Blog Posts by Maya Menon

  • 4 worst Hindi movies of July

    By Maya Menon | wide angle – Thu 28 Jul, 2011 3:33 PM IST

    Movies in July

    Our in house movie critic Kunal Guha has, over the last couple of weeks, reviewed and rated the major releases of the month 'Murder 2,' 'Chillar Party,' 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' and 'Singham'. Let me start with a disclaimer, I do not always agree with Kunal on his reviews. And speaking about reviews, here is one fun review which we saw on CNNGo.

    Having watched the films that released this month, says the writer, I can't help but wonder if someone passed around an industry memo deeming July male stripper month in Bollywood. I know it's summer, he says,  but -- the four movies in this recap contain about eight hours of footage of men in various stages of undress, with little to absolutely no reason to show for it.

    This includes everyone from a frighteningly tanned Hrithik Roshan, to a 42-year-old Ajay Devgn, to a group of 10-year-old boys in their tighty-whities. Huh, well, trust me, it is not what I wrote, check out the article here. And, if you are like me, you will just love the

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  • Twins for Aishwarya?

    By Maya Menon | wide angle – Thu 23 Jun, 2011 1:57 PM IST
    Ash - AbhiEver since Amitabh Bachchan tweeted the news of Aishwarya's pregnancy, there has been a hullabaloo about the gen-next Bachchan's arrival.  The Bachchans are celebrating and can the media be far behind?

    From what will happen to Aishwarya's career, her role in Madhur Bhandarkar's Heroine to when she became pregnant - the media has taken it upon themselves to keep all and sundry informed. Click to read

    This particular report in the Times of India says that "In all probability, Aishwarya and Abhishek's child will be a baby girl. Also don't be surprised if they have duplets." But, trust me, it was not a doctor who said this - it was an astrologer. This article makes for a very entertaining read.  Click here to read the report.

    That is not all. CNNGo speculates when Aishwarya could have possibly got pregnant. Have a look.

    Keep coming back to Yahoo! Movies for more

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  • Together they made us sing

    By Maya Menon | wide angle – Thu 2 Jun, 2011 2:14 PM IST
    Maniratnam and Ilayaraja

    Mani Ratnam is one of the most versatile movie makers and Ilayaraja, is undoubtedly one of the best music directors the country has ever seen. And they share the same birthday.  We bring to you some of our favourite songs, and what Mani Ratnam has to say about Ilayaraja.

    Nilave Va - Mouna Ragam

    Mani Ratnam directed a Telugu flick and he couldn't do with out Ilayaraja - the result? This lovely number from Geetanjali

    And yet another beautiful song from Anjali

    Naykudu - Just listen to this amazing background score.  And then you will realise what Mani Ratnam means when he says "Ilayaraja would look at the scene once, and immediately start giving notes to his assistants, as a bunch of musicians, hovering around him, would collect the notes  for their instrument and go to their places... A director can be taken by surprise at the speed of events."

    Cliched yet, i cannot just go away without mentioning this number which has made it to one of the top 10 tracks according to a BBC poll.

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  • Remembering Nargis Dutt

    By Maya Menon | wide angle – Wed 1 Jun, 2011 2:33 PM IST

    Nargis DuttNargis Dutt. Her beauty was ethereal, her charm and talent legendary. This post is just a tribute to one of those eternal beauties Bollywood has ever seen.

    Nargis was born on June 1, 1929 as Fatima Rashid. Her mother was a thumri singer and it was she who introduced Nargis to acting.  Nargis made her debut as a child actor and went on to be one of the most iconic stars in Bollywood.

    Nargis in Mother IndiaShe ruled the silver screen in the 1950's and played pivotal roles in 'Barsaat', 'Andaz', 'Awaara', 'Deedar', 'Shree 420' and 'Chori Chori'. And then, came Mother India in 1957 which in a way changed the way the world saw Hindi movies. It was nominated for the Academy Awards and it won her the Filmfare Best actress award.

    Her personal life was under the scanner too.  "In the movie buff's imagination, Nargis remains inextricably linked with Raj Kapoor, being the leading lady and Muse in his seminal early films, involved with him in real life, even immortalised in the "RK Studios" logo, which was based on

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  • Mohanlal : The complete actor?

    By Maya Menon | wide angle – Sat 21 May, 2011 1:45 PM IST

    opMohanlal

    I remember the hush that fell over the room when Mohanlal stepped out from behind a wall and watched Sangeeta and Baby Shalini (Yeah, the same Shalini who got married to Tamil actor Ajith) walk away in 'Ente Mammattikuttiyammayku". "Arrg", said my cousin, "I hate this actor". "Who is he" I asked — my cousin, a die hard chick flick fanatic said "he is a born villain, that guy Mohanlal".

    I turned my attention to the screen. And somewhere along the line, I couldn't find any thing remotely villain like in Mohanlal. He came across as just another actor -so entirely different to my favourite cartoon show heroes. So I hounded my cousin - who still is a walking dictionary of any Malayalam movies - to know more about him.

    Mohanlal — according to her was 'the villain.' Even though his first film was 'Thiranottam,' it was his role as Narendran in 'Manjil Virinja Pookal' which made people sit up and take note of this young man. This Fazil film by Navodaya had Shankar and Poornima Jayaram in the

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Pagination

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