Rundown: Campy Bollywood Videos, Sitayana, Bombaby, and a Travelogue

My friend Paul sent me two campy Bollywood videos featuring an actor named Chiranjeevi.

• The first is a highly choreographed tractor fight. Yes... tractor fight! And how exactly does this guy get the tractor to jump with no ramp? Not sure...

• The second is a huge production number. It's like Xanadu meets Busby Berkeley meets Xtina.

Completely unrelated to this, a development exec friend asked about ideas for an animated series with a Bollywood flavor to it. Two projects I've seen come to mind:

The first is "The Sitayana" or "Sita Sings the Blues" an animated feature Nina Paley is working on. The art is just gorgeous! Check out the trailer, clips and stills on her website.

It's the classic Hindu legend of the Ramayana from the point of view of Sita, the heroine or the epic.

The other twist is that she sings Annette Hanshaw blues songs, which makes for an unusual and highly effective juxtaposition of styles.

The other project I thought of is "Bombaby: The Screen Goddess," a comic mini-series by Antony Mazzotta. From the website:

"Sangeeta Mukherjee is the daughter of well-to-do, traditional parents, dealing with a bratty little sister and a possible arranged marriage when an out-of body experience reveals that she is not an ordinary young woman. Sangeeta is, in fact, the reincarnation of India's ancient protector, the Goddess of Mumbai. But how will Sangeeta use this new-found power?"

The character design and overall aesthetic are spectacular, and Mazzotta nails the look and feel of 1960s Bollywood!

While I'm at it, let me mention that my pal Stephen has taken a year off to travel through Southeast Asia and is keeping a richly detailed blog about his adventures.