Chandu Champion

Another sports epic about an athlete overcoming odds to be a champion.  "Chandu Champion" (2024) does have a surprise ending, that unless you are from India (and even for most Indians) you are unlikely to guess.  The word "chandu" stands for loser and is a slur the  protagonist is desperate to avoid.

Near the beginning we see an old man badgering some government officials about a missing award.   It is a little confusing, but soon we are learning the background which starts with Murlikant Petkar as a young boy who takes it in his head that he wants to be an Olympic champion.

He is advised to take up wrestling and in fact makes a lot of progress until he offends his townspeople and flees.  Next he was advised to join the army where he was led to believe he would get serious wrestling training, but soon learns the military does not offer wrestling.  With his dream of an Olympic medal still driving him he takes up boxing with Tiger Ali who at first is very dismissive of him, but later becomes his strongest advocate.  The story takes quite a twist from this point.  The point of the interview at the beginning is that the story was buried in technological changes and bureaucratic ineptness.  The last part of the movie uncovers what happened.  In the end credits we see the real Murlikant Petkar who does deserve recognition. 

This movie is a big budget film with a lot of top notch cast and crew.  Here are some of them:

Kabir Khan was director, writer and producer.  He got a break as a cinematographer for a documentary and quickly became a director and producer.  His films include  "New York" (2009),  "Ek Tha Tiger" (2012), "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" (2015) and "'83" (2021).

Sumit Arora was another writer.  He has 15 credits as a writer, 3 as a director and 2 for additional crew including "Stree" (2018), "The Family Man" (2019), "'83" (2021) and "Jawan" (2023).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/03/the-family-man.html

Pritam Chakraborty composed much of the music.   He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India with a degree in Sound Engineering.   He has played in a variety of bands.  Pritam has 153 composing credits, 20 for the music department and 1 for sound including "Jab We Met" (2007), "Life in a Metro" (2007), "Rajneeti" 210), "Yeh Jawaani Dewani" (2013), "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" (2015), "Dangal" (2018) and "Chhichhore" (2019).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/03/chhichhore-is-for-losers-ie-most-of-us.html 

Sudeep Chatterjee was responsble for cinematography.  He has 32 cinematography credits including "Iqbal" (2005), "Chak de India" (2007), "Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl" (2011), "Bajirao Mastani" (2015), "Kaabil" (2017), "Padmaavat" (2018) and "Gangubai Kathiawadi" (2022).

Nitin Baid was the editor.  He has 38 credits for editor and 11 for the editorial department including "Masaan" (2015), "Raazi" (2016) and "Gully Boy" (2019).  A quote:  "It is an editor's job to make poor acting look good on screen".

Kartik Aaryan played  Murlikant Petkar.  His parents, both doctors wanted him to become an engineer for which he finally completed the studies after an interruption following an early film. that he lied to his paents about.  He has 21 film credits including "Pyaar Ka Punchnama" (2011), "Pyaar Ka Punchanma 2" (2015), "Sonu Ki Tatu Ki Sweety" (2018). "Dhamaka" (2018) and "Freddy" (2022).  When he was filming "Shehzade" (2023) there was a serious financial crisis and he returned his pay and was credited as a producer.  Check:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/11/dhamaka-is-this-what-tv-is-coming-to.html

Vijay Raaz plays Tiger Ali who is a boxing coach and later an advocate for Murlikant.  He has 142 acting credits including "Bhopal Express" (1999), "Monsoon Wedding" (2000), "Kya Dilli Kya Lahore" 2014), "Sanam Teri Kasam" (2016), "Made in Heaven" (2019-2023), "Gully Boy" (2019) and"Gangubai Kathiawadi" (2023).

Bhuvan Arora plays Karnail Singh, a close friend.  He has 21 credits including "Chaman Bahaar" (2020) and "Farzi" (2023).   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/03/farzi-or-fakes.html

Rajpal Naurang Yadav (previously Rajpal Yadav) plays Topaz. He has  198 acting credits including "Kal Ho Naa Ho" (2003), "Paheli" (2005), "Main, Meri Patni...Aur Woh" (2006), "Khatta Meetha" (2010) and  "Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2" (2022).

Shreyas Talpade plays Inspector Kamble who questons an older Marlikant which is how we learn the life story.  He has 84 acting credits including "Iqbal" (2003), ""Dor" (2006), "Om Shanti Om' (2007), "Bombay to Bangkok" (2008), "Aashayein" (2010) and "Prawaas" (2020).

Sonali Kulkarni plays a reporter.  She was involved in theatre, not only acting, but producing.  She has 97 acting credits.  including "Dil Chahta Hai" (2001), "Bride and Prejudice" (2005), "Mohandas" (2009) and "Gulabo Sitabo" (2020).

 Another sports epic film came out the same year, "Maidaan" (2024) which shares the general theme of overcoming obstacles, but is more nuanced.  Check it out:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/06/maidaan.html

"Chandu Champion" will appeal to those who love competitive sports and is available subtitled on Prime.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally I found them worthy of my time.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.

The Bollywood version of Forrest Gump

 Aamir Khan is a superior film maker, but deciding to do a remake of "Forrest Gump" (2022) appears to have been a mistake.  At least from a domestic box office viewpoint.  Fortunately it is faring better outside India and one can recognize its brilliance.

 It follows the "Forerst Gump" format adjusting for Indian history and culture.   We see history through the eyes of a very naive, "dim-witted" man who can always find the bright side.

Most of the movie is framed with Laal telling a series of stories encomposing  Indira Gandhi's assassination, wars,  the assault on the Taj Hotel and many others.

For a dim-witted man he stumbles onto a lot of success.  At one point he is a champion runner, later a war hero and later a successful business man.   He comes from a line of Sikh war heroes, but for most of the film was turbanless, until near the end.   His biggest obsession was with his youthful sweetheart who goes to Bollywood and mixes with the wrong people, but always considering him a friend, until she realizes she loves him too, nonetheless she lives with another man and has a child

Aamir Khan was producer along with ex wife Kiran Rao. He also plays the lead character.   Aamir Khan is one of the premier actors and film makers in the world.  As he got established he became an actor who concentrated on one film at a time.  Abstains from drinking and smoking, but will do so if film role requires it.  Related to filmmakers he started as a child actor, but became a star with "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak" (1988).  Most of his films were successful at the box office including "Dil Chata Hai" (2001), "Mangal Pandey" (2005), "Like Stars on Earth" (2007), "Ghajini" (2008), "3 Idiots" (2009), "PK (2014), "Dangal" (2016) and "Secret Superstar" (2017).  "Lagaan:  Once Upon a Time in India" (2001) started his success in the Chinese market (meaning he was at various times the most famous actor in the world with more than two huge markets).   Like Tom Hanks, Aamir did a lot of running, but he has a good body as has been required in some of his films.  Check:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/07/dil-chatha-hai-bollywood-classic.html and  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/03/pk.html

Advait Chandan, the director has film credits for "Secret Superstar" (2017), "Like Stars on Earth" (2007), both connected with Aamir Khan.

Atul Kulkarni, writer, best known as an actor.  With "Hey Ram" (2000) winning a best supporting actor award, "Page 3" (2005), "Rang De Basanti" (2006), "Koode" (2018), "A Thursday" (2022) working not only in Hindi, but also Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telegu.  As president of Quest he advocates for improving education.  check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/02/the-message-is-spoiler.html  

Pritam Chakraborty composed for the script  and brought in Arijit Singh, my favorite singer and provided the unobtrusive background music.  He has composed for such films as "Jab We Met" (2007, containing one of the best romantic songs of Bollywood), "Life in a Metro" (2007 where he on screen as playback singer), "Rajneeti" ( 2010), "Yeh, Jawaani Dewani" (2013), Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" (2016) and  "Dangal" (2016).

Satyajit Pande is the cinematographer.  His film credits include "Like Stars on Earth" (2007), "Kahanni" (2012) and "Dangal" (2016).

Kareena Kapoor Khan played Rupa.  She has been in several memorable movies, but has also played a lot of vapid women.  I would say she is one of the better dancers and has demonstrated a diversity of roles.  Comes from a well known family in Bollywood.  Married Saif Ali Khan and has had one child.  Favorite movies of hers include "Jab we Met," (2007)  "3 Idiots" (2009), "Talaash" (2012) and "Good Newwz" (2018).  She was actually pregnant with her second child during filming.

Mona Singh plays his mother, but is actually younger than Aamir.  Her film credits include "3 Idiots" (2009).

Shah Rukh Khan has a cameo role, but as my favorite actor is always of interest.  Check him out.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/06/shah-rukh-khan-worlds-most-famous-actor.html

Manav Vij played the double amputee who became a business partner of Laal's.  Manav's film credits include "Udta Punjab" (2014), "Rangoon" (2017), Phillauri" (2017) and "Andhadhun" (2018).  When blogging for "Anhadhun" I was a little confused, well the film is worth seeing http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/10/telegu-remake-opens-my-eyes.html  

"Forrest Gump" is a vague memory for me, but this parallels much of it.  Not every one's cup of tea, but you can be assured if Aamir Khan is involved it is done very well.  If you enjoyed "Forrest Gump" there are adjustments to Indian history which has had its share of "interesting" events.

The first mention of films I have seen are bolded. 

Chhichhore is for Losers (ie. most of us)

Winning is our goal.  Winning sports contests or university admissions is a focus of life and is reflected in many movies.  "Chhichhore" (2019) starts off with one of the extreme consequences of not winning.  Really not winning at a much wanted goal, but overlooking there is more to life.

 The folks at the National Film Awards in India recognized Chhichhore" as the best Hindi film of 2019 and the award was supposed to have been presented in May of 2020, but due to the Covid  pandemic was delayed until 2021.  In the meantime the lead actor, Sushant Singh Rajput committed suicide which in terms of this film is ironic.

The plot is set up with a student's attempt to kill himself because he failed to get accepted at a nationally recognized university.  His parents are divorced and both upset and to some extent blame each other.  The son is very badly injured and his parents steel themselves for the worst.  The father who appears to be a successful businessman decides the best strategy would be to tell his son about his own "loser" past and draws in some of his loser friends from his university days.

The story is told in installments with the doctor interrupting to comment that if there is not an improvement the young man will have to undergo some risky surgery.  There is doubt that they should continue.  But they do.  Their stories are about college students who were assigned to a particular residences because they weren't considered good enough for another residence.  They develop a camaraderie to support one another.  They get involved in a sports competition and although not as talented as their main rivals they pull out all the stops (many comically unethical).  Several of the protagonist's friends are brought to the hospital to explain their part of the story and they appear successful--some coming from the United States.

An important part of the story is the protagonist and his wife.  At college he had been told those in his residence didn't have a chance with the women on campus.  With the help of his friends he was able to make an impression on one woman who he later married.  It was amusing how he broke down the barriers.  But once he got into the work force he did become a sort of a workaholic and had great plans for his son, subtly pressuring him to pass the all important admission test.  He divorced his wife, but they kept a relationship because of the son.  

After his attempted suicide she blamed herself for letting her husband have custody.  Because the son expressed the feeling of being a loser he decided to tell his own story which his wife tolerated reluctantly and then with more enthusiasm.  She had been very involved with the residence in their competition.

You can guess the ending and you would probably be pretty close.  We are taught to strive to win, but not so much how to deal with losing.  The bottom line is that there is more to life than winning.  Despite or maybe because of he serious theme there is a lot of laughter.

Such a movie was the result of an experienced and talented crew.

Producer Sajid Nadiadwala is the grandson of famous filmaker A.K. Nadiadwala and got an early start as a production assistant.  His first produced film was in 1992 working with stars like Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan. Rani Mukherjee, Preity Zinta and Priyanka Chopra.   In 2009 he signed up Sylvestor Stallone for a Bollywood film, "Kambakkht Ishq."  He has directed Salman Khan in "Kick" (2014) which was Khan's highest grosser for date.  He produced and wrote script for "Household" (2010) which launched the most successful franchise in Bollywood with several sequels manged by his production company.   He wrote the story for a Marathi script, "Lai Bhaari" (2014). He has also produced such memorable films as "2 States" (2014),  "Highway" (2014),  "Tamasha" (2015), "Rangoon" (2017) and "Super 30" (2019).  I have blogged three of his movies that left a strong impression:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2014/07/2-states-new-favorite.html and  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/02/tamasha-wonderful-story.html and http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/02/super-30-puts-focus-on-education.html

 The director and one of three writers, Nitesh Tiwari has done a few outstanding films  including "Bhoothnath Returns" (2014), "Dangal (2016) and "Bareilly ki Barfi" (2017).  Piyush Gupta  has worked with Nitesh on "Ittefaq" ( on the scripts for "Bhoothnath Returns" and "Dangal"  The third writer Nikhil Mehrotra also helped write "Dangal," but also wrote "Banjo" (2016) and "Ittefaq" (2017).  The three get along so well they are collaborating on "Panga" (2020) which is directed by Nitesh's wife, Ashwinny Iyer Tiwari.

Casting was handled by Mukesh Chhabra.  He did casting for such films as "Amal"(2007, directed by Canadian Richie Mehta), "(Kai Po Che  (2013) which was the 1st feature for Sushant Singh Rajput), "Highway"  "Haider" (2014), "PK" (2014), "Tamasha" "Madaari" (2016), "Wrong Side Raju" (2016), "Dangal" "Sanju" (2018)"Kabir Singh" (2019) "Super 30" and "Dil Bechara" (2020 which was the last film of Sushant Sngh Rajput before his suicide).  I have blogged many of his movies including:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/05/kai-che-po.html and http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2017/02/madaari-open-movie-about-government.html and  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/03/pk.html and some that are linked with Sajid Nadiadwala above.

Music which is mostly unobtrusive was provided by celebrated Bollywood composer, Pritam Chakraborty. He has composed for such films as "Jab We Met" (2007, containing one of the best romantic songs of Bollywood), "Life in a Metro" (2007 where he on screen as playback singer), "Rajneeti" ( 2010), "Yeh, Jawaani Dewani" (2013), Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" (2016) and  "Dangal" (2016).   A key playback singer he uses a lot including in this film is Arijit Singh who is my favorite male singer.  Dancing is more celebratory.

The cinematographer is Amadlendu Chaudhary who got his start in the Marathi film industry including India's Oscar nomination, "Harishchandrachi Factory" (2009).  One Bollywood movie was "Stree" (2018).

The editor, Charu Shree Roy got her start with shorts.  As a writer, director and editor she won an American film festival award for "Chasing the Rainbow" (2013).  She won an editing award for the feature, "Lipstick under My Burka" (2016).  The editing for "Chhichhore" is tricky with heavy use of flashbacks and she was nominated for an award.

Sushant Singh Rajput played Anni, the protagonist as the father and in flasbacks as the younger student.  As noted earlier he committed suicide only a few months after the release of this film.  He was a National Physics Olympiad winner and cleared as many as 11 engineering entrance exam.  He was very popular in a tv series and his first feature film was "Kai Po Che."  Other films included, "Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!" (2015) and  "M. S. Dhoni:  The Untold Story" (2016).  He will be missed.

Shraddha Kapoor played Maya who eventually married Anni and later divorced him.  She was born to a film family and took theatre course at Boston University but dropped out to start acting career.  Her first film was "Teen Patti" (2010), but her big breakthrough came with "Ashiqui 2" (2013) which led to a short with Arijit Singh.  Other films included :"Ek Villain" (2014), "Haider" (2014), "Rock On 2" (2016) and "Stree" (2018).  She has also sung in a number of the films.

There is a supporting cast representing the student companions and older versions who are very good.

For my experience this is a unique film very well done.  I saw it on Hotstar and am not sure where else it might be available.

"The Sky is Pink" My top movie for 2019

If you are human  "The Sky is Pink" will definitely make you cry although you might try to hide it.  You will also laugh a lot.  You might even feel you understand the meaning of life a little bit better.  This movie crossed my radar a few months ago and I read as much as I could.  I was shocked that it seemed to have an ordinary IMDB rating and when I checked closer I noticed the vast majority of reviewers gave it a 10/10 with a few 9's--I will be a 9 on principle.

One criticism was that it was too long, but I didn't feel that way at all.  It held attention as it jumped back and forth in time.  Stay tuned for the very end.  The frame was different in that it started after the death of Aisha, the lead character who announced she would be narrating the story which focused as much on her parents.

Don't want to spoil the story, but you already know she dies.  She talks about her parent's sex life and their tensions.  Because of medical histories at one point it appears that the father was not the father of one of their three children.  Turned out to be a bureaucratic screw-up, but caused stress.  We learned of stresses before the birth of Aisha and she herself predicts the parents will argue after her death.  In the meantime there are a lot of the ups and downs (traveling between London and Delhi) of the family with a dying daughter.

At the end credits we are shown the real Chaudhary family and a speech by Ayesha that is very impactful (reportedly that Priyanka's husband, Nick Jonas cried).

For those worried about sub-titles, yes there are lots, but there is also a lot of English--they spend several years in London and as upper middle class people there is English in many of the scenes in India.

A key person in bringing this beautiful movie is Shonali Bose as director and writer.  At the end she left a note in the credits regarding her own son's tragic death.  Before she died Ayesha (changed to Aisha for the script) had seen the trailer of a movie, "Margarita with a Straw" (more of that in the link) a few dozen times, but the movie was not released before she died.  Her mother and father did see the movie and were very moved and chased down Shonali living in Los Angeles at the time and said they wanted her to do the movie version of the story.  Shonali had her own son die and it contributed to her divorce.  An earlier blog gives more details about Shonali's movie career: http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/09/shonali-bose-does-films-with-impact.html

The co-writer was Nilash Maniyar who had also co-written "Margarita with a Straw," but has been involved as a casting director and producer (including "The Sky is Pink").

Music was by Pritam Chakraborty.  He wrote music for "Jab We Met" (with one of the all time best romantic songs), "Barfi" "Dangal," "Ae Dil Hai Muskil," and "Life in a Metro" where you could see him actually performing.  My favorite male singer, Arijit Singh sings in two songs. The real son composed a song for his sister which is played during the credits.
 
Andrew Alderslade, the cinematographer has mostly done American films.  For this he traveled between London and Mumbai.  The viewer will see a variety of scenes, some quit impressive.Kartik Vivay was also a principle cinematographer.

Minas Mittal, the editor  had worked on "Detective Byomkesh Bakshy."

Priyanka Chopra played the mother Aditi and was also an executive producer.  In the year 2000 she won the titles of "Miss India" and "Miss World" and I would say maturity has added to her beauty.  She was the lead in an American tv series, "Quantico."  She married an American, Nick Jonas, but still combines Bollywood movies with American films.   Some of her standout movies include "Dil Dhadakne Do," "Barfi" "Don," "Don 2" and "Mary Kom."  She has also produced regional movies in Marathi, Nepali, Punjabi and "Bhojpuri.  She has also been involved as a volunteer for literacy and polio.


Farhan Akhtar played the father Nirvan and has a long history starting as a producer/director for "Dil Chatha Hai," with Aamir Khan, followed by "Lakshya" with Hrithik Roshan and "Don," another big budget film with Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra.  This past year produced "Gully Boy," a top movie.  He has been an actor in a number of good movies,  "Rock On,"(as a lead, singer), "Karthik Calling Karthik," "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag," and "Zindagi na Milegi Dobara" (directed by his sister Zoya).   He has also written scripts and dialogue and does most of his own singing.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/11/farhan-akhtar-young-man-on-rise-in.html


Zara Wasim played Aisa and had been in two previous movies with Aamir Khan, "Dangal" and "Secret Superstar" where she played the lead.  Her spunkiness as actress and narrator developed the audience's buying into the story.








Rohat Sarat played Ishaan, the son.  He has been in a few notable films, "Dear Zindagi," "Hichki," and "What Will People Say" (in my subtitled best films for 2019).









My second favorite movie of the year is also from India, but not a Bollywood movie.  It is quite different but very engaging from the very beginning.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/08/uyare-unexpected-gem.html

The bolded movie titles are just to indicate some familiarity of that particular movie.

Movies and Music Part 2

Like other aspects of movies, music is international and being its own language easily flows across borders.  Although many of the composers in part one were born outside the United States, they are best known for American cinema.  Below are others who made their mark overseas and some of whom have been asked to do American films.

Whereas Hollywood used to release soundtracks if they felt the movie had generated enough interest. In India a soundtrack is usually offered before the movie to help promote it.   I have bought a few Bollywood and Tamil tunes off iTunes before the movie was available.

My overall favorite is Shankar Ehsaan Loy who are very well known in Bollywood (which stretches around much of the world), but have not really been courted for western films.  A playback singer, a guitarist and a keyboardist got together for radio jingles and went onto to create an amazing range of movie music  The single song that led to my obsession was "Kal Ho naa Ho" in two versions.  Their versatility amazes me, but movies require a range of emotions and they have mastered them.  Some of their musical creations include "Kal Ho Naa Ho," "Dil Chatha Hai," "Don," "Rock On," Bunty aur Bibli" "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kahna" and "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" for some of the most memorable music on this list.

A R Rahman, a bit better known in Hollywood from "Slumdog Millionaire" which attracted more Hollywood business.   "Million Dollar Arm," "127 Hours" and "The Hundred Foot Journey."  Did an American movie with a Brazilian theme, "Pelé" and captured the right beat.  In Bollywood he is famous for such masterpieces as "Jodhaa Akbar" "Guru," "Rang de Basanti" and "Lagaan"  He has also done many movies in Tamil and other southern languages including "Kadal" (which has the #1 song on my iTunes)

Pritam Chakraborty has the appearance of a rock band leader, but some of his music defies preconceptions. In "Jab we met" is one of the most romantic songs I"ve heard as well as some other interesting ones.  One other song from the same movie made it to "The Second Best Marigold Hotel."

First noted Joe Hsiashi with the score from "Departures," a Japanese movie about a cellist forced to change his job.  The movie won an Oscar and I feel the music contributed to the warm feeling the movie left.  Other than that I discovered Joe wrote music for a number of animated films by Hayao Miyazaki. that did well in America including "Spirited Away," "The Wind Rises" and "Ponyo"

Ennio Morricone was a school mate with spaghetti westerns producer Sergio Leone.  This helped form a partnership in such movies as   "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly."  He has a range  that includes French, American and Italian.   I have admired his music the longest.  Has won one Oscar for "The Hateful Eight" plus an honorary Oscar for musical contributions plus another 5 nominations along the way.  Some of his other great Italian movies include "Cinema Paradiso" "Malena" and "Baaria," working with Giuseppte Tornatore.
http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/08/giuseppe-tornatore.html 

His French movies include "La Cage aux Folles" and "The Battle of Algiers."

Nino Rota worked with Federico Fellini.  He is perhaps most famous in North America for "The Godfather."  His Oscar nomination for that was rescinded when it was discovered he had re-worked his music from an earlier Italian film.  He did win an Oscar for "The Godfather Part II."   Among many others he was noted for "La Dolce Vita."

Gustavo Santalo from Argentina won Oscars for "Brokeback Mountain"and "Babel."   He also composed music for "Wild Tales," that won best Oscar for Foreign films.

Johan Soderqvist had done music for some of  my favorite movies--I can only excuse myself as I too often multi-tasked while watching a DVD- my very favorite "After the Wedding ( did buy one track--interesting combination with Indian music), "Brothers,"  "In a Better World,"   Also collaborated with Gustavo Santaolalla with "Things We Did After the Fire."   One not seen was written for a video game, "Battlefield 1."

K-pop has made inroads in North America, but there are still movie music that really adds to enjoyment.  Yeong-wook Jo wrote music for "The Handmaiden" (with my top rated movie music theme, other than Bollywood) and some other favourites, "The Glove" and "The Beauty Inside." 

Max Richter, German born has left a mark  more widely around the globe than anyone else on my list, except maybe Alexandre Desplat. German language films include "Lore" (actually produced by Australians) and "When We Leave" (about Turkish immigrants).  He composed for "The Lunchbox" for Bollywood.  In French he worked on "The Mark of Angels"  and "Sarah"s Key."  He also did the music for an Arabic movie, "Wadjda". He also composed for a Croatian movie, "Penelope" and for a Polish film and also with Czech.  Oh yes, he also did English language movies.  "Miss Sloane" (http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2017/09/miss-sloan-under-rated-movie.html), "Shutter Island" "A Sense of an Ending" and "A Testament of Youth."

The Spanish Alberto Iglesias, has 3 Oscar nominations for "The Kite Runner," "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy." and "Constant Gardener."  Some notable Spanish movies he composed include  "Volver" "Julieta" "Ma Ma" and "The Skin I Live In."  Has also did music for movies in Argentina such as "The Summit" starring Ricardo Darin.

France has produced a number of international prominent composers.

Michel Legrand was well established in France having written music for 7 films of Jean-Luc Godard and most famously "Les Parapluie de Cherbourg"  In 1966 he moved to California and won musical Oscars for "Summer of 42," "Thomas Crown Affair" and "Yentl."

Maurice Jarre, unlike most composers on this post was a latecomer to music.  As a university student he took courses in percussion.  In some of his movies he emphasized percussion and also ethnic instruments.  One of his early compositions was for "The Tin Drum."  Later in English language he worked a lot with producer David Lean and that partnership helped him get musical Oscars for "Lawrence of Arabia,""Passage to India" and "Doctor Zhivago" including the popular "Lara's Theme."

Alexandre Desplat is the most recent Oscar music winner for "The Shape of Water."  Previously he had won for "The Grand Budapest Hotel."  He seems to split his time on both sides of the Atlantic and with a few side trips.  In French he has composed music for "Renoir," "Un prophete," "The Valet" "Rust and Bone," "The Well Digger's Daughter."and "The Beat That My Heart Skipped,"  A Chinese film directed by Ang Lee, "Lust, caution."  Some other English speaking films are the "Harry Potter" series, "The Danish Girl" and "The King's Speech."

Creative composers are coming from all corners of the globe. Music truly is an international language.  As they say in restaurants, "Enjoy."

Part 1 is here:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2018/02/music-and-movies-part-one.html

Bollywood Music can grow on you.

My love of Bollywood music is the result of a lot of stumbling and now I am obsessed.  Most Canadians are blissfully ignorant of it or have a stereotypical prejudice.  There is a lot that is strange by North American standards and would take a lot of time to appreciate.  We don't often pay attention to the unfamiliar, which means that part of culture that is not touted by what we regard as authoritative is to be ignored.  Too bad there is lot to enjoy in this world.  I have chosen a few links I hope will appeal to your North American tastes to give you a better feel.

I got launched in my new interest with a song I still think is one of the best.  After some research I decided to watch "Kal Ho Naa Ho".  I was told by a library staff that it was a very sad movie, but the truth is at the first half it seemed pretty juvenile.  Then at one point the hero sings a very philosophical mellow song which caught me off guard as up to this point he had been engaged in a lot of frivolity.  They had another version of the song played towards the end which was labelled sad version and it was even with a little bit of over acting the most sad part of any movie I had ever seen.  My wife thinks it is suitable for doing yoga.

"Kal Ho Na Ho" is perhaps the saddes song I know, but very beautfiul.  Most people will find it very melodious and soothing.  The sad part really comes from the movie context.   Check it out:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTF0iNUVX54

Another song  from "Kal Ho Na Ho", "Kuch To Hua Hai" resonates with me, a song of two people expressing their new love, and you might assume it is for one another, but one is focused on our sad hero.  The lure with this song is most of it is set in Toronto and I recognized a lot of the sights.

I checked who wrote the music and learned it was a threesome, Shankar Ehsaan Loy.  One was actually a playback singer.  They had formed to do radio jingles until someone gave them the opportunity to do movie music back in 1997.  I have enjoyed their music in "Zindagi Na Milega Dobara" which won a well deserved album award,   "Rock On", "Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna", "Lakshya" (with one military theme very well done), "Karthik Calling Karthik", "Dil Chatha Hai" and others.  One movie that I enjoyed their music more than the movie was "Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic" and admit the clever choreography was an important element.

In India, the hit parade tends to revolve around movie music which is actually released before the movie.  In North America musicals have lost their popularity, but music is still a driving force in India.  I respond more to music in context which is what Bollywood offers.  Of course the content of the movie makes a big difference and there is a big variety.  They are heavily influenced by Western music, but they can also utilize unique Indian rhythms and musical instruments.

A R Rahman is the  most famous Bollywood composer in North America with "Slumdog Millionaire" for which he won two Oscars.  Has scored for a number of American movies. In a list of his top hits there are many more noteworthy songs that hit his most appreciative audiences.  Some of his music I enjoyed includes "Ghaljini", "Lagaan", "Taal".  " A Peck on the Cheek",  "Bombay."  He composed music for 3 Deepa Mehta's (a prominent Canadian film maker) films, "Earth", "Fire" and  "Water".   He also wrote the music for my favorite Bollywood movie, "Swades"  He enjoys being a playback singer (in one famous movie seen singing on top of a moving train).  Admittedly I appreciated a lot of his music when I revisited it after my first listen.

One of Rahman's movies I enjoyed early in my education was  "Jaane tu...ya Janne Na" An interesting link from Jaanne tu...ya Janne Na" is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX7t8ZwroHQ  with a catchy tune and fun dance.

Pritam Chakraborty is known for both hard and soft music.  He loves to write Punjabi songs with wild dance rhythms, but also has a reputation for soft romantic tunes.  In "Jab We Met" one of the songs from this movie, "Tum Se Hi"  was voted most romantic song.  click on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt9xg0mmt28 .  Mohit Chouhan is given a lot of credit for popularizing this song.

Vishal-Shekar have a long list of movies to their credit.  One very popular infectious (to listeners not computers) video from Ra.one sung by American hip hop artist Akon.  Can't recommend the movie otherwise but have a listen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4EZHGFK-1c  They have written a number of other catchy tunes.

Salim-Sulieman Merchant are two brothers.   They have produced music for a number of movies that I have enjoyed, but can't remember the music which might mean the songs didn't distract from the movie.  I thoroughly enjoyed "Iqbal"'s background music and noticed the main theme repeated in "Ashayein" another enjoyable bit of movie music.  An irony here is that in "Iqbal", the main character played by Shreyas Talpade was a deaf mute who cracked top cricket play and in "Aashayein" he played a bit role, but sang the song.   Two others I remember the music fondly were "Bachna Ae Haseeno" and "Fanaa"  Sometimes the story is more dominant and sometimes the music, but ideally they blend together.

Jatin-Lalit are another two brothers with a lot of movies to their credit, two of which are considered modern classics, "Diwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" and "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.",  amongst my top enjoyable Bollywood movies.

If you tried a few links and weren't impressed I can only suggest the more you listen and the more in context the more likely these songs will start to grow on you.  I didn't appreciate everything the first time I heard it, but came to love a lot of Bollywood music.  If you are not turned on, your effort is appreciated.  Forgive me, but I do love this stuff.