Urumi!

[telophase]

I'm currently watching this Indian film titled Asoka, an historical epic of an Indian king in the third century BC who was sort of Alexander the Great and Constantine combined: he conquered a lot of India and introduced Buddhism to a lot of the area once he got bored with conquering. I put it on the Netflix list because I found out that Ashoka, the title character, uses an urumi, which is a cross between a sword and a whip - a hilt with 2 or more long, flexible metal blades on it, and The Next Project that rachelmanija and I working on has an urumi in it.

I've managed to use VirtualDub Mod to snag a couple of the urumi scenes. Right-click and save, or, hell, stream 'em: I've got a TERABYTE OF BANDWIDTH on that account. XD

Asoka brandishes it:
http://www.magatsu.net/download/urumi-from-extras-compress.avi (1 MB)

Asoka kicks ass, against opponents who admittedly aren't doing very much:
http://www.magatsu.net/download/01-urumi.avi (7 MB)

Both .avi format, using the DivX codec, and compressed to hell and back so don't expect great things. If you cna't play them and want to, it's probably the DivX codec missing from your machine. If you go here: http://www.divxmovies.com/codec/ and download the "DivX codec v5.2.1 for Windows ME/98 (7.3MB)" file (or the Mac file, if you're on a Mac) and install it, it will probably work. If not, and you want to try again, download the file right above that, which downloads the DivX player itself, and *that* should work. I've got many, many different video players and codecs installed due to downloading a lot of anime, and the DivX player works good for almost all. :D If you care.

Other than that, the movie itself is gorgeous, beautifully photographed and carefully art-directed. But the plot and script are .... well, let's say I'd probably enjoy the movie a lot more if I turned the subtitles off. It also remins true to its Bollywood roots. They try to find ways to sneak musical numbers in. And despite lots of snorgling and lots of getting veeeeery close, and lots of teasing .... the hero and heroine never actually kiss.

I've been screencapping like mad ...




Ashoka is a badass. He catches this spear as it's jabbed at him, an inch from his eye.




And he winds his urumi around himself at the end of the first fight scene.


And has a triumphal entry back into the city!



He's fighting with his brothers for the throne, and his mother wants him to stop. Ashoka is a momma's boy and when she takes a vow of silence, he agrees to leave, cut off his bad hair extensions, and not tell anyone who he is. You gotta love a big, tough, manly hero who's a total pushover for his momma.




This is Larry, Moe, and Curly, whose sole purpose in life is to be really bad comedic relief.



And this is the girl who gets the better of them.



This is how you know it's India: random yogis.




Look! It's a music video! Ashoka meets his Twoo Wuv (historically she was wife #4 out of half-a-dozen or so), and she's singing and dancing.




And then plot happens and a day or so later, Ashoka is in a 3rd century B.C. nightclub, whereupon it's time for another song-and-dance number! (No that's not his true love.)



I made an icon of the authentically 3rd century BC shimmy:



More song and dance!



And a bit later on, after some more plot, ur Heroine is starting to fall in love with Ashoka, and poses beautifully. Honestly, most of the movie is shot like this.




And lovely scenery.




THis is the general that's shepherding the princess - the True Wuv, although she doens't know that Ashoka knows - and her young brother, who are on the run from people trying to kill them.



And random people attack them, and Ashoka gets to fight with another type of sword.



Nifty Indian martial arts ensue, which aren't impressive if you're used to Hong Kong wire work, but are pretty spiffy if you realize - it's not wire work.





And it ends with Ashoka victorius, and this dramatic shot.



After some more plot, they wander into a village which is having a celebration of some sort ... and it's time for another authentic 3rd century BC song and dance number!



With cattle!



The princess starts to flirt with Ashoka, and he starts playing hard to get at this point.





Anyway, I'm a bit farther on in the movie from this, and it's only halfway through. I really do recommend the visuals in this movie, although I can't recommend the story and script.

Comments

[prillalar]

I saw this several years ago and really enjoyed it, though I can no longer recall the plot too clearly. It's the kind of film that works really well for me. Shahrukh Khan is so gorgeous. I saw him later in Devdas as well. Thanks for posting the caps!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

:D I'm in love with the lushness and the visuals in it.

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

I'm disappointed by the lack of accuracy in this film! (Mostly because I'm pretty sure "accurate" in this case means "topless".).

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I'm impressed by how the bandeau top manages to stay on when the princess is singing and dancing and jumping in and out of the pool. And how her outfit changes color right after her singing-dancing introduction, from soaking-wet colored fabric to soaking-wet white, and Ashoka ostentatiously averts his eyes because apparently the white outfit is coded to mean "butt-naked."

[heyoka.livejournal.com]

Man...I love the look of this, but I don't know if I could deal with the musical numbers.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

All you can say is "It's Bollywood."

[the-z.livejournal.com]

Poor guy, he only has one expression-- oh oh, no wait. I think that last one has a slight variation on the first.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I think I saw him smile once. I was mostly fascinated by his rapid weight gain and loss - from some angles in some scenes, his face is very defined, and from other angles in other scenes, it's much softer and pudgier.

You'd really appreciate the colors and the staging in it, though.

[the-z.livejournal.com]

I'll definitely put it on my list!

[camwyn]

It's a lovely movie. I watched it a few years ago. I'm just glad someone had warned me about Bollywood in general first, because it meant I was prepared for ".... they're dancing again, why are they dancing..."

[telophase.livejournal.com]

:D I need to go through and do a Review! With! Screencaps! of Aabra Ka Daabra, the movie that manages to rip off both Harry Potter and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in one incomprehensible singing, dancing mess.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I can't decide if my favorite screen shot is the random yogis or the village celebration.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I kinda like the "Jazz hands!" in the second nightclub screenshot.