Not big news, really. Okay, a couple of these things might be big news. But mostly it is just confirmation that things are moving along in the direction we already thought they were headed.
Padmavati is going on floors in October, as expected. If you are interested in scheduling analysis, there is a kind of domino effect in play here. Deepika was rumored to be opposite Shahrukh in Aanand L Rai’s next, which is also starting filming soon. And if you recall, there’s been a lot of back and forth with the Padmavati prep and cast as well.
I think what happened was, Shahid and Ranveer were both holding out for bigger and better parts and, more importantly, Shahid had a baby and wanted a few weeks off to be a father. All of this bumped the Padmavati filming down the road, which mean Dips missed out on the chance to be the heroine in Shahrukh’s next which, if I were her, would make me SO MAD at my co-stars! So, if when this movie comes out, there is some odd fissure of tension in all the love scenes, I’m going to chalk it up to Dips thinking “I could be acting opposite Shahrukh Khan right now in my first Aanand L Rai movie, and instead I’m stuck with you bozos in this ridiculous costume and huge wig!” (I’m guessing on the costume and hair, but it’s a Bhansali movie, so that seems pretty safe)
Oh, and also, Padmavati is rumored to be shooting for a Christmas release, meaning it would conflict with both the Sanjay Dutt biopic AND Ek Tha Tiger 2. Why? Why do people keep making these stupid business decisions?
In other news, did you know Saif has a movie coming out? I didn’t! That either means I don’t care about Saif that much, or that there are some serious issues with his PR team. Actually, he has two movies coming out. Chef, which I think is going to be a standard crowdpleaser and I had vaguely heard about, and then Kaali Gaandi, which I have truly never heard of before. But now I am excited about it, because it is supposed to be about transsexuals/transvestites! At least, that’s what the articles say. And also possible a transsexual. But I’m not clear on any of this, because I’m not entirely confident in these articles’ abilities to differentiate between transvestites/transsexuals/Hijras. But maybe the film will be better at it? The director is the screenwriter for Delhi Belly, which was of course brilliant, so I have some faith in him.
Bigger news, Amitabh! Amitabh and VARUN DHAWAN!!! In a YRF movie!!!! Titled Dabba Gul. This is super big news for Varun’s career. Double role, role opposite Amitabh, he is checking off all the “major new male star” checkboxes. It sounds like it could be an actually interesting movie as well, Varun is supposedly playing an MBA student who wants to work in a dabba for two months, and is supervised by Amitabh, the head of all the dabbas in Bombay. From that description, I am learning towards more of a fantastical farce kind of thing, which a fake dabba union and dabba mafia and so on, and Varun running afoul of them. Or, it could be deeply serious and realistic, who knows! But it feels more farcical.
And finally, Dangal! Already screened for friends and family! 3 months before release! Which is way way early. You want to do the screenings last minute, so everyone tweets about how good it was and you don’t have to worry about piracy, etc. etc. But, it was Shabanaji’s birthday, and she wanted to see it, so Aamir arranged a screening as a present. No really, that’s how it happened. Sometimes the Indian film industry really forgets it is a business and starts functioning like a small town.
dontcallitbollywood 
Did you miss the news item from Rajeev Masand (frequently accused of being Deepika’s mouthpiece) that Padmavati has been postponed to 2018 and won’t start filming till sometime next year (possibly mid-2017)?
“Sometimes the Indian film industry really forgets it is a business and starts functioning like a small town.” I think you meant to say “like a family.” 🙂
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Looks like there’s a bit of a rumor delay happening with Padmavati, Pinkvilla and other sources have rumors of trouble on set, budget issues, no one with dates available, etc. etc. But then a bunch of other sources have it starting as planned in October! Maybe they’re both right? Maybe Ranveer has promotions and the sets are in trouble and so on and so on, but something will start filming in October, even if it is just the preliminary schedule. XXX promotions are coming soon as well, and so are Rangoon, if Bhansali is organized (a big if!), he will film all the Dips and Shahid stuff ASAP while they are available and Ranveer is busy, and then do the Ranveer stuff while Dips and Shahid are busy, and then knock of the rest of it sometime in the Spring/Summer when all three of them are free again.
I’m sticking with small town, because there’s too many inter-marriages for the whole industry to be a family! 🙂
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Huh? Wouldn’t the intermarriages make “family” of people who were previously unconnected?
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I would hope that people aren’t marrying within their family! So I’m going with the small town metaphor for everyone in the industry, and keeping family for when I talk about the more closely connected groups.
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There are certain categories of marriages that do happen within a family. I’m sure you’re aware of this, but just forgot about it for the moment. 🙂
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Oh yes, like Raj and Krishna. But I try to forget about that often, because it is way too confusing to think about!
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Have you seen that AIB video “What if Bhansali directed Game of thrones? Granted it is old but they nailed him(or rather his way of making films) perfectly.
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No, I haven’t! I didn’t think I would get it, because I don’t know Game of Thrones. But I am always there for Bhansali jokes!
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did you saw the news about Prithviraj directing Mohanlal?
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Yes! Very exciting! I didn’t put it in this post, because I don’t really feel qualified to comment on non-Hindi industries, but I will definitely be seeing the movie.
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Dabba Gul sounds really exciting! Amitabh Bachchan was even hinting at it on his twitter yesterday so I’m pretty sure that it’s happening 🙂
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Yay! I wonder who the director is? Yash Raj directors seem to usually come up with their own ideas and shephard these things through start to finish. It’s such an odd idea, but it could be brilliant with the right director.
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All I know about him is that he directed Mardaani. But the idea of Dabba Gul is so different from what Mardaani seems to be so I don’t know what to expect. I haven’t seen Mardaani yet but I’ve always wanted to see it. Maybe now it’s finally the time to see it 🙂
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If it is Pradeep Sarkar, he also directed Parineeta and Laaga Chunari Main Daag. So a Varun Dhawan movie is a really interesting change for him!
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Did you like any of his movies? I’ve only heard of Mardaani so I don’t know much about him. For some reason, the things that are being said about Dabba Gul make me expect something like Piku.
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Parineeta is really lovely, and the movie that introduced Vidya Balan. Laaga Chunari Main Daag is a Yash Raj rom-com, but about a high class call girl, which is interesting! Both of them are female focused and have very strong heroines. And they are very dramatic and serious, so I am interested in him doing a movie that is possibly a little lighter and with a male protagonist!
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Oh, that’s quite interesting!
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