Koffee with Karan

(photo by Michael Dequina)

This afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing one of my favorite writer/producer/directors in Bollywood and the film world as a whole, Karan Johar. For those unfamiliar with his work, he's responsible for some of the best and biggest international successes from the Indian film industry the last decade plus, from his delightful 1998 behind-the-camera debut Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (Something Is Happening); the poignant 2001 blockbuster Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (Sometimes Happiness Sometimes Sorrow...); and my personal favorite of the films from his Dharma Productions banner, 2003's excellent Kal Ho Naa Ho (Tomorrow May Never Come), which he wrote and produced and was directed by Nikhil Advani. Our fairly wide-ranging conversation, which went beyond talk of his latest film, My Name Is Khan, a revised version of which opens in the States this Friday, to subjects such as Bollywood/Hollywood "crossover" and his soon-to-return talk show Koffee with Karan, will be posted this weekend.

One topic I did have to bring up is a most unusual project set to hit screens by year's end, Koochie Koochie Hota Hai, an animated remake of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. It's an intriguing idea, curiosity about which is only further stoked by the film's first trailer, as one sees certain shots and scenes of Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, and Rani Mukerji being duplicated with animated dogs. Posted below are that trailer as well as those for the original film; it makes for an intriguing comparison and study.

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My Name is Khan: The rare "westernized" recut that works

I will go into more detail in an upcoming review, but I am rather surprised--pleasantly so--to report that the "international director's cut" (read: Americanized re-edit) of Karan Johar's Fox-distributed Shahrukh Khan-Kajol starrer My Name Is Khan works markedly better than the original cut that was released worldwide and on the Stateside Bollywood theatrical circuit on February 12. The major alteration is the removal of virtually the entire subplot revolving around an African-American church in Georgia, a story point I admit I admired more in theory than in actual execution; after all, I saw it as Johar's confirmation (if perhaps by happy accident) of a thought I have been arguing for years: that the genre of the gospel play is the clear American analogue to Bollywood. But more than playing easier to Western audiences, it plays easier to all moviegoers, period, curbing Johar's more overblown tendencies and more firmly grounding the story and, hence, entire film in the vivid characters of and relationship between leads Shahrukh Khan and Kajol.

Read my review of the original cut of My Name Is Khan here.

Buy the My Name Is Khan soundtrack here.

Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles 2010 Intro

The 2010 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles opened yesterday, April 20, with a screening of the Canadian film Cooking with Stella and will run through this Sunday, April 25. I will be here covering a couple of days, starting with tonight's screening of this year's Indian Foreign Language Film Oscar entry Harishchandrachi Factory, about the very birth of the Indian film industry. Also on my prospective screening agenda during the fest: Raakh (Ashes to Ashes) Redux, a recut version of a 1989 Aamir Khan starrer; and--of most interest to me--the revised "international director's cut" of Karan Johar's Shahrukh Khan-Kajol reunion My Name Is Khan, which Fox Searchlight initially released worldwide (including in America) on February 12. Running over a half hour shorter than the original cut, I'm especially curious to see if condensing the film will improve it any (I kind of doubt it, as the issues this enjoyable film does have go beyond run time). I've already reviewed during their initial theatrical runs: the middling crime drama Kaminey (Rascals), starring Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra and featuring the smash single "Dhan Te Nan" (which more than bears a similarity to the Dick Dale classic "Misirlou"); and 3 Idiots, which lit up the international box office upon its release in December. As someone who keeps up with and covers Bollywood theatrical releases as closely as I do with Hollywood releases, these selections are a bit redundant for me, but it's great that films such as these (especially 3 Idiots) are given a more visible platform to L.A. cineastes who are unaware of the thriving Bollywood exhibition circuit in America (whose audience I've seen grow substantially beyond the Non-Resident Indian population since I saw Devdas at my (then-newly-opened) local "Bollyplex," the Naz 8 in Lakewood, back in 2002) and perhaps get them to seek these films out during their day-and-date-with-India general Stateside releases, which are a lot wider than most are aware. Hopefully some effort will be made at the festival this year to inform and remind audiences that Indian films are always released on local screens on a very regular basis throughout the year.