Hmong Chick who watches Asian cinema (besides Indian): Indian cinema versus Korean cinema

Indian cinema versus Korean cinema - taken from my Indian cinema blog

Just for fun

As I was writing my my review for Legend of the Evil Lake in my Korean cinema blog, I starting comparing films between Bollywood and Korean. Okay, so how did that start? Well, I was amazed at Legend of the Evil Lake when watching it. I have been watching Korean movies/dramas that were in the genres of romantic comedy and horror. So I ended up comparing Bollywood films and Korean movies.

Since more and more people keep mentioning how much they love Jab We Met, then they should give Korean movies a try. As I mentioned in my Jab We Met review, in Korean cinema, there is usually a sassy, spontaneous, chatty girl with a quiet guy. Hey, if you even like the Tollywood/Telugu movie Bommarillu, it definitely has a Korean feel to the film too! Now not every storyline is like that in Korean cinema. There will be films with the damsel in distress. Definitely. In addition, a lot of Korean movies focus on the couple's journey together. Rarely will a parent's influence help change their minds of who they should be with.

At first I thought about mixing my Indian cinema blog and Korean cinema blog but decided not to. So I separated them. I wish my Korean cinema blog would be more detailed like my Indian cinema blog though. It's just that I do watch a lot of Korean cinema on-line. Unlike with Indian cinema.

I've been asked before to list some Korean films for others to watch. I've listed some for Nida but I'm going to add more here. I hope to review all the ones I listed soon but so far, I have most of them.....

My Sassy Girl
Hey, if Hollywood and Bollywood (as Ugly Aur Pagli) remakes it, why not? Watch the original please! For those who didn't know, it's about a guy meeting a girl unexpectly. Even though the girl slaps him, bosses him around, he is attracted to her. He learns about why she is living her life in sorrow.

My Tutor Friend
First Korean movie that made me fall in love with the cinema. Romantic comedy about a hot, macho guy who should've graduated high school a long time ago. His parents get him a tutor who he doesn't find attractive, but starts to fall for her.

Too Beautiful To Lie
Hilarious movie about an ex-convict girl who got released on parole to attend her sister's wedding. She ends up meeting a guy on a train. He wants to propose to his girlfriend. However, the ring he plans to give his girlfriend ends up with the ex-convict. She tries to return the ring but gets mistaken for the guy's fiance. The second half of this movie reminded me a bit of Jab We Met because of the family mistakens the two as a couple.

S Diary
When Bachna Hai Haseeno came out, I thought it would take parts of S Diary. BHH was about Raj's (Ranbir) journey back to his exes. Plus it was about three girls. Well, in S Diary, it's similar. The girl wonders about her past three boyfriends. It was three different stages in her life. She goes back and revisit each one trying to understand why she got dumped. This movie is more about revenge - she wants to get even with how they treated her.

My Little Bride
A cute romantic comedy about a high school girl who has to marry an older guy who she grew up with. She has a double life since none of her high school friends know she is married. Not even her high school boyfriend.

100 Days with Mr Arrogant
Funny movie about a girl who feels down after being dumped by her boyfriend. She accidently kicks a can and hit this rich guy's car. He bosses her around and tries to get her to pay for the damages. Since she doesn't have money, he says that she has to be his slave for 100 days. But later she learns that the damage that she cause was not worth it because it only cost $10!! She sets to get revenge on him.

My Boyfriend is Type B
Girl's boyfriend blood type is Type B. Not very good. People with Type B blood is the worse for a girl to find in a soul mate. Type B guys are arrogant, hard-head, and a jerk. Why did she choose such a guy?

Not a movie, it's a drama. Dramas run usually 16 episodes. It's not a soap opera where it goes on and on. But I'm going to mention these two....

Coffee Prince
The main heroine is a tom boy. Everyone mistakens her for a boy. Since she is poor, she lies that she is a boy to keep a job that the owner only wants to hire men called Coffee Prince. The owner is the hero. He doesn't understand why but he is developing feelings for a guy?

My Name is Kim Sam Soon
Kim Sam Soon is an unusual name for a Korean girl. Sam Soon hates her name. On top of that, she's overweight for Korean girls. No wonder why she's in her late 20s and single! She's a great chef and ends up working for a top-notch restaurant. The owner is the hero. He pays Sam Soon to be his girlfriend since there is no way in hell he will ever fall for her. His mom is constantly on his back about having a girlfriend.

Oh right, I was comparing Korean and Bollywood cinema. I also mentioned on the Legend of the Evil Lake review about the guys in Indian cinema noticing the girls after the girls have undergone a makeover.

In Korean cinema, the girls don't have to make a dramatic transformation for the guys to like them. The guys will like the girl no matter how she looks. They like the girls for their personality. Not in Bollywood films, girls gotta change their looks for the guys to notice them - ahem Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Ishq Visqk, Main Hoon Naa, etc.

How I came across this is I was talking about in the Legend of the Evil Lake review about how all the Korean movies I've seen, everyone has dressed in modern clothing. Legend of the Evil Lake is the only movie that I've seen Korean traditional outfits.

Here are just some stills from Korean cinema about the girl not having to change their looks and the guys liking them.