You don’t have to ask questions about Raees, or related to Raees, or anything. Just wanted something so you could tell this was the most recent Monday post! I bet next week it ends up being something super clever like “first week of February post.” (you can find all the Monday Morning Question posts here)
Last week I had the GENIUS realization that Dear Zindagi is clearly a sequel to Josh, in which Shahrukh’s bad-boy biker had gone through intensive therapy to resolve his anger issues, and ended up becoming a therapist himself. From some of the comments, it sounds like I am not the only person who plays around with the idea of what would be the best possible sequel-continuation of a certain story. Feel free to share your own ideas in the comments, and read the post if you want to know mine!
I already put up 3 very detailed posts discussing and reviewing the entire 23 episode series that rocketed Mahira Khan to international fame. But those were really for people who had already seen the show and wanted an in depth discussion. Or were never planning to see the show, but still wanted to know exactly what happened. But what if all you care about is getting a quick sense of what made Mahira Khan so appealing to the Raees producers that they just had to cast her in this role? Then, this is the post for you!
I’m not posting today because I’m taking the train downtown to be in my local Women’s March. If you aren’t in America, this is a protest march organized for the day after Trump’s inauguration. A million women are descending on DC (2 of my friends are going, including a grandmother from my church quilting group) and every city in America is having it’s own version. Anyway, while I’m busy marching around or whatever we will be doing (I haven’t been to a protest in years, not since my parents took me when I was a little kid to the anti-Gulf War ones, so I don’t really know what happens), I thought I might as well schedule a theme post to go up so you can share the experience.
Let’s see, I need something really phenomenal this week, don’t I? Hmmm. Hmmm. Oh! I have it! A new twist on the original classic!
I’m I the only one who has seen Streets of Fire? If so, you must ALL WATCH IT IMMEDIATELY!!!! Anyway, Streets of Fire was remade in India as Tezaab, with Anil in a tapoori-type role and Madhuri in her break out performance, and lots and lots of 80s style action.
DVDs are out, yaaaaay! And I was able to watch the deleted scenes! And now I can report back on them, so you don’t have to go out and buy your own DVD.
UPDATE: And I forced my friend who understands Hindi to watch and give me better translations too!!!!
Is that his last gangster role? It feels like it is anyway. Not counting Don, where he is more a kind of globalized loner gangster, and less a gritty street fighter gangster. Which is what he plays here. Very very poorly. This is not a good movie.
So many Ks!!!! No wonder Karan thinks they are “lucky”. Or used to I guess, since ADHM didn’t have any. Unless you count Ranbir. And Fawad. Okay, I am losing the point! The point is, Karan plus 2 Kapoors and one Kapoor Khan.
My first Hindi Film 101 series was on the Kapoors which took FOREVER. So I am doing a nice little refreshing change and doing a simple 2 generation family (so far) with only 2 major stars in it (so far). The Khanna-Kapadia-Kumars!
I just watched Dear Zindagi straight through for the 5th time. With my friend who missed it in theaters. And who had also suffered through Josh with me on an earlier movie night. And suddenly, IT ALL MADE SENSE!!!!
I talked about this movie a little already when the first “Laila” trailer came out. But I thought it deserved another post! Especially since Raees is supposed to pick up on the older tradition of gangster movies from back in the 80s.
So, there’s some kind of stressful/disturbing news that my family just got which could turn out to be nothing, or to be something kind of difficult for the next few years. I won’t get into it, but sending good thoughts our way would be nice! And to that end (and also because it is overcast and rainy here again, and my office has no window), I wanted to put up some videos that always make me feel, I don’t know, like there is good in the world?
None of the statements in the headline are true! Well, they are sort of true. Like, 60-70% true, depending.
Second week for this, and I think it is going well so far! This is just a general discussion area, for movies you are watching this week, or thinking about, or want to know if anyone else has seen, or really anything at all! I will, of course, chime in with my thoughts and suggestions and opinions, because I just can’t help myself.
I watched this movie because a) it was available from Netflix, b) it had both Rajnikanth and Sridevi, and c) it was older so I was hoping for a more grounded Rajni Sir. Now that I have seen it, I can tell you that two of these these things were true, and one was not.
Well, there was no over-whelming consensus on my voting post last Thursday as to what to do next, so I think I will pick the Khanna-Kumars. Partly because I started Dimple’s story and never finished it with the Kapoors, partly because I am in love with Twinkle and Akshay after their Koffee appearance, and partly because Rajesh Khanna was a very big deal and you should know about him!
It’s Javed Akhtar’s birthday today and I love him, both as a scriptwriter and a lyricist. I could easily come up with 71 reasons, but about half of them would just be quotes from Sholay and Deewar. So I am going to try to limit myself to 25, one for every film he wrote with Salim Khan, plus a bonus just for being him. And I’m going to include quotes from his Salim-Javed films, because although they were both credited, it’s generally believed that Javed wrote more of the dialogue.
(This is an updated and re-posted post from last year)
I’m pretty sure this is my first Ravi Teja movie, so I can’t make any judgement there. But it’s my fourth or fifth Puri Jagannadh movie, and I can tell you, in terms of direction, it is not as good as it could be. I’m missing the clever little touches and sense of humor about the plot. And I am really really missing the lighter touch with the male-female romance.
It’s Sidharth Malhotra’s birthday! I know, because Karan tweeted him wishes. Seems like I should be able to do at least as much as Karan for Sidharth. I’m not going to do a full 32 reasons I love you, but I will shoot for at least a dozen.
Just to clarify, you don’t have to ask me something Raees related! That’s just my cheeky title so you can tell this week’s Monday Morning Post apart from all the others. And so I can explain my plan for the week. There are going to be 2 Raees weeks for Monday Morning Questions. Because it’s coming out mid-week, I’ll be starting my traditional 7 days of vaguely related discussion this Wednesday, making today the beginning of my “Raees week”. And then next week is the week it actually comes out, which shall be the second Raees Monday Questions Post. (full list of Monday Morning Question posts available here)
My copy of An Unsuitable Boy is sloooooowly making it’s way to me from New York, but in the meantime, the Indian press is keeping me up to date on the most interesting excerpts. This time, one about Kareena.
Did you notice that I didn’t post much this weekend? Especially in comparison with last weekend? Well, there is a reason for that! And hopefully this will be the final post on this topic, after my first lament, and second triumphal celebration.
Did I say before that Rajshri has a TON of Balachander movies for free on their youtube channel? They do! I don’t know why, but who questions a miracle? So now I have seen another incredibly early and, I assume, classic Balachander movie. Really early actually, this film is from 1968 whereas Moodru Mudichu was 1976.
Once again, Dabboo Ratnani has released his “calendar”! The annual event that makes NO SENSE! But results in amazing photos.
dontcallitbollywood 