Jaan Pehechaan Ho
Here’s a little Bollywood for your open thread.
December 28, 2011 9:44 am
Posted in: Open Thread
58 Comments
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58 Responses
RossInDetroit - December 28, 2011 | 9:50 am · Link
I love this clip. It’s so wild and nutty.
amk - December 28, 2011 | 9:53 am · Link
My pug, jenny, just because I made her get off the couch, sneaked up to my room and made a mess on my bed today.
Vengeful bitch.
http://oi44.tinypic.com/8vvq78.jpg
Clark Stooksbury - December 28, 2011 | 9:55 am · Link
Enid likes it too.
rlrr - December 28, 2011 | 9:56 am · Link
Video is block at work, but I’m guessing it’s song and dance clip…
Jerzy Russian - December 28, 2011 | 9:56 am · Link
Why is everyone wearing a mask, and is there any significance when a few of them take them off later?
Tom Hilton - December 28, 2011 | 9:58 am · Link
Self-promotion: I’m guest-posting for SteveM at No More Mister Nice Blog. Current post explains why, contrary to what Greenwald says, Ron Paul isn’t actually a civil libertarian.
ETA: This is the one that’s in Ghost World, right? Great clip, excellent movie.
Brachiator - December 28, 2011 | 10:01 am · Link
Rent, buy or stream “Ghost World,” the delightful and insightful movie where a bit of this clip showed up, telling you much about the protagonist of the film. And check out Roger Ebert’s review of the film, one of his best, and surprisingly touching and poetic.
RossInDetroit - December 28, 2011 | 10:03 am · Link
@Jerzy Russian:
I think it’s futile to try to understand this dance. It just is what it is.
kdaug - December 28, 2011 | 10:08 am · Link
@RossInDetroit:
Fx’d.
amk - December 28, 2011 | 10:09 am · Link
@RossInDetroit: oh, yeah ? Take this.
Jerzy Russian - December 28, 2011 | 10:13 am · Link
@amk: I see evil in those eyes. Watch yourself.
RossInDetroit - December 28, 2011 | 10:13 am · Link
@amk:
Wow! That just gets better and better.
Raven - December 28, 2011 | 10:15 am · Link
Whoa, Thora Birch has quite a family.
Cheap Jim - December 28, 2011 | 10:15 am · Link
This is from a Terrence Malick flick, right?
schrodinger's cat - December 28, 2011 | 10:15 am · Link
@Jerzy Russian: According to the wisdom of the intertoobs, this is what I found. This song is from a movie called Gumnam (nameless) which was an adapted Hindi version of Agatha Christie’s famous novel, And then there were none.
Does that help?
amk - December 28, 2011 | 10:16 am · Link
@Jerzy Russian: The fight isn’t over. I shall win.
Mino - December 28, 2011 | 10:17 am · Link
The music and the masks reminded me of that Kill Bill I fight scene.
amk - December 28, 2011 | 10:20 am · Link
@RossInDetroit: I had to live through my college days with that song blasting from every corner.
Raven - December 28, 2011 | 10:21 am · Link
There’s a good bit of Mia Wallace in there.
Jerzy Russian - December 28, 2011 | 10:25 am · Link
@schrodinger’s cat: Actually it does help a little. Thanks for the pointers.
Also too: watching those dancers has made exhausted. I could not keep up that level of activity for more than a few minutes at a time.
Raven - December 28, 2011 | 10:26 am · Link
@Mino: Quinten obviously was on this like a duck on a june bug.
Phylllis - December 28, 2011 | 10:30 am · Link
@Clark Stooksbury: Ghost World. Great flick.
Brachiator - December 28, 2011 | 10:33 am · Link
@Cheap Jim:
No, it was used in Ghost World. I don’t think Malick has the sense of humor to use something like this.
In addition to the Bollywood films, there are a lot of Mexican movies from the era (the 60s) that featured hot sensuous dischoteque style dancing.
I could easily imagine Ann Margaret doing this number in an Elvis flick.
mistermix - December 28, 2011 | 10:33 am · Link
@Raven: I thought that, too.
Mnemosyne - December 28, 2011 | 10:38 am · Link
@schrodinger’s cat:
Yes, apparently Bollywood films are so fond of their musical numbers that they even put them into murder mysteries.
amk - December 28, 2011 | 10:43 am · Link
@Mnemosyne: Not just bollywood, 99.99999% of indian films will have 3-6 songs, storyline, theme and plot be damned. There are movies that ran hundreds of days just for those song & dance routines alone, raking in the moolah for the producers. It’s a successful formula which no producer worth his salt (and wants his money back) will dare tamper with.
Raven - December 28, 2011 | 10:43 am · Link
@Brachiator: Covered in baked beans!
RossInDetroit - December 28, 2011 | 10:48 am · Link
Ghost World is a surprisingly good film considering the subject matter. It was directed by Terry Zwigoff, who also did Crumb. Steve Buscemi’s character Seymour is a lot like Robert Crumb.
ETA: Zwigoff also did Bad Santa.
Citizen_X - December 28, 2011 | 10:50 am · Link
I love this clip, so I hate to bring depressing reality. But hey! There are actual data on the effects of a concealed-carry law. Out of 240,000 permit holders in North Carolina, more than 2400 were convicted of crimes, with more than 200 of those convicted of felonies, including 10 for murder or manslaughter. Also, “In about half of the felony convictions, the authorities failed to revoke or suspend the holder’s permit, including for cases of murder, rape and kidnapping.”
So it looks like more guns / = less crime. Shocking, I know!
RossInDetroit - December 28, 2011 | 10:52 am · Link
@Citizen_X:
Knock it off. It’s not even noon yet.
Raven - December 28, 2011 | 10:53 am · Link
Ann and Beans
PeakVT - December 28, 2011 | 11:00 am · Link
@Tom Hilton: I read that last night and it’s spot on.
rkdioxin - December 28, 2011 | 11:07 am · Link
another filmi fave:
http://youtu.be/kZ0NVhUUfwY
altho this can’t compete w/ “jan pahechaan ho” for groovadelic production values it does have 100% more winter wonderland going on.
Mino - December 28, 2011 | 11:07 am · Link
@Raven: Ken Russell was my favorite director, starting with Women in Love and all through the 70’s. His stuff in the 80’s wasn’t quite as much to my taste.
Cris (without an H) - December 28, 2011 | 11:09 am · Link
These guys dance with the precision of a high school musical. A real one, not High School Musical.
gene108 - December 28, 2011 | 11:12 am · Link
@Jerzy Russian:
Google-fu led me to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumnaam
Song’s from a mystery movie…something to do with the plot…
Quaker in a Basement - December 28, 2011 | 11:13 am · Link
The singer in that clip is the immortal Mohammed Rafi. He appeared in a few films but provided the singing voice for characters in hundreds of Hindi films. As a result, his work is known far and wide in India and the eastern world.
This song was an unusual departure for Rafi—his style was typically more sedate and sentimental. He shows some awesome moves in this clip.
Brachiator - December 28, 2011 | 11:18 am · Link
@Raven:
That is so wrong in so many right ways. But it does not do her justice as a dancer. For that you need to see some of the clips from, say, “Viva Las Vegas.”
Ken Russell in his prime was a magnificent terror. He passed away recently and it was sad to learn that he had trouble getting work when he still had some creative juices left. His very controversial “The Devils” may get a re-release soon. And “Women in Love” is still a great film.
Citizen_X - December 28, 2011 | 11:32 am · Link
@RossInDetroit: I prefer to take my bad news in the morning. Leaves more time for therapeutic drinking.
RossInDetroit - December 28, 2011 | 11:36 am · Link
@Citizen_X:
I hear you. The worst news is that even if there was a direct strong correlation between legal carriers and violent crime it would have no effect at all on gun control legislation. Because Freedom! that’s why.
Cain - December 28, 2011 | 11:48 am · Link
Not one of rafi’s better songs. But great era for Bollywood music. If you want a taste of real rafi then check out O duniya ke rekhwale.
here
Ramiah Ariya - December 28, 2011 | 11:58 am · Link
Bollywood is not Hindi movies; or the Indian film industry. It is a new brand created in the last 10 years. It is not really about movies. I wrote a long post about this here: Bollywood is not about movies.
India has several regional movie industries. They are in competition with the Bollywood brand. Also Hindi movies prior to the late 90s are not really Bollywood either. It is a specific brand name for corporatised Hindi movies. Although it has been a very successful brand. But the brand has harmed Hindi film industry in terms of art value and even long term sustenance.
In this song, they are really trying to be exotic in the tune and the dance. In this case the exotic comes from a Western tune and dance form. Indian movies aim for complete entertainment – that is their tradition. It comes from their dramatic roots.
Tom Hilton - December 28, 2011 | 11:58 am · Link
@PeakVT: Thanks!
bobbo - December 28, 2011 | 12:02 pm · Link
All kinds of awesome. Personally it reminds me of the Batman TV show
Gin & Tonic - December 28, 2011 | 12:16 pm · Link
I’ll use this open thread to express my sadness at the passing of Sam Rivers, a hugely influential jazz musician and bandleader, who for some years also ran a noncommercial performance space in NY. I had the pleasure to attend some very fine performances there.
Tom Hilton - December 28, 2011 | 12:43 pm · Link
Another Bollywood classic.
Ronnie Pudding - December 28, 2011 | 12:56 pm · Link
I’m guessing the Terence Malick comment above was a joke.
Another vote in favor of Ghost World, which uses this video to great effect in its opening.
Mnemosyne - December 28, 2011 | 1:02 pm · Link
G and I caught a really amazing cult film on TCM a few weeks ago called Ganja and Hess. If you want to know what Terrence Malick’s movies might have looked like if Malick was black, working with a black cast, and examining class fissures and addiction through a vampire story (though they never use the “V” word), this is the one. It’s odd, and non-linear, and very hypnotic.
ETA: This review is also interesting, especially for the lead actress’s quote about how critics didn’t get the movie because of their preconception that black filmmakers make straightforward films.
Paul in KY - December 28, 2011 | 1:09 pm · Link
Man, can that girl get down! Thanks for posting this,
Brachiator - December 28, 2011 | 1:19 pm · Link
@Gin & Tonic:
Oh no. This is very sad. One of the most revelatory concerts I ever attended was a Rivers performance in New Haven, Connecticut.
This news really stings. But thanks for alerting me to this. There’s an old CD I have to dig out….
YellowJournalism - December 28, 2011 | 1:40 pm · Link
Best doesn’t-belong musical number I’ve ever seen so far in a Bollywood film would be in a remake of The Gift where it is revealed through a very trashy musical number just how bad the murderer was.
Cain - December 28, 2011 | 1:57 pm · Link
@Ramiah Ariya:
I’m not sure I agree with you there. 80s hindi movies were unimaginative, lacklustre filled with ageing actors acting like they are still in their 20s. People were stuck in particular roles, and played them regularly (like the Chinese actors here) Older film stars were relegated to playing grandma or grandfather roles even though they can act much better than that.
The 90s changed a lot of that, and even Bollywood movies even an ageing star can still be a sex symbols (eg Dimple Kapadia in Dil Chahta Hai) Older actors were able to do more things.
The golden age though was really the 70s where there was a lot of interesting movies, until the censor board decided that things were moving in the wrong direction and changed things, added hindu/muslim unity propaganda etc. Meh. 60s – 70s was avante garde.
Paul in KY - December 28, 2011 | 3:11 pm · Link
@Cain: I just had a young Indian gentleman watch the song/dance number. He was surprised it was so old (1965). He was also surprised by the touchy/feelyness of it, as it seemed somewhat more risque than the usual Hindi movie.
Mnemosyne - December 28, 2011 | 3:14 pm · Link
@Cain:
I don’t know much about Indian cinema (which is a bit shameful since I have two film degrees) but I know the American censorship regime was extremely harmful to us as a society, so I’m not surprised a censorship crackdown could cause a steep dip in quality.
schrodinger's cat - December 28, 2011 | 5:45 pm · Link
What are now known as Bollywood movies were previously known as masala movies or popular Hindi cinema as it is known in more high brow circles. The name Bollywood is relatively new, more prevalent since the 90’s. Masala movies were formulaic, had several song and dance sequences, dealt with simple truisms had little subtlety.
In the early decades after Indian independence the movies tend to be more idealistic, espouse socialist ideals and are in general optimistic and hopeful, Naya Daur is a good example of this ethos, also see any of Raj Kapoor’s early movies. In the 70’s things start to change a little and the popular cinema is not so optimistic anymore, it sees the rise of the antihero, the angry young man, Amitabh Bachan, who takes on the corrupt establishment all by himself, Zanjeer is a good example of this genre. In the 80’s movies are more grim, dealing with weightier subjects like corrupt law enforcement officials, see Ardh Satya, for example.
The last two decades have seen several movies on expat Indians, Indian diaspora, example would be Dil Wale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and on political violence, see Dil Se. All in all I would say that Hindi popular cinema is a good mirror of the Indian condition.
SFAW - December 28, 2011 | 6:18 pm · Link
For all of that guy’s singing about Don Ho, shouldn’t the back-up band be using ukuleles instead of gee-tars?
Samara Morgan - December 29, 2011 | 9:17 am · Link
@Ramiah Ariya: but bollywood is going mainstream. its taught at the dance studio where i take lessons.
Jaan Pehechaan Ho is featured in a beer commercial that runs alla time here.
what do you think of this Jay-Sean clip?
i think its hawt.
;)
Samara Morgan - December 29, 2011 | 9:33 am · Link
@schrodinger’s cat: but you ignore the the whole ethic folk hero tradition of Jagga.
jagga dacoit