No - not really! I'm going to be in Florida for the weekend on a strictly digital-free holiday.

When I return, I should have a review of Halla Bol for you, which I watched last night and hopefully subs for Powerful Opponents episodes 5-8.

Also, I decided to write my next essasy on double roles, so I've loaded up my Netflix queue with Madhumati, Hum Dono, Ram aur Shyam, etc., so be prepared for two of everything!

Ah... Aruna Irani at her best! Enjoy the long and lazy circular tracking shots that emphasize her stumbling, drunken walk!

Well, I suppose it's official: I am a Manoj Kumar fan.



(I'm making this face right now.)

While watching Roti Kapada aur Makaan, I had such sympathy for Manoj Kumar, beyond sympathy for his character, who was quite nice and broody. Seeing the effort and detail that goes into a Manoj Kumar production, I was overcome with a sense of outrage that Farah Khan would mock him so meanly in Om Shanti Om. That was when I knew I was an official Fan (tm). Where are the earnest young (handsome) men making films like this today? Politics, romance, melodrama, action, and some wonderful songs all wrapped into one package. Rang de Basanti comes close to a Manoj Kumar production. I need to rewatch that, I think.

Roti Kapada aur Makaan is a wonderfully intricate story of a guy named Bharat (natch!) who can't get a job in 1974. The story spreads out to encompass Bharat's brothers and his sister and his lady friends, but leaving out the parents in a very modern way.

( Follow me for more Manoj Kumar plus The Shashinator in some excellent 70s suits. )

It's not raining anymore today, but I thought a rain song would be nice anyways. How Manoj Kumar resists running out into the rain is beyond me....

Vah vah! Kya masterpiece he! Deewar is a straight up drama with only a little dash of action and an even smaller bit of romance mixed in. The three pillars of the story are The Shash and Amitabh, as brothers on opposite sides of the law, and their mother.

( Knowing the plot shouldn't really ruin the movie for you... we all know this story! )

I have long known that Jerry Pinto and I share the exact same taste in movies - especially as he wrote the book on Helen. (And I mean literally wrote the book on Helen.

He has a new essay up on working ladies of movies past that is worth a read.

There was a time when, Bollywood would have us believe, that you couldn’t walk down the street without bumping into some lovely lady peddling her wares. Get your mind out of Kamathipura; she wasn’t always selling her body.

Basanti Taangewaali never got a song to herself until she found herself in the Valley of Broken Glass Bottles but you get the picture. This was a working woman. She was often making an honest living and this meant she had to tell you that she was willing to sharpen your knife for you. (Your mind is wandering again. This is not a metaphoric piece.)

He then goes on to say:

These women have now vanished. There is no room for the underclass in Bollywood, which is obsessed with foreign locations. How can anyone sell gajras in the middle of Prague on location?

Besides the ever present courtesans - Rani, Rani, and Rani - recent films have shown us Vidya Balan and Preity Zinta as radio DJs (Lage Raho Munnabhai and Salaam Namaste, respectively), Rani as a doctor in Saathiya, Konkona Sen work in advertising in LCMD, Lara Dutta was a journalist in Partner, and who can forget Arshad's kick ass lady-cop girlfriend in Waisa Bhi Hota Hai, Part II, played by Sandhya Mridul.

Instead of the lady selling her wares on the street, I would love to see more lady gangsters. Nothing pleases me more than to stumble across Pratima Kazmi (or somebody) cutting off some thug's finger because he didn't deliver the goods on time or running a gang from her jail cell.

Any lady gangster movies you can recommend me? Hmmm?

This song is just so much fun! Hema and Dev Anand romping around some ruins while being chased by the police in Johny Mera Naam.

Maybe I'll pretend that I'm wearing a snazzy black sari with electric blue trim and running around with a briefcase full of diamonds instead of going to work in the pouring rain. "Ooooo Mera Raaaaajaaaaa......"

Happy Mother's Day from my favorite Filmi Ma - Kirron Kher - singing and dancing her heart out in Devdas!

(If Sikander is as good as his ma, I can't wait to see Woodstock Villa.)

Inspired by the brief clip of the film in Johnny Gaddaar, I dug out my copy of Johny Mera Naam. There are so many things to love about this film, but for me the best parts are Pran and the ladies. Pran doesn't get a lady, of course, as he never does. In fact, while reading his biography, it mentions that doing romantic scenes made him uncomfortable!(!) Fortunately, Dev Anand has no problem with those. No problems at all....even at 46 or so, which is how old he was here.

Johny Mera Naam is the story of two brothers separated at a young age when their father is murdered in front of them by an evil thug. Mohan, the elder, runs after him to avenge his father while Sohan, the younger stays behind with their dying father. 15 years later *cough* we run into them again - Mohan is now "Moti" and played by Pran, middle management in the gang that killed his father and Sohan is "Johny" and played by Dev Anand, a police inspector with a penchant for disguises and ascots. ( Spoilers for the movie, but you know what's going to happen anyways, don't you... )

From Rishi Kapoor/Zeenat Aman film - Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin. There are so many great moments in this picturization. My top 3:

1. Rishi, surrounded by ladies in skimpy outfits, only has eyes for the traditionally dressed lady in pink.

2. Rishi energentically leapfrogging over every single one of his background dancers - 4:45 minutes in.

3. There is this really cool sequence of cut shots between Rishi and a background dancer both reflected in the mirror wall about 2:50 minutes in.

I'll never get used to hearing booming Kishore Kumar vocals coming from Rishi Kapoor. Rafi matches better with him, I think.