A Conversation with Om Puri

Tahmed:

I could not agree with you more on American Beauty. Annette Bening`s acting was pretty disappointing. Interestingly, both she and Michael Douglas did a great job in The American President. It is an old movie now, but it`s shown very regularly on cable... Pata Naheen Kyoun? whatever...it is an excellent movie.

I have heard great reviews of ``Sound of Music`` play. Haven`t watched the movie yet, I guess I will do that. Thanks for bringing it up.

Take Care

Scout, Godot, Shankar, Rsaxena: So the pick is Hannibal: Agreed. good movie, and the opening battle scene (Romans fighting barbarians in Germany) is very powerful.

Rugrats in Paris: I hear it is good, but had the misfortune of watching a bit of them on TV once and would rather stay away from these diaper clad, spit-spilling little thugs.

Crouching Tiger, Leaping Lizards (or something like that): The landscape is incredibly beautiful - like a Chinese painting, but better and also camera images of real scenes. Maybe instead of Kashmir we should fight for some parts of China (joke) or better yet visit them someday. A Chinese friend assures me that there are tourist spots like that in China. I didnt mind the sub-titles, and think the Chinese language is beautiful (depends on the person who is speaking, I guess).

American Beauty: I though it was disgusting. The middle aged guy with a robot for a wife fantasizes about his daughter`s friend and we are supposed to sympathize with him. I dont know why they gave it so many prizes.

Here is one I recommend that no one has watched in a hundred years: Sound of Music. We bought the DVD, and I am glad I had forgotten all about the movie. The DVD also has something on the real Von Trapp family and it turns out the basic story is quite true. The real family ended up living in Vermont.

OK, back to business (and maybe later I`ll check what mischief my friends on the blasphemy thread up to - I am ready to throw up my hands by now, though.)

ALL:

Some of the best movies of recent times.

Il Postino

Indo-chine

cinema paradiso

china town(& sequel by another name)

same time next year

X(story of malcolm X)

Most of spike lee `joints`[meaning movies made by spike lee)

Lorenzo`s oil

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Could someone PAHleeeese help me.What was the name of the movie in which both Amrish and Om acted.Om playing Amrish`s son.In that movie there is a Bhajan being played in the background & only a few lines are heard before it kind of fades away.

I really really NEED that Bhajan on audio.Now if the movie was Pursh,then of course the entire Bhajan is not on Audio-tape.

This Bhajan was also in another movie,again being played on the radio.I think this is an aarthi bhajan or the morning-sun prayer(beginning with G) and is a regular in the south.Samita patil was in this second movie where she is about to be hanged.

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Anand Math,although with sectarian overtones,and had RSS/Shiv Sena roots is still one of the really great movies made by India.Most of the Film Dev. Corp movies are excellent.``Rudaali`` in my opinion THE Best as yet.

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I can suggest many more,but I think this would suffice for now.If someone desires I would love to point out some of the finer angles/metaphoric unde-currents which are a hallmark of some of our genius directors.[and the european,latin & oriental ones too].

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Last week saw ``shelter of the wings`` by Shayam Benegal.Really a treat.Bengalis are really really good at artistic expression with simplicity & elegance.

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wassalaam

Mohajir,

Is that the one in which OP plays a police officer and Naseeruddin plays an ex police officer going around asking for money? There were some brilliant performances in that movie.

http://www.filmindia.com/films/garland/jaanebhi.html

JAANE BHI DO YAARO (Who Pays the Piper...) colour, 130 minutes, Hindi, 1983 would be one of the best films by Om Puri. [ On a slightly sad note the heroine of this film Bhakti Barve, an extremely talented stage artist was killed in an road accident near Bombay]

Production: National Film Development Corporation/ Direction: Kundan Shah/ Story and screenplay: Kundan Shah, Sudhir Mishra/ Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Bhakti Barve Inamdar, Satish Shah, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapoor, Satish Kaushik, Neena Gupta, Depak Quazir, Rajesh Puri, Zafar Sanjari.

if we are still on the topic of movies ...

this one is a must see unless you`ve already seen it - came out a few months ago - Meet the Parents - side spliiting stuff!!

amongst the more recent ones - 13 days - was surprisingly good; traffic; hannibal - i was dying to see this movie but now i wish i hadnt : (

and ofcourse the latest one from Wang Kar Wai - in the mood for love - which i have yet to see but going by the rest of his movies am positive will be fantastic!!!

Re: scout #83

Thanks for the list. Even if i were to watch 1 play a week,it will keep me occupied for months. I had heard about Dhoop Kinarey but could never get hold of it.

I recently saw Sidney Poitier`s To Sir with love on T.V. It brought back memories. Our English teacher in my schooldays took the whole class to see this movie(that was many years ago).Next time when i visited Blockbuster i got myself a Sidney Poitier movie that goes by the name `In the heat of the night`. A very old movie. Sidney Poitier is a detective who is arrested on suspicion of murder because he happens to be the only black man in a white,racial part of Missisippi. Soon the police find out he is not just a detective but a homicide expery and solicit his help. Slow at times but gripping.

sridhar

rsridhar #80:

I`d like to add a few to scout`s list....

``Karb``; ``Hawwa Ki Beti``; ``Zay Zabar Paish``; ``Shehzori``; ``Afshan``....

Some long plays...

``Abh Tum Ja Saktay Ho``; ``Fanooni Latifay``; ``Half Plate``; there`s another long play I really like but can`t remember the name - Naveed Shehzad and Qavi (a photographer) play this old couple living all alone - I think it was from the ``Drama `83`` series or something - wonderful performances by both.

Also try and get a hold of some of the plays from the old AND recent version of ``Aik Muhabbat, Sau Afsanay``. It`s a series of single/double episode plays. Most are very well acted and directed.

And one of my all time favourites - I know scout`s already mentioned it - ``Angan Terah``.

Enjoy! :)

Re: scout

``I liked those special effects that I saw in the trailers.``

The special effects are really well done...it`s worth watching just for that.

``cacophonous?``

Yeah, the movie is in Chinese with English subtitles...many desi people, including me, can`t stand to hear that language...not to be racist or anything, but it just sounds really harsh and grating...it`s just not a pleasant-to-the-ear language like hindi/urdu or even italian.

scout # 84

{``Rugrats in Paris`` was an excellent movie. Great dialogue, great story, great characters.

Best of all, it`s rated G for Good.}

hmmm.....your favorite TV show would be ``Power Puff Girls``?

The content is a bit mature so the rating might not be G

yours

MoJo JoJo

saxena #86,

I liked those special effects that I saw in the trailers. If the whole movie is like that, I`m in for it.

cacophonous?

Re: scout

{Anyone watch ``Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon?``}

It`s good if you like the Bruce Lee action genre. The dialogue (in Chinese) is cacophonous to desi ears.

tahmed321, #78

American Beauty. I guess it is not a new one anymore, but I saw it recently. Loved it. I very strongly recommend it.

tahmed,

``Rugrats in Paris`` was an excellent movie. Great dialogue, great story, great characters.

Best of all, it`s rated G for Good.

Anyone watch ``Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon?``

rsridhar #80,

Some excellent ones are Waaris (great story, award winner), Unkahi (my personal favorite), Tanhaiyan (awesome female power drama), Dhoop Kinaray (you`ll enjoy this one if you`re a doc), Dasht (ethnic), Sunehray Din (army cadet humor), Parosi, Anarkali, Tansen (if you like classical story lines), Babar(great historical drama), Angan Tera (funny as hell), Khuda ki Basti (based on the novel, if can find it), Uroosa, Nangay Paon (twisted story line), Aanch (family drama), Ahat (family troubles),

there are many more, cant` remember them just now...

I`m sure other people can add to my list here.

Saxena,

{{Safaai pesh karne ki zaroorat nahi...tum jaano aur tumhara kaam jaane}}

Et tu, my everlasting friend?! O lord this hindi/urdu kick is catching more & more.

OK let me tell you something,guys. Even 20something years ago I could barely carry on a fluent conversation in hindi. You goddamned Northies & Pakistanis think you own the whole frikking subcontinent:)

Please understand that people who live from Bombay downwards to S India study hindi only because you bums from the north are a majority & want to force your language down our throats. OK OK may that language is the greatest in the world for poetry & metaphors or crap like that. Hey, I cant speak it well & I`m proud of it! So sue me!.

Besides I`m proud to proclaim that the GREATEST poem ever written in the history of human civilisation is BABA BLACKSHEEP!!-yeeaah, way to go, baba! The F_K`s of this world can take a hike, for all I care.

In conclusion, O best friend of mine, at least write a bloody translation.