The Bollywood Elephant

Academy Awards also known as "Oscars",  are due to be held this Sunday and while they have created a stir...Here is my list of who I think should win the mentioned honors:                                  Best Picture:                                                                                                                                   Nominees: Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the sea, Moonlight.           Predicted Winner:   LA LA LAND                                           Best Director:   Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, La La Land, Manchester by The Sea, Moonlight.                            Predicted Winner: DAMEIN CHAZELLE for LA LA LAND                                      Best Actor: Casey Affleck(MBTS), Ryan Gosling (LLL), Andrew Garfield(HR), Viggo Martensen (CF) and Denzel Washington (Fences)                                         Predicted Winner: Cas

"You’ll play that stereotypical Bollywood biggie, who is like, you know very snooty and completely intolerant to outsiders… and flag bearer of nepotism, the movie mafia." was a line rightly said by an ace Bollywood actress on a very famous talk show. This line perhaps has a lot of truth about today's Bollywood.   Bollywood today has been identified by actors and stars of the previous decade/millennium. Where stars like Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh were all self made, the filmmakers and the casting directors today have become to rely on Star Kids.                            (Source: Desimartini.com and Google.co.ie)   Star Kids does not necessarily refer to the kids of only actors or actresses but also to that of movie-makers or producers.  Star Kids have potentially got "everything on a platter." A call to a Bollywood biggie and there they have landed themselves a role. Practically, that is what goes on whenever a newbie has to be launche

Valid or invalid. Bollywood and controversies go hand in hand. Whenever a big movie is up for release, there is a controversy associated with it. The recently released Jolly LLB 2, received a lot of flak from a shoe company which claimed that the movie portrayed them in wrong light. Or the Padmavati incident, where there was no validation as to why such incidents occur. Another incident where the title of another Sanjay Bhansali movie, "Ramleela" was changed to "Goliyon ki Raasleela Ramleela"and there was a small group which protested against the title of the movie stating that it "hurt their religious sentiments". For such people, I would like to question, "How can ur religious sentiments be hurt with a title Ramleela?" Ramleela is a play enacted every year on Dussherra and why not protest there? Why only Bollywood? Agreed, that the movie was bold and revolved around the characters, Ram and Leela but comparing that portrayal to the sacred epic

Akshay Kumar starrer, Jolly LLB 2 hit the theatres this Friday. A "supposed" sequel to the 2013 hit, Jolly LLB which had Arshad Warsi  as the leading star. The movie begins on a funny note and an introduction to the Indian court follows.   The story after beginning promisingly, becomes stagnant for around 30 minutes but the comic timings of various characters and their introduction holds the attention of viewer and after these 30 minutes begins the court trials which are real, funny, intriguing, serious and thought provoking. The validations that Justice Tripathi makes in the climax are so valid in today's times that one starts  feeling for the judges who are currently working in India.                                     Akshay Kumar as Jagdishwar Mishra Jolly, is funny, emotional and intelligent. His comic timing, convincing arguments and an emotional side is simply impeccable. He nails his role as Jolly. It was heartening watching him portray an emotional

Bollywood movies that come under this category are known for their serious content, realism or naturalism. These movies tend to take a subtle dig at socio-political scenario of the times and generally refrain from having any kind of songs . The name that is bound to strike people is that of "The Lunchbox." Why? "Kyuki aisi movie ka promotion kaafi kiya tha aur Irfan Khan jaisa actor hai" would be the reply.                                                                                                                                     Parallel Cinema is a term which now has begun to be referred to offbeat/art house of cinema. Bollywood has seen a great increase in art house films but has been outdone by commercial cinema since  the introduction of art house cinema in 1955 as Satyajit Ray's "Pather Panchali".                                                                                                     Movies under this ca

The youth today, forms a major chunk of audience that goes for cinema viewing. Ever wondered why there are so much of extremes views of a movie? The reason is that the person begins to relate to the movie. Bollywood has influenced lives beyond expectations and may continue to do so.                                           Here are some instances of what happens after a young person begins relates to after watching movies: Love Life: The hottest topic among the youth is Love. There may not be money but a Love Life is necessary. When it comes to having a boyfriend/girlfriend the person always looks for the hottest he/she can get. I would like to divide this part into 2, one for a guy's perspective and the other from a girl's perspective: 1) Guy:   A guy always looks for the hotness of Alia in a girl and a character of Alok Nath's daughter i.e. Sunder, Susheel and Tameezdaar in a girl, whom he would like to spend his life with.  Characters like Nisha (Madhuri Di