This and That (Share your thoughts/inquiries about movies)

[ravenus]

Yesterday me and a friend met Mr. Aniruddha (Ajay) Agarwal who played the monster characters in the Ramsay classics Bandh Darwaza and Purana Mandir. He's pushing 70 now, and age and illness have taken a toll, but still a soft-spoken thorough gentleman who was happy to meet his fans. My friend has recently started a line of officially licensed merchandise based on horror movies, including those of the Ramsays, and he wanted to present Bandh Darwaza related merchandise to Mr. Agarwal as tokens of appreciation. The picture also shows me wearing a sample copy of the upcoming Purana Mandir t-shirt.

Anyone interested in the merchandise: Bollywood Crypt Store

[Dragun]

If they ship to the US, I'm getting a Purana Mandir shirt.

[ravenus]

The default Instamojo Store is India-only, but if you like anything in their catalog, my friend will do worldwide shipping for payments made through Paypal.

[Dragun]

Bunny Reuben wrote a book called The Shalimar Adventure, about the making of Krishna Shah's expensive flop Shalimar. Here is an online version of it. It must be long OOP. Looking forward to reading it.

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet...115246/page/n1

[ravenus]

Thanks. I recall once reading a long print article on the making of Shalimar, which was pretty interesting. This link below is a different article but interesting historically, especially because it was published some months prior to the film's release:
https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/s...813-2014-10-13

[prepress]

Seriously??? This website has almost all the latest movies on Blu-ray which are not even in the news to release its DVD.

https://www.movieskart.in/product-category/bollywood/

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by prepress

Seriously??? This website has almost all the latest movies on Blu-ray which are not even in the news to release its DVD.

https://www.movieskart.in/product-category/bollywood/

I think this site has been discussed before. I recall some member saying that they send pirated BD-R's of HD stream rips.

[ravenus]

I assume at least some of you folks here have heard that the makers of this late 90's Tamil potboiler called Minsara Kanna (Lightning eyes?) have accused the team behind Bong Joon-Ho's Oscar-dominating Parasite of being inspired by his film. Apart from the extremely unlikely possibility that these Koreans have seen this flop 1999 Tamil movie which was critically drubbed on release, the wikipedia plot summary suggests a Ghar Jamai meets Bawarchi sort of film essentially devoted to glorifying stupid stereotypes and asinine comedy.

Probably just looking to make some news waves and gain traction for satellite / streaming rights for an otherwise buried property.

[bhaskar1981]

Originally Posted by ravenus

I assume at least some of you folks here have heard that the makers of this late 90's Tamil potboiler called Minsara Kanna (Lightning eyes?) have accused the team behind Bong Joon-Ho's Oscar-dominating Parasite of being inspired by his film. Apart from the extremely unlikely possibility that these Koreans have seen this flop 1999 Tamil movie which was critically drubbed on release, the wikipedia plot summary suggests a Ghar Jamai meets Bawarchi sort of film essentially devoted to glorifying stupid stereotypes and asinine comedy.

Probably just looking to make some news waves and gain traction for satellite / streaming rights for an otherwise buried property.

But someone at Amazon Prime Video has been paying attention to this news.............as they have just released Minsara Kanna on the site!!!

[mrbrat_Boy]

Originally Posted by ravenus

I assume at least some of you folks here have heard that the makers of this late 90's Tamil potboiler called Minsara Kanna (Lightning eyes?) have accused the team behind Bong Joon-Ho's Oscar-dominating Parasite of being inspired by his film. Apart from the extremely unlikely possibility that these Koreans have seen this flop 1999 Tamil movie which was critically drubbed on release, the wikipedia plot summary suggests a Ghar Jamai meets Bawarchi sort of film essentially devoted to glorifying stupid stereotypes and asinine comedy.

Probably just looking to make some news waves and gain traction for satellite / streaming rights for an otherwise buried property.

Anything for publicity, It took the film to win an award before they 'realised' this, lol.

[kaykaysud]

Originally Posted by ravenus

I assume at least some of you folks here have heard that the makers of this late 90's Tamil potboiler called Minsara Kanna (Lightning eyes?) have accused the team behind Bong Joon-Ho's Oscar-dominating Parasite of being inspired by his film. Apart from the extremely unlikely possibility that these Koreans have seen this flop 1999 Tamil movie which was critically drubbed on release, the wikipedia plot summary suggests a Ghar Jamai meets Bawarchi sort of film essentially devoted to glorifying stupid stereotypes and asinine comedy.

Probably just looking to make some news waves and gain traction for satellite / streaming rights for an otherwise buried property.

Whoa... We are once again at the "Avatar copied from Vietnam Colony" scenario.

[ravenus]

My friend who started the Bollywood Crypt merchandise label has recently released some new tees based on the license he has with the Ramsays. The Purana Mandir (Scarlet) tee also has a killer back-side design showing the monster's head in its casket.

Folks in India can order directly from here: https://www.instamojo.com/bollywoodcrypt/

Sadly post-lockdown, economical international shipping out of India seems to be still unavailable (and it's frustrating him no end), but interested folks please keep an eye out, and let me know if you want a heads-up when he can ship stuff out.

[ravenus]

Also wanted to share this:
There's the little fact that yours truly worked on editing this into shape, but even otherwise this is a fun interview piece conducted by my good friend Sandesh Shenoy and Deepak Ramsay is a friendly and articulate guest who provides some fascinating answers that will whet the curiosity of genre fans. Check it out when you can and give your feedback.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnwb...ature=youtu.be

[raghuuvir]

The present time allows for unrestrained voicing of a lot of unpopular opinions, which would otherwise have given rise to personal unrest. Families, social circles, etc. tend to ridicule an opinion that is not in sync with the consensus. People on the internet have been voicing these so much, that it is almost trendy to present your personal 'unpopular opinions'. I felt that unpopular opinions of the Golden Era of Bollywood would be interesting to talk of. Read at your own peril.

Some of my unpopular opinions:-

1) Most leading ladies of the 1950s/1960s/1970s were stunningly beautiful, beyond compare. Sadly, I wouldn't say the same for any of our golden age heroes. (talking of looks alone)
2) The debate of who the better singer between Lata and Asha was, is endless, and I do not think that in a very long time will anybody reach a conclusion to this. However, I would, any day, choose Lata Mangeshkar's voice. I must say, Ashaji shows great versatility. But for me, that is where my praise for her singing ends. I prefer the honey glazed innocence of Lataji over the metallic undertone that Asha's voice can sometimes emit. Late 70s onward, the situation became inverse. Ashaji began to outshine Lataji.
3) Salil Chowdhury, Naushad, C. Ramachandra and Madan Mohan deserve much, much more acclaim than they have ever received. In popular culture, not more than one or two albums of each of these singers have been imprinted in the hall of fame sections of history books. It is such a shame. These music directors are at least one league above the likes of Shankar-Jaikishan, R.D. Burman, Kalyanji-Anandjii and Lakshmikant-Pyarelal. The latter crop of composers receives so much more acclaim than the previous crop.
4) The action-era Amitabh Bachchan never fascinated me. The hype is beyond my comprehension. I would wish for a great artist to have a better-layered craft.
5) In my eyes, Lata Mangeshkar in her twenties was really good-looking and beautiful. I find myself wishing that there was a parallel universe where she had given a hand at acting with a glamorized persona. With the correct grooming, she sure as hell would have equalled the top heroines of yore.
6) Hardly any films in the color era showed even bordering excellence in their cinematography. At best, I could say that they were often very workmanlike. The potential was there, as can be witnessed in the B/W era which set the bar so high for cinematography and photography. In the later years, everything seemed to have become commercial-oriented. Speed was the essence.
7) I wish feminism had awakened in the golden era. I would have loved to see Nutan, Waheeda Rehman, Asha Parekh and other women of the sect to play something beyond the archetypal Bhabhi/Mummyji characters. All of these women aged so gracefully. Can you imagine them as independent, clerical figures in film? I can.
8) Sharmila Tagore is an overrated actress. I find her annoying. Alas, she has amazing films to her credit. Only if someone else had essayed the character of Vandana in Aradhana.
9) Ameeta and Jabeen Jalil are actresses who deserved to ascend heights which they had perhaps only dreamed of. Box office failures of their films really took a toll on their image.
10) I once read a YouTube comment which said that Simi Garewal was not a great actress. I fully agree with that.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by raghuuvir

The present time allows for unrestrained voicing of a lot of unpopular opinions, which would otherwise have given rise to personal unrest.

Haha, compared to this provocative prologue most of your opinions are quite polite.

1) Most leading ladies of the 1950s/1960s/1970s were stunningly beautiful, beyond compare. Sadly, I wouldn't say the same for any of our golden age heroes. (talking of looks alone)

The 50's had some lovely beauties, but the 60's onwards there was a great push towards having ridiculously excessive pancake make-up and fake eyelashes that touched the ceiling. Saira Banu was an annoying git and I couldn't help laughing out loud when an uncle of mine referred to Vyajayanthimala in Sangam as "Red Monkey". For me, the 70's were better than the 60's as you had the entry of more fitness conscious people like Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi. With respect to males, I thought Shammi Kapoor (before he grew podgy) and Biswajeet looked good. Rajendra Kumar and Joy Mukherji were eye-sores whose popularity eluded me. Amitabh Bachchan I thought had a great style and I loved his looks in Don, Great Gambler, Dostana etc, and Vinod Khanna set many hearts aflutter in his golden era.

3) Salil Chowdhury, Naushad, C. Ramachandra and Madan Mohan deserve much, much more acclaim than they have ever received. In popular culture, not more than one or two albums of each of these singers have been imprinted in the hall of fame sections of history books. It is such a shame. These music directors are at least one league above the likes of Shankar-Jaikishan, R.D. Burman, Kalyanji-Anandjii and Lakshmikant-Pyarelal. The latter crop of composers receives so much more acclaim than the previous crop.

Let's just say that what's good / innovative and what's popular are not necessarily the same. The first set of musicians were generally regarded as the favorites of music conoisseurs, but you can't put a gun to people's heads and say "This music is better, you SHOULD like it more."

4) The action-era Amitabh Bachchan never fascinated me. The hype is beyond my comprehension. I would wish for a great artist to have a better-layered craft.

Amitabh was a great star as opposed to a versatile actor. When he got a decent role, like in Kala Patthar or Shakti or Main Azad Hoon he did a very good job IMO. Even terrible films like Sharaabi or a Namak Halal he sold by his charisma. I personally love the good movies of his action era.

5) In my eyes, Lata Mangeshkar in her twenties was really good-looking and beautiful. I find myself wishing that there was a parallel universe where she had given a hand at acting with a glamorized persona. With the correct grooming, she sure as hell would have equalled the top heroines of yore.

She was a great singer but she had a terrible speaking voice for the movies, as evidenced in the instances when she had to speak lines as part of a song, so I doubt this.

6) Hardly any films in the color era showed even bordering excellence in their cinematography. At best, I could say that they were often very workmanlike. The potential was there, as can be witnessed in the B/W era which set the bar so high for cinematography and photography. In the later years, everything seemed to have become commercial-oriented. Speed was the essence.

Ok this is just some random BS you are coming up with. Open your mind and check out the work that VK Murthy and Govind Nihalani did for Shyam Benegal, Dwarka Divecha on Sholay, KK Mahajan for Kumar Shahani's films and for Ramesh Sippy, Kay Gee's work for Yash Chopra, Jehangir Chaudhary for Ketan Mehta. In recent years check out the beautiful visuals in Vishal Bhardwaj's movies. And that's just Hindi movies. There's a lot of wonderfully composed visuals in Malayalam and Tamil color films of the 70's and 80's.

10) I once read a YouTube comment which said that Simi Garewal was not a great actress. I fully agree with that.

I don't think anyone ever said that SG was a great actress. She looked quite nice in the westernized manner, and she could be right for a part like the villainous Kamini in Karz, but she wasn't some powerhouse of talent or even popular appeal and her stint in the movies was short-lived.

[raghuuvir]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Ok this is just some random BS you are coming up with. Open your mind and check out the work that VK Murthy and Govind Nihalani did for Shyam Benegal, Dwarka Divecha on Sholay, KK Mahajan for Kumar Shahani's films and for Ramesh Sippy, Kay Gee's work for Yash Chopra, Jehangir Chaudhary for Ketan Mehta. In recent years check out the beautiful visuals in Vishal Bhardwaj's movies. And that's just Hindi movies. There's a lot of wonderfully composed visuals in Malayalam and Tamil color films of the 70's and 80's.

Sure, those who were serious about their art did follow through. The ones working for serious cinema especially did lens some awe-striking frames. My comments were especially for mainstream movies of the 60s and 70s, since I was discussing that period in my original post. You know; movies of Raj Khosla, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, J Om Prakash, FC Mehra, et al. My error, I should have been more precise. Time and again would appear the movies of Sippy, Yash Chopra which also looked great; but wouldn't they be one or two among the many other plainly shot films; say within just the span of one year or so?

[ravenus]

^But the same applies to the B&W films of the 40's and 50's. Not everyone was a Guru Dutt making a Kagaz Ke Phool or a Bimal Roy making a Bandini. There are many stagey flat-lit mainstream movies from that period, it is just that we tend to remember the ones that stood the test of time.