09-24-2014, 05:54 PM
Joker is not only a Bollywood movie but science fiction as well. You know, like Guardians of the Galaxy. Only very low concept. I had to see what passes for science fiction in Bollywood.
The movie isn't bad, starting out. Agastya, an Indian researcher working down near LA (at JPL?) is trying to perfect a transceiver to communicate with aliens. But he's run out of time and budget. His boss gives him one more month to show results. Immediately after, he learns from his girlfriend that his father is deathly ill in India and wants to see him. Despite the looming deadline, he makes the trip with his girlfriend.
The thing is, he was raised in a remote village that was never cataloged by the British before their departure -- because the residents of the local asylum escaped and burned the village, frightening off the British surveyor. So the village isn't on any map, and the villagers are for the most part loonies. Let me tell you, a little bit of loonydom goes a long way in Indian cinema. But it has its moments. Anyway, Agastya soon learns that his father isn't really ill, but wanted to lure Agastya home to help the village. It seems that a large dam has taken all the water from their territory. Agastya tries his best to go through proper channels to get help for the village, but none of the district leaders will accept responsibility. After all, the village isn't on the map and therefore not part of their jurisdiction.
Which leads Agastya to a final desperate ploy: a giant crop circle. Yes, he has the villagers create a large, elaborate crop circle, and this draws in the media. To keep up the attention, he even has the villagers dress up like aliens. This catches the Pentagon's attention, which says it will send in its greatest forces to destroy these invaders. What we then see are some jeeps with mounted guns in the back and a few handfuls of ground troops.
And so it goes. The main theme song, while tolerable through the early goings, grows increasingly annoying, and what had started out as a promising minor movie turns full circle and devours itself. A major fail in India, and a no-show in America -- except in my living room.
There are maybe three Bollywood numbers, and they're major efforts. The best of the lot is "Kafirana," of which the song was originally controversial due to its lyric, "I wanna 'Fakht' you," until it was changed to, "I wanna Just you." And, yes, that makes no fucking sense. Nor does this particular Bollywood scene, as it introduces a new character, a babe who flirts with Agastya, upsetting his girlfriend for an instant, and she never appears in the movie again. Ironically, this woman is played by Sonakshi Sinha, who DM mentioned appearing in Boss in an extraneous scene. She seems to be making a career of script-doctoring movies with her dance numbers that turn out to be the highlight of the movie despite being totally irrelevant.
If you're interested, here's Kafirana:
[youtube]1jpYt2GuzUQ[/youtube]
That's the best thing about this movie, in part because it cured me of the "Dhoom machale" earworm.
Then again, now I'm infected with "I wanna Just you."
The movie isn't bad, starting out. Agastya, an Indian researcher working down near LA (at JPL?) is trying to perfect a transceiver to communicate with aliens. But he's run out of time and budget. His boss gives him one more month to show results. Immediately after, he learns from his girlfriend that his father is deathly ill in India and wants to see him. Despite the looming deadline, he makes the trip with his girlfriend.
The thing is, he was raised in a remote village that was never cataloged by the British before their departure -- because the residents of the local asylum escaped and burned the village, frightening off the British surveyor. So the village isn't on any map, and the villagers are for the most part loonies. Let me tell you, a little bit of loonydom goes a long way in Indian cinema. But it has its moments. Anyway, Agastya soon learns that his father isn't really ill, but wanted to lure Agastya home to help the village. It seems that a large dam has taken all the water from their territory. Agastya tries his best to go through proper channels to get help for the village, but none of the district leaders will accept responsibility. After all, the village isn't on the map and therefore not part of their jurisdiction.
Which leads Agastya to a final desperate ploy: a giant crop circle. Yes, he has the villagers create a large, elaborate crop circle, and this draws in the media. To keep up the attention, he even has the villagers dress up like aliens. This catches the Pentagon's attention, which says it will send in its greatest forces to destroy these invaders. What we then see are some jeeps with mounted guns in the back and a few handfuls of ground troops.
And so it goes. The main theme song, while tolerable through the early goings, grows increasingly annoying, and what had started out as a promising minor movie turns full circle and devours itself. A major fail in India, and a no-show in America -- except in my living room.
There are maybe three Bollywood numbers, and they're major efforts. The best of the lot is "Kafirana," of which the song was originally controversial due to its lyric, "I wanna 'Fakht' you," until it was changed to, "I wanna Just you." And, yes, that makes no fucking sense. Nor does this particular Bollywood scene, as it introduces a new character, a babe who flirts with Agastya, upsetting his girlfriend for an instant, and she never appears in the movie again. Ironically, this woman is played by Sonakshi Sinha, who DM mentioned appearing in Boss in an extraneous scene. She seems to be making a career of script-doctoring movies with her dance numbers that turn out to be the highlight of the movie despite being totally irrelevant.
If you're interested, here's Kafirana:
[youtube]1jpYt2GuzUQ[/youtube]
That's the best thing about this movie, in part because it cured me of the "Dhoom machale" earworm.
Then again, now I'm infected with "I wanna Just you."
![[Image: chitrangada-singh-14a.jpg]](http://media1.santabanta.com/full1/Indian%20%20Celebrities%28F%29/Chitrangada%20Singh/chitrangada-singh-14a.jpg)
![[Image: sonakshi-sinha-35a.jpg]](http://media1.santabanta.com/full1/Indian%20%20Celebrities%28F%29/Sonakshi%20Sinha/sonakshi-sinha-35a.jpg)