(no subject)

[rivka]

saoba and I went to see Bride and Prejudice, which I absolutely adored. It's an extraordinarily silly Bollywood rendition of Pride and Prejudice - every ten minutes or so the story grinds to a halt for an elaborately costumed and choreographed musical number. I was disposed to like it from the beginning, but from the moment the troupe of Indian transvestites showed up to waggle their hips at a young bride-to-be, I was lost. I stayed lost right up through the triumphant conclusion with the painted elephants. For frivolous eye candy - which was exactly what I was in the mood for today - Bride and Prejudice can't be beat.

This evening, as we settled down to watch the pregame show (Opening Day!!!), I started having contractions. Every seven minutes. For more than an hour. "If it goes on like this until nine, I'll call the midwife," I told saoba, who allowed as how that was a sensible plan. At eight-thirty, the contractions stopped. At least this time wasn't like Friday night, when the hour's worth of every-seven-minutes contractions was painful enough - and unresponsive enough to attempts to stop them, such as a half-glass of wine and a warm bath - that curiousangel ran around putting our toothbrushes and things into the hospital bag.

I begin to doubt that I will ever have this baby.

Comments

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I liked it mildly--a fair amount of the humor was funny, but the songs, singing, dancing, and filming all seemed unpolished, which probably indicates that I am not in harmony with Bollywood. I liked the big production number in _The Guru_ better--and I recommend that movie as much funnier.

[densaer.livejournal.com]

You have to get in touch with your inner kitsch when you watch a true Bollywood film (The Guru doesn't count), because for people who are in cities, you have to suspend disbelief. The people who are out in the rural parts of India (most of the filmgoing audience) will have no problems believing that people in London all drive Italian sports cars, have HUGE houses, etc.

It's escapism. It's very colorful, all the same. You can see the influence of American pop culture, though. I don't recall seeing big groups of choreographed dancers in these films until Michael Jackson in 1984 taught the world. Now it's a staple.