Billu, 2009
Directed by: Priuadarshan
Sigh.
I've seen this movie twice now, with both viewings almost over a year apart; the first time I loved it, I gushed, I cried, I got warm fuzzies, I adored. The second time I rolled my eyes a lot.
I'm a jaded, bitter, angry adult now folks, and nothing is going to give back my youthful cheer.*
Here's the thing, I like this movie. I think the plot, story, acting, costumes, locations, the music... everything come together to make this a beautiful, touching film but for some reason it just fell flat on me last night and I was not charmed.
I know exactly the reason why: Shah Rukh Khan.
Before I get an earful about how amazing he is and how beautiful he is and how this-and-that he is please just understand that post-Indian internship Erin cannot deal nicely with SRK. Things happened, opinions were ruined, someone was a complete DBag...etc. Now, while I can still respect him as an actor and for his body of work, the relationship he has with the audience and the love he inspires I cannot, myself, watch something like Ae Ae O without feeling the need to emphatically roll my eyes several times.
Now, Billu, in my opinion should have not fussed about renaming SRK as "Sahir Khan". If he's going to essentially play himself with nods to Shah Rukh Khan films he might as well have spared Kinko's the effort by not having them erase his name and change it on the posters. There are plenty of posters, and banners and movie posters and merchandise all brandished with "Sahir Khan" that would have saved considerable time, effort, money, resources by just keeping SRK SRK.
Why they chose to defer to an alias when everyone just assumes he's playing himself anyway is unknown to me. It's weird, really.
Not to mention that for me, personally, SRK seemed to really be dialing it in on this performance. I don't blame him, as a character Sahir has no depth (except at the end. Maybe.), he shows up on screen, does some dance moves, squiggles around an item-girl-cameo, waves at the adoring crowd and slithers off in an overly-embellished leather jacket.
If you're going to dial in a role, this is the one to do it.
NOT to spend my whole post ragging on our beloved King Khan, let me just continue onwards.
This is one of the few movies I like Ms. Dutt in, and I think she does a great job of being an impoverished, star-struck Maa. There was something so rustic and relaxed about her that I typically don't see. Maybe it's a director, maybe it's the role, maybe it's magic. Who can tell, and who is going to listen to me try to explain it? No one.
Irrfan Khan is an actor I've always loved. He's so brooding, so serene.... he brings a nice dejection to Billu's character that really helped me to relate to him on screen. He's humble, he's dirty, he's quiet, he's withdrawn. Wah. He's wonderful.
While I have my qualms with the film, and may not be as awe-struck as I was the first time 'round I won't deny that the soundtrack is brilliant in it's diversity of styles, ranging from ballad to rock to folksy to hip-hop**; neither will I rob the production of praise for its cleanliness, style and overall beauty.
Sigh. Again.
*Excuses
**or rather my totally wrong, Opera student perception of "hip-hop"
Directed by: Priuadarshan
Sigh.
I've seen this movie twice now, with both viewings almost over a year apart; the first time I loved it, I gushed, I cried, I got warm fuzzies, I adored. The second time I rolled my eyes a lot.
I'm a jaded, bitter, angry adult now folks, and nothing is going to give back my youthful cheer.*
Here's the thing, I like this movie. I think the plot, story, acting, costumes, locations, the music... everything come together to make this a beautiful, touching film but for some reason it just fell flat on me last night and I was not charmed.
I know exactly the reason why: Shah Rukh Khan.
Before I get an earful about how amazing he is and how beautiful he is and how this-and-that he is please just understand that post-Indian internship Erin cannot deal nicely with SRK. Things happened, opinions were ruined, someone was a complete DBag...etc. Now, while I can still respect him as an actor and for his body of work, the relationship he has with the audience and the love he inspires I cannot, myself, watch something like Ae Ae O without feeling the need to emphatically roll my eyes several times.
Now, Billu, in my opinion should have not fussed about renaming SRK as "Sahir Khan". If he's going to essentially play himself with nods to Shah Rukh Khan films he might as well have spared Kinko's the effort by not having them erase his name and change it on the posters. There are plenty of posters, and banners and movie posters and merchandise all brandished with "Sahir Khan" that would have saved considerable time, effort, money, resources by just keeping SRK SRK.
Why they chose to defer to an alias when everyone just assumes he's playing himself anyway is unknown to me. It's weird, really.
Not to mention that for me, personally, SRK seemed to really be dialing it in on this performance. I don't blame him, as a character Sahir has no depth (except at the end. Maybe.), he shows up on screen, does some dance moves, squiggles around an item-girl-cameo, waves at the adoring crowd and slithers off in an overly-embellished leather jacket.
If you're going to dial in a role, this is the one to do it.
NOT to spend my whole post ragging on our beloved King Khan, let me just continue onwards.
This is one of the few movies I like Ms. Dutt in, and I think she does a great job of being an impoverished, star-struck Maa. There was something so rustic and relaxed about her that I typically don't see. Maybe it's a director, maybe it's the role, maybe it's magic. Who can tell, and who is going to listen to me try to explain it? No one.
Irrfan Khan is an actor I've always loved. He's so brooding, so serene.... he brings a nice dejection to Billu's character that really helped me to relate to him on screen. He's humble, he's dirty, he's quiet, he's withdrawn. Wah. He's wonderful.
While I have my qualms with the film, and may not be as awe-struck as I was the first time 'round I won't deny that the soundtrack is brilliant in it's diversity of styles, ranging from ballad to rock to folksy to hip-hop**; neither will I rob the production of praise for its cleanliness, style and overall beauty.
Sigh. Again.
*Excuses
**or rather my totally wrong, Opera student perception of "hip-hop"
