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Sunday, May 2, 2010

East meets East - not the film, but Desi meets Asian

For the past few months, I thought about working on this post but never gotten around to it. The inspiration behind it is actually just amazement from my part to see Desi and Asians collaborate together whether it's through music or in films.

On top of that, with East meets East. I'm already that.
I'm a Hmong Chick who Loves Indian Cinema.
:)


I got this title from a Juggy D & Jin collaboration.
Unable to find the promotional flyer from 2005, I decided to just make that banner by downloading the fonts. But all credit goes to Juggy D & Jin.

The font gives it away with the two different types of "East"

Desi meets Asian



Juggy D is a well-known British Bhangra singer/rapper who is a part of the 2Point9 Records & Rishi Rich family (Jay Sean, Veronica, Mumzy).
Official website



Jin is a well-known Chinese-American rapper who won the BET show, 106 & Park, who eventually signed up with Ruff Ryders later. He also had a small role in the movie, 2 Fast 2 Furious, as Jimmy.
Official website


Pic taken from East meets East blog

Put them together, you get....
"Come Closer (Kohl Aaja)"



But you should know that the original Desi meets Asian were definitely Harold & Kumar :)

What I loved about the Harold & Kumar movies is that the two main leads are Desi and Asian. How many times have you heard about a movie with a Desi or Asian guy in the lead?? With big roles? Not just some sidekick.

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle


Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay


There is going to be a third part of the trilogy - A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. Set to release in 2010!

Okay, okay...why this post? More info please?

Most film industries feature their own "kind" in their movies. For example, the majority cast of a Hong Kong/Chinese movie would have Chinese stars. Or the majority cast of a Indian movie would have Indian stars.

So when a white person is in an Indian film, it is noticed because that person stand out, making it "exotic" looks.

I do not see that many Asians in Desi films. Nor do I see many Desi in Asian films. So I noted some down from what I could recall.

The lovely Thai actress/singer, Tata Young in Dhoom. Well, actually, technically, she wasn't in the film at all. She just sang the English version of "Dhoom Machale."


I was only able to find this still off the net...so watch the video below, couldn't find my Dhoom dvd at the moment.



Then there is the Thai-Danish actress/singer, Lena Christensen in Bombay to Bangkok alongside Shreyas Talpade! She was the main heroine and not a background person or in a supporting cast. So what if the film is filmed mostly in Thailand!




Not to forget the Hong Kong film, The Myth, which has the sexy siren, Mallika Sherawat, starring with the famous Jackie Chan. 



Watch a scene from the film



Aa Dekhen Zara. Some of the filming was done in Thailand. Watch here (embed disable). Bipasha and Neil groove to "Gazab."

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll291/blogger_images1/Aa%20Dekhen%20Zara/gazabneil.jpg

Warner Brothers helped Chandni Chowk to China get an International release. Even though the film may not be the best, what I liked about the movie is that, filmed in China, Akki & Deepika wear Chinese outfits, action scenes with one of Deepika kicking ass (embed disable)

http://wallpapers.oneindia.in/d/160794-2/chandni-chowk-to-china6.jpg

Watch the music video below




Even though in the film, Krrish, there were no Asian person or anyone wearing Asian clothes, the fight choreographer, Ching Siu-Tung, who is well-known for House of Flying Daggers and Hero helped with the action fight scenes in Krrish in Singapore.

Correction- thanks Liz! Xia Bin had a significant role in the film  

http://www.impawards.com/intl/india/2006/posters/krrish.jpg

Just watch below



Well, this is all Hindi films but I actually found that one in a Telugu film that has a dance that Kamalinee wore Asian in the film, Gamyam.



Her character says it's a Chinese dance but it looks Thai to me :)



I know there's probably a lot more but these are the ones that came to my mind.

I haven't seen many Desi in Asian films or Asians wearing Desi outfits in the films. However, I spotted a few and decided to cap them since it would be hard for me to find pics online.

House of Fury is one of my all-time favorite Hong Kong films. It's just a fun film with lots of eye candy - Stephen Fung, Daniel Wu, Gillian Chung, Charlene Choi.


There's one scene from the film that has Gillian wearing Desi for a school play.


Then the villian comes and messes with Gillian and she kick ass :)


Just found out about Gillian wearing a Desi outfit too :)
She's so gorgeous,one of my fave HK actress

http://i44.tinypic.com/11mghky.jpg

Well-known director/producer Johnnie Toh's film, Running on Karma

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f2/Running_on_Karma.jpg

had two Desi guys fighting with each other and speaking in Hindi too! I picked up the Hindi part even without the subs :)



Perhaps Love is China's first musical in 30 - 40 years!


And guess what? Farah Khan was asked to choreograph the dances.
I spy Farah Khan in the behind-the-scenes :)



(Read this article from Time) There are a few Desi dancers in the background too.

 

Watch the above in action.
Tidbit - a lot of Hong Kong stars are singers too. The three leads sing their own parts in the musical. So what you are watching is actually Takeshi and Zhou singing their parts :)



But I do want to say I would love to have a dance-off with Allu Arjun vs Rain.
That would be awesome to see!!

For those who don't know who Rain is, he is one Korea's most beloved actor, singer, and dancer. His stage name is Bi (real name Jung Ji Hoon) but many people have called him Rain, which Bi is the Korean word for Rain. He has even made his Hollywood debut in the movie, Speed Racer and has the lead role in Ninja Assassin.

To me, Allu Arjun is the best dancer cause he brings sexy back and even makes a slow song sexy (and I'm a huge fangirl). Rain is considered Korea's best dancer and a damn good singer and actor too.

I found this awesome Fanmade video of Rain's dancing!



Then came across this Fanmade video of Hrithik Roshan vs Rain danceoff. Interesting :)



I just thought all of this was interesting and wanted to share.
Sorry if I bored anyone!

9 comments:

Liz C said...

Great post, Nicki! I love the idea of an Allu Arjun/Rain dance-off! (Perhaps with Stephen Colbert in there, since he's the one that brought Rain to my attention.)

That video mash-up w/Hrithik and Rain was fun. In Krrish, there was an Asian actor who played the street performer who became Krrish's friend "Kristian"--I looked him up, and his name is Bin Xia (or it might be Xia Bin).

Nicki said...

Thanks Liz. You are so right. It's been a while since I've seenm Krrish, lemme go change that :)

Yes, Rain vs Allu Arjun would be so good!

Anishok said...

What an awesome post! Seriously, Nicki, I didn't know most of this stuff and am very grateful to you for digging this up!

dunkdaft said...

ahha, interesting post.

Shona said...

Hey,
i love rain! Was addicted to his drama Full House..still am! haha, through that drama, then i found about his songs, so i downloaded most of his eng versions. Great guy, but my Varudu is still the best! ;)

bollywooddeewana said...

Very Interesting Post Nicki, thanks for all those video clips as well, how wonderful does Mallika look ( I love Her sooo much)
There's an old bollywood film set in japan 'Love in Tokyo' it even had Asha Parekh (the lead female character) dressed in a geisha oufit singing 'Sayonara Sayonara'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHT28UX8i_I

As for the Harold & Kuamr movies i feel slightly funny about them as they seem somewhat very stereotypical, but i'll watch one properly someday (i'll try)

Nicki said...

Ani - Thanks for reading :) Sometimes I think I write pointless/useless posts :D

Darshit - thanks!!!

Shona - Yah!! Rain is awesome, huh? I can't decide whether Rain is better at acting, singing, or dancing? That guy is just awesome!!!

Oh yeah, Allu Arjun will always be my #1 :D

bollywooddeewana - you have to watch Mallika in The Myth. I adore her too!!

Thanks for telling me about Love in Toyko. I totally forgot about that movie, hehehe

Harold & Kumar movies are guy movies. My hubby loves them, lol

Anonymous said...

I love Jin! It's funny to me that I was just looking him up earlier today to see what's new. Did you know he's on twitter?
Harold and Kumar are too funny. Great mix of East meets East.
Dhoom+Tata Young=yay!
Ugh. Bombay to Bangkok Same-Same But Different? really?
The Myth! Why dion't more people love this film? China! Korea! India! Ah, three of my obsessions all in one film is bliss!
I can not find Aa Dekhen Zara to watch anywhere w/out buying it - was it good enough to buy?
CC2C was lovely and got panned by lots of people. If you don't like Akshay Kumar/Jackie Chan style comedy I suppose it's not for you, but I quite enjoyed it.
I was meaning to look up who the Singaporian actor was in Krrish, thanks for sharing it! (He's pretty cool!)
I'll have to check out Ganyam.
House of Fury! I love that movie, it's been awhile, and I'd forgotten about that scene.
Ugh, Running On Karma. I tried to forget this film - but you it back! Didn't remember that scene at all though.
Is Perhaps Love good? I've added it to my Netflix either way and look forward to seeing what it has to offer.
As I said before; a dance battle between Rain and Arjun would be super EPIC. Let's make it happen before Rain-oppa enlists in the army next year-na?
I have a post like this SOMEWHERE...gotta find it...
Great job Nicki! Very fun!

Sydney Bowers said...

Hii nice reading your blog