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Friday, June 20, 2008

Who are you?

Name - Nicki
Alias - ApunBindaas
Location - Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Nationality - American
Ethnicity - Hmong
Fave Bollywood working actor by talent - Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kay Kay Menon, Manoj Bajai
Fave Bollywood working actress by talent - Konkona Sen Sharma, Kajol, Madhuri Dixit, Preity Zinta
Fave Bollywood stars, in general - John Abraham, Bipasha Basu
Fave Bollywood oldies star - Rajesh Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Kumar Gaurav, Hema Malini, Zeenat Aman, Tina Munim, Rati Agnihotri
First Bollywood film - Seeta Aur Geeta
Fave Telugu stars - Allu Arjun, Siddarth, Genelia, Kamalinee Mukherjee
Fave Tamil) stars - Surya, Sneha
First Telugu film - Bunny
First Tamil film - En Swasa Katre
First Kannada film - Julie
First Marathi film - Savarkhed Ek Goan



Yes, I am really non Desi. I know my knowledge of Bollywood cinema makes many people doubt me. Some people even have mistaken for being from Northeast Indian before. My nationality is Hmong. Most people don't even know what the heck that is. Read here for a Wikipedia article on the Hmong people .



As a little girl growing up in Atlanta, GA, USA, I watched Bollywood movies that were dubbed in Hmong or Thai from my parents. They were huge Dharmendra and Hema Malini fans. Growing up, I later realized that the versions I was watching were only half the size of the original. Most of the songs were cut off. How could they? I love the music and dancing. In my teens, I started to watch only the Bollywood versions, even with out English subtitles. During that time, it was hard to find VHS with English subtitles and DVDs were not popular yet. My mom used to purchase me Stardust magazine (I know, but that was the only magazine available back then, not like it is now - thank goodness for the Internet). When I read about a movie I wanted to see, I would write it down and my mom would rent the movie for me.

As I grew older, my parents became impatient with the English subs and will only watch an Indian movie that is dubbed in Hmong/Thai. My passion for Bollywood cinema never stopped me! I'm more obsess with it than ever.

Now in my early 30's, I started to watch other Indian cinema too - Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, etc (depending on who is in the movie). I started this blog when people ask me about my thoughts. I have many favorite stars but two stars that stand the most to me are Bipasha Basu and John Abraham. I love them for many reasons. Both are well round overall. They may not be the best looking or the best actors but I like them for a combination of looks, personality, charm, acting, etc.



I'm into trendy things. Even though I grew up watching Bollywood, I still love all the movies that are being released nowadays. I generally love anything. I love all the hip things and even traditional films. If you got it, flaunt it. I don't let real life personality interfere with the star's talent on screen. For example, I can not stand Kareena Kapoor's real life personality but I love her films and will watch her films.



The name ApunBindaas was a nickname I have had for a while. I wanted a name that was cool in Hindi. One of my friends told me that I could be Bindaas since I like all the sexy, hot Bollywood hunks and divas. Apun was added on since it was slang and just thought it was cool so I've been using that user id for all the Bollywood message forums.



My main focus on this blog is to talk about films that are generally known as "underrated" or "underappreciated." Or even just not those huge blockbuster hits. Of course, I will have some post on huge hits.



Wanna know anything else? Just ask away.



7 comments:

Shweta Mehrotra Gahlawat said...

After coming across your blog, I read up on the Hmong community- it is SO interesting- I admit I was an idiot who knew nothing of it before, but its facinating to learn about it!

Nicki said...

Hey! It's okay. Most people don't know what Hmong is. :) I totally understand. I started this blog to show my love for Indian cinema. Plus I get to educated others about my culture.

ksanlkasf said...

Hi,
I googled about Jodhar Akbar DVD, hopefully I could purchase online but I'd no luck. Not sure why they don't have an official DVD and I'm total mad at it!
But hey, I'm so happy that I'm not the only non-desi who love Bollywood movies and know about Bollywood stars :-) and I'm Thai living in Thailand. Of course, I know about Hmong ! There're many of Hmong in Thailand and I really love the handicraft that your people Hmong make those. So beautiful and I'm amazed how they can always create such the masterpieces...

Drop me a line if you 've news about Jodhar Akbar:-)

Greetings from Thailand,
Aor

Nicki said...

Thanks for stopping by Leelawadee. I e-mailed you as well.

The Jodha Akbar dvd is out now.

It really means a lot to me what you said about Hmong people and the art work. Yes, many put in a lot of time and effort to create them.

martes said...

what a great site, Nikki ! very interesting reviews. I had some hmong friends initially from rangoon, who were studying in new delhi, back in the early 90s. seems so far away, now that i am in miami. cheers, martes

Nicki said...

martes - Thanks for stopping by!! Wow, that is so interesting. You know what else funny? I've never been to India at all! I need to. Definitely on my bucket list. I'm visiting Miami this summer, hope to run into you!

Anonymous said...

Wow some people are obsessed with Korean dramas/movies (like me), japanese, and chinese but I never knew someone like you who was obsessed with Indian! =O

I don't watch a lot of indian movies, but my older brother used to be obsessed with it. The only one I've seen thoroughly is Veer-Zaara. lol

Anyways, nice to meet you. Kuv lub npe yog Nkaujzoo. (: