03-19T18:27:00.000-05:00Shashi Kapoor was my pathway in to Bollywood so I'...Shashi Kapoor was my pathway in to Bollywood so I'm happy to join in "wishing him on his birthday."<BR/>I still find him in his prime maybe the handsomest Bollywood screen presence there is.<BR/><BR/>Looking forward to Doosra Aadmi. I like Jab Jab Phool Khile and Bombay Talkie, a Merchant-Ivory film - so-so story, beautiful Shashi & real-life wife Jennifer.<BR/><BR/>DarshanaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-81780101842200150732007-03-19T13:45:00.000-05:002007-03-19T13:45:00.000-05:00Thanks to both Beth and Nina for fascinating expos...Thanks to both Beth and Nina for fascinating exposition that makes me eager to see this film. <BR/><BR/>Perhaps needless to say, I've got *Swarg narak* in my collection awaiting viewing and will perhaps bump it up as well. <BR/><BR/>*sigh* so many awesome movies ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-24167564581043925852007-03-19T10:00:00.000-05:002007-03-19T10:00:00.000-05:00Trupti - watch it, watch it! He's scrummy in it! A...Trupti - watch it, watch it! He's scrummy in it! And yes, someone posted a link of a current photo. Unrecognizable (though the photo was small). That's okay - I'm living in fake-pretend land anyway, so what's the small matter of reversing time?<BR/><BR/>Nina - you have said exactly what I was thinking and have done it much more concisely. I don't know if Bollywood's moral plane is all that different, but there does seem to be an emphasis on - or even a need for - restoring some sort of moral order to the movie's world, and doing so along fairly conservative, "traditional" lines. I also think that that kind of ending is perhaps the most efficient one. So I do think such endings are an easy way out, but I understand that there are reasons other than ease for choosing such an ending.<BR/><BR/>I was just delighted that Timsi doesn't loose all her strength and that Karan apologizes. I was livid that Timsi apologized, though - her husband left their relationship before she did, after all. <BR/><BR/>And I'll look for Swarg Narak - sounds good!Beth Loves Bollywoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05540154833326987567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-27676214972195088702007-03-19T07:55:00.000-05:002007-03-19T07:55:00.000-05:00Hi Beth -I have little to add to your analysis -- ...Hi Beth -<BR/><BR/>I have little to add to your analysis -- I felt much the same way when I watched <I>Doosra Aadmi</I>. I was surprised and pleased by some of the less conventional themes they brought into the film, but then was ultimately confused by more traditionally 'filmi' moral judgements. <BR/><BR/>But so many Bollywood films are like that, and I am torn between two interpretations: either the film-makers 'cop out' at the end so as not to alienate what is presumed to be a socially conservative audience, while subversively presenting new morals, or Bollywood really operates on a moral plane that Western viewers just don't get. <BR/><BR/>I choose to go for interpretation 1, and therefore continue to hold films like <I>Doosra Aadmi</I> and <I>Swarg Narak</I> as faves, but with endings/morals which to me seem flawed, though I accept that they are the 'correct' morals for many other viewers. <BR/><BR/>(Have you seen Swarg Narak? Same period, and it elicits a lot of the same sociological questions as Doosra Aadmi. It lacks Shashi, but somewhat makes up for it with a young Shabana Azmi)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-34408861158297876082007-03-18T14:12:00.000-05:002007-03-18T14:12:00.000-05:00I am going to watch this...Just cos of Shashi Kapo...I am going to watch this...Just cos of Shashi Kapoor...I agree, what a babe, eh?<BR/><BR/>Have you seen him NOW though?TNLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14550939425063803575noreply@blogger.com