my top 5 filmi songs of 2010

Its the last day and last blog post of the year, so sending it off and welcoming the new year with a song or 5 is in good form. I've included songs here that I listen to all the time, and favorites may be a bit different. Note that I tend to like happy-peppy songs- no gentle/romantic/weepy numbers here :)

Munni Badnam Hui (Dabangg)

I dance around at home all the time, and this is how I dance around at home usually- Salman's moves. Honestly, my husband saw the movie and was surprised at how Salman knew my steps exactly :D

Keda Keda (Raavanan)

Hated the Hindi lyrics to this song, but the Tamil sounds good, and I'm hoping its better than the Hindi. Besides, this is my favorite choreography this year. So short, but Vikram and Priyamani's chemistry shines.

Beera (Raavanan)
What else? Beera forever!

He's a good looking ullu da pattha (Tere Bin Laaden)

What a fun movie, and what a fun song!

Gal meethi meethi bol

OK this is AS romantic as I can get. Teeny bit romantic, but very happy-peppy. And Abhay with twinkling dimples- eeps!

Happy new year everyone!

my top 5 Bollywood films of 2010

OK I'm SURE I will get tons of brickbats for these, but keep in mind these are MY fav 5. You are bound to, and should, disagree!

Tere Bin Laaden

Its a celebration of the spirit of "Jugaad" (the ability to make something out of nothing). Also, I truly believe that when we are able to reduce terrorists to buffoons and laugh at them, then we win over terrorism. A little film that could, and did!

Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge

A little reminder to retain our humanity and stay true to our cultural roots, in the middle of chaotic growth. Paresh is outstanding and deserves more such characters.

Well Done Abba

Love the message, the humor, the spirit. Sure, I still have a quibble over accents, but that doesn't hurt the spirit of the movie too much. Jayant Kriplani wrote the screenplay and Shyam Benegal executed this little gem, which Boman makes shine. I'm praying Benegal never looses this great ensemble cast he has used so effectively now for 2 movies. Here is my appreciation.

Rajneeti

Capturing the sheer canvas that this film encapsulates is an accomplishment by itself. To weave the Mahabharata, Gandhi-Nehru clan history, and the current Indian political scenario into a single movie sounds impossible, but Prakash Jha does it and does it well enough. Minor editing issues remain, but they are immaterial at best. I'd like to write about this soon.

Raavanan

I still haven't found a Tamil version of this that has English subtitles, but lack of language doesn't hamper anyone from appreciating this. I want to see more from Mani-Vikram-Rahman- is anyone listening??? Here is my appreciation.

my worst 5 films of 2010

Looking at the list, seems there were a heck of a lot of doozies last year, isn't it? Here are my top 5, in no particular order.

My Name is Khan
Movies shouldn't be made without sufficient research. Its easy to pick an emotion to base the film off of, but an entire production needs more legs than that. I am sure every immigrant and every family with a member who has special needs (my family has both, so yes, I feel the characters) could empathise with Shahrukh's character, but the very black and white portrayal of Americans is immensely cringe-worthy. And even 1/2 an hour of sensible research could have prevented this travesty that makes me want to tear my hair out.

Road, Movie
I should have just turned on the travel channel on silent and turn on some music. Oh fine, I am probably being too judgemental here (isn't that a surprise!), but I do expect more from a film that Abhay Deol chooses to star in. I felt all the characters, felt all their emotions, and empathised with everyone fully- but ended up feeling shortchanged regardless. BECAUSE I really love watching Abhay, I was all the more disappointed, and therefore hated this more than crappier movies that the year offered. Here's my rant.

Aisha
Poor Jane Austen must have turned over in her grave. No scratch that- she must be rolling and spinning in there. The movie was a poor copy of Clueless at best, and didn't even come close to the literary classic. Sonam needs daddy to buy her an acting coach, pronto. Here's my rant.



Veer
Dear lord. This was so bad that I couldn't even bring myself to write about it. Poor Mithun, Jackie, Neena- yikes! And I cannot believe Salman did this to himself! Also, if I ever meet the costume designer, I might just strangle them for the utter trash they spat out. Incidentally- what kind of a grandkid throws his centenarian grandpa into a water fountain?


Sadiyaan
Want to see folks in their 20s who look like they are in their teens? Want to see them try and fail badly at acting? Want to see really good actors like Rekha, Hema, Javed and Rishi try to salvage the sick mess created by those idiots? Here's my rant.

Now I will go and let my BP recover from the strain of remembering these fiascoes. Deep, steady breathing helps.

my top 5 Filmi ladies of 2010

I love being a woman, and identify with strong, sexy, womanly, fearless soul sisters. Here are my favorite ladies of 2010. Show us some love!

Priyamani in Raavan/Ravanan
Great bit of acting. She retained the character's sensibilities in both languages and did it brilliantly. I want to see her in more movies.

Sonakshi in Dabangg Finally, a young woman who doesn't look cookie cutter. She actually stood her ground in a movie filled with folks like Salman, Vinod, Dimple and Sonu- reason enough for her to be here. She gives me hope.

Dimple in Dabangg So urbane in her real life persona, and yet so perfect in a very rural character. I was probably just really happy to see her, and for that reason, she is on my list!








Malaika in Dabangg
Can you be a mom in your late 30s and dance like that ? Since most of us couldn't (or shouldn't) I have her on this list.

Vidya in Ishkiya Hot, earthy, strong and so very very deliberate. Unarguable.

My top 5 filmi men of 2010

'Cos I ain't looking at the women (not much anyway), and what would movies be without these hunks? Note that I say "filmi" men, for beauty isn't restricted to Bollywood...

Salman in Dabangg - I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't as impressed by this as I was by Wanted (2009). Dabangg lacked cohesive editing because of its sheer need to focus on Salman all the time- which really shouldn't be much cause to complain....






Arjun in Rajneeti - Really! and how! in the minute just before he does who-knows-what with Shruti Seth, the gleam in is eyes is so maniacal to the extreme- I could finally accept Arjun as an actor. Huge achievement. His face is finally mobile, and I am super happy to know it.

Sonu Sood in Dabangg - Lurve. He was born to act out Chedi Singh, a perfect mix of buffoonery and villainy. I don't believe anyone else could replace him in that character, and for that, he is pretty brilliant in my eyes.

Rajni in Robot/Endhiran - You have to bow to star power like that. No two ways about it.

Vikram in Ravanan - You knew this was coming, right? I'll always love Ravanan for making me a Vikram fan. And he is so brilliant in this movie, that a friend who I made watch Ravanan actually forgot his terrible experience of the Hindi Raavan after seeing Vikram being Beera. I'd love to cheat and add all the other Vikram movies I caught up on after watching this, but it wouldn't be fair....so I am holding myself back!

And that folks, are my top filmi men of 2010- who do you love?

I'm a very filmi secret santa

My gift to Kaali Kaali Ankhein (@ Tollywood Na Guru-Gaaru. Enjoy!