compare/contrast: Akshaye Khanna and John Cusack
My superwow friend Celi brought up this comparison today. (And just so you know whose brain you're dealing with, Celi is also the co-founder of the [Somewhat Un]official Shashi Kapoor Fan Club on Facebook. Yeah!) Here are the smilarities I've come up with so far:
- both have close family members also prominent in the film industry (sister Joan; father Vinod)
- both tend to avoid media fracas and keep their private lives relatively private
- both have acting skills far beyond the general quality of many of the productions they're in (America's Sweethearts, Serendipity; Shaadi Se Pehle, Aap Ki Khatir)
- both have delivered very strong performances as iconic longing boyfriends (Say Anything; Dil Chahta Hai)
- both have played artists in love with much older women (Bullets over Broadway; Dil Chahta Hai)
- ...um...both have starred in movies featuring road trips (The Sure Thing; Dil Chahta Hai).
If it weren't for DCH I'm not sure if I could have done much with this idea, and now that I'm thinking about it, Sid is a very John Cusacky sort of role. (Sorry to sound Hollywood-centric; that's my first frame of reference for movies, and John's been acting longer anyway.) Admittedly I have seen and am generally familiar with far more of John's movies than Akshaye's, and I'm finding no comparison for the fantastically weird Being John Malkovich, the fantastically interesting Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and the fantastically dark and wickedly funny Grosse Pointe Blank (one of my favorite movies, by the way). This mental exercise is also reminding me that apart from Being Cyrus, I can't even think of any off-beat comedies in Hindi in the last ten years that would be the kind of things that would make a truly fair comparison of roles and overall feel of projects. So we'll have to go for style and approach, I think. Celi is definitely on to something: choosy-ish actors who can nail the rom-com hero roles when they want to but usually opt for other types of projects that don't garner them the mass attention and/or recognition that they could have gotten had they taken easier paths.
What say all of you? And can anyone find a clip of John Cusack hoofing it so we can have a dance-off?
Comments
http://youtube.com/watch?v=M3onmrGExOE&feature=related
An while Akshay aint the best dancer, he does have an advantage over mr cusak as far as dance-offs go :)
And here's 40 more reasons to love him:
http://blogs.usatoday.com/popcandy/2006/06/40_reasons_why_.html
I've been known to watch this scene repeatedly because his movements are so impressive. It helps to be tall and wear a stylin' black suit, I'm sure.
heeh
On a second thought, I like Rahul Khanna, the sibling, even better. 1947: The Earth was one of his stunning performances I think.
And Oh, AK is gay!??! never heard the rumor. Too bad.
And Rahul I do like, a lot; sorry about AK though. Never going to happen for me.
Shweta - Amen.
Never Mind!! - I agree with you about the dancing. Definitely not his forte.
Everyone - Rahul Khanna is also awesome. Plus I like how he tries to help elephants.
Have you seen Khosla Ka Ghosla? It's awesome. :)
who plays a melancholy, charismatic gangster with Akshaye-like intensity.
Love your post on "Dard-e-Disco"! :)
CanadianKen (great name, by the way) - I still haven't seen DSKR but by all accounts need to. His dancing overall is by no means my favorite, but I'd say it's adequate at worst, generally speaking, and sometimes quite fun. My favorite example is the engagement party song in Kudrat, where he gets to be quite winking and saucy. Thank you for the film recommendation - that sounds exactly my cup of tea.
Akshaye and John at a cocktail party. What fun would that be???
BTW - have you seen the pics of Aishwarya on the red carpet at Cannes with Eva Longoria? I thought it was interesting. I wonder if they are friends or if their limos simply arrived at the same time... hmmm....
Are you going to throw that party? I'm totally there.
I have seen those pictures! My hunch is the connection is because they're both L'Oréal spokespeople. Whose dress did you like better?
Most of his roles are about the guy in checked shirts who’s quite cool in an ‘alternative’ sense who almost got the girl. He’s the Jeaneane Garofalo of romance. And therefore more attainable. Yet worth pursuing when you’ve figured out that the sexy scowling professional salsa dancer is interested more in crack than human beings.
You can read the whole post here. I doubt that description applies to Akshaye, though.
~ramsu