Bollywood Kung-Fu!!

[yutyeesam]

LOL @ Bollywood attempting Hong Kong style Kung-Fu action! But still, it was entertaining! Actually, if more Bollywood films did this, I'd actually watch more of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeDFeox88IY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQgvbVMBN2I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd3BJxySbbM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8qu-clVXSQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twm9xqD-ZB4

-123

[X_plosion]

I guess it's all in keeping with the wide range of Indian Cinema themes.

BTW, I remember an Indian movie from the B&W era, about the classic "Sohrab & Rustum" epic. There was a great fight scene showing a wrestling match involving the hero. Very well choreographed. Unfortunately, I can't remember the title and other production details.

[yutyeesam]

Yeah, it seemed like every now and again back in the earlier days of Bollywood, they'd have a movie with some combat stuff in it. I wonder if there are any that feature their native martial art, Kalari Payattu?

All I know is that if Bollywood made more films that looked like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twm9xqD-ZB4

I'd be watching a H3LL of a lot more of it!!

[GeneChing]

However, I've yet to find any decent fight scenes. Bollywood can choreograph a dance number like no other cinema in the world, but their fight scenes leave a lot to be desired and I'm a fan of the Bollywood genre.

They used to call Rajini Kanth "the Jackie Chan of India". Muthu (1995) was a big film of his. It's almost all up on youtube, but I wasn't about to sift through it to get to the fight scenes (although I recommend the hiccup dance, if you can find it). I did find this Rajini Kanth fight scene - it's just the beginning, but you get the idea.

As for Kaliripayattu, I think Jackie did more to bring this to the forefront than Bollywood. Did you see the DVD extras in the Myth? Great stuff. I'm not sure those made it to the Sony American release DVD.

No discussion of Bollywood kung fu would be complete without dance the kung fu.

[yutyeesam]

Gene,

So in the Bollywood movies you've seen, have you seen a prominent female action hero in any?

Women are definitely portrayed in a particular light, and violent action ain't one of them...and women are the centerpoint of all Indian films (most of them are love triangle stories). After all, Aishwarya Rai wasn't chosen to be a Bond girl because she had any talent of any sort.

There is an action scene of Silk Smita, whoever she is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La_pHXvuWSY

Other than that, do you forsee Bollywood films ever entertaining the ass kicking kung-fu chick or "girls with guns" thing at all? Don't know if the Indian markets could go for something like that...

[GeneChing]

yutyeesam, you just sent me deep into the web world of Silk Smitha. I'd never heard of her before. Sad story, it seems. Wikipedia says she hanged herself a decade ago.

I haven't seen any Femme Fatales in Bollywood yet, but my exploration of that genre is fairly limited, truth be told. Bollywood is freaking huge and I've only focused on the major stuff. Who knows what treasures lie in the less known B films?

Again, I'd say the Myth was stand out. Jackie quite literally turned me on to Mallika Sherawat and her fight alongside Jackie is in my opinion, Jackie's last great fight scene to date. It was brilliant choreography in the way that only Jackie Chan can orchestrate. I'm still hoping he delivers another like again. Anyway, the film was clearly marketed to India more than to America, so maybe Jackie might start a trend. I'm hoping. I'd love to see more Bollywood, especially femme fatales - if you know of anything, recommend some titles. There was this film I saw a video for when I was eating in the local Indian joint - had a lot of actors and actresses that I didn't recognize - it was set in Brazil and the video was this intense Capoeira/Drumming/Bollywood dance number. Gotta find that one.

As for Ash, mind your tongue, yutyeesam, you're talking about my wife in a future life. I'm hoping if I'm good, she'll be for my next incarnation. She so stole my heart in Devdas. That finale scene - omg - that's what Bollywood is about. I get misty just thinking about it. Anyway, did you catch The Last Legion? It's was all about Ash as a kick ass sword swinging full out femme fatale. I enjoyed it, but wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, unless they are a hardened Ash fan and love swords. Not sure there are many more like me in that regard, which is probably a good thing.

[GeneChing]

‘Udumban’ To Revive Native Martial Arts In Kollywood
January 10, 2011: Kollywood is undergoing a revolutionary phase when it comes to action scenes! Usually, filmmakers prefer to go for the martial art forms like silambattam, karate, kung fu, boxing and kick-boxing. But recently, a revolutionary transformation has been noticed in action sequences in Tamil films. In mid 2010, Madarasapattinam, written and directed by A. L.Vijay explored the age old ‘wrestling’ and it became a craze among the viewers.

Now, action director Michael of the upcoming film Udumban is trying to revive many other native martial art forms through various action sequences in the film. He will mainly use ‘wrestling as the main action form in this film. Bike racer Dilip Roger will be seen as the main lead in this film, which is based on real life incident. He is using the native martial art forms to give an authentic feel to this film based on reality.

This new trend of using wrestling in Tamil cinema has been welcomed by all. Now, audiences are expecting to see some other native martial arts like Kalari, which has not been used much in Kollywood films. There is a hope among the viewers that wrestling will make its comeback in action sequences of Tamil films. The process might be slow but they are sure to see wrestling hitting in Kollywood again.

This is a nice gesture by the filmmakers and the action directors in a bid to revive the native martial art forms.

I know, I know, it's Kollywood, not Bollywood.

[GeneChing]

Genelia D’Souza to learn martial arts for film role
Updated on Thursday, February 24, 2011, 17:11


Genelia D`Souza is all set debut in the Malayalam film industry. The girl next door will be playing a Portuguese princess in the much awaited film ‘Urumi’. And there is more!

Not only does she plan to look gorgeous as the princess, but also plans to surprise her fans with some awe-inspiring martial art stunts.

Urumi is based on the attempted assassination of Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama, who arrived in Kappad near Calicut, in 1498.

According to sources, the actress was initially a bit worried about doing action sequences where she had to perform Kalari which is the most ancient system of physical self-defense and martial technique. That`s when she remembered her friend and `Ready` costar Ram.

The actress informed her director that Ram, who has trained in Kalari martial art, had helped her a lot and enlightened her about the art while practicing it.
Genelia will also go through a short training in martial arts to play her role better.
The next door is all charged up for this ‘different’ role and we wish her luck!

Genelia. I like that name.

[GeneChing]

Maybe I should change this thread titles to 'Bollywood Karate!!'?

NOT!

Karate will be our national sport: Akshay Kumar
Published: Tuesday, Mar 15, 2011, 16:44 IST
By Team After Hours | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA

The martial arts enthusiast and actor talks about how karate should be made compulsory in schools and on the popularity of martial arts.

On the global scene
As far as martial arts are concerned, the South Asian countries are far ahead of us. I feel interacting with them and fighting them will benefit those learning the art here. I want the children here to have exposure to the best karate fighters and teachers and I want them to learn martial arts with the same passion and dedication as children in other South Asian countries do.

Like a boy from every rural family is sent to the armed forces to become a soldier, I hope that a child from every family will be enrolled in karate here.

My plans for karate
Taking the karate championship to an international level is on the cards. The response we have received over the last few years has been phenomenal. I am confident that we will see success even with an international karate championship. India has some extreme talent and I’m doing all I can to expose it. I couldn’t be more pleased with everyone of them.

All the adults and children take this competition very seriously — every opponent was there to win — there are guys and girls who can seriously kick ass... I have already prepared them for the fact that next year we are making my tournament international and that countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, will be competing with India’s finest karate champions.

I’m already looking forward to next year! Right now, I want to host the championships only in India and I want to show the world what a great host India is.

I do not want to make martial arts a source of entertainment on Friday nights. Who wins? Who falls? No, that’s not what this is about. I just want to give everyone the opportunity to learn one of the greatest forms of physical disciplines in the world. Cinema is different, training is different. I feel we should leave the attraction of martial arts to cinema and reveal the magic of martial arts to the competition floor.

Martial arts in India
Karate, one day, will be our national sport or at least second on the list. I want everybody to understand that karate is not just a combat sport; martial arts keep me fit, agile, disciplined and punctual. It helps you control anger, negativity and enables you to focus during extremely stressful situations. Karate is more than just kicking and punching, it is an art. I would love to make karate compulsory in schools. Everyone — especially women — deserve to be taught self-defense in this country.

You’ll be surprised to know that young girls at my karate tournament manage to throw around guys twice their height and weight and lock them to the ground. Women are powerful and I want them all to be protected in life.

On Indian martial arts
Some of the most incredible forms of martial arts trace their origins to India. They are practically secrets to the rest of the world. I want the world to see what India has to offer. We have techniques that even the Chinese don’t have, let’s be proud of our traditions and embrace what we are. My aim is to change the perception of martial arts in India. We have such talented individuals. We just need to find them and nurture them.

Common misconceptions
Martial arts mustn’t be misconstrued as violence. I hate violence. I adore my art, but if it’s used in the wrong way, you might as well be a murderer. There’s a huge difference between a man who ‘can kill’ and ‘will kill’. Art it is not an excuse to go around thrashing people.

[GeneChing]

That's a great name, come to think of it. Genelia. Yea. I like the sound of that. Genelia. She deserves another pic.

Genelia D' Souza trains in martial arts for 'Urumi'

Bollywood's 'Girl next door' Genelia D'Souza' went all her way to perfect her turn as a sword-totting warrior in the tri-lingual film 'Urumi', with special classes in martial arts, horse riding and rowing.

The actress who recently represented the film at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, plays a Portuguese girl who falls for an Indian rebel, played by Malayalam star Prithviraj, in the film.

The 24-year-old is the lead in the multi-starrer which has cameos by Vidya Balan, Prabhu Deva, Tabu and Amol Gupte among others and impressed director Santosh Sivan with her diligence.

"She spent weeks learning 'Kalaripayattu' and horse riding and rowing so that she could do the action scenes herself. It was great to see her persistence and hard work," said Sivan.

And the actress was more than happy to be promoting the mega-budget film in Hong Kong and took to Twitter to tell her fans about her excitement. "Off to HK for HAF-Asia's Premier project market tonite. Urumi is 1 of the 28 prestigious films to be selected! My baby has started to crawl(sic)," she tweeted.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Misplace a T and an A in there and we are in for some fun, LOL !

[GeneChing]

Shaolin to the stars...the Bollywood stars....

Shaolin’s Indian face is basking in Bollywood’s limelight
May 24, 2011


Kanishka Sharma ith Bollywood star John Abraham on the sets of Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal.

Watching The 36th Chamber of Shaolin transformed the life of Kanishka Sharma.

It inspired him to take up martial arts at the age of seven, and Kanishka can now proudly look back over a career spanning 26 years in the same.

“Martial arts teaches you to be strong, but it also teaches you to be humble,” says Kanishka. “Shaolin says if you know how to hurt someone, then you should also know how to heal someone.”

Kanishka’s Shaolin expertise has led him to be called in to train Bollywood stars like Priyanka Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan (for Don) and Abhishek Bachchan (for Game).

“Priyanka is an incredibly fast learner,” says Kanishka. “She’s as flexible as rubber! As for SRK, everybody knows he’s a hard worker.”

Abhishek comes in for a fair share of praise too.

“As an individual, Abhishek is highly knowledgeable. He knows a lot about warfare and it is a pleasure to interact with him,” says Kanishka.

Not just behind the scenes, Kanishka has enjoyed a bit of the limelight too, with a role in the John Abraham-starrer Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal. But he asserts, “As long as the project is good, I don’t care if it’s in front of or behind the camera.”

Kanishka says there are a lot of misconceptions about martial arts: “The type of martial arts that are practiced today are all sports forms. They can only get you gold medals in a tournament, they don’t teach you how to save a life on the street.”

[GeneChing]

Rowdy Rathore sounds amusing. Good to see Akshay doing another martial arts flick.

28/06/2011
Akshay Kumar to train in combat karate for his next

New Delhi, Jun 28 (PTI) Action star is taking two months off to train in traditional combat karate for his next film, ''Rowdy Rathore''.

The 43-year-old actor will train in this form of martial arts for his role in the Prabhudeva directed film set in the rustic heartland of India which also stars Sonakshi Sinha.

"Akshay along with the action director of the film will take time out to study the traditional martial arts form that is popularly practiced in the underground sectors of South East Asia and can only be practiced by people who have great expertise and concentration," a source said.

The Bollywood star also plans to introduce Combat Karate in his Karate Academy next year and also in the Invitational National Karate Championship 2012.

"Akshay Kumar is very passionate about the sport and believes that the introduction of new martial arts forms will only take the Championship to a greater height. The planning for its establishment is currently being discussed," the source added.

[GeneChing]

I saw yutyeesam at Legends and told him he was slacking on this thread. He conceded that. Just to bait him back, I'm going to pummel him with a three-fer today.

YUT

Bollywood stars go back to school
Published: Monday, Aug 1, 2011, 9:28 IST
By Aakanksha Naval-Shetye | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

Katrina Kaif

Actress Katrina Kaif learned scuba- diving for one of her recent films. Hrithik Roshan apparently brushed up on his Marathi for Agneepath, while Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan both have recently learnt specialised forms of martial arts for their own forthcoming films.

Not too long back, Deepika Padukone learned skating, while Priyanka Chopra learned the desi form of martial arts for Drona. It’s no secret that actors often go to great lengths to get into the skin of their characters, even if this means having to learn a whole new art form. However, the stars too are certainly not shying away from being students again, no matter what the experience.

Kaif, who has learnt not just biking, but also belly dancing and playing a guitar, apart from scuba-diving for her recent films reveals that while she enjoyed the bike part, the scuba-diving is not something that she was too kicked about.

“I don’t think I’d want to try my hand at it again, unless a role calls for it. I did it only because the film required it,” shared the Bollywood hottie.

Chopra feels that having to learn something new is one of the perks of being an actor. “I really enjoyed learning martial arts for both Don and Drona. I think it was exciting and that’s also what I love about being an actor, there’s so much more you can learn and do,” she’d said earlier.

According to trade analysts, most actors today are definitely more kicked about learning something new than using body doubles. “These days the competition ensures that the actors put in their extra efforts, no matter what it entails,” says trade analyst Komal Nahta.

For actor Shahid Kapoor it was a dream come true whenhe got to fly an F-16 for his role in Mausam. “I don’t think I could’ve gotten a chance to fly one otherwise,” he joked. On a serious note he adds, “I think we actors are quite lucky on that front as we in a way get to lead so many lives and professions.”

Filmmaker-actor Farhan Akhtar says that most of them look at it as a fun thing rather than a punishment and adds, “Most of us end up loving what we learned so it’s a win-win situation for both the filmmaker as well as the actors.”

YEE

Salman Khan to train in martial arts in Korea
Mid-Day.com
Monday, August 01, 2011 (Mumbai)

Taking off his shirt to fight the enemy is not enough anymore.

Salman Khan is all set to perform the most difficult action sequences of his career in Sajid Nadiadwala's Kick, and that too, in locations rarely ever seen in any kind of cinema.

Says Sajid, "We wanted the action in the film to go way beyond what we've seen Salman do in Wanted and Dabangg. So, we're working towards that."

Kick will be shot in Korea, all thanks to Salman who is keen to explore new locations for his films.

"Yes, the Korean Tourist Organisation has opened its doors to Kick. We've selected Seoul, Jeju Island, Busan and Gangwon Do, but I can't reveal why we've chosen these places just yet," he adds.

However, we've reliably learnt that Salman will be shooting some of the most kick-ass sequences of his life in the wild Korean outdoors.

Says a source, "The action will be the very basic. Salman wants to take the action sequences from the original Telugu film Kick to another level. He was very impressed with Ravi Tejaa's action in the original, which was shot in Malaysia."

In September, the actor will start training in martial arts with well-known French stunt director Philip Guegan.p

SAM

Aamir Khan gears up for his Dhoom 3 makeover
Mid-Day.com
Monday, August 01, 2011 (Mumbai)

If Aamir Khan could build the most chiseled body in B-town for Ghajini and then break it down to look like a lanky teenager in Three Idiots, it shouldn't be surprising if he transforms himself yet again for his next action-thriller Dhoom 3. But, this time, the makeover may have to move beyond just the flab!

Apparently the actor, who is playing a gymnast and martial arts expert in the movie, will have to undergo a complete change of physique, not just in terms of weight but also body language.

For this, he has hired fitness expert Gerald Zarcilla to train him in martial arts and gymnastics. Aamir said during a recent interaction, "I have to bring down my weight to 60 kgs with just 10 per cent body mass. So that's going to be a task."

The actor has been recommended to watch Victor Salva's Peaceful Warrior to observe the body language of a gymnast in the film.

The actor, who weighed around 73 kgs in Ghajini, had to lose around five to six kgs to look younger in Three Idiots. But Dhoom 3 will certainly be the thinnest you'll the star since his early days.

Adds a source, "For playing a gymnast, your body has to be a lot more flexible and being lighter obviously helps. Aamir will undergo a lot of functional training and free hand exercises for the same."

His former trainer Satyajit Chaurasia, who helped him pack-a-punch with his eight packs, adds, "Before Three Idiots, he had said to me that his body feels like the Taj Mahal, and now I would have to break it down. But, by now, Aamir's body is flexible enough to mould into any shape or size. Of course, his dedication to get it absolutely bang on is commendable."

Though he is required to lose weight, eating less is the last thing Aamir plans to follow. Adds the source, "In fact, Aamir is eating more and eating healthy. He eats 12 meals a day and drinks at least four litres of water. He has never had a sweet tooth as such, so he is pretty good at resisting unhealthy food."

Apart from two-hours of martial arts training and regular gym exercises, Aamir apparently swims for an hour every day.

Aamir's daily diet

Breakfast - Fruits, egg whites, muesli with green tea

Midday - A fruit or vegetable juice

Lunch - Dal, roti, sabzi and curd

Evening Snack - Tea/cheese cubes/rusk

Dinner - Boiled vegetables/grilled chicken or fish

[GeneChing]

And I know it's Kalaripayattu, not kung fu, but this just seemed to sit better here than here.

Hamlet takes to martial arts in Karmayogi
Sanjith Sidhardhan | Aug 29, 2011, 03.21PM IST

For the first time in Malayalam cinema, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet will hit the silver screens next month through V K Prakash's 'Karmayogi.'

Indrajith plays the dual role of Hamlet and his father in Karmayogi, which will feature most of the characters of the Shakespearean tragedy, while Nithya Menon and yesteryear Bollywood actress Padmini Kolhapure plays the characters of Ophelia and Gertrude, respectively.

The movie will be an entertaining action drama, beams director Prakash, adding that it will give prominence to the traditional martial art form - Kalaripayattu.

Indrajith plays a conflicted Kalaripayattu exponent who is tormented by his father's death, which leads him to his mother, Gertrude, living with his uncle. The story focuses on the themes of indecision, revenge, loyalty and treachery.

Interestingly, most of the action sequences in the movie are real stunts done by Manipuri men. The national award winning director's previous two movies, 'Gulumaal' and 'Three Kings,' were commercial entertainers but, according to the director, 'Karmayogi' is an entertaining action drama.

"I have always struck a balance between both genres," says Prakash who is of the opinion that Malayali audience should promote different and experimental cinema by going to the theatres.

He says that though the audience now like fast-paced movies that keep them entertained, sensitive cinema with fresh ideas should also be encouraged.

This Shakespearean work is also scripted by Belram Mattannoor, who wrote for Jayaraj's 'Kalliyattam' based on Othello.