Desi Wear Blog

Indo-Asian News ServiceNew York, Nov 10 (IANS) “Saawariya“, the first Bollywood film co-produced and distributed by a major Hollywood studio, has opened in 85 theaters in the US and Canada, with press reviews calling it a visually enchanting extravaganza.

The New York Times led its movie reviews section Friday with “Saawariya”, produced in collaboration between acclaimed director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

“Eye and ear candy for fans of Indian musical cinema, it is 2 hours 11 minutes - bracingly compact by Bollywood standards - of wide-screen close-ups, fanciful sets, colorful costumes, bellybuttons, almost-kisses and 10 pumped-up, achingly sweet songs,” writes A.O. Scott, the Times’ well-regarded film critic.

In conclusion, Scott finds the film, released here Friday and starring newcomers Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor “visually enchanting, cloyingly sweet, at once utterly chaste and insanely erotic, and finally exhausting”.

Scott also notes that the film is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested) for “exposed bellybuttons and mild sexual innuendo”.

The rating itself, however, shows Sony’s professionalism, a lesson for Bollywood that rarely bothers to get an official rating in the US.

The Los Angeles Times headlines its review of “Saawariya” as “Bollywood grace–in a crazy way”. Its reviewer finds the film “typically outsized extravaganza — sure to drop your jaw with its ravishment or trigger a seizure, depending on your design temperament”.

The reviewer, however, concedes: “Bhansali’s operatic style — an ocean of close-ups, gliding camera moves and color saturation — achieves its own kind of crazy grace.”

LA Times is also scheduled to run a feature story on the film Sunday, according to the film’s US publicist.

Remember, Desi Wear has Exclusive Limited Edition T-shirts made in co-operation with Sony Pictures available here.

You can read a review of Saawariya over at IndiaFM.

In association with Sony Pictures, Desi Wear is proud to announce the new Movie, a Romantic Musical, Saawariya. And we’ve got an Exclusive Tshirt for this launch!!! This new special edition Tshirt was designed by a hot new artist on the scene, Premi. And what makes this movie special, (besides the fact that DW is involved, heh), is that it’s the first Indian movie produced by a Hollywood production house.

So Saawariya will be released in November 2007. It was directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The story is based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s short story, White Nights.

Warning! This synopsis contains spoilers
The lead roles will be played by débutantes Ranbir Kapoor (Rishi Kapoor’s son) and Sonam Kapoor (Anil Kapoor’s daughter).The film also stars Salman Khan and Rani Mukerji in supporting roles.
The protagonist is young 22 year old man who is a dreamer. He comes across a young lady and their story begins. Days are as bright as night. The story is based on four nights that the protagonists spend together. It is the story of a shy dreamer, Raj (22 years old), who spent most of his time isolated in his apartment, creating riddles and finding answers to them, jabbering poetry or arguing with his foolish landlady Miss Disa, with whom he shared a love/hate relationship.

Raj was loved by one and all, for he always brought happiness to the people around him. Destiny plans a magical tale for Raj over the next four nights of his life that shall change his entire being “Saawariya” is the story of a couple’s chance encounter and the advance of their parallel obsessions over four successive nights. An impromptu romance is initiated in a remote town in the serene beauty of picturesque Simla, a quaint hill station in Northern India that was once the summer capital of India under the British Raj, known for its lakes, mist, heavenly snowfall, rains and the tall swaying pine trees. The bright, fun-filled winding streets of the mall come alive with singing clubs, rustic folklore, dancing, love ballads, flourishing colonies of artists and weavers, and chants from the monastery- all woven in perfect harmony into a magical dream. It is here that the dreamer finds the ‘lost’ self in himself.

To grab the shirt, head over to DesiWear.com, pick your region, and go into the “Featured” section. Shirt is right there waiting for you…