My post earlier today about the new Lux ad Shahrukh is in got me thinking about all those wonderful star ads we don’t get in America. Well, unless you spring for the India package on cable (Someday!!!).
Not the biggest collection of news stories today, but still worth posting because of the bigger stories they are teasing out for the future.
Now, if you remember, I looooooooved Ohm Shanti Oshaana. Whole-hearted no reservations loved it. And the big main thing I loved is still there in Aiyyaa, that it is a love story from the female side instead of the male, the woman gets to fall in love at first sight and be the stalker and make all the big gestures and stuff. But, all the little things in Aiyyaa are just WEIRD! Weird weird weird! I can see why it wasn’t a hit.
I was watching this thing thinking “okay, saw that in Sadak, saw that, saw that.” And then I looked up the years, and Baaghi was first! Sadak gets the mentions as this really cool deep love story, but it’s just doing what Baaghi did already. Okay, so Sadak is doing it better (because Mahesh Bhatt > Deepak Shivdasani), but still, Baaghi did it first!
Okay, Raja Sen, on whom I have a HUGE brain crush (see also: Rajinder Dudrah), interviewed Karan for rediff, and you should go there and read the whole thing right NOW NOW NOW. And then come back here so we can talk about it.
This is all industry news, really, but I find it interesting. Especially considering that UTV/Disney just announced it was shutting down, every little studio move is now exciting.
I did a stupid stupid thing, and stayed up until midnight my time so I could see the Karan Johar Ae Dil Hai Mushkil teaser as soon as he posted it at 10am India time. But now that I have stayed up, I might as well write about it real quick before I finally go to sleep!
I just found the most amazing new artist on youtube, which inspired me to think I should put up a quick post of all my favorite east-west mash-up videos.
WILL SMITH!!! What the heck is he doing in India? More specifically, what the heck is he doing at a Rustom success party at Akshay Kumar’s house? I mean, it looks like a fun party. Not some huge fancy wedding/Karan Johar style thing, just a relaxed house party. But still! How do they even know each other?
I finally watched Aurangzeb! Which I have been nagged about from all sides. “All sides” meaning Arjun Kapoor and Prithviraj fans, and Jackie Shroff/Amrita Singh ‘shippers. And all of those people were correct, it’s a great movie for Arjun and Prithviraj, and Jackie-Amrita (Jackrita?). But some other things weren’t quite as strong as they could be. Anyway, I wanted to put up a post in honor of A Flying Jatt, for the Amrita-Shroff connection.
Happy National Sports Day! I am sure it will be an extra celebratory one, with the returning Olympic champions. If you are looking for a good set of songs to watch and think about sports, I am here for you!
My church did a service inspired by Krishna Janmashtani this morning. It was nice, a sort of general message of appreciating the innocence of the child, and how that can be spiritual, with lots of quotes from Swami Vivekananda. But I got so distracted hearing the slowed down instrumental version of all the hymns that I usually hear in movies!
At what point does Ranveer stop being charming and start being irritating? ANOTHER twitter video in honor of a Khan? Come on, Ranveer! Get a new schtick!
I put up my non-spoilers review already, now it’s time for the one where I zoom through the whole film for those who missed it in theaters and want to know what happened, and for those who saw it in theaters and want a detailed discussion of every part.
There is a really funky little human interest story, and a really important industry story. But most of all, a really NO WAY!!!!! story about Anupam Kher.
Shahid had his baby! Based on how open he and Mira have been about their married life so far, I expect photos and videos to start popping up shortly.
This is partly inspired by a review that accessbollywood just posted of all the new heroes launched in the past few years and how Tiger Shroff compares now that his 3rd film is releasing. I mean, it’s a totally different topic, but I am stealing her idea of using this new release as an excuse to look back at previous similar films.
I saw A Flying Jatt! With my friend who is a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge Tiger Shroff fan! Don’t ask me why, I still don’t see it.
FanVid Post time! I was debating between that and a post running through all the previous superhero movies in honor of The Flying Jatt. But FanVids are more fun, right? And maybe I do the superhero post at some point in the next few days.
After watching Kabali, I had the director’s earlier films recommended to me, Attakathi and Madras (tell me in the comments if there is anything else he did that I am missing and should watch). Anyway, Attakathi was easier to find, so I watched that one first.
I already put up a post with babies to celebrate Krishna’s birthday, because Krishna was a baby. (I don’t know why American culture doesn’t make that simple connection and make Christmas more about babies instead of trees). But, at least in Bombay, there is an added twist to the celebration with the “Dahi Handi”. Which is also a fabulous excuse for really fun song numbers in Bombay-based movies.
Forbes came out with their top earning actresses list yesterday, and the top earning actors list today. While yesterday Deepika was the only Indian news, today there are FOUR Indian actors on the list. Plus Jackie Chan right at the top at number 2. So, yeah, Hollywood watch out! Asia is coming for you! (also, Shahrukh is the highest Indian on the list! Woot-woot!)
Jacobinte Swargarajyam is finally on einthusan.com, yay!!!!! So, I could watch it, after missing it in theaters. I loved Nivin Pauly in it, naturally (although I have reservations about his hair). But I was surprised by how charismatic I found Renji Panicker, especially considering he just started acting a couple of years ago!
I am going to be just super self-indulgent and use this holiday as an excuse to post a bunch of cute photos/videos of movie stars with babies. And as babies. And other babies who love movie stars.
Full disclosure: I’m coming up on my 1 year blog anniversary in a few months, and I want to make it to a thousand posts before then. So get used to lots tiny little posts where you think, “wait, why didn’t she just combine this with the earlier post?”
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