Dhoom 2: Bollywood or Not Bollywood?

Dhoom 2 is one of the most successful movies in 2006. It has attracted the attention of the box offices of home and abroad. Some people feel that Dhoom 2 is a landmark in Hindi movie. They believe that this movie has successfully come out of the typical Bollywood movies and has presented something new to the audience.

Manjula Negi wrote:

With Dhoom2, the Hindi film industry has become truly international.

'Tis true that a swallow makes not a spring and then again, there is no denying that it heralds the beginning of a lovely season anyway. Likewise, there is nothing that spells 'Regular' or 'Bollywood' when it comes to Sanjay Gadhvi's Dhoom 2 — whether when you talk of the stars, their hairstyles, the accents (including a liberal sprinkling of the Queen's language) the acting, the stunts, locations (barring a few Film City or indoor studio sets), treatment or even more importantly — content. You also can't miss out on the song and dance, which is so integral to a Hindi film. They spell anything but....

Well, I do not agree with this view totally. Yes, Dhoom 2 is a bit different than many other Hindi movies but it has not broken away from Bollywood style totally. It is just another Bollywood movie.

Bollywood in USA: Hindi Movies are More Popular than Spanish Movies!

2006 has been a great year for Bollywood movies in the US. Bollywood mnovies emerged as the most popular foreign language movies in the US in 2006. Hindi movies are even more popular than Spanish movies!

Hindustan Times reported:

It has been a record-breaking year for Hindi films at the US box office in 2006.

Of the 14 foreign language films that have grossed over $2 million this year, a stunning seven have been in Hindi.

No other language has come close to contributing so many box office hits to the list. Spanish, despite being spoken by millions of more Americans, trails far behind as the next most popular foreign language at the US box office with only two films above the $2 million benchmark this year.

The industry has never seen more than two Hindi films surpass this box office level in the same year.

The seven hits of 2006 easily shattered the previous record and showed immense growth for Bollywood films in the US.

It sounds unbelievable to me. Spanish is the second language in US. Hindi is not even among the top ten languages there. So, you can understand that Bollywood movies are attracting a lot of Indians and Americans in USA.

Bhagam Bhag: Official Movie Site

Bhagam Bhag is going to be released on 22 December. So, many fans are eagerly expecting to enjoy this movie in cinema halls across India. Naturally, many people will search about the movie and its different aspects in Internet. So, I browsed through the net myself and took a look at the official movie site of Bhagam Bhag. The address of the website is:

http://www.bhagambhagthefilm.com

The use of flash has made the website attractive. You can read the story of the movie. You can also know about the cast and crews. In the gallery section, you can find some cool images. You can also download screensaver, posters and wallpapers from the website. Of course, to enjoy the trailer you should have a good internet connection.

Finally, in the media section, you can listen to some music and also enjoy the trailer. I liked the website and its content. I liked the professional attitude in making the website.

So, visit the official website and enjoy the goodies.

Review of Vivah: A Challenge for Sooraj Barjatya

Sooraj Barjatya is a famous Director of making marriage and family movie. He is expert in making these kinds of movies. Recently, his new movie “Vivah” has been released. In this movie, Shahid Kapoor is the hero. He plays as city called Prem. He is a bachelor and is graduated and has joined to his father’s business.

Amrita Rao is the heroine who plays as a simple girl called Poonam. She is a charming, beautiful and simple girl at a small town, where people spend their lives in different way.

Prem’s family liked Poonam as their would be daughter-in-law. They wanted to select Poonam for Prem. In this way, the story of movie starts and goes on by those people.

Image Link: Vivah

The director Sooraj Barjatya wanted to show a journey from engagement to marriage. In this movie, he has showed a relationship between couples. After their engagement a good relationship came between two families. Also, the boy and girl started feeling love.

Day after day, this relationship became stronger and they felt for each other. At the end of the movie, something terrible happened but Prem who loved his beloved too much, agreed to marry to his fiancée who was burnt by fire accidentally.

This is a simple movie with a simple story but, its presentation is nice. The director has showed the relationship between a boy and a girl, relationships between two families and people who are joined together through the marriage.

I watched this movie and liked it. It is a nice romantic movie. I liked all the characters. Prem’s father and sister-in-law were friendly with him. Poonam’s father is a caring man and her younger sister is also a friend of hers. They all enjoyed this marriage ceremony. A good personality has been showed through these characters. I like and wish that I could enjoy the marriage ceremony of my cousins but I rarely get this chance. For this reason, I really like this movie. Another matter is that I like honesty and relationship growth between two persons who got married and led their couple life together. It is really necessary that those people who get married, they should love each other. They should have love, respect and faith to each other. These things make a relationship strong. Another matter is that the system of marriage and the custom you can see in this movie or the value and importance of marriage you can touch in this movie is much similar to South sian system. These factors are really enjoyable for me.

Although we know that film is a sort of social movie but this movie is not totally fit to real life. In this film, it is shown that the bride groom accepts to marry the bride who was burnt by fire but, in real life, it is impossible to think of this kind of love. It showed real and true love to his fiancée and nothing could destroy his love and his feeling to her.

In the end, this movie is a good and family movie. The director Sooraj Barjatya makes always family movies, which is entertain all ages. I like this movie but we should see what kind of response and reaction Indian audience will show to this movie.

For Sooraj Barjatya, Vivah is a great challenge. The success of this movie will show if he is a talented director and can understand the feeling of Indian viewers. I am quoting some sentences from his interview with Rediff.com:

How will you connect Vivah to younger viewers?

I am going by my instincts. The courtship ritual is something we have gone through. I'm not targeting the film at any specific audience. Today, audiences are educated and aware. They are willing to give any genre a chance as long as the sincerity and sensibility of the filmmaker shine through. The minute you try to do something that's for the man in Patna or Pune, you are being dishonest. I can't ask my assistants if I'm going right with a shot or a film. Finally I have to take a decision.

Appreciation from the audience is very important. Our last three films taught me the importance of budget -- we spent way too much money in MPKDH. I also realised the importance of the Rajshri dictum -- pyar ki oochaaniyan rishton ki gehraayiyan. These qualities were missing in our recent films. We went wrong in choosing subjects.

Time will tell if he is still the man to create emotion among the viewers.

Tag: Bollywood

Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) is not exactly the best film festival in the world. I wonder how many people even know that DIFF exists. However, Dubai is where the money is. So, Kabul Express is there for glamour. 7 Days reported:

‘Kabul Express’, which had its gala screening at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) last night, is a remarkable film on several levels. For a start, it’s a Bollywood film without any music, singing or dancing. It was directed by a man more famous for making documentaries, it was the first feature film to be shot in Afghanistan post 9/11 and was completed in just 45 days, oh and the big name stars appearing in the epic had the Taliban after them.

Kabul Express has already won the heart of many people in Dubai. Now, let us if it becomes successful in India itself.

Widow Remarriage: The Next Big Theme in Bollywood!

Hindustan Times has a report titled When Bollywood pauses for a cause. Princy Jain has reported about a noble effort from Bollywood directors to promote the issue of widow remarriage. This is a sensitive issue among Hindus in India and not everyone is happy with this idea. Princy Jain wrote:

Stalwarts like Raj Kapoor, Yash Chopra, Rituparno Ghosh, Deepa Mehta, Ravi Chopra and Kunal Kohli, all have tried to address this sensitive issue on the big screen.

The latest in this direction is Ravi Chopra’s Baabul, and the film’s success reiterates the fact that cinema is much more than just naach-gana.

Interestingly with the passage of time, the treatment given to the issue has changed.

I am happy for this matter. It is good that Bollywood directors are becoming serious about this social issue. Well, on the other hand, I am just worried that Bollywood directors do not make this matter a source of earning money and use this theme in many movies to create controversy and get more people to come to the cinema. In that case, Bollywood would only harm to the Indian women.