Faana
I mentioned in a previous post that M and I watch a lot of movies. Thanks to Netflix I can indulge in documentaries and foreign films that my local movie store doesn’t carry. I thought I would take the time in today’s blog to pass along some of my favorite documentaries and Indian films. If you’ve never watched an Indian movie before let me forewarn you that they are generally quite long. Usually they are over three hours .
Tonight we watched Kal Ho Naa Ho: Tomorrow May Never Come. In typical Indian fashion this movie was well over 3 hours long and it seemed to just fall apart at the end. Last week we watched Dil Chahata Hai starring Aamir Khan. It’s a great film about three guys who have been friends since grade school. It’s a film about life, love and friendship. We also watched Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Let me just say BOOOOOO BOOOOOO. I threw popcorn at my own screen. If you like movies that rank a 10 plus on the cheese factor this is it.
Here’s a list of my favs so far:
Slum Dog Millionaire (excellent movie)
Sarfarosh (three and a half starts)
Salaam Namaste (four stars)
Water ( Part of the Deepa Mehta trilogy Five stars)
Salaam Bombay (five stars. A very touching movie about a little boy thrown into life in the slums of Mumabi. It’s directed by Mira Nair who also directed Monsoon wedding).
Monsoon Wedding (four stars)
Fire (Part of Deepa Mehta’s trilogy five stars. The movie touches on the subject of same sex relationships. I think this movie was amazingly done)
Arranged (Five stars…movie about an unlikely friendship between an orthodox Jewish girl and a Muslim girl)
Faana (three and a half stars. It’s long..almost like two movies in one)
Movies I could take or leave:
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Earth (Directed by Deepa Mehta and part of her movie trilogy, Earth, Water and Fire)
Beauty Academy of Kabul (documentary)
What are some of your favorite movies with a foreign slant and why? Until the next blog..
A Journey In Black and Indian Love 
Oooh this is my topic right here!
I will be back!
I have to say that Dil Chahata Hai was an absolute fav, and Fanaa as well. But here is a good list:
Devdas, beautiful music and dancing, Maduri Dixit is amazing
Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham
Life in a Metro
Jab We Met
Jaane Tu Jaane Na
Paheli
Cheeni Kum (Tabu!)
Anand (favorite oldie)
Taare Zameen Par
I could really go on for a bit, but won’t haha. I love Amir Khan though, he is so good!
Hindi sumajti hai? btw, aap ka blog bahut accha hai! roz main parhti hoon! bahut prerak hai. meri prem bhi desi hai, aur humare situation ke bare me main kamzor hoon. us ka parivar…meri parivar…uggh. halki, main apne parivar ke bare me nahi fikr kare, sirf us ka parivar, kyon kii yeh amir aur india me bahut influential. Mujhe lagta hai ki agar voh apni parivar se bole, humare relationship khatam karenge. kab M apni parivar bola? Magar, hum sirf tin mahine relationship me hote the, to shayad main pagal hoon, haha. I just don’t want to fall to deep.
I just need some advice, please write me smoothjazzmama58@yahoo.com.
Thanks for the list! I haven’t seen any of these movies so I’m looking forward to adding them to my Netflix que. You seem to be a lover of Indian movies. I like them but my only complaint is how long they are. Sometimes it’s like three movies in one..especially with Faana. I love the Faana soundtrack too.
Me Apka blog pada. Mujhe bahut apsos hai apka situation sunke. Ap keyder rahathi hai India or U.S.? Apko kaise maloom hai ki ooska family say apko problem hojuega ?(had help from hubby on this sentence hehehe.) Mera advice hai ke ap use baht karki dekho oosk plan kya hai. Mera pati bolta hai ki bago. Me bolti hun take it day by day and see where it leads. You never know pyar keyder chupah rahathi hai.
Sorry but my Hindi brain is tired now from translating. Lol. I’ll write you more at your email address.
Missy MD?
I’ve seen numbers 1,2 and 6 of your list.
Amazing…
You have to see Jab We Met, sooooo good.
Personally, I loved Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. It’s such a sweet film, genuine too. Monsoon Wedding is one of my favorite movies of all time. I really want to see Fanaa. I enjoy watching the music videos from the film on YouTube.
I’ll add in Parineeta (although it collapses at the end, like so many others) and Chak De India (which is a really great intro film to Bollywood, I think, since it models so many “underdog sports team” movies we have in the US, while still conveying plenty about India).
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
Kal Ho Naa Ho: Tomorrow May Never Come (Shahrukh should never die in a movie.)
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Mission Kashmir (even thought that ending got a little cheesy I was kind of happy it was a happy ending)
Rangeela
Monsoon Wedding
Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham
Sholay
Abhimaan
Kabhie Kabhie
Amar Akbar Anthony
If you want to see crazy then watch Bollywood revenge films. Whew I tell you Americans ain’t got nothing on Indian, Turkish, etc. revenge films. Maybe Man on Fire Comes Close
Kollywood
Kandukondain Kandukondain or I have Found It Ash was in this in my opinion better Jane Austen adaptation of Sense and Sensibility than Bride and Prejudice was for P&P
Baazigar was just weird. I kept yelling at the screen don’t date him he’s a freaking psycho.lol
I go to the library to check movies out or watch movies friends have
If you really want to see crazy then watch Krodh nepali film
Oh yeah and I just recently watched a Cinderella version of well Cinderella from Nollywood called you guessed it Cinderella by Charles Novia. It was pretty good and cute. It was cheesy, but I enjoyed it.
hello!
i came across your blog while googling. i’m in an IR relationship (im indian, hes black). most of my friends know about us, as well as my sister. but the rest of my family doesn’t know because i know they would disapprove. my mom has already had the conversation about disowning me if i ever married someone who is black… sigh. they do think of it as a “stain” on our family, which is very disheartening because he is the person i would like to marry.
i’m glad i found your site! my favorite movies with Indian flavor are:
Devdas
Lagaan
Born into Brothels (documentary)
Mughal-e-Azam
Agni Varsha
Mission Kashmir
Taare Zameen Par
Veer Zaara
The Namesake
The Guru (with Heather Graham)
Umrao Jaan (2008)
Paheli
Hope you enjoy some of them! 🙂
I love Company and Khakee (I was really surprised by this movie) but they’re not normal Bollywood fare. Company has no song and dance numbers and Khakee has a very serious overtone.
I also like Being Cyrus, an English language movie starring Saif Ali Khan. Again, not a typical Bollywood movie. I do like the song and dance ones too but the ones I love have already been named, save Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
I’ve seen so many of the movies people are listing. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham is definitely my favorite. I rank it up there with Lord of the Rings and Star Wars (and those are my FAVES). Other Bollywood movies I love are Saathiya, Devdas, Fanaa, Jab We Met, Chalte Chalte, Salaam Namaste among others. I’ve even got some of my friends into Bollywood.
Have you seen The Kite Runner? Its not an Indian film, but pretty much foreign based. I absolutely love it. I heard the book is even better. Unfortunately, I’ve seen the movie already and can’t get through a book once I’ve already seen a movie about it.
Kaiselet,
It’s so funny that you sent this message because Kite Runner came in through my Netflix on Thursday and M and I plan on watching it today. I’m quite excited about watching it. I know it picked up a lot of awards. The other night we also watched Dostana. It was okay but I wouldn’t put it on my must see list. Since Kerri and Samantha have suggested Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham as a favorite, I’ll get that movie too. Thanks for the suggestion guys!
I first began to became interested in Bollywood films in the mid’ 1990’s when I accidentally came across the Asian Variety Show( AVS)where i became better acquainted with a variety if South Asian entertainment news.
I was just getting into the show it and was curious about any possible movies that I wanted to watch.I was able to watch a Anil Kapoor movie during a International cultural event that had taken place at my school ( I hope that I’m spelling it correctly), though I forgot the title of it), I would like to look at his latest movie “I am Khan”.with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. I’m also into Bollywood oldies from the 1960’s -70’s.
Man, I feel so behind. Back then I wasn’t sure how to get it. At one point , I thought that i lost Bollywood forever. I thought that AVS went off the air, until 2009. Presently, I can watch the show clips on my computer. Soon as I get myself a new TV, I plan one getting Direct and HIndi Direct.
Hi, I need descriptive video (Am totally blind) But, I really want to watch Indian films. Also, my Urdu (I know, Hindi) is not that good. SlumDog Millionaire is the only one on descriptive. But, My guy and I might try netflicks, if it has Indian movies.
How about books?
I have read “kite Runner,” which is also a movie,
“A Suitable Boy,” by Vikram Seth
is also a movie.
I believe that “Water,” was written by Bapsi Sidwa, so was also a book first.
I am not sure about the rest.
I do have some of the music from those movies. I enjoy some of Sonu Nigam’s songs and found that he is in lots of the soundtracks.
Maybe someone should start an “indian movie review,” from an American prospective and we should see which have started from a book first.
Oh, of course, “Slumdog Millionaire,” started from a “Q and A,” by … … Vikas Swarap.
There are some movies that I would like to see from some Indian women, but they weren’t released internationally. South Asian women are producing and writing more films.
I just watched “The Other End of The Line” Some may say it is corny but I love this movie. It is what triggered me to search the web for information about AA and Indian relationships (dating). I am an AA women and have been approached by several Indian men in the past. And funny enough I never took them seriously because I know that they dont usually date or marry outside of their race. So thank you for this blog…It has been about 3 hours now and I have read every post up until now.