Mungaru Male(2006)

I hate movies that feature animals because I always end up caring more about the animals than the people. Such is the case with Mungaru Male. I'm still sad about Devdas. Poor Devdas. Every time he/she/it appeared onscreen, I thought, "Awwww...Devdas!" Maybe I'm having flashbacks from the time when I was a kid and had a pet bunny rabbit. As gooshy as I get over animals, you'd think I was a die-hard vegetarian-slash-crazed-animal-rights-activist, but I'm not. (Although, I am working on the vegetarian part.) Anyway...

I didn't really watch this movie, I just skipped through the chapters to make sure the disc wasn't defective. But what I saw looked okay. Not great, but soap opera-ish enough to appeal to my fondness for nearly all things melodramatic. This is most likely one of those "after I watched it a billion-skillion times, I learned to love it"-type films.

I'll return to this entry after I've given it a proper viewing.

Johnny Gadar(2007)

Why did I get this movie again? Was it because I thought Neil Nitin Mukesh was kinda cute? Or that the plot sounded interesting? Or that it looked like it might be good based on a quick look-see online? I believe it was for all three of those reasons, but last night, as I tried to watch it for the third or fourth time, I found myself regretting my purchase and making a mental note to never order another Hindi movie again. (I kid, I kid(but not really).) I just couldn't get into it. The cinematography was nice, I liked the opening credits, and Dharmendra looked hot(age suits him, because I didn't think he was all that in his youth), but aside from that, I wasn't impressed. Perhaps if I hunt down and read a spoilerific review or two, I'll feel more inclined to see what happens for myself.

I should've actually watched it online instead of just skimming through it. I probably would've saved myself $14. Oh, well. I'll make another attempt to watch it, just to keep my money from going to waste.

Arjun(2004)

If I were to have a greedy, murderous mother-in-law, I'd want it to be Sarita's character in this movie. Watching her look all crazy-eyed and ready to kill you over 10 paise was the best part of this flick. I bet if Mahesh Babu had fought her instead of Prakash Raj at the end, she would've won.

Speaking of Prakash Raj, I actually liked him in this movie. Normally, whenever I see him playing yet another villian I'm like, "Whatever." But here, I was kinda rooting for him and Sarita because they made such a good evil pair.

Shriya Saran didn't have much to do except look wide-eyed and open-mouthed, and appear in four of the six songs. Very pretty, though. Purple is a good color on her.

The sister sentiment was sweet. The scene where Arjun(Mahesh) is running down the road with Meenakshi(Keerthi Reddy) in his arms while she's going into labor made me go, "Awwww...I wish I had a brother like that!"

I also wish there had been fewer fight and action scenes to go along with the absence of a separate comedy track. With regards to the former, the cheesy graphics brought to mind a quote from Beavis and Butthead: "These special effects aren't very special!"

The picture quality isn't the greatest, either. Most of the time, I felt as though I were watching an oft-viewed rental tape. But for $4.99, I guess I can't be too suprised.

In spite of those quibbles, I liked the movie. It's not great, but it's watchable. And, unlike Heartbeats, it didn't make me go "WTF?" at the end. (More on Heartbeats in a future post, hopefully.)

PSA: You WON'T find any movies to view/download here.

Some people seem to be a little confused or misled by the title of my blog, so I thought I'd clear that up. If you're looking for an online movie source, this ain't it. Repeatedly clicking on the titles of my blog posts won't get you any closer to whatever movie you're looking for. All you'll find here are words and the occasional links to YouTube videos. You'll have to search elsewhere for streaming movies. Just an FYI.

Short takes, pt. 6.

Another day, another boring list. I'll post a real entry eventually.

I'm watching: Sachein(2005)

Before that, I watched a little of: Sorry...Enakku Kalyanam Ayiduchi(2006) and Gharshana(2004). I got the former because of Linda Arsenio's item number. I think she's a sketchball but at the same time, I kinda like her.

Last night, I watched: Unnale Unnale(2007)

Earlier, I tried to watch: Kireedam(2007) and Jalsa(2008), but neither movie held my interest. I might give Kireedam another chance, though.

I want to watch: Mungaru Male(2006), but I'm hesitant to tear off the plastic wrap because I don't know if it's a gift or if it was mailed to me by accident. I might end up opening it, anyway. (ETA: I'm glad I didn't open it, because it was sent to me by mistake. I will mail it to its rightful owner either tomorrow or on Monday. I was hoping it was a "thank you, please keep spending money" for my continued patronage. I guess not. Ah, well.

ETA2: Because I'm a liar(see below re: Heartbeats), I went ahead and ordered it, along with Kallori(I saw a pic of Tamanna/Tamannaah that made me a believer). I'll blame it on my unsatisfied curiosity. If I had never gotten that movie by mistake, I probably never would've considered buying it(and that's another lie, because I HAD been considering it, but I'll pretend otherwise).)

I thought about buying: Manasantha(2002), the dubbed Telugu version of Manasellam, 'cause it's really cheap, but I'm not a fan of dubs, and I've decided that the recently ordered Heartbeats(2007) should be my last DVD purchase for at least a month.

Short takes, pt. 5.

Rewatched Aata and Aishwarya last night. Very jumbled, stream-of-conscious thoughts on both:

Aata(2007) - Puppies and bubble hips, oh my! Still can't believe Siddarth and Ileana didn't get along on-set. She's a better actress than he gave her credit for because I didn't sense any animosity, and I usually pick up on things like that(already stated this in original Aata entry, but worth repeating). I don't pay close attention, obviously, because Suniel was in this, too, and just noticed last night. More I watch it, the more I like it. Oh, and I prefer Siddarth with longer locks and facial hair(did I already mention this?), looks more like a man instead of a little boy like he does when he's clean-shaven and with shorter hair. And I intend to copy the denim jacket, white tee, and khaki capris Ileana wore in the first half.

Aishwarya(2006) - Upendra-Daisy romance "inspired by" Surya-Asin one in Ghajini. Had a feeling it wasn't just mere coincidence. Liked second disc better than first, but overall, liked movie, had to watch more than once to really get into it. Prefer Uppi's disheveled look in Satyam. I seem to have a thing for guys who look crazy and/or unkempt. The last song is love. "Aishu, I love you!" I don't know, Deepika seemed to have a butt in this one--I recall her Levis commercial and she appeared to have "noassatall". Maybe she was wearing butt pads in this movie, or perhaps it was just the camera angles(I'm referring to the aforementioned last song, there's a part where she's swaying sexily in jeans and a bikini top).

ETA 01/07/10: I rewatched the second half of Aishwarya last night and felt the "cute alien" vibes all over again. She should've stayed in the south. With the exception of Sridevi--and maybe Jayaprada--I tend to lose interest in south heroines after they migrate to the north, the most recent example being Asin(why, oh why, couldn't she have remained in Kolly and/or Tollywood?). Whatever they had in TN, AP, KL, or KA, they seem to lose it once they hit Mumbai. Or maybe that's just my "Bollywood isn't the end-all, be-all" prejudice talking. **shrug**

Short takes, pt. 4.

A very boring list because I'm feeling too lazy to type an actual entry.

I'm watching: Manmathan

Yesterday, I watched: Billa, Dreamz

In the near or distant future, I might post about: Manasu Palike Mouna Raagam, Sattam, Tik...Tik...Tik, Thai Illamal Naan Illai

I just recently ordered: Arjun, Nandhanam, Perumazhakalam

I changed my mind about ordering: Naa Alludu, Bus Conductor

I think I'll believe the bad reviews and refrain from watching: Villu (ETA: I lied. I had to see for myself how bad it is. I'm almost a half-hour in and all I can think is, "This feels like a parody of a Vijay movie." Not even the presence of Nayantara can save this. So far, Kuruvi and Azhagiya Tamil Magan look like cinematic masterpieces in comparison.

ETA2: Vadivelu mistaken for "an African chimpanzee"? If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that this part of the script was penned by members of the KKK. Why am I still watching this shit? I doubt it will get any better.)

Last night, I had a dream about: Abhiyum Naanum(and I haven't even watched it!)

I've been thinking about: Vaaranam Aayiram. I want to see it mostly for Simran and Divya Spandanna. And I sorta wanna check out Surya's six-pack abs, too ;)

Naan Avan Illai(2007)

I watched most of this online a few days ago and liked what I saw enough to order the DVD. It's playing as I'm typing this, and the first thoughts that come to mind are:

1. Jeevan looks like a straight-up thug, yet I find him oddly appealing. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him, but I would flirt with him a little.

2. He looks like a pimp in the "Kakha Kakha" song and when he first meets Malavika.

3. I just remembered that this is a remake of the 1974 film starring Gemini Ganesh, and IIRC, Kamal Hassan has a small role. I wonder how this compares to the original. I'm not sure I want to plunk down $20 for a custom VCD in order to find out. Maybe someone will upload it to YouTube one day.

4. All of the heroines are beautiful but Sneha looks the best :P The only reason I checked it out in the first place is because of her.

Uh-oh! I was afraid I had a defective disc on my hands, but it appears that just the song menu is wonky. When I tried to select the "Pacha Tanni" song from the menu, the disc froze and stuck. After getting it unstuck, I did a quick skip-through of all the chapters and everything seemed okay. I would hate to think that Ayngaran is now putting out shitty DVDs, because there was a point in both Kuruvi and Aaru when the disc would freeze for a couple of seconds, then play normally. Ugh! If I weren't so paranoid about viruses and spyware, I'd join the 21st century and download nearly all of my movies.

I may return to this after I've watched it a couple more times.

ETA: After I posted this, I remembered that this was remade in Kannada as Budhdhivantha, starring Upendra, Pooja Gandhi, Netanya Singh, Brinda Parekh, and another actress whose name I don't recall. I want to see it based on this video alone because it looks so delightfully cheesy and low budget.

Kantri(2008)

This is just an excuse to post something until the movies I ordered last week arrive.

I started to watch this a few days ago. What little I saw was pretty good. I liked NTR Jr's intro. I wish he had been this size when he did Rakhee, because he's not a bad-looking guy, but his girth in that film was a turn-off. Anyway, all was reasonably well until Hansika Motwani showed up. There was just something about her and her overly made-up face that triggered my "Ugh!" reflex. (Aside: Why does someone so young wear so much makeup, anyway? If the intent is for her to look older, it worked, because if I didn't know any better, I'd swear she was at least 26. But I'm digressing.) I found her screen presence too irrritating to continue watching. But I'll try to give it another look-see, because Tanisha(younger sister of Kajol) is also in it, and I like her. I don't think her part is very big, however.

Mogudu - Pellam O Dongodu(2005)

I never thought there would come a day when I would get tired of looking at Shriya Saran, but thanks to Mogudu - Pellam O Dongodu, that day has finally arrived. I guess even shallow folks like myself need more than a beautiful face to hold their attention for an extended period of time. I should've tried to watch it online first, but I was lured by the $4.99 price tag and the stills of Shriya looking absolutely fetching. **sigh** Oh, well. Maybe this will turn out to be another Satyam and I'll learn to like it in spite of my initial buyer's remorse.

The story centers around a couple's first night. The majority of the action(no, not that kind) takes place in the bedroom. The groom(Raja) is rarin' to go, but the bride(Shriya) wants their union to take place at an auspicious time, which is two hours away. While they're waiting for the clock to strike midnight, a thief(Brahmanandam)sneaks into the room and, as I type this, he's STILL hiding underneath the bed. It's been over an hour and he hasn't done anything except provide so-called comic relief. Oh, wait. Shriya and Raja have FINALLY discovered him. And in the blink of an eye, he's gone, just like that. Talk about a wasted character.

Shriya's sexy looks in the "Vayyari Bhamaa" song almost make up for the pain of sitting through this. I didn't really pay attention to the other songs because I was bored out of my mind. I was tempted to hit the fast-forward button many times, but I wanted to get my $6.98 worth.

I like that the director tried something different, but I think the setup would've worked better as a skit. The three-person cast, limited locations, and lack of activity(no pun intended) made for very dull viewing. The movie is only an hour and forty-five minutes, but it's so slow-paced, it feels twice as long.

Sanam Teri Kasam(1982)

This is the second of Kamal's Hindi movies that I watched(the first was Ek Duje Ke Liye). I bought it solely because I was intrigued by the DVD cover and ended up liking it so much that it remained in constant rotation in my DVD player. It's been a while since I last viewed it. I meant to watch it last night but decided on Kuruvi instead. Anyway, I thought Kamal was cute, and I liked his accented Hindi and the chunky heeled boots he wore throughout the movie('cause he's short) ;) He and Reena Roy shared a good chemistry. I wish they had done more movies together.

I also liked the soundtrack. Because I know zilch about downloading music, I waited patiently for the CD to be available from Nehaflix :) "Jane Jaan O Meri Jane Jaan" and "Kitne Bhi Tu Karle Sitam Dil Ka Baat" are my favorite tracks. Here are the YouTube clips:

1st version of Kitne Bhi Tu Karle Sitam

2nd version

Dekhta Hoon Koi Ladki Haseen

Jana O Meri Jana

Jane Jaan O Meri Jane Jaan

Sheeshe Ke Gharon Mein

Karishmaa(1984)

Hindi remake of Tik...Tik...Tik. I learned about the existence of this flick via a Reena Roy thread on a now-defunct Bollywood forum. Unfortunately, not even the VCD appears to be readily available, and since it was a flop, it will probably never see a DVD release. **sigh** Why is it that most of the older movies I'd like to watch aren't commercially available(in the US, at least)? If only I'd known about them when VHS was the norm. Anyway...

Instead of Madhavi, Swapna, and Radha there is Reena Roy, Tina Munim, and Swaroop Sampat respectively. Kamal's second ex-wife, Sarika, who had a cameo in Tik...Tik...Tik, reprises her bit part, but with a little more screen time it seems, judging from this clip and another scene that was posted to a masala board.

More YouTube vids:

Ek Haseen Lakhon Mein - intro song of Reena, Tina, and Swaroop

Teri Nazar Se Meri Nazar Ka - Kamal and Reena

Jaan Meri Tere Liye Janam Liya - another song with Kamal and Reena

Khol Doonghi Dil Ka Tala - Kamal and Tina Munim

Swaroop in a white bikini - Personally, I prefer Madhavi's trimmer figure, but Swaroop looks nice, and has a very pretty face. (ETA: Here's a longer version of this scene, with sound)

Ya! Nee Romba Azhaga Irukey!(2002)

I don't think this movie is particularly good, but I kinda like it, mostly because of Sneha. She looks so beautiful that every time she appears onscreen, I feel that I've gotten my money's worth.

Shaam - I flip back and forth between thinking he's not that bad, and thinking that he's too dull and uncharismatic to be a hero. Whenever he acts like a regular guy, he's alright, but when he tries to do the choreographed dancing, stunt fighting thing I'm like, "Uhhhh...no." (See also: Jayam Ravi)

Jaya Rey - There's something about her that rubs me the wrong way. I don't know if it was specifically her or her character that made me inwardly roll my eyes whenever she showed up, but I did not like her AT ALL.

Vivek - Suprisingly, he didn't annoy me.

Ramya Krishnan looked nice in her cameo. I find her much more appealing when she's not playing a vamp or doing an item number.

The songs were nothing special, IMO. I felt they were there because they "had" to be.

I kept getting the names of Shaam and Sneha's characters mixed up. I thought Sneha was "Hari" and Shaam was "Raji" when really, it was the other way around.

Pretending to be dying of cancer is not the way to win me over. Any guy who does that is gonna wish he were already dead by the time I finish wailing on him.

Short takes, pt. 3.

Yavanika(1982) - I found it online and am trying to watch it now, but I'd really like to go to bed at a decent hour tonight, so I will save it for later. I think my dad would like this because he used to be involved in the theatre when he was younger.

Kuruvi(2008) - Typical Vijay fare. I liked it, but prefer the second half mainly because Vivek was thankfully absent. Trisha looked really good. I read a couple of reviews that stated she looked aged and plump, but she appeared fine to me. **shrug** I guess I have low standards--ha, ha.

Ghajini(2005) - Watched it yesterday because it's been a while since I last viewed it. My introduction to Nayantara. I thought she was annoying as hell, but found her cute and sexy enough to check out some of her other films. Clean-cut Surya was nice, but the crazy-eyed, tattooed version was much hotter. Asin was adorable, maybe a little too adorable, but perhaps she was directed to act that way.

Gharshana(2005) - Another "it's been a while, so I watched it again today". I think I like this slightly better than Kaaka Kaaka, but I'm not sure why. I thought Surya and Jyothika made a better pair and had more chemistry, but for some reason, I'm drawn to Venky-Asin.

Kedi(2006) - Ileana's first and only Tamil film. I have the 2-in-1 DVD because at the time, anytamil didn't have the Ayngaran version in stock. I checked again the other day and didn't see "out of stock" beside it, so maybe it's available? Ileana looked good, as did Tamanna, or however she spells her name these days. Part of me wants to be a Tamanna fan, because she's extremely easy on the eyes, and appears to be a decent actress, but I just can't make myself go ga-ga for her the way I do for Ileana.