Bollywood

As you can probably tell from the last few movies I've seen, I've had quite an obsession with Bollywood movies. I don't know why, though. Generally, the movies I've seen are horrible. I keep trying to figure out how/why they're so huge in India, and hyped in the press as taking aim at Hollywood. I mean, have you ever seen a Bollywood film? One star I've grown strangely fond of is Shahrukh Khan, even though he's the sappiest of all.

I've seen movies from the past ten years that he's starred in, and I can't get over a disturbing Scott Baio vibe he gives me, yet somehow, he's irresistible. His signature scenes include ridiculously windy indoor hair, quivering head signifying intense emotion, and huge huge tears welling up in his eyes in almost every scene. Barf! Must.keep.watching.

Other unmistakably Bollywood scenes include full-blown choreographed musicals out of nowhere, mismatched sound effects, dancing in the rain with saris, massive massive product placements for brands like Nautica, and Polo, and frustrating lack of passion.

I have to give Bollywood credit. I assume there are cetain scenes I don't understand due to cultural barriers. For example, I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for this disturbing scene starring Amitabh Bachchan, the godfather of Bollywood movies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck77d3joH6I&NR=1

It's from the movie Sholay, which I watched for almost three hours, wondering "Why?" the whole time. Sort of like watching Magnum P.I. -- you just want to see how crazy it will get, but it never gets as crazy as you hope. (By the way, if you checked out Bachchan's wiki, that's actually what he looks like -- with the white goatee and dyed hair).

Apparently, the mob runs Bollywood:
Bollywood Bummer.



-dr-