The Downlow: Occasionally Asked Questions

My name is Ness, I live in a little provincial town in New Zealand, and I love Indian cinema. So I write about it.


It's really that simple. If you've read even a few pages of this blog you'll have picked up the basics but here they are in condensed form:


- One fateful weekend, on a whim, I picked up Om Shanti Om, one of the handful of Indian dvds available for borrowing at my public library. Why did I choose it? It came in a cool, colourful box, and the blurb on the back made it sound dramatic and unlike anything I had seen before. When I watched it, I pretty much loved it from start to finish - I laughed, I cried, and all the in-jokes went COMPLETELY over my head, but it didn't matter, because I was hooked.


- A few weeks later, as luck would have it, I found 2 more dvds at my local chain bookstore (and there have NEVER been Indian dvds there EVER again...was it fate? We'll never know): Kuch Naa Kaho and Kaante. It would be like a year before I would ever get around to watching Kaante (which is awesome by the way); but I watched Kuch Naa Kaho straight away and thus was born the fondness in my heart for that film, and Abhishek Bachchan, and this song:





Yes I'm serious. This song has some major good memories associated with it. I thrashed it on my iPod all the way around the world.


- I'm a HUGE Govinda fan. In an "I own everything the man has been in" kind of way. Including his pop album.


OCCASIONALLY ASKED QUESTIONS:


Why is your blog named Shahrukh is Love when you hardly ever write about the man?


I started the blog on October 19th, 2009 - I had been watching Hindi films for a few months and MOST of them - thanks to having started with Om Shanti Om - were SRK vehicles: the very first thing I reviewed here was Mohabbatein. And actually, I was kind of pushed into blogging - my darling sister had been encouraging me to start a blog for a while so she set it all up (name, header and all) sent me a link and passwords and told me I had no excuse anymore. So my sister technically picked the name - though I don't really know what else I would have called it.  Though I soon discovered there was a lot more to Indian cinema than Rukhie, he'll always have a special place in my heart and in my blog header because he was my intro to Indian cinema. 


Why haven't you written about (fill in the blank movie here) yet? 

I mostly just write about whatever it is I'm interested in at any given moment. And I go through phases - some weeks I can't get enough 70s action, other times I need a Govinda fix. 
If I haven't written about a particular movie that you are dying to read about it's probably for one of these reasons:


1. I haven't seen it yet. The closest cinema that screens Hindi films is 2 hours drive from where I live, and I don't know how they choose which films to screen but...it's often kinda weird, and they're never publicised either, so I can count on one hand the films I've seen in the cinema. Mostly to see new releases I have to wait to buy the dvd and then wait for it to be shipped to NZ. Any film distributors wanna sponsor my Indian film addiction? Get in touch. No, SERIOUSLY. 


2. I really, really hated it. Basically, I don't like writing really mean things. Because at the back of my mind I know that every film I watch, at some stage, someone believed in it enough to get it made. The people involved are real people who put real effort in, and sure, I might not like a particular actress, or a particular actor might start to grate on me, or the writing might be bad, or I might disagree with various elements...but I do try and phrase my negative reviews carefully so as not to personally attack anyone, but to address the WORK. And if I REALLY hate something in a way I can't phrase neutrally or nicely, then I won't write it up. 


3. I really really loved it. I am incapable of adequately expressing my love for the films I adore the most - my mind just freezes up and becomes one big glitter-filled balloon. So sometimes I just give up trying for a while. 


Where did the list of films down the side of your blog go? And the Armpit Mystery #1? What the hell? 


I changed the template and it messed a bunch of things up and anyway, CHANGE IS GOOD. That list of films down the side was getting too long anyway so now there's a whole separate page: THE FULL MOVIE REVIEW INDEX!


HERE is my original (now waaaaay out of date) FAQ. I STILL get creepy google hits because of it. So maybe by hiding it here the armpit fetishists will not be misled onto this site.


WHY do you love Hindi films so much (#1 most asked question of all time ever!)?



HERE is the original thing I wrote trying to explain why I love Indian films. I can't really explain it any better now, except to say that I feel like Indian films are less cynical and value pure entertainment more than many Hollywood films do. I used to be a hipsterish cynic. It's so TIRESOME. I like being optimistic, I like expressions of emotion and people not being judged for that, but seeing that emotion and honesty celebrated instead. So maybe that's partly why Indian cinema captured my attention. 

Favourite movie?


Of all time ever? Probably not the one you expect. I'd say my all-time ABSOLUTE favourite is the widely underappreciated Raavan (I even have a tattoo in its honour). But I have many films in my ever-changing Top 20, just like I have a long long list of "filmi boyfraaaaands" (but you know what I'm talking about, Shotgun Sinha). Check out the tags all time favourite; dil dil dil; pyaaaaaaaaar; and RIDICULOUS AWESOME for write-ups of films I especially loved.