Kassy On Celebs - Imran Khan

Imran Khan



He is Bollywood's next big Khan. He is Bollywood royalty. He is the hottest thing since a summer day in the dessert. Who is he? He is Imran Khan. I know the people who know me best will read this and just laugh and laugh. Why? Because I am absolutely obsessed and head over heels in love with this man. Everything about him drives me crazy in the best way possible. He's one of the best looking people I've ever seen, he's charming, charismatic and not a bad actor for being so new to the silver screen.

Imran Khan is most commonly known for two things, being Aamir Khan's nephew, and Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na. JTYJN was his debut performance in a lead role, which got him the best male debut Filmfare award. I began to watch JTYJN and didn't get far. Why? Because it was too simple for me and Genelia D'Souza annoys the living hell out of me. However, I owe it to Imran, or Immy as I affectionately call him, to give it another chance since he has been recognized for that role more than any of his others.

I've seen just about every other film of Imran's though, including Kidnap, Luck, I Hate Luv Storys, and one of my very favorite movies ever, Break Ke Baad. My two favorite roles that he's done so far are Kabir Sharma in Kidnap and Abhay Gulati in Break Ke Baad. These roles are polar opposites. Kabir is a broken, empty man who wants revenge more than anything else and is willing to risk everything to get it. This role is so different from all the others that Imran has done and I was completely blown away by his performance in it. It's a crappy movie, let's be honest, but he did a great job bringing those sad emotions to the screen when he himself is not at all like that. I thought he did an awesome job as Abhay Gulati in BKB as well and I believe it was his best role to date. Luck, like Kidnap, was a bust in the box office, but I was also impressed with him there.

I Hate Luv Storys is well.. My guilty pleasure. It is such a cliched movie and there are several things wrong with it, but I still loved it. Yet I do not think Imran's acting was top notch in that one. There were scenes where I thought he and Kirsten Stewart were related because all he did was show the exact same face the entire time. It was like he didn't know how to show the emotions his character was supposed to be feeling in those scenes, so he just went to the default blank, sad face. His comedy was very good, however. I absolutely cannot wait for his next three movies, Delhi Belly, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan and Short Term Shaadi, in which he will star opposite Kareena Kapoor - his favorite actress. These films cannot come fast enough for me!

There are a few things I am absolutely sure of when it comes to Imran Khan: He will be big, he will be great, and my love for him will never change. He's one of the genuinely good people, inside and out, and that can be hard to find in actors and just people in general. He's got great screen presence and charm that I find unmatched by any other male actor. Keep your eyes on this one, guys. He's not going away.

Star Rating:7/10

Review: Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
Stars: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol
Released: 1995
Directed by: Aditya Chopra


This film is a classic, possibly the most famous film ever to come out of Indian cinema and is known all around the world. For the children of parents who have actually lived in Hindustan get a glimpse of what their parents lives were all about. The great thing about this movie, is that it is able to do that all while giving it a very modern take.

So we have Simran, the daughter of convenience store and dedicated Indian Chaudhary, or Babu-ji as she calls him and a strong but meek mother, Lajo. They're not very wealthy, but Simran and her younger sister Chutki have always felt a lot of love from them. Raj Malhotra is the goof-ball son of a very wealthy widower, Dharamvir Malhotra. He goes to college and fails - which his father is surprising proud of. Combine that along with Simran's sensual and heartfelt dance to Mere Khwabon Mein, and you already have a pretty good understanding of their characters.

About twenty minutes into the movie, Simran gets a marriage proposal from her father's best friend's son, Kuljeet. Simran isn't too crazy about this, but wants to make her father happy, so she agrees to the marriage. However, she wants to travel Europe before she goes to India to get married and reluctantly, her father agrees. Who would happen to be going on this trip along with her and her friends? Well none other than Raj Malhotra of course. The two share a very interesting meeting when they both rush to catch the train and Simran's clothes - including her bra - end up all over Raj. Raj, being a ladies man, immediately starts to put the movies on Simran, all of which she rejects.

As their trip through Europe runs its course, it is obvious that the two young people are getting closer and closer, but still want to try and hate each other. It's not until they're leaving each other when they are back in London that they realize they have feelings for each other. When Simran expresses these feelings to her parents, her father is outraged and promptly packs the family up to take them to India and get Simran's marriage on its way. When Raj comes looking for Simran and discovers that she's gone to India to get shaadied off, he of course rushes after her.

Simran is going through with the wedding and her father's wishes, but is not at all happy about it. She doesn't see how she could ever be happy when she's in love with Raj and can't be with him. That is, until she hears a mandolin playing a soft, familiar tune... It is none other than Raj, whom she runs to through a thick field of yellow flowers. He assures her that he has a plan on how to get them to be together, and tells her to trust him.

I'm going to stop here - that's right, you don't get to know how it ends unless you watch it, which I advise you to do... NOW! I don't think you're a true Bollywood fan until you've seen this movie. SRKajol is Bollywood's Kate and Leo x 10000 and this movie made it for them both. This movie is responsible for all the cliches we see in Bollywood movies. This movie has inspired so many other movies. This movie has been referenced several times in other movies throughout the years and is, from what I've seen, the most popular Indian movie ever.

The acting is top notch. Both SRK and Kajol won Filmfare awards for their roles and it was very much well deserved. Their chemistry is perfect and their comedic timing is priceless. Scenes that would normally make you roll your eyes (running through a field of flowers to each other) is sweet and romantic in this movie and a lot of that is thanks to the amazing acting powers of SRKajol.

The songs are also amazing. My two favorites are, of course, Mere Khwabon Mein and Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna. This is a movie not to be missed by anyone. I mean it. If you haven't already stopped reading this review to go watch it - do it. Now!!!

Rating: 10/10

Kassy On Celebs - Madhuri Dixit

Madhuri Dixit



Okay, I know there are a lot of people who are nervous about what I have to say about their beloved Madhuri and I promise I won't drag her name through the mud and make her look stupid - but I have to be honest, which I think they'd like anyway.

Madhuri Dixit has been in the industry for 25 years. She's won several Filmfare awards and is loved by many people who watch Bollywood and for good reason. She's the most beautiful and graceful dancer I've ever seen in my life and is a master of Kathak dancing. One watches her dance and you are completely blown away. Whether it be upbeat and dance-licious like Ek Do Teen or just screams Kathak like Maar Daala, you simply wish you could dance like she does. If I were to trade places with her for just one day, that's all I would do all day - dance to her big hits. The only place in her dancing that I do not believe she masters is the western dancing. It's not her forte.

However, for an actress, I think Madhuri falls short in some areas. I've seen Devdas and Dil To Pagal Hai, Aaja Nachle, Prem Granth and Dil. She is good at showing good emotion and has very expressive eyes, but there's something about it that just doesn't do it for me. It falls flat. I think she over acts very much. Sometimes over acting is called for and is appropriate, but many times it is not and I feel that Madhuri has a hard time gauging these times. I feel that there are many times when she is overrated and I do not believe that she is the goddess or the queen of Bollywood. The only thing she reigns over, to me, is the dancing.

What can be said for her, however, is that she has a lot of screen presence and charm. She smiles and you have to smile as well. She laughs and you must laugh as well. They're the two most infectious things about her and they capture you as soon as you see it or hear it.

I would very much like to see Madhuri making another movie soon, but if Kajol, Kareena or Kangana were to make one at the same time, I would see theirs first.

Star Rating: 7/10

Kassy On Celebs - Rani Mukherjee

Rani Mukherjee



Rani Mukherjee, or more commonly know as Rani, is the queen of hearts and I believe that is a very apt title for her. She is one short actress that is full of tons of attitude and sex appeal, yet she is still one of the sweetest actresses I've seen. I hear her voice and I melt into a puddle.

I feel in love with Rani in Bunty Aur Babli where she plays a whiny con-woman, Babli, traveling with her husband Bunty, played by Abhishek Bachchan and she plays her very well. All throughout the movie, Babli would break out in instant tears in a very funny way and I was very impressed with her execution of this. It was hilarious and overdone in a good way. After BAB, I've seen Rani around in special appearances in Deewangi Deewangi in Om Shanti Om and Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and I only feel even deeper in love with her. She's got so much spunk, beauty and talent that just radiates out of her in every scene she's in, no matter how big or small.

My next to run ins with Rani were in the small bits of No One Killed Jessica and Veer-Zaara that I've seen - Both impressive, especially in NOKJ where she plays a reporter full of attitude and tells a fellow passenger on a plane to stick it where the sun don't shine.

Rani is actually of Bolly royalty, along with her cousin Kajol. Her father is Ram Mukherjee, a director and one of the founders of Filmalaya Studios. Her mother Krishna, a playback singer. So she's got talent in her blood added to the special spunk that she herself naturally has. I want to see so much more of Rani, especially Black, a movie in which she stars along side Amitabh Bachchan and plays a blind woman. She's gotten a lot of praise for this role, and I have no doubt that it will be yet another amazing performance from the queen of hearts.

Star Rating: 9/10

Kassy On Celebs - Shiney Ahuja

Shiney Ahuja



I have a feeling this post won't be very well received if you're familiar with Shiney and the legal issues surrounding him, but that's exactly why I'm doing it. So let's get started:

He has gorgeous eyes and a smile that could knock any girl over. He also has a lot of talent and has the power to make any character that he plays believable. Who is he? He's Shiney Ahuja and all these great qualities he has go right out the window when someone hears that he was recently convicted of raping his maid.

Now, normally this would make me fall right out of love with him... only the evidence is in his favor. The maid who originally accused Shiney of raping her later retracted her statement and told the courts that she only accused Shiney because a friend bribed her into doing. The courts still continued to prosecute Shiney and he was convicted and sentenced to 7 years in prison. Not long after that however, he was bailed out and is now free as the higher courts in India discuss his case. I feel terrible for Shiney since so many people assume that he is still guilty even when the woman who accused him came out and say that he never did.

But putting his personal issues aside, his acting skills are great and getting even better as time goes on. My first Shiney movie was Gangster - which is one of my very favorite movies ever. In this movie, he doesn't have as many speaking parts as his costars Kangana Ranaut and Emraan Hashmi have, but he still is able to deliver every thought and emotion through his body language, eyes and facial expressions. I was completely taken away with him and this love only grew when I moved on to watch Woh Lahme. Again paired with Kangana, he played a different role in which he is a movie director who wants to make it big and will do almost anything to get there. His feelings for Kangana's character seemed very realistic and very heartfelt. He seemed to truly get into his character and love Kangana's. But what I think is his best role is Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi which in the end he ends up mentally handicapped. He was good all throughout, but it was the last few moments that took my breath away. He did very well and even won the Filmfare award for best male debut - an award well deserved.

Despite the setback that Shiney has unfortunately suffered, I have no doubt that he will be able to make his way back into the Bollywood film industry and get back on the fast track to the top he'd been getting closer and closer to until his image was scarred.

Star Rating: 8/10

10 Most Beautiful Women In Bollywood

10. Madhuri Dixit



She is called the goddess and the queen of Bollywood all at the same time. Well, I don't agree with that, but she is gorgeous. Her smile just radiates happiness, femininity and beauty and that is hard to find all in one woman.

9. Karishma Kapoor



For a long time, I thought that Karishma was... well, ugly. But the more I've looked at her the more I've realized that she has something about her face that is just... gorgeous. My favorite feature of hers is her lips which have a very beautiful shape to them. She has a beauty that isn't straightforward and isn't the kind you see everyday, but it shouldn't be ignored.

8. Aishwarya Rai



This woman is known as the most beautiful woman in the world and all one has to do is glance at her and they know that she is extraordinary beautiful. Her eyes are her most amazing feature. They're a gorgeous bluish green, which is something that we do not see in Asian women very often.

7. Deepika Padukone



Wow. That's all I can say for Deepika really. Wow. She has such presence in beauty, not only in her films but also in her pictures. Like Karishma, she has a different face, but it is seductive and breathtaking.

6. Rani Mukherjee



My favorite feature of Rani cannot be seen, but heard. Her voice is mesmerizing and incredibly sexy. She can make men and women everywhere weak in the knees with just a few words. And to match her voice is an almost equally as beautiful face. She's on the shorter side, but she's full of spunk, attitude and personality that can be rare to find.

5. Shilpa Shetty



Shilpa Shilpa Shilpa... Everything about her face is pleasant to me. She has a cute nose, nice lips and gorgeous, expressive eyes. One of the sexiest women ever to touch the Bollywood screen.

4. Kangana Ranaut



One cannot even begin to comprehend just how much this woman has captivated me, both with her beauty and with her acting skills. There's something quiet, unassuming and mysterious about both her looks and performances that is special considering how loud and overly-energetic some actresses can be.

3. Kareena Kapoor



Many people I know can't stand Kareena - and that's putting it nicely. They find her mean and ugly and the only good thing they usually have to say about her is that she is a good actress. What do I say to them? POO POO! I adore Kareena with everything in me. She's innocence, sex appeal and attitude all in one and she IS a very talented actress. Her tendency to say mean things about her costars can be unbecoming, but hey, not everyone can be perfect like our next two ladies.

2. Madhubala



This woman... is the true goddess of Bollywood and is the true star and face of Bollywood to me. She had such a beautiful, girlish charm about her that I have yet to find in any other actress, Indian or otherwise. She has a strange face that is surprisingly gorgeous and no one can quite compare to her.

1. Kajol



I know no one is surprised by this, but that's because I love, love, LOVE her. Her face is something special and her unibrow gives her more character than all the other actresses on this list combined. She has this "I'm amazing and I know it" look in her pictures that works for her and not for others. Her eyes are soulful and expressive and she has the most beautiful skin I've ever seen. For me, she is the queen of Bollywood now and forever. Forget Madhuri, forget Kareena, forget Aishwarya - she has a talent and a beauty that cannot ever be matched up with by anyone.

Who Do You Want To Hear About?

So I'm going to be doing two blog posts, one for my opinions on the actors of Bollywood and one on my opinions for the actresses of Bollywood. Because this blog is for you guys as much as it is for me, I'd like to know who you want to hear my opinions of. Just comment on this post and tell me! :)

So far I have:

Actors:
Shahrukh Khan
Aamir Khan
Imran Khan
Salman Khan
Shiney Ahuja
Akshay Kumar
Saif Ali Khan
Abhay Deol
Shahid Kapoor
Hrithik Roshan

Actresses:
Kajol
Madhuri Dixit
Aishwarya Rai
Rani Mukherjee
Kangana Ranaut
Priyanka Chopra
Kareena Kapoor
Deepika Padukone
Katrina Kaif
Preity Zinta
Anushka Sharma

Review: Break Ke Baad *Spoilers*

Break Ke Baad
Stars: Imran Khan, Deepika Padukone
Directed by: Danish Aslam
Released: 2010

Oh. My. God. I had no idea going into this movie just how much I was going to absolutely fall in love with it. Let's get right to the story:

So we have Abhay Gulati (Khan) and Aaliyah Khan (Padukone), two young adults who have been friends since they were very little and have been dating for almost as long. Aaliyah is stubborn, selfish and dreams of being an actress. Abhay or Gulati as he is affectionately called by his 'Al' is mature, dedicated and completely lost. He doesn't know what he wants to do with his life, but he knows it's not in his father's business. Things change however, when Al gets accepted to a college in Australia and decides to go which involves leaving Abhay for a year. Without considering his or her mother's feelings, she leaves. For the first few months, Al and Gulati do their best to talk on the phone, but after a while it becomes too stressful for Al to handle and she tells Abhay she wants to go on a break.

Abhay gets worried about what might be going on there, so he comes to see Al in Australia, where she breaks up with him - really breaks up with him. He however is determined to stay there and win her back, so he gets a room in the house she shares with Nads and Cyrus - a hilarious brother and sister. At first Al completely repels against "Mission Gulati", or Abhay's plan to get her back, but it isn't long before they become friends again. Near the end of her school year, Al gets offered a movie deal and excitedly takes it until she finds out just how unhappy it makes her mother. She goes back to Delhi, leaving Abhay behind heartbroken but with his new and booming restaurant.

After some convincing from her mother, Al decides to go back to Australia and take the movie deal. While there, she has a heart to heart with Abhay and tells him that she hopes he'll get married so that he can move on from her. He doesn't deserve to be unhappy because of what she did to him. So Gulati goes back to India and very soon after, Cyrus gets a call from Abhay who tells him that he is getting married. After realizing that she still loves him Aaliyah gets on a plane and goes to tell Abhay that she wants to marry him. After arriving and giving Abhay a long speech abut why they should get married, she finds out that she was the one he was going to marry the entire time. During the credits, we see that they are living a happy life, spending their honeymoon on the set of Al's movie and have a daughter named Sarah.

This story completely blew me away. One of the taglines for the movie is that it's a love story that's a little different - and I couldn't agree more. I thought it was great. We see so many Hindi love stories about the couple who fight the urge to love each other, but we don't usually see a couple that is together, breaks up and slowly gets back together. Put a great story together with comedy and some very sweet scenes and you have a great film.

The acting was superb as well. I found this to be Imran's best role yet (which I believe is partially thanks to having Deepika as his costar). He was very convincing when Abhay was supposed to be happy and when Abhay was supposed to be sad. I was very impressed and his comedy was great as well. He's making his way everyone and he's definitely the next big Khan - look out! Deepika was amazing as well. I hated... hated Aaliyah. Al was way too selfish (and coming from me, that's saying a lot) but Deepika's performance as her was top notch and completely different from her role in Om Shanti Om, the other movie I've seen her in. With Imran as her hero, she had more room and time to shine, which was in a way stolen from her when she was with Shahrukh.

The music was... Let's just say, it's been a while since I've loved a song as much as Adhoore. Because I know very little Hindi, most of the time my liking for a song is because of the way it sounds, but with Adhoore, I also love it for the lyrics. They're amazingly sweet and fit perfectly with the movie (which they should). The other songs were great as well and fit very nicely with the scenes. I'm downloading the entire soundtrack as we speak.

I would also like to mention that I was never once bored with this film. Again, coming from me that's saying a lot. I didn't think it was possible, but I actually fell in love with this film completely and has now become my new favorite movie over My Name Is Khan (don't get me wrong guys, that movie will ALWAYS be top notch to me and will always be deeply loved, but come on..). This movie affected me in the way I think Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge affected a lot of other people. It just hit me in so many ways and I loved the chemistry that Deeps and Immy shared in the movie. I said a while back that they looked like the new SRKajol and although there will never truly be another one of those, Imrika looks very promising to me.

Shahrukh Aur Sunita Hamesha!

Rating: 10/10

Review: We Are Family *Spoilers*

We Are Family
Stars: Kajol, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal
Directed by: Siddharth Malhotra
Released: 2010

We Are Family is a remake of the western/Hollywood film Step Mom starring Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts. This is the first time I've seen a western film remade in Bollywood and actually thought that the Hollywood version was better. This isn't really my type of film, as I tend to stay away from those extra sappy films, but I was on a Kajol kick and was interested in seeing Kareena Kapoor.

So we have Maya (Devgan), a divorced mother of three spoiled brats named Aleya, Ankush and Anjali. Although these three kids live with their mother most of the time, they also visit their father, Aman (Rampal), often. However, what used to be a fun trip to daddy's house soon became a nightmare when Aman begins dating Shreya (Kapoor). Shreya makes a terrible first impression when she falls - literally - into Anjali's cake and the kids hate her right from the start. Maya shares their feelings and is not at all crazy about having her children around this stranger. That is, until she finds out that she has terminal cervical cancer. After which she begins on a quest to get her children to like Shreya, and to get Shreya ready for the motherhood she never thought she'd be asking for.

This movie was... well, terrible. The only thing that saved it for me was the acting. As my friend Ally says, Kajol is one of those actresses that can't be bad - this was no exception. But the person who really shone through for me was Kareena. I'd hear some good things and some... not so good things about her and was hesitant to see how she acted, but I was very pleasantly surprised. She was absolutely fantastic. Arjun really just annoyed me, as he usually does - I really can't stand him or his acting. However, the fabulous acting on the two heroine's parts couldn't save the movie. The lines were terrible and cliche (and not in the way I like..) and the music was terribly misplaced. Don't EVEN get me started on the Jail House Rock number they did, which wasn't too bad until Arjun came in and danced with the girls. It was all a colossal joke to me, and in the end I was surprised Maya wasn't ready to die in order to get away from her incredibly annoying and spoiled children.

Rating: 4/10

Review: I Hate Luv Storys *Spoilers*

I Hate Luv Storys
Stars: Imran Khan, Sonam Kapoor
Directed by: Punit Malhotra
Released: 2010

For a month or two now, I've been perusing the Bollywood section of Netflix Instant Watch and noticing I Hate Luv Storys. I'd heard about it a few times outside of that, and knew that I thought Imran Khan was the hottest thing since a summer in the desert. However, I'd heard that Sonam's acting was terrible and Imran reminds me of someone I'd much rather forget, so I was hesitant. Finally, after sucking it up, I decided to watch it. At first, like with most Bollywood movies I turn on, I was alarmed by the length of the film - 2 and a half hours - and I was sure that I would quickly get bored with it - I. Was. Wrong.

I was instantly captured by the beauty of a certain hero, humor, cliches and mentions of other films that I'd seen. I got a kick out of hearing mentions of Devdas and going "I understand that!" - But that's mainly because I'm just a spaz. There was a point where I began to wonder if perhaps it was going to get boring when Simran and Jay were doing their "I HATE YOU" act, but the movie quickly moved onto more interesting scenes and began to develop their friendship and then romance.

But like all romances in Bollywood, the hero and heroine can't just be together and be happy - noooo, Simran has to be with a man named Raj (Ha. Ha. Ha) since childhood and be completely dedicated to her Mr. Right, who doesn't even realize that she hates the color white although that's the only type of flowers he ever gets her. (Needless to say, Jay gets her red, which she loves). However, after a while, Simran realizes that she loves Mr. Wrong as well but when she confessed it to Jay, he is befuddled and turns her down - not understanding where her feelings had come from. But, again, as we often see in BW, he soon realizes (about half way through the film and too late of course) that he loves her as well and begins his quest to win her heart.

The acting was so/so. As much as I love Imran Khan, he does have a long way to go with his acting. He delivers comedy very well and made me laugh numerous times throughout the movie, but there were several times when I just got annoyed with him - such as when he was upset over his relationship with Simran and had the same look on his face in every. single. scene. However, my annoyance with him can't be at all compared with the large annoyance I had with Sonam Kapoor. She's a pretty face and had her moments, but she can hardly be called an actress. She needs to take lessons from Kareena. Funnily enough, I actually got a kick out of Bruna Abdullah. In the beginning of the movie, she is just a dumb girl with an annoying voice that Jay picks up at a night club, but later she comes back into the movie to help with his plan to get Simran and, although still annoying, she delivered some nice comedy. I just wish she didn't sound so out of place speaking Hindi..

The music was FABULOUS I think. I adored I Hate Luv Storys, Jab Mila Tu, and Sadka Kiya (Sonam and Imran's little number was super cute!) See for yourself:






Overall, a good movie I think. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and for the first time in a long time - was not bored with it at all! Check it out!

Rating:7/10