Indian Film Festival Day 2!

So, in case you follow me on Twitter of on my Facebook, you are already aware of my adventures in this years Indian Film Festival (IFFLA).  I'm getting a chance to volunteer this year in many different areas of the festival...which adds even more excitement to my life!  Plus I got to see Omi Vaidya {From 3 Idiots!} but I got too nervous to approach him...oh, well...he'll probably come back for the 3 Idiots screening on Friday night!

The festival has been hosted every year at the fabulous Arclight theater, located in the heart of fabulous Hollywood, CA.  For any of you unlucky people whom have never been inside and experience the magic of this theater, let me tell you there's none like it.

Most of the Hindi films I have watched have been in the local theater which are the most beautiful theaters and sound and picture quality are just good.  So, to see them in this theater was just AMAZING!  I'm starting to sound like an ad...oh Gosh!  Now onto the films!  I actually didn't think I would get a chance to watch any films based on my volunteer hours...so when I was told I could...I was just ecstatic to say the least.

The first film I really wanted to see was Harishchandrachi Factory.  This was the first ever Marathi film I ever saw, and it was fantastic to say the least.  I have never laughed so much in my life, this was a great film to start off my festival experience with.

The story of H. Factory is that of Dadasahed Phalke, also known as the Father of Indian Cinema, and his struggles of creating the first ever Indian film, the epic story of Raja Harishchandra.  The movie follows him and his family as they struggle to pursue this dream and all the craziness that follows from trying to find and shoot in exotic locations to casting the main 'female' lead of the film.

I would say that the only fault in this film is that everything happened too quickly in that there was no real struggle in getting the money for the film, the actors, etc., there was always way in which the main character just got everything very easily.  This really keeps the film from actually being realistic, but overall an absolutely  fantastic film.

 Next movie I saw was Road Movie, with my newest obsession Abhay Deol *swoon*, unfortunately I missed the first 15 minutes so I need to find an online link and watch to truly feel like I have watched the whole thing, soo I will post up my thoughts once I get to that.

In case there are any of you Los Angelenos {?} that are not aware of the festival, hurry up! There's still time to buy tickets, but I will warn that most of the Bollywood films are getting sold out very quickly!!! As of right now there are still tickets available for tonight's Bollywood film, Kaminey.  So enjoy!

It's Showtime Indeed...

 A review of Prince: It's Showtime...

I will go on record and say that I really liked this film.  I guess, being one of the very few fans of Race...I would be one of the few who actually enjoyed this film.

There where 3 main things that really pulled me into watching this film:

1.  Was Prince Vivek Oberoi:   If any of you are on twitter and you follow him,  then you'll clearly understand what I mean.  Jeez, this guy is soo likable and especially if you you watch any of his interviews...OMG!!! I Love him!

Unfortunately, he only smiled for about 10% of the film, which was a bit of a downer, but I wouldn't be smiling either if I had no recollection of my memory.  I think that the on time he did smile was when he was being seduced by Nandana Sen and I know... who could resist that! ;-)

2.  The fantastic soundtrack was the best part of this film!  This has got to be one of the best soundtracks of the year.  Obviously everyone has a favorite but for me it's gotta be Tere Liye, I'm a sucker for romance!

What I also noticed was the marketing for this film using this song.  Especially the video in which all three heroines of the film are picturized in the song, but during the film the songs comes up after he realizes only one of them is his true soulmate.  I was all waiting to see him seduces all three of the girls, but I was completely in the wrong, and I'm glad I was.  But I really wish they had at least shown the the video used for the promos with all three seducing Prince.

3.  Probably the last 10% of encouragement I needed to watch this film was that it was done with the writers from Race.  So I knew that I was in for lots of WTF moments, which is one of the things I really enjoyed about both films.

Overall, it was a fun ride...but mostly because when I went to go see it there were about 5 people in the whole theater {including me and my friend}, so we got a chance to talk more while the film was on.  One thing I really really liked after watching the film was Nandana Sen, she was my favorite by far.  She is my evil right hand dream girl.  She totally kicked a$$.

But, unless you enjoyed Race or you one of those Vivek Oberoi fan girls then this film is probably not for you.

Sita, A Lesson Well Learned --- A Review Of Sita Sings The Blues

I remember when I first heard of this video in December of '09, I was on Roger Ebert's website, reading movie reviews is a hobby of mine, I know...total dork!  Anyways, so I happened to see his review for this film, and I knew I had to check it out,  *angels sing* and I LOVED IT!!!

The story of Sita Sings the Blues is not a new one, it tells the mythological tale of the Ramayana.  What makes this telling of this story so unique is the way it was made, stunning graphics, super bright and colorful.  What I enjoyed most about this were the actual story tellers that added the comedic ingredient that made this film so much better.  Very much reminiscent of the vase painting ladies from Disney's Hercules.

There is also another story intertwined into the telling of the Ramayana story and that runs parallel to this story.  The story of a modern day couple who experiences separation and rejection.

This aspect of the film reminded me so much of Hum Tum, in which we watch to different stories occur and sort of come together in the end.

Another unique thing which could be viewed as a good or bad thing is the fact that we have musical pictuarizations, but for me it got a little a boring due to the fact that all the songs were from the same artist and they were not your most up beat songs.  They were from a yesteryear jazz star from the 20s and 30s named Annette Hanshaw.  The songs were not bad, in fact they were beautiful songs, but because those songs are pretty slow it makes the film feel like its going at a very slow pace at times.

The story begins...

...When Rama was about to be crowned as king he is banished by his father to the forest for 14 years, due to one of his fathers wives'.

Rama being married to Sita,explains to her that he must go alone, but Sita insistes that a wife's place is by her husband and therefore goes into exile with him.  Rama warns Sita about the dangers in the forest but she insists on accompanying him.

So after Rama defeats all the monsters in the forest, all is well...until!... {Dramatic Music} Ravana forms a plan to capture the beautiful Sita and make her his wife.

Ravana uses a magical deer to distract Rama and leave Sita unprotected.

And of course the plan works and Sita is kidnapped and taken to Ramayan's kingdom in Lanka {Present day Sri Lanka}.

 I still think that the sexiest Ravana is Akshay "Golden Man" Kumar in Tashan.  {Don't mind my fantasies}

Now back to the story, Sita has been kidnapped! {Gasp!}

Rama is left sad, not knowing what happened to Sita...until! Hanuman comes to the rescue.  He Helps Rama find Sita and saves her from Ravana.

 

They reach Lanka, save Sita, and defeat Ramayan.  But this the twist in the tale, so far Sita has been known to be pure, but now that she has been in another mans house {given the fact that she was forcibly taken from her home}, Rama doubts Sita's purity and longer wants her with him.  And of course it is up to her to prove him wrong.

She is then forced to go through a test called the trial by fire in order to prove her pureness.  

!!!INTERMISSION!!!

{There actually was an intermission!}

 !!!INTERMISSION OVER!!!

Part II Coming Soon... 

Here's the YouTube Link so you guys can be caught up when I post part 2 of the story...