One of the covers of Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance features a little boy sitting atop a pole. It always reminded me of mallakhamb, the Indian art of pole gymnastics. In this mallakhamb clip, a lean, oiled Circque du Soleil-style acrobat shatters the idea of Indian unathleticism. Hottest pole dance ever:
The Net is awash in Twenty20 cheerleader videos, the proud fruit of a horny subcontinent armed with a modicum of technical aptitude. This one shows the cheerleaders in context next to the cricket pitch:
San Jose State prof Hasan Elahi was questioned by the FBI after 9/11. Now the Bangla-American hairmonger posts his current location, photos and the minutiæ of his daily schedule online. He told Stephen Colbert he’s bringing the surveillance value of his datastream to zero:
It’s an art project, an econ experiment and a passive-aggressive kiss-off to […]
Laura Bush held a press conference yesterday complaining about the Burmese junta’s lackadaisical response to a catastrophic storm:
“The response to this cyclone is just the most recent example of the junta’s failures to meet its people’s basic needs.” [Link]
These people are missing the gene for shame, and for irony. If only Burmese storm relief were […]
Adam Sandler as an Israeli commando in a Jewfro is intrinsically funny given his brand of passive-aggressive humor. Appending M.I.A.’s ‘Jimmy Aaja’ to the Zohan for its cheesy Eastern European sample is near sacrilege:
There’s whole ‘nother layer of cheese on that caquelon, Sandler-san, and it’s called Disco Dancer. There can be only one.
The Arulpragasam / […]
For a brief, shining moment last night, Rupa & the April Fishes held the #1 position on YouTube with the video for ‘Une Americaine a Paris’:
Here’s an ad for Konami’s Doko Demo Yoga, a 3D yoga trainer for the Nintendo DS. The ad makes me laugh, because the dulcet, artificially perky tones of J-babes on TV are the exact opposite of becoming comfortable in your yogic skin. They remind me of some salseras from Japan whom I’ve danced with, highly […]
When we’re old and withered, will ‘Come to Me’ be to us what ‘Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai’ was to the parental units?
Rafta, Rafta… (Slowly Slowly) is the first (relatively) big-budget desi play I’ve seen in New York, maybe the first ever. And that is notable in its own right. The production has enough funding to splash out on an eye-catching set. It’s a play, not a Bombay Dreams-style musical, though DJ Rekha contributed the bhangra. The […]
Licensing songs for movies is cool, and the Civic is virtually a Sri Lankan car. But Maya shilling for Bud Light is completely selling out. I mean, that swill is so weak it barely qualifies as beer:
Kalpen Modi told a story on Conan O’Brien last night about a drunken brown guy who was angry because everyone now calls him Coo-mahr. Penn pointed out that was better than being called Uh-poo. That was his shout-out, and his exculpation.
Like Letterman with Aishwarya, Conan seemed to treat Penn with kid gloves, not knowing […]
An early version of the Monkey King makeup; the final is much more subtle
On one hand, current box office champ The Forbidden Kingdom has Jet Li in blond capuchin hair playing Sun Wukong, the mischievous, powerful Monkey King. He flies around mountaintops, battling baddies with his magical bowstaff. All that’s missing is Hanuman’s inflated cheeks.
On […]
Check out the title song from the discofabulous Yaadon Ki Baraat (1973), where polka dot shirts and checked dinner jackets merged and threw up an æsthetic. The dancers in minidresses and go-go boots prove Bollywood was every bit as skimpyscandalous back in the day.
One-hit wonder Vijay Arora passed away a year and two months back. […]
M.I.A.’s ‘Paper Planes’ anchors the trailer for Pineapple Express, a weed smuggler comedy by the Superbad crew. The trailer is sync’d to the gunshots and cash register samples in Maya’s track. She’s also licensed tracks for the B-movie War and a Honda ad.
Seth Rogen stars. James Franco plays against type as a long-haired stoner, like […]
Wong Kar Wai’s My Blueberry Nights is poorly written and claustrophobically filmed, but Norah Jones is charming in her film debut. Jude Law’s enigmatic New York café owner consoles Jones over a breakup. He bears a Mancunian accent and an impenetrability which he used to great effect in Sleuth. Jones is too buried in grief […]
A Meerut shyster hawks a street aphrodisiac, and his patter about the social virtuousness of stiffies on demand is hilarious. In Hindi with subtitles (NSFW).
In case you didn’t see the comment, here’s comedian Tracey Ullman as Padma Perkish selling Indian V1&gra (thanks, shlok):
And here’s her music vid for ‘They Don’t Know.’ The video was an ‘83 hit (seriously) and features a Paul McCartney cameo at the very end:
Tumnus tries it on with Rani Mukherjee’s twin in Bollywood Queen (2003). With possible toe fetish, and a score fit for a somnolent brunch at Gaylord’s on a spring afternoon. The story is based on Romeo and Juliet, with Preeya Kalidas playing the Lady Capulet.
Geena (Preeya Kalidas) is a nineteen year-old woman of Indian descent […]
Here’s the title track from Baazigar (Gambler) re-enacted in stop motion by a comic book villain with Kajol’s face. Not as cool as it could have been because halfway through, creator Omi Kapoor tires of the painstaking animation and plays SRK in a Zorro outfit on a hobby horse.
Hark! hark! the lark at heaven’s gate sings…And winking Mary-buds beginTo ope their golden eyes;With everything that pretty is,My lady sweet, arise… [Baljinder Shakes Spear]
What sweet music is this? The actors in Brick Lane deliver my ears from the plague of bad desi accents. And filming it means no more wading through tens of pages […]