
When asked about what exactly it is that draws them to Bollywood, most bloggers have much to say about the ingredients of their love affair. Angela Ambroz, 25, keeps it simple: “Bollywood is like crack, it’s become an addiction. Kasme Vaade was one of my first ’70s masala films and despite all the ‘flaws’ of outrageous and unrealistic coincidences and illogical leaps, I found it more emotionally intelligent and expressive than a typical mainstream Hollywood film. I remember reading somewhere, that Bollywood is ‘pre-cynicism’, that’s a good way of putting it,” says Ambroz who is currently located in Fiji and writes The Post-Punk Cinema Club, a blog that is as frequently quoted as it is visited.
Like her fellow bloggers, Ambroz writes about each movie with video grabs to illustrate a keen observation and sometimes, outdoes the most avid Bollywood fan in her knowledge of the “Strange but True” occurrences that make up our films. For example, Ambroz has kept up with all the Lost Brothers/Sweetheart reunions that make up for flimsy plot structures in Bollywood and has rated them accordingly. At number five is the scene from Fakira where Shashi Kapoor survives being in the bottom of the sea because of yogic breathing. Danny Denzongpa pulls him out and they realise that they are long-lost brothers (never mind the parentage).
Topping the list is Awaara, where Raj Kapoor recognises Nargis’ childhood photograph at her house and takes her to his house where he shows her the same photograph hanging on the wall. A scene, she adds cheekily, recalls what J.R.R. Tolkien called “joy like knives”.
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