Street Talks… some thoughts on Jodha Akbar

March 22nd, 2008Related|Filed Under

Why dont historicals work in India? Why do films based on real events and real people cann’t find patronage from the audince ? or let’s say… seldom does or just hasn’t done in a long long time… coz I’m sure there’s most likely some exception out there that I cann’t recall, or else there’s some movie that might look like a historical but doesn’t quite fit in the category that, say, JA does. Something along the lines of Lagaan, where the setting seems like a film based on an actual historical event, but the story is nothing more than feel good fable with all the ingredients of a masala potboiler. Or for that matter, there’s the Mughal-e-Azam types, which again simply have a shallow backbone plot in the story, say a love story in some royal era.. and tells us that the characters are a king and a prince… but that’s about it. We cann’t really trace much of the movie to the actual figures in question.. or teh actual events of the times.

Some of the best films, and the most critcially aclaimed ones, includings some of the most successful ones in Hollywood, consist those of adaptations of real life stories and events of the US and its people. It’s fascinating how interesting and extra-ordinary these individuals and tehir lives were. Makes one beleive that all the “interesting” people dwelled from the west, and the US specially. On teh other hand, we have our Bollywood directors and producers who tells us they’re doing the same thing over and over again simply coz it’s so hard for them to unearth new stories, new ideas etc. Hey, if movies referenced on real life peopel and events were to be put aside, 90% of the rest of Hollywood could probabaly be put in 4-5 types of movies.. not to mention the losening out on the quality. . There’s a Memento, or a Matrix concept every now and then, but then majority of the other films are basically their replicas or else some real-life inspired ones.

But then, why don’t such movies work in India? Heck, out of fear of it, they haven’t even made a film on a person who’s quite easily the most renowned and most respected Indian ever, all across around the world. It took an Attenborough to make a Gandhi. I cann’t possibly imagine the number of movies Hollywood would have on Gandhi if the guy was an American. India has an old old old history, with tonnes of extremelty interesting events throughout that history.. with some very fascinating people bringing along with them some extremely captivating stories. And Akbar is one of those individuals that happened to have a fairly intriguing life. (I admit I was always more interested in Babar and Humayun though.. but a lot about their life still seems more ambiguous than not). Anyways, it’s about time they made a movie around this individual. And they’ve done what Hollywood does. Look, the dilemna for the Bollywood makers when making a film based on an actual event or an inidividual is that they have to match the exact facts as they were and present it using atleast some sort of the conventional framework of our movies. And that’s nearly impossible. Let me give you an example..say Mangal Pandey. ( amovie I thought was perfect.. review coming up soon). NOw Mangal Pandey is a Bollywood movie and an action drama at that. So that means..the lead actor needs to be a “hero” in every sense of the word… he needs to be extra-smarter than all the characters around him. he needs to have follow certain ideology that would mirrors the majority of our or atleast what most of us would beleive is the ideal.. he cann’t be shown as being prejusdice based on caste, creed, religion. He cannt be immoral in any way. Then he needs a heroine, he needs songs, he needs to be phyically strong.. and in the multiplex era needs to be literate as well. ..he needs to be whatever.. I donn’t know.. he needs to be a Vijay, a Rahul.. or whatever. So when the director does induce all those qualities and features into Mangal’s personality.. then he’s faced with the other end of sword… he’s not being factually accurate.. and all of a sudden we have people who had all along probably made whatever image they had of Pandey, in most cases with very very few layers, unwilling to accept the image thrown at them. They’re like.. “hey.. taht don’t look much like Mangal.. atleast not the one we know of”. On the other hand, if teh director doesn’t care to present Mangal as the “perfect hero”, and don’t go overdramatic with his story, not exaggerate his abilities, not make it over-appealing than he actually was.. etc etc..and making a documentary more than anything. Then, that , atleast for our Bollywood audiences, well majority to say the least, is too boring to watch. Anyways.. let’s get to JA.

Now coming to Jodha Akbar.. I liked this movie. I tought, overall, it was a pretty well made film. And as I said, I didn’t wanna watch some docusmentary… but a film around certain aspects of an historical figures life, perhaps exaggerated a bit.. and added a few extra spheres to it.. but overall the skeletal story around which it is built is a true story. Yes there was this king Akbar.. and yes he did rule from Delhi.. and yes he was more liberal and more secular of the lot, perhaps that part being a little exaggerated but that’s fine with me.. and yes hedid marry Rajput princess, Jodha or shobha who cares, and I guess she was amongst a dozen of his wives and there wasn’t really a “love story” as per say in Akbar’s life.. but I give Ashutosh that much of a liberty. And even though teh love story is not all that novel or spectacular if you break it down to details, but what makes it appealing is the setting Gowariker has got within which it unfolds, giving us a feel of the times, perhaps again loosening on the conservative and rigid ends of the medieval socieity … and actually adding a facet of romance, or love story, that for some reason, most Bollywood films shy off and ignore. I loved how Gowariker played the erotic attraction and sensuous bearing to build the relationship, even though quite restrained, and more importantly doing it on the male end of the couple at question. I wonder when was teh last time I watched a Bollywood movie that showed a heroine watching her half-naked beau with lusty gazes through a curtain. Atleast I cann’t recall any. And to say, Gowariker acheievd that in a movie with a mixed couple.. a Hindu-Muslim love story portraying that? Now wonder there’s all this hall-gullas.. but full props to Ashutush.

Another aspect of the film I really appreciated was the portrayal of the ugly side of the Mughal business. Again, what was the last time, SrK films aside, you see teh elad actor killing off his brother with such cruelty. Though the act is somewhat is justified in JA, as the he had killed some “saintly” guy, but still, dropping a guy twice from the balcony/terrace to make sure he’s dead. Woah.. the scene automatically reminded me of how Shahrukh pushes Shilpa Shetty off a terrace of a building. even though the latter scene speaks higher volumes of viciousness and ruthlessness since the victim is totally innocent but the way the former is executed … Akbar comes across quite barbaric and ruthless. and it’s a double suprise since it’s Hrithik at the helm. The guy’s who’ll be saint even if he played a thief. I think it’s scenes like those that were the highlight of the movie,a nd I would have loved to have a few more of them. Looking back at the history of teh mughals and how each massacred scores of his family for power so often, it would have been quite a threat to see some more of that in JA.

And yes, the Maha Anga angle.. that was was done with such a beauty. I’m not being stereotypical of the female end of the gender. But this is one of the fundamental aspects of a woman’s persoonality. The losing of control over a man,specially to another woman, is something the leads a woman to act in a manner that woudl be a total contrast to her actual personality. It can make devil of a saint, an atheist of a priest, a whore of a nun and an enemy of a mother. Maha Anga was the woman who loved Akbar dearly. And raised him like her own son. That’s the strongest of bonds, the purest of a relationship between any two individuals and it would take quite some darting circumstances to distrub that. And that’s where the bereavement of control over a male can play a role as such. Though Maha Anga was shown to be a flawed individual to begin with, from the very onset of her appearance in the movie, Gowariker could have scored quite a home run if he’d done away with that. I would have really loved it, if he had incorporated a scene or two in the beginning to demonstrate how she actually took care of him, and how much she actually loved him, how much she looked out for him. But then, we are watching a nbollywood movie.. and she’s the villain in the movie… well the second most prominent villain. And she needs to be shown with an ugly demeaner everytime she appears on the screen. lol. Gowariker still gets major points from street.. but could it could have been something really special.

JA has great music. I loved it. I loved every bit of. I loved every single song of it, ANd I think after delivering a few duds in MP and Guru, he totally redemed himself here (also RDB was really fantastic) . now I know some of you guys might attack me for that… how can I not appreciate the MP music. Ok.. I admit that music is very much keeping with the theme of teh film, and every track is textured with an array of different soundsand what not. Well. all I gotta say it doesn’t pelase the ears. I don’t care how rich the songs are with an number of different sounds being pput together, well they don’t go along all that well for me. they just didn’t gel. I’ll take the Marhaba Marhaba over teh Mangala Mangala anyday of the week. The former is pain-inducing in many ways. Anyways.. coming to JA.. why the hell am I talking of MP anyways. I loved almost everyone of the songs.

Hrithik was brilliant as Akbar. And some of the best scenes in the movie are highlighted by a perfect blend of intensity and composure display from him. He was commanding when he was required to be, showed a sense of caring when he was required to and I was most impressed by the way he handled the light scenes. For once he let himself cool down and relax in them scenes and brought the right amount of charm to the table.Akbar was likeable in more ways than not. However, I would have still prefered to see him get the physicality more right. A little belly wont have hurt. Overall, though Hrithik gets full points from me. But then Jodha Akbar falters on the Jodha end of it. Aishwaria Rai just sucked. The bitch simply cann’t act. From the very onset of her appearance, she was annoying… trying the swordfight with her ass sticking out like a sore thumb, as awkward as her handling of that weapon. Why didn’t they fukin use a body double. I mean you seem something like that and your appreciation for a movie like Don grows ten folds. priyanaka Chopra, who I think comes across as feminne and Ash does, did a wonderful job at action in that movie. And here’s .. well let’s not even talk about it. Rest of movie just passes on with her blwoing out her eyeballs and raising her eyebrows to express every possible emotion one can think of. So yeah.. do the guesswork guys,, in scene 5 is she raisning teh eybrwos to display some form of superiority, or showing off ego, or is her expressing affection or whatever. Make a guess. What used to be a plastic face for most of her career, has now become a one-expression face that’s more annoying than ever. Atleast, before one could simply say that she has no expressions, now it’s a case of mis-expressing or what they call it misleading expresions. The film would have been a lot better with a beter actress. How often do they write roles like such in our movies, and when they do end up writing one, they go to actresses that make a mockery of the writers.

Also, the other character actors are more caritcatured than not. I understand that seldom do movies have those characters well-etched written, but it would have helped if some of them, specially the more important ones, were a little more multi-layered and humane to say the least. Nonetheless, the woman who played Maha Anga, the guy who played Soorajmal, and the Akbar’s brother-in-law, were all adequate to say the least.

Technically teh film’s a sound one. Hey enough money was spent. And the right team seems to have been employed. Cinematogrpahy was great. The visiuals, specially the battle scenes were done brilliantly. Background score was awesome as well. The ostumes, teh make-up et all did take one to the era and yes, the characters , specially the lead pair, looked as good as they ever did. The film did need some more editting though and the length is somewhat of a problem. Now when I say the length, I don’t necessarily mean the loength of teh movie, which was liek what.. just over 2 and half hours. I mean the length of scenes. Some scenes lingered along for long than they needed to, or there was this good 20-30 second unnecessary introduction into a scene that could have been done without.

Overall, Gorwaiker has made film that’s deifiitely a keeper. And whenever the DVD releases I’m on way to the store. However, it’s not a grand slam and I prefer both Lagaan and Swades over this one.

There Are 79 Responses So Far. »

Comment by Tango on 22 March 2008:

Great thoughts Street
Comment by Myna on 22 March 2008:

Good write up….could have been better without unnecessary Ash bashing.

but I dont agree with mainly one point….”A little belly wont have hurt.”….lol
Comment by Achilles on 22 March 2008:

Street does have his own style … and its good!

Nice set of thoughts on the movie.
Comment by satyam on 22 March 2008:

“Aishwaria Rai just sucked. The bitch simply cann’t act.”

Not that I am a fan of Street’s scriblings in any case (!) but when I see a line like this, the piece becomes worthless to me..
Comment by Aditya on 22 March 2008:

i’m gonna have 2 agree with myna and satyam on this one. this well-written review could’ve been done without the unwarranted, vitriolic attack on aishwarya. its very bizarre, and it loses impact as a result. i mean, calling aish a “bitch” out of nowhere? why? i guess the reviewer has something very personal against her. anyway, this review suddenly becomes hard 2 take seriously 4 a lot of readers.
Comment by beld o beld on 22 March 2008:

Now people have issues with street calling ash names. What nonsense. He is on the mark imo.

Street, as long as you just diss actors and actresses, that’s perfectly ok. Don’t just extend those platitudes to ng members
Comment by Arun on 22 March 2008:

What’s with the ‘its-ok-to-abuse-actors’ attitude with some members on NG these days? Just because they ain’t here to defend themself doesn’t mean you abuse actors. Abuse their acting ability for all I care, but calling someone b**ch is not on. I feel rks needs to intervene here.
Comment by beld o beld on 22 March 2008:

What crap. Rks, its not your job to play moral police here. Where was the moral outrage when srk was called gay. This is just rubbish. Everyone has every right to call any actor and actress what they like. If people don’t like to read them, then ignore it. Don’t come and preach.
Comment by jayshah on 22 March 2008:

‘Now when I say the length, I don’t necessarily mean the loength of teh movie, which was liek what.. just over 2 and half hours. I mean the length of scenes. Some scenes lingered along for long than they needed to, or there was this good 20-30 second unnecessary introduction into a scene that could have been done without.’

Exactly. This is the kind of trimming that was needed.

Not sure why you haven’t found Aish effective here. I found her to suit the role of Jodha very well.
Comment by jayshah on 22 March 2008:

In fact I would go as far as to say I cannot imagine a better Jodha from any of the current actresses in that age bracket. Maybe Mads may have been good back in her heyday. Possibly see someone like Ayesha Takia doing it. But of all the main actresses, Aish for sure.
Comment by beld o beld on 22 March 2008:

Preity or tabu, jay.
Though I agree that ash could still be the best. But can’t stand her
Comment by Arun on 22 March 2008:

Expecting some decorous behaviour is asking for too much, I guess!

@topic: Cut out the unecessary personal bashing and it has some very good points, especially the one on Maha Anga. I liked that character as well, it had shades of Manthra from Ramayan.

I’m not being stereotypical of the female end of the gender. But this is one of the fundamental aspects of a woman’s persoonality. The losing of control over a man,specially to another woman, is something the leads a woman to act in a manner that woudl be a total contrast to her actual personality
Comment by beld o beld on 22 March 2008:

Expecting decorous behaviour non uniformly stinks of bias and intolerance. If you want to set a code, make it uniformly applicable, else hold your peace.
Comment by Kunal27 on 22 March 2008:

Well enough people know about my thoughts on the subject so I won’t dwell anymore.

But the scene you described, Hrithik throwing that guy twice, was the only scene when Akbar was shown having a spine. Still you just can not compare with ruthlessness of Baazigar or even Asoka.
Comment by Ravi on 22 March 2008:

Typical example, nice thoughts by Street completely marred by some careless/classless remarks and people start dwelling on that more than mostly the nice write up.

That is why it is hard for people to take Street seriously.
Comment by Ravi on 22 March 2008:

Beld, something said by some of the saner people on NG like Arun need to be listened to and given more importance, than jump on it and start calling it crap, a la Street.
Comment by Simply Som on 23 March 2008:

nice thoughts, Street!!

IMO, a reviewer should avoid using slangs and vulgar terms as far as possible.
Comment by Aditya on 23 March 2008:

“as long as you just diss actors and actresses, that’s perfectly ok”

beld o beld, i gotta say, i’m very disappointed in you 4 this encouragement. do you really want people 2 stop responding 2 street pharmacist(which is a shame because he’s a good writer/reviewer)? i don’t mean sound didactic but, you egging him on isn’t 2 his benefit, at all. dissing actors and actresses is NOT “perfectly ok”, its very childish, and it turns people off. sure, slam their bad acting but there’s no need hurling insults at celebrities unnecessarily. just my 2 cents….
Comment by Kunal27 on 23 March 2008:

Aditya I guess Beld’s whole point is about consistency, which I am sorry to say, is kinda invisible here. It becomes alright to curse Shahrukh but then its absolutely shame to cuss on Aish. Now don’t get me wrong, I am totally in agreement with you, but it just should be same for everyone.
Comment by ILG on 23 March 2008:

No bodY curses SRK. And to call an actress a of bitch is low,
even by SRK fans standards.
Comment by Myna on 23 March 2008:

Off topic..well…not really…as we are talking about biases here…

On the NG forum banner….why I dont see any top actors pics other than Bachchans? And how many Bachchan’s pics (both Amitabh & Abhishek) does it have?…well..You can have whatever banner you want…but just want to know if NG is a fan site of Bachchans?
Comment by kmkm13 on 23 March 2008:

Nothing excuses Street from what he said about Ash..But You ILg are saying NOBODY curses SRK YOU!!!We all know your standards here.
Comment by Achilles on 23 March 2008:

Well with everyone jumping on Street (as usual) … despite his personal comments on Ash … this still remains one of the most insightful reviews on JA in NG.

But then he has named his post as ‘Street Talk’ in the first place … why be so judgemental?

Personally i felt Ash had done a good job in this movie … given the scope she had.
Comment by Achilles on 23 March 2008:

Its amazing that everyone is talking about just one paragraph in this long post … even when its the most inconsequential one compared to the other insights he has given.
Comment by ILG on 23 March 2008:

Achilles,
You do have a point and there is some interesting stuff put together in a rambling sort of way and I will grant him that he has said what he genuinely felt. But for me its all undone by one silly sentence. Being Street doesnt grant him any special privileges to curse or refer to a woman in a disparaging way and that too totally uncalled for.
For some it might be a minor thing. For some not.
Comment by ILG on 23 March 2008:

African Americans believe they are allowed to refer to women as ‘hoes’. If Street wants to claim some special cultural privileges, I am willing to listen.
Comment by Qalandar on 23 March 2008:

Myna: in the last two minutes, on that banner I saw multiple amitabh, dharmendra and Nana Patekar ones, and one from (I think) Roja…

As for NG being a Bachchan fan site, it’s odd you should say that given the views of the majority of NGites, and given Rohit’s own views (as expressed on NG) on Abhishek Bachchan.
Comment by rockstar on 23 March 2008:

if some son of bitch crosses his limit time and gain , simply fuck him apart there is no excuse for the use of slang on forum
Comment by ILG on 23 March 2008:

Myna,
That ian unfortunate charge. It isnt a fansite and as a member, new or otherwise one should know better. The is no dearth of all kinds of fans here, including one brave and self professed
Shaktikapoor fan.
Comment by Myna on 23 March 2008:

Qalandar: Its so obvious in the banner that I dont even want to argue. Maybe you didnt go thru the entire banner!! If you read my earlier comment, I said top actors — Srk, Hrithik, Akshay, Aamir(I know there is 1 or 2 Aamir’s there). Just count the number of Bachchan’s(Sr and Jr) pics…and how many from Sholay and Guru??? Even from Bluffmaster there are 3 or more pics. A Yuva, Guru, BF finds place in the banner, but not any of the films/pics of the above actors? Looking at the banner one can easily misunderstand that NG supports mainly Bachchan’s films/pics. Well…I just raised the point bcoz I felt NG is mainly a film site and felt that all actors should get the same treatment…considering there are good number of fans of other actors here as well.

I know all the members views (or articles posted) here at NG are members (not owners) and they can support whomever they want. I am not talking abt that.
Comment by Myna on 23 March 2008:

ILG: Looking at the banner, one can easily get that feeling. But I would like to hear from non-bachchan fans if they didnt find the bias in banner. If you read my earlier comment, I was just mentioning abt banner, not abt members bias or anything….I am also a biased Hrithik fan.
Comment by Tango on 23 March 2008:

Q- The least coverage given in the banners is to Akshay and Hrithik.
Comment by Nitesh on 23 March 2008:

Agree with Myna and Tango.

I also feel that the pics needs a more modern look by having stills from recent movies as well.

I will not say that banner’s usage are biased but i feel its importance has not been given.

Stills from movies of Amitabh, SRK, Hrithik, Aamir, Akshay or anyone who can sell nowadays could be used apart from the stills of some classics.
Comment by Myna on 23 March 2008:

As people at NG like numbers, I just went thru the banner for 5 minutes and counted few.

AB Sr - more than 10
AB Jr - 9 so far(4 - BF, 4-Guru, 2- yuva)
Sholay - I lost count
Nanapatekar - 3+
Aamir - 2
Srk - 0 , Hrithik - 0, Akshay - 0
Comment by Nitesh on 23 March 2008:

Thanks Myna for the stats…

“Srk - 0 , Hrithik - 0, Akshay - 0″

Hmmmmm….!!!
Comment by Arun on 23 March 2008:

Guys who feel banners need to be updated, please send your screenshots to me. Will resize them accordingly and send them to rks/Rohit.

If you want to do it yourself, make sure that you resize the images to 590×220 and save the images as “.gif”.

Its tough for Rohit/rks to manage everything, lets help them out
Comment by sujith on 23 March 2008:

From SB:”guest1: God forbid SRK or Hrithik is not up there! Well, where’s Madhuri. Where’s the rest of the actresses. All you care about is your SRK and Hrithik. Bunch of fanboys here.”
Comment by Myna on 23 March 2008:

People on SB are also complaining abt actresses like Madhuri, Kajol etc missing in the banner..I too feel the same.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 23 March 2008:

lol.. at the reaction to the bitch word.. fukin hilarious some of you guys.
Comment by ILG on 23 March 2008:

Myna,
Banner if I am correct is hard work of one member M G Shah.
Agree with people helping out Rohit to mske it more representative
Comment by ILG on 23 March 2008:

The fact that you are unrepentant anddismissvie of the sentiment of others says it all, Street.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 23 March 2008:

ILG if there are people just looking into my posts simply to unearth something that might be offensive then they’ll always have a field day. coz whether I am being offensive or not.. my language (and No I cann’t change it) will border on the thin line.

Here we see an overreaction to the “bitch” word, on the other threrad there was over-reation to the “mommy” n “daddy” word.. and then there was one last month where somebody claimed that my comments implied that satyam was being communal. Anyways.. all I gotta say is get a life.

btw.. I could have very very easily used a word a hunred times more effective than bitch if I wanted to. if I had actually intended to mean what you guys are implying.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 23 March 2008:

As for the posters.. well I don’t really care who’s represented and who aint.. as long as teh posters are special..classic of some sort and represent/highlight a certain aspect of Bollywood. for e.g If there were to be a an Abhishek poster.. well I’d prefer a Guru or Yuva one .. over a BM and a Run one. Or.. if it’s Nana, then lemme see something from Khamoshi.. instead of No Entry.
Comment by ILG on 23 March 2008:

Street,
Since you are in a reasonable mood let me ask you if it comes across as offensive or not?
As I said one reference like that takes away a lot from the post. Its always nice to read something like this that you have put an effort into, otherwise.
Comment by Eire on 23 March 2008:

I think the banner is cool. I like all of the new and recent pix of different stars and from different films. I’m sure there will be more pix of different stars and films in near future.
Comment by ILG on 23 March 2008:

Strike what I just said.Saw the ugly sh** you wrote on SB. YOU ARE BEYOND HOPE.
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 23 March 2008:

ok ILG.. I didn’t wanna go on a defensive again. But just for the record.. I didn’t mean bitch the way you are guys are thinking. I could ahve jsut said “the girl just cann’t act”.. or “the Idiot cann’t act”.. I dont know just cann’t think of a better word than bitch there.. but by bitch I dodn’t mean a lewd woman who’s spiteful or overbearing and sleeps around.. the bitch I was using there was like an unpleasant individual.. it’s like saying my boss ia a bitch (he could very well be a man).. or that “the computer’s being a bitch” Now that don’t mean my computer’s sleeping around with other computers.. but just that it’s not being very pleasant and it’s annoying me. I dound Ash pretty annoying in JA.. (as I do in most of her films.)

but hey.. she’s a Bachchan now.. daughter-in-law to a God for many here. So she cann’t be reffered to in teh same as way as any other son-of-a-bitch actor or actress does.
Comment by rks on 23 March 2008:

Myna:”but just want to know if NG is a fan site of Bachchans?”

This doesn’t sound good. If a Chat box user says this, I don’t think any one of us has problem with that but when a member says this it is a different. It is both way street. It shows lack of trust (on your part) and as a moderator, member and admin we probably haven’t been able to remove your distrust. It is good that you have spoken. I would have liked an email instead of publicly saying it.

Recently we moved from NG2 to NG3. On NG2 we had bigger banner and was representative of most of the stars (there were less of Akshay) but I think the banner is small the old one needed some work and probably Rohit is busy; we haven’t done the needful.

Arun has shown interest please send the images to him (or me). If you want to do it yourself, there is a free light weight software irfanview ( http://www.irfanview.com ).
Comment by rks on 23 March 2008:

As for the calling stars bi*** and gay, I don’t think it shows the author in good light. We post in a free forum and most of us are self regulated. Moderator and admin can ask (and expect) for certain respectful behaviour from members.
Comment by Myna on 23 March 2008:

well rks…I didnt know abt NG before 3 or 4 weeks, I didnt know that this site existed..so I dont know how it was….and I dont know completely what it is even now. I am just getting to know. Looking at the current banner, I got the feeling that NG supports Bachchan’s films mainly. If you think that its a mistake on my part, I am sorry. Just look at the number of pics here: AB Sr - more than 10, AB Jr - 9 so far(4 - BF, 4-Guru, 2- yuva), Sholay - I lost count, Nanapatekar - 3+, Aamir - 2, Srk - 0 , Hrithik - 0, Akshay - 0. And if NG is a film site, I felt it should represent everyone, not just few.

If I came across as rude by posting it publicly, I am sorry. I thought my post was a lot less rude than some of the posts here. I am not forcing you to change the banner either and I dont really care. I just brought up a point bcoz the ppl here are always talking abt being fair and being biased. You can go back and edit/remove all the comments regarding this if you feel it doesnt sound good. I wont feel bad at all.

Thanks
Comment by Julie on 23 March 2008:

rks - I am in agreement with Myna on the banner. There should be a wider representation of stars. No photo of Madhuri, Hritik, SRK, Akshay Kumar, yet 9 photos of ABhishek. Of course popularity of these actors may not have much relevance, but I do believe that there should be a fairer representation. At least 1 snap of mainstream popular actors and actresses should be there in the banner.
Comment by Julie on 23 March 2008:

and yes if it is not too inconvenient to change, only then. Thanks a lot.
Comment by rks on 23 March 2008:

Myna: “I just brought up a point bcoz the ppl here are always talking abt being fair and being biased.”

People aspire to be fair and unbiased but in reality it is just impossible .

Your point is valid and fair, we would correct it to be more representative.

I would like to hear from members (in mail), if they have some thoughts which can’t be expressed publicly.
Comment by rks on 23 March 2008:

Just talked with Rohit. What is shown currently is the first batch only. He is going to upload 150 more photos today.
Comment by Kunal27 on 23 March 2008:

ILG:”No bodY curses SRK. And to call an actress a of bitch is low, even by SRK fans standards.”

And what you mean by this dude????
Comment by jayshah on 23 March 2008:

Well agree with Street, doesn’t really matter which stars as long as the banners are classy one’s. But won’t say no to extra Mads one’s!
Comment by jayshah on 23 March 2008:

I’ve never even looked at the banner so shows you how much attention I pay to that. If someone has raised a concern it might very well be shared by wider forum so should be addressed. Judging by the 5min survey I guess Myna has a point. Nothing like solid stats! Though its also impossible for Rohit/rks to babysit 150 of us and fix banners according to all our tastes. Whatever changes are made, I urge equal representation of female and male talent. I don’t even mind if there are more females.
Comment by nithi_s on 23 March 2008:

No one is supposed to call an actress ‘bitch’, particularly Ash! Its unlawful to speak of The Royal Bachchan Bahurani without dignity.
Comment by nithi_s on 23 March 2008:

Ravi,

Please stop this attitude of labeling people as ‘less sane’ just because their opinions or choice of words match with yours. I suggest its better to keep your nose out of such topics if the supposed ‘lack of class’ bothers you.
Comment by nithi_s on 23 March 2008:

ILG,

“And to call an actress a of bitch is low, even by SRK fans standards”

In other words, “SRK fans lack class”. You’ve done this too many times. The fact is you are no authority to set standards for anybody. Keep your prejudiced opinions about what is class and what is not to your self. Thats what ’saner’ members do!
Comment by Kunal27 on 23 March 2008:

Nithi you are a big time Shahrukh fan, and for so many years I thought no one can surpass me you go girl
Comment by Street Pharmacist on 24 March 2008:

rks.. you got it all mixed up.. I wasn’t the one to raise the issue of the posters .. that was Myna (an I think she does have a point)
Comment by Ravi on 24 March 2008:

Nithya “Ravi, Please stop this attitude of labeling people as ‘less sane’ just because their opinions or choice of words match with yours. I suggest its better to keep your nose out of such topics if the supposed ‘lack of class’ bothers you.”

Thank you sweet heart for your suggestion, if from any one else I would have given it a thought and maybe even followed it , but coming from you honey, I give a damn.
Comment by nithi_s on 24 March 2008:

Sigh! Whats the point advising bloated heads!!!
Comment by beld o beld on 24 March 2008:

Aditya, I guess you missed the tongue in cheek humor. I was essentially telling street to target actors rather than members here.
I personally find nothing wrong in what street said. I don’t take lot of the stuff written here seriously and esp in the wrong context. I would prefer that members aren’t attacked here.

Ravi, thanks for the unsolicited advice. Less said about it the better. I respect both you and Arun and have no plan to get into a ridiculous debate. Suffice to say that its sad to see members like Arun come and act superior. You enjoy people as they are - not try to convert them to your comfort level. That is not intelligence or respect, its just insecurity. So if your comment comparing me to street was a veiled insult, well try again. I have no issues. It shows your class rather than mine.

This forum is about movies and street writes original stuff like a Satyam, which very few people do. So I still say street is one of the best here.
Comment by Ravi on 24 March 2008:

Beld, I know that you get hot a little too quickly man, but I never had a problem with you and I don’t think I will ever have a problem with you.

I agree with you on Street and I have always said that. I also have mentioned multiple times that most of what Street says is very good and shows his indepth knowledge about movies or the box office and he gives all that way by some comments of his.

All I was saying Beld is before we get hot and jump on someone and as we have been here for some time and know who posts what, you should have shown some prudence. I have never said this when you post against Satyam, ILG or any one else. But, if some sane people like Arun, Som etc(just to name a few) post some thing we should not jump on them is all what I was saying.

I was not giving any advice bro, I enjoy interacting with you and I hope you understand what I was trying to say, and I hope other people mind their own damn business when I specifically name a person instead of putting their butt into this conversation.
Comment by beld o beld on 24 March 2008:

Ravi
Same here dude. I am sorry if I came out hot headed, but kya Karen ‘hum to aise hain bhaiyya’
But seriously, I did have an issue with what Arun wrote, and my last comment was about having uniform rules or no rules.
Comment by Ravi on 24 March 2008:

I understand what you are saying Beld.

But, the point is I am not a saint and I do say somethings that I don’t defintely feel proud of later on, but it is one thing when someone gives a statement and you get pissed and you use foul words(not that I am condoning that) but it is another thing when you are like writing a review and suddenly without provcation start calling them bitches.

I felt offended too bcoz I feel that all girls are fair play until they get married and once they are, they are out of bounds(I am not saying that this is a rule, this is just how I feel), that is why sometimes when Achbhai and Shettybhai go of on Aish I do get offended plus of course she being Bachchan’s DILaw helps in my mind too.

So, when there was no need and withour provocation( I am thinking that Street did not mean it that way based on what he said later) someone goes off ,people do get offended and that is where I think Arun was coming from.

That kid I have met him personally and is one of the nicest kids that I know, and being 20 and getting offended by things like this when I at that age would not have even thought about it for a split second in my opinion is really admirable and that was why Beld I was kind of sticking up to him , not that he needs me to.
Comment by beld o beld on 24 March 2008:

Ravi, between us and the 4 walls of ng, all this ribbing of ash etc by ach, shetty and me are meant in good humor. I don’t believe we have ever meant it as abuse. I hope you understand that. Sometimes its just done to irritate Satyam
As for Arun, I am sure he is a swell guy. Have chatted with him a couple of times. And given that he is 20 and past the legal age for drinking, will settle this whole thing over a bottle of beer or scotch.
Btw Ravi, since you are from hyd, did you read the funny news on the airport. A klm flight came to land yday in hyd and the old airport was closed. So the pilot, instead of going to the new airport, went to Delhi where they didn’t let him land and then went to mumbai.
Comment by Aarohi on 24 March 2008:

Yeah beld, read that news about the Hyd airport and KLM flight. Just think about the passengers. All through the flight they would have thought, Shamshabad (new airport) se ghar kaise jayenge? and then the pilot takes them to Mumbai

:))
Comment by Ravi on 24 March 2008:

Yes, read that Beld and it was funny to read but must not have been funny for the passengers and the familes that came to receive them.

I had been to the new airport and man till all the conencting roads etc are built it is going to be a nightmare there. Form different parts of the city non peak times take atleast a minimum of hour to more than 2 hours, so if you have an international flight you would need to leave th house at least 5 hours before.
Comment by Ravi on 24 March 2008:

The part about you guys doing it to rile Satyam , I know that and enjoy it too.
Comment by nithi_s on 24 March 2008:

What’s happening here? Was the previous comment from Ravi?? I surely missed out something on NG.
Comment by S T R E E T on 24 March 2008:

btw.. from now on I’ll hardly ever mention Ash… I’ll just refer to her as “da bitch” from here on.
Comment by Jesse on 24 March 2008:

“btw.. from now on I’ll hardly ever mention Ash… I’ll just refer to her as “da bitch” from here on.”

http://enigma.dune.net/~eric/Do-not-feed-the-troll.PNG
Comment by akshay shah on 25 March 2008:

” unwarranted, vitriolic attack on aishwarya”—well given her last name is Bachchan she’s an automatic enemy now:)….

Haven’t seen the movie so no comments on it:)!
Comment by S T R E E T on 25 March 2008:

no.. ore like.. given her last name is bachchan .. there’s unwarranted over-reaction to anything written on her.. man this fanaticism by the Bachchan fans is out of the world. Fuk man.. call SrK whatever teh fuk u want to.. I don’t think any srk fan would react the way you dumbfuks have here.

Anyways.. she’s no Ash no more.. She’s da bitch.. any topic and any discussion.. she’ da bitch now.
Comment by akshay shah on 25 March 2008:

SRK? No ones even talking about him? LOL…i’m guessing the view from SRK’s ass is clouding your senses as always:) Try push through man…..you’ll hopefully be able to see more clearly…

“Anyways.. she’s no Ash no more.. She’s da bitch.. any topic and any discussion.. she’ da bitch now.”–See…what you’ve written would have some form of credibility if it isn’t for such filth/trash talk like this:)!
Comment by Jesse on 25 March 2008:

Stop feeding the troll Akshay! Ignore his gibberish!