[saikyo]

Has every Indian seen Lagaan? Seems like it.

It's a good movie though! Quality Bollywood stuff.

Are the songs in Bollywood movies meant to be like, space off time for the audience? Or does plot development happen in there too?

[concoran]

Dont watch it unless you like Cricket. And the movie is overrated, anyways.

[SHIMLA]

Lagaan is a very good movie, very well made. It is certainly not overrated, though I agree on the cricket part: One will like the movie if one is a cricket fan. Aamir Khan is excellent, as is the direction by Ashutosh Gowariker.

As far as songs are concerned, yes, the plot does develop during the songs, at times. Mostly the songs are meant to be "space off" time for the audience. The Bollywood movies made before the eightees had lovely, meaningful songs, where the words mattered and the hero/heroine conveyed a lot through the songs with their expressions.

The less said about today's Bollywood "music", the better !

[absolut]

I think with Lagaan Bollywood tried to make a compromise between a bollywoodmovie and an artmovie. But still the result is very good. Amir Khan acts very well in this movie.
Another of my favourite bollywoodmovies, although originally it is a tamil movie i believe, is Satya. The movie gives a picture of the underworld live in Mumbai.

[rahul]

Hi Absolut,
I agree. Satya was a great film, the music too blended into it perfectly good. Lagaan was a very good film, it had great songs and the songs were not a distraction from the main plot but rather an integral part of it. Another of my great favorites in the romantic genre is a very old film titled 'Kabhie Kabhie'. Amitabh gave a stupendously restrained performance in this one. The songs of this movie even today are very popular and resonate equally well with the newer generation. In fact calling them songs is an insult because these lyrics are evergreen pure poetry.
Any comments.....

[Dayglowhamster]

I don'tlike cricket - but I loved Lagaan!! I rented the Vid and watched it twice before it had to go back (largely cos the first time I didn't know how long it was - so was watching at 2am!!).

How fast did the white bird learn Hindi???? EEEEK.

[absolut]

that's funny. I bought kabhie kabhie last weekend very cheap on DVD in one of the nightshops over here. I think kabhie kabhie is a milestone in bollywood film history. also the sceneries are very beautiful.
what the more romantic movies are concerned i liked "Taal" a lot althought I am not really a great fan of Anil Kapoor. Also in this movie, at least in the first half of it, there are beautiful sceneries. of the older movies also maine pyar kiya is very good.
and then of course a lot of the real good bollywood productions are among those that are shot in Switzerland. sometimes it is really funny: one scene you are in India, and in the next scene you suddenly are in Switzerland.
lastly i have seen some "attempts" of bollywood horror movies like bhoot, darna mana hai etc. but personally i think bollywood better sticks to what it is good in.

[vinayverma]

Hmm..so finally the movie thread is on....
Lagan was a hit even in HongKong and Japan(partially).
Just finished watching(in last 2 days) 'wiasa bhi hota hai', 'lets talk' and 'Freaky Chakra'. Lets Talk is great and very unlike any Bollywood film.
Stya is one of my all time fav...especially for slick editing and background music. 'Dil Chahata hai' was great, so was recent 'Munabhai MBBS'

[saikyo]

I enjoyed Lagaan, seemed to be a typical kinda Might Ducks type plot though... with a little more on the line than pride. I enjoyed it!

Is there any news of upcoming Bollywood movies that look to be good? I will be in Mumbai early Feb and would like to check one out from the source!

[goldfish]

I actually loved it! I saw it at the cinema (not at home on the small screen) and I think this movie really influenced me to become interested in Cricket (my partner is a cricket freak, so he loved it as well!).