Phil goes Bollywood: Phil watches VEER-ZAARA (2004)-December 7, 2011

Once again I took a trip to India via the amazing Bollywood films I found at my local library. One of the film I picked up looked very interesting. A film about the various stages of love: love at first sight, unconditional love, lost love, forbidden love, and reunited love. A story about one true love, and about fighting to keep that love with you through the good times and the bad times. What would you do for your one true love? Tonight's film was one of the best love stories to come out of India. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause to director's Yash Chopra's masterpiece VEER-ZAARA.

Original India Movie Poster (2004)

Veer Pratap Singh (Shah Rukh Khan from RA.ONE and the narrator of KISMAT KONNECTION) is an Indian Air Force Squadron Leader who on a mission rescues and befriends a beautiful Pakistani heiress, Zaara Hayaat Khan (Preity Zinta), as she travels to a small Indian village to scatter the ashes of one of her family's loyal servants.Veer helps her with her travel and to repay him, she travel with him to meet his family and his village. During the trip the two fall madly in love with one another. However, Veer learns that Zaara is engaged to a evil and cruel man named Raza (Manoj Bajpai). Zaara's close friend Shabbo (Divya Dutta) contacts Veer and tells him that she wants out of her engagement and is in love with him. But when he comes to rescue her, Raza arranges Veer to be set up as a Indian spy and is sent to jail. Twenty-two years later, a young and idealistic lawyer Saamiya Siddiqui (Rani Mukherjee) discovers Veer's case and takes swift actions to set her client free, but the question still remains: whatever became of Zaara?

This was such a powerful and emotional film that I caught my tearing up throughout the film. Both Khan and Zinta have great chemistry on screen; their performances are so captivating and convincing that you'd swear you're watching them actually falling in love with one another. Within the first 30 minutes of the film you'll fall in love with them as well. Singh is proud, dashing, and strong but falls hard for Zaara, the carefree spirited soul who had no plans of ever falling in love, suddenly unable to live her life without Singh in it.

Each of these talented actors brings with them vulnerability to their characters; they are flawed, they are human, which makes them relatable to us the audience. We have had that one love that got away. I myself just recently went through this a couple of years ago. The pain I went through is the very same thing that both Veer and Zaara must suffer as well. Also Mukherjee is just as incredible and breathtaking as Zinta. A very talented up and coming actress in Bollywood.

Like other Bollywood films, there are several great musical numbers that really heighten the film's romantic love affair. Right in the beginning of the film we are introduced to Singh's musical sequence looks and it feels like it came from THE SOUND OF MUSIC: sweeping hills of green grass, saturated color, the wind blowing Singh's hair in the wind while he sings about finding love, only for the scene to end with a sound of a gunshot. Then cut to seeing Singh, looking haggard and unkempt as he rots away in a cold, dark prison cell. Credit to director Chopra for creating simply a magnificent film! The movie was released in India to theaters on November 14, 2004.

VEER-ZAARA is one of the greatest romance films ever made; touching, emotional and honest. The film will make you feel like you are watching art. It doesn't matter what country your from or what language you speak, we all understand the language of love. Five out of five stars!

VEER-ZAARA is currently available on DVD and can be purchased on the Amazon website by visiting www.amazon.com

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!

Phil goes Bollywood: Phil sees RA.ONE (again) in 3D at the AMC Mercado 20 Theaters-November 19, 2011

Theatrical Movie Poster (2011)

OK,OK, I know what thinking! "Uhhhh....Phil, you've already seen this film. And I've already read your review. So what the hell are you doing writing another review for the movie?" Yes, you are right my faithful readers. But for those who haven't read my original review of the film, click here to read about it.

OK, now the reason for my watching and reviewing it again. I saw it in 3D! That's it! That's the only reason I saw the film again. But let's face it, the film rocks! I loved seeing the film the first time, and since it was my first Bollywood film, it now has a special place in my heart. So when I read that the film was still playing at the AMC Mercado 20, I wanted to see it again, but when I saw that it was also playing in 3D, I jammed out there like a bat outta Hell to see the film. Yes, I got to see it all in 3D: fierce action fight scenes, fast paced car chases, computer games sequences, spectacular dance scenes, and the amazingly, the enchanting, the absolutely stunning Kareena Kapoor...in 3D! When I saw Kapoor appear in the film in 3D, I though I died and gone to heaven! So make this an important engagement, and go see RA.ONE now! And don't forget to see it in 3D!!

RA.ONE is currently playing in 2D and 3D in select theaters nationwide, including at the AMC Theaters. To view showtimes, visit their website www.amctheatres.com. The film is also playing at the BIG Theaters in Fremont. To view their showtimes, visit their website at http://us.bigcinemas.com

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!

Phil goes Bollywood: Phil sees RA.ONE at the BIG Cinemas Towne 3-November 9, 2011

So after driving by the BIG Cinemas Towne 3 (an Indian theater that was once owned by the Camera Cinemas before they sold it) for about the millionth time, I told myself that I really need to see a movie there soon. Then yesterday when I drove by it, I saw a movie poster that caught my eye. I pulled over to see what film it was for. As it turned out, it was for the new Bollywood, sci-fi action film RA.ONE and so, I went to see it the following night. All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to the amazing world of Bollywood!!

Theatrical Movie Poster (2011)

The films stars Shah Rukh Khan as Shekhar Subramaniam, a video gamer developer at Barron Industries who is loving married to his wife Sonia (the absolutely breathtaking Kareena Kapoor) and has a son Prateek (Satish Shah). While in the process of developing the ultimate superhero for his project, Shekhar faces harsh criticism from his son, saying that he would rather see the ultimate super villain instead. Wanting to part of his son's world, he takes he's advise and creates the indestructible villain called RA.One (pronounced as in Lankashwar Raven and portrayed by Arjun Rampal) and his arch foe, the heroic G.One (Jeevan and modeled after Shekhar's likeness). However, on the eve of the game's release, RA.One discovers a way to enter the real world and plans on destroying anything that comes in his path.

So as my first real Bollywood film ever, I have to say that I really enjoyed the film. It was first very entertaining. It had a good script with fun and eclectic characters, fantastic action scenes, and like other Bollywood films, three great song and dance numbers. The first musical dance sequence "Criminal" was fun and sets up the rest of the songs later on in the film. This at first shocked and surprised me. I'm not use to seeing an action fight scene fitted into a musical dance number, but this is common in these films. And so I fell in love with it! It was just that damn awesome! All the songs were catchy and it will make you dance in your seat!

Another fascinating aspect I noticed in the film was the influence of Western culture there in India. Brand name designer clothes, skateboards and American slang and behavior, as well as the music. While it contains traditional Indian music, it is also infused with hip hop and techno dance music; creating a very interesting and very creative style of music that I really enjoyed!

Shah Rukh Khan does a great job as both the nerdy, cowardly, goofball dad Shekhar and the heroic G.One. Khan is a very popular movie star in India, and has made several films. For me, seeing Kareena Kapoor up on the big screen was a revelation to me. Here is a talented actress who can sing, dance, act, and look beautiful while in the middle of a fight scene! And yes, I am in love with her!

RA.ONE is an cinematic experience that I will always cherish with me forever! A great film for fans of sci-fi, Bollywood, and it's fun the whole family. It is also a great introduction for those who have seen a Bollywood film before. I am so glad that I decided to see this film. Now a whole new world has been opened up for me, and I look forward to seeing more films at the BIG Cinemas.

RA.ONE is playing at select theaters here in the South Bay. It is currently playing at the AMC Theaters Mercardo 20 Santa Clara and AMC Cupertino Square 16 as well as at the BIG Cinemas Fremont 7. Click the links for showtimes near you!

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!