Hello! Two comments sections got mildly heated this morning (well, heated for this website where everything is generally at 40 degrees Fahrenheit, so going up to even 45 feels hot), so I want to put up a nice soothing post to calm us all down. Mostly calm me down, because I hate replying to/reading semi-heated comments! And also it’s Monday morning and my office is maybe the busiest it has been in 2 months.
Happy Monday! Almost through to May, and it is finally springlike weather here. All thanks to my system of putting away my winter sweaters on Easter. Without that, spring would never come.
What a beautiful movie. A beautiful movie about people caring for people just because they are fellow people. Across the boundaries of language, appearance, background, everything else.
Happy Sunday! I put up a Big Big Post yesterday, so today let’s have some fun! This started as a discussion about (once again) the problems with Jab Tak Hain Jaan, which lead to a consideration of whether it might have made more sense if it had been set further in the past. Which lead me to thinking of an alternative (better) version set in the 40s-60s (different from my previous alternate versions). And then to other films that could have been better as period pieces. Huh. All major YRF films. YRF SHOULD HIRE ME TO HEAD A “PERIOD REMAKES” DIVISION!!!!!!
I think Chetan has earned his birthday post on my film blog, don’t you? He’s written enough scripts, and had enough books turned into films. But he isn’t a “real” film person, so I am not going to do a full 44 reasons, just leave it at a dozen.
Happy Earth Day! Which Google doodle informed me of before Amitabh, very strange, Amitabh usually tells me everything. Anyway, rather than being all serious and doing songs about the environment, I want to be fun and do songs that use the word “Duniya” or “Mittee” or are otherwise “earthy” in content.
This is a very complicated confusing post with a lot of big things in it. And it starts with a very upsetting story, so watch out for that. But I also seed little fun videos within it, so that should lighten things up a bit. Or, if you want only the serious things, you can ignore the videos.
I was trying to think of what to do for 420, a super druggie movie or a super conman movie or what, and then I realized, it has to be Shree 420.
You know Dina? Who I used to do the podcasts with and who I always see movies with on Friday nights? Her birthday is this week, and I won’t be able to give her her present beforehand, so instead she will have to make do with this theme post.
(this is an updated and reposted post from last year) I think this might be just an American thing, but 4/20 is traditionally a day to celebrate Marijuana. There are a whole bunch of different versions of where it came from, but just accept that “420” in general is slang for marijuana, and therefore the date 4/20 has become a marijuana holiday. Which means, I get to do a post of my favorite songs in which people are high!
I’m back! Because you promised to comment and make it worth writing these. And I’m gonna hold you to that! Very depressing spending 5 hours on this and then getting no comments. (full index of DDLJ coverage here)
Thanks to Asmita, we all learned the valuable lesson a few weeks ago that Mercury was in Retrograde, thereby causing all sorts of minor inconveniences and mistakes to all of us here in BlogWorld. And also Alia Bhatt who broke her shoulder. But now, it is out of retrograde! And I don’t know about you, but my life is suddenly locking into place.
What a fun movie! So glad it is on Netflix so I can watch it easily and recommend it to you all. Maybe not a brilliant Balachander level film like the last few Tamil ones I watched, but very very fun.
My sister is moving house AGAIN!!!! 6th time in 4 years. Yes, that is ridiculous. My theory is, it is because they are doing everything in their life wrong and the Universe is trying to tell them that by forcing them to constantly move house until they land in the right place. Plus side, it means I get to find them new places to live every few months and I LOVE doing that. Looking at rental ads is super fun, so long as you don’t have to actually do the work of moving.
I already put up my Wednesday Watching post, here’s a bonus one for us. It’s something that I’ve been puzzling over and don’t have a good answer for, but thought might make a good discussion for us and maybe we can find an answer together, or at least get closer.
Happy Wednesday! Half way through the week, I had a friend over and stayed up way way too late last night, especially since Dog is still adjusting to her new home and keeping me up all night. But whatever, it’s almost the weekend, I’ll be fine.
Moimeme asked me about Ranbir Kapoor and why he is still getting work, and some one else asked me what I thought about Pratalekha’s recent interview and how she struggles to get work. And then October came out promoted on Varun Dhawan’s name primarily, and flopped. And I think I figured out what the issue is, it is the problem of the 3rd film.
Well, it’s not the best pun title, but it’s something. The point is, bad week at the box office this week! October did terribly, and took all the screens, so nothing else had any space. (as always, figures courtesy of renttrack courtesy of Bollywoodhungama)
Happy Monday! Let’s see if I can crank this post out before I fall asleep. Luckily, it is about a nice little movie that I don’t have to think about too much to be able to write about it.
In March I was mentioned in an article in The Hindu along with a couple other bloggers, my photo appeared and this blog and my book were mentioned by name. And the needle on my book sales and blog views moved not one millimeter. The largest newspaper in India, and it has no ability to gain me a single reader.
Meanwhile, Meenakshy posted a mention of this blog in a reply to a Bhardwaj Rangan tweet, and I gained ten new followers in a DAY. Not visitors, but followers, people who came over and liked what they saw and signed up to get notifications every time there is a new post.
So when I say to you that the only way this blog gets new visitors is through a link you post in the comments of another site, or in another forum, I’m not kidding! You, the readers, are far more powerful than any newspaper, any website, even than me! I’ve posted my own links in the past, and discovered that no one clicks through to links posted by the writer themselves. I’ve even had approved guest posts on other websites, and got no referrals from them. It’s only comment links that work.
So, here’s your monthly request to please help by posting links to my related content on other sites. Quote me, or say the article reminded you of me, and put up a link to the original post. And that will gain me more readers and keep me writing and the wheels of the blog keep turning.
Oh, and also, COMMENT!!!! I also ran the numbers on that. Every comment gets me 20 views. People who may have already seen the post clicking through to it, others who wouldn’t have read it otherwise clicking through to read the comments. It doesn’t have to be a brilliant comment, just say “I love this film! —— was so good in their role!”, that’s enough. Or, if you want to be really easy, just answer the questions at the end of the TGIF or FanFic posts.
Keep in mind that commenting is also the best way to keep me writing posts you enjoy. I took a 3 month hiatus from the DDLJ posts, because the views were so low because no one commented. I don’t skip even a week of the Malayalam posts because I always get comments, and the comments drive the views which drives more comments. If I can spend 3 hours writing something that will be read by 300 people, I’m gonna do that instead of spending the same time writing something that will be read by 30 people.
So, two things. Real simple. And that have an enormous effect in keeping this site alive.
I’ll use film examples to make this Indian film related, but really just think of this as an extended dictionary post. I use these words a lot, and other film writers do to, but I’ve never really defined them for you.
Happy Monday! I have a DOG!!!! A real dog, that weighs more than 20 pounds and grunts in her sleep and wags her whole body when she gets excited. So much better than the temporary dog that didn’t do any of that. So yeah, the week is off to a good start for me! And tonight I have the internet people over for a THIRD TIME and try to convince them that I am not hallucinating massive slow downs.
Here’s an exciting thing, I finally got around to visiting and updating my Patreon site so it makes more sense. Click below to view it:
If you set up a monthly subscription to me through them (just like you do for Netflix and magazines and all the other entertainment sources you use), I will mail you a thank you card! $5 or more a month gets you a card for every holiday. $10 or more a month gets you a card EVERY SINGLE MONTH!!!! And who wouldn’t want one of my cards every month?
If you don’t want to commit to a monthly thing, that’s fine too, I would appreciate a donation of whatever you feel is fair (donate here). Or at least, a purchase of my book (purchase here)! It’s really good, and I want more people to read it.
One other request that costs you nothing. Please “whitelist” my site. That is, turn off your adblocker when you are here. I know ads are irritating and all that, but it’s part of what helps me pay for movie tickets and my domain name and everything else. Well, not really pay for it, but it helps me not lose quite as much money. So if you have adblocker going all the time and don’t even think about it (as I do myself), this is a reminder to turn it off on my website because you like me so much.
There is a little button on the menu at the top, if you enjoy my writing and want me to keep going, you can always click there to give me a donation. If you don’t have the money, or don’t feel my content is worth paying for, that’s okay too.
Additionally, you can always buy my book, click HERE to purchase.
Donate through Patreon, which will allow you to set up a monthly subscription donation. And which can allow you to pick a reward, if you wish.
Or through Paypal, which allows for a one time donation of any amount you choose. Any time you particularly like a post, or appreciate something I am doing, just drop a dollar like it is a tip jar. And feel free to add a note saying why you are donating, maybe I will write more posts like that.
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Donate to the site, $1 or $2 or $20 or $200, however much you want.
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And thanks for reading!
I know the Venn diagram overlap of Preston Sturges and Indian film fans is very empty, possibly just contains me, but I don’t care! It’s “silly Sunday”, I can be silly and do whatever I want.
Hello! Happy Sunday! Remember how three weeks ago today I was complaining about everything going wrong for the service I was doing? Well, it’s now up on the church website and I thought, if it’s up on that website, why not share it with you all, on my website?
