Thursday, March 15, 2007

300

If Manoj Kumar made a movie about Prithviraj Chauhan starring Sunny Deol, it would be like 300.

Except they probably would not depict Muhammad Ghori as an eight foot giant of ambiguous sexuality.

There's a lot of discussion on the web about the politics of the movie. No one seems to be surprised by how breathtakingly inane the screenplay is. I mean, we do call comics 'graphic novels' now, don't we. And Frank Miller is supposed to be some kind of graphic novel god.

Yes I know, its just an action movie and not supposed to be taken seriously. Someone should have told the director that.

PS: Sneaking suspicion: Am I getting too old for this kind of stuff?

19 comments:

musical said...

God!

its Amazing sbkt, i though about Sunny Deol too :)). each time i looked at the posters, i was like Sunny Deol hi hai ;). kinda' Gadar like look!! and i agree about the Ghori bit-haven't seen the movie, but the promos are enough to keep me off it!

"Am I getting too old for this kind of stuff?"

he he, aging is all in the mind ;). and by the yard-stick for aging you are talking about, if you claim to be old, then i must be from another era :)).

sbkt said...

"each time i looked at the posters, i was like Sunny Deol hi hai ;). kinda' Gadar like look!!"
ha ha,yes, I was thinking of Ghadar too...

"he he, aging is all in the mind ;)."
This is the good kind of aging. I hope I've learnt my lesson, and don't go rushing the next time they come out with some dumb special effects action movie.

Anonymous said...

Suru!.....yeah! if you go rushing you lose 8$!....

ur end is as spectacular as Achilles..


Avleen

sbkt said...

"if you go rushing you lose 8$!"

haha...when u talk prudence...somehow it doesn't work...

Anang said...

Looking at Xerxes, all I could think of was Hai Huku Hai Huku Hai hai Suneil "Diddy" Shetty.

Which wouldn't be a bad idea. Sunny against Suneil.
Still, only the combined powers of Border and Gadar could match the awesomeness of 300.

Anonymous said...

Hello. I stumbled upon your blog from another desi blog, I believe, and just thought that I would leave a comment about how very much I enjoy reading your posts. They make me smile!

sbkt said...

Thanks, 'anonymous', for the thumbs-up. It feels good. :)

The Aimless Vagrant said...

Quite correct. An absolutely inane movie. And there was not even a heroic depiction of the Spartan valour - it all looked so mindbogglingly idiotic

sbkt said...

"Quite correct. An absolutely inane movie. And there was not even a heroic depiction of the Spartan valour - it all looked so mindbogglingly idiotic"

Ya seriously. Hwd is getting stupider by the year. Bwd doesn't need to try to catch up with Hwd anymore. We just need to wait and give them a few years: they'll catch up with us.

musical said...

Grrrrrrrr, sbkt :).

Bwd isn't that pretentious ;)

sbkt said...

"Bwd isn't that pretentious ;)"

:-D. Ok, i agree. At least Bwd is honest about what they are.

djdrrrtypoonjabi said...

What's wrong with Manoj Kumar? I haven't seen his films but they have been recommended to me highly.

Great write-up otherwise, you just saved me $9.50.

sbkt said...

"What's wrong with Manoj Kumar? I haven't seen his films but they have been recommended to me highly."

Um DJDP, I guess his earlier movies are okay, but his later ones are uber-patriotic: his isn't a v subtle soul.
If I had to pick a good Manoj Kumar movie, I guess I'd pick Upkaar.

"Great write-up otherwise, you just saved me $9.50."
Glad to be of service :).

djdrrrtypoonjabi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
djdrrrtypoonjabi said...

The only work of his that I've seen is a music video of a Bollywood song from "Shor," I believe. I don't remember much other than it deviated from the usual singing-and-dancing boy-and-girl-deeply-in-love fanfare.
I was compelled to buy a copy of "Shaheed" but haven't popped it in yet. Have you seen either?

4:04 PM

sbkt said...

Haven't seen Shor but yes, Shaheed is a v good movie. I remember you referenced Bhagat Singh on SM. I'd strongly recommmend Rajkumar Santoshi's 'The Legend of Bhagat Singh' (if by some freak chance you haven't seen it already).

djdrrrtypoonjabi said...

Actually, I have not seen "The Legend of Bhagat Singh." As shocking as it may seem to you, I've only seen perhaps 10 - 15 Bollywood movies in my life, and the number of those I've seen in its entirety drops even lower. (And after watching the entire 3+ hours Bollywood "Fight Club" disaster, I may never seen another one again. It was that freakin' unbearable.)

I'm glad to know you have respect for M. Kumar, even if its for his older stuff. He may not have been a subtle soul (not that I can judge without seeing his work first) but hey: since when was subtlety a common motif in Indian cinema? @=)

BTw, have you heard the new Jagjit Singh album yet? I recall us discussing him in a thread about Deep Purple a while back.

sbkt said...

"He may not have been a subtle soul (not that I can judge without seeing his work first) but hey: since when was subtlety a common motif in Indian cinema? @=)"
haha. Yes, I agree. But there's some really good non-over-the-top movies by directors like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Vijay Anand, Bimal Roy, which I'd recommend before Manoj Kumar.

"BTw, have you heard the new Jagjit Singh album yet?"
Haven't. His last few albums were so disappointing and the ghazal choices were atrocious. I have a feeling his best work is behind him.

Hey, you are the right guy to ask this. Do you know of any good Indian fusion bands? I am totally blown by Indian Ocean, but haven't been able to find other bands with a similar sound.

Anonymous said...

Manoj Kumar was highly overated star.
Back when i was 10, i saw poorab aur paschim and i thought WTF
& what made it worse was most kids my age didnt get it/didnt care about the bhagwan-awful-smugness


At least Sunny did appear in Narsimhan where they had a lousy tattoo of a Lion on his Arm and did get pillared.

GuruGulabKhatri