Friday, March 16, 2007

Bollywood Break: Parineeta.


From my favorite film of the 21st, Parineeta. Angelic Shreya Ghoshal in a duet with Sonu Nigam.

The lyrics are quite melancholy. I love the simple poetry of the chorus:

phuul phuul bha.nwara dole
The flowers and bees dance together
man me.n guu.njii terii yaad
and memories of you echo in my heart
baag me.n papiiha bole
The cuckoo cries out in the garden,
piihu piihu piiyu kahaan
"Pihu, pihu, where is my beloved?"
Not only is it one of my favorite songs but this shot of Vidya Balan

Just makes my heart melt every time. The only other shot that has done that is this one of Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face:

sigh....

10 comments:

bluet said...

A few years ago a good friend of mine who loves and colect movies ,told me about the wonderful world of Bollywood,so I guess I am going to investigate by myself.
The picture of the Indian actress looks..well so pure and beautiful and about Audrey...everybody loves her,I find her ...I don't even want to say it because I will be just adding more people who'll hate me for that, but I can't denay her amazing fashion style adding the fact that she was lucky to live in the Balenciaga- Givenchi- Dior era,so she was able to wear their original designs and without doubt she was probably a very good muse for all of them, but specially I know for Balenciaga,who was a good friend of her.
One thing I know I will love about Bollywood productions is the use of color and the amazing fabrics used for the costumes.
I was trying to find an entire cd of Shreya Ghoshal but I just found a few songs in compilation's albums,did she recorded a cd by herself? thanks!

The KnickerBlogger said...

http://www.amazon.com/Creators-Chaucer-Durer-Picasso-Disney/dp/0060191430
The book creators by paul johnson has a whole chapter on dior and belenciaga.

I agree dressing simply isn't elegant anymore - in fact I am going to put a post about this over the weekend.

bollywood: yes the color is wonderful - india is like that in real life too - its a shame to see the younger generations going 'gap' in the cities but in the country they still dress gaily (pre 1960 ue of the world)
for bollywood; i obviously recommend parineeta, but Veer Zara (which was covered in a national geographic article on bollywood) is more typical of the genre. there's a lot available on netflix.

the interesting thing about both vidya and audrey is that they are not 'classically' pretty in the sense of having delicate features and such but both just radiate this warmth and charisma.

I think Vidya will be considered one of the great actresses of this 'era' she's popular all over the world sometimes called 'the girl next door to every boy in the world".

The KnickerBlogger said...

You want color look at this from Veer Zara:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=r16yKD1fgA8 Lodi

bluet said...

I have the books of both of them, with their original designs,plus Schiaparelli,Chanel,Vionnet, and a very sweet French book called "Archives de la mode" that includes Paul Poiret -the first designer in modern history who started the "fashion shows" as a new venue to show and sell his designs to his clientele-
Before becomnig a fashion designer I was a painter and sculpture student so to me,is always all about color, shape and volume, and my work relates very often to the MONDREAN,MALEVICH,BEACON geometric constructivism,and as well as it is to me, it is for an entire new generarion of designers as Hussein Chalayan,Nicolas Ghesquiere(the genious behind Balenciaga right now),Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein and the always amazing Alexander McQueen.
In the past era generation I think the one who expressed the most was Yves Saint Laurent,with his Mondrian collection from late 60's and he even talked about it in the movie about his life that was showed along with a retrospective exhibition of his work at the MET last January.
But as Armani said ones, elegance is an attitude not a garment, and that is something I consider lost in many women nowadays.
Nevertheless,many of us still keep that virtue alive :)

bluet said...

I agree about the charisma in Audrey and Vidya,and I feel that Indian women still have that sweet charming feminine attitude that is kind of lost in this side of the planet.
I think many confuse provocative with charming and sexy with feminine,big mistake.

The KnickerBlogger said...

"I feel that Indian women still have that sweet charming feminine attitude"
one of the most grace things I have ever seen in my life (no exaggeration) were indian women carrying water on their heads -they walked with a hip swaying was so femine, but didn't in the least convey aggressive sexuality.
I remarked about the elgance to someone who said...'well how did we used to teach women to walk with grace in the west?" (book on the head.

Another charming aspect are the anklets, it sounds funny but the jingling ( a frequent theme in bollywood songs) is quite distinct of each person and you start to notice that a pretty girl walks with a different jingle than say a grandmother...

bluet said...

did you know that walking with a book in your head was the method they used to teach models how to walk back in the 50's,60's?
They add a stick that you have to hold in your back with your arms in my ballet classes (not back in the 50's 60's) lol
is funny you mention the anklets, I always loved those anklets! definetly India is a place I want to go,I hav a specail feeling about it, but I won go without somebody who knows the place.
I met a very lovely Indian couple back in December,and I asked if someday I can go with them,and they said yes, so... may be.

The KnickerBlogger said...

it's one of the few countries i recommend hiring a guide especially if you're a woman.
Its one of the most taxing places to visit, definitley not like going to disneyland - the poverty hits like you won't believe, even if you're prepared for it.
on the other hand you'll see incredible color and beauty....and the people - where esle can you wake, sharing a first clas cabin (extra $5.00 :) ) on the night train to jodphur, with an indian general and having chai at sunrise discussing the benefits of arranged marraaige?
oh regarding shreya, she's what's called a 'playback singer' so she sings for movies - i have yet to see an indepentdent cd from her - she's very popular there but only the real big biggies have compelations -she's only 24 so maybe in a few years.

bluet said...

thank you :)

bluet said...

I feel I had being traveling in that train today,sharing tea and talking with you,is so nice to find people one can have an interesting conversation with! It's trough a screen,I know, but it doesn't take away the pleasure of sharing.
Namaste!