Comments on: Ever wonder what we would consider to be a bad Bollywood film?

By: KeithA

KeithA — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:11:44 +0000

I think some of the effects in Ilya Muromets are pretty good, especially the wind demon and the giant pyramid of Mongols.

By: El Santo

El Santo — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 03:30:39 +0000

I’m not sure whether the disorienting artificiality of old Russian fantasy movies was a deliberate stylistic choice or mere naivety on the parts of their creators, but either way, the handful that I’ve seen certainly were appealingly phony-looking.

By: Tom Meade

Tom Meade — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 06:30:19 +0000

In relation to all these terrible effects, does anyone know of any good films that deliberately use the sort of cheap, weird sets and primitive effects you’d get on, say, an episode of T-Bag, or some other late-80s British television product? Because there’s something about the artificiality that I really like. I understand a lot of Russian fantasy films fall into this category?

By: Baron Scarpia

Baron Scarpia — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:29:12 +0000

I’ll probably regret saying this but—

Only hers is not a lovely face at all, it turns out, but rather a giant skeleton head animated with all the precision and detail you’d expect to find in a handheld video game from the eighties. As Rajesh recoils in horror, his bride morphs completely into a cartoon skeleton so lacking in any illusion of physical depth that it could have been lifted from an episode of South Park and proceeds to beat him up, all the while cackling crazily like a drunken old prospector.

—I really need to see this film.

You know, as soon as I read Todd’s words I was thinking the exact same thing. There is truly no hope for any of us.

By: Todd

Todd — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:24:00 +0000

Yes, Liz, we who have watched Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani call to you: Join us! Join us! It really has everything. It's morally repugnant, offensive to the eye, and insulting to the intelligence. The total package, really. In regards to your other comment: A Bollywood version of The Seventh Curse would really be something to see. It's true that Hong Kong filmmakers have no qualms whatsoever about having even a highly skilled martial artist getting his ass handed to him by a flimsy looking life-sized skeleton puppet -- Magic of Spell being just one fine example of this.

By: lyzard

lyzard — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:45:49 +0000

I’ll probably regret saying this but—

Only hers is not a lovely face at all, it turns out, but rather a giant skeleton head animated with all the precision and detail you’d expect to find in a handheld video game from the eighties. As Rajesh recoils in horror, his bride morphs completely into a cartoon skeleton so lacking in any illusion of physical depth that it could have been lifted from an episode of South Park and proceeds to beat him up, all the while cackling crazily like a drunken old prospector.

—I really need to see this film. Also—

Interestingly, those in charge of rendering the skeleton appear to have felt that the idea of a skeleton that was actually, you know, skeletal beating up the beefy Rajat Bedi placed too much of a tax on credibility, and so made the ill-advised decision to provide that skeleton with something akin to muscle mass.

—these guys have obviously not seen The Seventh Curse, where you will believe a rod puppet can kill a man.

Oh, and by the way – I said all that BEFORE I saw the screenshot of the two snake spirits singing and dancing on Ulhuru. (That’s right – *sniff, sniff* – you had me at the Popeye-armed, ColecoVision skeleton, you big lug.)