I love Khakee; it successfully brought back the "best of Bachchan."

I'm happy to hear that you would (likely) classify Sholay as a "classic."

I'll not name all "myriad," but I'd be more than happy to name a few. Which era?

Thank god you're kidding about The Godfather. Part II is every bit as great as the original, and Part III is highly under-rated.

I'd recommend you watch Eros's version of Sholay. You'll get to see the "director's cut," and some additional footage, throughout. Unfortunately, neither the Eros/DEI version, nor the Eros/B4U one, is exactly "stellar." The former is cropped, and the latter just has shitty quality. That said, I think both are watchable, with Eros/DEI winning hands-down on the sound, and marginally on the picture. The additional minutes on the Eros/B4U version — along with its "original-aspect-ratio" presentation of the film — however, make it my pick.

Of those films, Sarkar is the only one I've seen in the theater. Company is excellent, and I'd like to have seen it on the big screen. That said, I don't really find Ram Gopal Varma's films the type to watch in theaters. This isn't really because they're bad, but they just don't seem to benefit hugely from the atmosphere. For the most part, they can be as enjoyed on DVD, as they can be in a movie hall.

I like Pukar (Anil Kapoor's...and Amitabh Bachchan's actually), but I love Khakee. Again, I'd have hated to see the project end up in the hands of the factory.

I don't find D's story at all novel (guy moves up ladder of crime, blah blah blah), and (as you said) its presentation is just so tripe.

"Shiv" is supposedly Varma's "re-make" of James. Apparently, he's trying to give his protagonist an actual story, this time. As far as the "cop" angle is concerned, I'm under the impression that it'll have little bearing on the story; I'm willing to bet that he won't even be in uniform.

I don't think you (or I) have any right to just condemn government employees as crooks. Of course, there are crooked cops; that, too, has been explored to no end. Gangsters, however, are difficult to portray in any light but shady.

I don't think RGV will ever do a cross border terrorism film. The filmography page cites RGV to be one of the producers of Dil Se. I don't recollect his name mentioned at the time of release, nor do I recollect seeing his name during the film credits (as I was not paying attention to it). However, I do recollect some ties between Ratnam and Varma.

Was amithab's Pukar directed by Santhoshi as well? Do you like Lal Badshah?

Looks like I'll have to get my hands on EROS/B4U Sholay then watch DEI/EROS.

The majority are crooks, or they are ignorant fools. There is a small minority of reasonable govt authorities. But even they who seem reasonable might be so on the surface, but deep inside are crooks

'Shiva' that I mentioned is a sequel to RGV's first film Shiva. Not the remake of James. Yes, it's getting confusing with so many remakes and sequels I just read about it today. I'm not sure if he's going to direct the film himself either way, I'm excited about the combo.

Here is a quote on RGV re: Remakes

That is correct, RGV was an executive producer of Dil Se (along with Shekhar Kapur). He and Mani Ratnam co-wrote Thiruda Thiruda (directed by Ratnam) and Gaayam (directed by RGV).

I dunno dude,

I am personally a very genre-conscious film watcher. there are certain genres I really luv - noirs, crime/dramas, thrillers, action, westerns - and I rarely venture outside of these genres

unless of course it is by a director I really trust - soderbergh, ramu…

but looking at some of the films of tarkovsky … they don’t really seem like my type of stuff

which of his film would say are ‘must see’??




I absolutely disagree

but there is no point in arguing further on the issue - we clearly have 2 different definitions

you classify a classic based on popularity and I on quality



I definitely think ‘psycho’ is among his best, but if I had to make a top 10 hitch, it would look something like…

1) rope (1948)
2) spellbound (1945)
3) psycho (1960)
4) dial m for murder (1954)
5) vertigo (1958)
6) marnie (1964)
7) saboteur (1942)
8) shadow of a doubt (1943)
9) the lady vanishes (1938)
10) 39 steps (1935)

I guess I have unusual taste when it comes to hitch films. I find many of his popular films - ‘north by northwest’, ‘rear window’, ‘notorious’, ‘rebecca’ - very overrated. yet I tend to luv some of his lesser known films like ‘rope’ (my absolute fav hitch)



in order to say if a remake butchered the original or not, you need to first actually watch the film!

I actually was really excited to see one of my fav films in mc get remade - especially to see how they would adapt it to a contemporary setting

yet only after I watched the remake did I find it to be garbage - but if it was done well, I would have felt the opposite






give it a try, it is much better than the first and really a great film



‘d’ was a gangster flick supreme, definitely the best film of the year imo

though I agree it uses many of the same underworld themes ramu had done before but the treatment however was definitely different. while other ramu films of the sort - satya, company, sarkar - fall into the genre of crime/drama. d was less drama and more a high energy, no nonsense shoot ‘em up

and the performances were great - randeep as the lead was spectacular, did his malik-act perfectly, definitely the best bw newcomer I have seen in years

and the rest of the ensemble were equally impressive - ishrat ali, sushant singh, zakir husein, yashpal sharma, vinod jaywant, raju mavani

not to mention superb direction and cinematography

w/ plenty of excellent gunplay

and the locations!! forget abt the tacky multicolor sets you see in most bw films - ‘d’ was shot at 200+ real locations in and around mumbai… that is fucking ridicoulous! (in a good way :)) definitely adds to the feel and atmosphere of the film

and some of the dialogues were classic

w/ out a doubt my fav film of the year (w/ hka being a near second), and definitely a worthy prequel to ‘company’



‘naach’ was definitely one of the best films to come out of the factory, and one of my favs

like in said in the other thread - ‘naach’ is clearly the most honest and personal film ramu has ever made… abt the realities of the film industry(cronyism, casting couch), abt relationships within the film industry(how they come and go w/ success), and abt the struggle to maintain your ideals and not conform to industry standards…

and antara was incredible as the lead, though I agree abhi was bad



for fans of the action genre, james was awesome…and there is really not much more I can say abt it

it is easily one of the best bw action flicks ever…

though if the action genre is not your thing… then this film is obviously not for you

oh and it does have a really hot lead actress :)



not at all

as you said - I was listing his films from similar genres. ramu however has definitely made plenty of good films in other genres also in the last few years - ‘main madhuri’, ‘naach’, ‘vaastu shastra’, ‘love ke liye’

ramu, apart from being the best, is definitely also the most versatile director in bw



cop flicks like ‘sehar’ and ‘dev’ last year were horrible, w/ miscast leads in both

‘khakee’, lets just say, was not my type of film…



exactly, and thankfully so

in ramu films w/ cops as central characters - at56, company, mwm - ramu fortunately portrays them realistically

as oppose to the conventional bollywood flicks, where you must either fall into the ‘good cop’ or ‘bad cop’ category


and believe it or not I am actually not a fan of ‘the godfather’ myself, it is overrated imo

Actually, I hear that Varma is ready to make Ek, which is about terrorism. Amitabh Bachchan's Pukar was directed by Ramesh Behl; it is from 1983 (before Rajkumar Santoshi's era).

Of course I've seen Lal Baadshah; it is, by all means, a terrible film. That said, I do enjoy it somewhat.

I'm sorry, but it's idiotic to presume that the "majority" of government officials are "crooks." Government officials are not some elite breed; they are people who have an interest in government, and pursue careers in the vein. Any extremely broad, sweeping statement, is likely to be an exaggeration, at best.

I'm actually pretty sure that Shiv will be Varma's re-make of James. I think its title is what has led to the confusion of thinking that he'll be doing a sequel to (or re-make of) Shiva.

Mola, I agree that it is our definitions of "classic" that seem to be at the root of our difference, here. I need not like a "classic" to acknowledge that it is one; it needn't to have a special place in my life to be a "classic." Apparently, the word has a personal connotation, to you.

I love Rope, but I prefer North By Northwest — .

I don't know that I have to watch Varma's "Sholay" to have an idea as to what it'll be. I've seen most of his factory's work, and I have a reasonable guess as to what to expect from his forthcoming works.

Sorry, but I maintain that D was just Varma recycling Varma. The story was far from novel, and the execution of the subject was hardly refreshing.

I hated Naach. All I see is a sophomoric film that embodies pretention. Even the situations were horribly contrived. And, god, that fucking "finished product": a dumb-ass "item number" is the dream of the protagonist...her "unique vision." To me, the sequence was just a manifestation of how very false the entire film felt. I agree, though, that Anatara Mali was commendable.

James was Shahenshah, set in 2005. Unfortunately, they replaced Amitabh Bachchan with Mohit Ahlawat. I don't care at all for the lead actress (same girl from Sarkar). The performances weren't bad, but the characterizations were non-existent. I like action films, but I don't like "stupid action films." To me, this is was James was: stupid. It had some "OK" moments (Rajpal Yadav was good in his brief appearance), but, overall, the film lacked heart. All we ended up with, is a robotic protagonist, who might just survive an atomic blast.

I seem to prefer Varma's "less celebrated" work. Gayab and Vaastu Shastra are two of his best films. Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon — though quite obligatory, at parts — is rather good. Varma screams anything but "versatility" to me; I don't expect you to agree, but I won't budge an inch on this — lol.

This just shows our differences, further: Dev was easily one of the best efforts of 2004. Khakee was about as excellent. Sehar is superb, and it's unfortunate that it went horribly over-looked.

It's not at all realistic to paint the world the way Varma does...again and again. Clearly, it's the "mood" of his films that appeals to most people. This mood, alone, is no more capable of embodying the variety of human existence, than is the overtly "upbeat" one of Karan Johar's films. It's a style, and nothing more. Cops are just as capable of being "good and clean," and they are of being "weak and dirty." Varma seems bent on exploring the latter of the two scenarios. For the most part, Varma's cops are simply spineless droids, incapable of any action resembling one "realistic."

I love The Godfather. I might agree, to an extent, that it is a bit "over-rated," but then, I think that that may be said of just about any "celebrated film." It's a lot easier to defend the underdog, than it is to defend something that seemingly everyone loves. There's a certain inescapable appeal in finding the brilliance in something that only a minority appears able to appreciate.

I guess he is not everyones cup of tea - my advice is see all his films and decide for yourself. You can start here

http://www.nostalghia.com/

you can expect whatever you want, but you can’t judge a film before you actually watch it



I am not sure how you can call the film pretentious and contrived - the film was completely honest and true to life

in no other bw film will you see the film industry better and as realistically portrayed as in naach

and what you call “contrived” situations are a daily occurrence in bollywood - and who would know the inner workings of the industry better than ramu



you gotta be kidding dude…. the action genre is inherently a pulp genre

there is no such thing as an ‘intellectual’ action film

that is why it is called the action genre - the focus is strictly on the action and the plots are solely meant to facilitate the action

b/c of this you have a few basic archetypal plots being continuously made w/ very little variations

if harry callahan and paul kersey were blowing away bad guys and trying to save their city in the 70s

then james is doing the exact same thing in 2005

the only things to really change in the action genre in the last 30 years are in terms of style, the films are now made on a larger canvas and fight choreography - especially when it comes to things such as wireworks, and especially cgi - imo the death of true action films :((

what makes ‘james’ such a great entry into the genre is that in terms of style, energy and fight choreography - it is unlike and superior to anything ever seen before in hindi action cinema

and the best part - it was cgi free!!! (unlike most of the bw crap action today)




though it is clear that varma is no doubt a commercial director, but he does attempt to provide heavy doses of realism in his films - and he has definitely done his part to portray real cops in his films - both sadhu agashe in at56 and srinivasan in company were based on real mumbai cops

furthermore varma started the bw trend of hiring real cops as advisers in films - daya nayak was an advisor for 5 varma films - satya, shool, company, ek hasina thi and at56

…much before the rest of bollywood jumped on the bandwagon (guys like rks)



varma has portrayed just as many good cops as he has done bad cops

ramu films like - satya, shool, company, ek hasina thi, at 56 and mwm - all have good cops coming out on top over criminals

and to quote daya nayak…

“I know Ramu quite well. He is a good filmmaker. He portrays police in good light. We have interacted often during the making of his films. I find him quite balanced. The role of D Sivanandhan saab was well etched out and played well by Mohanlal in Company. Ramu did tell me that he wants to show the real life of cops unlike others who show policemen dancing in his uniform with the heroine,” laughs Nayak.

According to Nayak, who loves watching “quality Hindi films”, Varma is a good technician. “I love all his movies. The cop always wins at the end”

http://web.mid-day.com/entertainment/movies/2003/february/43853.htm

…and that really says it all

heh. the focus has generally been on the 'bad' guys, so much that I had forgotten about the 'good' cops.



there will be more...

Agreed that I cannot have an opinion of a film, before I watch it; again, though, I can have an opinion on how a film will likely be, before I watch it.

I just despised Naach. If you saw "honesty" and "truth," I, again, saw pretention and speciousness. In many other "Bollywood" films have we seen a person strive to make it in the industry, only to find barriers and difficulty. Naach's whole message was that it is difficult to be "original" in a consistently-"set" industry; the events of Naach were anything but "original." You don't know the "daily occurrences" of the industry (I very much doubt that you do); neither do I. Both of us are left to speculate, and to go on what we are shown. Varma made a film: he threw in events and situations that would sell; he didn't necessarily adhere to "reality." That said, as is the case in most works of art (e.g., films), it's not "what you say," but rather "how you say it." I found Varma's message delivered in the most trite of ways. I suppose others are, however, free to disagree.

Uh, I don't recall having claimed that there is an "intellectual-action" genre. Merely that there is a "good" film, and a "bad" film"; a film that works, and a film that doesn't. James is, indeed, heavily inspired by all those "bad film" of the 1980s, in which Amitabh Bachchan kicks the shit out of everyone. I totally disagree with you, though, about plots' being inconsequential in action films. Honestly, that's just wrong. Any film must be plot-driven to be good. We're not watching a "fight scene"; we're watching a movie. A good movie (be it action or otherwise) has characters and it has a story. Given, the "purpose" of an action movie is action, but it is wrong to say that "all the stuff in between the action," just doesn't matter. It does, and it's what separated good action (e.g., from Kurukshetra) from James.

Of course, they "way" in which action is shown has changed, and it will continue to do so. It's in no way "better" now than it was before: it's just different. Even in Shahenshah (I come back to it because it is the archetypical "successful bad action movie"), we get a story behind the action. There's a reason for the explosions, and there's a person who's setting the explosives off. Personally, I'm sick of all the "wires" that are involved in most action films to-day. It's not the technology I mind, so much as its use. I've had enough of people flying, in bullet-time, through space. I'd rather see someone juse punch someone, and see that second person fall (in something resembling "real-time") to the earth. Of course, that's just style, and that's just taste. Even you seem to have a disdain for CGI; so, perhaps even you have a predilection for "old-school." I take it then, that you can (to an extent or another) relate to this.

There really is no such thing as "realism" in a commercial film. Only the novelty of seeing something presented in a "non-typical," apparently "gritty" way strikes people as such. Often (though not always), Varma's characters lack fullness and depth; hell many of the characters in the oft-condemned Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham are deeper than those of Varma's world. His "fights" aren't any less stylized, either. Guns go off loudly, they're held unrealistically; people go down in just the right number of punches; wounds are kept only when necessary; etc. I'm not saying that this is a flaw to be held in contempt, but merely that Ram Gopal Varma's films are not as big a bite of reality as some people (not necessarily you) seem to think.

I think any attempt to say that Varma has a "soft-spot" for the police, is just smoke and mirrors. Varma's films consistently portray cops in shady light. That said, Varma's films shroud everyone and everything in shady light. His films all persist in that "bleak, dejected" feel; they revel in it. That's fine for a few films, but it's gotten old. I maintain that Ram Gopal Varma has gotten so comofortable in his throne, being hailed as "great and original," that he has lost his edge. He's well on his way (in a few years) to becoming quite bad. I'd like him to take on new styles, and endeavor to make starkly different "types" of films, but I doubt very much that he will do so. Hell, Vipul Shah had the right idea: Aankhen and (the under-rated-by-"zulmies") "Waqt" are very different films. I expect Shah's next venture to be as different from these two. Again, I'd love to see Varma's next production to feel nothing like a "factory item." Factories produce the same thing in mass quantities, and they do so quickly; an accurate name for his company.

the film is as much abt ramu himself as it is abt a dancer named rewa

the plot…

- is abt a newcomer to the industry who does not have any industry connections
- someone who is not interested in the conventional masala entertainers
- someone who attempts to make things their way/a different way, and not conform to industry standards
- somebody who is against cronyism, and thus attempts to give new talents an opportunity
- someone who finally achieves success, without compromising on his/her ideals
- and has had various relationships within the film industry, and has seen how fickle they can be and come and go w/ success

all this not only summarizes the film, but it also a summary of ramu’s career

and I doubt you can get anymore honest than using personal experiences as the basis of the plot



my point exactly,

and like I said - who would know the inner workings of the industry better than ramu

and furthermore, the "daily occurrences" of the industry have been well documented over the years, it is thus not too difficult to determine if what we are being shown is realistic or not



why is it inspired by bad 80s amit action flicks?? - amit made for a laughable action star and his action films were ridiculous

in terms of story, ‘james’ was clearly a homage to the 80’s sunny action flicks (as ramu has already said) such as ‘arjun’



the plots are NOT inconsequential, but as I said meant to facilitate the action

and if you look at the majority of action films (hw, bw or other) you have but a few basic stories…

a good guy tries to clean up or save his neighborhood/city/world
or b the always enjoyable vigilante out on a revenge crusade
and finally c and my personal fav, the protagonist tries to leave his life of crime/violence (usually due to a luv interest), but his former associates/bosses just wont let him go

the action genre is especially much more style over substance

and like I said, despite its routine action plot, ‘james’ is the w/ out a doubt the best choreographed, stylishly directed, well shot, high energy bw action film in years… maybe ever!



‘kurukshetra’ is NOT an action film, it was nothing more than a ramu-rehash crime/ drama, made in a more commercial style… ie the type that “show policemen dancing in his uniform with the heroine”



of course there is, directors like basu chaterjee and hrishikesh mukherjee made careers out of it

though they definitely made commercial films, they were clearly on a different level than directors say like ramesh sippy or manmohan desai

just like today -

films like d and ek hasina thi are much more grounded in reality than films like khakee, insaan, kaante, plan…

there are no doubt different degrees when it comes to bw commercial films



I have not claimed that he has soft spot for cops - just that he portrays them realistically… meaning both the good and the bad sides (and I have already given sufficient evidence for that)



ramu has directed/produced 30+ films in his career and has successfully worked in almost ever single genre - crime, thrillers, romance, comedy, horror, action/adventures… few other bw directors could make this claim


and just on the topic of the factory- I am not sure how many of you have already heard abt this but the factory is now officially over as varma corp has split w/ k sera sera

in the 3 year association that v corp had w/ k sera sera (aka the factory) - they made some of my absolutely fav films like at56, naach, ek hasina thi, d, vaastu shastra…

and there are still a few factory films that have yet to be released - thought there will be no new factory films

hopefully ramu will continue to make films as good w/ his new production partners (percept, ambani)

I understand the plot of Naach, I just find that it is a horribly contrived, superficially-executed film. I think I said this before, but, it's not what you say that matters (very much), but the way in which you say it.

First of all, many people would know the inner-workings of the industry better than — or, at least, as well as — Ram Gopal Varma. Second, knowing how something is, does not mean that you will create an accurate and truthful depiction of it. An example: Bush gets politics, yet he's on a constant path of spewing bull-shit because he knows that that's what he must tell people. It's a bit of a vague comparison, but I hope it helps to illustrate my point.

James simply is (heavily) inspired by the "bad" action films of the 1980s; Ram Gopal Varma, himself, stated this in more than one interview. Amitabh Bachchan made a phenomenal "action star"; I'm actually apalled that you would call his work "laughable," in an attempt to defend Mohit Ahalawat. Furthermore, Bachchan's great action films (e.g., Deewaar, Trishul) were truly great, while his "bad action films" (e.g., Shahenshah, Mard) (though certainly "ridiculous") were more than enjoyable, something due almost entirely to Amitabh's abilities as a performer. Again, Varma's said that James is an attempt to re-capture the '80s' action films of Amitabh Bachchan (and, to an extent, Dharmendra), not those of Sunny Deol (check out his interview at http://www.nowrunning.com as one of many examples of his having claimed this).

Action films, certainly, have one "purpose": to entertain. That said, they ought to be coherent, have stories, and present somewhat salable characters. James was just idiotic; even the director has admitted that the film was an utter failure when it came to storyline and character-development. Your statement about James's maybe being the best action film ever (though a bit of an intentional exaggeration, I'm sure) just shows that you're horrible biased in this matter. No offense (I, too, have my biases), but biased people seldom make sane judges.

Kurukshetra is indeed an action film (it's a much better action film than Ram Gopal Varma could ever manage to create). Not everything political/criminal stems from Varma. Kurukshetra is an excellent politically-driven action-entertainer, and Sanjay Dutt (in it) delivers a great performance. I think there are very many different types of action films, and that different ones have different goals and have them to different degreess (they're not all meant to be "mindless fun"), but the fact remains that a good action movie must first be a good movie.

There's really no such thing as a film that truly portrays reality. Yes, there are degrees of "fantasticness," but Varma's films really don't venture too far from that point of "fantastic." Agreed, though, that Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chaterjee made films about as "realistic" as I can imagine, and would like to see. Also, agreed that Manmohan Desai basically epitomized the...shall we say "non-realistic" film genre. The thing is, while I can compare someone such as David Dhawan to Manmohan Desai, I can never compare Ram Gopal Varma to Hrishikesh Mukherjee (or Basu Chaterjee).

Ek Hasina Thi and D aren't too "grounded in reality," though I agree that the former is not too "fantastic." Insaan is trash. Plan sucks. Kaante is good, but just too lifted from Reservoir Dogs to be supremely appreciated. Khakee is excellent (it shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath in which are these other films), and it is more "grounded in reality" than D, even though it is much more an "entertainer."

I didn't use the quotation marks to indicate that you said "soft-spot"; I did so just in place of italicization. Anyway, I think that Varma has a knack for either over-looking the significance of police officers or portraying them in a negative light. I, too, have given evidence of this.

As you said, Ram Gopal Varma (i.e., his factory) has churned out an amazingly high number of films. The quality of this films, however, is not that high (at least, not any more), and it is getting seemigly worse with each film. Furthermore, the product is now merely recycled again and again, as the factory sees no reason to change what is just a profitable formula.

I had heard that Varma split from K. Sera Sera, but I was not aware that this meant that the "Factory" had come to its cessation. Maybe this'll actually work in Varma's favor. Seeing your "sad face," though, I'll say that I'm sorry that a company that you clearly loved has come to an end. Whether I felt fondly for it or not, I, too, hate to see the end of something that I feel is great.

Is Varma's new "female gangster" (well, here's a nice oppurtunity for me to re-iterate my claim that the man has a one-track, obsessive mind) film, then, not being created by the "Factory"? What of his "Sholay"? "King"?

first - ramu is a top director who has been working in bollywood for 15+ years, I think that would make him (or anybody else) sufficiently knowledgeable on how the industry works

secondly - and for the last time, the type of stuff portrayed in the film has been documented time and time again. now maybe you are simply not knowledgeable enough abt bollywood, or have not paid attention to news coverage/editorials abt bollywood, but I have. and anyone who has, can definitely see that the events portrayed in the film are accurate to real industry life

and naach is definitely one of the few (very few) films to realistically portray the industry - w/ out being watered down or sugarcoated



first of all, amitabh bachchan was never a phenomenal anything

and secondly, as I talked abt a little in my action post, there are certain qualities which make someone a good action star… of which amit had absolutely none



see this is your first problem - you have no idea what an action film is

while ‘deewar’ was a crime/drama, trishul was more like a masala all-in-one

but seeing the type of films you like, I think I finally understand your problem ‘james’ - you, like most people, didn’t like james as a pure action film

and that is fine, like I said ‘james’ is for action fans ONLY

james was not the conventional masala entertainer with just a some portions of action here and there

stuff like - romance, comedy, melodrama, family sentiments and other such crap was kept to an absolute minimum

james was a 2 hour exercise in style, energy, action and more action… and nisha’s hot bod



I for one definitely want to read this interview… link???



ramu’s complaints w/ james are understandable, ramu is director known for making serious and intense cinema

ramu complained that james was too much of a ‘comic book’ entertainer (his words exactly) - but I personally have no problem w/ that, james was no doubt a flashy action flick… and it was absolutely fine that it never tried to be anything serious or deep

having said that I also look forward to ramu’s shiv - which promises to be a james-type story, but reinterpreted by ramu in a more serious, heavy and dramatic format (the type of style/mood we usually get from ramu)



not best action film ever, best bollywood action film ever

though to be honest that isn’t much of a claim, as bollywood action has been pretty bad over the years (in the hands of hacks like rks and s gupta)

for one - most bollywood action flicks have really horrible fight/action choreography

and second - most bollywood films tend to throw in a bunch of masala ingredients into films, along with the action, thus making them more masala all in ones. there are very few good true action films in bw

when it comes to action films - tamil/telugu cinema is years ahead



kurukshetra was nothing more than a commercialized watered down shool w/ bad songs and a bollywood ending

and I won’t even start comparing manoj’s performance to dutts...



correct, but just about everything good politico/criminal stems from varma

hell, I am still recovering from watching apaharan this past weekend



if you cannot see the difference in realism between a rks film and a ramu film… then I see no point in carrying on with this conversation



right, and when we put the negative portrayals + the positive portrayals = what I was saying all along - “he portrays them realistically… meaning both the good and the bad sides”




in the 3 year existence of the factory, they have made 10 films…

of these - at56, naach, ek hasina thi, and d were all phenomenal films, while the rest ranged form ok (sarkar, james, mwm, vaastu shastra) to crap (darna mana hai, gayab)

I would say that is a pretty good record, and a very varied list of films (almost all the genres are covered and very little ‘recycling’ like you put it)



this is definitely a great thing

like I said in my post a while back, ramu is trying to explore different areas of the underworld…

“I was watching an interview with him on tv, when he was doing promotion for ‘d’, and he has already said he has 2 more underworld films in the works - both of them sound amazing

the first - this will be a film on low level shooters. ramu was saying that most of the underworld films he has made dealt with the guys on top. this one however will focus on these low level shooters - the guys who actually carry out suparis and bump off industrialists, politicians, other gangsters etc… these guys work either on a ad hoc basis(mercs) or are loyal to a particular gang

the second - will be abt women in the underworld - ramu said he had seen a news report abt the growing number of women in the underworld and he thought it would be a interesting topic to tackle”



sholay is still in pre production, but king was shelved a while ago…ramu decided to make ‘shiv’ instead

from what I have heard, films which have already begun production/pre production will still be produced by the factory but no new projects will begin

IMDB lists AR Rahman as doing the music for Sholay. Any truth to this?

No reason to doubt it either.

Seems like, SHOLAY remake may be a bigger film than original SHOLAY.