Faana

Fanaa
India (Bollywood)
2006
Starring:  Aamir Khan, Kajol, Tabu, and Rishi Kapoor

You know how most Bollywood movies have an intermission because they are so long?  The second part of this movie was nothing like the first, it was truly like a second movie.  There aren't many times that I am caught off guard by the turn of events in a movie, usually I find movies predictable... this one was all but predictable.  From drama, to romance, to action, and some adventure this movie evokes many different sentiments.  The cinematography in the movie is absolutely stunning full of amazing sweeping views of gorgeous countrysides and scenery and Delhi as well.  The music is interesting in this movie.  A portion of the same tune is used in about 90% of the musical sequences.  How it changed to fit the different songs is through the whole movie and was still recognizable is unique.  The brave attempts at poetry through the whole first half was cool also; I'm quite sure this would have been a more enjoyable experience if I could understand the native audio - poetry always looses some of its constructive points in translation.

Zooni, a young blind woman who's lived a sheltered life.  She leaves the most important thing in her life, her family, and travels to Dehli in a grand adventure with her father's reluctant permission.  Through most of the movie she is recounting quotes of her father's wisdom, which I found quite enjoyable and personally reminded me of someone I used to know.   Rehan, "God's greatest gift" in his own words, is a tourguide.  Destiny brings them together and what follows if the story of a lifetime.  The path of their relationship takes the most unforeseen twists as Zooni makes a decision to undergo a corrective surgery to restore her sight.  Fanaa is quite cheesy in an enjoyable way through the first half.

Seeing a Bollywood movie with a blind woman as the leading character was interesting to me.  Kajol did a great job in keeping her eyes from reacting to visual stimuli during filming.

In all if you're a fan of Bollywood I have to recommend this movie it wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't bad either.  It's a awesome love story and has the wft? factor going through quite a bit of it.  I'm glad I gave it the chance.

Quote:  The choice isn't between good and evil.  That's easy.  The real choices of life are choosing between the lesser of two evils, or the greater of two goods.

Saawariya

Saawariya
India (Bollywood)
2007
Starring:  Ranbir Kapoor, Soman Kapoor, and Salman Khan

Saawariya didn't contain anything new for me, but it was still a beautiful movie. The movie was a cross between Pretty Woman and Moulan Rogue, with a little more innocence then either; not saying it directly pulls from the plots, but the Sawwariya reminds me of both.  With that said the scenes are absolutely beautiful; the filming mirrors that statement as well.  They did a great job creating romantic mysticism with dimly lit foggy scenes.  The town itself reminds me of Venice in general appearance and feel, but has a vibrant look to it in the dark that I don't recall of Venice; all of that with a traditional Indian overlay and some custom neon and coloring to finish it off.  If for nothing else then the sheer romanticism created by the sets alone I would watch this movie again.  The scenery in short is poetic.

The acting was good.  Sonam like many Bollywood actresses is just absolutely gorgeous and plays her part well.  Ranbir allso put on a stellar performance.  One of them a hopeless drifter who sings his way through bars and the other a woman awaiting a love who promised to come back to her the following Eid; they meet on a bridge and the stars can tell the rest of the story.  Together they made a movie that reminds you when love is hopeless life will go on.

I did have to take and download a different subtitle file then the one that came on the DVD and play the movie through an alternate viewer that would let me force overlay subtitles.  The one that came with the movie didn't seem to match the spoken dialog; seemed like a lot more talking was going on then I was reading.  With a different subtitle file I got a much better translation I think and translations of the songs (which are half the reason why I watch Bollywood movies anyway).  If anyone else finds they have the same ailment and need help with the subs let me know, it's a simple process.

Maghadeera

Magadheera (2009)  Telugu  Starring:  Ram Charan Teja, Kajal Agarwal and Dev Gill

I saw this title around many times before I decided to watch it; I enjoy Bollywood movies for many reasons, the epic stories, the culture, and the dance.  Magadheera has the same storyline of your typical Bollywood flick.  Two lovers who face difficult odds in making their relationship work is central to the main premise of the movie. This movie does a wonderful job moving from the past to the present and developing the history as it tells the story of these lovers.  The visuals from the past are stunning in composition and a good portion of the present in the movie provides for a chuckle.  The love story in this I really personally enjoyed, it allows for the romantic dreamer of cosmic love to dream.  Magadheera also has some good action in it.  There's a fight scene that is not to be missed!  The dance scenes are fairly entertaining also.

Bhairava (Ram Charan Teja) displays a grand sense of honor in his actions throughout this movie.  Mitra (Kajal Agarwal) is as beautiful and I think plays her part wonderfully.  Retrospectively this movie is among my favorite Bollywood movies.  It rivals almost anything the great Khans have done.  Sure there are a couple parts that I thought were purely silly, but the story itself was one of the best stories of love and honor I have ever seen or heard of.

For any lover of Bollywood or Indian cinema this movie is a spectacular must see.  Months after I watched it, this is still one of my all time favorite movies and love stories.