Which Kdrama Is Best For Beginner?

Boys Over Flower: Another Love Story Couple

When I first started watching Korean Drama was by accident and I chose the good Kdrama for expert, but not for a beginner. I watched melodrama which was slow and had many sad scenes. However, somehow, I stuck along 20 episodes of it and survived. Since then I realized that there are much more better choices of Kdramas I could have started with.

Watching Korean Drama is very different compared to American Drama and even BBC mini series sitcoms, it is very unique experience. If you are new to Korean Drama or want to experience the craze about Kdrama, then these are the dramas you should start with.

Things to know before watching any Korean Drama:

Korean dramas are 16-24 episodes long, unlike decade running series like “All My Children” or “General Hospital. That means there is finite time and end.
Korean dramas are over an hour long, without any ads or commercials. If you watch it on some streaming drama sites, they would add their own ads every 15 minutes or so, making it long (Unless you get paid subscription)
Make sure before you buy or pay for Kdrama, it has fully English subtitles, or whichever language you prefer. If you are native Korean speaker, ignore this tip.
Korean drama are slower in pace and culture is quite different compared to US or western culture and drama. Sometimes holding hands between lead pairs can take long time.
There is less importance on physical relationship. Sometimes lead pair can kiss in last episodes, or sometimes they may not even kiss despite loving such as “49 days”. Don’t worry, it will not make it dull or less romantic viewing. Believe me and other Kdrama addict fans.
There will be lot of back hugs, piggy back rides, drinking and eating food together, plenty of guy shower scene as they seemed to do lot of thinking during shower.
Storyline either be modern time, or Joseon era of past, or time traveling between old and modern time such as Rooftop Prince or Queen In Hyun’s Man.
Do not start a Korean Drama just before test, before project is due. Believe me, everything will be left as it is and drama will be finished.
You may lose your sleep, just trying to watch JUST ONE MORE episodes. I have done it plenty of time.
You may start to read Kdrama blogs and recruit other people missing out on watching Korean Drama.

Okay, now that I said what to expect, let’s move on important part such as which is the best Korean Drama to start watching. After watching Korean Drama since 2010 and watching many good, bad, ugly and all in between dramas, I can suggest and share my best drama list for new beginners to Kdrama world.

Best Korean Dramas For a Beginner:

One more thing, first episodes is always a introduction of situations, characters and it is all jumble usually for most Korean Drama. You will have to watch at least 2 or 3 episodes to really get in to drama. So, have little patience and watch 2-3 episodes at least.

City Hunter

This is best Kdrama for beginner in my opinion, as the story takes place in modern time, and has cool spy things, politics, love, revenge all rolled in to one. Of course, having a Good looking Lee Min Ho starring in it, sure helps. Based on a famous Japanese comic, CITY HUNTER is a Korean TV drama thriller starring Lee Min-Ho(Boys Over Flowers( and Park Min-Young (Sungkyunkwan Scandal) that follows a trail of revenge and romance all the way to the presidential Blue House.

You’re Beautiful

This series is about 3 guys in boy band group and one girl, pretending to be a boy in a boy band which surely leads to love, confusion and heartaches. Taekyung (Jang Keun-Suk) is A.N.JELL’s arrogant and insufferable lead singer. Guitarist Shinwoo (Jung Yong-Hwa of C.N.Blue) is too perceptive for his own good, and happy-go-lucky drummer Jeremy (Lee Hong-Ki of F.T. Island) is just plain slow on the uptake. Into the boy band mix comes A.N.JELL’s bumbling newbie, Go Minam (Park Shin-Hye). But what the fans don’t know is that he’s actually a she! Roped into posing as her twin brother, Minam has to hide her real identity. But secrets have a way of coming out, especially when her bandmates start falling for her!

Secret Garden:

Story is cute and has un-realistic plot line, but that will not matter, you will want true love life like them in no time. From shiny tracksuits to cappuccino foam kisses, the fantasy romance Secret Garden provided some of the hottest topics in 2011. Hyun Bin and Ha Ji Won bicker away in the series as an eccentric, elitist CEO and a spunky stunt woman who hate each other almost as much as they’re undeniably attracted to each other. It’ll take some magical intervention to get these two stubborn lovebirds to ‘fess up to their feelings!

Roof Top Prince:

This drama story takes places in both modern and old Joseon era times, however it is mostly in modern present time. There is re-incarnation of both male leads and female leads in both modern and olden era.

Prince Lee Gak finds himself time traveling 300 years into the future with his 3 trusted sidekicks as they are investigating murder of Princess, his wife. They would have to go through considerable challenges as he adapts to 21st century Seoul and Park-ha. Can love last when there is 300 years gap? You will laugh, cry and fall in love with Omurice, J4 (Joseon 4 guys) and lead pair’s love story.

Full House:

This was very popular series in 2004, by singer actor Rain and I can see why, it has every thing Kdrama needs, rich, good looking male lead, pretty, happy go lucky poor female lead, fake marriage contract and love square.

Female lead Han Ji-eun’s loses her house by greedy friend to Rain. She and rain makes an arrangement for her to earn her house back by working at home for him, which leads to Fake Marriage contract and confusion and eventual love. Even though I am not a big Rain fan, I like his acting in this series.

Boys Over Flower:

This is high school romance story between unlikely pair has its origin in Japanese Manga. Only reason you should watch this drama is, unless you have watched Boys Over Flower once you do not know Kdrama. While it has too much hype as most popular Korean dram, you should watch it for experience and who Jan Di and Gun Pyo are, and who F4, fabulous four guys are. Story takes place in high school where F4 are rich, good looking and bully to the core. One poor girl, stands up to them and 2 guys falls for her from F4. How their love survives between evil mom, memory loss and fiance is what makes it fun.

Queen In Hyun’s Man:

To people who complain that there are not enough hot kisses in Korean drama should watch this drama as it has many passionate kisses between the lead pair. They are dating in real life at the time, so I guess the chemistry shows up on screen. The story takes place in modern time but time traveling is also there. Male lead who is smart, considerate and adapts to modern life quickly. Love story has cute, comedy scenes are there and fun to watch, so go ahead and try it.

The Heirs:

The Heirs also takes place in high school and stars Lee Min Ho. But unlike Lee Min Ho character from Boys Over Flowers, here Lee Min Ho’s Character Kim Tan is more mature and level headed person, even though he used to be a bully in past. Kim Tan is in California in first few episodes, his English leaves lot to desire but it will not matter. Love story between illegitimate rich son and housekeeper’s daughter is shown in realistic way. Seeing screwed up lives of rich parents and kids made me feel at ease that I am not rich. Watch this series for fun viewing as it is in modern times that we can relate.

IIjimae:

Unlike other Korean Drama for beginner, this is only Kdrama that is completely takes place in olden time. The reason I picked it here but it story line is similar to Robin Hood. The hero or Iijimae robs and steal to help poor, oppressed people under corrupt lawmakers. We get to see his past story to why he does what he does. There is love from 2 girls that Iljimae has, but does he have time for it? I believe, new Kdrama viewers will love this series even though it is takes place in Joseon era.

Dream High:

Dream high is a feel-good fluff Kdrama that is fun to watch. Six students at Kirin High School have the dream of becoming K-pop idols. During their school years, they learn how to develop their singing, songwriting and dancing skills while undergoing personal growth. They also go through their love life and start to develop feelings for each other. Each one of the students has his or her own strengths and weaknesses, but they strive to debut with the support and guidance of each other. The series was so popular that there is season 2 of Dream High was made with new actors and season 1 actors making a cameos in it.

So, pick any one of the drama and start watching Korean Drama, soon you will be viewing more complex and wonderful world of Korean Drama in no time.

January 2, 2014December 31, 2013

The Camera In “To Beautiful You” Korean Drama

If you see Korean dramas like I do, you start to notice little things. When I was watching Roof Top Prince I saw a white camera being used to take pictures, then friend told me that she saw the same or similar white camera in Flower Boy Next door. I almost wanted to re-watch the drama to pause to so I can take picture and find out what camera was it. But, then I got busy with other Korean Drama.

Image source: To Beautiful You Kdrama

Alas, I was watching “To Beautiful You” Korean Drama With Shinee’s Choi Min Ho and F(x)’s Choi Sulli based on Japanese Manga, I saw the same white camera again. I thought it was fate and I had to find out what camera was it and make it on my next buy it list. Little detective work and internet search paid off and I found what camera was it! I want one!

I thought of sharing my little detective work, just in case some one like me who might be wondering and losing her sleep! Are you ready? It is Samsung NX1000 White :20.3MP Digital Camera with 20-50mm Lens. Pretty cool huh?

Here are the features for the camera from Amazon. com listing;

Source: Amazon Customer Image

Samsung NX1000 White :20.3MP Digital Camera

20.3 megapixels Samsung Smart Camera NX1000
1/4000 fast shutter and Built-in WiFi. 20.3MP APS-C Sensor Customized for the NX System
Professional-grade
20.3MP APS-C CMOS Sensor produces images that rival those of any premium DSLR.
Each individual pixel has a large sensor area and receives more light
The higher sensitivity allows you to shoot during low-light situations without graininess or other noise.
The new sensor also provides Full HD video output capabilities.
1/4000 Fast Shutter Shutter speed can make the difference between capturing an iconic image
The NX1000’s 1/4000 shutter speed gives you the flexibility to shoot like the pros-at varying speeds and light exposures.
The NX1000’s shutter even automatically adjusts itself
Electronically controlled focal-plane shutter reduces exposure errors.
High Speed Capture The NX1000 features super-fast High Speed Capture capabilities
The result is a fast and precise AF System that captures life’s fleeting moments.
Instant Sharing via WiFi
1080P Full HD Stereo Movie Recording
High Speed Capture

If you want to buy it, it usually sells for $500-$600, but I have found best discounted price here: Samsung NX1000 White :20.3MP Digital Camera

If you buy the camera or have it, let me know how is it working for you. Have you watched the “To Beautiful You’ Korean Drama?

January 1, 2014February 20, 2014

Top Taiwanese Dramas To see

Mars: Taiwanese Drama

At first, I was only watching Korean Asian Dramas, but then a friend suggested I should check out some Taiwanese Drama that she was watching, so I started watching with here with little to no expectations. I expected Taiwanese Drama to be similar to Korean drama, but boy I was surprised, they were quite different as apples and oranges.

Chinese Drams can be broken down to Taiwanese Drama, Hong Kong Drama, Mandarin Language Drama, Cantonese Language Drama and so on. Many Chinese dramas are not as main stream such as Japanese or Korean Dram. What it means here is that finding some Chinese drama with exception of Taiwanese drama, finding drama with English subtitle was not so easy, that means non-native speaker would not be able to see it. Another thing about Chinese entertainment industry as not commercially sophisticated as South Korea and Japan in terms of Universal appeal and story line that match mass population. That not to say, there are not so great drama from China. You can see more Taiwanese Drama in my Drama list, where I have listed all drama I have watched.

How Taiwanese Drama Different from Korean Drama?

Parents are more understanding of kids and supportive, No evil Mom like Boys Over Flower
Notmany evil ex-girl-friend or boy- friend from past
If by chance there is evil person, they will be given help (example. “Just you” Taiwanese Drama)
Kiss is more than touching lips unlike in Kdrama
Usually much longer, 21-72 episodes
Much more family oriented
Male leads are less metro-sexual unlike Kdrama, where guys puts lip-gloss etc
Some Taiwanese drama are remake from Korean Drama, Japanese Manga

Top Taiwanese Drama To See:

1. Just you: (2013)

This is my most favorite drama because of cute leading pairs and message for love and forgiving that makes me feel uplifted even with a one evil character in it. Qi Yi is a boss from hell. He is worst than a control freaking dictator. He is the saboteur of office romances. Cheng Liang Liang was tasked by her coworkers to break down the boss’ defense and have him lift the anti-office-romance rule. This series is 21 episodes long.

2. Mars: (2004)

Han Qi Luo, an extremely shy art student went to the same college as Chen Ling,a popular play boy. They both are haunted by past traumatic events of their own and began to heal together slowly. However, each of them had a secret past that needed to be addressed and overcome before they could accept and love one another freely. It is deep series that talks about many taboo subject and lovely love story within haunting and sad lives they had. It has 21 episodes.

Mars Fall in Love OST

3. Love Around: (2013)

Another series of Annie Chen and George Hu after Love Now. Radio DJ Liang Xiao Shu is outgoing, straightforward and speaks up against bad guys in her radio show. After finding out her boyfriend of three months is cheating on her, she is devastated. By a chance encounter she meets Zhou Zhen who comes from a former gangster family that has decided to go straight. Zhen is gentle, gracious and upright, he encourages and helps Xiao Shu by taking on his father and working for Liang’s radio show to help her. Little does he know the seed of love has already begun to grow. This series is 21 episodes long.

Love Around Trailer: English Subs.

4. Meteor garden : (2001)

This is Taiwanese version of “Boys Over Flowers”, story takes place in college, instead of high school. Yet another adaptation of a Japanese manga. Based upon Hana Yori Dango. It’s the story of a poor girl in a rich, private school who falls in with the four richest boys in school. At first they hate her, but her defiance to them, (when no one defies them) eventually wins them over. Can they adjust to each others differences due to their vastly incompatible social status? 27 episodes long.

5. When Love Walked In: (2012)

This series stars, idols stars, Calvin Chen, Zhou Mi (Super Junior-M) and Victoria from F(X). Young, talented, and handsome Qing Yu Jiang receives orders to look for Chairman Yuan’s long lost granddaughter, Shen Ya Yin. Because of her parents’ death, Ya Yin is bitter towards her grandfather. Yu Jiang not only eases the tension between them, but he gradually enters Ya Yin’s heart. But when their love begins, Yu Jiang backs out because of his love for his childhood friend. Yu Jiang tries to find her, but fails to realize that she has been by his side all along. This series is 32 episodes long.

6. Skip Beat: (Also Known as Extravagant challenge): 2011

This Taiwanese series stars Siwon and Donghae from Super Junior. It is based on the Japanese manga Skip Beat. High school graduate Gong Xi starts working on multiple jobs in order to support Bu Po Shang whom she has one-side love. Bu PO Shang’s popularity quickly rises, eventually becoming one of the top idols in Taiwan. One day, Gong Xi catches Bu Po Shang flirting with his manager, and learns that he only used her so she can help him with his living expenses. Heart-broken and betrayed, Gong Xi vows to get revenge by becoming a bigger star than him. Gong Xi auditions for L.M.E., Bu Po Shang’s rival talent agency, and joins L.M.E.’s new-found department “Love Me”. At L.M.E., Gong Xi meets famous actor Dun Helian, who eventually falls in love with her. This series is 15 episodes long.

7.It Started With a Kiss: (2005)

Story line is similar to Korean Drama Playful Kiss but it goes in much more depth and details. After an earthquake destroyed Xiang Qin’s house, she and her father moved in with the family of her father’s college buddy, Uncle Ah Li. To her surprise, the kind and amicable aunt and uncle are the parents of her cold and distant schoolmate Jiang Zhi Shu, a genius with an IQ of 200 whom not too long ago rejected her endless crush on him. Will the close proximity give her a second chance to win Zhi Shu’s heart? Or, will her love for him end under his cold words? What happens when there is competition for his heart? This series is 30 episodes long.

8. Fabulous Boys: (2013)

This is Taiwanese remake of a hit drama You’re Beautiful. The story revolves around a fictional boy band named A.N.JELL. The new member, Mei Nan, had to go to the States to repair a botched eye job just before signing the contract. His agent came up with the idea of having his twin sister, Gao Mei Nu a nun-in-training who has to pose as her twin brother and take his place in the group and to stand in for him. The two of them grew up in an orphanage and Mei Nu, who was all set to become a nun, agreed to this charade as she didn’t want to spoil her brother’s chance of fame which would make it easier to look for their mother. The story leads to a complicated relationship between the group’s members: jealousy arises and love comes in between. 13 Episodes.

9. Love Now: (2012)

Yang Yi-ru, as a workaholic never had time for a holiday, so her family tricks in to a vacation telling she has cancer and only six months to live. It was meant to be told when she reaches the hotel room, but she does not get the letter of truth in time and really believes she is dying. When Yi-ru told Shi-de that she only has six months left to live and that one of her dream was to get married and have kids, Shi-de proposed to Yi-ru. Not knowing that Shi-de actually had met her years ago and had fallen in love with her since that time, Yi-ru accepted his proposal. Now Shi-de is hurt when truth is out in open. It has 72 episodes but worth watching.

10. Lady Maid Maid: (2012)

Xiao Jie (Nicholas Teo) is a womanizer who changes girls like the way he changes clothes. Whereas, Shu Qi (Reen Yu) is a sweet and caring girl who sees Xiao Jie as her only prince charming because when Xiao Jie was at the lowest point in her life, not only did Xiao Jie give her and her family a home to live. Until one day a child shows up claiming to be Xiao Jie’s and with this changes their whole world.. With two people from two different worlds, can they be together and have happiness? It is 67 episodes long.

11. Fated To Love You: (2008)

Xin Yi sticky note girl who is ordinary and forgettable person. She gets dumped by her boyfriend at cruise vacation she paid for and ends up in Ji Cun Xi’sroom. Cun Xi is the sole male heir to his family’s company and is on cruise to propose to his girlfriend Anna, who does not show up. Xin Yi and Cun Xi end up having a one night stand. Xin Yi later finds out that she’s pregnant and Cun Xi’s grandmother forces them to get married. Will a couple forced to marry for the sake of their unborn child find love with each other? It has 24 episodes.

12. Devil Beside You : (2005)

Devil Beside You is adaption of manga Akuma de Sourou (The Devil Does Exist) by mangaka Takanashi Mitsuba. A girl writes a love letter to a boy. The wrong boy (a delinquent) intercepts the letter and blackmails her with it. The wrong boy later turns out to be her future step-brother (and love interest). Even though they were not related by blood, who will accept this step brother-sister relationship? What is to become of their relationship when other lovers come into the picture? It has 20 episodes.

Devil Besides You: English Subtitle

13. Autumn’s Concerto: (2009)

Ren Guang Xi, a cocky law student, seems to lead the perfect life with rich parents and being talented hockey player. But in reality, his lonely life lacks joy, laughter until he meets Liang Mu Cheng,who is poor bento seller but passionate and happygoing. A harmless bet brings the two together and Guang Xi slowly changes as Mu Cheng teaches him how to give and love. Tragedy strikes when Guang Xi loses his memory. His mother begs Mu Cheng to leave him and the latter has no choice but to do so. Little does she know that she already has Guang Xi’s child. They meet after 6 six years, when he is engaged to be married with someone else.How will the couple make up for six years of lost time? Happiness, which stop do I alight at? It has 21 episodes.

14. Hana Kimi: (2006)

This was remade in Kdrama To Beautiful you with Choi Min Ho from Shinee and Suli from F(x). After watching a high jump competition on TV, Lu Rui Xi was so inspired by a jumper named Zuo Yi Quan that she decides to transfer to his school, which happened to be an all-boys school; therefore, she disguises herself as a boy to get accepted to help and inspire Zuo Yu Quan back in to game. It has 15 episodes.

15. Tiamo Chocolate: (2012)

Story is very similar to Korean Drama Coffee Prince, with Coffee being replaced with Chocolates. Vanness plays a successor of a business. His dream is to open a chocolate store and be an expert in chocolates, so he leaves his business and his family to fulfill his dream. Joanne is someone who spent her days slogging and taking up part time work. One day, she ends up working for Vanness and above all, she has to dress herself as a man for the job. It has 80 episodes.

16. Smiling Pasta:(2006)

The story begins with Xiao Shi day dreaming on her balcony, wishing for a successful love. She meets He Qun by chance. This marks the beginning of their intertwined destinies. It has love story, love contract, family and sibling relationship and great Italian cooking. It has 17 episodes.

Smiling Pasta Trailer

17. Princess Stand In: (2013)

The ugly Jin Da Hua daydreams that if she is as beautiful as Du Liang Yan, maybe her best friend Lin Guan Jun will fall in love with her. Then one day, through plastic surgery, she is given the chance to change her life. It has 21 episodes.

18. In Born Pair (2011-2012)

Two strangers, who never had much luck in the love arena, found themselves betrothed by their families. They decided to take chance on arranged marriage. They fight but slowly gave way to genuine fondness for one another. In the end, the couple discovered that true love is not to be found but has to be cultivated.

19. Corner With Love (2007)

Barbie Hsu stars as Xinlei, a rich Shanghai girl who has taken for granted all her fortune and happiness. Cook and amateur painter Chin Lang (Show Luo) is less lucky. The two cross path in metropolitan Shanghai, and with the help of Xinlei, Chin Lang finally returns to Taipei. He expects never to see her again. But as fate would have it, she shows up at his door all of a sudden – and as if that is not surprising enough – to claim the ownership of his apartment.

20. Office Girls (2011)

Qin Zi Qi is a MBA graduate who has everything handed to him because he is the future successor of Jingshi Department Store. who is working as an entry-level employee for a year without revealing his identity as his father’s wishes. Qin could not have survived the year has it not been for Shen Xing Reng’s office survival guide. Together, Shen and Qin accomplish the impossible, which is to shine on the bottom of the office pyramid.

There are many great Taiwanese Dramas, which I have yet to watch, which is your Favorite Taiwanese Drama?

Check out other Great Taiwanese Dramas: Taiwanese Dramas

December 31, 2013January 17, 2014

Crazy Kpop Hair Styles

Kpop is known not only for catchy beat, tunes, dance movies and colorful crazy outfits as well some crazy, unique and out there hairstyles. Some of favorite and not so favorite Kpop group have pretty crazy hair styles in past, present and I am sure it will continue in future as well.

DBSK: Triangle Album

Super Junior:

Park Yoochun (DBSK: Mirotic Song)

Shin Changmin: Crazy Hair

Ukiss: Crazy Hair

2NE1: Dara

Kim Junsu from JYJ

Taeyang Crazy Hair (He has lot to choose from)

Can’t decide on hair color? Go Rainbow hair color!

Hyoyeon’s rainbow hair color, I actually like this a lot

Big Bag Fantastic Baby: No it crazy and bit scary baby!

Jeung Geun Suk Pretty Man with Crazy Hair

Top: Blue Hair

Lee Hyori (How does it stays up like that?)

Krystal: What’s with end?

I am sure I can fill the whole blog with kpop hairstyle, crazy, cute, unique and out there types but I just wanted to share samples of crazy hair that K-Pop idols seems to have. And you know the more crazier thing? as a Kpop fan, their hairstyles grows on me and some of these styles I actually like, as I think they may trying to express their creativity, inner artist. But then again, some hair style are simply crazy as ever.

If you are in to Kpop hair styles, and like Big Bang group style, check out the tutorial below on how to get Kpop Big Bang Hair style for yourself.

Big Bang Hair Style Tutorial

December 30, 2013December 31, 2013

My Lovely Kim Sam Soon

My Lovely Sam Soon Korean Drama Review

This Kdrama Genre is Romance, Comedy with 16 episodes and aired on MBC network from June 2005 to July 2005. Main star cast are, Kim Sun Ah as Kim Sam-soon, Hyun Bin as Hyun Jin-heon, Jung Ryu Won as Yoo Hee-jin and Daniel Henney as Dr. Henry Kim. I liked Hyun Bin since “Millionaire’s First Love” and had seen Daniel Henney in “Seducing Mr. Perfect” and both are great in here as well as female leads.

Plot follows like a quite a few Korean Drama before, poor female leads is too good, gets dumped by boyfriend. She gets in love/marriage contract with rich and jerk male lead, and eventually both fall in love for real. Kim Sam Soon (Kim Sun Ah) is a baker who has a talent in making pastries and cakes. On one day, she caught her boyfriend, Min Hyun Woo (Lee Kyu Han), cheating on her and breaks up on the same night. By sheer coincidence, Jin Hun needs a baker for his restaurant Bon Appetit and Sam Soon is unemployed. Sam Soon is hired as the restaurant’s chief baker. Nevertheless, they started to have feeling for each other and Sam Soon agreed to post as Jin Hun’s girlfriend so his mother would leave him alone. Things got complicated when Jin Hun’s ex-girlfriend Yoo Hee Jin came back from the States intending to win him back.

It’s a story about a 29-year-old woman named Kim Sam Soon. Prior to turning 30, Sam Soon had basically three goals, i.e. to find love, to officially change her name to Kim Hee-jin and to run a bakery business. She graduated in Paris and was a highly qualified pastry chef, who, has the habit of baking cakes and pastries to relax. Nothing was going right for Sam Soon at the start of the story. Her long-time boyfriend dumped her for a slim, pretty, rich, and younger woman. Worst, people often laughed when she introduce herself. And she was jobless. She lived with her mother and elder sister who returned from Paris after a divorce.

Buy: My Lovely Sam Soon (English Subtitles)

My Lovely Same Soon Korean Drama Trailer

Plot in details: The story starts with Sam Soon’s series of bad luck. Her luck changed when she was offered a job as a pastry chef in an expensive western restaurant called ‘Bon Appetite’. There, she met Hyun Jin-heon who was 3 years younger than her and who was also the owner of the restaurant. Jin-heon, was not a very nice boss and often bully her.

However, forced by desperation for money, Sam Soon approached her boss for a loan. At first he flatly refused. Later he agreed, but on the condition that she agreed to pose as his girlfriend and fiance for the next few months. Sam Soon reluctantly agreed and vowed to pay him back as soon as she could. Jin-heon had his own problems. He was trying to runaway from his mother’s arranged marriage plans. He thought he could convince his mother to stop, thinking that he was already involved in a serious relationship with Sam Soon.

Gradually, Sam Soon developed feelings for Jin-heon and later confessed. Jin-heon, on the other hand, was confused especially when his ex-girlfriend, Lee He-jin, returned from the United States to continue their relationship. Jin-heon refused to admit that he loved Sam Soon and forced himself to start again with Hee-jin. At about the same time, Sam Soon’s ex-boyfriend returned and started to woo her back despite being married. He wanted to make her his mistress.

This drove Jin-heon crazy and he finally understood his feelings for Sam Soon. He confessed to Sam Soon but was too afraid to break-up with Hee-jin. Hee-jin was suffering from an eating disorder and had just recovered from cancer. Obviously, the poor woman found out and fell ill again. It worried Jin-heon but luckily, her hunk of a doctor cum friend Daniel Henny was there to support her. She decided to return to the US with Dennis but requested Jin-heon to accompany her to the US for one last time and stay for a week. Jin-heon was reluctant but went ahead after seeking ‘approval’ from Sam Soon.

Surprisingly, he didn’t return as promised. After waiting around for months, the broken-hearted Sam Soon decided to move on and start a bakery shop together with her sister. When Sam Soon was starting a new relationship with another guy, came back. He claimed that he has been sending postcards to her while traveling alone in the US. Of course Sam Soon accepted him back but the ending is not 100% happy and is a bit disappointing. If you want to know, buy the DVD la.

One outstanding thing about the drama was that Sam Soon’s character wasn’t the typical feminine roles Korean dramas often portray. In fact, she’s quite the opposite. She has bad hair, a bit fat, poor sense of fashion, rough demeanor, often uses rude language and has a really bad temper. It amazes me how an anti-hero character would grow into such a lovable one.

Overall, I’m giving this drama a high score of 8.5/10. It’s highly recommended for those who are desperate for a good laugh. It has many funny scenes that would make your eyes water with laughter. (Source: CheAyu)

This drama won a quite a few awards, such as;

Awards

42ND THE PAEKSANG AWARDS
– Best Drama, My Lovely Sam-Soon
– Best Screenplay, Kim Do Woo
– Most Popular Couple, Hyun Bin, and Kim Sun Ah
– Best Cast, My Lovely Sam-Soon

MBC AWARDS 2005
– New Actor Award, Daniel Henney
– Popularity Award, The Main Couple Hyun Bin and Kim Sun Ah
– Best Couple Award,Hyun Bin and Kim Sun Ah
– Excellence Award , Jung Ryu Won
– Top Excellence Award/ Male: Hyun Bin
– Top Excellence Award/ Female: Kim Sun Ah
– Greatest Award, Kim Sun Ah

SEOUL DRAMA AWARDS 2006
– Best Mini Series, My Lovely Sam-Soon

Buy: My Lovely Sam Soon (English Subtitles)

December 30, 2013December 31, 2013

What Is K-Pop?

Image source: http://strawberry-cherrine.tumblr.com/

Learning about K-Pop:

K-pop is a musical genre originating in South Korea that is characterized by a wide variety of cool beats, catchy music and synchronized dance movements. It is a modern form of South Korean pop music covering mostly dance-pop, pop ballad, electronic, rock, hip-hop, R&B, etc.

Have you heard of “Gangnum Style” by Psy which became very viral and popular in US media, then you know little about Kpop already. In Asia however, when once thinks of Kpop, rather than Psy, much younger boys and girls group who are in their teens or 20’s comes to mind. K-pop started to take over J-pop (Japanese Popular Music Genre) in early 1990’s with Seo Taiji & Boys group.

K-pop industry have been getting popular outside of Korea, Asia and other countries thanks to sharing platform of youtube for video sharing. New kpop songs are uploaded on youtube right away to be shared with fans. Currently, the spread of K-pop to other regions of the world, via the Korean wave, is most clearly seen in parts of Latin America, Northeast India, the Middle East, North Africa, and immigrant enclaves of the Western world

Since the mid-2000s, the K-pop music market has experienced double digit growth rates. In the first half of 2012, it grossed over $3 Billion and was recognized by Time magazine as “South Korea’s Greatest Export”.

How K-pop is different from Other Asian Music Genre?

Image source: anneviolet.wordpress.com

Korean Popular Music or Kpop is generally known for following unique ways which differs from Mando-Pop, Canto-Pop and J-Pop.

Focus and Audio and Video: K-pop has not only focus on audio or singing but also visual content. K-pop song has singing, rap, fusion of catchy beat, synthesized music, synchronized and sharp dance steps and colorful and sometimes out there crazy outfits that makes up a k-pop song. K-pop song as MV (Music Video) and Dance Version for the same song which makes them unique compared to other pop genre.
All around Training of Singers: Korean music management agencies start recruiting kids starting from age 8-10. Singer BOA with SM entertainment is big example for it. These young kids trainee live in management company complex with tight and strict routine for school, music, dance choreography to learning Japanese, English and other foreign languages including acting, speaking and how to handle fans and journalists and reporters. Some of these routine is almost like factory churning out product and creates slave contract for young artists who do not know much better.
Synchronized Dance Steps and movements: When performing K-pop music, multiple singers in a band, often made up of more than 3-9 members, switch their positions while singing and dancing by making prompt movements in synchrony without breaking a sync. The K-pop choreography often includes a hooking, repetitive dance that matches the characteristics of the lyrics of the song. You can see an example of this in-sync movement in DBSK dance version of song Mirotic, see below.
Fast Distribution via the Youtube: As the South Korean music industry is comparatively small, songs are released onto national television and simultaneously uploaded onto YouTube to reach out to a worldwide audience.This is often preceded by a series of eagerly anticipated announcements and promotional activities referred to as a “comeback”, which are not comeback in US sense (it basically means next album or song), which altogether generates a significant amount of hype and excitement before the official release of songs and music videos.
Support of government : The South Korean government has acknowledged that an increased interest in South Korean popular culture will benefit the country’s export sector. Government initiatives to expand the popularity of K-pop are mostly undertaken by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which is responsible for the establishment of dozens of Korean Cultural Centers worldwide. Embassies and consulates of South Korea have also participated in the planning and organization of K-pop concerts outside the country and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regularly invites overseas K-pop fans to attend the annual K-Pop World Festival in South Korea. This is something unique to K-pop compared to other countries music pop scenes.
Dedicated fanbase: I did not know how dedicated fans were in Asia until I saw, how fan supported DBSK members when has broken contract from SM entertainment to create JYJ and DBSK2 group. Fan activities include translating Korean song lyrics and publishing them in English and other languages. It is common for fans to organize flash mobs at prominent public areas via Facebook, performing and dancing to the latest K-pop songs so that a concert would be held. Fans buy original CDs, attend and pays for concert, donates money and food as their favorite band or a band members and follow them around, support them in cafe forum of official fan group and so on.

Click here for K-Pop Music Albums

DBSK Mirotic Dance Version (Synchronized Dance Steps)

K-Pop Entertainment Agencies:

The three biggest agencies in terms of revenue are S.M. Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment, often referred to as the “Big Three”, whose stocks are traded at the Korea Exchange. They are responsible for recruiting, financing, training, marketing and publishing new artists as well as managing their activities and public relations.

SM Entertainment: Tts current roster of recording artists include Kangta, BoA, TVXQ, TRAX, The Grace, Super Junior, Zhang Liyin, Girls’ Generation, J-Min, Shinee, f(x), EXO and Henry, all of whom enjoy great success both domestically and internationally. It is also home to actors like Go Ara, Kim Min-jong, Kim Ha-neul, Lee Yeon-hee and Kim Ian among many other

YG Entertainment: Its current roster of recording artists are known to be some of the biggest K-pop acts internationally. Big Bang, 2NE1, Epik High, Lee Hi, and PSY have proved to be the front runners.

JYP Entertainment: Label’s current roster of recording artists include Wonder Girls, JOO, 2AM, 2PM, Miss A, JJ Project, Baek Ah Yeon, 15& and Lee Sunmi.

Ukiss: Neverland Dance Version

Notable K-Pop Moments:

Other recent milestones attained by K-pop bands and musicians include:

May 2007: Rain was the first K-pop music artist to perform at Japan’s biggest concert hall, the Tokyo Dome, in front of 40,000 fans. The show was sold out within two days after the tickets went on sale.

September 2010: SM Entertainment holds its first concert outside the Asian continent with the SMTown Live ’10 World Tour in Los Angeles.This precedes two sold-out concerts at the Zénith de Paris a few months later in France.

November 2011: BIGBANG faces off competition from the American pop icon Britney Spears and the German singer Lena Meyer-Landrut to clinch the 2011 MTV Europe Music Award for Best Worldwide Act.

December 2011: The total number of YouTube views generated by K-Pop videos in 2011 surpasses the 1 billion mark. It had tripled from 800 million in the previous year to more than 2.3 billion.

February 2012: Girls’ Generation’s appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman and Live! with Kelly on January 31, 2012, and February 1, 2012, in the United States where they performed remixes of the English version of “The Boys”, marked the first time that a Korean musical act has performed on each of the shows

November 2012: PSY’s “Gangnam Style” becomes the most viewed video on YouTube. After topping the record charts of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Honduras, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Where to Learn More About K-Pop?

In the United State, popular K-pop websites that talk about K-pop songs, artists and gossips, include:

Allkpop: Frequently visited by K-pop fans from English-speaking countries

Soompi: Largest and oldest K-pop website. In order to cater to international fans, Soompi has recently began to publish articles in extra languages such as Spanish, French and Portuguese.

Eatyourkimchi: Run by a Canadian couple residing in South Korea and portrays the country’s popular culture from a Westerner’s perspective.

Click here for K-Pop Music Albums

December 29, 2013December 31, 2013

Top Shammi Kapoor Movies To See

Pic: Shammi and Geeta Bali

My Ultimate bias is Shammi Kapoor of black and white era. He was not only good looking but also was good human being in real life and unique style that has been compared to Elvis Priestly. He played romantic roles, teased heroine and sang songs, in a Indian film era where most male leads played self controlled guy, who controlled the emotions and played mostly obedient sons and brothers such as Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Rajendra Kumar.

Top Shammi Kapoor Movies:

Here are my top favorite movies of Shammi Kapoor, that I love to watch and re-watch. It makes me feel better when I am feeling down, yes these movies are that great. You can get these movies with English subtitles although, sometimes it can be harder for older black and white movies.

1. Tumsa Nahin Dekha (Rough Translation: There is No-One Like You)

With this movie Shammi saw his first success in movie industry and movie was super hit. Tumsa Nahin Dekha is a 1957 film produced by Sashadhar Mukherjee for Filmistan and wrote and directed by Nasir Hussain. The film marked Hussain’s evolution into a director. He had written films like Munimjee and Paying Guest.

The film was conceived as a star vehicle for its heroine Ameeta, who was the protégée of Filmistan Studios owner Tolaram Jalan. Ironically, the film’s huge success at the box office, made the then-struggling Shammi Kapoor, an overnight sensation instead. This was the film where he developed his own individual look and youthful style and was his first light-hearted musical and its success helped move him to acting in this genre. The film also stars the popular villain and character actor Pran. Its music is by O.P. Nayyar and lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri.

Tumsa Nahin Dekha Plot:

Plot is complicated with revenge and love story woven together. Twenty years ago, after killing his brother, Sardar Rajpal flees from his hometown in Shillong and re-locates to the rural area of Assam along with his adopted daughter, Meena. He asks his wife, Kamla, to send their son, Shankar, so that he can employ him and get him married to Meena.

Shankar arrives and he is welcomed by Sardar who employs him and introduces him to Meena. A few days later another young man shows up at his door claiming to be Kamla’s son. A baffled Sardar also welcomes him, and puts both the young men under observation in order to find who the real Shankar is. The question remains why would anyone want to impersonate Shankar, and what will happen to Sardar himself after the Police catch up with him for killing his brother 20 years ago.

Song from Tumsa Nahin Dekha ; Shammi and Ameeta

Cast

Shammi Kapoor … Shankar
Ameeta … Meena
Pran … Sohan
Raj Mehra … Vishnu
B. M. Vyas … Gopal
Sheela Vaz … Seema
Ram Avtar … Johnny (as Ram Awtar)
Anjali Devi … Kamla (as Anjalidevi)
M. B. Shetty … Bhola (as Shetty)

You can get best value on Movie and OST here: Tum sa Nahin Dekha Movie and MP3 Music

Music Sound Track

Song	Singer(s)
Tumsa Nahin Dekha	Mohd. Rafi
Tumsa Nahin Dekha	Asha Bhosle
Jawaniyan Yeh Mast Mast Bin Piye	Mohd. Rafi
Sar Par Topi	Asha Bhosle, Mohd. Rafi
Aaye Hain Door Se	Asha Bhosle, Mohd. Rafi
Chhupanewale Saamane Aa	Mohd. Rafi
Dekho Kasam Se Dekho Kasam Se	Asha Bhosle, Mohd. Rafi

2. Dil Deke Dekho (Rough Translation: Give your Heart and See)

Dil Deke Dekho, a 1959 Indian Hindi romantic comedy film, was Nasir Hussain’s second film as director. His first directorial venture was Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957), which became a big hit and which gave star Shammi Kapoor a new image as a comedic, dancing hero. Husain and Kapoor reteamed here. Asha Parekh, a former child actress, made her film debut as a heroine when she was only 17 years old. This was also the debut film of comedian Rajendranath (younger brother of Premnath.) This is also music composer Usha Khanna’s first film. The movie was super hit at the box office.

Dil Deke Dekho Plot:

Neeta is a heiress, the only daughter of U.K. based Industrialist, Jagat Narayan. She is of marriageable age, and is presently wooed by Kailash, Chandra, and Raja. She prefers Chandra over Kailash and Raja, but subsequently changes her mind and falls in love with Raja. Things take a dramatic turn when Jagat and Neeta find out that Raja is not who is claims he is. When Raja defends himself, and calls himself Roop, his very own mother denies this claim, and instead states that Chandra is Roop, her only son. Raja alias Roop must now make attempts to prove himself, and realizes that this is indeed an uphill task.

Beautiful Song from Dil Deke Dekho : Shammi and Asha

Cast

Asha Parekh: Neeta Narayan
Sulochana Latkar: Jamuna (as Sulochna)
Raj Mehra: Jagat Narayan
Rajendra Nath: Kailash
Kewal Kapoor: (as Keval Kapoor)
B.K. Mukherjee:(as B.K. Mukerji)
Surendra: Harichand

Click here for more information on movie: Dil Deke Dekho Movie and Dil Deke Dekho OST

Music Sound Track:

Song	Singer(s)
Dil Deke Dekho	Mohammad Rafi
Yaar Chulbhula Hai	Mohammad Rafi & Asha Bhosle
Pyar Ki Kasam	Mohammad Rafi & Asha Bhosle
Bade Hai Dil Ke Kaale	Mohammad Rafi & Asha Bhosle
Hum Aur Tum Aur Yeh Sama	Mohammad Rafi
Bolo Bolo Kuch Toh Bolo	Mohammad Rafi
Megha re Megha	Mohammad Rafi

3. Junglee (Rough Translation: Wild like Jungle Animal)

This movie has famous song ” Chahe Koi Muje Junglee Kahe” (English: “Let anyone call me Wild Animal Person, I do not care”). Junglee is a 1961 Indian movie produced and directed by Subodh Mukherjee. The music is by Shankar Jaikishan and the lyrics by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. The film stars Shammi Kapoor, Lalita Pawar, Shashikala and Asit Sen. hammi has many first time actress acting with him and this movie was no exception. Saira Banu, in her debut film, earned a Filmfare nomination as Best Actress. Movie was considered “superhit” at the box office and later remade in to south indian Telugu language.

Junglee Movie Plot:

Shammi is rich guy growing up ins strict household with very strict mother, where laughter and joking are not allowed. Chandrashekhar (Shammi Kapoor) or Shekhar house is, run by Shekhar’s domineering mother (Lalita Pawar). In this household the only one who dares to laugh and enjoy life is Shekhar’s sister Mala (Shashikala), who also dares to love Jeevan (Anoop Kumar). Things change when their mother finds out about Mala’s indiscretions, and she asks Shekhar to take her away from their home, to distant and scenic Kashmir, for a while. She also instructs Shekhar to arrange to get married to a girl from a princely family. When Shekhar escorts Mala out of town, and on reaching Kashmir, he meets up with beautiful Rajkumari (Saira Banoo), and after being stranded with her for a night during a snowstorm, he realizes what he has been missing, and becomes a care-free man in love. This change is welcomed by Mala, but not by his mother. To make matters worse, Rajkumari does not belong to a princely family, and Shekhar knows that his mother will never approve of his marrying her. You have to see rest of the movie to see what happens.

Song from Junglee with English Subtitles

Cast

Shammi Kapoor … Chandra Shekhar kapoor
Saira Banu … Rajkumari ‘Rajshree’ (as Saira Banoo)
Shashikala … Mala (as ShashiKala)
Anoop Kumar … Jeevan
Lalita Pawar … Shekhar’s Mother
Azra … Rajkumari the Princess
Moni Chatterjee … Doctor (Raj’s Father) (as Moni Chatterji)
Asit Sen … Doctor Uncle
Rajan Haksar … The Princess’ Brother (as Rajen Haksar)
Shivraj … Manager
Helen … Miss Suku

Click here for more information on movie: Junglee Movie and Junglee Music OST

Music Soundtrack

This movie has many memorable and hummable songs, that are still loved even today.

#	Title	Singer(s)
1	“Kashmir Ki Kali Hoon Main”	Lata Mangeshkar
2	“Nain Tumhare Mazedar”	Mukesh, Asha Bhonsle
3	“Ehsan Tera Hoga Mujh Par”	Lata Mangeshkar
4	“Din Sara Guzara Tore Angana”	Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar
5	“Aaiya Aaiya Aa Sukoo Sukoo”	Mohammed Rafi
6	“Yahoo! Chahe Mujhe Koi Junglee Kahen”	Mohammed Rafi
7	“Ja Ja Ja Mere Bachpan”	Lata Mangeshkar
8	“Ehsan Tera Hoga Mujh Par”	Mohammed Rafi

4. Professor

Professor is a 1962 Hindi movie, produced by F. C. Mehra and directed by Lekh Tandon. The film stars Shammi Kapoor, Kalpana, Bela Bose, Lalita Pawar, Tun Tun, and Iftekhar. The film’s music is by Shankar Jaikishan. The film became a box office hit. In this movie Shammi played a poor young man, forced to disguised as older Professor to make living and pay for his mom’s hospital fees.

Professor Movie Plot:

Shammi Kapoor plays Pritam, a young man who desperately needs a job to pay for his mother’s tuberculosis treatment. He finds out about a job tutoring two young women and two school going children – the catch is that their guardian, Sita Devi Verma (Lalita Pawar), will only hire an old man for the job. Pritam disguises himself as an old man and takes the job. The situation is very tense between the young women and their aunt as the girls’ parents have recently died and Sita Devi was given the responsibility of the caretaking the children. While Pritam’s young avatar is romancing one of his two young tutoring charges (Kalpana), his old avatar is romancing their guardian.

Song from Professor Shammi and Kalpana

Cast

Shammi Kapoor…Professor Pritam Khanna
Kalpana…Neena Verma
Lalita Pawar…Sita Devi Verma
Parveen Choudhary…Rita Verma
Pratima Devi…Mrs. Khanna
Rashid Khan… Hanuman Singh
Bela Bose…Mrs. Singh
Tun Tun…Phool Rani
Iftekhar…Artist

Click here for more information on movie: Professor Movie and Professor OST

Soundtrack

Song	Singer(s)	Lyricist	Notes
“Koi Ayega”	Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar		Picturised on Kalpana and Parveen Choudhary
“Yeh Umar Hai”	Asha Bhosle, Usha Mangeshkar and Manna Dey	Hasrat Jaipuri	Picturised on Shammi Kapoor, Kalpana and Parveen Choudhary
“Main Chali Main Chali”	Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar	Shailendra
“Aye Gulbadan”	Mohammad Rafi	Hasrat Jaipuri
“Khuli Palak Mein Jhoota Gussa”	Mohammad Rafi	Shailendra
“Aawaz Deke Humein Tum Bulao”	Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar

5. Kashmir Ki Kali (Rough Translation: Flower Bud of Kashmir City)

Kashmir Ki Kali is a 1964 Indian film directed by Shakti Samanta. It stars Shammi Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore in her debut role, Pran, Dhumal, Nazir Hussain and Anoop Kumar. The music was composed by O.P. Nayyar and the lyrics penned by S.H. Bihari. It became the sixth-highest grossing film of the year and was declared a hit at the box office. Unfortunately, O P Nayyar who scored super hit music for all three films like ‘mere sanam’, ‘phir wohi dil laya hoon’ and again in ‘kashmir ki kali’ did not get due consideration for all these movies by awarding popular Film Fare Award.

Kashmir Ki Kali Movie Plot:

Wealthy and pampered Rajiv Lal (Shammi Kapoor) is the only son of widowed Rani Maa. Getting tired of his mischievousness, immaturity and careless attitude about money, his mother decides to get him married. Rajiv returns home and sees all the girls – he correctly surmises that his mother is getting him married, and he pretends to be a mute who walks with a limp in order to chase all the prospective suitors off. His plan succeeds, although he is in a dilemma – what should he do now? His mother is furious at him. One of his friends suggests that he should run away to their bungalow in Kashmir – after all, his mother, Rani Maa never goes there.

Upon arrival, he finds that his estate manager, Bholaram, has made a hotel out of their bungalow and has even rented out some rooms for the season. Bholaram tells the tenants in the house that Rajiv is in fact mad, and in his madness, thinks that he is the real owner of the estate. Next day Rajiv meets Champa (Sharmila Tagore), a girl who sells flowers for a living.He buys flowers from her and lies to her that he is driver and not rich owner. Over the time, they fall in love and decide to marry each other.However, there are more obstacles in there life.

Mohan (Pran), the forest manager, want to marry Champa at any cost. Things become complicated when Mohan finds out that Dinu is not Champa’s real father, and he blackmails Dinu into getting Champa married to him. In addition one day, Champa finds out truth that Rajiv is not driver, but estate owner. She feels hurt and betrayed and runs off before Rajiv can explain the situation as he has to leave right away as his mom is seriously ill.

While on death bed, his mom tells him that he is not her real son, she had an daughter was abducted by her drunk brother. The heiress and real daughter turns out to be Champa, which complicates Champa and Rajiv’s love life. See what happens at the end, you would have to watch the movie.

Song from Kashmir Ki Kali: Shammi and Sharmila

Cast

Shammi Kapoor … Rajiv Lal
Sharmila Tagore … Champa Chameli
Pran … Mohan
Nazir Hussain … Dinu
Dhumal … Bholaram
Anoop Kumar … Chander
Madan Puri … Shyamlal
Bir Sakuja … Colonel
Sunder … Lala
Mridula Rani … Karuna
Tun Tun … Rama Devi

Click here for more information on movie: Kashmir Ki Kali and Shammi Kapoor Music

Music Soundtrack

The music was composed by O.P. Nayyar, and the lyrics were penned by S.H. Bihari. Mohammed Rafi sang four solos for Shammi Kapoor, and three more solos with Asha Bhosle.

Song	Singer(s)	Picturized on	Length
Deewana Hua Badal	Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle	Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore	5:36
Yeh Chand Sa Roshan Chehra	Mohammed Rafi	Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore	5:10
Kisi Na Kisise	Mohammed Rafi	Shammi Kapoor	4:20
Hai Duniya Usiki	Mohammed Rafi	Shammi Kapoor	5:55
Isharon Isharon Mein	Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle	Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore	4:46
Meri Jaan Balle Balle	Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle	Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore	6:46
Subhan Allah	Mohammed Rafi	Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore	3:37
Balma Khuli Hawa Mein	Asha Bhosle	Sharmila Tagore	3:36

Of course, Shammi acted in some other great movies and some not so great movies, however he was always dashing, romantic hero even when he played negative roles (such in Memshahib with Meena Kumari and Kishore Kumar as a hero).

Some of the other movies he was known for are, Tumse Accha Kaun Hai?, Dil Tera Diwana, Professor, China Town, Rajkumar, Janwar, Teesri Manzil, An Evening in Paris, Bramhachari, Andaz and Vidhaata. You can check out Shammi Kapoor’s Movies here: Shammi Kapoor Movies.

December 24, 2013January 5, 2014

Top Uplifting Holiday Movies To Watch

It is Wondeful Life Movie

Christmas Tradition

I am sure many of you celebrating Christmas or any holidays have some type of tradition to share with family and friends. These beautiful traditions are wonderful as they pass from generation to generation and hold family like a glue. I like reading books and watching movies, specially romantic movies, comedy movies and science fiction movies.

Top Christmas Movies to Watch With Family (Everyone)

I love watching “It is a Wonderful Life” Movie by James Stewart and Donna Reed anytime but during Christmas time it is a perfect for making a tradition.. It is such a uplifting movie that brings more holiday cheer and positive feelings around.

That got me thinking what other Christmas movies are great to watch and thought of sharing some of my favorite movies here. Here are my pick of top great movies to watch together for Christmas Season in random order: Hope you enjoy it.

1. Miracle on 34th Street

This black and white movie came out in 1947 and it is one of my favorite. It is simple story of Santa Claus us trying to prove that he is “Real” in court case. It has romance and also little girl played by Natalie Wood, who believes in Santa Claus so much. The actor Edmund Gwenn, who played Santa Claus did amazing job of looking and acting like Santa Claus would have.

The new color version of this movie was made a while ago, while it is great, I still like the original black and white movie and I am sure you will too.

2. It is a Wonderful Life

It is Wonderful Movie !

As I said, this is our tradition movie that we watch every year, This is not second best Christmas movie, it is just that list is random. I love James Stewart in every movie, even where he played villain in one of the thin man movie. This movie is in our movie gem collection and never loaned to people, as I have lost one copy already, I am that much in love with this movie and it brings so much hope and inspiration when I am feeling down.

if you ever wished or thought, what if you were not born, life would be better for those around you? Most likely not. George Baily is tired of life’s hardship and money problem, as he is about to commit suicide on Christmas eve, his guardian angel make him see how important his life truly is. You can watch on DVD or instantly on you tube or here.

3. Home Alone

This first in series of Home Alone movies, I like this is the best. The McCallister family sleeps in late as few of us do, on the day they plan to travel. They hurry and rush to the airport to barely make for the flight. They sense, something they have forgotten, which turns out to be their youngest son, Kevin. Now, this seems pretty unrealistic as it is hard to forget your child, but I suppose it could happen to any of us when we are stressed out.

Now this little Kevin wakes up to find that he is all alone at home, and somehow he come up brave enough unlike many kids who are lost from their parents. When two thieves try to break in and steal stuff as they assume the house is empty, Kevin foils their attempt with traps and funny physical comedy. Leave your logic aside and simply enjoy this movie.

4. Love Actually

Love actually has six or more stories intermingled in life of various characters. There is an English child who has fallen in love with little American girl, A father who has lost a wife, A married man who has an affair with his secretary, a girl looking for love is bound by family, A Prime minister in love with on of office aids, aging rock star and guy who has been in love with his best friend’s love.

Some stories have happy endings and some do not go anywhere, just like in real life. The best part I like about is, Hugh Grant dancing scene! I have a huge crush on him so I am bit biased. Lovely.

Hugh Grant Dancing Scene

5. Scrooged.

Scrooged is a modern version of Charles Dickens classic book, A Christmas Carol in modern setting. Bill Murry’s character Frank is bitter, cynical and selfish TV executive, who is visited by three ghosts from past, present and future to show him his life in flashbacks and future. It is funny, inspirational movie to make you do right thing in your life. You will love this modern update on old Charles Dickens’ classic novel.

Top Classic Christmas Movies For Children:

Kids are amazingly believe in Santa and they love Christmas time and magic of it all. It is no wonder that there are some great cartoon movies made for children and that we adults also love to watch. Here are some the classics I like.

1. Charlie Brown Christmas

This is simple and cute movie that children and adults will like watching. There is sick little Christmas tree that takes center stage. Charlie brown is told by Lucy that he needs to get a Christmas tree for helping the school Christmas Pageant. Charlie does not want to buy a fake tree, so he goes with Linus and end up buying little, sickly tree. They use and keep this tree despite everyone making a fun of it. Cute and charming story.

2. How Grinch Stole Christmas

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is another great holiday classic cartoon that any kids will love. There is a new version of Jim Carrey movie by the same name and while it is excellent, it might be too scary for little kids. If you have little ones, you may try watching this cute movie. Grinch is mean old thing that wants all the attention and we are supposed to hate him for it, but we end up feeling sorry for him, knowing how lonely he is! Great message and happy ending at the end keeps everyone happy.

3. Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

When I was young, I loved watching this movie so this has a special place in my mind. This movie has a little Rudolph who is little different from other reindeer is made fun of and he goes to a misfit island where all misfit toys are there. He makes friends and helps Santa in foggy night and comes back as a hero. The story has good message and happy ending and lovely song called “Rudolph the Red nose Reindeer”, which I know by heart even now I guess I am still child at heart. There are many wonderful classic Christmas cartoon movies that I can watch again with my two little ones.

Rudolph The Red Nose Song:

4. Frosty the Snow man

I remember singing and watching Frosty the snow man, as he was so fun snowman who could talk and was kind. This has voice done by Burl Ives, and made in 1969. This is one of the classic movie that you can watch and enjoy with your kids or nieces and nephews. I like when Frosty says “Happy Birthday” at wrong time, so innocent, so cute.

5. Mickey’s Christmas Carol

This is cartoon and simplified version of Charles Dicken’s classic story A Christmas Carol. Much suitable for young kids as the original story can be pretty scary and harsh for little mind. That is one of the reason I like remake Scrooged as it is not as harsh and we still get the message from the story. Tiny Tim’s character always breaks for heart, as I want him to get better and be happy and root for him and his family.

6. Twas the Night Before Christmas

This is one of the original movie and some of us may have forgotten about it. This is simple cartoon story of mice and Santa who saves Christmas in small town. There is original poem with same name that is classic read everywhere which has memorable song. If you have not seen it, you can put it in your list and share it with kids and family to uplift the mood and bring holiday spirit.

Top Holidays Macho Movies for Guys:

There are some macho, funny and manly Christmas movies to watch if you are more in to action and comedy type of mood. Here are some that men will like;

1. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation

No list would be complete without this classic Chevy Chase’s movie called Christmas Vacation. National Lampoon series has many funny, crazy movies and this one is no exception.

The Griswold family plans a family Christmas is anything but smooth, there are lot of funny and silly moments to enjoy. Chevy Chase’s character Clark has so much bad luck and his clumsy nature makes the holidays go from bad to worse . If that was not enough, he has crazy family house guests makes things even worse. It is holiday with fun and hilarity that will make your own family look lot saner. It stars, Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Juliette Lewis, and Randy Quaid.

2. A Christmas Story

This movie did not do well in theater when it was first released but now it has become a cult classic. I am not sure if I like this as much but I put in here as guys or gals may like it. This movie is an adaptation of the book In “God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash.” Everyone remembers little boy in glasses in this movie. You may enjoy and like it, decide it for yourself. The story is set at some indefinite time around 1940 in an Indiana town approaching the holidays. Young Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) wants only one thing for Christmas, the Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-Shot Lightning Loader Range Model Air Rifle with a compass in the stock. The actors were and are not well known and it is certainly not kid friendly even though kid plays main role in the film. Great for adults who can not agree on what to watch maybe?

3. Die Hard

How come this action movie is a Christmas movie? Because the event folds during Christmas holiday season. It was released in 1988 and made a successful Die hard movie series for Bruce Willis to follow up with. It stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, and Bonnie Bedelia.

Bruce’s character, John is a New York cop in Los Angeles for the holidays to be with his family. They go to office party held by his wife’s company for a Christmas party and get trapped by terrorists played by genius Allan Rickman (Listen to his American Accent). John armed and barefoot tries to get help from police and fight terrorists to save his family and other innocent people. Real action pack movie and fun to watch! It Christmasy movie without the Santa and snow but still fun to watch.

4. Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas

This movie is amazing master piece if you look at the artistic way this stop and motion section was filmed and it took long time to shoot each sequence. Tim Burton’s this classic is Halloween and Christmas rolled into one.

When Jack, the Halloween king, comes upon a entryway to a Christmas Town, then Jack becomes obsessed with Christmas and decides to do Christmas his way and take over the whole plan. He decides to kidnap Santa so there are no interference to his plan. Jack and his Halloween friends from Halloween town prepare their version of Christmas which is scary and eerie to say the least. The plot is very unique and story has a heart. This movie is not suitable for younger kids, despite having kiddish look of the movie, however, adults will enjoy watching this movie.

5. Elf

Will Ferrell is regular human boy who is raised by an Elf father, played by Bob Newheart. They live in north pole and Will grow up, he is taller than rest of elves and accidentally he becomes more nuisance and destruction around Santa’s workshop. One day he finds out that his biological father lives in New York and sets out to find him. The movie has funny part, touching story and fun to watch! It is not classic Christmas movie, nevertheless entertaining to watch.

Your turn: What are you favorite Christmas Movies to Watch?

Source: Top Holidays Movies To Watch

December 12, 2013December 29, 2013

Queen Inhyun’s Man Korean Drama Review

Rating:*** (A-)

This is nice romantic korean drama that ran from 18 April 2012 – 7 June 2012. It is 16 episodes long. Plot is not simple and keeps viewers intrigued throughout 16 episodes, it did at least for me. The story flips back and forth from Joseon era to modern korean time 2012 when the series first aired. Kim Boong-do (Ji Hyun-woo) is a noble-born scholar in 17th century Joseon era and his family’s sole survivor after they were massacred in a conspiracy. Boong-do supports the reinstatement of Queen In-hyun, who was deposed due to scheming by royal concubine Lady Jang.

Meanwhile in modern-day Seoul in 2012, Choi Hee-jin (Yoo In-na), an unknown and upcoming actress, lands her big break when she is cast as Queen In-hyun in the television drama “New Jang Heebin”. Due to a mysterious talisman, Boong-do time-travels to 2012, where he crosses paths with Hee-jin and falls in love. I like the part where Choi Hee Jin’s friend and manager keeps asking same questions to Kim Boong do as history keeps changing by the action they have taken. While I do not think Hee Jin is not the “most beautiful person in world” as she names herself in Boong Do’s cell phone but it makes me chuckle at cuteness.

Of course, there are a few plot holes towards the end of series such as why talisman changes (without giving away spoilers for those who have not yet seen it) sometimes I just take happy ending for sake of feeling romantic or good as sometimes dramas do not follow logic but they entertain us. Quote from the drama’s narration – “A chance encounter that started with a gap in time… that meeting already ended a year ago. Our reunion now is not because of a mysterious talisman written by a monk, but because of a string of memories that belongs only to us both. Now begins our second encounter. Now, I am his lifesaver. The price to pay? All he has to do is stay forever by my side.” May explain the last episode time travel via cell phone was possible, may be?

There are a few dramas that I can re-watch and this is certainly one of it. It has history, romance, mystery and of course time travel unlike in roof top prince, where time traveling was not frequent as in this one.

During filming, actors who played the lead roles actually fell in love and after much gossips and Hyun Woo and Yoon In Na admitted to be couple. I like sometimes that romantic couple I rooted for in the series were actually in love and it comes across the scenes.

Queen In Hyun’s Kissing Scene (English Subtitle)

Cast:

Ji Hyun-woo – Kim Boong-do
Yoo In-na – Choi Hee-jin
Kim Jin-woo – Han Dong-min, Hee-jin’s ex-boyfriend
Ga Deuk-hee – Jo Soo-kyung, Hee-jin’s friend and manager
Jin Ye-sol – Yoon-wol
Uhm Hyo-seop – Minister Min
Lee Kwan-hoon – Ja-soo
Ji Nam-hyuk – Han-dong
Park Young-rin – Yoon Na-jung
Jo Dal-hwan – Chun-soo
Seo Woo-jin – King Sukjong
Kim Hae-in – Queen In-hyun
Choi Woo-ri – Jang Hee-bin
Kim Won-hae – Eunuch Hong

Memorable Quotes from the Series:

Hee Jin: „Wait, don’t go. Don’t…go. If you go now, I might never see you again… Don’t go. After trying so hard to save your life, why are you treating me like this? Didn’t you say you’d be responsible for me? Why are you not honouring your promise? Don’t go…“

Boong Do: „I didn’t know it myself, but I think I just might be a player. This I admit.“

Boong Do: „But why is my letter still around? How?“

Hee Jin: „Minister Nam kept this in his possession. Last month, his descendants officially disclosed it.“

Boong Do: „How can they disclose someone else’s private letter?! It has to be destroyed.“

Hee Jin: „That letter is now in the museum. Now, you definitely can’t destroy it. Unless the museum collapses.“

Where you can watch it with english subtitle?

You can watch it on Drama Fever or buy DVD of Queen In Hyun’s Man with English subtitle on Amazon so you can rewatch, freeze your favorite scenes like I do.

If you are interested in Queen In Hyun’s Man’s Original Sound Track which is wonderful by the way, you can get it here: Queen In Hyun’s Man OST.

[English Lyrics] Queen In Hyun’s Man OST Part 3-Another Time, The Same Sky

OST: Queen In Hyun’s Man OST MV: My Man Kim Boong Do

Queen In-hyun’s Man OST
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	“인현왕후의 남자 – Title” (Queen In-hyun’s Man – Title)		Kim Hee-jin, Nam Hye-seung
2.	“같은 하늘 다른 시간에” (Same Sky, Different Time)	Jo Hyun-joo	Kim Do-hyeong	Joo Hee of 8Eight	03:40
3.	“꼭 한번” (Just Once)	Young Jae, Min Yeon-jae	Young Jae, Bae Gi-pil	Young Jae of 4Men	03:35
4.	“그대가 왔죠” (You Came)	Jung Ho-gyu, Pabaki, Mr.Sync	Jung Ho-gyu, Pabaki, Mr.Sync	Kim So-jung	03:10
5.	“지금 만나러 갑니다” (I’m Going to Meet You)	노는 어린이	노는 어린이	Deok Hwan	03:18
6.	“시간을 넘어” (Leap Through Time)		Kim Hee-jin, Nam Hye-seung	이크거북
7.	“같은 하늘 다른 시간에 (Inst.)” (Same Sky, Different Time (Inst.))		Kim Do-hyeong		03:40
8.	“꼭 한번 (Inst.)” (Just Once (Inst.))		Young Jae, Bae Gi-pil		03:35
9.	“내 남자, 김붕도” (My Man, Kim Boong-do)		Nam Hye-seung, Park Sang-hee	이크거북

Get Queen In Hyun’s Man Korean Drama with English Subtitle

Get Queen In Hyun’s Man Original Sound Track Music

April 15, 2013January 18, 2014

Boys Over Flowers Korean Drama Review

Boys Over Flower:

I did not know the hype of boys over flower so much when I started out watching Korean Dramas so It was not my first watched nor it is my most top favorite Korean drama. So, why I am writing about it? Boys over Flowers created a Korean wave and made a culture impact that still visible since 2009, when it was first aired.

The show starts with bulling and blood in high school, where a kid is ready to die to avoid all F4’s bullying. There seemed to be no signs of law and order or good teacher, adult to stop all of these atrocities. I thought I would stop it but after watching 2 episodes I got hooked and curious enough to see the end, so I invested over 25 hours to watch this and I can say I was not disappointed. The bully and all characters grows with time and you can understand loneliness around all richness and money. F4, flower four boys are surely handsome and easy on eyes which surely helps female fan base like me.

If you are fan of Lee Min Ho, then this is show for you. The guy has charm and he makes his character alive, one can feel his pain and agony. I did not care much for the Jan Di’s character, as she hardly shows any feeling or care towards Goo Joon Pyo. I like the character played by Kim So Eun as Jan Di’s best friend Chu Ga Eul. She could have been a lead lady, she is pretty, holds her dignity while caring for a guy and is level headed.

Buy Boys Over Flowers With English Subtitles

Cast:

Koo Hye Sun as Geum Jan Di
Lee Min Ho as Goo Joon Pyo
Kim Hyun Joong as Yoon Ji Hoo
Kim Bum as So Yi Jung
Kim Joon as Song Woo Bin

Kim So Eun as Chu Ga Eul (Jan Di’s best friend)
Kim Hyun Joo as Goo Joon Hee (Joon Pyo’s elder sister)
Lee Hye Young as Kang Hee Soo (Joon Pyo’s mother)
Han Chae Young as Min Seo Hyun (F4’s best friend/Ji Hoo’s ex girl friend)
Lee Min Jung as Ha Jae Kyung (JK Group’s CEO’s daughter and Jun Pyo’s fiancee)
Lee Jung Gil as Yoon Seok Young (Ji Hoo’s grandfather)
Jung Ho Bin as Jung Sang Rok (Kang Hee Soo’s Chief Secretary)

Geum Jan Di (Koo Hye Sun)

As I mentioned earlier, Jan Di’s character confused me a bit. When I see her pictures on internet, she looks pretty but during most of the show she looked not so pretty most of time, sometimes she looked cute but never pretty enough comparing to other korean Drama heroine. She was about 25 when this series came out as a highs chooler, she was older compared to all F4s, but being small and petite worked in her favor.

I also could not fathom that why all the guys either was loving her or wanting to protect her. Her character came across as confused and occasionally heartless, especially when Lee Min Ho character did so much her and her family, she kept on thinking of Yoo Ji Hoo instead. At first shown as feisty female, who can kick ass. However, as show progresses, she becomes typical Korean cliche heroine who ends up crying a lot and not fighting much. I am not against crying females, as I cry myself at littlest thing but then again, I am not trying to pass a kickboxing champion too.

When she goes to Macau to meet Goo Jun Pyo and he breaks off the relationship, she is sad for moment and then she goes off to site seeing with Yoo Ji Hoo all around and shown smiling and happy while Goo Jun Pyo who broke off the relationship looked more pained and in love compared to her. It bothered me much and felt she did not deserve the love if she was not willing to work hard for him to show her emotion. But of course, this is modern take on Cinderella so story revolves around her and we wish for her to succeed and find happiness.

Goo Jun Pyo (Lee Min Ho)

When this drama came out, Lee Min Ho was a newcomer and this drama made him the star loved by many people in Korea and Japan. He is one of the reason I wanted to watch and find out about all hype about it.

I did not care much about his curly hair style or unique fur wardrobes that he wore. He is handsome, tall and can act just by showing his eye expressions. He made the bully character likeable. I like scenes where he spends time with Jan Di’s family, has a sleep over, makes Kim Chi and so on. He is nice guy, innocent child inside hiding behind cold, angry persona. He did well to show that, at least to me and my friend.

If you want to know more about star necklace he gives to Jan Di, see here: Boys Over Flower Star Necklace

Yoon Ji Hoo (Kim Hyun Joong)

Someone wrote that out of all F4 Ji Hoo was most beautiful! Apart from Jan Di and Jun Pyo, he had biggest part and being part of love triangle. I heard he was offered the role of Jun Pyo but he chose Ji Hoo Role instead. I can see why, his character has many things that are positive, he plays music well, he is actually one of F4, who does not take part in bullying much and helps Jan Di many times and becomes friend and protector of her over the time. I like scenes with grand father and family issues that we all face regardless of how rich or poor we may be.

He hair style and color reminds me of Kang Jun Sang of Winter Sonata and he laughs and has similar mannerism as well.

So Yi Jung (Kim Bum)

Kim Bum had a big role and it was nice to see his character of playboy who is really good guy lost somewhere surprised me. He is cute and has a nice smile, however it was hard to imagine as a playboy and heartbreaker, as he looks innocent and young to be bad. That just me, I still enjoy his character and his talent at being a potter.

Don’t they look cute Together?

I liked to side love story of him with Ga Eul that developed slowly but surely. I think these two supporting character had more love and chemistry together compared to main lead, don’t you think? I wanted to know more about them and their life.

Song Woo Bin (Kim Joon)

Woo Bin seemed more Americanized and said Yo Yo,. and Wasss up type of things. We know he is from the mob family and handsome but we do not get much know much about his life outside of F4 and friend circle. It’s too bad, it would have been nice.Other Characters:

Goo Jun Pyo’s Mom was one nasty lady, as Jun Pyo called “Old hag” (at least in english translation, I am not sure what does it mean in Korean, is it same?) She is so ruthless to break Jan Di’s family and her so her son can be married to rich. I hated her, that means she was good at acting as nasty lady.

Goo Jun Pyo sister had a small role but whenever she came, she left a impact as a loving sister who wants to do right thing and not afraid to share what she thinks. She becomes big supporter of Jan Di as well.

Jan Di’s parents are big money minded, poor parents who do not plan things well and leave kids alone more often than they should. One thing is for sure, despite all their shortcoming, they seemed like a family who loved each others, including Jan Di’s little brother.

Ga Eul, Jan Di’s best friend was cute and much more level headed compared to Jan Di. I liked how she held on to her dignity while liking Yi Jung.

Lee Min Jung as Ha Jae Kyung was likable in some sort of way. She seemed so much more fitted and similar to Goo Jun Pyo’s Character, in some other time, they might have been perfectly fit for each other but it was not meant to be for this one.

Many other supporting characters with small roles were great. While this show is not Oscar worthy in acting part, for entertaining in super duper and 100% great. As I said, I could not stop watching, it was not love story that held me but it was charm of all F4! They all wore suits, and nice clothes and looked great in even crappy designer clothes somehow.

F4: Flower Four or Fabulous Four?

Buy Boys Over Flowers With English Subtitles

Have you watched it? What did you think of it/