Nutan mania
I've decided to become a full-fledged promoter of Nutan! Below you'll find pictures of her I've collected
since I've started watching films with her and my list of her films. I hope you'll enjoy her as
much as I do! 
Practical Info
About me
I'm a French lover of Indian cinema, but I'm also interested in literature, science, art, and reflection in general. This blog will reflect these tastes more or less!
Categories
- letstalkaboutbollywood (52)
- film reviews (109)
- practical info (1)
- Book reviews (20)
- miscellaneous (4)
- Trip to India (8)
- Poetry (1)
Nutan photos
Bolly blogs I visit
- Greta's Memsaabstory
- Madhulika's Dustedoff
- Carla at Filmigeek
- Beth loves Bollywood
- Sharmi's old films and me
- Bollywooddeewana
- Suja's Music to my ears
- A2line's Bollyblog
- Bollyviewer's Old is gold
- Amodini's movie reviews
- Anu's conversations over chai
- Harvey's blog
- Satyam's blog
- Banno, Dhanno and Teja
- Shweta's Apni EA Company
- Julie and Jenny's Diablog
- Daddy's girl's Dharmendra praise blog
- Post-punk CC
- Nida's Bitten by Bollywood
- Sanni's So they dance
- Stephen 's Bollywood banter
- Blissful Nirvana
- Maria's Filmiholic
- Philip Lutgendorf 's fil-ums
- Neha's Black
- Doc Bollywood
- Amaluu's Bollystalgia
- Darshit's dunkdaft
- Ajnabi's Paisa Vasool - or not
- Shell's Bollyworld
- The BollywoodFan
- Pessimisissimo's Exotic entertainment
Archives
- avril 2013 (1)
- mars 2013 (1)
- février 2013 (2)
- janvier 2013 (3)
- décembre 2012 (1)
- novembre 2012 (1)
- octobre 2012 (2)
- septembre 2012 (2)
- août 2012 (2)
- juillet 2012 (1)
- juin 2012 (3)
- mai 2012 (1)
- avril 2012 (2)
- mars 2012 (3)
- février 2012 (2)
- janvier 2012 (2)
- décembre 2011 (2)
- novembre 2011 (2)
- octobre 2011 (1)
- septembre 2011 (1)
- juillet 2011 (1)
- juin 2011 (4)
Subscribe to the posts
Mardi 9 octobre 2007
2
09
/10
/Oct
/2007 00:52
Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa (thirsty) is so consistently lauded that it’s rather daunting to start talking about it. All the reviews I’ve read about it were superlative. Everybody says what a landmark it has been, what wonderful music it displays, what poetry it exudes… One person (Vishakh) does mention nevertheless that the film « does show its age »: and I would say, indeed it does (1) I don’t intend to debunk the opus, but for me it wasn’t a marvel from beginning to end. Certain passages were too conspicuous, too obviously effect-searching, and the mood was too often the same, apart from the comic-relief scenes with Jhony Walkar which are nicely done. I also have to underline the poor quality […]
Jeudi 27 septembre 2007
4
27
/09
/Sep
/2007 23:59
Hi everybody, I'm interrupting my comments of personal stuff to let you know of A2line's initiative, a very nice selection of songs from various authors, her favourite pieces, all directly available a click away. If I were you, I'd go and have a look! (her website is in French, but come on, English is not the ONLY medium...) http://bollyblog-films.blogspot.com/ cheers to all, yves
Mercredi 26 septembre 2007
3
26
/09
/Sep
/2007 22:00
R.K. Narayan’s “The painter of signs” is a real pleasure to read. Set in the imaginary Southern Indian town of Malgudi, this novella captures the mind by its evocative aloofness, its lighter-than life clarity. It is the story of Raman, a sign-painter, who prides himself on his rational attitude in life, when so many of his fellow-countrymen are bigoted or ignorant, and of Daisy, a young and pretty Family Planning activist, who will out-rationalize him, for she pushes to its extreme consequences the belief that India is home to too many Indians, and she has devoted her life to limiting their numbers by birth control. The meeting of these two is first charming and refreshing. He has […]
Jeudi 20 septembre 2007
4
20
/09
/Sep
/2007 01:53
Facts we should remember about Salman before we start criticising him: - Let’s face, if Sallu didn’t exist, Bollywood would be incomplete. - You can’t love Bollywood and not give at least some credit to Salman. - He can’t be that badmash, he actually dated Ash Rai for two or so years. - Men around the world, when coming back from work, on a hot day, are now kind of justified to strip and appear with a bare torso in front of their wives: the wives deflect some of the blame on Salman (perhaps they also thank him for it). - Living Salman’s life, in spite of jail periods, isn’t that bad; after all, he didn’t go to jail for killing that person in Bandra! - Even chinkara antelopes should be […]
Lundi 17 septembre 2007
1
17
/09
/Sep
/2007 00:26
Very quickly after I had started watching Bollywood movies, I started crying, often at the end, and I felt somehow justified in my crying, pleased in my crying. I can’t even remember when I last cried, or if I ever cried, after having watched an occidental film. Schindler’s list, perhaps? Or Roberto Begnini’s Life is beautiful? Anyway, I cried after each of my three screenings of Veer-Zaara (or the first two, at least), I cried at the end of KKHH, at the end of Kal ho na ho, of Black, of Khamoshi, and in a few others. I might have restrained myself recently, but for me crying is part of my Bollywood experience. I don’t programme it, and of course I don’t necessarily need it to happen, […]
Vendredi 7 septembre 2007
5
07
/09
/Sep
/2007 20:56
Is friendship possible between men and women? This is the question which sprang to my mind while watching Hum tumhare hain sanam. Old question, of course, but well, since it seemed to have been important for the director (K.S. Adhiyaman), and that his film, in spite of a number of imperfections, is worth watching, I’ll just say a few things about it. First, for those who haven’t seen the film, a quick summary: rich businessman Gopal falls in love with Beautiful Radha, who has been raised with real brother Prashant, at present jobless, and foster-brother Suraj, a successful singer. Respectively, Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Atul Agnihotri, Salman Khan. Radha has always lived with her […]
Dimanche 2 septembre 2007
7
02
/09
/Sep
/2007 23:15
This is a foray into a field as yet unploughed by me, literary criticism of Indian novels! This summer I’ve read Anita Desai’s Clear light of day: perhaps some of you know the book? It was written in 1980, but tells the story of an Old Delhi family back in the forties, at the time of Independence. Well, in fact, that period is the backdrop of a long flashback, which we sense belongs very closely to the author’s life. This was confirmed when I did a little Internet research: “Desai considers Clear Light of Day her most autobiographical book, because she was writing about her neighborhood in Delhi, although the characters are not based on her brothers and sisters. What she was exploring […]
Jeudi 30 août 2007
4
30
/08
/Août
/2007 21:56
I have always liked Saif Ali Khan, ever since Kal ho Na ho, in which I first saw him squint and sidle towards the camera, like an Indian Mafioso, with his Italian airs, his raspy voice. He was a welcome difference from the Salmans, the Shahruhks, and I immediately enjoyed his half-confident way of acting. Saif has been educated in England, at Winchester College, and I read that he had trouble with Hindi upon returning to his native country. Had he noticed that his general outlook had a Western element about it? Well, whatever, what is true is that he has now arrived at a star-level where he can sell a film, even mediocre films (recently Ta ra pum pum) on his good name. He has quickly […]
Samedi 11 août 2007
6
11
/08
/Août
/2007 00:27
Absolutely excellent. The hubris of petty officers, the crisis and tension coming from lust and gratuitous violence, the horrifying banality of colonialism, the abuse and victimization of women: all these elements combine to create a tragedy which the Greeks would not have disavowed. We are the transfixed witnesses of a horrendous, and at the same time, magnificent process: the price of a woman’s virtue depends on how much it costs for the community. Even feminine solidarity crumbles when submitted to enough masculine pressure… And yet, does it? The fantastic last scene of the film, when everything seemed lost, shows that women have stupendous resources that make one realise the […]
Samedi 4 août 2007
6
04
/08
/Août
/2007 15:33
Swami (2007) is choreographer Ganesh Acharya’s first try at directing a film, and in spite of some clumsiness, it’s full of good surprises. It is inspired by a desire to uphold the values of honesty, faithfulness and humanity which the director obviously believes in. It is a clear act of defence of the value of traditional Indian attitudes and beliefs (decency, piety, dedication, hard work), which would perhaps be boring if they weren’t embodied by Manoj Bajpai, whose presence fills the film. What I especially enjoyed in his acting is the difference he makes between youth and age: Swami the old man is nicely suggested, and one follows him with interest. What is also noteworthy is the […]
Mercredi 25 juillet 2007
3
25
/07
/Juil
/2007 23:52
Abstract: Admirable and moving, "I am Alive" by Sudhir Mishra is excellently served by inspired actors (Deepti Naval leading the crew), filmed with tact and reserve, and filled with emotion and realism. It tells the story of Beena, a young woman married to an unwilling husband who deserts the house and leaves her to her own resources, thus forcing her to bear the responsibilities that he could not shoulder. This entails supporting a household of 5 people, and Beena has to go to town to look for work while the others wait for her to do everything. It is a sober comment on men's weakness and womanly strength. But this strength is simply not recognised, rather is exploited to sustain a […]
Samedi 21 juillet 2007
6
21
/07
/Juil
/2007 00:12
Er… I thought I would have stopped reviewing films like this one ! But Ta Ra Pum Pum by Siddharth Anand is interesting in fact, as a Bollywood phenomenon (are those of you who read me not tired of this treatment of Indian films?!). BUT: before I go any further: all those of you who like Rani Mukherjee RUSH and see it! She’s an absolute darling there, and I think she’s actually rivalling Ash Rai in beauty. One good moment is when Saif explains to his dog that he’s gonna have to get lost (they’re poor, you see, they can’t keep him any longer), and the dog looks at him so understandingly! Okay, so now that we’ve dealt with the important things, what’s left? Is the film much more than a […]
Jeudi 19 juillet 2007
4
19
/07
/Juil
/2007 23:05
After having watched the film, I asked myself what it had been trying to do... It's a filmed play about these two people - modern-India businessman Rahul Bose and eternal India prostitute Kareena Kapoor - which explores their confrontation: and the immediate effect of such a confrontation is to have spectators wonder what variation of the theme of desire it is going to explore. Will the prostitute open the prim and proper businessman's eyes (and world) to other unpleasant realities? Will he be tempted to "save" her from her fall from grace? Is love going to play a role? How much sex will be thrown into the story? Interestingly, Sudhir Mishra chooses none of these predictable […]
Lundi 16 juillet 2007
1
16
/07
/Juil
/2007 02:11
When I think of Kareena Kapoor, what comes to mind first is her strength, her instinct, her femininity. She strikes me as unabashedly feminine, pleased with her sex, proud of her sex. Her physique is very feminine, and first those amazing lips of hers, that writhe and squirm in front of you, as if alive with a life of their own. They have been described as “strawberry lips”(here), i.e. fleshy lips you’d like to bite in and relish on your palate: true, but that doesn’t quite render justice to their fascinating movements, not unlike those of slugs (sorry for the association!), only much more lively and sexy. Then there’s her versatile eyes, which she knows how to lift, to lower, to use as […]
Vendredi 6 juillet 2007
5
06
/07
/Juil
/2007 22:36
Well, my foray into Bollywood oldies opens up with a bang ! This 1949 classic “love triangle” film which supposedly deals with the clash between traditional India and its Westernisation, errs, says IMdB sd268 in a perceptive commentary, because it equates “one possible answer to the question of the feasibility of a purely platonic friendship between members of the opposite sex with Westernisation, and the other with Indian-ness, which to me is simplistic and therefore unsatisfactory.” This may be so (it is the general lore about the film, cf. here or here), but we’ll see that fortunately, the sheer artistic values of the film transcend its short-sightedness. Indeed, the end of the film […]