Monthly Archives: May 2016

Dil Aashna Hai: Baby-Faced Shahrukh Acts for Hema Malini!

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I love Dil Aashna Hai!  I watched it years ago on a funky library copy, and fell in love with it.  And then I couldn’t track down a copy on DVD to buy until just recently.  I should have stolen the library copy!  No one else could possibly appreciate it as much as me, I deserved that DVD!  But I didn’t, because I am honest, which means it wasn’t until it just popped up on a random ebay list from a seller in India that I was able to watch it again.  It’s even more wonderful than I remembered!

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Vikramadithyan: Is Unni Mukundan Just Allergic to Shirts?

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Finally, a happy romance!  Well, okay, there were still some kind of dark statements about law and assumptions and the pettiness of those in power.  But also, a romance!  With two leads who I like, Dulquer and Namitha Pramod!

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Annayum Rasoolum: Dil Se and Tere Naam Combined With a Travelogue

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First, and most importantly, I think I might “get” Fahad Fazil now!  I’ve seen a fair number of his movies, from Bangalore Days to 24 North Kaadam, and he always just seemed sort of blah.  But somehow in this, his character worked for me!

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News Update: Befikre First Look, Who Pays the Most Taxes, and a Lesson in Why You Should Always Work with Relatives

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Slow Monday, with no big releases last Friday and no new Hrithik-Kangana news, or any other scandal coming up to oust them off the front pages.  But there are a couple of interesting sort of industrial notes.

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Hulchul: My Favorite Hindi Priyadarshan Movie! It’s All About the Cast

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I asked for requests for Hindi films to write about, and someone suggested Hulchul.  So, yay!  I have an excuse to write about Hulchul!  One of my favorite films, and definitely my favorite Hindi Priyadarshan movie.  I understand it is a remake of a Malayalam film, but I suspect even after I watch that, I will still like the Hindi version better.  Because what I like about it isn’t just the plot and direction, but how that interacts with the casting.

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English/Vinglish: A Movie in Which a Mother Can Be Other Things Too, But Chooses Not To

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Happy Mother’s Day!  I could post something about Mother India or Aradhana or English Babu Desi Mem, one of those where the mother-son relationship is super important.  But it’s not a day for mothers and sons, it’s a day for mothers!  So instead I am posting about a movie in which a Mother gets the spotlight all to herself.

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Quick News Update: Ian McKellen and Aamir, Zeenat Aman and a Jailbird, Ajay Devgn and Shahrukh Khan, and Salman and Katrina

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4 separate items, but they are each pretty tiny, so this is just a quick update!  But all of these things have the possibility of turning into something super awesome and potentially juicy!  So be on the alert!

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Why Socha Na Tha Reaffirms the Arranged Marriage

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I just posted a thing about summery songs, and one of the commentators reminded me of “Abhi Abhi” from Socha Na Tha.  Which then reminded me about Socha Na Tha as a whole.  I looooooooove Socha Na Tha!  And I feel like, as Imtiaz Ali gets further and further from his roots, his first big break film is getting forgotten.  And it shouldn’t be!  Because I think it is better than what he is doing now.  And it says something much more interesting about Indian society than all the Tamasha‘s and Rockstar‘s and Highway‘s put together.

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The Kangana and Hrithik Drama Finally Got Me to Watch Krrish 3! WOW, That is a BAAAAAAAAAAAD Movie!

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I never thought the words “this is worse than Krrish!” would leave my mouth, but by golly Krrish 3 did it!  Although at least it was fun-bad, not anger-inducing-bad like Ki & Ka.

Also, I realized halfway through the film, every single cast member has been part of a massive potentially career ending scandal!  Viviek, Priyanka, and now Hrithik and Kangana.  And heck, Rekha in the original!  But not Priety.  Unless I am forgetting something.  She had the mob testimony thing, the messy Ness Wadia break-up, the bad plastic surgery, but I don’t remember any really really huge thing.

(moviemavengal is more forgiving than me in her review)

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Kireedam: Well, That Was a Total Downer!

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Everyone said “Watch Kireedam!  Watch Kireedam!”  They did not say “Watch Kireedam and then be depressed for a week!”  Evil!  You got me to watch it, and now I am all depressed!  And not depressed in a “the nobility of the human spirit triumphed, even if the ending was kind of sad” kind of way like a classic Amitabh movie, but in a “Gosh darn it!  Why’d it have to end that way?” kind of way.

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Thenmavin Kombath: Hey! That Hindi Director I Like is Actually From Kerala!

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Priyadarshan!  I love Priyadarshan, his comedies are always funny, and yet somehow heartbreaking.  Sort of “you look at the worst situation possible, and you can either laugh or you can cry” feeling.  And somehow I did not realize until I watched this film that he came out of the Malayalam industry.

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Happy Teachers Day!!!!

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Happy Teachers Day!  (At least, in America) So many sexy teacher songs in Indian film!  Every film director in the world must have had a massive crush on a teacher at some point.  Good news is, it looks like Teachers Day may be different in India than America, so I will get to put up a whole bunch of other videos in a few months!

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Humpty Sharma Will Be Another Franchise: Why is India Embracing Franchises?

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The commentator “E” just alerted me this morning that Dharma announced a “sequel” to Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania, called Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya.  Sure enough, when I pulled up my twitter, I saw that Karan had just tweeted the image above.  Which looks like a sequel image, but rumor has it that it may be a franchise instead, a completely different story with different characters, but the same cast and tone.  Like the Khiladi films, or Murder, or Aashiqui.  Speaking of Aashiqui, a little insulting for Karan to be promoting this as India’s first love franchise, right?

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