Way OT: Bollywood?

[Mr March]

Hey, Mr. March, where does HK stand in the list? Judging from the rental stores in Chinatown, Hong Kong cinema is also a real crank-em-out operation, with tons of formulaic screwball comedies, actioners, and a few dramas. What makes it to the repertory theaters and mainstream rental stores is probably the cream of the crop. (Nothing wrong with that, I might add.)

The HK film industry has been in decline for about a decade now. Fewer and fewer films being made every year. At least those films which do get made generally tend to be better quality.

Graham

Yes, there has been a sad trend in the decline of Hong Kong cinema as a result of the economic uncertainty caused by British withdrawal in the last decade. The decline is starting to level off even in spite of many a fear about "government funded" control in cinema (which some have claimed is one of many concessions suffered by Hong Kong society in the face of the growing communist influences). But even during the past decade of dwindling film financing in Hong Kong, I didn't think the market slipped that far compared to it's prime years. Hong Kong still produces a modest number of films annually and is still visible in the international scene even now. I'd be curious to learn exactly what the hard figures are for annual film counts in Hong Kong.

[Mechamaniac]

Curiously, the decline in the HK film industry seems to have coincided with the export of Chow Yun Fat, Jet Li, and John Woo to Hollywood.

Edit - Doh, forgot Jackie Chan...

Edited February 11, 2005 by Mechamaniac

[orguss01]

Since we're OT Ashwariya Rai is going to be on the Letterman show tonight.

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i just found this thread.......NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, my sweetie, i missed her................??????????? THEE most beautiful eyes in the world..........NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Can you guess which memebr has the hots for Hindi gals.???

[ewilen]

My wife and I watched Devdas the other night. An interesting mixture of melodrama and stunning musical/dance scenes, often in counterpoint with very upbeat musical pieces followed by shattering personal disasters. It some ways it felt like a 19th century opera--La Bohème or Carmen perhaps.

I get the impression that this movie is not entirely loved by people who are already familiar with Indian culture/literature, since it takes some liberties with the source material, a novel which had already been translated into film several times. In some ways, this may be the Indian equivalent of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon--a film which at heart may not equal others of the genre, but whose enormous budget has enabled it to storm the international mainstream. Nevertheless, we were overwhelmed by the sets, costuming, singing and choreography. Solscud007's description of typical song & dance numbers, while undoubtedly accurate for many films, doesn't apply here--there was nothing cliched or repetitive.

Stars Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit (who is fantastic--she even dances with her eyebrows), and Shahrukh Khan, with notable supporting roles by Kiron Kher and Jackie Shroff.