Movies of India

[Marc Peabody]

I've been taking a few recommendations from friends. So far I have seen (forgive my spelling):
Munnabhai MBBS
Lage Raho Munnabhai
Dhoom 2

and I have Lagaan waiting to be watched. I think there might be another one with a long name in my Blockbuster online queue about a don.

Dhoom 2 had a couple awesome action scenes and Munnabhai is pretty funny. I really appreciated the message with Bapu in Lage Raho - was the recent green card flowers-sending protest inspired directly by this movie or is sending flowers a traditional form of Ganhigiri?

Are there any other must-see movies you could recommend, Mamu?

(I must admit that the unskippable ads at the beginning of videos is frustrating and I typically fast forward through songs when it appears that the lyrics are not going to contribute significantly to the plot. )
[ August 24, 2007: Message edited by: Marc Peabody ]

[dhwani mathur]

Hi Marc!!!


The movies which you mentioned are realy must to watch
not only once but more than once(eg Munnabhai MBBS,Dhoom 2)

There are many movies which are worth watching
one of them is "Rang De Basanti"(dont miss it)!!!

Recently released movie "Chak De India"

These are just few which i have mentioned !!!
I hope you will definately like these ones!!!

[Rahul Bhattacharjee]

Originally posted by Marc Peabody:

Are there any other must-see movies you could recommend, Mamu?

Its cool , Marc.

I have not watched Dhoom , but yes , I am a fan of munna bhai..
Just for you information the next munna bhai movie is Munna Bhai chale America (English : Munna bhai on his journey to America).

[Jan Cumps]

Monsoon Wedding

Regards, Jan

[Amit Batra]

Gandhi,My Father

Water

Parzania - not for the faint hearted though.

[Amit Batra]

Though not exactly of India. One film to watch out for would be Shantaram *Johnny Depp, Amitabah Bachchan.

[Varun Khanna]

I recommended this long back here, and will do again, do check out "PUSHPAK". It's a silent movie, a masterpiece.

[Devesh H Rao]

Originally posted by Marc Peabody:

was the recent green card flowers-sending protest inspired directly by this movie or is sending flowers a traditional form of Ganhigiri?

Yes.

No, gandhigiri or how it is now called is about dealing with a situation which could have violent or bitter repercussions in a peaceful manner.

Sometimes it is also misinterpreted as turning the other cheek when a person is slapped, which I from my personal opinion from whatever I have read about Gandhi not exactly true.
I guess Gandhi asked for the reaction to a violent action to be postponed and to be preceded by contemplation of if the reaction also should be in a similar fashion. This helps in situations where the initial violence is not intentional and the solution is more amicable.

Marc what genre do you prefer for a movie choice..?

[Deepak Bala]

Originally posted by Marc Peabody:
I've been taking a few recommendations from friends. So far I have seen (forgive my spelling):
Munnabhai MBBS
Lage Raho Munnabhai
Dhoom 2

and I have Lagaan waiting to be watched. I think there might be another one with a long name in my Blockbuster online queue about a don.

Dhoom 2 had a couple awesome action scenes and Munnabhai is pretty funny. I really appreciated the message with Bapu in Lage Raho - was the recent green card flowers-sending protest inspired directly by this movie or is sending flowers a traditional form of Ganhigiri?

Are there any other must-see movies you could recommend, Mamu?

(I must admit that the unskippable ads at the beginning of videos is frustrating and I typically fast forward through songs when it appears that the lyrics are not going to contribute significantly to the plot. )

[ August 24, 2007: Message edited by: Marc Peabody ]

Wow. Thats cool. You should really see 'Black'. Its a good movie and the performance of the artists (all ages) is great. It does not have songs/action sequences etc etc but the story is great

[Rahul Bhattacharjee]

Originally posted by Varun Khanna:
I recommended this long back here, and will do again, do check out "PUSHPAK". It's a silent movie, a masterpiece.

all time fan of this movie.no sound.

[Akhilesh Trivedi]

anybody watched "Namesake"?

[Aj Mathia]

Pushpak is a silent movie with no verbal conversations but definitely has sound effects. It sure is a masterpiece.
My list of recommendations
Indian godfatherish movies:
Satya
Company
D

Flawless movie in my opinion
Dil Chatha Hai

Excellent movies
Dil Se
Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda
Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi
Sarfarosh
Omkara

Movies to watch while cuddled in a blanket with a loved one
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa

[ August 26, 2007: Message edited by: Ajay Mathew ]
[ August 26, 2007: Message edited by: Ajay Mathew ]

[R K Singh]

Originally posted by Marc Peabody:

Are there any other must-see movies you could recommend, Mamu?

Hey Mamu, do you understand Hindi or you are watching dubbed or subtitle version of bollywood movies.

I am just curious because Munna Bhai part-1 could be enjoyed more because of its usage to lot of local lingoes.

[Marc Peabody]

Originally posted by R K Singh:
Hey Mamu, do you understand Hindi or you are watching dubbed or subtitle version of bollywood movies.

Well, I knew "Mamu" because it was said about 200 times in the movie. The strange thing was that usually the English subtitle translated it to "dude" but a couple of times it translated to "doofus", which has quite a different meaning. My guess is that the translators thought it would be funnier in a couple places to use a different word. A colleague of mine who recommended the movie says it should really always be "dude" or "man" or something along those lines, never "doofus".

I'm slowly trying to pick up words here or there. I'm about to the point that I can recognize family relation words (which often don't get translated in the subtitles) and not much more. I don't know if I'll ever become fluent but this has been the most interested I've ever been to pick up a non-programming language.

By the way, I saw Lagaan last night and thought it was good. It was kind of like The Longest Yard but for cricket.

Thanks for all the recommendations. These will keep me busy for a long time!

[azhar bharat]

Do check out Indian adaptations of some masterpieces
Omakara -> adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello
Maqbool -> adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth
Sarkar -> adaptation of Godfather
All three are brilliant movies with strong performances, and importantly has a difference from the original because of its local(read Indian settings) flavor.

Dil Chahta Hai and Lagaan are must watch. So, is Munnabhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munnabhai. Black is another excellent movie.

Personally I liked Dhoom better than its sequel Dhoom2.

Do check out Sholay. It is sort of a cult classic released way back in 1975 and ran for a 5 year stretch in cinemas.

Taxi 9211 is another personal favorite, but it is based on Hollywood movie Changing Lanes(which I havnt seen, so cant compare). It is a fun movie and good performance by the lead actors.

Thats all I can think of now.

[Akhilesh Trivedi]

The Sholay's jungle plot is little similar to those that I find in Clint Eastwood movies. My personal favorite is 'Good, bad and ugly'.

Originally posted by Marc Peabody:
...
Thanks for all the recommendations. These will keep me busy for a long time!

Hey marc, any personal recommendations from your side, some 'old-but-not-so-old' stuff, we guys too can go hunting the titles & be busy for a while.

[Preeti Arora]

Hi,

You can watch very gripping film:Swades.
The bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan has shown his acting skills in this movie and I guess its original masterpiece.
[ August 28, 2007: Message edited by: Preeti Arora ]

[Rahul Bhattacharjee]

Originally posted by Preeti Arora:
I guess its original masterpiece.

better than his other movies.

[azhar bharat]

Originally posted by Preeti Arora:

You can watch very gripping film:Swades.
The bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan has shown his acting skills in this movie and I guess its original masterpiece.

I like swades too, infact the only srk movie i like. But not many people connect with the plot. So I dint mention it.

[Kj Reddy]

Try Laagan and Chinee Kum
[ August 28, 2007: Message edited by: KJ Reddy ]

[R K Singh]

OK my personal list will go as following.. (once upon a time I was big bollywood fan)

Monsoon Wedding
Bollywood calling
Hyderabad blues
Omkara
Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (copy of some hollywood movie)
Main Azad Hoon (copy of Meet Joe .. or something like that)
Satte Pe Satta (the only copy which I liked better than original Seven Brothers and Seven Brides)
Parinda
Aankhen (staring Amitabh)

CAUTION: most of above mentioned are not normal run-out-of-mil movies.

To enjoy real bollywood, you may consider watching:
Ek Dujey Ke Liye
Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayegey
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Aankhey (Director: david Dhawan)

Basically you can watch any Yash Chopra or Manmohan Desai or David Dhawan movie to have taste of real bollywood movie

[Mani Ram]

One important thing to remember is that the Hindi language movies are just a subset of Indian movies. We do make movies in other Indian languages as well, and there are few are excellent too. And it is not difficult to rent these movies in US / Europe, if you know the right place to look for

Being a Tamil guy I can suggest you some good Tamil movies, if you wish (and Tamil movies are easy to find abroad than movies that are made in, say Bhojpuri)

If you can tell me some of the English movies you like, that will give us some indication of your taste, which can be useful to come up with suggestions.

[Marc Peabody]

Originally posted by Akhilesh Trivedi:
Hey marc, any personal recommendations from your side, some 'old-but-not-so-old' stuff, we guys too can go hunting the titles & be busy for a while.

We've had a couple threads like this in the past:
Non-English, Non-Indian movies
I still have Bloat my Blockbuster queue with plenty of movies/TV series I need to watch.

My personal preference of US movies? Well, a good start is anything with Morgan Freeman - especially Glory and Amistad (both serious/historical/violent). Definite classics are Monty Python's Holy Grail and Life of Brian. I like The Jerk and UHF for two more comedies. I'm also a huge fan of the Rocky movies - see the first one at the very least. Life is Beautiful. Matrix. Most movies with Will Ferrel. Office Space. Napoleon Dynamite - but that wouldn't be as funny to someone who didn't live in the US during the 80s I don't think. I could name hundreds of others I like, but I think this is a good start.

Everyone else has given so many examples. Are there any movies listed so far that someone disagrees with?... other than the ones from my list of course!

[Mansur Khan]

No one seem to mention Bobby, an adolescent romance classic of all times from Bollywood. It contains exactly the stuff Bollywood is know for world over. Must be watched without song-skipping ;-). Basically, a tragic love story of a poor Christian girl and a affluent Hindu boy - both is teens and in love for the only time in their lives. The maker of this film is an adored man for his touch of romance in a very conservative society.

If you really want a close peak into the family celebrations of many Indians or how Indians wanted always to be, you could watch Hum Apke Hai Kaun. You don't need to buy a DVD for this. Tune in a Hindi Channel on a weekend, and you would find it playing somewhere. :-). Actually I hated the movie when I saw it (First Day First Show) and now I hate myself for have committed this unpardonable sin.

And to appreciate the current situation of India on the global map and the hard times it's people had to undergo, through and after the British rule, you could watch Mother India.

Make sure you are in the right mood while watching these movies, otherwise you would be itching to kill me.

Someone please volunteer to suggest Marc the right mood for these movies.

Otherwise, all the list suggested to you by my 'pre-posters' is really a good one except for Dhoom 2. I still hate Dhoom 2. And this is no sin.

[Marc Peabody]

Originally posted by Mansur Khan:
Tune in a Hindi Channel on a weekend, and you would find it playing somewhere. :-).

I live in the US and I don't have cable, so that won't work. Is there a Hindi channel available in the US with cable or DirecTV?

I swung by the Languages section of my local B&N bookstore and was surprised. I found English, Italian, Spanish, French, Hebrew, German, Turkish, etc, etc... but nothing for Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi, or anything like that. I found plenty of options on Amazon though. Maybe I can wear this hat someday.