Bollywood Mania

One thing I've totally bought into while here in India is Bollywood films and music. The more I watch these cheesy, musical, long movies the more I love them. I've even watched two of them in theaters which means they are only in Hindi. They have such great songs and choreography! Watch this video of one of my favorite songs from a movie that recently came out. Don't tell me it doesn't make you want to dance!

Last fall I got to dance with some of my friends in Clemson to some Bollywood songs, and I loved it. My friend Namrata choreographed the songs and dancing them helped me appreciate Bollywood more and my inability to dance.

I have gotten to go to a Bollywood dance class with Amy and her friendGunjan. Our dance instructor was making up his choreography as we learned the song. We asked him to show us a song and so I recorded part of these songs he did:

Not only does appreciating Bollywood give me something in common with nearly all Indians here, but I think it helps me understand both Hindi and Indian culture more. Monday when I was waiting outside the mall for Heather, all of a sudden a crowd ran into the mall and I heard shouting and all sorts of noise. I was so curious and so I went in the mall to see what the ruckus was about. Turns out that Vidya Balan had come to the mall on a tour for her new movie Kahanni. I got to see her but I was on the outskirts of the crowd. I'm totally going to see Kahanni when it comes out but will probably go with someone who speaks Hindi so I can understand it since as a drama it will have fewer songs.

And my all-time favorite actor is Shahid Kapoor. Shout out to fellow fans Anna Grace and Sammi! Maybe you've seen him in the delightful film Dil Bole Hadippa. It's loosely based on She's the Man. Lower is another picture of him that looks like he did for the Zee Awards, minus the spiked hair.

So here's my Shahid story. Yesterday Amy and I went to our gym (named Barbarian) to work out, and we realized it was the day that the owner and starter of the Barbarian gym line (that is all over India) was coming. His name is Satya, and he trains Bollywood actors. He was goingaround the gym giving people weight training advice. We made eye contact, and he came over to talk to me. He asked if I was American, and I asked if he knew Shahid. He said he wasShahid's trainer, and I said Shahid was my favorite. Then Amy came up and told him that I want to marry Shahid (typical), and Satya told me and Amy to meet him in the Star Gym for small group ab lessons. He said he could make our abs like Katrina Kaif's. : )

After some very painful ab lessons (I'm no future Katrina Kaif), Amy and I went back to the lockers. Amy was like, "We were ONE degree away from Shahid Kapoor!" I quickly realized that this was my only chance to give Shahid my fan mail. So I got some paper from the enthusiastic gym desk workers and wrote Shahid. I told him everything a 13 year old girl would tell Justin Bieber.... I gave the letter to Satya, but I don't know if he will deliver this important message. I will know if Shahid got it if he uses any of the 3 ways I gave him to get in contact with me. : )