tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post666790532064867355..comments2023-11-10T08:26:51.182-06:00Comments on Beth Loves Bollywood: surprisingly lackluster: CommandoBeth Loves Bollywoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05540154833326987567noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-47036016624118130842008-08-05T11:39:00.000-05:002008-08-05T11:39:00.000-05:00beth,you haven't seen the real mithunda stuff.he w...beth,<BR/><BR/>you haven't seen the real mithunda stuff.<BR/><BR/>he won the National award for the 1977 MRIGAYA (not a standard Bollyflick) and that was my first Mithunda flick.<BR/><BR/>I loved him in Hum Paanch (1980), Ghulami (1985) and Agneepath (1990) as well. <BR/><BR/>The reason why he has a whole bunch of these silly C-grade stuff is that in the late eighties, he went and bought a hotel/resort in Ooty, making it his adopted home, and then insisted that the Mumbai filmmakers who wanted to cash in on his "Disco Dancer" fame come to Ooty to shoot him. In turn, he did offer them huge discounts on hotel bills, but unerstandably, only the despo chaps took him up on this.<BR/><BR/>But do check out the ones I mentioned--you won't be disappointed.<BR/><BR/>Other notable mentions are Sitara (1980)--lots of RMA-value for you, Beth and of course, the deeply moving Bengali film, Tahader Kotha ("Their Story"). The subtitles are pretty good on the latter (since I don't understand Bengali myself).crazyhorsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17649856816421239528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-9440462686549844422008-08-05T11:37:00.000-05:002008-08-05T11:37:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.crazyhorsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17649856816421239528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-90334580299952854542006-12-13T17:36:00.000-06:002006-12-13T17:36:00.000-06:00Ooooh. Breakdancing. Yes, that will be required. N...Ooooh. Breakdancing. Yes, that will be required. Name please?Beth Loves Bollywoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05540154833326987567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-79751129444083425952006-12-13T17:19:00.000-06:002006-12-13T17:19:00.000-06:00You can't abandon Mithun just yet -- I'm going to ...You can't abandon Mithun just yet -- I'm going to buy his breakdancing movie next week.<br /><br />And man, he really had to suck it in in Commando, didn't he? Someone was letting his mom feed him by hand a little too much.Keithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17887643336475509672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-44403084673166981262006-12-13T15:45:00.000-06:002006-12-13T15:45:00.000-06:00Sharon and D - I may be done with Mithun after thi...Sharon and D - I may be done with Mithun after this! It's one of the hazards of being self-taught - I have no idea what to avoidyaar (sorry, in my head that's just one word, thanks to <i>Main Hoon Na</i>), so I stumble along. Usually I don't get things specifically because I think they will be bad, but I did indulge that here, but as it turns out, I just didn't have much fun with it, unlike <I>Disco Dancer</I>, which I find funnier and funnier each time I re-watch a scene or two.<br /><br />TB - your secret is safe with me.<br /><br />Keith - yeah, I think the genre thing about sums it up. I know absolutely zero about the kinds of things you're comparing it too, so I guess it's understandable that this wasn't fun for me. I did laugh quite a few times, so it wasn't a chunk of my life I'm desperate to reclaim or anything. I needed to watch this with someone who was fluent in it, so to speak. Not my kind of Bollywood - maybe because, as you say, it's hardly Bollywoody at all.<br /><br />That said, I really am glad you liked it, and I am counting the minutes until your review, which I'm sure will be truly inspired.Beth Loves Bollywoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05540154833326987567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-40607259842673691052006-12-13T15:35:00.000-06:002006-12-13T15:35:00.000-06:00Oh yeah --- during the 70s and 80s, it was extreme...Oh yeah --- during the 70s and 80s, it was extremely common for cheap kungfu films to steal the score from Star Wars (i've heard it in no fewer than five films), as well as raiders of the Lost Ark, Battlestar Galactica, and the collective works of Kitaro.<br /><br />So yeah -- I think appreciating Commando really does require an appreciation for the genre to which it belongs, as it has much more in common with them than with other Bollywood films.Keithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17887643336475509672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-77788450759658016742006-12-13T15:30:00.000-06:002006-12-13T15:30:00.000-06:00You and I are going to have to part company on thi...You and I are going to have to part company on this one. True, if you are looking for Bollywood spectacle, this movie will let you down. But if you are looking for ridiculous Hong Kong/U.S. style ninja antics, this movie is a definite score. I mean, right from the start, you have young Chandu doing push-ups that look more like he's making sweet, sweet love to the ground. Then they're on a playground. Then they're doing judo. Then they ride bikes, then horses. Always in different clothing. The kid's morning workout must be 12 hours long. Then you have tire iron shuriken, a ninja named Ninja, that flying car, ninjas on trampolines, ninjas fighting to the Star Wars theme, the Raiders of the Lost Ark truck chase in which not one but TWO fruit carts get overturned, cobra attacks, a villain with freaky eyes and a wardrobe stolen from Captain Harlock...man, there was too much great stuff for me to even keep track.<br /><br />So yeah, as a pure Bollywood film fan, I can't see this movie working (music numbers are dreadful, for one thing, except for that first disco/kungfu fight) for you. But if you tend to waste tons of time watching old ninja and kungfu films, this is a great success (I'll rattle on in detail when I write a full review). And the choreography, at least for Ninja, was pretty good by the standards of, well, 1970s kungfu films.<br /><br />As for the OP hat -- yes, the film is from 1988, but since that scene is set when Chandu is a young boy, that must put the scene in the early 1970s, which means that dude was way ahead of his time and a great trend setter.<br /><br />So I guess agree and disagree. Bollywood glee and revelry? Not the movie for you. Cheap Hong Kong style ninja action? Oh hell yeah.Keithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17887643336475509672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-61790718075909955622006-12-13T13:01:00.000-06:002006-12-13T13:01:00.000-06:00I second Sharon's comment... why? why? I love the ...I second Sharon's comment... why? why? I love the Indian Film Industry but some movies are beyond the pale... and yes, I wish someone would realise that subtitles are not a joke and need to be well written! Of course, sometimes (if one knows hindi) it's simply hilarious to just read the subtitles.Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02950621016819587472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-45106478127648181522006-12-11T07:01:00.000-06:002006-12-11T07:01:00.000-06:00I still do the shopping cart, and its more dubious...I still do the shopping cart, and its more dubious dance-move cousin, the shoplift.Totally Basmatichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16566492129080248732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-72194186253420246712006-12-10T18:20:00.000-06:002006-12-10T18:20:00.000-06:00AND the starwars score..AND the starwars score..babaskohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10409089227879159676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-14849218435832019922006-12-10T18:16:00.000-06:002006-12-10T18:16:00.000-06:00oh wow now thats cool, i´m just watching "love lov...oh wow now thats cool, i´m just watching "love love love" and there we too have bob christo with the same hat...evidence will followbabaskohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10409089227879159676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-60770014625039488992006-12-10T14:32:00.000-06:002006-12-10T14:32:00.000-06:00*Why* would you subject yourself to a Mithun Chakr...*Why* would you subject yourself to a Mithun Chakraborty movie??? Why???Sharonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12808111702392286348noreply@blogger.com