Saturday, October 18, 2008

And even the disguise kit.

You know you're immersed in 1970s masala films when:
  • you can follow the plot of a masala film even if your DVD doesn't have subtitles. ("Okay, the girl is working for the criminals, but she's played by Hema Malini and looks to be the love interest, so she must not want to be a criminal. Oh, yep, she and her mom are both crying and explaining something. And they just said the word for "father." So the bad guys must have taken her dad captive and are forcing her to work for them to keep him safe. Oh yeah, that guy in the dungeon must be the dad, and here the bad guy is taunting him about the daughter and about how he's committing crimes in the dad's name. Here the two long-lost brothers are meeting for the first time for several years but don't recognize each other, so I bet the dialogue is full of infinite irony. And this is the part where the brother on the wrong side of the law changes his ways and starts working with the good guys to help free the girl's dad and set everything right. And it all ends happily. Fabulous.")
  • people give you funny looks when you quote your favorite movies.

  • you finish watching a movie and think, "I don't know, that might have been too realistic for me," and then you remember the part where the heroes ran through machine gun fire unscathed because they were carrying holy books, and all the parts where they dishoomed lots and lots of bad guys at once, and the unrealistic legal proceedings, and that really bizarre scene where the disabled soldiers started dancing with crutches to prove that they were capable of taking care of themselves, or something. But after further thought, you remain convinced that the movie was still too realistic.

  • you think modern actresses look unhealthy and anorexic, and you realize that your body image has improved a great deal.

  • someone walks into the room when you're watching a movie and says, "Wow, that's a crazy outfit," and you realize that 70s fashions look completely normal to you now.

  • you try to decide how you'd design your villain's lair if you became a smuggler or black marketer (the careers of choice for bad guys in India in the 70s, apparently).

  • you're surprised when a good guy on a TV show doubles over in pain after he's punched in the stomach, instead of doing a backflip in the air, landing on his feet, and dishooming the villain back.
  • you wonder why you don't have a selection of handy disguises ready at hand like everyone else seems to.
  • you expect every movie you watch to be made of awesome -- and as long as you stick with 70s masala, you're usually not disappointed.

4 comments:

Beth Loves Bollywood said...

Vah vah! V delighted to have found your blog!

And that's some good Shashi you have here. I approve :)

Anonymous said...

I met a little girl today who puts her finger over her upper lip when she's in trouble to disguise herself with a mustache.

Cindy said...

Beth, thanks for stopping by! I love your blog. In fact, it's because of your reviews that I started watching Shashi movies in the first place.

Rosie, I guess that's one way to do it. It wouldn't be much worse than the bad guy's disguise in Hera Pheri.

Beth Loves Bollywood said...

Yay! Thank you! Isn't it fun being a Shashi evangelist?