All is not well with Govinda’s daughter Narmada Ahuja

The daughter of ace comedian of Bollywood Govinda, Narmada Ahuja is quite troubled these days. No, it is not because her film is not doing well. The film is to be released actually. But the real reason is different. As a matter of fact, her first film is seeing a dead end.

Her debut film, titled Manchali, does not see a release date yet. There are some problems which is stopping the film from being released. Narmada Ahuja stars opposite Olympic medalist boxer Vijender Singh. It was also rumored that her father, Govinda and his fast friend Salman Khan would do guest appearances in the film.

Some weeks before, Vijender Singh got married with Archana Singh. Now that he got married, there are questions being raised if at all he will be in the lead or not. Apart from his changed marital status, the pro boxer has his boxing schedules set as well. So there are serious questions being raised over his availability for the film.

If one goes by Narmada’s statements, then she was not even aware that Vijender was getting married at all. According to her, she heard the news through the media. After this, it seems she is really upset.

Partner

The best thing about watching Partner was that I finally got to see Govinda really dance. And, boy, can he ever! His fluid movements made even the mighty Salman Khan look insecure.


The movie was, however, a reminder to myself that I may not be fully ready for comedy a la Bollywood. I enjoyed Jhoom Barabar Jhoom because it used its emptiness to be funny, but Partner wasn't really that type of film. Although I did get a few good laughs (Salman Khan's car being vandalized, Govinda being bum rushed at airport security...), most of the time I thought the movie was just chaotic. Then again, maybe I can only tolerate Govinda's voice in small doses (as in Salaam-E-Ishq), because I tend to find it annoying after awhile.

Salman Khan's no comedic genius, either, but he actually did better than I anticipated. This could be because his character, Prem, was supposed to be played with certain airs, something I think comes naturally for him. It could also be because of the way he treated Lara Dutta's Naina when he found out she had a son. They were a package deal, and Prem was more than willing to accept them both. Finally, Bollywood decides to show single mothers some love, too! And considering my opinion of Salman, it was very refreshing to see his character react this way, particularly when he popped up at the mall and told Naina a man should be "a husband in the drawing room, a boyfriend in the bedroom, and a cook in the kitchen." I'm not going to argue with you there, Sallu!

It's probably already common knowledge that Partner is Bollywood's attempt to duplicate Hitch. I decided before I started watching that I wasn't going to compare the two, but as the movie progressed I realized that was nearly impossible. Some of the scenes were direct copycats, which hurt Partner because it set the bar too high for Govinda and Salman. If there was one thing I loved about Hitch, it was the smooth comedy between Will Smith and Kevin James. Salman and Govinda were fun to watch onscreen (especially during the songs), but weren't that good.

Not only that, but Partner was about 45 minutes too long and didn't flow the way Hitch did. Since there was nothing really unique that would make Partner stand out from Hitch (other than the single mother bit), there is absolutely no reason for me to ever watch Partner again. I'll just rent the better-made Hollywood version.

Ahh, but alas, the real question of Partner is what kind of fashion statement whoever dressed Salman Khan was trying to make. One minute he looked like a wannabe gangsta, the next he was wearing a Tweety shirt. And although the black wifebeater/red scarf looked nice, it was hardly something I would have chosen for a "Love Guru".

I do have one final reason to thank Partner, though. I finally got my payoff for sitting through Don: The Chase Begins Again, which was this: I "got" the whole Chota Don spoof.

So Partner wasn't a total waste of the two dollars it cost me to rent it.

Text (c) 2008 Nida Nazir Link to Home

Hum

I contemplated even writing about Hum, because I didn't feel excited enough to either praise or criticize it.


The 1991 Amitabh Bachchan starrer Hum ended up in my possession by accident when the lady at the video store misunderstood what I was asking for(I had requested Hum Tum starring Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerjee), and placed it in my pile of films to rent. I didn't notice the mix up until I got home, and was too tired to go back. Anyways, I reasoned, it couldn't hurt to watch it for the sake of the blog, and I needed to start somewhere on my list of Amitabh Bachchan movies(So far I've seen a pathetic two, not counting the newer ones or this one, but I promise to get going on this asap).

I'm assuming Hum probably wasn't a very good place to start. For one, it just wasn't my kind of movie. I don't like violence, I'm not a fan of the goofy side of Anupam Kher(I like goofiness, just not when he does it), and I thought the women's roles were a bit degrading(I'm really talking about Tiger's girlfriend Jumma's first scenes in the film, in which she is portrayed like a sexual object and teased by an army of men. And they got her wet in almost every one of those introductory scenes). Amitabh Bachchan was Amitabh Bachchan, as I've seen him so far. It was kind of neat to see a younger Govinda, but by the time he came into the picture I was already leaning towards boredom.

Considering that Hum really isn't my cup of tea anyways, I don't think I'm qualified to write a productive review on it. But I will say that I went into it with a completely open mind, willing to watch a bit of overdramatized kicks and punches so I could have something to say about it.

And it just didn't give me much.

Text (c) 2008 Nida Nazir Bitten By Bollywood

Salaam-E-Ishq

I'm glad I watched Salaam-E-Ishq.

No, really I am! Yes, it was about two and a half hours longer than it should have been. Yes, it was about six couples whose stories I didn't care about as much as I should have. But I saw it fairly early in my Bollywood watching days, and it gave me a huge bonus incentive-an introduction to 13 Bollywood actors I had previously never seen before.

I guess the movie was so-so. It had some cool moments(the title song) and some real yawners(most of Salman Khan's scenes). I watched it once by myself and then showed it to Ceci(Ok,and once with my mom and bro--so three times). It was way better when you had someone to laugh at the silly parts with you and join you in drooling over John Abraham.

But, sadly, the highlight for me of this film was just getting familiarized with the stars in it... So, here's a few of my first impressions...

John Abraham-Hey, isn't this the guy from "Where's the Party Tonight?" I know I've seen him before, and clearly it wasn't in real life(I wouldn't be that lucky).

Vidya Balan-She acted like her doting husband was an annoyance, even before her accident. The snottier she was to him, the more he chased after her. Hmm. Maybe I could learn a few things from Tehzeeb.

Priyanka Chopra-I don't mean to sound hung up on physical beauty here but how can you not mention beauty in the same sentence describing Priyanka Chopra? Her character was stuck up in the movie, but I hear a lot of positive things about her in real life. If she's as sweet as she seems on the inside, then some women really do have it all!

Salman Khan-I knew he was a big name in Bollywood, but I was unimpressed. He and Priyanka didn't really have a well written story, though. At least Priyanka got me to laugh a few times. Salman just reminded me of an obsessive fan/stalker.

Govinda-While I didn't see any real chemistry between him and his other half Stephanie in the beginning, by the end of the film this pair was hands-down my fave couple! Really funny and really sweet...the whole movie could have been about them(and a lot shorter) and I would have been happy.

Shannon Esrechowitz-I wonder how she got into this movie. I'm not being sarcastic, I really want to know! I mean, does she love Bollywood? Was she approached? Did her agent set it up? I liked her, but I just was curious. Anyways, they made sure to pick a girl that looked good in liquid eyeliner. They made sure.

Akshaye Khanna-He reminds me of a young Robert de Niro...And I thought his commitment phobia story was funny, a nice comic relief from some of the boring scenes. Hooray for happy endings, but he totally deserved that blow from Ayesia Takia! Speaking of...

Ayesia Takia-She seemed sweet here, but didn't have a big enough role to really show what she can do. A movie like Dor shows she is capable of much, much more if given the opportunity.

Anil Kapoor-I can't judge him from this film. He played a man going through a mid-life crisis pretty believably, so I guess that was the point. But given that I now know he's been around for awhile, I'd like to see one of his meatier roles before I judge him.

Juhi Chawla-Same as above. But why would anybody want to cheat on her? And did anybody else think the "other woman" kind of looked like Juhi anyways?

Sohail Khan/Isha Koppikar-I would sacrifice the few laughs this couple gave me to cut them from the film. Nothing personal...but in a movie that stretches almost four hours long, do you really need a "filler"?

Some extra points:

*Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the same guy who directed Kal Ho Naa Ho? I just don't see it...But I guess he didn't write the scripts, so whatever...

*Why isn't "Babuji Deere Chalna" on the soundtrack? I know its an older song remixed...Was it a copyright thing?

*When I first saw the scene where Kkamini lists the actresses, I didn't know who any of them were...Now I know almost all! I'm so happy!

Text (c) 2007 Nida Nazir Bitten By Bollywood