Recommendations for a short Bollywood film?
February 26, 2010 11:59 AM Subscribe
I'd like to show my tenth grade class a Bollywood film, but can't devote 3 hours to the activity. Can you recommend a Bollywood film for tenth graders that is a) short, and/or b) can be easily edited down to 70-100 minutes?
I see my class once during a week of standardized testing and would like to give them a break that still fits in somehow with our India unit. The class itself is 74 minutes, but I could use up to half an hour in the next class period to wrap it up if I needed to. Ideally I could find a film that has subplots I could easily cut out in large chunks in order to fit in the time frame. I have access to Netflix.
This may be an impossible request, but if anybody can help me AskMe can. Alternately, are there any short films that I could string together?
I see my class once during a week of standardized testing and would like to give them a break that still fits in somehow with our India unit. The class itself is 74 minutes, but I could use up to half an hour in the next class period to wrap it up if I needed to. Ideally I could find a film that has subplots I could easily cut out in large chunks in order to fit in the time frame. I have access to Netflix.
This may be an impossible request, but if anybody can help me AskMe can. Alternately, are there any short films that I could string together?
Sita is also available in many formats for free on the Internet Archive.
posted by the dief at 12:28 PM on February 26, 2010
posted by the dief at 12:28 PM on February 26, 2010
Just show a song and dance number. I recommend Taal, specifically Ishq Bina. Search for it on YouTube. The other one I recommend is Shree 420, either Mere Juta Hai Japani or Ichak Dana.
This isn't strictly Bollywood, but how about Sita Sings the Blues?
Not representative of Bollywood at all, though I loved it.
posted by anniecat at 12:30 PM on February 26, 2010
This isn't strictly Bollywood, but how about Sita Sings the Blues?
Not representative of Bollywood at all, though I loved it.
posted by anniecat at 12:30 PM on February 26, 2010
Om Shanti Om is a great Bollywood movie, and, weighing in at 162 minutes, doesn't fit your length criteria, although it's still a lightweight for Bollywood. I wouldn't be surprised if you could shave off 30 minutes by skipping through some of the extended dance scenes.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 12:47 PM on February 26, 2010
posted by Salvor Hardin at 12:47 PM on February 26, 2010
Bride and Prejudice is about a third bollywood and two thirds hollywood. Perhaps not as Indian as you are looking for, but it will be very accessible to American tenth graders.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:35 PM on February 26, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:35 PM on February 26, 2010 [3 favorites]
Hyderabad Blues at 85 min fits in well with your length requirements. It's a charming little movie about an engineer who comes back to India after 12 years in the US and his family's attempts to get him married. It was one of the first (IMO) small-budget movies and was a breath of fresh air when it came out.
posted by Idle Curiosity at 1:42 PM on February 26, 2010
posted by Idle Curiosity at 1:42 PM on February 26, 2010
Seeing as Hyderabad Blues doesn't seem to be available on Netflix or Amazon, I can recommend Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, which is simply a brilliant and beautiful movie with some great music. It runs to 120 minutes, but maybe you can cut out a song or two.
posted by Idle Curiosity at 1:53 PM on February 26, 2010
posted by Idle Curiosity at 1:53 PM on February 26, 2010
How about the most famous bollywood film of all time? Its from the 70's if thats okay, but is definitely considered THE quintessential bollywood movie. Its got everything (decent and famous songs, melodrama, gunfights, true love, and a bad-ass villain).
Its also a 'genre' that your students might relate to - its basically an "indian western" (as in an indian version of the spagetti westerns that were so popular in the 70s, clint eastwood style). Its "accessible" as a bollywood movie, I think, to a western audience, while showcasing all the things that make us cringe (or enjoy) about bollywood movies ;) so long as you're okay with something from the 70s.
It is "the biggest hit in the history of bollywood" -- wikipedia. I'm speaking of course about Sholay.
Netflix has it.
posted by jak68 at 2:26 PM on February 26, 2010
Its also a 'genre' that your students might relate to - its basically an "indian western" (as in an indian version of the spagetti westerns that were so popular in the 70s, clint eastwood style). Its "accessible" as a bollywood movie, I think, to a western audience, while showcasing all the things that make us cringe (or enjoy) about bollywood movies ;) so long as you're okay with something from the 70s.
It is "the biggest hit in the history of bollywood" -- wikipedia. I'm speaking of course about Sholay.
Netflix has it.
posted by jak68 at 2:26 PM on February 26, 2010
p.s., Sholay runs 185 minutes, but you can easily cut out the long middle. Just have them watch from beginning until the appearance of the main villain (Gabbar Singh), and then jump to the climactic ending. Going by wikipedia's description of the plot, the section called "village life" is the one you could cut out with no real loss of continuity if you just want them to get a flavor of bollywood plotlines.
posted by jak68 at 2:33 PM on February 26, 2010
posted by jak68 at 2:33 PM on February 26, 2010
Wow. A bollywood film shorter than 100 minutes is really a tall order.
I can suggest: Chai Pani Etc. Runtime: 92 Minutes. it's primarily in English, though.
Or you can try, Mahek. Runtime: 80 minutes
Or Kabuliwala from 1961 based on a short-story by Rabindranath Tagore. Runtime: 95 mins.
Don't know if any of these are available on Netflix though.
posted by Lucubrator at 3:38 PM on February 26, 2010
I can suggest: Chai Pani Etc. Runtime: 92 Minutes. it's primarily in English, though.
Or you can try, Mahek. Runtime: 80 minutes
Or Kabuliwala from 1961 based on a short-story by Rabindranath Tagore. Runtime: 95 mins.
Don't know if any of these are available on Netflix though.
posted by Lucubrator at 3:38 PM on February 26, 2010
Perhaps Monsoon Wedding would fit the bill. It is approximately 114 min long but you could edit out the subplot between Alice and P.K. Dubey to shorten it. It also available on Netflix.
posted by googlebombed at 4:45 PM on February 26, 2010
posted by googlebombed at 4:45 PM on February 26, 2010
I think Monsoon Wedding might have too much sex in it for a 10th grade class - that is, not too much for the tenth-graders themselves, but I think you could easily get some angry parents. (Also, I love that movie, so the thought of chopping out subplots for time or content makes me sad.)
You could show them the first hour & 15 minutes of Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India. It's a great movie -- on one level it's a classic sports-underdog story, but it's also an allegory for the end of British rule, with certain characters representing a different caste or religion. The musical numbers are really well integrated into the story (and the music is by A.R. Rahman, so it's gorgeous and very catchy), Amir Khan is extremely charismatic, and the women's roles are good. You could probably fast-forward through a couple of scenes in that first hour (the one where the other villages headmen show up to yell at Bhuvan for making the bet) to get it to fit into the 74 minutes of class.
Any student that isn't hooked on Lagaan by the first musical number isn't going to care about not seeing the end, and anyone that is hooked should be able to rent it easily enough on their own, since it was nominated for an Oscar and the dvd is distributed by Columbia TriStar.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:42 PM on February 26, 2010
You could show them the first hour & 15 minutes of Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India. It's a great movie -- on one level it's a classic sports-underdog story, but it's also an allegory for the end of British rule, with certain characters representing a different caste or religion. The musical numbers are really well integrated into the story (and the music is by A.R. Rahman, so it's gorgeous and very catchy), Amir Khan is extremely charismatic, and the women's roles are good. You could probably fast-forward through a couple of scenes in that first hour (the one where the other villages headmen show up to yell at Bhuvan for making the bet) to get it to fit into the 74 minutes of class.
Any student that isn't hooked on Lagaan by the first musical number isn't going to care about not seeing the end, and anyone that is hooked should be able to rent it easily enough on their own, since it was nominated for an Oscar and the dvd is distributed by Columbia TriStar.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:42 PM on February 26, 2010
I'm Indian, and I could not disagree more with Sita Sings the Blues. Please, please do not show your students that and call it Bollywood. It's basically a white woman twisting one of India's oldest epics in order to make herself feel better about being dumped... and that's my *charitable* opinion of it.
Hyderabad Blues is fantastic if you can get it, but not really traditional Bollywood as such. Bollywood films are long by default- that's part of their charm.
Again, these aren't traditional Bollywood, but I would recommend Bend It Like Beckham or American Desi. The former's about a good Punjabi girl who wants to play football, the latter about a very westernized Indian whose whole life turns upside down when he falls in love with a more traditional Indian girl. Both are in english and neither have running-around-trees-singing sequences, but they're good films and much more representative of India than your average Bollywood flick.
On preview, I agree with Lagaan; it's a gorgeous movie with terrific acting, and widespread enough that students can find another copy if they're interested. That, or hitting your local Indian store and asking for recommendations there. Most Indian folk I know are only too happy to share the madness that is Bollywood.
Good luck!
posted by Tamanna at 5:01 AM on February 27, 2010 [2 favorites]
Hyderabad Blues is fantastic if you can get it, but not really traditional Bollywood as such. Bollywood films are long by default- that's part of their charm.
Again, these aren't traditional Bollywood, but I would recommend Bend It Like Beckham or American Desi. The former's about a good Punjabi girl who wants to play football, the latter about a very westernized Indian whose whole life turns upside down when he falls in love with a more traditional Indian girl. Both are in english and neither have running-around-trees-singing sequences, but they're good films and much more representative of India than your average Bollywood flick.
On preview, I agree with Lagaan; it's a gorgeous movie with terrific acting, and widespread enough that students can find another copy if they're interested. That, or hitting your local Indian store and asking for recommendations there. Most Indian folk I know are only too happy to share the madness that is Bollywood.
Good luck!
posted by Tamanna at 5:01 AM on February 27, 2010 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Ack, how could I have forgotten about Sita Sings the Blues? I've been meaning to watch that anyway. Not Bollywood, but I told my students part of the Ramayana a few weeks ago and they loved it so it might work anyway.
Thank you all for the excellent suggestions! You came up with much more than I had anticipated. I will start checking all of them out. If anybody has any more suggestions I would still love to hear them!
posted by lilac girl at 5:06 AM on February 27, 2010
Thank you all for the excellent suggestions! You came up with much more than I had anticipated. I will start checking all of them out. If anybody has any more suggestions I would still love to hear them!
posted by lilac girl at 5:06 AM on February 27, 2010
lilac girl, I would honestly recommend you stay as far away from Sita Sings The Blues as possible. The general ookiness of a white woman appropriating another culture's story and making it all about *her* personal heartbreak aside, she completely fails to get the point of the Ramayana. The Ramayana isn't a love story, it's a story about duty- Ram's duty as a son, as a king, as man. He never wanted to send Sita away, but he had to because it was expected of him as a king. Making it the allegory for some soap opera-esque failed romance is... well, I'm not sure how much farther you can get into left field without leaving the ballpark entirely. Perhaps I'm being overly harsh, but there it is.
posted by Tamanna at 3:23 AM on February 28, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Tamanna at 3:23 AM on February 28, 2010 [2 favorites]
I loved Tomorrow May Never Come (Kal Ho Naa Ho) as my introduction to Bollywood. It's set in the U.S. so that may help with relating and it's just a fun movie, though you could just show the first part of it and be fine. (It's 186 minutes total.)
posted by eleanna at 3:25 PM on February 28, 2010
posted by eleanna at 3:25 PM on February 28, 2010
I recommend Bollywood/Hollywood, a Canadian takeoff of Bollywood convention. Deepa Mehta directs, it's in English, funny as hell, and has dance sequences. It's 103 minutes long.
posted by cereselle at 9:14 AM on March 1, 2010
posted by cereselle at 9:14 AM on March 1, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
It's an animated musical retelling of The Ramayana. It's available through Netflix and it's less than 90 minutes long!
posted by Hanuman1960 at 12:15 PM on February 26, 2010 [1 favorite]