July 03, 2007
Indian Superman - The Sequel?Arts and Entertainment
Back in SM’s youth, we brought you the story of Indian Superman (posted in 2004! We was the OG playas on the Desi Blogging scene yo).
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It takes a lot of brylcreem to get that curly lock just so… |
[Indian Superman] is one of those rare movies that manages to offend on every level. It is badly acted, badly directed, badly filmed, and makes no sense whatsoever. And just to add that extra level of offensiveness, the whole project is probably illegal.
Why Illegal? Well, here’s the most direct / literal reason -
The movie starts with thundering music playing over the sight of a cityscape from some advanced alien civilization - hey, wait a minute! That music is from the American Superman movie! So are those special effects shots!
Ah, the beauty of cut & paste 
‘04 was the pre-YouTube Internet and, at the time, we weren’t able to post any clips of the flick. Luckily, the world has evolved and clips are now far easier to find (here’s one, presumably from the film’s climactic ending where Superman saves an otherwise-doomed Indian Airlines flight).
Of new interest to long time mutineers, however, it appears that Puneet Issar and Dharmendra Deol have passed the Superman baton on to a host of desi sequels…
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Supermenon makes the original Indian Superman look positively trim… |
Not content to let swarthy Punjabi’s from the north trample the rights to the Superman franchise on their own, my boyz decided the world needed a South Indian Superman (a Supermenon?). Because the first step in cultural domination is to use The Man’s alphabet the way he intended, our hero instead defiantly dons the letter “H.”
In the following clip, to further show The Man that our man, is in fact, The Man, he lands on the moon next to the Apollo Lunar Lander, flies over the Kremlin, Capital Hill, Big Ben, the Parthenon (so it appears), and Hong Kong all while his honey dances on his back. Christopher Reeve ain’t got nothing on our Boy.
Ah, but the North must fight back. Instead of ripping off just one superhero, they bring us 2. And to help sneak things past the MPAA, we’ll change the second hero into a woman — Introducing Indian Superman and Desi Spiderwoman -
To be clear, this is just a superhero-themed segment from the otherwise pedestrian movie Dariya Dil performed to (what else?) “Too Mera Superman (You are my Superman).” Never underestimate the lengths a Bollywood director / producer will go to beat last years top song & dance number .
vinod on July 3, 2007 02:04 PM in Arts and Entertainment · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
It's Christopher Reeve. The only reason I pick this nit is because what you typed reminded me of George Reeves, who was (coincidentally) the star of TV's Superman, and died in an untimely manner as a result of a mysterious suicide (whose investigation was the topic of the movie Hollywoodland).
All these superhero clips also remind of Guru, an 80s Tamil Robinhood flick starring Kamalahaasan, where a cape and a simple band around the eyes with holes to see through, was sufficient disguise to prevent recognition by his peers. And, oh, how mightily did he swing from the chandeliers!
Vinod is always making fun of India, Indians, and Indian culture.
Well, that region does give him alot of material to work with....
Vinod, didn't mean to be annoying, mentioned it only because of the reference it brought to mind.
When? Where? Vinod does no such thing. There are MANY things which are wrong with Vinod, a lack of "desi pride" ain't one of 'em. ;)
>>>my boyz decided the world needed a South Indian Superman (a Supermenon?).
Not to be picky but, thats a telugu movie not a malayalam movie. So, instead of Supermenon, Superrao or Superreddy would be more appropriate, eventhough doesn't quite rhyme as well as supermenon.
BTW, that is NTR and Jayaprada in that clip.
The fat Superman is NT Rama Rao, the deceased Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Don't be dissin him!!! Heh. This generalization of southies as Madrasis is the reason why the guy beat the mighty Congress party and brought Telugu Desam to power. You can find other clips of his songs using search words like Fat Indian Elvis.
this is hilarious.
my only problem with it is that spidergirl is caring for the wounded, instead of fighting the bad boys!
I can't beleive that Indians in India pay to watch shit like this.
The best part of the second clip is that in all the flying shots, you can see the floor the actors are standing on -- the shadows are still cast on it!
Did someone say "Jayaprada"?? ;)
Stephen Colbert, is that you?
Is that what the kids are calling it these days?
let's not forget the newbie superhero in town: Pavitra Prabhakar
Wow. Just Wow.
IMHO, I wanna say, linking to the clip of superman saving plane was against humanity :)
btw guys, ain't it nice if, finally superman does turn out to be gay, our Indian superman can take over all the ladies in the world and sweep them off their feet up, up and away....
this may be why the dubbing of english films into native languages has taken off greatly in the last several months. it's also pretty cost-effective - fighting The Man takes a lot of money, and i think the indutsry has recognised in which cases the paisa isn't so vasool.
though, i really do enjoy this cheesiness - there is something endearing (and nostalgic) to these desi efforts. lately, i've been into 1970s & 80s desi film & music, karz and don being high on that list. and NTR is looking pretty hot in that clip. thanks, vinod!
Oh, nuRf girl, surely you can do better than a 12 year old then!
VINOD! STOP MAKING FUN OF INDIA, INDIANS, AND INDIAN CULTURE! CAN'T YOU SEE THE DISRESPECTFULNESS THAT IS INHERENT IN YOUR POST ABOUT THE INDIAN SUPRAMANIAN?
U shud be ashame of urslf, making fun of the culture which is for 3000 years or maybe 4000 or even 5000 years the most super man-iest.
lol.
Anyone remember Shehenshah ? :) I was actually crazy about AB in that movie during my childhood and watched that movie tons of times... I'm glad that Krrish has finally brought some amount of respectability to the Bollywood superhero franchise though .... In the meanwhile, bring on the good ol' times! That superman dance sequence just cracked me up ! Thanks Vinod
Ok, I'll be honest. I'm taken although the article does give you reason for hope.
Salil, that was beyond hilarious. Are you lonelygirl15 too?
I can be, if it's good for a laugh. :-D
I can't believe that Indians in India pay to watch shit like this.
Woo-hoo! I'm qualified to say it!
Salil, that was totally wicked.
R and nuRF, if this is going to move to correcting spelling/English, shouldn't it be moved? =)
Annoying? Are you kidding, I would have jumped on the same thing. For most of our generation Superman = Christopher Reeve, not Brandon Routh or anyone else. Of course the original Superman was thought up by these two. Superman and Batman to me parallel the Ramayana and Mahabharata in many ways. Superman is perfect, no flaws (in Superman III the "bad" superman is clearly different than the good one, hell they even used a different actor), in Batman, Bruce Wayne is one F'd up guy, in fact the mythology behind the bats clearly lays this out. Batman is very much imperfect.
Yes I believe you are correct. Same goes for Frank Castle, aka the punisher.
See also, Frank Miller, "The Dark Knight Returns."
(If they ever made that into a movie, it would be...the best...movie...EVER)
Frank Miller is an interesting cat, he also did Sin City.
I loooove Frank Miller. Also, Alan Moore. What!
For people who liked the Sin City look, I'd recommend Renaissance. It captures the noir feel brilliantly with the sharp black and white contrasts. The plot and dialogue were so-so, but the movie was gorgeous. I guess, that means, Padma Lakshmi-esque?
Camille, I second that. Alan Moore's "The Watchmen" is one of the best damn things that ever got wrote. But Frank Miller's just done so much.
Have any of you guys ever read any of the Top Ten series? Only the Alan Moore ones, of course. The rest are mediocre, but Alan Moore's initial contributions made it outstanding. They're funny and touching and strange, all at the same time.
I know, I'm such a geek. Whatever! Don't get me started on XBox games.
I never got into reading graphic novels, because I figured they would put a higher premium on the art over the writing, and thought that I might not enjoy them. Folks have recommended Maus to me as a good first graphic novel to start with. Any other ideas or suggestions?
Was there not a "Supraman" (as opposed to Superman) cartoon character that was used to flog Horlicks or some other disgusting (to my abcd palate) breakfast beverage? Perhaps I halucinated it...
i'm so glad i read this post and saw all the frank miller and batman love!! yay!
Salil, you came to the right place for geekdom! I love the Watchman. I like most of Moore's stuff, but there are a lot of volumes I just can't get into.
Rahul, Maus and Maus II are amazing, but it's also important to remember that they're biographical, so less of a "novel" in that respect (but no less profound). I also like Persepolis, which is based in the same narrative style/concept, but I didn't think it was earth shattering (sorry Marjane Satrapi). Frank Miller's Sin City is amazing, and The Watchmen as Salil mentioned. I haven't read 300 -- did anyone else? Did y'all like it? My favorite Alan Moore is V for Vendetta although I think From Hell and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen are better known. I had a really hard time getting into the animation of From Hell, though.
Just my opinions. I actually don't have that many graphic novels, so I feel like I'm probably a plebe compared to others on this :)
Well, I'm kind of a graphic novel snob. I have very particular tastes, and I think 99% of what's out there is just complete crap. But the good stuff is truly sublime. It transcends format and is as powerful, moving, and affecting as any good novel. Sometimes moreso.
Maus I and II, as Camille stated, are simply amazing, but not really fictional. I'd still say they're a good place to start, although you probably will want to avoid all human contact for about 2 days after finishing them, because they're kind of depressing and yet hopeful at the same time. Oh, and definitely pick up the single volume that contains both, because otherwise you'll be frustrated as hell if you just read Maus I and have to wait for Maus II. It's not a cliffhanger or anything, but it's also not...resolved. Read both.
I liked Frank Miller's 300. You can read the whole thing in about 30 minutes. It's pretty absorbing, but it's also semi-historical, so again, not technically a novel. I think the actual history of the Battle of Thermopylae is far more interesting, although Miller's depiction of it does it some justice and lends it some weight. The problem then becomes, since it's the only depiction you're likely to see / read, that you start imagining Miller's characters and scenery and dialogue (rather than the no-doubt-less-fanciful historical accounts), because it's all slightly melodramatic.
I think the best starting points are Return of the Dark Knight, and The Watchmen. Both of those are simply outstanding. The Watchmen might be slightly better in terms of writing and plot. I'm not a fan of the coloring, but that's about the only flaw in the work. It's very strong. It'll stick with you after you read it. The characters, the asides, the footnotes, the whole thing...considering it's like 20 years old, it's still just incredible. It'll stand up to rereading, too. And each time you'll say to yourself, "Good God, how did he come UP with this stuff? How does Alan Moore's brain work?"
Return of the Dark Knight, as I said before, would make the best movie of all time. It's basically the plot of an old spaghetti Western, with Batman as the reluctant hero dragged out of retirement. I don't want to give too much away, but it's fantastic. It ends splendidly, just ambiguously enough that you're satisfied but curious. It's got great takes on old characters, and the way everything is drawn gives it all new life. The danger with writing established comic book characters is that they're frequently walking cliches, but Frank Miller is a master of taking that character you think you understand and maybe outgrew when you were ten, and completely revamping him or her so that they're just barely recognizeable, but far more fascinating and three-dimensional, and then a lot more human.
Sin City, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and even Top Ten would fall into the category of "good and entertaining," but they're not earth-shattering, in my opinion. They're more...comic-book-y, less rib-sticking, full-on, goddamn-that-was-good work of art. Still worth reading, but probably not something you'll be talking about with your friends as soon as you finish.
My geeky take on it all. :-)
This is worse than "Dracula in Pakistan"! Man, the 80's!
Salil and Camille, thanks for the graphic details! I'll let you know how I enjoy The Watchmen and Return of the Dark Knight. The education begins!
While watching those clips, I saw a link to the Telugu version of Thriller with Chiranjeevi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbvP7dT3Dx0&mode=related&search=
As always, it's funny to read the Youtube comments.
But then it also gives some people the opportunity to make sneering remarks at Indians. But come on, with stuff like this, we're inviting it. Also, this video was apparently an Internet phenomenon. Its called Little Superstar. It is the most awesome dance ever!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx-NLPH8JeM
Salil & other fans of Alan Moore's Top Ten, did you catch Ganesha (as in, the God) drinking in a bar in Neopolis in Book 1? It was unexpected, but after reading Promethea, it seems Moore is very familiar with Hindu mythology.
ak, for more on the seemingly rich subgenre of rishi-kapoor-on-lazy-susan, see this song from hum kisi se kum nahin. It also has such stand-out elements such as a form-fitting polka dotted shirt, an all-seeing spangled eye for a background, and an appearance by Amjad Khan.
Puneet Issar is no ordinary man. His was the punch that perforated Amitabh's colon (indirectly, I assume) in Coolie, and brought an entire nation to its knees, literally, in prayer.
I am sure you picked it up, but it is not NTR in the video, he is only in the photograph featuring as the bearer of the blurry square jaw and imposing potbelly which has left Jayaprada in such open-mouthed admiration.
They were creating classics without even realising it...it's a great song.
Are you serious? That's 100% plagiarism from...from where, Abba?
Anyway, I am jumping in without actually following the thread, so perhaps I am missing something. Maybe you were saying it sarcastically.
If you start nitpicking on small details like that, the entire canon of R. D. Burman falls apart. I think Annu Malik calls this inspiration, by the way :)
Also, malathi, you know what they say about imitation being the best form of flattery, surely plagiarism is the best form of imitation, isn't it?
and from the little theoretical music knowledge I have (but plenty of eclectic tastes) I have begun to suspect that A.R.Rahman is also blatantly as well as quietly borrowing from different places. Am I remotely right? I recognized one of his songs, from 'Roja' I think, as the score of some old Hollywood thriller about a stalked woman on TV late one night. The 'Guru' soundtrack sounded a lot like a couple of CDs at home -- 'Voices of the World' and 'The Silk Road Journey' (I may be mangligng CD titles here, I am at work and am trying to recollect--anyway, it is Central Asian music). I don't know enough to understand what constitutes legal, artistic license to build on existing folk music and what is not, but I can tell you I was so disappointed and disheartened that I have not played 'Guru' after that first time.
Any A.R. Rahman fans or musicologists who can take the trouble and explain otherwise and release me from my personal boycott of A.R.Rahman?
I don't know about A. R. Rahman's sources but he often uses qawwali-like sounds and themes in his soundtracks. And if he sings, the song usually has a pitch range from constipated to choking. I don't think his Guru music is worth much anyway.
The Black Eyed Peas seem to love sampling old Hindi film songs, probably because there's no real copyright enforcement. The irony, of course, is that these songs were themselves inspired (in the Annu Malik sense of the word) by 60s or 70s rock/pop. What goes around literally comes around, it seems!
I don't know, Rahul. My husband is an online writer in a subject that is hard to establish oneself (it is his daytime job, his bread and butter). He has been systematically and blatantly plagiarized a few times. (Those are the times that we are aware of; if it happens and we don't come to know of it, well, then we don't know about it.) We come to know about any such incidents only if the plagiarizers are based in North America (we are also in NA) or are also online (easy to come across) or appear in India-related publications (small world phenomenon), I think. I can't speak for him, but I feel outraged and personally violated when it happens (well, allowing for the one degree of separation between spouse and me). Having been brought up middle-class and in the subcontinent (I am not sure if those facts are relevant at all actually), I also can't stomach the idea of someone else pocketing the money and appreciation due to him somewhere in a small, local publication in, say, India.
So the personal has strongly influenced my reaction to plagiarism of any form these days :)
malathi, I was just joking, didn't mean to touch a raw nerve there.
When I see stuff like this, (Ex: the Indian version of Superman, or Pyaar Ka Saaya - the scene by scene jacked version of Ghost, or this song in some Bollywood movie that completely jacked the melody to R. Kelly's Thoia Thoing) it makes me curse not having my JD yet (3 more semesters to go). Goddammit I could be making so much money helping clients win copyright infringement cases!
Soon, I suppose... Soon....
Yes, please Mrs. M, don't be spewing vehemence at the Conqueror of my Misery. He's mine, Girlfriend, so back to protecting your man from plagiarism.
The middle part of the Rishi Kapoor song (tere liya or something) seems lifted from Mamma Mia. There is actually a website(i fforget which one) which actually has a list of Indian songs plagiarized from not only Western songs, but some Turkish and Greek songs too.
There was a Bollywood version of the Macarena too. *vomit*.
Umm, Fuerza Dulce, because you will be the first Indian-American lawyer who watches Hindi movies? :) And really, you want to help that pedophile (ok, alleged) R. Kelly?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seboaanCwts&mode=related&search=
Cheesy Bollywoodastic version of Video Killed the Radio Star. And guess the movie - DISCO DANCER!!!
Never would have taken this to be used as a disco song, but they actually do a fun job with it. Bang Bang!!! Ha ha ha.
This is getting addicting looking for Bollywood songs plagiarising English songs.
of course, i knew that. didn't i have a smiley face in my post? Maybe I need to pay attention to my writing style...someone else accused me of rancour on another thread which i swear i didn't have
the nerve too is not that raw actually; it was merely used as a focal of a long narrative with a point. like hubby dearest said, "you get used to it; these are mild annoyances. you got to keep your eye on the big picture, and on things under your own control." i saw that he could be wise too (usually I think I am the only one) when the third time didn't hurt as much as the first time, and so on. Give me seven more years with him and I will get closer to Buddha than he has gotten.
nuRf girl, you need to be worried about numero uno Rahul fan. Or are you both different avatars of the same Goddess?
of course, you are. NuRF! Now I get it. Duh!
nuRf girl, your Tammy Wynette impression leaves me speechless. But, beware, the melody could soon go so M-A-U-D-L-I-N.
malathi, I was just clarifying since it was so personal to you.
Tammy and I have more in common than our accent, hairdo and d-i-v-o-r-c-e.
That's right honey, I'm standin' by my man sweet Rahul ah, like rasgulla!
What do you do? and where do people like you congregate.
I keed! Sorry malathi, I couldn't resist.
I don't watch them much now - now I get subjected to them on rare occasions. I don't want to help R. Kelly - it was an example :P