Hello all! Time to chat about what we have been doing for the past few days. And the next few days too, since you are welcome to come back and keep commenting every time you see something new that you like. Until next Wednesday, when you can come comment on next Wednesday’s post!
I’ll start! I finally started digging into my huge haul of DVDs and saw a couple Malayalam films over the weekend (you will see those posts going up). I had some friends over on Friday and we watched Aiyya. Which, of course, they loved. Especially since I have it on DVD now so I can fast-forward the bad parts. I also discovered when we were talking after that somehow I hadn’t shown either of them Ohm Shaanti Oshaana! Thought I had shown that movie to everyone I knew. Anyway, I swore to make them watch it next time they came over.
I also finished the short BBC series Agatha Raisin, which is super fun and I highly recommend it. And I am within a few episodes of having re-watched all of The Golden Girls (noooooo! What will I do with my life when it is over!).
Oh, and I read this fascinating article that T.J Stevens posted in a comment about Badrinath.
dontcallitbollywood 
On Monday, I went out & saw Badrinath Ki Dulhania. It was only later that I realized (due to Wikipedia coming out and saying it) that this is the “second installment of a franchise that began with Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania!” I’ll probably forget again, by the next time they cast these two once more as a couple-to-be!
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I find it a fascinating concept for a franchise, that it is just the same artistic team but totally different characters and setting and everything else. So you can completely forget between films and it doesn’t make a difference to your ability to enjoy them individually!
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Shashank Khaitan wrote Badrinath Ki Dulhania as an independent film and it was Karan’s idea to make it into a franchise. Btw here’s Shashank’s comments on the male molestation scene criticisms.
http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-after-being-accused-by-the-moral-police-badrinath-ki-dulhania-director-shashank-khaitan-defends-his-scene-with-varun-dhawan-and-alia-bhatt-on-male-molestation-2359463
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I can believe that, about Karan making it into a franchise. Because really calling it a “franchise” is just a marketing decision, nothing else. Humpty and Badrinath have as much in common as KKHH and K3G and MNIK. But we all knew Karan’s movies were connected because they were such big hits and all. It’s handy to sort of underline the connection between Humpty and Badrinath so the audience will for sure know that if they like one, they will like the other.
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I got an idea for a Sunday Speculation post. You could come up with regions and storylines for future installments of the franchise!
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I don’t know if I know enough about the regions!
On Wed, Mar 22, 2017 at 9:02 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I watched King Uncle, Khabi Haag Khabi Naa, My Dinner with Andre, and Baazigar. Whoosh! And I read a book about Universalism by a minister I interviewed today for a church history project.
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Yay, Kabhi Haa Kabhi Naa! Yaaaay, Baazigar! And then there’s King Uncle.
On Wed, Mar 22, 2017 at 8:59 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I am actually becoming a big Jackie Schroff fan, especially in his comic roles.
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If you are ever in the mood, you should go back and check out the original Hero, his big launch movie. He is super super skinny and young in it.
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So, first the good: I rewatched Piku this past weekend. How I love that movie. It seems like that’s the one where Deepika finally unequivocally came into her own as an actress. I never thought I would love a movie with so many poop jokes (and laugh at said jokes).
Then, the bad, not so much in terms of a bad movie, but watching it was a bit of a bad experience. I was just noodling around at about 10 pm on Saturday and suddenly decided it was the perfect time to lose my Anurag Kashyap maidenhead, and watched Ugly. Hoo boy. It is a good, maybe great, movie, but watching it is quite an unpleasant experience. It is absolutely the bleakest, darkest Hindi movie I’ve seen, and probably in the top two of all movies.
Interestingly, it’s basically a love triangle starting in college, although one that had such a shattering effect on the three principals that it basically ruins all of their lives. The daughter of two of those people (and stepdaughter of the other) goes missing and their mutual suspicion, hatred, and greed prevent them from doing anything but going round and round in the same cycles they’ve been going through since college.
In a bit I found sort of horrifying, there is a flashback to the college days when the triangle started, so brief that I had to pause the video to be sure of what I was watching. The flashback is colorful and quirky like a Karan Johar film, with the part of the woman being actually played by Alia Bhatt! Is this supposed to conjure up an evil alternate universe to all the happy-ending love triangles, in which Varun and Sid wind up twisted in psychotic rage and Alia is so suicidally depressed she can barely move? Is it Anurag’s personal slap at Karan? (I know they did have their differences, but he is thanked in the acknowledgements for this movie).
So, great film with great performances, but I will not be watching again. I even did this silly thing I do when I watch an upsetting movie: I Google the actors and look at their regular, smiling faces so I know it was just a movie. This actually proved impossible with Ronit Roy. Ronit Roy has Resting Sociopath Face.
I loved Aiyyaa, but felt it ultimately sort of failed. When I was watching I thought they were going for a quirky thing like Amelie (looking at Moviemavengal’s blog, I see she came to the same conclusion). The thing is, quirky needs a light touch. I actually watched the outtakes from the Amelie DVD, and there is one scene where Audrey Tautou says her line, and it’s just a bit over the top. The eyebrows go up too much and the delivery is a bit too mannered. She realized it and said the line again in a more low-key way. When I saw that I realized how easily the whole movie could have been cutesy or weird, and how much it depends on the restraint of the actress and director. Aiyyaa is so enjoyable and Rani is really really good, but as a whole the movie goes one screaming grandma and one set of buck teeth over the line.
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Piku is so wonderful! And I feel the same way about Deepika. Not so much that she finally was talented in this film, but that she finally felt free to just act and not be glamorous or a movie star. Or even pleasant. The first film I saw where I went “wow, she’s a lot more than just a pretty face!” was Chennai Express. She did a lot in that movie with just an expression. But then in this, the script actually gave her something to do!
Haven’t seen Ugly, but totally agree that Ronit Roy had Resting Sociopath Face!!!! It’s one of the reasons I’ve never seen Ugly, or Udaan. I found him terrifying and unpleasant enough in 2 States, I haven’t been able to bring myself to watch the films where he is even more so. Fascinating to hear that it has that flashback that seems like a twisted Karan film. I could see it being his slam at Karan (Anurag really really hated him for a while), or after they made up with Karan’s blessing. Karan is so willing to make fun of himself! That is my favorite part of I Hate Luve Storys.
With Aiyyaa, yes! Way way too much whimsy! As a whole, the film does not work. But if you mentally remove all those bits, such a great movie! Rani is note perfect in every scene, so is Prithviraj (not that there is much for him to do), and the other part of the love triangle is pretty good too. But everything else! So over the top!
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Yeah, the flashback in Ugly seems like it’s really pointed at Karan. There’s a goofy guy in glasses who in a KJ film would grow up to be Hrithik or Shahrukh (but Alia and her boyfriend bully him so badly he turns into Ronit Roy). I tried googling around to see if it was on purpose, but couldn’t find anything. (If you Google “ugly” and “karan johar” you get a bunch of articles about Ajay Devgn and KRK.)
Prithviraj is a national treasure, as a human as well as an actor. The open letter he wrote about the Kerala molestation case made me love him more. I’m guessing your friends are fairly familiar with Indian films, so they can get all those North/South jokes?
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Some of those north/south jokes. The nice thing is when we are watching in my living room, I can just hit ‘pause” and give a mini-lecture as needed. The one thing they were excited about was that little glimpse of Silk Smitha, or as we know her “the real life Oo La La actress!”
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Wait, the director in I Hate Luv Storys is supposed to be a parody of Karan? I always thought he was a parody of Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
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Oh yeah, TOTALLY Karan!!! But the good as well as the bad, notice how he is kind of a joke, but he is also sincere about mentoring Imraan and Sonam? That kind of established production office with tons of up and coming talent is very Dharma. I am sure the writer/director based it on his time at Dharma, and then Karan got a kick out of it and greenlit it.
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Now that you mention it, I can see him being Karan. Now I feel the need to rewatch I Hate Luv Storys just to see how they portray the industry 🙂
By the way, have you seen Luck By Chance yet or no?!?!?
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No, I haven’t seen Luck By Chance. I am a bad person. But I’ll get to it someday, I swear!
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With your knowledge of the industry and how it works, I think you would find Luck By Chance to be a really fascinating movie. Plus you should see it because Shahrukh has an important cameo that changes the mindset of the main character.
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Someone in the forum commented about Vinod Khanna’s Lahoo ke do rang and I tracked it down this weekend.Vinod Khanna gets to play both father and son and romance 3 women in the movie.Helen for once gets a decent role with plenty of lines.It is clear that Mahesh Bhatt’s pipe dream is that every wife will welcome the other woman to her household with open arms. And yes, Vinod Jr.is a peeping-tom and Shabana is coy and shy with him but very firm and lady-of-the-Manor with everybody else.Danny once again gets the chance to play the ‘exotic’ character(he’s one quarter Chinese) .He manages to strike a friendship with a little pick-pocket girl and their interactions are cute(especially when she plays love guru).
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Well now I am going to have to track this thing down and watch it! If both you and Ryan C. said it was fun.
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“It is clear that Mahesh Bhatt’s pipe dream is that every wife will welcome the other woman to her household with open arms.”
I hadn’t even considered that aspect of the story line but it makes SO much sense considering his “extracurricular activities” around that time!
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Arrival
The Shawshank redemption
And God father 1
Now a days. Hollywood movies channels. Like HBO, star movies don’t show these classics in India or I have to pay extra for premium channelsband watch the censored version with out nudity and blood(Iam not kid any more to watch it like that)
So I downloaded it when I was in railway. Station free WiFi spot(I was traveling for an exam)
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They aren’t shown much on TV in America either. I don’t know why it is, but TV channels seem to just show the same few movies over and over again. Probably something about contracts? They bought the rights for some movies for unlimited plays, and others they have to pay per showing?
Luckily, in America, the big classics like that usually are in every library. That’s my go to, when I want to see a classic film, I just stop by my local library and pick up the DVD there.
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I have been ploughing my way through The Good Wife on Netflix, am about 1/3rd through season 4. I guess I am hooked, lol.
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According to the stuff I’ve read online, you are about to hit the point where it gets slightly less good. So if you start to lose interest at any point after this, you have already seen the good parts!
You’ve probably already heard about this, but around this time it became blatantly obvious that Archie Punjabi and Julianna Margalis could not be in a scene together. It was written into the script for a while, but eventually they ran out of good reasons for them to never be in the same room, and it just got odd and obvious that it was an issue with the actresses.
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I haven’t read anything about the show so that is news for me. One of the last episodes I saw had them sitting on beds in a hotel room – maybe that is one of the last scenes of them together??
Some of the legal cases seem to be getting more bizarre and I am fascinated with the wardrobe department’s obsession with pussy-bow neckline blouses for the female characters. 🙂
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I just looked it up to make sure I was remembering right. They stopped sharing scenes in season 4, at least in a way that would force the actresses to actually be in the same place (so, like, phone calls and near misses and green screened moments were still happening). Things started to get noticeably wonky plotwise thanks to this towards the end of season 5, and then season 6 and 7 were just odd. But, on the other hand, most of season 5 is considered one of the all time greatest seasons of television. So you’ve still got lots of brilliance to look forward too!
After that the critics and entertainment reporters were all saying that the star egos were controlling the story instead of the producers, and strange vibes were coming out of the press meetings and there were lots of “sources” on set talking about Juliana and Archie just really really hating each other for no reason anyone knows. I mean, that’s how I know all of this! I stopped watching in season 1, but the news stories were so prevalent that even someone like me who just casually followed TV news in general would run across them. The stuff I read blamed the producers most of all, because it was there job to keep the egos in check and make the show work, and apparently they just weren’t up to it.
Ugh, I feel like I’m spoiling it for you or something! You can keep enjoying and it’s still brilliant and all of that, but I don’t want you to think you are going crazy if you start feeling like the character interactions don’t make as much sense after a certain point.
On Thu, Mar 23, 2017 at 4:02 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Check out the trailer of Dhanush’s first movie as a director. It seems quite interesting:
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It does seem interesting! And I feel like I recognize the actress. Is that Revathy? Or someone else?
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Yup! That’s Revathy 🙂
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I am so proud of myself! And also, she’s playing grandmothers and her co-stars are still playing heroes? That’s terrible!
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If your’re referring to co-stars like Salman, then I guess your’re right. But then she already played Alia’s mom in 2 States. She’s only 50 but she’s still quite pretty.
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Wow, that looks great! We don’t often get Tamil films around here but I’ll be looking forward to watching it somewhere down the road.
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Have you seen any of Dhanush’s films so far? He’s a great actor who has the range to do masala movies and off-beat ones.
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I haven’t, I think VIP is the one I’ve had recommended the most, and if the sequel with Kajol pans out, I will definitely need to see it.
On Thu, Mar 23, 2017 at 10:24 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Wait, you haven’t seen a Dhanush movie yet?!?!? Not even Raanjhanaa?!?!
VIP is my favorite Dhanush movie, and it was the first movie of his that I saw. I think Raanjhanaa would probably be a better intro to Dhanush just because it’s not a masala movie that is really dependent on his image. This is one of my favorite trailers though I don’t think it really conveys what happens in the movie really clearly.
Another good Tamil movie of Dhanush’s is 3 which is more famous for Why This Kolaveri Di than the movie itself. 3 is a good movie but it’s first half starts as a sweet love story while the second half takes a complete pyschological thriller-like turn which tends to turn people off. But I actually like 3 a lot, and it’s quite an interesting movie.
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Raanjhanaa looked too saaaaaaaaaaaaaad! I have watched the Kolavery D song about 20 times, which is almost the length of a movie.
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Yeah, Raanjhanaa is kinda sad but it’s still a pretty good movie. 3 is also pretty sad actually. Then you should watch VIP first, it’s quite fun 🙂
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Company was such a good film. I really liked it a lot. I can hardly believe that was Vivek’s first role. I can totally see why everyone would zero in on his potential and expect huge things from him. So much raw, explosive talent with a rare screen presence. I had that same feeling (to a slightly lesser extent) watching him on screen in Saathiya as well. Ajay was a bit of a revelation for me. This performance blew me away. I’ve really only seen him in Ishq (where he seemed awkward and out of his element) and Shivaay (oh boy, even the thought of it makes me cringe). He was perfect in Company. He had such a calm in his body language and was so methodical and clinical carrying out acts of murder, it was quite terrifying. He believably commanded respect and made his presence felt, while saying very little. Mohanlal was also very good and I thought he made the most of a small part (I may have liked to see a bit more of his character). Ram Gopal Varma said in an interview that Manisha’s character was supposed to be more atmospheric than flesh-and-blood (whatever the heck that means). He also said that he spoke with her briefly as the shoot started and then afterwards had very little interaction with her and gave her practically no direction. I think that shows onscreen-she seemed so disinterested or drugged out or confused, and just kind of filled out the shots. It was weird. I found your review points very interesting. I had noticed the differences in the styles and manner of the two women but I didn’t realize how much those things were related to their religions.
I really appreciated the style of the film. It was so different than any other Hindi film I’ve seen. I read that Danny Boyle was heavily influenced by its slick, mesmerizing depiction of urban brutality, while making Slumdog Millionaire. I can kind of see that (although I remember Slumdog being a bit more polished and glossy, even in its depiction of extreme poverty and thuggery). It definitely had a grimy and realistic touch and sort of reminded me of Mean Streets in that way. It had a similar kind of energy. There were little touches throughout that set it apart. My favorite was the rooftop chase, when Ajay’s hired men find Vivek in Kenya. Every other movie has guys flying around like superheroes, jumping from building to building with ease, no problem at all. In Company, everyone looked awkward and scared. There was one thug that was shaking in terror as he jumped and then, when he safely grabbed the other building, breathed a sigh of relief. Then Vivek kicked him and he fell onto live wires and was electrocuted! There was another guy that just straight up missed his jump and plummeted into the dark abyss of some building below. Vivek didn’t look cool and slick-he looked like a guy who had just been shot and was just trying to survive and escape. This scene was a microcosm of what the entire film did so well. It didn’t glamorize, or condemn, the criminal life. Sometimes it’s beneficial and fun, sometimes you have to kill your best friends, but the code comes above all else. It made a gangster’s life seem like an absolute grind. Never any rest, never any peace, never time to enjoy anything-a constant hustle.
One thing I wanted to ask about was the “parody” of Karan Johar through the “movie director” character. I’ve heard of some issues between the two (I seem to remember that Karan kind of brushed it off in his book). Did the issues stem from this or was this supposed to be in good fun? I really didn’t find it funny and it seemed kind of gross and mean spirited.
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For Karan and RGV, there is back and forth all the time, but I think mostly it is that there could not be two more different personalities. RGV is, essentially, a troll. He delights in throwing little insult bombs on twitter or in interviews and then watching everyone else react. And he also delights in going to the limit of acceptable social behavior just to see what he gets away with. His comments about his female actresses are really beyond the pale. Trump-level. But then Karan is the opposite, he likes to be friends with everybody, to put out compliment bombs instead of insults. And of course he is the opposite of that kind of aggressive rape-y attitude towards women, enough that he would be seen as an incomprehensible threat to a “real man”. But on the other hand, Karan also has his little ways of insulting people when he chooses too. He wouldn’t be so blatant as to put an RGV character in his films, but he has dropped the occasional twitter comment. And certainly RGV is persona non-grata among the Karan crowd, you won’t be seeing Shahrukh or Kareena or Alia, or probably even Salman in his films any time soon. And he won’t be getting a sweet co-production deal like Anurag Kashyap. Anurag put out plenty of Karan insults as well, but without that slight troll-ish flavor to them, you know? He kept it strictly about the work, not personal.
The style of the film is amazing, that’s why everyone forgives RGV all his trollishness. Because he is such a brilliant director, when he is on his game. And he can recognize brilliance in others as well (well, other men. Women he just recognizes body parts). He found Viviek, he also found Manoj Bajpai, he got some of the greatest performances of their careers out of Ajay and Amitabh, and he helped launch Rahman in Hindi cinema. I’ll probably be seeing Sarkar 3 in theaters, even though I would never want to be in the same room as the man in real life, just because he is so brilliant it cannot be denied.
For Ajay, I hadn’t realized that you’d only seen Ishq and Shivaay! You HAFT to see Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. It’s got a great Salman performance, but a really great Ajay performance, I guarantee you will fall in love with him. Omkara too, and Yuva. Oh, and Once Upon a Time in Mumbai too! He’s in a bit of a midlife crisis lately and has been cranking out some real stinkers, but when he is on his game, he is sincerely one of the greatest actors in India.
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Since both RGV and Karan are so different in terms of the style of film-making, was it surprising that Vivek Oberoi got a YRF film so early in his career. Was choosing him for Saathiya considered an unexpected casting choice since he wasn’t a typical chocolate hero? Also I’ve always heard people say that Salman ruined Vivek’s career; I know it has something to do about Aishwarya but what exactly happened?
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The Saathiya casting was very unexpected! Casting this actor out of nowhere who was only known for dark crime movies before this, and one of the best known actresses in the industry who had never quite had a solo hit yet. Obviously, it worked great, the film was good and people appreciated this unexpected pairing. However, just in terms of an RGV discovery jumping to YRF, that wasn’t that unusual. Going back to the “he’s just an unpleasant man” part of RGV, he discovers a lot of talents, and then he offends them and they go off to work with other people. It doesn’t even have to be a big dramatic break, he just doesn’t seem to have that knack of making people like spending time with him, so they drift away. He’s also not that great at helping careers once he launches them. Does great with stripped down cheap plots that get a lot of buzz when you are just starting out. But Vivek needed something like Saathiya, glossy and big budget, and RGV just doesn’t do that stuff. It was natural for him to move on, the only surprise was what a plum role he got when he moved.
Big dramatic break however is EXACTLY what happened with Salman and Viviek and Aish!!!! Someday I’ll do a Hindi Film 101 on it and look up quotes and details and stuff. But the general sequence of events was that Salman was dating Aish. They broke up, and it was messy. Stories of him showing up drunk outside her door, that kind of thing. Aish moved on to Vivek while they were filming Kyun Ho Gaya Na. They never officially announced they were dating, but they were seen together and everyone sort of knew. And then while Aish was out of town at Cannes, Vivek called a press conference and announced that Salman was calling and harassing him and Aish and that he was mentally ill and his family should have him put away. The whole thing was crazy! Who calls a press conference to deal with their girlfriend’s abusive ex? And who publicly says that one of the most important people in the film industry should be committed?
Aish never commented on it and has never interacted with Vivek publically since then. And Salman has really really never interacted with him! There was an interview I read for a few years back where they asked if he would ever warn his friends away from working with Shahrukh, for instance, and he said “no, of course not, there is only one man in the industry I would never want any of my friends to work with, and that is Vivek Oboroi.” And this was like 10 years after the initial incident! Another time Vivek went up to him at FilmFare or one of those other awards shows, Salman was in the front row, and Vivek knelt down in front of him holding his ears, and Salman just kept talking to Shilpa Shetty next to him and didn’t even look.
And you know, I kind of can’t blame him! I mean, what was Vivek thinking? Airing dirty laundry in the most public way possible, and thinking there would be no consequences for it?
On Thu, Mar 23, 2017 at 10:22 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You should do a Hindi Film 101 on this! I always thought that Vivek and Aishwarya made these claims on Salman together. Didn’t Aishwarya end up filing some kind of case on Salman too? This sounds really stupid on Vivek’s part, it’s like he wanted to destroy his promising career. I guess even if Salman didn’t go around telling people not to work with Vivek, people probably still didn’t want to cast him since it would be too controversial or upset a big star like Salman.
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Aish wasn’t involved at all, which is part of what made it so odd! She filed a police case (or her parents did?), which is what a normal human person would do in this situation. Not call a press conference about it!
And exactly, even if Salman hadn’t reacted at all, this would still be terrible for his career. Because who would want to work with some guy who calls press conferences about personal matters/
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You’re right about the press conference and almost right on the apology part (Vivek didn’t go down on has knees, he was on stage either performing or MC’ing, and he did the tugging ears bit while looking at Salman in the front row). However, it’s not correct that Salman “went around telling people not to work with Vivek”, as T.J. Stevens said. That quote of Salman’s you pulled was specifically about what he would tell Katrina after the big Salman-SRK blow up at her birthday party. That’s why he said of course he wouldn’t tell her not to work with SRK (it would have been a huge break for her at that point), but only Vivek. There’s an episode of Farah Khan’s talk show (Tere Mere Beech Main or some such) where Vivek is the guest, and while he complains that the industry was against him, Farah corrects him that she has never heard Salman bad mouth him or tell others not to hire him. Vivek is not very complimentary of Aishwarya on this show.
But about Vivek’s career being ruined, I’m always puzzled when people say this, Vivek got a YRF film (Saathiya), a joint Karan Johar-SRK co production (Kaal), and a Subhash Ghai film when he was still a big deal director (KIsna) as the main lead, all after the press conference blow up. He also did that film with Aishwarya and Amitabh in a supporting role (Kyun Ho Gaya Na). What I remember reading at that time was that he was just insufferably arrogant, thinking he knew everything about acting, and no one else did. I remember an article during the KHGN filming where he apparently started giving tips to Amitabh Bachchan on how he should play the scene, instead of the way he already was. What is interesting in light of AB’s later ultra diplomacy on social media was that he was actually angry about it and made several comments about Vivek’s unwarranted interference. Similarly, after Saathiya, even Rani was complaining about Vivek’s meddling in her performance. The quote I remember from her to Vivek is, “I have acted with Aamir Khan, with Sharukh Khan, and with Salman Khan. Who are you?” At the time I was just getting into Bollywood, and didn’t really know any of these people, but that press conference left me completely puzzled. Vivek’s main point was that (a) Salman threatened him, but (b) “I am not afraid of him. I am six feet tall and was a boxing champion in college.” I mean WTH? If you take the threats seriously, you call the police. If you’re not afraid, you ignore them and go on with your life. In neither case could I see why calling a press conference made any sense.
Sorry to go on so much, which I didn’t intend! It’s just that this issue is so convoluted that even giving the bare bones of it requires a lot of words. 🙂
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This is all fascinating! Hearing that Vivek was already a pill on set makes so much sense. And it also kind of matches my impression when I’ve heard those Salman quotes. Something about the way he phrases it makes it feel to me like he’s not saying “I tell people not to work with Vivek because I hate him” but more “Because I care about people, I warn them off of working with Vivek, because he is trouble”.
One of the other comments mentions hearing that Aish had called the cops, which I don’t know about that, but it’s exactly your point! If this stuff is happening, call the cops not a press conference! We never fully got Aish’s side of the story, because it’s none of our business! It’s between her and her family and Salman and the police, not the media!
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I remember the furor when that story broke out.As per the rumors, Salman Khan knocked Ash around and then showed up drunk outside her apartment.Apparently she even admitted years later that there were times when she had to show up for shooting with heavy makeup to camouflage her bruises.So I don’t think this was a one-time thing.To continue with the story Ash was originally cast in Chalte Chalte opposite Shahrukh. Salman showed up on the sets made a ruckus.Shahrukh quietly replaced Ash with Rani.And that’s one of the reasons neither Shahrukh nor Rani were invited to Ash-Abhishek wedding.Apparently Vivek and Ash grew closer during the shooting of Kyun ho gaya na.Vivek’s picture was in all the newspapers when he made a flying visit to the hospital to be at his sweetheart’s side when Ash was injured while/after the shooting.And then when everyone was going ‘Awww so cute”, he had to open his mouth and call the press conference.Ash was mortified and quickly cut ties with him.And that was the end of Vivek.Now whether Salman blacklisted him or not is anyone’s guess.
It was not the first time Salman had gone against one of the up-coming actors either.He took up a dislike of John Abraham while the latter was starting his career in Bollywood.As per the gossip rags, this was Salman’s complaint: “He’s too respectful and hence a hypocrite.He calls me Sir”. John had Akshay and Sanjay Dutt (and Bipasha) in his corner and maybe they persuaded Salman to take it easy.That’s why Salman and John does not have any scenes together in Salaam e Ishq.
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I hadn’t heard that about John Abraham! That’s fascinating. It sounds like just one of those chemistry things, nice to know movie stars have them just like regular people.
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The issue with John Abraham came up during the Rock Stars tour, when he apparently refused to contribute his share to pay the backup dancers (as all the rest did), because he was “an international star” and hence should be paid more (Water had just released). This was reported in quite a few articles at the time.
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Well, yuch, now I kind of don’t like John Abraham!
On Fri, Mar 24, 2017 at 7:54 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I watched Running Shaadi last night and really enjoyed it. Nothing spectacular but a really nice small budget rom-com. I think Taapsee Pannu is quickly rising to the top of the it-girl list. She has a scene with the male lead where she’s about to eat a parfait desert and she’s frustrated with the guy and she has this perfect moment of taking the umbrella out of the desert and throwing it on the table while looking completely pissed that I thought was perfection. Those are the kind of moments where you realize that an actor is actually very good…it’s usually not the big crying or emotional scenes that get me…it’s these moments. Also thought the casual introduction of pre-marital sex and abortion was so interesting and refreshing. I was not impressed by either of the male stars…Cyberjeet was annoying and the lead was a bit of a wet blanket and he had a terrible hairstyle(!).
I need to watch Baby soon before I see Naam Shabana. Also will be trying Akira again on your recommendation. Also will be trying Rock On 2 and Shivaay this weekend and I suspect I will dislike both, despite my general love of the two actors.
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I had the opposite reaction! I liked both leads, but the male lead impressed me slightly more. Anyway, I am thrilled that someone else finally saw Running Shaadi! I’m going to try to buy it on DVD this weekend, fingers crossed it’s available in the stores near me (I can already order it online from India, but it would take forever and anyway I’d rather support my local stores!).
Baby really has only a small moment with Taapsee, just enough to establish her as a competent member of the team who is much more than just the “honey pot” bait. And who has a casually friendly relationship with Akshay.
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Just came back from theatres after watching the new english movie Life starring Jake Gyllenhaal and ryan raynolds. Typical alien in space movie. But i liked it, it was entertaning.
Will be watching the new malayalam movie Take off starring Parvathy, Fahadh Faasil, Kunchako Boban this weekend. Hearing great things about it. It is the true story of the rescue mission of 19 Malayalee nurses taken hostages by ISIS in Iraq in 2014 .
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That is interesting! If nothing else, I am always fascinated by the Kerala-Gulf connections and all the ramifications of how that plays out.
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Here is the trailer of taken off. The film may resemblence to the hindi movie airlift. That was also true story happened in 1980’s qatar.
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Here’s a version that works in the U.S.
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Oh, the guy who played pain-in-the-bum Mr George in Airlift is in this too (but looks like a different kind of character).
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So, I liked Akira quite a bit! I thought it was really good. I was surprised when I dug around a bit at all the vitriol hurled its way. I knew that it didn’t do well but people absolutely hated it with a passion! I also saw a lot of criticism of Sonakshi. Now, I can understand being annoyed with the slightly overwrought plot (I wasn’t) but I can’t believe that Sonakshi’s performance wasn’t appreciated, at the very least. She was amazing! The fight scenes looked as realistic and crisp as any I’ve seen in Hindi film. She kicked butt and looked awesome doing it. I thought she handled the dramatic scenes well, capturing the shyness and stoicism of the character. And I thought she was great during the second half when things went haywire and she had to act in, and react to, some pretty crazy situations. It was so refreshing to see a female-centric action film and Sonakshi was the perfect actress for the role. She has a physicality and presence that is kind of unique to her. I have trouble imagining anyone else playing this character.
The supporting cast complemented her nicely. Anurag was just as deliciously evil and horrible as I expected (and such a manipulative and cowardly bully). The actors that played his three cronies were so despicable-I wanted them all to get their just deserts! I really liked the performance of her father early on and I was driving myself crazy trying to remember where I’d seen the actor (it was Atul Kulkarni from Rang De Basanti-I gave in and googled it). Konkona was also great even though she had a small role.
I thought the acid throwing sequence at the beginning was very well done (and absolutely horrible and heartbreaking to watch). I shed a few tears when the victim joined the home (or support group?) and was comforted by other girls that had suffered similar atrocities. The subsequent fight between little Akira and the boys was fantastic and I almost cheered when the main guy really got what he deserved. All the action scenes were great, especially the epic one in the cafeteria! I could have watched Sonakshi beating people up all night! I also thought the whole ending sequence was well-executed and satisfying.
I liked all the twists and turns that the plot had to offer. I really didn’t find it to be the incoherent mess that everyone else seemed to. Everything made sense within the story. I didn’t really think that it dragged along or slowed down at all. It kept me on the edge of my seat! I may just be under Sonakshi’s spell lately but I really enjoyed the film. I just wish it did a lot better at the box office. I would love to see more movies like this!
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you also saw Atul in Raees! He was Shahrukh’s childhood mentor.
It was so interesting watching Akira with a big group because we all liked it, but had different reactions to it. For one thing, my friend who has seen a lot of Hindi films couldn’t believe how blatant it was about all the police being corrupt and violent. Which made me realize that I had seen a lot of Telugu movies! Because I was easily able to get in the mindset of cops just being evil for sake of being evil. Another friend found the acid throwing concept completely over the top and ridiculous, and I had to break the news that it may be completely over the top and ridiculous, only that is exactly how it happens in real life! Without the avenging schoolgirl, but with the rest of it.
Anyway, it make me think about the reasons that the critics may not have liked it. You have to get in the mindset of accepting the over the top villiany, but also seeing the social messages within it, the importance of Sonakshi’s only ally being a transgender woman, the way society always finds a way to silence those who speak the truth, and so on and so on. Plus, Sonakshi’s performance was amazing! If they thought she was just playing “stiff” and “blank” (or whatever the criticisms were), they were missing a whole other layer!
But mostly, it’s great that you saw this in preparation for Noor! 2 more weeks and we get another Sonakshi lead off-beat feminist film.
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I’m ashamed to admit that I still haven’t seen Raees. My son came down with the flu the weekend we were supposed to see it and we didn’t get another chance to go. It looks like the DVD is supposed to be coming out next week, so my long, terrible wait is almost over! I’ll be on soon with my two months late cold-takes!
There isn’t much information about the transgender woman from the mental hospital (Government Mental Asylum). She’s credited as Kajol Saroj and it seems like this is her only film. She did a nice job with the role, I thought.
I can’t wait for Noor! I definitely got on this Sonakshi kick just at the right time.
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I watched the Malayalam film Amen, by Lijo Jose Pellissery, last night. This film was like nothing I have ever seen. It was incredible. I don’t normally even think about reading subtitles-it’s gone hand-in-hand with watching movies over the years and has become second nature. This was the rare instance where I felt like reading subtitles hindered me from fully enjoying all the other aspects. I will probably watch this one again very soon, to try and take in more of the visuals-I felt so helplessly dependent on the words. There was such a richness to the composition and the camera was so fluid, always moving and doing interesting things, that moments of brilliance might be missed with the simple blink of an eye.
The movie takes place in a small village, surrounded by rivers. The epicenter of the community is a massive old Catholic church. The basic story is that the church was once known for its band (think marching band). Years ago, a boat accident claimed the life of their star clarinet player and several others. In the present, only one member from the old days survives and acts as a band leader, hopelessly trying to keep the band together and train the new generation. The band is a financial drain (I think) on the church funds, as well as a sad reminder of the old days, so the church is trying to put an end to it (the bishop is also a really bad and self-serving man). The clarinet virtuoso had a son named Solomon (played by Fahadh Faasil) who also plays brilliantly, but only outside of his girlfriend’s window. He freezes up whenever he tries to play with the real band and everything thinks he’s kind of a joke. The girl’s dad is a wealthy contractor and doesn’t want her to marry the poor clarinet player. A new recruit to the parish, Father Vincent (played by Indrajith, who I didn’t realize was Prithviraj’s brother until after) arrives to the village with a fresh attitude and more progressive ideas, and shakes things up. He takes to Solomon immediately and inserts himself into the plights of love and music.
The plot isn’t all that complex, or even really important. The village is populated by colorful and quirky characters-some of them appear only for a couple of minutes, show off their crazy for a punchline or two, and then disappear. The band aspect is interesting because it allows a lot more song sequences than usual for Malayalam cinema. And also, barring one montage that traces Solomon’s love story, the songs are more similar to Hindi numbers-performed by the characters and choreographed. As far as I could tell, some of the sequences were filmed without a single cut (I was embroiled in the subtitles, so it’s entirely possible I missed the “cheats”). There is one song, Pampara Pa Pa (check it out on Youtube) where a band from a neighbouring village arrives on a boat, comes into the tavern to stir up some trouble, and they have a back and forth, singing and playing and dancing. Then the camera pulls back and seems to drift away on the river. The thing is, there are dozens of people involved. It made me think of the way that you and Melanie described the climax of Angamaly Diaries. There were so many moving parts and things happening and little moments, that if one person in the background was out of place, they would have had to start the shot over. It’s only three minutes or so, but I’m sure little experiments like this served him well later on while he was shooting the more ambitious new film. That sequence was my favorite and the most impressive, but there were many others that were really well done and interesting. The songs themselves were really great too.
The camera work in general was just incredible. The village and scenery was shot so beautifully and lovingly, especially the night shots-sunsets, silhouettes, shadows put to expert use. There were shots of little boats on the water (that’s how they travelled around, so these moments were plentiful) that blew my mind. There was one where the camera started upside down and did an arc over the boat before ending on the other side of it as it passed. I can’t even describe it properly! I don’t even know how you would dream up and execute this shot! It was just tiny scene, that could have been shot straight with just a boat passing, but it turned into this epic, incredible moment. And the film was absolutely full of these! The camera never seemed to be still. Even during conversations, it was slowing pulling back over the shoulder of one person, focusing more clearly on the other. The innovation of cinematography and staging was staggering. It was impossible to take in everything. I mean, I might say the same thing after a fifth or six watch. I’ve really never seen anything like this!
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I was planning to watch City of God today, but I just watched Amen so I could better respond to this comment instead! You are so right about the camera work. It’s just mind-blowing. It’s also a prettier film than Angamaly, with the glowing lights and the bright costumes and everything else.
But, and this is just my first impression, like you I want to watch this film over and over again, I think it had a little less heart than Angamaly? Just a little. Maybe it was the change in scriptwriter? Angamaly, it just felt slightly more like these characters were real people that could be hurt. It still had a slightly surreal flavor, similar kind of camera work and all that, but the storyline felt like it had real consequences just a little more.
I should also mention, if you haven’t seen many Malayalam films, that the general images of the boats and the churches and all of that loveliness is something I’ve seen a lot in the Malayalam village films. Which kind of made this more impressive, because the beauty wasn’t coming from the uniqueness of the images, he was taking things we’d seen plenty of times before, that plenty of other directors had worked with, and he found a way to do something completely new.
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Your comments make me even more excited for Angamaly! I totally understand what you mean about the characters not feeling as real. This movie felt more like a fairy tale than a story about a real village with real people. They all kind of felt like “characters”. As amazing and beautiful and mind-blowing as it was, I didn’t really feel much for the people involved (I was moved by the scene where Solomon got his Dad’s clarinet). I’m so interested in seeing how this style of film making is applied in a completely different, and more realistic, genre.
I’ve watched a few Malayalam films (17 by my Letterboxd count) but I think they’ve mostly been more city-based stories. I think Ohm Shanthi Oshaana, Pulimurigan and maybe Drishyam were the only real village films (oh, and I guess the first part of Premam, which would be the most similar in setting to this). That is an even more amazing feat-to take locations and settings that are so common and find new and exciting ways to present them to an audience. I am going to watch City of God as soon as I can!
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I’m assuming there are water villages and mountain villages in Kerala, just based on the different kinds of scenery I’ve seen. And i think the other 3 movies you mention are more non-water villages. Here’s a song from one fairly good movie I watched which has a lot of boat scenes, so you can see how pretty it is, and yet still so different from this film! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEAWB-sTj0M
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I’m in the middle of a movie marathon today (in the middle of Sarkar Raj). I watched Baby in preparation for Naam Shabana and really liked it, though I wanted to cut about an hour of it to make it a much tighter film since it dragged in some parts. MI-5 is one of my favorite shows of all time and this one kind of had moments that reminded me of it. I pair films in my head and this one goes nicely with D-Day because it also features a team of spies and lots of action (plus a kick-ass chick!) and they’re attempting to bring the big bad guy back to India to justice. I don’t think the fact that these two films released so close together is coincidence. I know they were both influenced by the Mumbai terrorist attacks, but the fact that the setup is kind of similar seems weird. So I wonder in these cases if there is some kind of industry plagiarism/competition going on…someone floats a story to a producer and then the producer takes it elsewhere to follow through and then you have two films in the works.
Anyway, I really liked Taapsee Paanu’s small role…it did set up an interesting spin-off and I’m so excited to see her opposite Prithviraj. Could be good chemistry.
Then I watched Baar Baar Dekho. I was watching it and thinking that Sid and Katrina were awful and recasting Shahid and Deepika or another pair in the roles in my head. Then as the film went on I really started thinking that they weren’t that bad and their physical appearances actually suited the aging necessary for the roles. I would have made Katrina do that scene in the beginning where she gives him the ultimatum over and over again until she got it right. It was the worst acting I’ve seen from her and that’s saying a lot! Otherwise she wasn’t really that bad and Sid was relatively good (but, of course, not great). Their chemistry was lackluster but there was enough there to get them through the script (especially in the scene on the sofa with the kids (the best scene of the film…I can’t believe I even got teary eyed!). I’m really tempted to think that Malhotra’s chemistry issues with his female leads are connected to his off-screen sexuality (I don’t believe for a second that his “relationship” with Alia is more than a publicity stunt). He’s just not a good enough actor and that’s the problem. I strongly believe that an actor’s sexuality shouldn’t prohibit them from playing any role and usually doesn’t affect a performance, but Malhotra’s chemistry with his female co-stars is lacking. I really liked him and Parineeti in HTP but even that didn’t have too much heat and Parineeti really saved it with her acting in the scene when he was tieng her choli. He reminds me a bit of one of my favorite British actors, Richard Armitage, also assumed to be gay but not openly so. But Richard Armitage is a better actor (the swoonworthiness of North & South is a case in point), but there’s still hope for Sid, too! I’m really hoping that he and Sonakshi can make it happen…I think the pairing with Jacqueline Fernandez will be kind of superficial.
I liked the overall film much more than I thought I would (time travel plot holes aside). I’m a big fan of Sliding Doors and the Rachel Griffiths’ film Me Myself I, and loved the book and liked the movie of Time Traveller’s Wife. The end credits song was so great…when I started watching Hindi films there were lots of those celebratory end credit songs out there like the one at the end of Jab We Met. There aren’t enough of them now!
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I’ll be interested to hear what you think of Sarkar Raj! I thought it was kind of a mess, but I thought the very last shot was brilliant. It just felt like RGV wasn’t quite sure how to get there from the beginning.
I had a similar reaction to Baby! Felt very MI-5, with a little 24 thrown in. I like D-Day better though, because I felt like D-Day had an emotional component, and even kind of a moral component that Baby lacked. There didn’t seem to be any price to violence in Baby. My guess as to why too such similar films came out was that it was related to Zero Dark Thirty and the Bin Laden operation in general. There was a lot of talk at the time about “why can’t India do this? Why can’t we just go in and get Dawood Ibrahim/Kashmiri sepratists?” So I was thinking maybe it was two separate producers picking up on this vibe and providing a kind of wish-fulfillment fantasy film.
My hope is that Naam Shabana keeps all the great action sequences and stuff like that, but goes a little bit deeper into the character. That seems like what the trailer is selling, doesn’t it? That you get the awesome fight scenes, but also find out what drives her and why she is like this?
Totally agree about sexuality should be something that a good actor doesn’t allow to affect their performance. That it isn’t even part of their performance, because they are so immersed in their character. And it doesn’t have to be a straight-forward gay-straight thing, there are plenty of stories of co-stars who were disgusted with each other and they still managed to make love scenes work! But yeah, Baar Baar was kind of a mess. Neither Kat or Sid were like bad-bad to me, but the whole script idea wasn’t that great, and their characters really didn’t seem as deep as they could be, and they needed some really phenomenal actors with super star charisma to pull it all together. And Sid and Kat just don’t have that.
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Totally agree that Baby doesn’t deal with the emotional cost of violence like D-Day did (and that ‘s why D-Day is in my top 10 favorite Indian films). Akshay Kumar’s character in Baby is a bit of a robot, even with his family. Very Tom Quinn in MI-5 without the nuance. Taapsee’s Shabana already has built in depth being a woman in a traditionally male profession, so I have more hope for character depth in that one. Wonder if Rana Daggubati will get his own spin-off…I’d watch that one, too.
By the last shot in Sarkar Raj do you mean the one where he talks to the picture of Shankar? Or when Aishwarya’s character ask for tea. I was trying to remember if that was the last scene of Sarkar with Abhishek doing the same, signaling the handing over of power. It was, overall, a quick watch for me. The editing does keep it moving and I can just stare at Abhishek for hours anyway. So claustrophobic with the lighting and the same interior locations over and over. I’m hoping the 3rd one will be good, looks like Amit Sadh from Running Shaadhi will be the grandson.
Started watching Rock On 2 but will finish tomorrow. OK, I have to say that I do enjoy Farhan Akhtar and I do not enjoy Shraddha Kapoor, but their first scenes together are very…interesting. Those off-screen rumors I do believe and I think their affair contributed to the break-up of his marriage. The way he looks at her on screen goes beyond, I think, where the characters relationship is supposed to be going. He’s hot though and she’s better in this one than in other things so that’s good. Arjun Rampal as Joe again is another thing I’m enjoying about this sequel.
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I think “he’s hot though and she’s better in this one than in other things” is just about the perfect review for maybe 50% of all Hindi films.
And yes, the tea shot is what I was thinking of! The idea of this outsider fancy business woman coming into the family and finding her place as the new head, that I find fascinating. I just found the execution of it all kind of confusing and overly complicated.
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Did you see this song promo?!? I seemed to have totally missed it until now. I thought it was interesting of how they mixed Holi with wedding celebrations.
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I saw the earlier version where it was just stills from the song, not video. It is interesting!
Also, did you notice the bride was pregnant? I wonder if that will be part of the army theme? If the groom is a friend of the hero’s and the wedding had to wait until the army allowed for it? Which would be thematic if the central love story is about how his army service affects his relationship, which seems likely.
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Yeah, I did notice that. That would be an interesting way to look at it actually.
By the way, the songs from Baahubali 2 came out today!
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Oh shoot, no videos! Also, the Arjit Singh concert is coming up in two weeks, so I was planning to go all Arjit in my headphones at work from now until then. Should I do Bahubaali, then Arjit just for a couple of days right before the concert, then back to Bahubaali? Or should I do Arjit for 2 weeks, then Bahubaali for 2 weeks? It’s so complicated!
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Lol, there’s still a whole month until Baahubali comes out 🙂
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Another update on Kaatru Veliyidai. You were right about Karthi being a prisoner of war! According to the British Board of Film Certification’s synopsis, Kaatru Veliyidai is a movie where “A military pilot, being held as a prisoner of war, remembers his romance with a local doctor.”
http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/bbfc-synopsis-gives-idea-kaatru-veliyidai-storyline-59220
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Well that’s just Roja! Although I am sure there is some new variation on it that we can’t predict.
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That’s a very general plot synopsis so there’s no doubt about the fact that there will be much more. But I feel like you’re going to be right about the PTSD. I am currently in love with this movie’s album though! I think it’s better than the album of OK Kanmani.
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I don’t know if I am up to saying “better” yet, but certainly as good. The big thing with Rahman, for me, is if the soundtrack perfectly matches the film. And until I see the film, I just don’t know! I really liked the OK Kanmani album, but none of the songs super popped for me besides Mental Manadhil. And then after I saw the film and saw how they all worked together, I really really loved it.
On Sun, Mar 26, 2017 at 11:28 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I felt the same about the OK Kanmani album, the only song that I liked before I saw the movie was Mental Manadhil. But the rest of the songs didn’t work for me after watching the movie either. The album of Kaatru Veliyidai, on the other hand, has gotten me hooked even before the movie has come out.
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Just watched the recent Malayalam movie Take Off. The movie was brilliant and parvathy’s (Charlie, ennu ninte moideen actress) excellent performance elevated the movie into another level. Liked it way more than the hindi movie Airlift
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Hopefully it will come to my theater (it’s not there now). And also hopefully I will be able to find the time to see it (that one hour each way to the theater makes it really tough to get out there more than once a week).
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We watched Dhobi Ghat on Saturday. I wasn’t a huge fan. It was okay but it really seemed like a slog even with the short run time. I hate to say this but Aamir’s character was kind of pointless and was probably the most responsible for dragging down the film. Aamir’s performance was fine (he seemed more a lot more interested in the videos than I was in this movie) don’t get me wrong, it just seemed unnecessary. I thought the videos he found and watched were somewhat interesting but could probably have been worked into the other story (the NRI woman could have discovered them and watched them in parallel with her interactions with the laundry guy and the real inner-workings of the city). I was definitely more interested in the life of the laundry wallah and his relationship with the NRI woman photographing him. Prateik did a pretty good job with his role. Monica Dogra was decent but kind of annoying. Perhaps I wasn’t in the mood for a slow, reflective, arthouse kind of movie. This was all of those things. I probably would have liked this better six years ago when it came out and I had more patience for this sort of film.
I saw Phillauri on Sunday and I liked it a lot! It was really fun and different. I thought that all four leads did a nice job (especially Anushka). I was surprised that the modern story really just framed the classic romance (and I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed that aspect). I mean, I guess it would have worked with just the older story but I did enjoy the lighter, more comedic aspects of the modern-day scenes and ghost Anushka was a lot of fun to watch. I thought the visual effects were very well done. Up there with the best I’ve seen in Indian cinema (although I must agree that the end sequence was a bit too much and unnecessary. It did sort of feel like the VFX team were showing off). I really liked the songs going in and I enjoy them even more after seeing how they fit in with the story. I only wished the songs had been subtitled in the theater since they were so crucial to the characters and their relationship. I didn’t find the pacing to be as big of an issue as a lot of reviews I’ve read. I guess the reunion scene played a bit long but it was a nice payoff so it didn’t bother me much. I would have liked to see Mehreen Pirzada’s role fleshed out a little more (I’ll have to check out TJ Stevens’ recommendation Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha sometime soon). Overall, it made me feel happy. I’m also very excited to show my kids once it’s available for home viewing. I was kicking myself for not bringing them along!
I was happy to finally see Running Shaadi. Really liked that one too! I loved how it started out in such an unconventional way that set the tone for the main characters and their relationship. As you pointed out in your reviews, the situation wasn’t held up, judged and preached about. It was something that happened, brought the two characters together, and allowed them to develop a strong mutual trust and connection. He was a good friend, respected and understood the decision, helped facilitate the solution and was there for support. Great guy! I thought that Amit Sadh and Taapsee Pannu both gave low-key wonderful performances. This isn’t a showy type of movie. It rested on the shoulders of the two leads and I thought they delivered. It kept a nice pace, didn’t drag and was pretty short and sweet. I thought the ending was perfect (and I’m usually one that likes a clear-cut resolution, but this suited the film). The music was good-my favorite track Mannerless Majnu was put to excellent use in the scene where they followed Amit’s fiancée around in disguise. I really wished for a couple of full-on song sequences, maybe as part of the wedding celebrations or something, but I understand the constraints of the budget. A few more crores in production value and this could have been an absolute classic. As it was, it was a very enjoyable and refreshing romantic comedy that tackled some serious issues with a nice, light touch. I’ll be buying this one for sure.
I watched Rowdy Rathore last night. I don’t have much to say. It wasn’t a great movie but it had some enjoyable moments. The song and fight sequences were fun, as they usually are with these kinds of movies. Akshay’s final confrontation at the end was nice-he got to show off some of his martial arts skills with a really big and scary looking adversary. Sonakshi looked absolutely gorgeous! When she disappeared during the middle half, I missed her dearly. Her dancing was so sexy. I could understand Akshay’s character becoming so smitten. A lot of the humor was really overcooked and goofy and fell flat. I chuckled a bit during the scene where Akshay outsmarted his partner out of most of the loot from their latest con. Overall, it was mildly entertaining but not something I’d watch again or recommend. Not bad as a movie on in the background while we made our grocery list and discussed plans for the next two weeks.
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I still haven’t seen Dhobi Ghat. Like you, I missed it when it first came out (I think I was in the middle of moving apartments and finding a new job at the time). And then never really felt inspired to go back to it. Sounds like one of those where if you missed the moment, it’s no longer as exciting. I vaguely recall hearing about how neat it was seeing Aamir in a lowkey art film, and how promising Pratiek Patil was. But of course Pratiek went no where, and now Aamir is in more arty roles all the time, so doesn’t seem worth it to track it down.
I’m glad you like Phillauri and concur that it is kid friendly! There were a fair number of kids and families in my theater, and that really added to the enjoyment. Not just hearing happy kid sounds, but also the way they were talking over scenes, or parents were explaining things, really helped with the pacing. You could see why it was slow and repeated stuff a little, because it works better that way for family viewing. I noticed the same thing with Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. The first time I saw it at a later show, it felt really slow to me. And then seeing it again at a weekend matinee surrounded by kids and families, the pacing felt just right.
And so glad that you agree with me about Running Shaadi! I re-watched it last night on DVD with friends, a little worried that I had over-sold it, but no! It’s exactly as good as I remembered. Great script, great performances, great everything. The only thing I would change, like you said, is if they had a big enough budget for some real song numbers. There is that one moment when they ask Taapsee to help organize a Sangeet, and it felt like the perfect set up for an item number, and then it just didn’t happen. I also was glad to see I could still enjoy it on re-watch even knowing exactly what would happen. There were so many little surprising touches to the characters that made me sit up and take notice on the first watch, but on a second watch, even knowing where they were going, I still enjoyed the journey!
Rowdy Rathore is a nice fun one. Part of this little burst of southern action remakes/remake feeling films around that time, all the older stars were getting in on them. It was also back when Sonakshi kept getting roles as “just” the love interest. But she does a good job with it! She’s likable and memorable and you aren’t in a hurry for the love scenes to be over in order to get back to the action. Even if she’d never expanded her range with Lootera and Akira and now Noor, I think she could still have been proud of her abilities just based on these kind of fluffy roles. Playing a good action heroine is harder than it looks.
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From the trailers, it seems like Mehreen Pirzada’s character in Phillauri is more quiet and shy, but in Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha her character is more fiesty. She kind of disappears in the second half of the movie, but there’s a reason for that. Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha is more of a rural rom-com where Nani plays the role of a coward and he grows up over the course of the movie. It’s a fun watch!
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