Old Is Gold - Now It All Makes Sense

Like all teenagers, I was huge movie buff those days. I would watch and read anything and everything Bollywood. And I was blessed with a dad who fed my addiction with latest magazines every month without fail. My mom would comment sarcastically, 'your latest course book is here', and I will spend every minute reading up my 'course book'. 

Growing up, we spent most weekends watching reruns of dad's favourite oldies. And by the miracle of VCR, my dad was able to record and play and replay and replay of the replay all of his favourite songs, be it Brahmachari or Junglee style. Sometimes it was Love In Tokyo, at others Evening In Paris. We even went Around The World and back. There was a dude whose name was Joker, and Bobby was a boy totally in love. And how about Sangam, the classic story of a best friend stealing your girlfriend.

Ever since being married and becoming a parent soon after, all this interest just faded off, and I only keep up with the general updates. Otherwise most of the time, being the sinister know-it-all, I just brush off most news or gossips as publicity stunts or whatever kind of thing.

During the late 90s, Bollywood had romance back with a bang, in NRI style, mostly. And as time went on the trend slowly changed into what it is now. Typical masala formula films. Masala means a number of spice mixtures ground into a paste or powder for use in Indian cooking. Likewise a masala formula movie means, all flavours of romance, comedy and action put together into one film. 

It is the age of masala films, alright. At the same time the songs have evolved into an unexplainable state that it makes our senses numb and confused if we are meant to feel romance, comedy or action?

In the late 90s, this is how Bollywood expressed love

Now, it is with Gandi Baat (Dirty Talk)

Dirty indeed. Shahid Kapur's look is on the dirty side. I suggest he take some pointers from Ranveer Singh to brush off dandruff/fleas/dry scalp off his uncut hair.

The late 90s partied with love triangle such:

Now its not just a party, but a Hookah Bar party!

Remember the evergreen song?

The makers have come up with Ishqyaun Dishqyaun

However thanks to several non formulaic movies/songs, there are still few non-masala flavours for snobs like myself.

And at times, when I happen to hear my dad's favourite here and there, I think to myself, it is not so bad after all. If I never had overdose of it those days, it could have remained a favourite today.

Here are some that have earned my liking.

These days my kids have no problem watching the occasional Bollywood movies with us, singing to the tune of Challa  and dancing to Desi Boys and Main Senti but there will be a time when he thinks Challa is outdated and Chammak Challo is old fashioned. Heck, I did not even spell Desi Boys with a 'z'. 

This is the current favourite for the new age boys.

Old is Gold indeed. Including the 90s. And yet, I am not that old, or so I'd like to think.

Who Run the World

SO asks Beyonce in her latest single, chorus later shout 'GIRLS'. Admittedly Beyonce is a very strong female figure in the entertainment business. From the Forbes ranking shown in Channel E, she makes the most money among all female singers, even the accumulated income of husband Jay-Z and hers make it to the top of the list. I suspect she might even be making more than him, and why not, she deserves it with her hardwork and versatility in the entertainment and fashion industry. This quality of hers I truly admire for a long time now.

Beyonce's songs have long been on the feminist and girl power side, perhaps boosting her own image and confidence in how she has led her successful life till this point. However, I sometimes find her to be more of an extremist feminist.

Mistake me not, I am not anti-feminism. I do believe women deserve equal rights against men in the world, definitely seeing a lot of change for the better for womankind everywhere. I just find this song to be too extreme, and ironic in the way 'girls' are portrayed, for a feminist song. Maybe I am just being too sensitive and over analysing the song, but this is just my opinion on seeing the video clip.

The song insists that women are running the world, and how so? Skimpily dressed lead singer/dancer, Beyonce, doing vigorous suggestive dance moves, in outfits that seem might come apart anytime, and take very less to cover the necessities. What kind of message is the video trying to portray? Women (or girls) running the world in vulgar dresses? Is that even encouraging men to take 'girls' who are running the world seriously? As it is numerous video clips of numerous regular club songs display women like a sex object, they usually dress in nothing less of lingerie. In comparison, what is so great about this song about girls ruling? Rule or not, audience see you as an object in skimpy clothes, otherwise no one is going to listen/watch your song/video. How pathetic is that?

Zor Ka Jhatka

SRK is making a comeback to the small screen after his successful stints on Kaun Banega Crorepati (India's Who wants to be a Millionaire) and Kya Aap Pachvi Pass Se (Are you smarter than a 5th Grader), this time in the Indian edition of Wipeout.

Wipeout Australia is my absolute favourite weekend watch. It is not just fun seeing contestants act clumsy in all the weird obstacles, but the commentators' are amazingly hilarous, they actually contribute to the 70% of the fun in the show. And now SRK is to take on the hat of a host-commentator, I can imagine this show would be a blast, zor ka jhatka as they say! And in this edition, the contestants are Indian celebs from TV dramas and movies. This definitely makes for a even more fun commentating oppurtunity, and I must say, I know SRK knows best!

http://bollywood.celebden.com/2010/12/srk-makes-a-comeback-on-small-screen-with-zor-ka-jhatka/