lesbiassparrow: (Default)
I just don't know what to say about this film, it's that bloody amazing. It's the sort of film you show people when they say Bollywood is all silliness and dancing and singing and nothing under the surface. Because this is the film that gives the lie to that.

This is a Bollywood version of Othello, so its subject matter is not what you would call cheery and the slow slide towards the end is just horrible to watch. The film has switched the locale to Utar Pradesh; Omkara (Othello) is a half-caste gangster working for a politician who has just been promoted leaving the inevitable power vacuum of his own successor. Like Othello he passes over the Iago character (Langda) to his own undoing. I don't think there's a perfomance that is offkey here, but Saif Ali Khan owns this film as the villainous Langda; I am not sure I'll ever see him in the same way again. The only problem with this film is that it is so depressing that I will not be able to watch it again - it's even more depressing than the play. It now joins Devdas in the category of 'films which blew me away but cannot ever be seen again for fear I will never recover from the depression.'

ETA: Yep, the more I think about it, the more depressing the film becomes. I don't know - I guess there is something about updating the setting of Shakespearean tragedies which makes them even more heart-wrenching?

ETA 2: But the DVD of this film reminded me that I really hate Eros' tendency to make it near impossible to get to watch the film without sitting through hours of ads for their products. Feck off! I paid good money for the DVD - I don't want to have to sit through silly ad after ad.
lesbiassparrow: (Default)
According to Nehaflix, Omkara, a Bollywood version of Othello, is already out on DVD. So, of course, I ordered it. But so I wouldn't feel absolutely suicidal after watching it I also bought Hum Tum at the same time (plus the soundtrack from KANK). It should be interesting seeing Saif Ali Khan go from being an evil plotter to being the lead in a romantic comedy.

KANK is playing today in Pasadena; I am wondering what are the chances of me staying awake long enough to make a second trip to see it, given that I woke up at 3 am for some strange reason and did not go back to sleep.

ETA: And HBO obviously wear pirate hats when they price their series; what the hell is the deal with the cost of Rome on DVD? I don't care what extras you are giving, that's an outrageous price for a series that short. They might as well be the BBC for the prices they slap on their stuff.

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lesbiassparrow

August 2011

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