My neighbor had urged me to see Nayakan (or Nayagan) [The hero] as it is Mani Ratman's Indian version of The Godfather and is based on the true life story of Bombay don Varadarajan Mudaliar. It's in Time's top 100 films of all time and in many best of lists of Indian films. It totally lived up to the hype and was just excellent -- mainly because of the stunning performance of lead Kamal Haasan. I have seen Kamal Haasan in Hey Ram (which he also directed) as a nebbishy archaeologist caught up in the violence of Partition, and he was fantastic in that film, but it did not prepare me for the powerful performance he gave as Velu.

Velu as a young boy sees his father killed by police for being a union leader and runs away to Bombay. He's taken in by a Muslim family and helps his adopted father with small time smuggling. His adopted father explains his law breaking with the motto, "Nothing is wrong if it helps someone." Through a series of events after his adopted father's death, he becomes the leader of the Tamilian slum of Bombay and rises further and further in the smuggling underworld. There is an adorable romance with Neela, a young prostitute who he marries. The have two children, a son and a daughter. One of my favorite scenes has the two children imitating their father in play, taking requests from a line of their playmates. "My teacher struck me for getting the math question wrong." And the son plays the little miniature don. It was adorable -- and very telling.

There are some scenes nearly straight out of The Godfather -- but they are appropriate to the plot. Mani Ratman has said how influenced by and admiring he is of Coppola and his film. What was amazing to me is that they talked to the actual real life don himself Varadarajan Mudaliar who suggested the ending, which I won't spoiler. The second half has a very dramatic conflict between Velu and his daughter, who is trying to get as far away as she can from her father's life of crime.

Velu starts as a young man, and through effective makeup and dentures, he ages into his sixties in the film. Besides the cheeks as he ages giving him the look of the older Brando in Godfather, his performance, felt very much like De Niro and Brando. Haasan's acting in this is right up there with the greats. A fantastic film that should not be missed.

The only off note for me was some of the soundtrack, which was cheesy during some police chase scenes and just has not aged well.

Enjoyable time-pass roller coaster ride of an action film. The one stunt with Tom Cruise on the outside of the plane is truly incredible. I loved that Simon Pegg had a much larger role, because I adore him, and the English actress was quite good. The other thing I liked was the use of Nessun Dorma throughout the score from the Opera Turandot. There is a dramatic fight backstage at the Vienna opera house during that aria, and then the music motif repeats at several points later in the movie. Since it means "No one sleeps tonight" it was very appropriate.

It's on Netflix streaming!! I hadn't seen this in so long. My perspective has completely changed. The first time I watched it, I was like Will Darcy -- the American who had no clue what was going on. Now, 150 Indian movies under my belt, the movie feels super Western, the songs very short and I love recognizing all the Bollywood actors in it, plus that knowing zing reading the credits that Zoya and Farhan Akthar wrote all the song lyrics. Plus that guy from Lost as Darcy's friend!

This was a cute Rom com with Prabhas and Kajal, the same stars from Mr. Perfect. They have great chemistry together, but I prefer Mr. Perfect to Darling.
There was a clever device which led to the love story being told twice, once in Switzerland, and once in India.
Prabhas is supposed to be barely out of college in this -- maybe 21? He was much more juvenile than his character in Mr. Perfect, and that was mostly my problem. It's like he was the obnoxious Raj from the beginning of DDLJ who never ever grew up.

It didn't help that the subtitles on the Youtube video of the full film I was watching got wildly out of sync. They were way ahead of the action, which was frustrating.

Mad props, though to the little kid who played Kajal's younger brother. He was a doll -- a mischevious little brat foiling Prabhas' courtship at every point.

Watched to see Prabhas strut his Rom Com stuff, and strut he did. The first half, which is a hate-to-love story as Vicky and Priya are encouraged to get engaged while he's visiting from Australia for a wedding, I really, really loved. Then Priya gets all soft and gooey for Vicky and he feels that she changed too much for him so he goes back to Australia, leaving her in the lurch. He finds another girl he thinks is perfect because she's just as stubborn and pigheaded as he is. Priya, at yet another family wedding, helps him win over his fiance's family. And that's when he realizes how much he has been compromising himself -- and what he's lost when Priya leaves. Basically, he finally gets over himself and grows up -- the plot of most Indian Rom Coms. This one had some great moments, though, even if the last half dragged a bit for me. And really, just how many one man vs. a crowd of goons fight scenes can be crammed into one romantic comedy? Quite a few, evidently!

Purely superficially, hated his gelled slicked down hair in and the constant designer label t-shirt over long sleeve shirt look. Bleh. Interesting to see what must be his normal non-Baahubali build.

I made the mistake of watching NH10 late at night while I was completely alone in the house. Yikes! Talk about an intense thriller film as a young married couple stumble into an honor killing while on a road trip. I jumped several times. My hat is off to Anushka Sharma. I didn't know she had it in her, and the very last scenes when she is coolly smoking a cigarette and then..... Oh. My.

The soundtrack is absolutely sublime A. R Rahman. My favorite parts were the hate to love romance of this arranged marriage, especially how playful Roja's husband was with her.

The second half got a bit preachy, but the cinematography was truly stunning.

Very sweet indie feeling rom com. Zoe Kazan is absolutely adorable as the animator Chantry who has instant chemistry with Daniel Radcliffe's Wallace, but has a boyfriend.

Adam Driver plays Wallace's best friend, and is particularly good.

Radcliffe is believable as a good hearted sad sack, willing to be "just friends" while endlessly wishing for more from Chantry. The two are perfect for each other, but it was all sweetness with not much sexual spark.

Salman is about the sweetest I've ever seen him, and the little girl steals the show. I also loved Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who plays a reporter in Pakistan who helps them.

It has some very cute moments and the selfie song from the trailer is very fun, but the film drags. It felt as slow as molasses especially middle to end. I would have enjoyed it much more tightened up.

Kareena isn't given much to do, but I liked the scene when she stands up to her father and chooses Salman to be her groom.

My first Telugu film and it was beyond amazing!

Nish, my neighbor, had heard about Baahubali that is playing in Telugu at the theater five minutes from us, and asked if I'd be interested in seeing it.

So we get to the theater, and it is $20! Twenty dollars for the ticket and it's not even IMAX or 3D! Nish mutters "it better be worth it" and is convinced we'll be by ourselves in the theater at that price on a Wed. night.

Nope, the theater was filled up most of the way by the time the movie started. There was also an adorable trailer for the Kangana/Imran Khan movie coming out in Sept.

Baahubali was EPIC. It was huge in scale like Gladiator or Lord of the Rings or something. The CGI scenes looked very good -- maybe not always Hollywood level, but you can tell from the trailer that there is just stunning imagination to the scenery and setups. I said Wow out loud more than once in the theater. Just stunning. There was one fight sequence in the snow, and there are trees and bushes covered in ice. As bad guys get thrown in to them-- gorgeous showers of snow and ice. There is a scene with a battle with a bull where there is even the initials C.G.I. in the corner -- just so you know the bull isn't really getting hurt, I guess. Never seen that before in a movie.

Prabhas -- the actor who plays the hero is........words escape me he is so everything. Sweet at first, hot body, amazing action hero, tender lover, sexy as hell. He is just all that and huge bag of chips.

The film opens as a mother is running away from soldiers and trying to save her baby. She seems brave and all, but I knew I was in for something really different when she pulls an arrow out of her back to stab a soldier, grabs his sword as he falls and stabs the next guy ..... all while holding a newborn in the other hand. That's the kind of over the top action with multiple kick ass women, too, as a cherry on top! She bargains with Shiva to save her baby's life, and later he discovers like Superman or something that he has special powers and super strength.
I have not seen another Telugu film, and Nish really hasn't either so she couldn't tell me if this was typical to have supernatural powers and all.

Baahubali's love interest is a warrior. She is kick ass. The mother is kick ass as I mentioned above. And THEN, there is this queen mother who while holding a newborn pulls a dagger out of her sari and knifes a guy. Then calmly sits down on the throne, takes another infant, nurses both of them under her sari, and lays down her queenly law. It was awesome.

And after huge battles and half the length of the movie flashbacks and all.....it ends on a huge cliffhanger because it is just THE BEGINNING. I cried out "Noooo!" Have to wait a year just like between Lord of the Rings movies for The Conclusion!

To say I loved this movie would be a huge understatement. Nish and I both came out agreeing it was totally worth the $20! Heck, I'm probably going to go see it again! Five out of five stars for me.