J and I are determined to learn Hindi. It's hard and we possess a fairly healthy streak of laziness and pure fatigue, so sometimes it feels like climbing the Himalayas would be easier than learning to speak this language.
So what do two cinemaphiles (yeah, I made that word up) who are exhausted and dull-as-powder do? They watch Bollywood films at night with no subtitles--that's what they do. And, by George, it's helping, kinda...
Now, we watch Bollywood movies for their Hindi, but last night we were delighted to discover a movie that is compelling and thoroughly enjoyable for its content and not just its language--and that's saying something, folks! The aforementioned movie is called Lagaan and it's great. In fact, BBC ranked it as number 14 of the Top 50 Films You Must See Before You Die. If you love and trust BBC like I do, you'll find that an impressive feat. If you're like my brother-in-law, who feels that BBC movies should be titled things like 'Tea at Tata's' and 'Woodland Fairies Discuss Needlepoint' then never mind.
For you boys out there, there's tons of sports and male bonding in it. The DVD cover says it's, "the story of a battle without bloodshed." But because I'm honest I must warn you that there are also tons of dance moves (which I dig), Indian singing (it's...ok), and some, well...some male sobbing as well.
All in all, it sheds a little more light on this dizzying, complex culture, and it does so with lots of color, fun, and Indian rockin'. Watch it.
So, it's entirely possible that you've seen this, but in case you haven't: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA1NoOOoaNw . And, for fear of making this a completely useless and stupid post, I hope you all are doing well!
ReplyDeleteLoved reading this. I'm intrigued. When we come, let's sit and watch something. Maybe we'll learn some Hindi too.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I've told you before but when in Holland, I watched children's programs to help me learn Dutch. Worked so very well! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation. We'll look it up so that we can get a better idea of your life. :)
"male sobbing." haaaaaa I'm going to sneak this movie into a date night with Brendan and watch him writhe with contempt.
ReplyDeleteI just looked this up on Netflix, and it looks like the DVD isn't available to rent yet. But I clicked the "save" button, so I will hopefully get it ASAP (I loved "Bride and Prejudice," mainly for the dance moves, which I also adore)!
ReplyDelete~Sophie