I know that Hollywood still rules the world in terms of the popularity of the films and actors. But just know that Bollywood is rising up as well and is catching up with Hollywood. Actors like Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are highly appreciated by the foreign audience. The number of middle-eastern people watching Bollywood films is massive! They have a thing for Hindi films and the Indian culture and would love to explore India to learn more about India's culture and diversity. And, yes, the number of Americans watching more Bollywood films are increasing. In fact, they appreciate actresses like late Sridevi (I love Sridevi as an actor, but not as a person). And a few months ago, I remembered binge watching Kabir Singh (2019 Hindi Film), Shahid Kapoor's latest film and his most loved film. I saw lots of Filipinos, Malays and Chinese people in the cinema hall and they would be crying while watching the movie. They were so into the movie that they would feel what Shahid's character, Kabir Singh, would feel in the film. They also love the songs and every time I'd enter the cinema hall, it would be either house full or almost house full. So, I've explained the increasing popularity of Bollywood, now on to the main topic. Why do I prefer Bollywood over Hollywood despite half of the film industry having actors and actresses that come from filmy families. BOLLYWOOD MUSIC IS AMAZING!Ok, I've grown up with lots of Hindi music ever since I was young and I've always enjoyed dancing to Bollywood beats because they are so rhythmic and the voices of the singers are so melodious that you just want to sing to it! I admit that the West has dance music and electronic beats and rhythms for us to groove to. But, for me at least, too much of it gives me a headache, like what Anushka Sharma's character, Alizeh Khan, said in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016 Hindi Film). I prefer the beats of Bollywood as they are not in excess and they are just in the right amount. Hollywood has talented singers but sometimes, I get irritated with rap music there and as someone who used to sing in choirs and learn some Indian Classical Vocal, I am bound to want something melodious, whether the song is a vibrant and upbeat song or a sad song. Oh! And to Bollywood songs, if you feel like shaking your hips and spinning round like how most Bollywood heroines do, you can! The songs will tempt you to! They embrace different regional Indian cultures whereas in the West, there is no culture. If there is, it is stereotyped in bad lightHow Bollywood depicts the Maharashtrian culture through Panipat (Upcoming 2019 Hindi Film) or Bajirao Mastani (2015 Hindi Film) and the attires of Maharashtrian people, how they speak with the traditional Marathi accent... It's just so beautiful that sometimes it encourages us Indians to embrace another Indian culture and we can maybe learn some basic Marathi Dialogues for instance. Or let's say Padmaavat (2018 Hindi Film) for instance, the main cultural focus is the Rajput culture from Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh, not exactly sure of which state but definitely the region of North/West/Central/Northwest India. You should watch more Indian films that do not have modern settings to learn about different Indian cultures. Whereas in Hollywood, we'd just see special effects looks in today's generation or we'd see mainly the western culture. There is not much culture in the West, except maybe the history of America. Which is why you'll find Westerners actually travelling to Asia, especially India, to embrace and learn about different cultures rather than just staying in and watching Indian films for instance. Whenever Westerners are in Asia, they would grab the opportunity to different Asian countries to learn about different Asian cultures. I see more emotions in Bollywood actors as compared to Hollywood actorsWhenever I see Hindi films, also known as Bollywood movies, I just feel like I am into the moment and I focus on the dialogues and emotions. When I see these, I just feel like I am emotionally moved and I can also improve my Hindi as well! Being a North Indian, I am emotional by nature. We North Indians are generally emotional by nature and are expressive about our emotions. When I see a Hollywood film, not that there are no emotions, but you'd see that the way they express emotions is like how we all mostly do every day, in an emotionally stable way, practical way... And definitely when I watch movies, I want to go into a fantasy world. So, to watch practical emotions makes me bored. I also love how Indian films just becomes so intense as the actors and actresses deliver their dialogues in such a way that you would find it so intense with background sound effects. Indian television is way more dramatic than Bollywood though, this is something I would tell you, fellow readers. Bollywood Actors speak as good English as Hollywood Actors!Normally, I am not too fond of any talk shows unless they excite me, like Koffee with Karan (Been running since 2004) or excerpts of The Jimmy Fallon Show. I just find these talk shows just so interesting for some reason, it is unexplained. And the way the interviewees speak, whether they are Bollywood or Hollywood celebrities, their accents are just so attractive and sexy that you'd just fall in love with them. Over here, I can't say which accent I prefer because for me... The British, Indian and American accent are probably the sexiest accents worldwide! You can't not fall in love with people with either of these accents. In fact, I wish I had a stronger Indian accent since I watch lots of Hindi films, but speak good English. It's not necessary that you need to watch lots of Hollywood films to speak good English. Yes, Hollywood helps in bucking up your English skills from the rookie level to intermediate or advanced level. But to improve further, you need to read articles online (If you hate reading) or read William Shakespeare to check our English Literature of the past. Fashion in Bollywood is just very attractive to me that I'd go starry-eyed seeing these actors & actressesLet me be honest, I am always attracted to the fashion in Bollywood, whether it is Indian or Western wear, Bollywood actors and actresses just nail it!
The three ladies in the first picture, Pooja Hegde (Left), Kriti Sanon (Centre) and Kriti Kharbanda (Right) inspire young girls on how to look glamorous, yet traditional in Indian wear with amazing jewellery choices and choice of colours and just the choices of dresses. Their looks were for the promotion of their recent Bollywood film Housefull 4 (2019 Bollywood Film). On-screen fashion is an inspiration as well and one of them would be shown in the centre with two beautiful women, Anushka Sharma (Left) and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Right) from their film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016 Hindi Film). Whoever was the film fashion stylist and whoever was the film's costume designer, they have done a job well done to make them look beautiful in their own way. Anushka and Aishwarya's beauty can't be compared as they are beautiful in their own way. The last picture comes to the amazingly beautiful three women in red dresses for their photoshoot in Harper's Bazaar India for the March 2019 Issue to promote their film Kalank (2019 Hindi Film), which got released in April 2019. The women are Alia Bhatt (Left), Madhuri Dixit Nene (Centre) and Sonakshi Sinha (Right). And I just love the grace and elegance that they have shown in this photoshoot! And Madhuri, my goodness, she just ages gracefully and naturally, I fall in love with her whenever I see her, especially her dancing skills are too hard to resist!
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Ever since this show got released, the Indian Entertainment Industry started changing their perceptions on gender.
Why do I say that this is a game changing show in India and that it changes everything in India? Inspired from a 1999 Colombian show called Yo soy Betty, la fea. This show talks about an ugly girl named Jasmeet Walia aka Jassi (Portrayed by Mona Singh; Female Protagonist of the show), who is a geek by nature and has no fashion sense. She is naive but intelligent. Coming from a middle-class family, she is a sincere hardworking girl and works to support her family as she is the only child. I would say that this is a game changing show for India because:
Whether you like the genre, which is a romantic comedy show or not, you should watch this show to change your misconceptions on character and love. You have to watch this show because it is definitely suited for families and your perception about women will change. Times are changing, and so as our perception. Females are as capable as males and they deserve a lot more than what they are getting. When people are sad or they feel angry or whatever negative emotion they are feeling, they do something that digresses their mind from negativity and brings them back to positivity. Such activities are known to be therapeutic for people. But however, everyone is different. Not everyone will find a certain activity therapeutic. One may say that painting is like therapy, but another may not agree. One may say that he/she enjoys cooking and that cooking is like therapy for him/her as it brings peace to his/her mind. But, another person can find cooking a chore and not therapeutic. How do you exactly find your therapeutic activity? You feel relaxed while doing the activityWhen you do something while you are sad or feeling a negative emotion, the activity should bring you peace and it should be healing you emotionally. If whatever you are doing heals you emotionally, then that is your therapeutic activity. You look forward to doing it over and over againOur therapeutic activity does not only heal us emotionally, but it also makes us want to do it again. The burning desire inside us to do the same activity again grows as time passes by because we are happy doing this activity and this is something we can do for life probably. After finishing the activity, you feel more positiveAt the end of an activity, you should feel positive. You should feel better. You should feel like you want to do it again because it makes you happy. And once you find that activity, stick to it and make it part of your lifestyle.
Coming to the last post of my Coke Studio Pakistan series, I am going to share my favourites from this season. I will let the music do all the talking, where you can just check them out down below and just enjoy the song. Tum KahoCharkha NolakhaPere Pavandi SaanTaarayNindiya Ke PaarRungBolayMahiComing to my second last post of the series, I just see progress and progress in the Coke Studio Pakistan music scene. As the seasons go by, you will know that the quality of music improves. Here, I'm sharing my favourites from Coke Studio Pakistan Season 4 because of the quality of the music of these songs and the instrumentals are just... Soothing to one's ears. To Kia HuaKuch HaiIk AarzuSenraan Ra BaairyaNi Oothaan WaaleNindiya ReLamhaPanchiAgain, Coke Studio Pakistan started out in 2008 and season 3 released in the year of 2010. So again, the improvement of music during that time will be slow. Thus, not too many tracks became my favourites for this season. Here are my favourites from season 3. YaadeinAishaTann DolayBolo BoloSultanatKaisay Mumkin HaiNazaar EyleAe Wattan Kay Sajeelay JawanonSoz-e-IshqGirls, I have decided to write this post because I know that there are people like me out there, who are still nursing a broken heart or have developed a fear in falling in love because of what happened with us. I know how it feels nursing a broken heart every single day. Sometimes, the past just hits us like a hurricane and we just break down emotionally. It is definitely not a nice feeling but it's tough for some of us to move on, especially for someone like me. I was in love with a guy. I missed him every day. I was foolish and stupid to not see that he never felt the same way for me. Even though he disrespected me, I was foolish to still have a soft side for him. I was deluded, I was dumb, I was and am too emotional. I still punish myself until today for who I am as a person. I may not show it but I do. Really, I do punish myself sometimes. I just wonder why I am such an emotional and cheesy girl by nature. I just wish I was someone who would feel but can be distant when it comes to love because I honestly do not think that I am worthy enough, until I look better. I am someone who values looks highly, as much as I value the personality. Last time, I never cared about looks and I just believed that liking someone for their looks is time pass. It's just infatuation. I really loved him for who he was and when I confessed my feelings to him, he downright disrespected me and rejected me because I was fat in his eyes. Ever since then, my confidence has dipped and I admit that I am superficially confident. In fact, I could not stop crying for two months. I cried on the night of my birthday, two years ago. I remember exactly how I broke down and what I told my friends on the night of my birthday that they reminded me about someone I loved. Even until today, I cry about this incident not because he disrespected me, but because of how foolish I am as a person AND I am scared that I'd be body shamed by other people, despite knowing that there are other girls who are way fatter than I am. That's why I have closed my heart. And even if there are people who want a relationship with me, I have just shut them out. Not because they are bad people and honestly, I do not know these boys that much. "What if he body shames me behind my back? What if he cheats on me because of my weight? What if he says disgusting things about me and my size and everything?" I will lose my hope and just literally shoo everyone away, even innocent people. My confidence will dip even further. God only knows how men think and I fear that every man will think this way, which is why I have shut myself. And I know that men would value looks very highly. Though there are men who value personality more than looks, which is very rare, MOST of them value looks more than the personality. Honestly, if I was not an emotional fool and I was really, really intelligent no, I would have cracked a neuro today. I would have done something really good, if I did not fall in love with him. No matter how much I show to the that I am happy, there is still a broken part in me deep inside my heart. There are times where this incident hits me like a storm and I just break down because I just feel stupid and dumb. I feel like shit. Yes, I am being blunt because I know how it feels being downright disrespected and treated like shit by someone you loved. Initially, I would exercise because I feel people would judge me for my looks and weight. And yes, I was not only body shamed by him, but I was body shamed by other people. There are girls who are much fatter than me, but still I get body shamed, which dips my confidence even further. But now that exercising is part of my lifestyle, I would just exercise because I feel more confident about myself, I feel better about myself AND I can wear things that I want. I felt like shit, I feel that I would look better if I was not fat and lazy in the past. People say that they love my chubby side and how I was three years ago, but my size three years ago was what got people to disrespect me. I do not want to be reminded about my past and everything, which is also why I want to change and just exercise. In fact, exercising makes me feel more confident about myself and I feel more worthy about myself only because exercising has made me wear many more clothes than what I was wearing before. But honestly, if it was not for my father, I would not have been so ambitious right now. He knew that I was passionate and fond of cosmetics and he suggested for me to study professional makeup artistry. He pushed me into pursuing something I love and I found something that I really love to do and that I am passionate about. I found a goal and my dream career, to become a successful makeup artist worldwide by working on different brides worldwide, although I would love to live in Mumbai one day. I feel married to my dream, I feel married to my upcoming career. I am so engrossed when it comes to my work, which makes me forget all my sadness and problems. I also want to be successful so that whoever I get in the future, would be proud of me and not love me less. I would want to make people around me proud by being successful. I do not want to be treated like a doormat. I do not want to be taken as a joke and be made fun of. I want people to respect, admire and look up to me for what I do. I want to do makeup for other people and make them feel beautiful. I only found my self-worth when I started exercising AND when I found something that I love to do. I have accepted that they guy that I loved will never be mine because there is someone else in his life. But honestly, when I see his face now, I am glad that I did not get him. I know one of his classmates, who has advised me against him as well, telling me to not even be with him and that I should thank God that I was and am not with him. One day, a yogi has approached me... And surprisingly I do not know how he knows about my nature and past. I have never seen him and I do not know about how he knew my past and personality. He told my that I will be good at whatever career I pursue and that I will have a good future. He knows that I am talkative by nature, even without me saying anything. He could just tell that I am happy on the outside, but not on the inside. (For those who do not know what a Yogi is, a yogi is someone who practices tons of Yoga and has an impeccable level of spiritual insight. He could possibly give us normal human beings guidance that can benefit us as well.) Also, this was what he did. He asked me about the man that I loved before. He asked me to write his name on a paper first. And then after that, he just showed me the guy's name and he got it right. I was so shocked like literally. And not just my friends and family, even this yogi advised me against the guy I loved. He told me that I should thank the Almighty that I am not with him because he has a very bad nature and that now he has someone in his life. I should just let go because someone else much better than him will come into my life. Girls, after reading this story, I just want to tell you that you deserve much better and for that, we need to chase it. You deserve a successful career, you deserve a lot of money and a good life. Work for it. When you work for it and chase it, God will give it to you. This is because he knows how hardworking you are and of course, if you work hard, you will get it. Don't expect things to come to you easily because the best things need compromises and sacrifices. You deserve to smile and be happy. You deserve all the good things around you. Whatever sufferings that you get right now, it will turn into blessings from the Lord in the future. Just be hopeful, hardworking, positive and everything will come to you in time to come.
After my Independence Day post, I am back to my Coke Studio Pakistan series! In season 2, I have eight tracks that are my favourites of all-time from this season. Although one thing, I did like the track Jaanay Do the most from this season. But still, I will share my favourites from this season! Here are the eight songs. Jaanay DoChal DiyayChupSaari RaatTitliyaanNahi Ray NahiKeedarFirst up, I would like to wish India and all my Indian fellows a very Happy Independence Day! 15th of August is the day to celebrate the day that India finally got independence from British Raj, for nine decades, from the year of 1857, India struggled to fight for their independence from the British. And finally, on the 15th of August, 1947, India finally got their freedom, to become a free country, to become a country that can have its own identity. Despite not being an Indian by nationality, I am an Indian ethnically and am proud of my cultureI am not an Indian by passport, although now that I have an OCI card, which means that I am an Overseas Citizen of India, which basically means being a permanent resident of India, I consider myself an Indian, not just ethnically, but nationality wise. I love the culture that my country gives to the world for everyone to see basically. The range of diversity is shown through the 29 states and seven territories of India. North and South India's cultures differ from each other, strongly. However, once you travel around South India for instance, you will realise that there are differences between each state. You will learn that Kerala's culture is different from Karnataka's culture. The diverse culture is what represents India as a country, as a whole. And that is what I am very proud of. Despite the flaws of India, I am proud of my country and I love IndiaWe know that in India, a lot of dangerous incidents happen like that of rape or murder or acid attacks. Indians in the past would think in a regressive manner. However, nowadays, the younger generation and middle-aged people will bring change to the country's mind set and emphasise on safety and gender equality in our country. India is slowly working into becoming a more progressive and a safer country. Even if it takes 100 years for India to grow into a better country than it is, I believe that a slow but consistent progress is better than a fast progress, which will face a downfall in the long run. I have faith in India, no matter what people sayAs mentioned earlier, I believe that India is slowly working into becoming a more progressive and a safer country, slowly. There are people, who highlight on why rape happens and what is wrong with the mentality of what Indians have. Not everyone thinks in a regressive way, but, there are regressive people in our country and because of such disgusting people, our country cannot progress. I believe that it is important to educate youngsters and future generations to think in a progressive way and not in a regressive manner. Below, a viral video from India shows you that India is slowly changing, that such regressive and vulgar people exist in our country as much as progressive people exist and also, how seriousness of issues like rape is being highlighted and what people have to say and all of that. The young girls in the video, Shivani Agarwal; Shivani Gupta; Aditi Rai; Diksha; Nikhita Kapila and Neha, have highlighted that it is the mentality of people that is causing problems in our country. The mother as well, has shown that a girl in India, or a female for that matter, has the right to wear whatever she wants. I thank these ladies for actually giving hope to a better and a more progressive India. If India were to fight with Singapore, even if India loses, I'd support India, no matter whatThis shows how much I love India as a country and how much I love my people there, despite the flaws and drawbacks of the country and people. I accept Indians for who they are because whenever I am in India, I feel at home and I feel loved by people. I miss the warmth and hospitality of the people there, which you will not get in Singapore. Plus, the Indian food in India is so delicious that you would want more! Once again, I would want to wish India a very Happy Independence Day and may India grow into a better and safer country for everyone, whether male or female. I love my people and my country. Jai Hind! <3
Ok, so... Coke Studio 7 has shown that unplugged music has taken a turn like literally. From Season 6, where I was not too fond of most of the songs, I loved the music from Coke Studio Pakistan Season 7 a lot more and that's when my love for Coke Studio music has grown. Here are my favourites from Coke Studio Pakistan Season 7! Sab Aakho Ali AliTum Naraz HoDheerey DheereyMujhay Baar BaarPehla PyarMitti Da PehlwanChaap TilakJaanaDescent to the Ocean FloorZa Sta Pashan Na YamHans Dhuni |
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