Women in Bollywood: What's Wrong with Current Actresses & How to Fix It

Women in Bollywood will be an ongoing, intermittent series on this podcast. In our premiere episode of the series, we discuss the current crop of female actors in Hindi cinema and whether the all-too-standard line that they're all looks and little talent is really true. We also have a few proposals on how to improve both performers and the material they have to work with. If any of our liked-minded listeners are movie producers, please get in touch.

Here are the Smashits and Filmfare lists we mention, and please enjoy some editorial input-heavy images and clips to accompany the podcast:

Best. Subtitle. Ever.

MZ is also not amused by your inclusion on the Filmfare power list.

And of ACT!ING!

No snark here. We liked this performance!

Kareena Kapoor in the red sweater that made a statement. From the movie Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai (2001), Tusshar Kapoor's debut.




Rekha in the "crocodile movie," Khoon Bhari Maang (1988) directed by Rakesh Roshan.



For further discussion:
why can't Beth ever remember the name of this film, even after she's seen it?

You can listen to Masala Zindabad - Women in Bollywood: Current Actresses by clicking the player above, on iTunes, subscribing to our feed, or downloading here. Thank you for listening.

The Forgotten: Character Actors in Hindi Cinema Part 2

In Part 2 of our conversation with Greta from Memsaab Story, we talk about her favorite finds and the man for whom she is searching desperately - The International Sombrero Man of Mystery. Please help if you can.

Listen to the tale of her dinner date with Boman Irani (strictly platonic and very cerebral, thank you very much!) and how Aamir Khan did her a great favor even though Dara Singh is her idea of a pin-up.

Below are a few more people discussed in this episode:

Edwina (in the gold dress) in Arzoo (1963)

Ted in Janwar (1965):

and in "Jaan Pehchaan Ho" from Gumnaam (1966) He is in the middle and the guy on the far left - on Ted's right - is Helen's brother Roger

Herman and Edwina in Anari (1959):

Herman Benjamin (dancer turned choreographer, sadly died young in 1969), also in "Jaan Pehchaan Ho"

To wrap things up, here is someone who sadly got edited out of the final show but deserves to be mentioned all the same: Jagdish Raj, father of Anita, who played a police officer in 144 films. And that's in addition to all the films he made where he didn't don an uniform.

You can listen to Masala Zindabad - The Forgotten Part 2 by clicking the player above, subscribing to our feed, or downloading here. Thank you for listening.

The Forgotten: Character Actors in Hindi Cinema Part 1

In our first official episode of the Masala Zindabad podcast, we talk to the always lovely Greta from Memsaab Story about actors we all recognize but seldom know by name. Memsaab Story, for those few of you who don't already know, has fast developed into a go-to resource for fans of Hindi cinema, especially for films of the 1970s and before.

The first of our two-part discussion includes the story of the (surprising?) movies that introduced Greta and Beth to Bollywood, hard-to-find actors like Nazir Kashmiri a.k.a. the Ramu Kaka of countless films who led to the start of Greta's Artist Identification Project, and how the supporting cast frequently outshone the lead actors.

Here are a few of the faces you'll hear about in our conversations about "Oh...that guy!"

• Chandramohan in Roti (1942)
  
• Nazir Kashmiri in Dilruba (1950)
  
• Maybe Bismillah (on the left with the red turban) in Zabak (1961)?
  

And here's a link to Surjit Singh's gallery that inspired Greta's own massive galleries of actors through the decades.

You can listen to the Masala Zindabad podcast on iTunes, by clicking on the player above, subscribing to our feed, or simply by downloading here.

Join us next time for Part 2 featuring Sombrero Man and some truly astonishing stats.

Apradh (1972)

PS - Amrita would like you to know that, her crappy editing skills to the contrary, all members of this podcast do actually pause to breathe. Just fyi.

Masala Zindabad

Originally planned as a book, Masala Zindabad is a series of conversations within a far-flung community of Bollywood bloggers who we hope will join us - "us" being Amrita of Indie Quill and Beth of Beth Loves Bollywood - on this (ad)venture. These podcasts are an affectionate and thoughtful look at the broad range of themes that define Bollywood and make Bollywood defy definition.

As a test run, we chose Gaddar (1973) - a movie recommended by our friend Memsaab. It was every bit as enjoyable as promised, from Pran riding around in his American boat of a car in an early montage to the post-climax shot of Vinod Khanna kicking an iron chest full of cursed money in deep frustration.


In the coming weeks, we plan to discuss everything from the latest movies to B-films you may have never heard of with (hopefully) some of your favorite bloggers. We hope you enjoy it.

The latest podcast is displayed above and all episodes should be visible in your reader if you subscribe, but you can download here if you prefer. Caveat: we know the quality of the audio in this first episode is bad, and we're working as fast as we can to learn how to make it better. Please forgive our ignorance!