Typical blog, you wait a week for a post and then two come along at once...
As promised, a description of the experience of watching the Bollywood movie in the Indian cinema, and a brief synopsis of the movie itself.
The movie I watched was called "Ek Tha Tiger" which apparently translates as "Once Again Tiger". Tiger is the (code?)name of an improbably capable Indian secret service agent. The basic plot of the movie is that the eponymous tiger falls in love with a Pakistani agent (a big no-no), and they run away with each other in an attempt to escape the wrath of their handlers. A more detailed synopsis of the plot I cannot give, since the dialogue of the film was in Hindi with a few phrases in English thrown in for good measure; it was interesting to see how much of a film can be understood just through the visual medium. It was also fun to try and imagine what the characters were saying, and to mentally improvise humorous dialogue.In any event, Bollywood films are not known for their understatement, and this was no exception. This movie, filmed mostly outside India (Ireland, Turkey, Cuba) was a two and a half hour feast of adrenaline fueled stunts and action scenes, high-octane stunts, violent fighting, and more incongruously, song and dance. I thought that the action choreography and the cinematography were excellent, although I was surprised that people were allowed to bring young children to such a violent film. Strangely during a romantic scene in the movie they used the music from the opening scene of Forest Gump (the "floating feather" scene). The cinema itself was beautiful, with real character; the screen was huge and the sound system fanatastic. The other people in the cinema were very vocal, with whooping, screaming and whistling every time a popular actor appears on screen for the first time, and whenever the heroes succeed at anything, especially if they do it in style. Romantic moments also justify this response. I would like to see this introduced into the culture of western cinema watching. To conclude, it was a highly enjoyable experience which I will hopefully be able to repeat.
As promised, a description of the experience of watching the Bollywood movie in the Indian cinema, and a brief synopsis of the movie itself.
The movie I watched was called "Ek Tha Tiger" which apparently translates as "Once Again Tiger". Tiger is the (code?)name of an improbably capable Indian secret service agent. The basic plot of the movie is that the eponymous tiger falls in love with a Pakistani agent (a big no-no), and they run away with each other in an attempt to escape the wrath of their handlers. A more detailed synopsis of the plot I cannot give, since the dialogue of the film was in Hindi with a few phrases in English thrown in for good measure; it was interesting to see how much of a film can be understood just through the visual medium. It was also fun to try and imagine what the characters were saying, and to mentally improvise humorous dialogue.In any event, Bollywood films are not known for their understatement, and this was no exception. This movie, filmed mostly outside India (Ireland, Turkey, Cuba) was a two and a half hour feast of adrenaline fueled stunts and action scenes, high-octane stunts, violent fighting, and more incongruously, song and dance. I thought that the action choreography and the cinematography were excellent, although I was surprised that people were allowed to bring young children to such a violent film. Strangely during a romantic scene in the movie they used the music from the opening scene of Forest Gump (the "floating feather" scene). The cinema itself was beautiful, with real character; the screen was huge and the sound system fanatastic. The other people in the cinema were very vocal, with whooping, screaming and whistling every time a popular actor appears on screen for the first time, and whenever the heroes succeed at anything, especially if they do it in style. Romantic moments also justify this response. I would like to see this introduced into the culture of western cinema watching. To conclude, it was a highly enjoyable experience which I will hopefully be able to repeat.
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