June 22, 2007

Welcome to Sounds Like Power

Sounds Like Power, by the author of Filmi Geek, is a new fan site and blog devoted to Shabana Azmi - as far as I know, the only such site on the web.

Shabana ji is a beautiful woman, a fine actor, a gifted mind, a tireless activist; an impressive, formidable, and inspiring person. My discovery of Shabana Azmi was the genesis of my love of Hindi films, but to call her my favorite movie star understates both the breadth of her achievements and the depth of my admiration for her. While I try to keep the embarrassing fan-girl gushing to a minimum on Filmi Geek, I don't always succeed, and so I thought the the time had come for me to start a blog devoted just to her, where I could channel my shameless worship for the benefit of those few who might find it interesting.

Stay tuned to *Sounds Like Power* for news, thoughts, screencaps, gushing, and even the occasional critique nestled among all the goo-headed worship of the spectacular individual called Shabana Azmi. I hope we all enjoy the ride!

18 comments:

Amit said...

Hi Carla,

Welcome to the world of Blogger! I guess "The Shrine" was just struggling to burst out and couldn't be contained anymore. ;) :) :)

Looking forward to some interesting posts related to Shabana and her life/movies.

Cheers,
-Amit

Filmi Geek said...

Thanks Amit! It does seem like its well past time for me to start a ridiculous project like this one. I'm happy to know I will have at least one reader! :)

Anonymous said...

Carla,

As a sister Shabana devotee, I'm thrilled to see you branch out in this particular way and look forward to each new post with great joy!

Susan

Filmi Geek said...

Susan! I am so glad you found the new blog; I was hoping you would.

Anonymous said...

Hi Carla,
I'm very interested in your endeavour about Shabana Azmi. Make us love whom you love!
Cheers
yves

Anonymous said...

Carla,

OF COURSE I found the new blog! I check your others every day and love what you write -- about language, renovations, films, the whole shebang! However, I must admit that this one is the first that I'll visit from now on. But of course!

Susan

Anonymous said...

Good start Carla.

I really urge you to watch Shabana's movie "Swami" - one of her best and most successful movies.

The songs in Swami are really melodious.

I am interested in reading your review of Swami.

Another commercial masala movie (emotional family drama) of Shabana's is "Ek Hi Raasta' with Jeetendra and Asha Sachdev. Shabana once again proves that she can act well in any kind of movie.

cheers Meera

Filmi Geek said...

You folks are all awesome! Thanks for the support.

Yves: This is only one step in my scheme for world domination. You might have heard a month or two ago some talk about nominating Shabana Azmi for President of India - who do you think was behind that? (I'm kidding!)

Susan - *blush*. Thanks. I'll try to keep things interesting around here.

Meera - I've got *Swami* at home and I'll make it the next Shabana ji film I see. Actually probably second after *Mandi*, which I've been dying to watch for a very long time. I'm not familiar with *Ek hi raasta* so thanks for the recommendation!

Anonymous said...

A wonderful and timely idea, Carla - I cheered when I read about it at Filmigeek. Although I have only seen Ms. Azmi in 2 films: AAA and Honeymoon, and am only partially aware of her activism and social work, I find your admiration of her fascinating and quite moving (and not at all embarassing. Now you are free to let loose about this remarkable woman to your heart's delight on this site. I look forward to discovering more about why you find her so inspiring and wonderful.Bravo Carla, bravo.

Filmi Geek said...

Daddy's Girl: Thank you for such a sweet comment! *blush* It would be great if I can spark some interest in Shabana ji among folks who are less familiar with her work.

Anonymous said...

Carla,

It is only fitting that Shabanaji would have such a smart, literate, informed blog/fan site dedicated to her. Even your gushing is classy!

Susan

Anonymous said...

Someone's responded to your query on BollyWhat about the interview with Javed Akhtar. Here's the link
http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/43844/splendid-60-sound-of-cinema-in-the-past-60-yrs.html

Filmi Geek said...

max, thanks - that's great stuff - I'll do a post on it here even though it's not about Shabana ji (I think Javed sahib is close enough, don't you?) - but I have something else I need to post first.

And Susan ... *blush*

Anonymous said...

Yes, I thought the connexion between Javed and Shabana was sufficientto warrant a mention here. Haai Allah, what a family - dinner conversations would be frightening! It was very gratifying for this unmusical lump to hear Javed Sahib picking as his favourites almost all of my mine.

Anonymous said...

Hiiii Carla!!

First of all,I hv 2 THANK U 4 starting a blog on Shabanaji-who is one of the most amazing and BEAUTIFUL women we've ever seen.I m proud 2 say dat I must b 1 of Shabanaji's youngest fans at the age of 14 though I think 'devotee' is a more apt description.She RULEZ!!Plus,my first blog is also the longest of all da comments!!
You asked whether Shabanaji took up da houkah n ny other movie;well she did in some movie where she plays a woman called Khurshid-m not really sure,correct m if m wrong..I also want to tell u dat Morning Raga was a wonderful movie but I only found the two versions of'Mahaganapathim' worth listening 2.
m looking forward 2 loads more on Shabanaji and her endeavours.It's a pity she doesen't appear in as many films as Big B.What's really sad is that half of my friends don't even know who she is!!By the way,I would ask you to put the image you put before on soundslikepower-the one with Shabanaji's eyes and you say 'Shabana...nectar...Shabana Azmi..power'.Change is nice but I feel that makes a nice intro to ur webpage.
Now that I have announced myself so spectacularily 2 da world,m just gonna shut up.I think I can just about go on about Shabanaji until I get hospitalised.

ROCK ON!!
Neha

Filmi Geek said...

Neha - you crack me up! When you said you could go and on and on until you are hospitalized - I think we must be sisters. It's so great to have you here!

Khurshid was Shabana ji's character's name in *Shatranj ke khilari*, which was one of the houkah pictures I already put up. It occurs to me that I should go look at *Junoon* again - it takes place at the same time as *Shatranj ke khilari* and *Umrao Jaan* so maybe there's a houkah in that. Hm...

Keep working on your friends and soon you will convince them of the undeniable magnificence of our Shabo! :)

Anonymous said...

Hi all,

I recently watched Shabanaji in 'Sati' where she plays a mute villager forced to marry a tree('Sati' is an ancient Hindu custom-I suggest you do some research on it), it's not my place to write reviews so I leave it to you,Carla, to do your thing.
Enjoy!
Neha

http://videoduniya.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1591&Itemid=189

Filmi Geek said...

Thanks for the recommendation Neha - *Sati* is a film by Aparna Sen that has been sitting in my "to be watched" stack for some time - I haven't gotten to it yet. Too much to watch - not enough time! But I am so glad that you are watching films like that one. I'll watch it and review it eventually - I promise!