What's with the accent Frieda, and I Boo Big B

Just watched Frieda Pinto  on Ellen's show and couldn't help but notice her British accent. Good going, thankfully she doesn't sound as  atrocious as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. But wondering how come a girl who's lived all her life in Mumbai develop a Brit accent overnight. 

By the way Big B what's wrong with you....You sound like a pack of sour grapes when you say that Slumdog Millionaire paints a bad picture of Mumbai and moreover when you say that it highlights the poor plight of the East and that's what the west loves to enjoy.

To be honest, initially I did share Big B's opinion ;) When I first watched the film, this is exactly the first thought that ran through my mind and I voiced it out to the husband. I'd like to say that V is the most apolitical person you'll ever meet, he's happy with his life and doesn't complicate things too much. He loves movies as passionately as I do but as he says, "it's somebody else's viewpoint and way of expressing themself, so if you like it take it or else don't watch it again. Don't think too much about it or else you won't be able to enjoy it!" I guess that explains why we are huge fans of the entire Die Hard series :) 

Anyways coming back to the film and to V's point here. V pointed out that the film is based on a book written by an Indian author so don't blame bechara Danny for doing it. Secondly, the film isn't about poverty or slums or child abuse.....the film is about hope and about no matter what your current situation in life is - there's always a chance - there's that bleak ray of hope. SM could have been based in a neighborhood of Brooklyn or in the ghettos of Newark, well the only difference would be that rather than it being, "abe saale baaju hat na," it would be "yo dawg, give me some room bro!" 

Also we constantly accuse western film-makers of showing India in a bad light but when we do that its okay....Mr. Madhur Bhandarkar blatantly and very uglily shows paedophilia in Page 3 but that's okay....there's this film which has a teenaged Padmini Kolhapure in her bare clothes being stripped and being raped by Raj Babbar but that's okay of course, because its directed by an Indian film-maker! Why do we forget that when Western directors make their own films they do show the bad side of American or British socities. I suggest that our Indian film-makers should watch Boyle's Trainspotting or films such as Training Day, Departed -

Now coming to my dearest Dadoo B (sorry honey's hat (HT column writer) borrowing your phrase) are you upset that you weren't cas it in the film and Anil Kapoor was. At your age its time to be gracious....

Rahman's Victory

Yes Rahman won a Golden Globe, while I've never doubted his abilities as a musician I must confess I've never been a huge Rahman fan. I guess Rahman is too sophesticated for me, personally I always feel that in Rahman's songs - music has always over-powered lyrics. For the next sentence I am sure I will get a lot of brickbats but what the heck - I have always been a huge Anu Malik fan - that's of course before he began copying music from english films. One of my favourite Hindi film track happens to be Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Ayi, and songs such as "Sambhala hai maine bahut apne dil ko," "Chaha to bahut" happen to be all time favourites. 

Well coming back to Rahman - I think his golden globe is well deserved - the guy is talented but what sets him apart is that with all the success around him he continues to be well grounded as compared to many other Indian celebrities. When asked why he keeps an extremely low profile, Rahman's response is "if you jump too much you will loose all your energy mid-way and I know I still have a long way to go!" The same applies to our golden globe victory as well, we shoudln't jump too much. 

However, at the same time I feel that Jai Ho, is not one of Rahman's best songs - Rahman has given better in Lagaan and any many of his other films then why Slumdog Millionaire? There's an oldage that when the time is right, everything falls in place slowly and steadily - maybe this holds true for Rahman's victory as well. With hollywood film studios suddenly discovering that India and Indian films are a huge industry and a good place to make money.  Warner Brothers, Tristar Columbia, Sony Pictures, Viacom 18 suddenly everyone is investing in Bollywood. Sony burnt its hands with Sawariya, and more recently Warner signed a three film deal in India. Paramount Pictures parent Viacom formed Viacom-18 which is now bringing out Mtv Roadies and is raking money on the popular adventured reality show. Sony has signed a deal with Eros entertainment to make 6 films next year. 
All this co-inciding with Rahman's win, does show that the West now desperately wants to woo the East. It reminds me of the 1990's when Indian women were winning International beauty pageants at dozens and soon we saw western cosmetic companies making inroads into India.

I guess someone rightly said, "its all about money, honey!" Till then jai ho! To West and its excellent policies and to India, for applauding anything that is foriegn and has a gora stamp attached to it!