Happy Monday! Time for questions! Hopefully I am less crazy busy at work than I have been the past few weeks and can actually respond promptly. Oh, and don’t worry about the headline if you don’t care about Tamil film. That’s just a way to tell this post apart from all the other Monday Morning posts.
As always, you can ask me anything you want from the personal (“what was the first Mani Ratnam movie you saw?”) to the specific and factual (“what is the history of Mani Ratnam as an international director?”) to the general discussion starter (“what is the best film Mani Ratnam has made?”)
As always there is only one rule, you have to let me answer first! Otherwise it’s no fun for me. But once I have answered, feel free to jump in with any additional comments you have.
dontcallitbollywood 
While re-watching old SRK films, I have developed a fascination for Amrish Puri. What is your favorite Amrish role? Has he always played villains? He is so good at bad, but I would love to see in doing something else…
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Looks like Amrish’s birthday is in June, maybe I should do a birthday post for him?
He has an interesting career, one of those theater actors who only slowly made their mark in film, like A.K. Hangal. He came from an acting family, but didn’t have any luck breaking into the Bombay film industry as a young man. So instead he got a corporate job during the day and worked in the thriving Bombay theater scene at night, eventually becoming successful enough in plays and television to act full time. And then he spent 10 years crawling his way up from “uncredited bad guy” to “lead bad guy” in the movies. His big break was in Qurbani, Greatest Stupid Action Movie of All Time. And he went all in on the villainy in that one, big fish tank, fancy suits, whole deal. He was almost 40 by then, so he only had a few years as “young bad guy who fights the hero” before transitioning to “creepy older guy lusting after young heroine and ordering around his goons”. I am sure that there were some “friend of the hero” roles scattered in there (he was doing around a dozen movies a year at this point), but I don’t know of them off the top of my head. And then in 1987 he had the career defining role of Mogambo in Mr. India, and it was mostly nutty bug-eyed bad guys from then on.
His casting in DDLJ was considered a bit against type. To play more of a lowkey every man father role instead of the bigger than life villain. But in other ways, it was the first film to really use him as he was trained. Playing up his more subtle stage training, monologues and small acting choices and all kinds of tools that the Mogambo roles didn’t let him explore. It lead to a slight late career shift, to playing more of a “well-meaning but flawed” kind of role, instead of a straight up villain.
For myself, I am all about the larger than life villains! I can appreciate his acting ability in DDLJ or Hulchul (the 2000s one, not the 90s one), where his acting is more nuanced. But for pure viewing enjoyment, I like him best in Qurbani.
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Last week I asked you a question. Why do you praise even bad movies like Humshakals, Flying Jatt, Baar Baar Dekho etc? You didn’t answer
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Oh dear, I wrote a very long reply, but perhaps you didn’t see it, or it got attached to the wrong question. Anyway, here it is:
I don’t think I exactly praise those movies. I start my Dulha Mil Gaya review by saying “it is that bad of a movie”. I don’t like to do stars or a simple “good” “bad” for my reviews, because I don’t like to simplify things like that. I discuss every film I see in depth. And during the discussion there will be some things I talk about as done well and some things I talk about as done poorly. But if you read the whole discussion, or even just the first couple paragraphs, you will get a sense of what I thought about the film as a whole and if it is something that you might enjoy even if I disliked it. Or something you might not like even though I loved it.
In my Dulha Mil Gaya review, I talk about how it is a bad movie, but the story idea at the heart of it might have been a good movie, if it had gotten a little more money and support in production. It falls apart in execution in a million different ways, but it feels like the problem isn’t with the script, but with everything else in the film. And that made me think about how production works in Hindi film, and why it is so important for promising writers to be mentored and appreciated and their work given the time to mature.
I haven’t written a review of Humshakels, I haven’t even seen Humshakals. I enjoyed The Flying Jatt for what it was, a movie made for children and families to watch, not for adults. But again, if you read the whole review, at the beginning I say “I don’t want to oversell it, this was not a super smart film”. But what I find interesting to discuss about it is how it attempts to put some kind of moral value in a way a child could understand onto a superhero storyline. And how it has a religious and regional specific backstory for the superhero, which is unusual.
I think if you read my whole reviews, not just the headlines, you will see that I don’t praise bad movies. I discuss them, both the good and the bad. But I also tell you flat out at some point exactly how good this film is and if it is worth your time.
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Sorry, I didn’t read your answer.
You are way too generous to Flying Jatt. It was utterly ridiculous. You also called it better than The Dark Knight. When I was a kid, I watched Batman: The Animated series which was deep and violent. I know that kids’ entertainment is a complete mess now a days with all this Doremon, Chota Bheem etc but Flying jatt is what kids like today. I already feel bad for kids today
If you like parody and comedy of Superhero movies, watch Deadpool. That is 100 times better than Flying Jatt
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I’m not sure where I would have said it was better than The Dark Knight? The two films are so different, I don’t think they could possibly be compared. It would be like saying a bicycle is better than a flower.
I did enjoy Deadpool, you are right.
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You said that Flying Jatt is more wATCHable and you will suggest Flying jatt over The Dark Knight
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I did? Huh. what was the context? Did I mean maybe “what I would suggest for any viewer if I was worried about them being offended or scared”? I would say a 3 year old could definitely watch The Flying Jatt and follow the plot and not get nightmares, but I wouldn’t say the same thing about The Dark Knight, for instance.
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Two movies can be compared. They both are Superhero movies
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Not by me. I just don’t see enough similarities to be able to make a judgement. You can feel free to put in your own comparison if you do.
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Few weeks ago, when I asked you if you wrote that Flying Jatt is better than The Dark Knight. You replied that you would rather watch Flying Jatt then The Dark Knight. and also suggest it to others. 3 year olds are not the only audience. I would rather protect my 3 year old kid from Beat pe booty rather than “You know, how i got these scars”
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My favourite actress of current generation are Emma Stone and Alia Bhatt. According to you, who is better? I am inclined heavily towards Alia
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This is another question I just can’t answer. They are in different industries, they have different acting styles, different acting challenges, different backgrounds, there’s no way to say who is “better” across the board.
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I dont think that background matters much. I think that they both are actors and can be compared
I am highly biased towards ALia. If she did an action role, I will say that she is better than Scarlett Johansson. I am biased towards her
I think that general comment on their acting ability can be made
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Are you planning to watch Punjabi movies in near future? Manje bistre will be releasing next week.
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Not likely. My local theater barely plays Punjabi films, tends to concentrate more on Tamil and Telugu and the occasional Malayalam. So I definitely won’t be seeing the new releases, it just isn’t available to me. And then for watching them streaming later, right now I am barely managing to do a Tamil/Telugu, Malayalam, and one Hindi a week, adding another language to the mix is tricky. And I don’t want to lose my Malayalam, Hindi, and Tamil/Telugu readers by dropping one of those.
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Thats sad. Looks like we PUnjabis are not intellectuals enough hahahah
Can I send you the review of Manje Bistre
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Of course, you can always send me a review. On Wednesdays I have a general catchall post for people to talk about what they are watching, and post any interesting articles or reviews from elsewhere on the internet that they may have read.
On Mon, Apr 3, 2017 at 1:36 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I am sending some videos in other comments. Please check and respond
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The first one was really interesting and, luckily, the only one that had English subtitles. Because it also had the most complex ideas. It reminded me a lot of “Jinhen Naaz Hai Hind Par from Pyaasa.
I was a little blind on the other two without subtitles. I assume the second one was about how Guru Nanak lives on? I liked seeing simple daily life as a spiritual practice. And, of course, that little girl was super cute!
The last one, unfortunately, I can’t follow at all without subtitles. What is happening?
On Mon, Apr 3, 2017 at 11:27 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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First one was awesome. You are spot on for that. It provides uncomfortable truth
Second one was almost like that you think. It is not exactly about Guru Nanak. It says how Guru Nanak ji provides happiness
third one is about politics. As you can see, how the hero in this song visit Gurudwara where Rally is getting organised. And he notices that politicians are corrupt and oppressive. The song says Guru Gobind singh ji sacrificed his family for people, they sacrifice people for their family
I sent these songs because i find them unusual. Their story board was quite good.
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I’ll watch these when I get a chance, I’m at work now and I won’t get home until very late tonight, so it may be a while. But they didn’t get blocked by spam, yay!
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I was careful this time. I didn’t post them in single comment. I did it in 3 comments. Do watch them and give you reviews
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Again, no subtitles, so I couldn’t completely follow the first song. But I got caught up in it any way! Since I was able to follow the building of the friendship between the two women and I want to find out what happens between them.
the second video wouldn’t play.
The third video, at least the story mostly finishes! So I have very dangling threads to wonder about.
On Mon, Apr 3, 2017 at 11:32 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I sent the first one because it is unique and shows real narrow streets of a Punjabi village. I find these kind of videos interesting because I can relate to them. I have spent my childhood in these kind of places. It is a song from an upcoming movie.
Third song has a good concept. Mostly, in the end boy gets the girl. But not here. Boy is the son of a poor farmer who has a crush on this rich girl in his college. He gets scooter from his father to take to college and feels proud and unque whereas Girl always come in lancer car. Then he is watching her playing basketball with boys. She allows boys to touch her openly. He realises the truth and walks away. Girl finds his cards and goes to talk to him but he just leaves on his scooter with his dignity intact.
The videos i sent you because i found them to be simple and telling good story and showing real location
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Sorry,
I thought that you don’t need to understand Punjabi to enjoy these songs or understand the story. My friends don’t understand Punjabi but were able to enjoy them. I thought that same applies here
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You are right! I didn’t need to know the exact language, just the background you just gave me was enough to understand it. I was just a little bit lost without that tiny clue.
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Okay,
Now you have tiny clues. What do you think of these videos?
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(remind me if I forgot one)
I think the first two I was able to understand without the context, that was the one about Bhagat Singh and India today and the other one was about life and how Guru Nanak Singh is part of it.
And then there was the one about confronting a politician. That was interesting. What I really noticed was the costuming. It didn’t feel “costume” like, but it still conveyed the message of who were the politicians and who were more the working class local people.
The love story with the scooter, I am fascinated by how differently I interpreted it without subtitles. I followed the opening, our hero on a scooter falling in love with a richer more Westernized girl. But I saw the ending as him thinking she was dating someone else and nobly stepping aside, not as him choosing to leave her because he no longer wanted her.
On Tue, Apr 4, 2017 at 1:31 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I understand people get confused about the ending of the last song. It is clear that the guy is from a poor and traditional family. He understands in the end that he can’t have her. They come from different worlds. Thus, he leaves.
This song has been a sleeper hit. It became popular even in South India. I was surprised to see that people recongnise this song in Mumbai. Jassi Gill haven’t topped it yet.
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What about 2 other videos?
The one in seperate comment is mainly because its shooting in a village. It was shot in my friend’s village. A welcome break from all the expensive songs. It looks good with both hero heroine dressed as villagers.
I understand this song and like it. It is a really good song.
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I think they got lost in the shuffle of all the other comments. I’m sorting through now trying to find them.
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Are you aware of Pierce Brosnan in Pan Bahar ad? Do you think, he should try in Bollywood? He is my mother’s favorite James Bond
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I suppose if he wanted to, he could try Indian cinema. But I don’t think he wants to. He filed some legal claims about the Pan Bahar ad indicating he did not want his image used in that way. And in general, since stepping down as Bond, he has pursued more and more offbeat acting roles. It seems like he is enjoying his retirement and being able to do work that interests him rather than just for a paycheck. And based on his response to the Bahar ads, it looks like India does not have work that interests him.
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I think that too. It will be good to see him in Bollywood movie. My mother likes him
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This week, I watched Rambo movies. I thought how can anyone call Slyvester Stallone a bad actor. Typed somethings on internet. He was called next marlon Brando. I think The Rock is another one of those “Bad actors” who are good actors. Who are others bad actor who are actually good?
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Stallone is the classic example of an actor whose genre choices hid their skills. Well, actor and writer and director, he is great in all three areas, but tended to pick projects that don’t always showcase his abilities. Unfortunately, the Rocky movies and the first Rambo films came before he really got famous. And then the roles that made him famous, which most people know him by, were the straight up action movies which don’t show his abilities.
I was just talking in response to another question about Amrish Puri, who was respected for his stage work, but after Mr. India ended up playing the same repetitive villains in mainstream films.
I can see the temptation, it’s hard work to act, and it’s easy to just keep doing the same roles over and over again for huge profit. Most big movie stars have some real “acting” performances in their history that make you sit up and take notice and say “Wow! This guys great!” But then they go for the easy money and fame and start just doing the same things over and over again instead of taking a risk. Bruce Willis would be another one, he takes so many bad roles nowadays, it can be hard to remember that he started out as a fast-talking flexible actor on a genre-bending classic TV show, that’s what got him noticed, not his ability to be in a fake fight scene. Brad Pitt too, his cameo in Thelma and Louise is amazing, and then he ended up typecast as “pretty boy” and didn’t do as much variety after that. And Tom Cruise of course, about every 5th movie is a really challenging outside the box kind of thing, and then he goes back to the profitable big box office smashes.
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You are right. Too much commercilaization can destroy a person’s talent. It is just after reaching some big level can an actor start experimenting again. Slyvester Stallone did it in 2006 when he returned to his roots. He did again with expendables and then with creed.
It is painful to watch Bruce willis now a days. Looks like the days of Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, are gone. He is just nit able to reinvent himself
I am glad that Amrinder Gill is in PUnjab only. Bolywood songs of Diljit are not that great
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How many Sunny Deol movies you have seen?
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Oh boy, I can try to remember but I am sure I will miss some. Gadar, Jeet, Hero: Love Story of a Spy, Ghayal, Arjun, Manzil Manzil, and probably others I am not thinking of at the moment.
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Good you have seen Jeet. I think it is highly underrated movie. It is awesome. Sunny Deol does prove that he is most underrated actor. I liked the scen
He showed his acting ability.
There is a funny story behind it. In my office, One of my friend was listening to some old hindi songs. Our supervisor made a point about a song that why no one is paying any heed to this guy who was singing this sad song. I said that it is a plot device mam. Mam asked me suppose you are singing the song. To which, i replied ( I was watching this scence). I played it and said I am not the one to sing sad songs. This scence will be my reaction
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Do you know Punjabi?
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I don’t. I have some ability to understand Hindi, so I would know the Punjabi words that overlap with Hindi, but that’s it.
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Is pro wrestling your domain? If yes, what are your views on Undertaker’s retirement? For wrestling fans, It was the end on 1990s. I am glad that I will tell my kids the tale of Deadman
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Pro-wrestling is definitely not my area. If you are interested in reading discussion of it, I believe the website “avclub.com” has a weekly article, or at least it did at one point.
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Thanks. My childhood officially ended today
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I really think that Undertaker should have put CM Punk over back in 2013 at Wrestlemania 29 and immediately retired. Punk carried him to his last decent match and deserved the rub (certainly more than Lesnar did the following year). He should have walked away on a positive note. Every subsequent match has been worse and more heartbreaking to watch. Last night was dreadful. If WWE actually believed that Roman Reigns was the man to get a decent farewell match out of Taker, then the powers that be really are as out of touch as it seems. It was a dull and sloppy botch-fest and, in my opinion, one of the worst main events in Wrestlemania history. I don’t have much sympathy for the Undertaker. He’s hung around way too long, collecting that huge paycheck every year, tarnishing his legacy.
He certainly had an aura and mystique about him like no other and he moved around pretty well for a big man. But he was never what I would consider a “good worker” in the ring, even during his prime. He was a great character, sure. He was a “sports entertainer”. One of the finest of all time. Part of the problem is that, in the 90s, a large part of that aura was the illusion of his invincibility. Everyone would rather remember him in that light-not as a hobbling, barely mobile, worn out old man. I hope that he gets his hips replaced, heals up, and enjoys time at home with his family. He has definitely earned it. I’m sure that they’ll induct him into the hall of fame next year.
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I agree with you. Undertaker was the reason that I started watching wrestling in the year 1998. It has been almost 20 years. I don’t agree that he was not a good performer. He was excellent performer. He performed the moves that were not easy for the man of his size. But now, he was barely mobile or strong. He chokeslammed Braun Strawman and looked in tremendous pain after doing it. He used to chokeslam much heavier wrestlers like Yokozuna, Big Show, Mark Henry, Kane.He couldn’t do fliying clothesline. My father watched WWE with me due to Khali. But just in 2 weeks he became fan of the Undertaker
I do feel sad. Seeing your childhood icon in such a shape is painful. It was awful.
I was absoluetly angry that Roman reigns retired him. It was pathetic. Now i can imagine, how did people in 80s feel when Ultimate Warrior squashed Andre the giant. It should have been Finn Balor. I do think that he should have retired in 2011 when he was still putting great matches. He should have had one last outing against Sting. I do believe that they both should have retired each other. People would have atleast seen THE dream match. Closure of Monday night raw.
Ric Flair was retired by Shawn Micheals
Stone Cold by The Rock
The Rock by Brock Lesnar
Shawn Micheals by The Undertaker
But Undertaker not by John Cena, Triple H, Finn balor, Seth Rolins, Aj Styles
John Cena and Aj Styles were bogged down in some stupid matches. John Cena even made this point in a segment. It was worked but made a clear point. Why was John Cena staniding in front of Miz but not the Undertaker
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What is your least favourite manirathnam film? Mine is kadal ,a Tamil film released in 2013.
What is your opinion about ‘raavan’? I havn’t seen it yet since all reviews were negative..worth a watch?
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I haven’t seen Raavan either, for the same reason. I haven’t seen nearly as many Mani Ratnam movies as I should. I think, out of all that I have seen, Dil Se might actually be my least favorite. A great movie, obviously, but not one that struck a chord with me as much as some of his others. Maybe because it was missing that family grounding? Ratnam is so good at giving a sense of family relationships, and Dil Se was so much about the love story, I was missing that a little.
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Is it right to say that Deepika’s Hollywood career is over? XXX was a flop in USA and earned money only in China. She couldn’t gather enough audience. I dont think that she was even noticed in Hollywood. Was she?
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I don’t remember seeing any articles about her on the gossip sites a frequent that cover American celebrities, which is a bad sign.
On Mon, Apr 3, 2017 at 1:53 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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to be frank, trading Fast and Furious with XXX wasn’t a smart move. I also heard rumor that she auditioned for a role in The Mummy. may be the main villain
XXX didn’t gather much money in i ndia too. It was a bad movie. Deepika can lure audience only once.
I dont know how Donnie yen lured so many people in China
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Rumor’s are beginning to fly in the Hollywood industry that China is over-reporting it’s box office, so it’s possible that Donnie Yen didn’t lure as many people.
On Mon, Apr 3, 2017 at 10:18 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You are right. Don’t believe in Chinese numbers. They have falsifying reports since 1953
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If you have to pick one superheroine role for ALia Bhatt, what would it be?
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I don’t think I know enough about the superhero universes to answer this.
On Mon, Apr 3, 2017 at 1:54 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Okay, She will be suitable for supergirl. She is young and have proper phyisque and acting ability to pull that off. i would have preferred her Vampirella
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Watched Great Father starring Mammootty. It was a watchable flick. A typical serial killer movie with litle suspense at the end that is usually seen in hollywood with some style and swag from Mammootty (Playing the father of the surviving victim) and Tamil star Aarya ( Playing the invistigation Officer). After watching Angamaly Diaries and Take Off recently, this was a let down compared to them.
Did not Watch Naam Shabana yet because of the not so good reviews. It felt like a film that would be good for a dvd watch, fast forwarding the boring parts.
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I would agree, wait until Naam Shabana is DVD or streaming.
On Mon, Apr 3, 2017 at 3:55 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Dont watch naam Shabana. It was boring, long and dull.
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Which is your favourite Priyadarshan movie? Have you watched Muskurahat? Just watched it recently and felt it was quite good!
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I have not seen Muskurahat. I have not seen many non-Hindi Priyadarshans. But of all the Priyadarshan films I have seen, Hulchul is still my favorite. I just love the performances in it, everyone from Kareena to Suniel Shetty to Amrish Puri is just perfect.
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Muskurahat is a Hindi film – one of his earlier works. Ofcourse it’s a remake but a good one! Just get a feeling that you might like it actually…
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Hey, Revathi! She had a whole little string of hindi remakes then. I thought it was just Love.
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Hulchal’s original version Godfather (Malayalam) was really awsome, better than Hulchal. Akshay khana’s role was played by Mukesh ( Dulquer’s father in Jomonte Suvisheshangal), Mukesh was brilliant in it.
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My favourite Priyadarshan movie will be Kilukam starring Mohanlal and Revathy .
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In case anyone is wondering, Muskurahat is the Hindi remake of Kilukkam. Revathi reprised her role as the madcap tourist Nandini.But sadly the hero, a newcomer, couldn’t match up to Mohanlal’s charm.The film is notable for giving Amrish Puri a break from his standard bad guy roles.He gets to play a surly difficult-to-get-along-with retired Judge and has some excellent comic routines with Revathi.The films have a one year gap between them.IMO Kilukkam is better.
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Oh. Didnt know that. Thanks for the information. Thilakan was fantasic in judge role, only Amrish puri could have matched that in hindi. So that casting is brilliant.
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Did you watch the videos?
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Oh My God, new blog format again! I like the previous one better but I think it’s just a matter of getting used to the new one 🙂
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It’s my version of getting a new haircut or re-arranging furniture! Any time I want to shake things up a little in my life, I just re-format my blog.
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If you could re-cast any Mani Ratnam movie with a new cast, what would you do? For example you could replace Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen in OK Kanmani with their contemporaries such as Nivin Pauly and Parvathy or replace them with actors of the past like Madhavan and Shalini. You can choose any Mani Ratnam movie and choose the main cast from any language and any time period. Have some fun with it 🙂
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Oh wow, that is so hard! His casting is always so interesting, and then his directing is so brilliant that it makes it work. I guess I will start with the opposite, the Rahman movie I have seen which I think was best cast is definitely Guru. Not that they were the greatest performances of all time or anything, but just that every actor brought something unique to the role that I don’t think anyone else could have provided. And they weren’t instinctive choices! Abhishek as an aging plutocrat, Aish as a strong business partner, Vidya (who was barely known at the time) in the complicated role of a dying woman, Madhavan there for barely long enough to justify his presence but still making an impact, and most of all Mithun Chakroborty as a wise old man character part!!!
If I absolutely had to recast a film, I think I might do Mouna Ragam. I don’t even know who I would suggest instead of Mohan, but I would like someone different. Or maybe just Mohan with a slightly different look in his appearance. He did a great job acting, but he looked much too old for Revathy, the age difference felt even bigger than it was supposed to be in the script. I would have preferred someone who looked just slightly younger. But again, I don’t even know who! And maybe just Mohan with shorter hair and no mustache would have done the job. If I had any cast at all, I think Nivin and Nazriya would be perfect. They managed to make the age difference believable in Ohm Shanti Oshaana without making it feel like an insurmountable barrier.
Oh heck, you said I could have some fun with it, so I’m just going to recast every Tamil Ratnam I has seen as Hindi! With the understanding that the Tamil version is already perfect and doesn’t actually need a Hindi remake, but this is just for fun:
Nayakan: I refuse to acknowledge the terrifying-rapey-Vinod-Madhuri-song version already exists. For my ideal remake, I would Nawazuddin Siddiqui playing an immigrant from the Northern areas instead of the south to Bombay. Huma Qureshi for his heroine, Parineeti Chopra for his daughter. Arjun Kapoor for the son-in-law. Amit Sadh for the son who is barely onscreen. Vijay Raaz for the Tinnu Anand role. I know he is a little old for it, but I think he would be so wonderful we wouldn’t even notice.
Geethanjali: This would be a great Arjun Kapoor role. Playing into his seriousness, combined with his youth. And his height. I think it’s important for the hero to be this imposing physical figure, to make the fact that his body is falling apart even more shocking. And it’s important for the heroine to seem fragile to have that contrast. Shraddha would have the right look, but couldn’t handle the acting. Might be a good Kangana role. Or Alia, would be the obvious choice, especially with her baby face.
Anjali: I would love to see Rani really dig into Revathy’s role. And Aamir playing opposite her would be perfect. We already saw them playing a similar couple in Talaash.
Thalapathi: Thanks to that interview you sent me, I know he wanted a very imposing kind of actor for the Surya/Karna role. And an actor that he believed could actually play that sort of difficult performance. I would love to see Salman give it a try. He would have to shed a lot of his usual style to make it work, but I think he could be brilliant in it. For Shobhana, I think Deepika would be wonderful. She doesn’t have the dancing ability, but she has the same classy-but-strong vibe to her. For the Mamootty role, maybe Anil Kapoor? It would have to be someone who feels slightly more mature than Salman without being noticeably older. Rishi and Neetu would be really interesting casting for the parents. And then Arjun could play the Arvind Swamy role (I’m just putting Arjun in everything! I guess he has a very Mani Ratnam vibe to him and I never thought about it before).
Roja: So long as I am putting Arjun in everything, let’s use him again! Opposite Alia, because I think she can play that combination of youthful village girl and strong wife better than anyone else. And the Pankaj Kapur part can be Pankaj Kapur again.
Kannathil Muthamittal: This is my favorite Ratnam and just the perfect movie, so it is really hard for me to imagine anyone else. But, thinking way outside the box here, I think maybe Fawad Khan in the Madhavan role? He was really wonderful with the child actress in Humsafar, and he has a similar closed off feeling to him to how Madhavan plays the role here. For the Simran part, I kind of want to say Mahira Khan. Oh heck, why not? Let’s make it a remake set in Pakistan, with Kashmir instead of Sri Lanka. Oh, and for the Nandita Das role, maybe Taapsee Pannu opposite Arjun Kapoor (just to keep the theme going) as the biological parents.
O Kadhal Kanmani: Again, I refuse to acknowledge the remake that already exists. If I were to remake it, I would pick Parineeti Chopra and Ranveer Singh. And for the older couple, Amitabh and Jaya.
On Tue, Apr 4, 2017 at 12:03 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’m not proud of it, but I haven’t seen half the movies in your list
I like your choice of Arjun for Geethanjali, but I think Shraddha fits the role better than Alia.
Rani and Aamir are perfect for Anjali! Any ideas of some star kids for their three kids?
I could see Arjun in Roja but I would rather see Varun and Alia in this one 🙂
Your’re right about Madhavan being almost irreplacable. My first thought for Kannathil Muthamittal was Ranbir in his role. I think it would be really interesting to see him play a father. And Deepika can do Simran’s role. Taapsee and Arjun make sense as the biological parents.
I didn’t think that OK Kanmani was a good movie to remake and I still wouldn’t want to remake it.
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Shraddha does fit the role, I just hate to cast someone who isn’t a really great actress. Based on Ek Villain, she plays “dying girl” a little too cutesy for my taste.
For Anjali, we would need a medium sized boy, a little girl, and a very small girl. But if we changed up the genders, Azad would be about the right age for the middle kid. Oh! Or Aaradha! And AbRam could play Anjali, he’s certainly cute enough and probably used to cameras by now. The oldest is a bit tricky, I don’t know if there is anyone with a big name parent who is about 10 right now. Oh! Emraan’s son! He already appeared in an ad for Save the Tigers.
I am nervous about Varun being able to play restrained enough for Roja. It has to be a guy who kind of struggles with expressing his feelings, and is slow to open up. Which fits Arjun to a T, but I don’t know if Varun has ever played that kind of role.
I’d be worried about Ranbir over-acting, or playing it too young. You’re right, we haven’t seen him play a father before. In some ways it would be a similar role to Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, but without the hesitancy, Madhavan’s character was always so clear about what he wanted and what the right thing was to do. Deepika would be great, she has that big smile that is perfect to show how even when she is a grumpy over-worked mother, she is still happy with her life.
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What about Taapsee instead of Shraddha. The only thing the audience has seen her in so far is in roles where her character is really strong. Now we can put her in a role where her character is actually dying. It would be a really interesting casting choice and I’m sure Taapsee has what it takes to pull off the role.
Once again, let’s cast against type and select Varun! Plus I feel that since the leads are seperated for a large part of the movie, the chemistry between Varun and Alia will help convince the audience that they should be together.
I think Ranbir is in a phase right now where he’s not really young anymore but he’s not really old either. I feel like playing a young father would work in his favor. But then I do really love your suggestion of Fawad.
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Good point about Ranbir! That’s the career phase when Shahrukh opted for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and it broadened his options a lot.
On Thu, Apr 6, 2017 at 4:56 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Shoot, I forgot Iruvar! I don’t think I can do that one with modern day actors, because I can’t think of a female dancer at Aish’s level and her role has to be a great dancer. So let’s say early 90s with Madhuri in the Aish part. And then Naseeruddin would be young enough to play the Prakash part. Deepti Naval could play the Tabu role. And shoot, I don’t know who could play Mohanlal! The Khans wouldn’t be old enough, or experienced enough actors, to play the older part of it. And it would have to be someone with that level of star power. Call me crazy, but what about Ajay Devgun?
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Watch this. Mohanlal and Shah Rukh Khan at an award show.
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