20 Best Bollywood Movies of the Last 10 Years

Below is an extracted list of 20 best Bollywood movies of last 10 years  from the Indians Abroad. While I don’t agree with all the items on the list (Slumdog Millonaire? And where is Three Idiots and Wake Up Sid?), at the time when I have my Bollywood cravings again, this list at least offers me some suggestions and inspirations on what to see next.

1.    Lagaan (2001). Of course it is one of the best! I’ve heard so much about Lagaan, what am I waiting for?!

2.   Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001).

3. Rang de Basanti(2006)

4. Devdas (2002)

5. Veer Zaara (2004)

6. Singh is Kinng (2008)

7. Slumdog Millionaire (2008): I don’t agree on this one as I don’t consider it to be a Bollywood movie.

8. Monson Wedding (2001): Mira Nair’s fine work.

9. Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006)

10. Ghajini (2008)

11. Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001)

12. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008): This is my first time to watch Shahrukh Khan’s performance, and then find out that he’s pretty much always that shy, kind-hearted Suri Sahn whenever he’s trying to be goofy (don’t hate me, SRK fans!)

13. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006)

14. Black (2005)

15. Taare Zameen Par (2007)

16. Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (2000)

17. Om Shanti Om (2007)

18. Love Aaj Kal(2009)

19. Koi… Mil Gaya (2003)

20. Doom and Doom 2

Feel free to share your thoughts on this list. 

My Name is Khan: About Humanism and Love

Director: Karan Johar

Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol

Rating: *** out of ***** 

The main character Rizwan Khan grew up as a kid with Asperger’s syndrome, which brought him problems dealing with people, intimate hugs, yellow color, loud noises, and crowded spaces. He was taught by his mom at a very young age that there’s no difference in terms of the superior of one religion over another. There are only good people and bad people. Khan moved to America to look for his brother after his mother’s decease. There he met his lover and future wife Mandira, an Indian single mom who works at a salon in San Francisco. They formed a family and lived a happy life. But everything changed after 9/11. Sam, Mandira’s beloved son and Khan’s only friend, was beaten to death in a vicious race attack because his taken on surname Khan. Mandira was devastated and blamed Sam’s death to her marriage with Khan—the name Khan brings discrimination to the whole family. Khan went on a quest for humanism and justification to meet U.S. president and tell him that “my name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist”, while Mandira dedicated every effort to justify Sam’s death. Khan’s insistence attracted attention from national media and the president. He and Mandira eventually met US’s first African American president Obama in front of thousands of people and voiced “my name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist”.  

On the whole, My Name is Khan delivers a strong message of love and humanity through a love story. By revealing American’s prejudice to Muslim, this movie tries to deliver that Muslims aren’t terrorists. No religion, including Islam, support violence. On one hand, Johar ditched the old masala movies style which usually embodies mindless songs, group dances, cliché love stories, and silly comic performances. Instead, MNIK transfers a very deep message and raises awareness.

However, I understand exactly what the movie tries to say but wasn’t impressed by the way how it said. Besides New York, this is the second film I’ve seen about Indians living in a paranoid America. It is interesting to see how Bollywood understand Indians’ living reality in America from a non-Indian, non-American perspective. But same as New York, I see a strong message but also awkward affectation in delivering that message—it tries too hard to combine too many random incidents and moments together that it feels unnatural. All the elements, not tightly connected, seem to be affectedly and purposely thrown into the movie so that it flows to the ultimate feel-good ending. Additionally, I wasn’t impressed by Shahrukh Khan’s performance-- for his performance as Rizwan Khan, he did everything right but not splendid. Maybe I was expecting more from him.

My Name is Khan has the best director and filmmaker, high-profile Bollywood stars, international appeal, and Fox Searchlight’s international distribution, all of which contribute to the film’s commercial success. Overall, My Name is Khan is not a flawless movie. Granted this movie will have far-reaching influence due to its theme, it is recommended only if you want to see a not-so-Bollywood Bollywood film with high profile casts and is nothing too impressive but just properly done.

Review of 3 Idiots

This movie and Wake Up Sid are two superlative Bollywood movies I’ve ever seen.

There are many outstanding elements that bring this movie to recommendation list.

To begin with, it attracts attention from the start, which I think is very important to a movie. In general, this is the first Bollywood movie that lasts for more than 2 hours without feeling dragging. It’s enlightening, inspiring, emotional, heart-warming, entertaining, and thought-provoking. The international appeal helps me understand the film. Surprisingly I didn’t find myself hard to get the humor at all and I laughed my heart out the whole time, especially when Kareena Kapoor joked about the name of Gujurati food, and when those three friends visited Raju’s family, eating Raju family’s cooking after watching Raju’s mom scratching his Dad. In addition, the realities showcased in the film are similar to what happened in China so I find myself easily related to the story—girls are doctor-to-be, boys are engineers for sure, kids live under parents’ high expectations, and the whole generation lives under high pressure.

The scene is beautifully shot; the acting is outstanding.

Although some part is cheesy and typical Bollywood masala, some part is unrealistic --the baby birth part is really pushing it, and the kissing scene is really awkward and not necessary, overall it is a very impressive and rich-of-personality Bollywood movie. I recommend life-loving people to check it out. You’ll end up walking out the theatre with a smile on your face.

Background information

Cast:

Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani

Aamir Khan: married to Kiran Rao. I can’t believe he’s 44 already. He’s leading actor in Lagaan, another Bollywood movie I really want to check out as well. He gives filmmaking a redefinition by his unconventional film-making method. He’s married to Kiran Rao

Director:

Rajkumar Hirani, Indian director, screenwriter, and film editor. Before 3 Idiots, he’s best known for Munna Bhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munnabhai, both of which are worth seeing.

Recent Cravings for Bollywood

I think I really live up to what my friends called me "a fake Chinese, real Indian". If I don't watch a Bollywood movie or eat Indian food or do anything Indian for a while, I'll have a strong craving for that, just like what I'm feeling right now. The Bollywood movie I want to watch is Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. Starring Ranbir Karpoor, the guy who is from my favorite Bollywood film Wake Up Sid, and Shazahn Padamsee, who is the daughter of Alyque Padamsee and Sharon Prabhakar. This film is directed by Shimit Armin, who directed Chak De! India as well. Ranbir Karpoor is one of my favorite actor. I look forward to see his acting in that film!

If you watched Rocket Singh already, let me know your reviews!

Summary from reading "Hurray for Bollywood"

Hurray for Bollywood: How Indian Film Producers and Distributors Can Improve U.S. Returns analyzes the relationship between Bollywood producers and US distributers, generating that Bollywood producers did not get the fare share that they are supposed to achieve, due to the lack of transparacy of the profit earned by distributors, as well as the lack of insights over the distribution process. Apparently, to increase US returns, producers side and distributors side are the main channels to look into.

Where do Indian films produced?

Chennai, Calcutta and Mumbai

Where do US consumers access Bollywood films?

Theaters, DVD rentals, online streaming and cable.

Who are the primary US consumers of Bollywood?

NRIs(Non-resident Indian), second-generation Indians, and non-Indians. The NRIs who came to the States before 1990s prefer more traditional and romantic, aka more "cheesy" Bollywood films, while non-Indians are more well educated, tech savvy.

What kind of Bollywood films have been successful in the US?

Features: a superstar, a non-Indian setting or a storyline that includes culture clash, some pre-release promotion, a wide opening, and special home video options.

Recommendations:

Producers require better transparency-producers require clear and detailed metrics from distributors to ensure that they receive the returns to which they are entitled, as well as to ensure that distributors maximaze the potential of the films.

Distributors improve monetization by investing more on marketing to primary audiences and on other channels such as home video , and cable and satellite TV. This can be done by merchandising support for small retailers and attractive deals with national chain stores, and signing additional contract deals with cable and broadcast TV operators.

Revenue allocation is different between US and India. Box office returns in the US contribute only 25% of a film's total revenues, and less than 20% of the total profit, whereas it represent 85% of the total revenues in India. The most important revenue contributor is home video sales, which represent 50% of a film's total take. Syndication to broadcast and cable TV is another revenue driver. This require international distributor to maximize profit at every content type (theatrical, DVD, syndication).

Article source: international focus at kellog

http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/Departments/International/InternationalFocus/Article/Hurray_for_Bollywood.aspx