What happens when Prides collide? Aishwarya Rai and Colin Firth are filming a $70M sword-and-chappals epic with Sir Ben (via DesiFans). Harvey Weinstein is backing Rai again despite the disappointing U.S. box office of Bride and Prejudice. It’s called The Last Legion:
The Last Legion is an epic adventure based on acclaimed author Valerio Massimo Manfredi’s international best-selling 2003 novel of the same name. The film is set against the fall of the Roman Empire in 470AD and its last emperor, 12-year-old Romulus Augustus…
Over-run with rebellion, Rome is a city on the brink of chaos and destruction. Imprisoned by rebels on the island-fortress of Capri, Romulus, aided by the clever strategies of his teacher Ambrosinus (Sir Ben Kingsley) and the heroic skills of his legionnaire Aurelius (Colin Firth), escape the island.Despite the turbulent events around them, this small band of Roman soldiers, accompanied by Byzantine warrior Mira (Aishwarya Rai), are determined to continue their mission to restore the Empire. This resolute group sets out on an arduous and dangerous trek for Britannia in search of the Last Legion, in their bid to make one final stand for Rome. [Link]
Colin Firth …. Aurelius
Ben Kingsley …. Ambrosinus
Aishwarya Rai …. Livia [Link]
Finally, we’ve got a suitable hero for the queen of mock chastity: not Colin Farrell, but Colin Firth, the serious Darcy in a ridiculous jumper. Though now that I mention it, the other pairing would have been interesting, the louche Lothario meeting chastity princess:
Farrell: ‘You know, I’ve dated a desi woman before.’
Aishwarya: ‘Strippers don’t count.’
Instead we get Aishwarya Jones’ Diary. ‘Aurelius, do these knickers make me look fat?’
The plot sounds like a yawner, though — road movies are better in Chargers than chariots. There lie perils in being the foreign babe du jour, e.g. the continuing obscurity of Diane Krueger from Troy. If they were going to waste an actress in an epic snooze, they should’ve just scooped up Kareena Kapoor from the remains of Asoka.*
* I haven’t seen Asoka yet, that’s a drive-by snarking.
Rather similar-sounding to Rome, involving more sexy Indian girls. Hooray! See here and here.
imdb (as you show on the post) says rai plays “livia,” a latin name (so kind of weird for a ‘byzantine,’ though not impossible). wuzup?
Ummm… Ben Kingsley + Colin Firth? I really don’t care how bad it is. I’ve watched these two in truly awful movies, and I’ll do it again, damn it! 🙂
So I guess this won’t be an HBO toga party.
This list of SCA -approved Byzantine names lists a number that appear Latin in origin (Licinia, Maria, Martina, Juliana) along with the more Greek-sounding names one would expect. Apparently the list is garnered from historical documents.
From what I remember, the Romans were pretty OK with letting people keep their own social mores, so I’m not quick to blame it on hegemony….
Plus, my classics geek friend said it’s a perfectly fine name for a Byzantine girl, so I’m convinced ;).
Didn’t Ash say she was only going to play “Indian” roles? or did I just imagine that so I could keep marvelling at her prettiness without the ‘acting’ interfering too much…
Want to touch the heiny!…
Awwww, too bad the story won’t be set in India.
If it was, we could have looked forward to Colin Firth mangling Hindi (or even Sanskrit?) the way he did Portuguese in Love Actually…
well, andrea, most of the balkans during this period was dominated by latin speakers (modern ex-yugoslavia and much of bulgaria and northern greece [thrace]). the byzantine emperor justinian the great was a latin speaker after all (though the last native one from what i recall), and i believe that during this period (late 5th century) there had only been a few “greek” byzantine emperors. but, kind of weird to name a “byzantine” character a classically latin name 🙂
isn’t every movie Kareena Kapoor does an epic snooze? At least as far as her lack-of-acting chops… zzzzzzzzzz
brimful, I’m with you. I’d see it just for Colin Firth…..I’m embarrassed to say I did see him in that silly Jane Austen and had the same reaction to the lake scene that Bridget Jones did (and yes, I know she’s not real and just a character in a book). Women are silly, aren’t they?
y’all the victim of colonized desire
So I guess this won’t be an HBO toga party.
DAMN!I totally forgot about that.
This list of SCA -approved Byzantine names lists a number that appear Latin in origin (Licinia, Maria, Martina, Juliana) along with the more Greek-sounding names one would expect. Apparently the list is garnered from historical documents.
I just want to say for the record that I love this comment.
Manish, you don’t watch enough British TV. I’ve seen Colin in some pretty eat up the scenery British TV dramas that are way better than their American counterparts.
Also, Asoka is fine if you leave out the songs, the very first scene, and the very last scene. I love the songs on their own but Choreography is terrible. More Indian Martials arts movies! Now!
Indian martials arts movies suck! Now! More specifically, Indian martial arts direction sucks. HARD. Like a vacuum cleaner. No no, like Mega Maid from Spaceballs. Harder than anything in the universe can suck. I didn’t mind the songs in Asoka, Roshni Se had a nice ‘picturisation’. The film sucked as hard as the fight choreography though. Daft flick.
Speaking of the HBO toga-party, Indira Varma (Bride & Prejudice, Kama Sutra), plays Niobe, “a peasant princess from a large and influential Roman clan” in the series (otherwise known as “Rome”), which premieres tomorrow night.
See comment number 1. I want the credit, me! Me! Me!
Maybe they just read the titles 😉
Bong Breaker, you’re right, it’s yours, sorry about that.
As far as sexy Indian girls, I don’t know, I think Indira Varma sounds a bit sexier than Aishwarya Rai. Really, there’s no way to have a normal fantasy about a former Miss World-turned-Byzantine-warrior-running-across-Brittania-with-Gandhi. Just can’t do it… But, a “peasant princess?” Sure, that presses all the high- and low-brow buttons without turning me entirely stupid.
About the Indian martial arts, you’re high… You ever seen a guy in a longhi whip-kick a thug? Sweet stuff, sweet, kind of like watching a cross between Bruce Lee and a Scotsman flipping his kilt… But, seriously, Kalaripayattu (from Kerala), is pretty interesting and its making its way into movies more and more. In fact, Jackie Chan used it in “The Myth,” Jet Li’s apparently studying it and Luc Besson’s going to use it in his next film, or so the rumor goes.
BongBreaker….apologies. The credit is yours.
No Manish. I did not read all the comments 🙂
Old habits die hard……..one of my on-going project has been to find actresses of non-Indian origin who made in big in Bollywood.
My ace is Mary Evans Wadia aka Fearless Nadia. She was an icon in her time.
http://theory.tifr.res.in/bombay/persons/me-wadia.html
Hey what those other Indian Martial Arts KALARI GATKA Stand back ladies as Unclji is transformed from mild mannered tax accountant into lean mean turbaned lady loving, whirlwind of chakra power !
It’s OK, I’m not that competitive about being the first to mention Rome! Well I pretend not to be competitive. Although…competitive Indian schoolboy habits die hard. Anyhoo, I’d be quite interested to talk about Indian martial arts. I’ve read a little and thanks for the references, but don’t know a great deal other than kung fu orginated in India. Which I make sure to tell all Chinese friends.
By the way I wasn’t insulting Indian martial arts per se, I was insulting the choreography in fillums.
sorry my boy went over the top there. I have to completetly agree with you about martial arts in Indian films, though Hindi Filmi are much better on marital aids then your Chinis.
I should add bhanghra (well do you think that Mr Bruce Lee could clear the dance floor as quickly as your Uncleji with his deadly moves…burrrrah!
Swoon
😉
It did? Care to elaborate, BB?
Hope I haven’t missed out reading anything or misread anything. After yesterday, my commenting confidence gave out. Damn!
I do traditional karate. It is believed that almost all martial arts have roots from India, according to non-Indian scholars.
Martial arts went to East Asia through silk route and flourished there, more than India (like Buddhism).
The Great Martial Arts of East Asia and India
http://www.doshinkan.com/STL_Website/Martial%20Arts%20History.htm
http://www.martialartsites.com/irondragon1/index.cfm?page=6
http://www.jadedragon.com/archives/roots.html
PS: I am using very varied sources, non of them from Indians.
A few websites about the Sikh martial art of Gatka kindly mentioned by that supercharged icon of wit and wisdom Uncleji, for those who are interested:
http://www.internationalgatka.org/
http://www.gatka.de/
http://www.warriorsaints.com/
I agree that the martial arts choreography in Asoka was less than superb, but I give a lot of credit to the fact that they actually incorporated it into the plot in a meaningful way. You gotta start somewhere. More, more, more, is a way of saying Get Better!
Yeah, I think Bodhidharma was supposed to have been an Indian prince (just like Buddha himself) and is connected somehow with Shaolin Kung Fu. In Japan I saw monuments to Bodhidharma clearly thanking him for leaving India and travelling east.
I’m no expert (but I do know one, so I’ll get back to you) but undoubtedly the spread occurred hand-in-hand with Buddhism. The whole Buddhist roots of certain martial arts has in fact been questioned though – some believe that it was not the monks who perfected the early fighting strategies, but travelling warriors who may have looked like monks. It does seem odd that followers of one of the most non-violent religions would spend their time fighting, but then again apparently monasteries came under attack now and again. Plus if you’re a monk I’m sure you get bored. So one monk probably did what I do when I’m bored, and thumped his mate in the face…and Fight Club V.1 was born.
Vajramukti means unarmed combat – or at least it did thousands o’ years ago. Now somewhere along the lines, the ksatriyas started practicing ‘Nata’, which, as far as I know, has its origins in classical dance. I don’t know how it morphed into a fighting style, but I suppose it began as a study of human movement.
Buddhist converts ‘adjusted’ Shiva as Nataraja to become Narayana Deva, the Chinese name for whom was Na Lo Yen Tien and he had some sort of protective role in Buddhism, tying in the whole nata-err..business.
Clearly the knowledge left India and was nurtured in ancient China. This history is based on archaeological findings, showing Chinese translations of Indian books and of referrals made to India in Chinese texts – such as the old Chinese name for India which translated as the land of the ksatriya.
Saheli, Bodhidharma was revered as a spiritual leader, but despite being frequently credited with bringing martial arts to China, I doubt this. It seems improbable it came from one man when it sprang up in various different areas with various different styles.
Oh and I forgot to mention Tai Chi’s link to yoga – this is a far more well-known link than the one between India and kung fu, but also far older. This pre-dates Buddha by some 1000 years at least. It is logical to think that Tai Chi also influenced early martial arts in China.
Ah, things seemed so nice back then. Harappa and Mohenjo Daro exchanging information and goods with Mesopotamia and China freely. The three cradles of civilisation at the time. Sure there were a few slave-killings, witch-slayings, wife-beatings, animal-sacrifices and various wars, but it seemed like good fun! I say this tongue-in-cheek, but it genuinely seems like information was exchanged over vast distances remarkably easily. Like an intellectual higher class, which didn’t muddy itself with all the inevitable decadence and whatnot back in the day, they just seemed to like finding out new shit, to put it bluntly.
Early martial artists were more like “warriors for hire” who provided protection to buddhist shrines and merchants along the silk route. Different martial arts then grew out their own cultural and historical needs.
It all comes down to funding…..no buck, no buck rogers (“the right stuff).
I never intended to provide a direct link to Buddhism, but a causal link to martial arts.
Once I heard a seminar on martial art history and their take was as follows:
“Early east asian martial arts were strongly influenced by indian martial arts through training or observation along the silk route. Some of the best schools were shops for hire along the route – these were very well travelled “Bruce Lees”. Martial artists have always been safe-keepers of Buddhist and shinto shrines. As you move farther from India, that influence gets more dilute – why some of them are big on kick or lower body or upper body, etc.”
You telling me that Monkey DIDN’T invented ku fung?!! 🙁 All together now ” Born from an egg on a mountain top etc. etc.”
So why didn’t it develop in India sub cont. ?
A) Was it because there were no restrictions on carrying weapons like in the Middle Kingdom ?
B) Was it the bathwater that was thrown out with the metaphorical baby that was Buddhism ?
C) We were all too peace loving ?
D) Was it because we were all walking around shame-shame doing Kama Sutra stuff ? E) Lack of obvious franchising opportunities ? YOU Boing Doctor Sahib with the public school education tell me NOW !
Bottom, line…….lack of funding. In East Asia, shrines and long distance merchants needed protection, and therefore, they was ample funding.
Modern day eastern martial arts has a strong US influence (moving the way boxers move)…..because right after WW II, the en-masse supporters of martial art were US sailors. In fact, the best teachers from Japan, Korea were sent to US as part of post-WW II friendship.
Thanks for the explanation BB, but I still feel its a tenuous link(Kung Fu and India that is) or maybe I didn’t get it(which is possible :). I was asking ‘cuz from a very superficial observation, martial arts seem far more developed in the far east as opposed to India. And I have always been curious as to why. Other than the occassional mention of gatka or kalari payattu, there hardly seem to be any martial arts or warrior traditions in India.
Wouldn’t the threat of invasion(and India had more than its fair share of these) and the threat from local enemies(Indian princely states were pretty much at odds every other day) warrant the desire to fund and encourage martial arts/warriors, so to speak?
{sorry Uncleji getting tired and emotional} I’m not convinced by that explantion, India is a big place so are the Buddihist centres to the west. While I concur on the “bucks” theory, especially since Shoalin monks are now being hired as bodyguards in China, I still can’t see why this couldn’t of applyed in India.
Bodhidharma may of laid the seeds of the martial arts tradition in East Asia, since the movement he founded developed also Zen, taken up with gusto by those paragons of pacificism the samurai.
” Wouldn’t the threat of invasion(and India had more than its fair share of these) and the threat from local enemies(Indian princely states were pretty much at odds every other day) warrant the desire to fund and encourage martial arts/warriors, so to speak?”
The heart of eastern-style martial art is the supreme allegiance to the teacher and not to the King. Therefore, to develop a martial art school, you need funding and alternate power structure with lot of patience. A true martial artist needs 10-20 years of training before they become lethal. In East Asia, the temples were always an alternate power houses.
I do not think Indian princes were into that long-term commitments and sharing power/ influence with teachers.
I have some work to do today, so the answer is very short. The historians have found strong link in the style of martial along the silk route and evidence for a gradual change in style from Southern India to the Koreas. I mean the katas, kumite, body movement etc.
When I say eastern-style martial art, there is also South American, European and other styles of martial art too. The concept of an egalitarian warrior (who uses his or her mind and body to the maximum) is timeless.
As Jai Singh said, sikhs (Gatka) are very similar to eastern martial artists, again the teacher (warrior guru) is more important the king.
I have literally 2 seconds – but just thought I’d say one other thing, to throw a nunchuku into the works. Could it be because:
F) Indians are shitty at just about anything physical?
Now don’t start moaning about being warriors or whatever. We’re talking a physical discipline which may or may not have been started in India, but one that was certainly developed and refined by the Chinese. For all we know it died out completely in India.
Kush has done a good job explaining certain things, it all seems to make sense.
But I’m serious about my Indians are crap thing. Look at a modern equivalent – sport. My perennial bugbear, Indians and sport. Whereas look at China. Sure part of it’s funding and infrastructure and so forth, but is it such a leap to compare modern India and China to 2000 years ago? The mentalities haven’t changed much. Even in my area of dancing, Oriental races kick ass and South Asians suck it.
India has a less physical culture than the Chinese. I think that is a big part of why martial arts didn’t take off in a big way.
While my interest is piqued by the concept of this movie, Aishwarya is over-exposed (in hair color ads in women’s magazines, etc.) She is the only Indian actress (or actor for that matter) that Americans are familiar with… anyway, it would much more interesting, in my opinion, if let’s say, Clint Eastwood and Amitabh Bachchan did a film together. Some shoot ’em up Sholay meets The Good the Bad and the Ugly type film. That would be awesome!
sad to say, very few brown folk can bring da funk, BB. In most of the street/funk/hiphop/house/etc classes around here, everybody is getting spanked by petite Asian girls with mad pop-n-lock skills.
oh my god are you off.
come my reception and prepare to be funkadified
i will regale you with one story
was at a roots reggae concert in college. was sitting in the stands, and say a woman in a head-wrap (very erykah badu) snicker when she saw us walk in — like what do these kids know about soul music?
and you know, when the first beat drop and my hand went up at the perfect moment; her jaw drop. but i pay her no mind for the rest of the show as i proceed to get down
point of the story; i’m a badass dancer
“Indians are shitty at just about anything physical?”
you’ve never been around punjabis have you
“India has a less physical culture than the Chinese. I think that is a big part of why martial arts didn’t take off in a big way.”
this is an interesting theory, but its crap
Could be. There does seem to be less cultural emphasis on working out, really keeping fit etc. (Very broadly speaking; yes I know that plenty of people back in India do go to the gym these days.)
The average male back in India does seem to be disproportionately skinny compared to guys from elsewhere (well, apart from the pot-bellied types — too much ghee etc); I don’t know if this is purely a factor of something lack in their diet, or something genetic, or whatever. This doesn’t preclude the skinny types from potentially being able to bulk up as much as anyone else once they actually start working out, of course.
And yes I know about notable exceptions in matters physical such as Punjabis, as Raju has correctly mentioned.
I wonder if all this is due to the fact that, historically, Indian society wasn’t necessarily a warrior-driven culture — not to the extent of Japan, for example — apart from the relatively small kshatriya elite. (The obvious exceptions being the Pathan-types and, of course, the Sikhs, although this was relatively recent in the millennia-old course of Indian history). If only the Kshatriyas were really supposed to be super-fit martial arts experts, then perhaps there was less cultural influence on the rest of the population to encourage them to also aspire to that. This argument is of course contradicted by the Samurai example.
It would be good to hear some insight from SM participants with more detailed knowledge of Indian history in this regard.
I was sitting here thinking of those posters of huge-ass Punjabi wrestlers you see in Brick Lane, so I googled Indian wrestling. Got a documentary about kushti, a letter from an Indian wrestler (apparently he took part in the very first mud-wrestling match in the U.S.!), a crazy photo gallery, etc. And don’t forget Indian clubs. This also reminds me of Russell Peters joking about how Indians were brought to Africa as slaves…he says something like “My people were not built for physical labor! Accounting, yes.”
chill chill, Raju dear. I said very few brown folk could bring da funk. Surely you might be a gifted exception 🙂
Dunno. I’m one of the non-funk bringers, but I’ve been to great South Asian parties full of amazing dancers (and don’t forget Raju 🙂 ).
Plus, hey, yoga?