Madurey(2004)

I wish I hadn't bought this. I mean, I knew better than to have high expectations--or any expectations, really, seeing how it IS a Vijay movie. Even with that in mind, each of the three times I tried to watch it, I couldn't make it past the first twenty minutes or so. I don't know whether to try to give away the DVD or use it as a (very expensive) drink coaster.

I need to go back to my "try before buying" routine--i.e. watching movies online instead of purchasing sight unseen.

Bunny(2005)

Strangely enough, I like this movie better than Paragu. I say "strangely" because 1) I paid only scant attention to whatever scenes I skipped to/through, and 2) somewhere along the line, the plot got lost among a comedy track with a comedian whose name I can't be bothered to look up, a segment or two involving politics, and a child left in the middle of the road during a rainstorm(baby-switching, perhaps?). And then there was Allu dancing, and the heroine...doing something. I wouldn't call it "acting", more like "just being there". I can't recall either her character's name or her real name, but the one thing that stuck with me was how hard she looked, like she spent her childhood drinking and smoking and hanging out until the wee hours of the morning. She was a "MILF" minus the "ILF". I found it laughable how, within the first 7 minutes of the film, the word "beautiful" was used twice in reference to her. I thought, "She ain't cute!" That being said, I will admit to having a weird fascination with her matronly-looking, almost expressionless face. She sorta reminded me of Sonia Aggarwal, but with about 1.3 more facial movements.

Prakash Raj plays another daddy. I wish he were my daddy. I used to poke fun at his ubiquitousness, but now I want to--never mind.

Allu was cute, but I think I prefer the longer hair he sported in Desamuduru. Should I try to watch Arya(which apparently was successful enough to warrant a sequel)? Or Gangotri? I still don't consider myself a "fan" BUT, he does have a certain je ne sais quois that makes me wish--oh, once again, never mind. **sigh**

That's all I have for now. One day, I'll try to watch Bunny in its entirety. Or maybe I should just post some screen caps and call it a day. Yes, I might do that. (Which reminds me, I still need to make caps from Boss.)

Good Luck(2008)

If you've seen the Lindsay Lohan starrer Just My Luck then you've already watched it's Hindi counterpart. Same story, different actors. Sayali Bhagat is Saba Sharma, an ad exec who's incredibly lucky. Aryeman/Aryamaan is Vicky Varma, a struggling musician who's cursed with bad luck. The two meet at a party and exchange a kiss that reverses their fortunes. Vicky saves music baron Tarun Chopra(Lucky Ali) from getting hit by a car, and Tarun signs Vicky's band to a deal. Saba gets thrown in jail, and loses both her job and her apartment. She goes on a quest to find the guy she kissed so that she can get her luck back. It's not an easy task, however, because he wore a mask, so she doesn't know what he looks like. But she remembers the chain he wore around his neck.

She meets Vicky again, not knowing he's the guy she kissed, and they soon fall in love. But when she realizes he's the one who stole her luck, she plots to take it back. Does she succeed? Will true love prevail in spite of her selfishness? Would anyone be suprised if I said, "Yes, she succeeds, but feels guilty, so she gives back the good luck kiss to help his band succeed"? No? Didn't think so. (And if you were spoiled, I'm sorry, but I thought the conclusion was obvious.)

Sayali was pretty and did a decent job. She's the sole reason I watched this. I liked her in The Train and wanted to see her onscreen again. Aryeman was okay, but looked hotter when he was wearing glasses or that mask. Ranvir Shorey was hilarious as a smooth-talking gigolo. Nazeen Patel, the woman who played Saba's boss, was awful. She spoke her lines in such a stiff, affected manner that she sounded as if she were either constipated or reading from cue cards.

And now, the REAL reason for this post: SCREENCAPS! Click the "read more" link for visuals.

Boss(2006)

I had ordered this movie several months ago, along with a couple of other titles, but my package either got lost in transit, or stolen by a disgruntled postal worker who decided to give him/herself an early Christmas gift. In hindsight, I should've taken my missing package as a sign that perhaps Boss wasn't really worth watching, anyway. (Same goes for Manasantha, but I don't regret reordering Preminchu Priya.) It's not that it's a bad film, it just suffers from Nenunnanu-itis in that there are several unnecessary scenes and subplots that make me reluctant to rewatch it more than once or twice.

Boss is the Tollywood version of Two Weeks Notice, but with the requisite comedy, sentiment, tragedy, songs, and fights thrown in. Nagarjuna is the boss, GK, and Nayantara is his lovelorn secretary, Anu. Romantic rivals in the form of Anu's designated replacement Sruthi(Poonam Bajwa) and GK's deceased wife Sanjana(Shriya Saran in a cameo role) complete the love rectangle. If the movie had focused on just the GK-Anu storyline and it's predictable ending(GK finally accepts and returns Anu's love), it would've been a pleasant viewing experience. However, I had to put up with a bunch of extraneous shit that kinda made me regret getting it. I should've heeded the words of the Bhavani reviewers who remarked that "the last 45 minutes goes haywire" and "I can watch the first part over and over again, but not the second".

On the plus side, Nagarjuna had his jolie-laide. I thought he looked quite handsome, and he and Nayantara made a good pair. Nayan looked stunning in her sarees, Shriya was her usual gorgeous self, and Poonam may very well become my next SLO. She has a sexy, glamourous look that sort of reminds me of Raasi/Manthra, and maybe a little Daisy Bopanna. I found myself really liking her and wanting to check out her other films.

Once I stop feeling lazy, I'll come back to this post with some screencaps.

Paragu(2008)

So far, I don't like it. Admittedly, I watched a total of maybe 30 minutes, thanks to my liberal use of the "skip chapter" button, but what little I saw failed to hold my attention. Allu was likeable, and nice to look at, but not even he could keep my eyes glued to the screen. Perhaps if Poonam Bajwa had been the main heroine, I would've made more of an effort to sit through it. While I liked Sheela in her small parts as a child actress in Rettai Jadai Vayasu, Dheena, and--I believe--Dum Dum Dum, the all-growed-up version leaves me cold. She lacks the looks and charisma to be a lead heroine. Maybe I'll feel differently after more viewings, but my gut instinct tells me that my initial impression is right.

I'll give this one a rewatch, and maybe some "ETA"s, when I'm in a better mood.

Rog(2005)

I watched this movie ages ago, but felt inspired to type something since I'm currently listening to the soundtrack.

The soundtrack is great. The movie is...not-so-great. I didn't think it was awful, just very, very average and lacking in suspense. As with most(?) Bhatt films, Rog is a knock-off of a Hollywood flick. In this case, the "inspiration" is the 1944 Otto Preminger film Laura, with Irrfan Khan and Ilene Hamman cast in the roles played by Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney, respectively.

Irrfan is a world-weary police inspector who falls in love with a murdered model(Ilene) after he sees her portrait. He immediately becomes obsessed with her: he stays in her house, reads her diary, visits her grave, and dreams about her. However, it turns out she really isn't dead; she was out of town for a few days and it was another model who was killed. Whodunnit? The answer is obvious--well, it was to me, anyway--the minute that character appears onscreen. The remainder of the film is spent waiting for Irrfan to finally figure out who it is.

Irrfan was good and Ilene was adequate, given that her role required only a little skin show and the ability to convey a couple of facial expressions. I still say any reasonably pretty desi model-slash-actress could've delivered the same result. I was none-too-thrilled about seeing a White woman cast to play an Indian. And Pooja Bhatt's assertion that none of "the Indian beauties [she] met" were as "stunningly beautiful" as Ilene gets an eye roll and a "Whatever!" from me. I thought Ilene was attractive, but not to the extent where Pooja had no choice but to resort to brownface casting. However, as someone once said, "That shit's as old as the work week is long," so...**shrug**

Anyway, the soundtrack, as I already mentioned, is great. Even if you don't intend to watch the movie, I highly recommend giving the soundtrack a listen. If you have a pop-up blocker enabled, you can hear the songs here. (I didn't have a problem with the site, but since I got one of those "pop up blocked" messasges, I thought I'd mention that.) "Maine Dil Se Kaha", "Tere Is Jahan Mein", and the duet version of "Guzar Na Jaye" are my favorite tracks. Whenever I'm in the mood for something relatively soothing to listen to, I usually choose this CD.

Desamuduru(2007)

Scattered thoughts, based on last Saturday's viewing:

1. This movie is LONG. I put it in the DVD player at a little after 5 PM and by 7:30 it was still playing. "This is like the Energizer bunny," I thought. "It just keeps going, and going, and going."

2. Some of Allu Arjun's mannerisms and facial expressions reminded me of Simbu, and not in a good way. But perhaps I've watched Simbu's movies so often that I "see" him in every dancing, fighting, OTT chocolate hero.

3. Hansika Motwani didn't annoy me. In fact, I actually--**gasp**--liked her. And she didn't look a day over 17. Must've been the makeup, or lack thereof.

4. The Bala-Vaishali storyline was similiar to Paap.

5. I don't know what this movie is about. I wasn't really paying attention. There were so many things happening that I lost focus, as well as interest. But that's okay, because I'm sure that a few months from now, I'll return to this post with at least one "ETA".

6. I recognized one of the actors as the guy who was engaged to Laila before Ajith killed him in Paramasivan. He was the one who got fresh with Hansika when she was begging in the market.

7. Rambha's item number was near the end, which was kinda disappointing. I hoped it would be at the beginning.

8. The bits of this movie that managed to sink into my brain made me like Allu Arjun enough to purchase Paragu(got it today), and I'm thinking about getting Bunny, even though I find the heroine rather unappealing.

Short takes, pt.13.

AKA "I FINALLY ordered from Induna!"

This is what I bought:

Abodh(1984) - Madhuri's debut. I didn't quite blog about it here. I wish Gaja Gamini had also been in stock, but it seems to be permanently out of print.

Dev D(2009) - The DVD was out of stock, so I got the VCD. I hope I like it. If not, I can always stare at Kalki Koechlin's lips.

Dil Ki Rani(1947) - Madhubala's first movie. A blogger who watched this wasn't impressed, but that didn't deter me. I usually find something likeable about the films that most people hate.

Kidnap(2009) - I read about it on ajnabi1977's blog, and since it was only $1.67, I thought, "What the heck?"

Yeh To Kamal Ho Gaya(1982) - YAY!!!! FINALLY!!!! I hope the Eagle VCDs don't act up as badly as the DVDs. I posted about it here.

Zara Si Zindagi(1983) - Once again: YAY!!!! FINALLY!!!! Here is my original blog post.

The shipping and handling charge was $20.93 for $7.93 worth of movies BUT, at least I was able to get four movies I've been really, really wanting to see for the longest. And if the shipping is super fast, that's another bonus. Plus, I would like an alternative to Nehaflix and the occasional Amazon seller for Hindi movies, particularly ones that aren't yet available on DVD. So, I will keep my fingers crossed and hope that I will be pleased enough to make more purchases from Induna in the future.

ETA 11/23/09: My movies arrived today. Celebrate me! All of my discs were nicely packaged. I hope they play okay. I'm already thinking of other titles I'd like to order.

ETA2 11/23/09: I tried all but the Dev D and Abodh discs and they play fine, even the Eagle VCDs. Quick and/or shallow thoughts:

Zara Si Zindagi - It's not a bad viewing experience, as long as I remember to not compare it to the original, Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu.

Yeh To Kamal Ho Gaya - Hannah Mitchell is not quite as beautiful as I initially thought, and her acting sucked; still, I'll take her over that seemingly stoned French chick in Sattam En Kayil.

Kidnap - Minissha I'm-too-lazy-to-Google-her-last-name is bearable only when she's wearing skimpy clothes. I don't know how old she's supposed to be in real life, but playing a 17 year old? Ha! More like "17 going on 29 or 30". Her Britney Spears circa 1999 number was amusing for about a minute, then I had to hit the "skip chapter" button. Imraan Khan looked good. I want him to kidnap me. I bet we'd have all kinds of fun together. **shifts eyes**

Dil Ki Rani - I found it watchable enough, probably because I had zero expectations and didn't concentrate too hard. I have a feeling it will make frequent appearances in my DVD player. (Aside: It seems like the type of film my dad would enjoy.)

ETA 11/24/09: I looked up whatsherface on Wikipedia and she was allegedly born in 1985. Maybe she really is 24 but to me, she doesn't look a day under 30. From the neck down, she's fine, but her face makes me wish Hansika Motwani had been cast instead, simply because she's actually a teenager, even if she doesn't look it. Anyhoo...

Imran...mmmmmmm. I'm not a fan but I find him pretty hot in Kidnap. Isn't he in Luck with Shruti Haasan and FILF co-star Sanjay Dutt? Yeah, I think so. Not that I want to see that movie, but I just remembered.

From what I've seen so far, it seems like a decent Saturday night timepass, the kind of flick you watch when there's nothing else on the tube. And it was under $2 so it's not like I wasted a bunch of money on it.

I gave the 2nd disc of Dev D about twenty minutes of my time. I liked what I saw but the soundtrack gave me a headache, as did the commercials at the beginning of the disc(luckily, I was able to skip through them). I hope the DVD comes back in stock soon so that I won't have to always get up to change discs.

Naan Kadavul(2009)

I rewatched Aalwar over the weekend and thought of this movie whenever Ajith uttered the words, "Kadavul. Naan kadavul." (Given the lack of intensity in his voice, he might as well have said, "Milkshake. Strawberry. Milkshake." But I'm digressing.) Actually, Ajith was supposed to play the lead, but due to his "call sheet problems", he backed out of the project. That was a wise move because I think he would've been horribly miscast.

Anyway...I've scrolled past this title numerous times while surfing bhavanidvd, but never felt compelled to buy it, not even after discovering that Pooja Umashankar is in it. Today, however, with the "Naan kadavul" line still fresh in my brain, I gave the product description another look-see. I wasn't totally convinced I should get it, though, so I watched the trailer. And I continue to feel uncertain. On one hand, it looks "different" enough that I might actually enjoy it, but at the same time I'm like, "This looks like one of those movies that seems like a good idea when you first watch it, but after a while, you get bored." I don't need any more buyer's regret. I already have a ton of crap I'm trying to will the universe to take out of my possession.

Watching it online may be my best bet. I often forget that I'm living in the 21st century and don't necessarily have to purchase stuff sight unseen.

SFR: Jaganmohini(2009) trailer

I am seriously sad that this movie isn't airing on late-night cable right now. The "special effects" alone are laughable enough to bring me out of my funk. And the little of Namitha's "acting" I saw appeared equally as hilarious.

Nila, the second heroine, was apparently upset that some of her scenes were cut. I say that's a good thing, but I guess she feels sorta like that Catskills joke.



I kind of want to watch the 1978 version now, just to confirm my belief that it's not nearly as cringe-worthy. Plus, I finally remember Jayamalini from Ram Lakshman and Guru(1980). I think I have another movie she was in, but I can't recall the title.

Thoranai(2009), part zwei.

AKA "Why did I buy this again? Oh yeah, I felt like spending money."

Previous post is here.

To tell the truth, I didn't really watch this so much as I put the disc into my DVD player twice and let it run in the background while I did other things. I remember Vishal seeing someone get hurt in broad daylight, and then he spent the next hour or so chasing Shriya Saran. She's hot, yeah, but damn, what about the injured guy?

Vishal looked good, so much better minus the thick 'tache and helmet hair he was sporting in Satyam. Shriya was her usual gorgeous self. If only I could trade faces with her.

Prakash Raj had a bit of free time in his schedule, so he signed up for this flick. I've decided that I want to be his mistress. (I'm kidding, sort of.) I believe I read somewhere that Lakshmi Rai did concubine duty for him, but maybe I'm falsely remembering stuff. I do that sometimes.

For some reason, the first minute and change of this song reminds me of Shriya's item number in Munna. Apropos of nothing, I'm sad that Marmayogi got shelved. I'm sure Kamal would've tried to kiss her, and/or had her wearing the skimpiest outfits possible for that time period. Anyway...

There was a kiss, but it was brief, and played for laughs.

Even though I gave this film the barest sliver of my attention, I can see why it flopped. But I'll most likely attempt to "rewatch" it all the way to the end, just to get my $9.99 worth.

Saravana(2006)

Tamil remake of Telugu Bhadra. It's the only Simbu movie I don't own(although, I like to pretend that I never purchased Kovil). I've held off on buying it for the longest time because 1) I can't stand Vivek and 2) I don't like Simbu and Jyothika as an on-screen pair. I like them separately, but not together. In spite of that, however, I still sorta want to see this because of a rumor I read a while back on a now-forgotten forum. Allegedly, Simbu "sexually tortured" Jyothika during the filming of Manmathan and because of that, she didn't want to work with him again. She agreed to do Saravana only as a favor to the director. (For whatever reason(s), I can believe that.) I'm always intrigued whenever I hear or read about actors not getting along on-set, especially if I've watched the movie and didn't sense any animosity or discomfort between them.

I did a quick scan of some YouTube clips and from what I could see, although Simbu and Jyothika appeared in scenes together, there seemed to be--for lack of a better term--a professional distance between them. Even when they touched, I got a "Just doing our jobs" vibe. Perhaps I'm reading too much into the situation, but that's how it appeared to me. **shrug** Maybe one day I'll have to watch the uploaded parts to get a better assessment.

Dev D(2009)

Kalki Koechlin's mouth is the only reason I want to see this flick. Seriously. If she possessed your average, everyday-looking mouth, I wouldn't care. But because I am so easily fascinated by the weirdest things, I want to check out Dev D just to look at and obsess over her lips and plain-but-in-an-interesting-way face. I don't care how well she acts. I don't care if her voice is dubbed or if she speaks heavily accented Hindi. I don't really care about the other two actors, although Abhay Deol isn't bad-looking. IIRC, he's kinda flabby, but that's okay. Who knows? I may end up liking it in spite of my initial "Eh, whatever"-ness.

It's currently available from Induna, but not Nehaflix. Why is that? Am I going to have to start patronizing Induna for Hindi movies? Hmmm...that's not a bad idea, actually. I just have to buy enough films to justify the shipping and handling charges. I should make a list and order them all at once.

Yuvaraju(2000)

I've thought about buying this for the longest time. It's only $5.99. It has Mahesh. It has Simran. But it also has a kid, and I don't like kids. Also, it sounds verrry long and boring. And the other heroine, Sakshi Sivanand, does nothing for me. The YouTube vids I glanced at didn't sway me to buy it. While I think Mahesh and Simran make a cute couple, I believe I will give this one a pass for now.

I wish Mahesh would come out with a new movie already, even though his next sounds like it might be the Tollywood version of Collateral(remade in Hindi as The Killer).

ETA 01/22/10: I ordered it. I hope I don't hate myself. Sakshi looks annoying, but hopefully the presence of Mahesh and Simran will make up for that.

ETA 01/27/10: I had it playing in the background last night while I was doing other things, and my first impression is that while it's very looonnnnggg(or at least feels that way), it's not bad. The kid didn't get on my nerves like I thought he would, and Sakshi wasn't that annoying(facially, she reminds me of Reema Sen), although I would've preferred it if Simran had been the main heroine instead of her. Mahesh was his usual goofy-looking-but-still-cute and charming self. My $5.99 + s&h wasn't wasted. That's good. Now, I'm considering Vamsi(and watch, it'll get marked down to $5.99 if/when I buy it for $7.99).

ETA 02/08/10: I just remembered exactly why I felt compelled to order the DVD. Next time I watch it, I'll have to remind myself to keep an eye out for that particular scene.

Love Aaj Kal(2009)

I have no idea what this movie is about, nor do I really want to know. I just want to find out if Deepika Padukone is really as boring as I suspect she is. I liked her in Aishwarya, and I still think of her as "a cute alien", but for the most part, whenever her name pops into my mind, the words "boring as fuck" follow. I thought that if I watched one of her Hindi movies, I might change my mind and pay more attention to her. I figured Love Aaj Kal would be the least painful choice since, even though I'm not a Saif fan, I find him more tolerable than either SRK or Ranbir. (And that's solely because of Kareena. I think they make a good pair.)

But do I want to spend $13.99? **ponders** Hmmm...kind of. It's been a while since my last impulse buy. However, I should try to watch it online first, because the urge to see it could vanish shortly after I hit the "confirm order" button. Or I could lose interest, as I'm doing right now as I type this. **sigh** I'm so fickle. I really do "change like the wind", as a college acquaintance once said about me.

Hawas(2004)

"Delightfully sleazy" is how I summed up this movie after I watched it the first time. It used to be one of my fave "so-bad-it's-good" flicks, but then it fell by the wayside and I forgot about it until a few days ago, when I rewatched it. I had been reading a UAE culture guide and remembered that this was filmed in Dubai, so I gave it another look-see, for old time's sake. I think I've become more jaded than usual, because I found it somewhat less entertaining than before. Tarun Arora wasn't quite as visually appealing; the unintentional hilarity wasn't quite as amusing; the songs didn't sound quite as catchy("Alla Miya" is still my jam, though). On the plus side, I found Shawar Ali a lot more attractive than I did initially. He looked so good, I almost wished he were my husband.

Back in the day, I preferred Hawas to Murder. Now, I think I somewhat agree with the reviewer who said that Murder was the better Hindi version of Unfaithful(which was alright, but overall, I felt it was just a Lifetime movie with sex and nudity).

Kanthaswamy(2009), part trois.

The previous two posts are here and here.

I watched about 80% of this movie over the weekend. As a whole, I didn't like it, but there were some bits and pieces--nearly all of them involving Shriya--that I liked. I wish I could remove those scenes and use them to create a shorter, offbeat, more enjoyable flick.

All I want for Christmas is for the Ayngaran version to be completely Vadivelu-free. That won't happen, of course, but still, if only his scenes had been left on the cutting room floor. The separate comedy track really needs to die a swift death.

Shriya was the best thing about Kanthaswamy. I'm biased, naturally, because I like her and think she's hot. Her face and body looked good. I loved her short, flippy hairdo; it suited her character, as did the deeper-sounding dubbed voice. It took a while to get used to, though.

I'm torn between kind of liking Vikram in that rooster getup and thinking he looked like a character from a MAD TV skit. I can handle a bat, a spider, and a angry green giant as superheroes, but a rooster? Hmmmm...I don't know.

"Meow, Meow" and "Excuse Me, Mr. Kanthaswamy" were my favorite tracks. "Allegra, Allegra" was okay, but it reminded me of that annoying "Whenever, Whatever" song by Shakira.

I will try to rewatch it and, if I feel like it, include additional thoughts. In the meantime, I plan to cap the scenes I liked best and post them either later tonight or sometime...whenever.

ETA: Here they are. In the interest of saving time, as well as my index finger, I refrained from making as many caps as I would've liked. I should just create a mini-movie of my favorite scenes, but I'm too lazy. Anyway...click the "read more" link(down, at the left) to see the caps.

Out of Control(2003)

I used to compulsively watch this movie when I first got it a couple of years ago. I haven't viewed it in a while, so certain plot details have escaped my memory, but I do recall the following: Ritesh Deshmukh plays Jimmy, a Punjabi immigrant working as a cab driver in New York. He meets an aspiring singer and Bollywood fan named Sally(Brande Roderick). His visa is about to expire, and he can't find a US sponsor, so he's going to have to leave the country. Sally suggests that the two of them get married so that he can remain in America. He's reluctant at first but eventually agrees. Everything is fine until he returns home(I forget why) and his family gets him married to a local girl, Richa(Hrishitaa Bhatt). When Jimmy's father and Indian bride come to New York, that's when things get really "out of control"(hahaha). Jimmy goes crazy, figuratively speaking, trying to lead a double life and not get caught. In the end--**SPOILER ALERT**--Sally gives up Jimmy so that he can stay married to Richa.

Initially, I was prepared to hate Brande, but she came across as so sweet and harmless that I couldn't help but like her. Her acting was kind of awful, and her "Hinglish", while cute, was grating; still, I felt she was a better choice than Pam Anderson who, supposedly, was the producers' first pick. I wouldn't have minded if Brande and Ritesh had remained together at the end. I never thought I would say that about a gori leading lady, but there ya go. And here's another rarity: I found Brande hot enough to be one of the few tow-headed exceptions to my "brunettes only" meme.

I would describe Out of Control as "pretty good, in a hilariously bad way". It's available from Nehaflix for $12, but I recommend waiting until it gets marked down to $7 or less.

There were four or five songs, I believe, but only two were memorable: "USA Vich LA" and "Tera Chandsa Ye Chehra".

Perhaps I should revisit this flick later tonight, Y/N?

Jay Jay(2003)

Somewhere along the line, I learned to hate Madhavan. Okay, maybe "hate" is too harsh a word. How about "strongly dislike"? Anyway, there was a time, long ago, when I actually liked him. But now, for reasons unknown, I can't stand him, as evidenced by my inability to make it past the first few minutes of this flick. Every time I try to watch it, I give up by the time this song starts. I can't believe this is the same Madhavan I found attractive in Priyasaki. I can be so fickle with my affections, sometimes. **sigh**

Back in the day, I wanted to see this solely because of Nisha Kothari. It was her Tamil debut, and as I mentioned in this post, I have a "thing" about watching the screen debuts of the actors I like. At that time, however, the Tamil DVD wasn't in stock, so I bought the dubbed Telugu version and never watched it.

Fast forward to about two months ago when the Tamil original was available from bhavani. I ordered it, this time because of my newfound crush on Pooja Umashankar. Too bad I didn't stick around long enough to see her. If I ever decide to give Jay Jay another chance, I'll have to skip ahead to her scenes. Until then, this movie will languish in the "waste of money" pile.

Anjalika(2005)

Pooja Umashankar's Sinhala debut in which she plays a dual role as the title character and her lookalike, Uththara. I became interested in seeing this after reading about it on Pooja's Wikipedia page. The VCD appears to be available from the same site I discovered a few months ago while searching for an online source for Sinhala movies. The plot sounds like a 90s Bollywood flick, which isn't necessarily a negative, provided it falls into either the "awesomely bad" or "watchable timepass" category. (For some reason, I think it's the latter.)

Chamitha Kuruppu of the Sunday Observer online was very complimentary towards Pooja:

"...All the credit goes to pretty Pooja Umashankar from India who portrays the title character Anjalika. The film will no doubt be a commercial hit, thanks to Pooja's brilliant acting, superb dancing skills and of course her gorgeous looks. Young Pooja's performance as mischievous Anjalika living a carefree life hanging around with children in a village, deserves all the praise. Applause to you Channa for your sweet and worthy 'introduction' to the Sinhala cinema!..."

S.V. Fernando, on the other hand, was less than impressed:

"...Pooja Umashankar is clearly out of her element as Anjalika...why would you hire a foreign actress who cannot speak a word of Sinhala to play a Sinhalese village girl and then hire a Sri Lankan actress (Nadeesha Hemamali) to voice/dub the dialogue of the first actress?...The 'role of Anjalika' should have been given to the 'voice of Anjalika' Nadeesha Hemamali, this would have alleviated a considerable expenditure in the budget and also would have improved the film entirely."

Songs I found on YouTube: "Payana Era" and "Pamawee Pipunu Mal". Pooja looks gorgeous, which could possibly make up for any flaws the film may have. Then again, not even Sada's pulchritude could force me to watch Pranam beyond the first half-hour. **shrug** Oh, well. I'll try to check it out later tonight or tomorrow, and if I like it enough, I might order the VCD.

Unrelated: I typed the magic words "taking a break" and suddenly, I feel inspired to start posting again. It never fails.