Chandni Chowk to China

The film event of my holiday weekend was a true disappointment. The beautiful Akshay Kumar has proven to me that he's more than mere eye-candy. He did a fine job portraying an extremely annoying and very unlucky chaatwalla named Sidhu. He was so good at his character that I could hardly watch him. As for the plot, a bunch of slapstick silliness plays out early in the film that leads up to Sidhu meeting two Chinese men. These men take Sidhu to China along with his frenemy, Chopstick, so that he can kill an evil smuggler, Hojo, who can behead people by tossing his bowler hat like a boomerang. It was such an odd maneuver that I suspected I needed 3-D glasses and a few shots of vodka to continue watching the film in it's entirety. Alas, without the appropriate tools, I was unable to finish the entire film. I initially hoped this film would leave me with the it’s-so-bad-it’s-good type of Bollywood satisfaction (like I felt after watching Dostana), but this was not the case with Chandni Chowk to China.

Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke

It's a film about a damsel in distress (a very weak, and weepy damsel), Sahiba Grewal and an over-the-top, flag-waving, thug-stomping hero, Captain Karan Khanna.


Although it's a lot of prem, it's heavy on the pagal with a dash of ishq.


This 2000 film is a remake of the 1995 film, A Walk in The Clouds which in turn was a remake of Alessandro Blasetti’s 1942 film, Quattro Passi Fra Le Nuvole.


I loved the movie. It has everything a formulaic Hindi film needs, including beautiful settings for each of the music scenes. The sequence to the very enjoyable song, Do Lafzon Mein was filmed in Scotland. The music in general keeps the film entertaining. I particularly liked the use of Ennio Morricone's music from The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly during scenes at Sahiba's evil father's work place. There are characters in this film who are good, if not completely flawed, and then there are some truly bad and very ugly elements that keep the plot moving toward the end.


I rate the entertainment value of this film as being on par with Hindi films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.


A couple of bits of trivia: 1) Salman Khan has a cameo in the film and, 2) Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke was Aishwarya Rai's and Abhishek Bachchan's first film together.

Labels: Abhishek, Aishwarya, Bollywood, Salman, Sonale

Hoorah for Slumdog!

If you haven't seen Slumdog Millionaire, get out to the theater and see it. It is a wonderful film and it was recognized with four Golden Globe awards including a win for the prolific composer, A.R. Rahman. I didn't get to watch the Golden Globe awards ceremony live, but I have been catching up on You Tube. Shahrukh Khan was a presenter, which I think is fabulous!!

Labels: A.R. Rahman, Golden Globes, Shah Rukh, Slumdog Millionaire

Yes and No

Just a quick update for inquiring minds --

We decided to return to India as originally planned, except for the hotel in Mumbai. However, as soon as we came to this decision, it seems many more would-be visitors came to a very different decision. A few days prior to our departure, our flight from Paris to Mumbai was canceled and it set in motion the need for a whole new set of flights to get us to Mumbai with a reasonable amount of stops. The timing was very inconvenient and sent us scrambling to cancel and reschedule hotel reservations for what would have been our first two nights in India. The problem is that would limit us to one day and one night in a specific city then we would fly to another city as planned, or reschedule each day of our carefully planned itinerary. Madness. The re-planning on both ends of our trip quickly became overwhelming as we were both very busy at work wrapping up projects in order to be able to go on vacation in the first place. Just when we almost had enough of the chaos, there was the curious non-incident at the Delhi airport during all of this that left me wondering if the attack was ongoing or if what happened in Mumbai was indeed a singular, terrorist attack. At this point, the airline offered to refund us for our tickets. This was surprising, but we gladly took them up on the offer. Therefore, much to the relief of my mother and grandmother, we have decided to postpone our trip. We plan to return as we have too many things we want to do and see; however, the timing is up in the air as I am not so sure I want to go during the hot and wet season (which in Mumbai is a good part of the year). Anyway, I want to thank you all for your sincere input. I truly appreciate it. Peace. Jai Hind.

Labels: Mumbai

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Watching the horrific events in Mumbai unfold is deeply disturbing and regrettably addictive. First and foremost, I am saddened by the hate and harm unleashed on innocent people during this terrorist attack.

I felt like I sorted out what was really going on in my mind within the first 4 hours of the event. I am not stating that I was correct in my assumptions, but they are my assumptions and I reserve the right to retain them until such time I am provided with factual information. Quite unlikely considering the collective and woeful ignorance of the media. Listening to the early assessments from reporters and pundits who know little to nothing about Mumbai or India or anything beyond New York City was and is maddening. Ridiculous talking heads pondering whether the terrorists were Islamic extremists or whether it was possible they could have links to Pakistan. Good grief. I shouted obscenities at the people on the television. If only they could have heard me.

I am not a stupid person. I understand that life has it's risks. I traveled to India in 2004 and 2006 armed with knowledge of assassinations, bombings, Dawood Ibrahim, communal violence, etc. I enjoyed both trips thoroughly, but I was always alert of the potential for violence - especially in places I visited, such as Gujarat state.

I have an entire trip planned to India and I am supposed to leave very soon. The last part of my trip was supposed to be in Mumbai. We booked a room at the beautiful Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and we planned to dine at our favorite cafe, the Sea Lounge, overlooking the Arabian Sea. We wanted to visit Leopold's again as well as our favorite kebab stand, Bade Miya and all of the shops along the streets adjacent to the Taj as we had done in the past. Presently, the very idea of walking down those streets so soon after so many people died stirs intense grief within me. I wonder if all of the kind people I encountered are safe? I will likely never know.

My options are to either revise my itinerary and head to India or cancel the trip altogether. I am wondering if my fears are rational or if I am being brainwashed by the US news media and their sensational coverage. I feel unsure. Part of the problem is that when I watch the news, I understand exactly where everything has transpired as I have a pretty good map of Colaba etched in my memory. Even if I stay away from Mumbai, will this trip really be the much-needed relaxing holiday I had hoped for?

What should I do?

Refine, Baby, Refine and Trillion Dollar Baby

Going Back to India

C and I have decided to make another trip to India this December. The economy is tanking in the US and my 401 K is becoming a shadow of it's former self, but we still have jobs and frequent flier miles. So, why not? I found a nice family to stay with in Delhi for a few days. I never saw Delhi. It was the one place during my 2004 whistle-stop tour where I spent my brief time in the capital city confined to my hotel room. I made an error in judgment just nine hours prior to my arrival in Delhi. I ate lukewarm upma from a breakfast buffet at a (Taj) hotel in Khajuraho. Of course, during my 2006 trip, I ate a kebab off the street at Bade Miya in Mumbai and suffered no ill effects. It's hit or miss.

I am wondering if I can get a hold of Sanjay Dutt for a blogger interview. I had a dream I was having afternoon tea overlooking the Arabian Sea with Sanjay Dutt a few nights ago and it gave me the idea of interviewing him while I am in India. If you have a question for Sanjay send it to me before the end of November. In the meantime, I am going to try to find his people and his people's people. If you have any suggestions in that regard, please share them with me.