Happy Day after Easter! I still have a 3rd of a chocolate bunny in the freezer, so the holiday isn’t entirely over yet. Although I do have to go to work today (boo!), so I want your questions to keep me entertained while I am here!
As always, you can ask me anything from about my personal film history (“what is your favorite concert experience?”) to the specific (“when did Indian stars start doing these concerts?”) to the general discussion topic (“are the concerts a good or bad thing for film?”)
The only rule is, you have to let me answer first! Otherwise it is no fun. But once I have answered, feel free to join in the discussion.
dontcallitbollywood 
This might be my last week here for a long time as I might not have internet access for a long time. I shall be sending you some videos. It will contain trailer of Punjabi movies with english subtitles. Please post your review of them
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I finally watched the videos! And they were worth the wait.
The first one is super cute, I just wish there had been more to the story. Like, it felt like we just saw the beginning of their love story, and the very end, but not the middle.
I liked the second one better, because we got the beginning and the middle, and even kind of an ending!
The third one was more of a mood piece, but I liked the simplicity of just a song in the background and riding the motorcycle through the countryside.
On Mon, Apr 17, 2017 at 9:34 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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first, I dont understand your middle part. I think there was middle part. Whole song is in flashback
second, agree with your second part. Whole song is about 2 people unable to marry because guy doesn’t have a job. He is promising the girl that he will sort everything out
Third one was actually for cinematography. Driving through village. It shows countryside. It was reason that i sent it.
One question,
Singer of First song Kulwinder Billa. Sometime ago, someone showed me trailer of South Indian movie. Hero of that movie looked like Kulwinder Billa. I dont remember name of anyone. Can you tell which South Indian actor looks like Kulwinder Billa?
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what interesting trailers!
I liked the first one the most out of all of them, I like the light touch, kind of making fun of traditional masculinity. The second one I liked the comedy, the twist intrigued me, but I think I still liked the comedy opening more than the thriller part. And the third one was okay, but just less fun than the other two. Although courtroom comedy is always fun.
On Mon, Apr 17, 2017 at 9:36 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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First 2 are comedy movies.
In the first one, You can call Diljit’s character as Fateh Singh on weed. It is a fun movie. It is not actually a really good movie but a movie that you can watch to kill time and get some laughs. I will write the reviews of one of these movies if I will have internet connection.
Second one was a very successful movie. My friends went to watch it but couldn’t get its ticket despite movie was already 2 weeks running. They had to watch a Kareena Kapoor movie(I dont remember the name) which was released just a day before
Third one is not a pure comedy movie. It is much like Jolly LLB. It is also like first one. A good movie to watch. nothing more, nothing less.
I sent these trailers because I could find only them with English subtitles.
You should watch PUnjab 1984. It is an awesome movie. It is better than a many movies. Diljit’s best performance.
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Don’t need to watch this one because I’ve already seen it! This film is on my list to watch for a long time.
On Mon, Apr 17, 2017 at 9:37 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Then you must watch it. It is a really good movie. IT is not a guilty pleasure movie
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Have you heard about Amrinder Gill?
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Only the degree of recognizing the name and knowing he is a Punjabi musician. I wouldn’t be able to name anything he has done.
On Mon, Apr 17, 2017 at 9:38 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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He is lead actor of Angrej and Love Punjab. I have sent you his videos
If you could understand Punjabi, you will love his songs. Punjabis might play Honey SIngh and Badshah songs in night club But they propose by Amrinder Gill songs and listen to his sad songs in the case of breakups. One of my friend listened one of his songs from my phone and everyone in my group strated liking him even people from proper south.
He is like Arjit Singh and Ranveer Singh of Punjabi cinema. It just amazes me why Punjabi songs now a days are attributed to Honey Singh not Amrinder Gill.
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Is there a theatre near you showing Manje Bistre? If yes, then you must watch it. It is a really good movie. It has village wedding. It is no DDLj. DDLJ was grand celebration of wedding. But it shows how really weddings are done. 90 % of movie happens in just a simple house. All actors were as good as they are supposed to be. I will put my review on wednesday.
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No, no Manjre Bistre near me. Looks like there were some biggish Tamil and Telugu releases this week, and they took all the available screens.
On Mon, Apr 17, 2017 at 9:43 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Then, it is a sad thing. You will miss a simple movie In the era of big budgeted movies It is doing well in Canada and Australia.
may be i am praising it more due to my nostalgia of my childhood.
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Have you seen South Indian movies of Sonam Bajwa?
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Unless I am missing something in her filmography, no. Although it says she had a special appearance in Sardaar Ji in one song? I have no memory of that, but I have seen Sardaar Ji, so in theory I have seen her in something.
On Mon, Apr 17, 2017 at 9:56 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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It was a promotional song. Veervar. She was lead in Sardarji 2
Here it is
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There is one thing that confuses me. Why talentless foriegn actresses get work in India? They could barely speak native language
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I would assume it is a combination of factors. First, and most importantly, filmmakers do not have respect for female characters in film. The scripts don’t demand much of them, the directors tend to objectify them instead of focusing on their acting, and casting people are looking for a fresh pretty face, not an acting degree. So they would cast an actress simply because she is perceived as pretty and sexy, and not because she can act, or even speak the dialogue.
I have also heard that, especially in the Southern industry, it is accepted and common to dub a heroine’s dialogue but not the hero’s. So the actress really is just a face and body, not even her own voice.
Fix that underlying issue, and then you will need to cast actresses who can speak the language, who have the training and ability to act. But with the current standards, there is no need to cast someone who knows the language and has abilities, because it isn’t expected of actresses.
For the “foreign” part of it in particular, I assume that goes back to a long history of finding pale skin and European looking woman “exotic” and sexually desirable in a way that Indian women are not. Which has a complex relationship with colonialism and all sorts of other things.
So you end up with the assumption being that actresses can be cast just because they are “sexy” without needing any other skills (because the script doesn’t demand it of them, and their dialogue can always be dubbed anyway). And that a “Sexy” woman is a European looking woman.
On Mon, Apr 17, 2017 at 9:59 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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That was new for me. I used to wonder why there are so many north girls in SOuth Indian cinema. Now i understand whats the case. Normally, I find South Indian movies boring and degrading for women. Makes me uncomfortable watching them. I cant watch them with my family.
You are right about exotic looking white women. In India we like fair skin. I am not generalizing. We do treat foriegnors very well in India but we consider only white skinned people as foriegnors.
It is really sad seeing failed foreign models earning big in India. Worst of them is jacqueline fernandez. SHe isn’t even white.
I have different taste. I like current Bollywood actress more than Hollywood actresses. I will prefer Alia Bhatt over any current generation Hollywood actress. I wont go towards Jennifer Anitson. Catherine Zeta Jones, Jessica Alba, Charlize Theron etc.
I saw an article singling out Punjabi cinema for sexism. Some SOuth Indian actress of Punjab was blaming Punjabi cinema for sexism. How is it unique for Punjab? It is pan India problem
Have you checked the videos I sent you? If no. please do. I wont be coming back for a long time after this week.
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After the Arijit concert, I am curious when these US tours started. Is this a newer phenomena? Was Shahrukh the first to do the dance extravaganza stadium shows?
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U.S. tours of Bollywood shows started in the 1980’s, but the first ones were by the singers alone. Shows with stars started in the 90’s, I think, about the time that Hindi movies started to be released on the same date abroad as in India. SRK was not the first, as far as I remember, and these type of shows were done by stars from the other language film industries, too.
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My understanding is that the first really big groundbreaking show was Amitabh at Wembley Stadium in 1990. There had been shows before that, but this was the one that proved a big name star could do a live performance without “cheapening” himself, and that he could sell out a whole stadium overseas.
Musicians had toured before then, but then musicians also often did live performances in India as well. As I could see with Arijit Singh, and with AR Rahman, and even a little bit with Asha, part of their training was in doing live performances, they weren’t supposed to just be playback singers hidden away in a studio, they were supposed to be out there with other master musicians performing and improvising in the moment. The real big like stadium concerts were something different and are a bit of a newer phenomenon. When Raj Kapoor and Nargis went to Russia, for instance, they made public appearances in front of cheering fans, but I don’t remember hearing about them doing stage shows.
It sounds like the early years of stadium concerts were pretty rough, more just about fans overseas having a chance to see their idol in person than putting on an actual professional “show”. Shahrukh just talked about this in his AIB interview, how there was no real stage direction and rehearsal or anything, it was more about making a “public appearance”. Essentially, doing “Darshan” of the stars. But after some growing pains in the late 90s, it has burst forth as this full coordinated Rockstar kind of thing with elaborate light shows and choreographed song numbers and all that.
It’s got some big advantages for the performers that do it. Helps them stay in touch with their overseas fans, for one thing. And is an easy way to make money, as much money for a couple weeks work as you might get for a whole film. And it is a great way to promote projects, lots of tours happen in conjunction with film releases.
On Mon, Apr 17, 2017 at 10:37 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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We all know that you’re a huge Shahrukh fan, and you’ve mention a few times that you invite your friends over to watch Indian movies. So, I was wondering whether your friends are also Shahrukh fans like you or do they have other favorites?
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What a fun question! Almost all of my friends are Shahrukh fans as well. Because I’m the one who introduced them to the movies so I can make them that way.
But they aren’t only Shahrukh fans. Shahrukh is number 1, but there’s a variety of options tied for number 2. I have one friend who is really big on Varun after I dragged her to see Humpty Sharma in theaters. Another one is big on Hrithik.
I have one friend who is an Aamir fan, Dina from the podcasts. She was generally neutral, and then when Dhoom 3 was filming in Chicago, she got to actually meet Aamir, and he was incredibly nice and generous with his time, and it converted her into an Aamir fan forever and ever.
On Mon, Apr 17, 2017 at 7:40 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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That’s really cool that your friend got to meet Aamir Khan! Did you get to see the shoot of Dhoom 3 as well?
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I got to see the most boring part of the shoot. You know the ending motorcycle chase when they jump over the police cars? I did not see that. But I saw the 6 hour preparation for that. A bunch of random crew members moving barriers around the street and slowly clearing traffic and towing in motorcycles and so on and so on. Sooooooooo dull. I did get to have some nice conversations with the other people waiting around, my favorite was a couple who drove into the city from Indiana with their newborn. It was the baby’s first time out of the house.
This was all on a Saturday evening, we stuck it out until 10 before giving up and going home, and I am sure the actual crashing cars and chase scenes and stuff took place around 1am when the traffic would really be dead. But my friend had a weekday off the next week, so she was able to go down and watch the filming then, which was perfect. There were only about 4 people waiting to meet Aamir (because it was during a workday), and he invited them all past security back to the trailer area for photos and autographs and was generally incredibly gracious and kind.
On Tue, Apr 18, 2017 at 2:26 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I can imagine that there would be a lot of prep to shoot those actions scenes, especially in a big city like Chicago. That’s really cool that Aamir himself invited them for photos!
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do u know anything abt ‘krk’ kamal r khan?
we malayalees got to know abt him only after he started insulting mohanlal on twitter 4 the casting in mahabaratha(he apologized today morning).
he acted in only 3 films in small roles but got more than 3.7 m followers ontwitter????!!!!
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Oh, he’s a terrible person! A professional “troll”. He says things so out of line that they become news, like insulting Mohanlal. And other trolls who enjoy nasty things follow him and re-tweet him. And the media pays attention to him, because they know he is always stirring up trouble.
I first noticed him back when Modi was elected, there was a tweet being passed around supposedly from Shahrukh saying that he would leave the country if Modi was elected. It was from KRK, he faked the tweet and re-tweeted it as though it was from SRK. For a “joke”. Only he only admitted it was a joke after it was officially proven that SRK had never tweeted it. KRK let the whole controversy boil over as long as possible, just because he likes starting up troubles.
His most recent big big news was Ajay Devgan trying to take him down. Ajay released a tape of KRK talking to his business manager, offering to tweet a good review of Shivaay of they paid him off, because he had already been paid to give a good review of ADHM and he wanted more. Ajay primarily released the tapes to try to take down KRK once and for all as a troll for hire, willing to say anything if you paid him enough. But the end result was that Karan got blackened too, since he was accused of paying off KRK on the tapes. KRK claimed that the whole thing was false, he just pretended to have been paid as a joke, obviously he isn’t for hire.
But the biggest person who was hurt was Karan, who of course didn’t pay off KRK, he doesn’t need to pay off little trolls to help his movies. But it got ugly, because the media started attacking him for paying for good reviews. And Ajay was backed into a corner of saying that he was telling the truth, and therefore Karan was lying. Plus, Ajay might have been trying to stir up some publicity for Shivaay out of it all, and therefore blackening ADHM as much as he could. The big end result was that Kajol came out in support of her husband and against Karan, and their friendship broke over it. Karan will never work with her again, and doesn’t want his friends to work with her either. Even if you don’t follow Hindi film closely, you probably know how close Kajol and Karan are, friends since they were teenagers, and she appeared in every one of his movies even if just in a cameo from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Student of the Year.
If you search my archives, there are a few KRK stories. But that kind of gives you an example of what he is like, he throws in bombs and waits to see what happens. And it ends up hurting people in a whole variety of ways, and he doesn’t care.
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intetsting… i did a google research on him…found really offensive tweets by him about many actresses and racist remarks abt dhanush..what puzzles me is still he has connections in bollywood..amitabh bachan launched his website..abhishek nd some others interact with him on twitter..abhishek congratulated him on his wedding aniversary.. and people like karanjohar retweets n thanks him 4 his reviews!!! even after speaking all these rubbishh!!!!
i really appreciate ajay devgan for trying to expose him and warning others against encouraging such people..
anyway thanks to krk , around 50000 mallus joined twitter in 2 days just to abuse him 🙂
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intetsting… i did a google research on him…found really offensive tweets by him about many actresses and racist remarks abt dhanush..what puzzles me is still he has connections in bollywood..amitabh bachan launched his website..abhishek nd some others interact with him on twitter..abhishek congratulated him on his wedding aniversary.. and people like karanjohar retweets n thanks him 4 his reviews!!! even after speaking all these rubbishh!!!!
i really appreciate ajay devgan for trying to expose him and warning others against encouraging such people..
anyway thanks to krk , around 50000 mallus joined twitter in 2 days just to abuse him 🙂
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