erin brockovich: Starring Julia Roberts, this film made a smalltime legal assistant by the same name, very famous. A single mother of three at that time, Erin won a lawsuit against a utility corporation, forcing them to pay as compensation $333 million to 650 victims. She herself got a bonus to the tune of $2million. Julia was $20 million richer thanks to Erin’s do-gooder streak and the film won an Oscar.
BOYS don’t cry: Hilary Swank played Teena Brandon in this dramatic portrayal of the trauma of a girl who pretends to herself and to the world that she is a boy. Hilary won an Oscar for Best Actress but slipped up in her thank-you speech. JoAnn Brandon, Teena’s mother, accused Hilary of not having explained her daughter’s condition adequately in the film and of referring to her as the male alter ego Brandon Teena in her Oscar speech.
schindler’s list: The Oscars have a little something for the ‘real’ stories it seems. This one got seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director (Steven Spielberg). Liam Neeson played Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who drank heavily and regularly cheated on his wife but saved 900 of his Jewish workers from the Nazis. It is the most expensive black-and-white film to be made to date, even though Spielberg did not accept any salary saying it would be ‘blood money’?
Catch me if you can: Leonardo DiCaprio plays the conman of the century who passed $6 million in bad cheques across 26 countries and went on to become an FBI consultant for white collar crimes, no less! Frank Abagnale Jr did not think our cutesy Leo was ‘suave’ enough to play his part onscreen. But when he saw the results, he changed his mind.
calendar girls: A sensation in real life as well as reel. This one’s about a women’s group that poses in the nude for calendar pictures, in order to raise money for leukemia research. Yes, this is a true story! Wait till you hear the tagline! “They dropped everything for a good cause.” Uh, huh?
The aviator: Biopic on industrialist, filmmaker and aviator Howard Hughes. It is believed that Leonardo got into the character’s skin so well, that he developed symptoms of the same disorder that Hughes had suffered. The obsessed old man even counted and sorted the peas on his plate according to size. Jim Carrey was first considered for this role?
Frida: Salma Hayek plays the Mexican painter who was always looking to shock. Whether it was her paintings, her dressing or her choice of lovers ? male and female ? Frida Kahlo left gaping mouths in her wake, every single time. Madonna, who is an enthusiastic fan of Frida’s, wanted to play the part. Laura San Giacomo was also considered but rejected. The lead was then given to the sultry Mexican siren who also received one of Frida’s necklaces as a gift from Frida’s neice because she was delighted with the film.
goodfellas: Martin Scorsese’s racy flick based on the life of gangster Henry Hill. The film has set a record of sorts by using the ‘f’ word 246 times in the script. Henry is believed to have said that he wanted to be a gangster ever since he could remember. It’s better than being the President of the United States, he said?
A beautiful mind: This beautiful film accounted the life of Nobel Prize winner, math prodigy John Forbes Nash Jr. A memorable performance from Russell Crowe playing Nash, who struggled for many years with schizophrenia to come out a winner not just of the Nobel but also of life. It was shot sequentially to help Russell deliver a progressive behavioral performance. The film won four Oscars.
Pooja Tolani
