Happy Sarkar 3 week! I wouldn’t be that excited, except that I like Amit Sadh so much and I am very eager to have this help his career. So, everybody, remember that Sarkar 3 is coming out and look for good reviews that mention Amit Sadh!
As always, you can ask me anything, from the personal (“Have you seen Sarkar Raj?”) to the specific question you might be wondering about (“What is the plot of Sarkar Raj so I don’t have to see it?”) to general discussion questions (“Is Sarkar Raj really that bad?”)
The only rule is that you have to let me answer first! Otherwise it is no fun. But once I answer, feel free to jump in and join the discussion.
dontcallitbollywood 
Do you really believe that RGV can still make a good film?
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It is difficult to write anyone off. But RGV is not the same director as he used to be in 1990s
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Remember the only rule of Monday questions is that you let me answer first.
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Sorry, I forgot again. I just jump at something, if i can contribute.
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I don’t know, I keep writing him off and then he keeps coming back. I was done with him before Sarkar 1. And then that was brilliant and restored my faith. I think he has about one good film in him per 5 years, but the problem is he makes 1-2 films every year! Makes you appreciate someone like Aditya Chopra or Karan Johar who only make movies very very rarely, but only when they have a good idea and the time and energy to make it work.
Honestly, Amit Sadh is the main reason I have hope for this film. It’s not a starry-buzzy kind of casting, like with Amitabh or other big names he has used just for the publicity. And it’s also not a total unknown that he can use and abuse, it is someone with a legitimate resume. So it really feels like he made that casting choice purely for the health of the film, which makes me hope that he made other choices for the health of the film as well instead of crazed self-indulgence.
On Mon, May 8, 2017 at 8:05 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Have you heard about an upcoming movie Lucknow Central?
Gippy Grewal will be making his true Bollywood debut with that movie. He did another bollywood movie which was a big flop. But that movie wasn’t serious. Even its poster said Desi Rockstar in hindi. I hope he impresses people like Diljit. He is not as good as Diljit but he can be called a hard worker. Thats only my opinion though.
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I have not heard of it! Which doesn’t mean much, I haven’t been checking the industry news that much lately, so it could have been promoted and I just missed it.
On Mon, May 8, 2017 at 8:12 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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No trailer is out of it yet. Promotions will be done. It also stars Farhan Akhtar and Aakriti Sanon.
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According to you, who is the most sympathetic villain? I sympathised with Brigadier hummel of The Rock. Of bollywood, I sympathised with Villain of Kites. That guy was conned. I just couldn’t get behind the protagnists of the movie. It was not helped by the fact that it was a bad movie.
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Hmm. I’m sure if I thought more about it, I could come up with a different answer, but for now I would say Sanjay Dutt’s character in Agneepath. Yes, he was very bad, but we also saw how he had been sent away by his own father, warping his ability to interact with others in any real way.
On Mon, May 8, 2017 at 8:14 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You didnt get the movie right. He was away to study. There are no redeemimg qualities.
Bollywood has not been able to make sympathetic villain
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You haven’t seen my previous videos for previous 2 weeks. I was wondering whether to send videos this week or not. But then I thought why not.
I request everyone here to try to watch these videos.
One of them is movie Ardas with english subtitles. It is a good movie with moral messages. It is not only entertaining but also educational. I think that Ardaas has been suggested to you
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Yeah, watching videos is just not something I can do week after week. If you want to post them, the best place might be in the “Wednesday Watching” post, that’s where everyone talks about what they are watching.
On Mon, May 8, 2017 at 8:18 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Okay
Then i will post videos on wednesday
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Have you checked Lahoriye?
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Do you have knowledge about documentary on Sachin Tendulkar?
Sachin Tendulkar is the biggest celebrity of India ever. Bigger than SRK, Amitabh Bacchan, rajnikanth, Sonu Nigam. NO one is bigger than him.
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Yes, another commentator mentioned it to me already and sent the trailer and we had a conversation about it. And I’ve seen a a few posts about it on twitter.
Once it comes out, I may talk about it in terms of box office etc. But Cricket isn’t really my area, so until there is a movie industry related part of the story, I don’t have much to say.
On Mon, May 8, 2017 at 8:56 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Sachin Sachin Chant with AR Rahman music. This is going to be extra ordinary.
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It will be. It will bring back fond memories. His 143 against Australia, 136 against Pakistan etc.
He is greatest Indian celebrity ever. Loved by everyone.
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I dont know, why i didn’t send it previously
But here is the trailer of the documentary on the BIGGEST celebrity of India ever
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I have been saving this question since the latest update of Netflix offerings. Which are the must-sees and which are the don’t bothers? I don’t need a long list, because I can only see a couple of movies a week for the next month.
The Access Bollywood list is here:
King of Punjab, there are Punjabi films on the list, at the bottom. I would love your recommendations, as well.
Same goes for other regions…
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This is such a great question, I think I am going to use it as the basis of a blog post! So stay tuned for something going up soon with my notes for all films.
On Mon, May 8, 2017 at 12:24 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I only saw 2 punjabi movies over there. And they werent successful. I decided not to watch them due to trailers. saade cm saahab was particulalay a disappointment.
I have posted Ardaas in comments. It is with english subtitles
Other movies
Angrej
Love Punjab
Mel Kara De Rabba
Punjab 1984
Yaar Anmulle
Carry on Jatta
Jatt and Juliet
Manje Bistre
Shaheed E Mohbaat
SHaheed Udham Singh
Lucky di unlucky story
Punjab 1984
I would have suggested Jindua and Sargi but I have not been able tp see them because I just dont have money as of now to spend on them. I wont suggest any movie without watching it first
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Thanks! I may be able to find some of them elsewhere, so this list is very helpful.
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I recommend those (don’t know if you have seen them already)
1. Queen
2. Dum Laga Ke Haisha
3. Mirzya
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You can find some of them on youtube too. Ardaas is available with English subtitles. Rest i m not sure.
there is a channel lokdhun which posts full punjabi movies on you tube. Carry on Jatta, Mel Kara de rabba. Lucky di unlucky story are available but not with subtitles.
I am aware of only Ardaas with english subtitles
You like romantic movies. One Punjabi romamtic movie Lahoriye is releasing this week. Trailer looks promising. Its songs are truly awesome
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There are some trailers with English subtitles. If you want, I can send them
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Why do u think Baywatch is not promoted in India? XXX was heavily promoted in India.
THE Rock is more popular than Vin Diesel in India. It seems logical to promote it in India.
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I don’t know. Possibly because the Fast and the Furious franchise was so popular overseas that they thought Vin Diesel’s popularity would carry over to XXX. Or possibly just because they were different studios with different marketing strategies.
On Mon, May 8, 2017 at 12:51 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Is it OK to see Bahubali 2 without having seen 1? I saw the first one but not in a theater so I really want to see this one on a big screen. I’d like to take a friend who hasn’t yet seen 1. (And I’ve been avoiding your discussions of 2, so if you’ve said this there I missed it.) Should I insist on a viewing of the first one before going to see the new one?
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Yes, it is! There is a little reminder over the opening credits of everything that happened before, and then a voice over to further situate you. You can absolutely follow 2 without having seen 1.
Ideally you should see 1 first, so you have that emotional resonance with the characters, but it’s really not that important. The two films are so entwined that it might even work better to see 2 and then 1. Or at least just as well.
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Thanks!
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On the same note, should I see Sarkar 2? [Also, there was a Sarkar 2 ? How did I miss it?] I also loved Sarkar 1, but have limited movie-watching time.
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You should not see Sarkar 2. In fact, out of the kindness of my heart, I will probably summarize it at the beginning of my Sarkar 3 review to save you from that.
Sarkar 2 added on the plot and characters and lost track of the heart of it all. It had a cool ending, but was mostly a mess. Looks like they have jettisoned everything from that film except for the one big thing SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER that Abhishek and his wife both die, leaving Amitabh alone with his wife and his young grandson in the end, the entire middle generation gone. And then in this one, the conflict is that Amitabh and his grandson have nothing to help bridge the generation gap since the middle generation is gone, plus the grandson is from the angry unpleasant older son and might have inherited his personality.
On Mon, May 8, 2017 at 10:37 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I am simultaneously happy that I don’t have to go find Sarkar 2 and watch it, and disappointed because I’m really fond of Sarkar. Morally upright gangster Amitabh is my favorite Amitabh.
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Check out this ten minute short film. It is a hilarious satire on Indian roads. It has subtitles too:
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Thank you! It reminds me, when my sister visited India the first time, her boss was talking about how impressed he was with her being able to drive in America. Because in America it must be so much harder, since you have to learn all those rules. Whereas in India, no rules!
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This is not true for entire India. In many parts of Delhi, rural areas, semi urban areas Traffic rules are virtually non existent. I dont find it as anything to be proud of but there are many cities like my city Chandigarh where traffic rules are very strict. We used tp gey traffic rules lecture in my college. It is not same everywhere. I am all for freedom but not following rules is not freedom.
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Dont get me wrong
I am not offended but ur comment is not completely right and can seem offensive to some people.
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It’s not monday, but I have a question. Have you seen Thutak thutak Tutiya (sonu Sood & Prabhu Deva)? And if yes, is it scary?
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Firstly, you can always ask a question! The Monday questions and Wednesday Watching posts are there to be convenient places for us all to chat at any point.
Secondly, no I have not 😦 However, I know in general there is a tradition of kind of sexy possession movies in India. Not sexy like violence-and-stabbing-are-metaphors-for-sex, but like in the same vein as the drunken item songs because the heroine has two sips of beer and loses her mind and then she can do a sexy song without being a real “bad girl”, it’s just because of the drink. I could be completely wrong, but from the trailers, it looked like maybe more on the “ghost story because that gives us an excuse for comedy and misunderstandings and some sexy dance numbers” side of things, instead of the super super scary side of things.
On Tue, May 9, 2017 at 2:29 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I think you’re right. I haven’t seen it but it was marketed as a horror-comedy back when it came out.
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Thanks. The movie was released 6 months ago and I wonder why it’s not on dvd yet. Especially if it was not a hit, so should be out soon, like Mirzya or Tum Bin 2.
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I don’t think it did well but it was released in three different languages (Telugu, Tamil and Hindi) which might be why there is no dvd release yet. Multi-language releases tend to complicate things. My guess is that the movie hasn’t premiered on TV yet.
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If I remember correctly, you mentioned that you had a quite a few Desi friends when you were in college right? So after you saw DDLJ for the first time, what was the second Indian movie that you saw? What movies did your friends suggest that you see?
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Oh, what a fun question! Takes me right back. It was a combination of friends and video store owners, and they recommended exactly what you would expect them to recommend. So, KKHH, K3G, Main Hoon Na, Kal Ho Na Ho, Hum Tum. I don’t remember the order, but it was one right after the other.
Part of this was timing. Back in the early 2000s, the DVD market had just started to get established for Indian film, and Yash Raj jumped on it faster than other studios. So every Yash Raj release was available on DVD super easily, so that’s where I started.
This was also when there were DVD rental places still. There was one that had I think $2 rentals for 5 days, which was wonderful. So every Friday I would go aaaaaaaallllllllll the way to Devon (2 busses and the train), and just browse the shelves at that place and pick up about 5 DVDs. Watch them all over the weekend, return them Sunday night. I should mention, I also went to a mostly commuter school, so I was alone in the dorms every weekend with nothing to do but watch DVDs. So, I know I started with the Yash Raj stuff, but I pretty quickly branched out to “whatever random DVD is sitting on the shelf, has subtitles, and i haven’t seen it yet.” My friends weren’t necessarily helpful for recommendations so much as for background, I’d mention that I saw Hulchul over the weekend, and they would immediately talk about how Amrish Puri died during filming and Kareena’s weight was up and so on and so on.
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My bollywood story was almost the same: first K3G, KKHH, DDLJ, Main Hoon Na, than Veer-Zaara, Veer-Zaara, Veer-Zaara.
After that some people in Poland realize that you can make money wih indian movies, so they start releasing dvds. Unfortunately their thinking was like “All indian movies are the same, so why pay a lot for the rights, if we can economize” And so they started sell movies like: Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaye (and bassicaly everything with SRK, good or bad), Kyon Ki, Albela, Dil Ka rishta, Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne (Zayed Khan, Esha Deol and Rakhi Sawant!), and many many more.
We, poor bollywood fans were watching it all.
I hit the bollywood bottom with Classic – Dance of Love (Mithun Chakraborty and Meghna Naidu). And what’s was yours?
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I think mine was “Tum Mere Ho”. Which I now own and watch for enjoyment of the ridiculousness of it. But 10 years ago, it was the only Aamir Khan movie I hadn’t watched yet from the rental store.
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Now that I think of it, my first few movies when I got into Hindi movies are actually quite similar. I started off by rewatching KKHH and DDLJ. Then I went on to watch K3G and every other movie Karan Johar directed which eventually led me to Student of the Year. Then I ended up watching more modern movies like YJHD and HSKD 🙂
I started watching at a time when I had a way to research movies beforehand so I don’t think I ever hit bottom.
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That’s the beauty of the internet. Firstly, no need to struggle with just the few DVDs available for rent because of streaming options. And second, you can do research in advance!
On Wed, May 10, 2017 at 7:57 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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That’s interesting! So what was the first movie that you saw in a theater when it came out?
I never realized that Amrish Puri died, that’s kind of sad…
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You know, it’s surprisingly hard for me to remember what the first movie was I saw in theaters! I remember every movie in general that I have ever seen in theaters, but I am having a hard time remember which was first. Oh! Yes I do remember! It was Bunty Aur Babli. It wasn’t playing in the city, so we had to take a commuter train aaaaaalllllll the way to the suburbs, and see it in a funky old small town theater, and it was wonderful. Some other early ones were Paheli and Jaan-E-Mann and Don.
On Wed, May 10, 2017 at 7:49 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Paheli is a wonderful movie to see in theater! And Bunty aur Babli too, even if I don’t like it, I must admit that the colors, the music, and choreography are great.
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Bunty aur Babli must have been fun! I’ve never seen Paheli, is it good? It doesn’t seem to be a very well known movie in terms of Shahrukh movies.
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Paheli is a divisive movie. It’s not bad, not at all. I would put it somewhere around Chalte Chalte in the Shahrukh filmography. Not an all time brilliant classic, but very well made and well done. Some people, however, super super love it, because it has such a unique kind of plot and setting and look. And others don’t like it as much, for the exact same reasons.
To sum up, you should definitely watch it!
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Okay cool! I’ll check both Paheli and Chalte Chalte out if they ever show up on Netflix 🙂
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They are both Red Chillies films, so they should show up.
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What do you think about this?
http://www.indicine.com/movies/bollywood/should-makers-release-song-promos/
I agree with this opinion that the full song should not be released even if the visuals are cut differently than in the actual movie. In Telugu, they tend to only release 30 second song promos along with the trailer and teaser. I was actually surprised to find out that an entire song would be released when I first started following Hindi movies.
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What really really bugs me is that it ISN’T the full song! It’s the song with 30 seconds cut, or re-edited. So you see the less-good edit, and you see it so much that you can’t fully appreciate the real edit. I assume it’s because music channels have regularly structured schedules and need everything to be a certain length. Whereas in the film, they edit it as needed for the story and the characters.
Anyway, they are right, there is no need to release the full song as part of the promos. I am sure it is more for the music channels and music companies than anything else. And now that t-series is getting more and more into production, I don’t see it changing. Although, on the other hand, maybe if they start caring about their films as well as their music, they will see the advantages of the other way.
On Wed, May 10, 2017 at 8:03 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yeah, I could understand that releasing a longer song will get the movie exposure through music channels. I remember during one of Aamir’s interviews recently he was discussing the release strategy for Dhoom 3. I agree with him in this aspect. Here it is:
http://www.filmfare.com/news/i-may-have-informed-you-about-my-film-but-have-i-created-a-desire-in-you-asks-aamir-khan-19261.html
Here’s another article that also mentions things that Aamir did to market his debut:
http://www.filmfare.com/features/profiling-marketing-genuis-aamir-khan-on-his-birthday-12590-3.html
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Really interesting articles! My big take away is what he says in the first one, that marketing as he sees it is part of being an major film actor. Which I absolutely agree with, you can’t say “I don’t want to give interviews/do photoshoots/worry about what people think, I just want to do my job.” Because that is your job! If you just want to be an actor, be like Pawesh Rawal or Shabani Azmi, work in small interesting projects and plays and don’t worry about being recognized. If you want to be a movie star, a major movie star, than learn how to promote yourself/your film, because that’s part of your job. It also seems to be the area that is most often lacking. Shahid Kapoor, for instance, great actor, very charismatic, lots of gossip and media buzz about him all the time, great interview. But just not good at marketing himself/his films. Sonam, on the other hand, way way better at marketing than she is at acting.
The other thing I found interesting about Aamir in particular is Lagaan! I know I’ve mentioned this before, but there are several academic articles that talk in the abstract about Lagaan as a crossover movie and what made it special and so on and so on. But almost none of them acknowledge the fact that Aamir designed the film, and the release, in order to create that kind of crossover audience. In a way no one else had ever thought of before, doing critics showings and even giving out little explanatory pamphlets so they would understand what they were seeing. And making sure it went to all the right festivals and was distributed in all the right countries and so on. And it was clearly Aamir who coordinated all of that, very very smartly. It sounds like he did the same for all his movies (and I know Salman and Shahrukh do too), it was just a little more obvious with Lagaan.
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I totally agree with the idea that marketing is part of being a movie star. I think out of the younger actors only Varun and Alia have publicly said that promotions are fun. Ranbir, Ranveer and everyone else seems to have that tendency to complain that promotions are so boring. It’s not just about being good at marketing, the actors should also have an interest in marketing their films as well.
That’s a really smart way to coordinate Lagaan’s release. Aamir had a four year gap between Lagaan and his next movie right. How did this affect his stardom?
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The gap didn’t hurt him much, but the movie that came out of it really really did. Mangal Panday is just gosh awful. And after Lagaan, and those 4 years, there were just so many expectations on him, and Mangal really really didn’t meet them.
My understanding is that the 4 years were a side-effect of commitments. The Lagaan release and promotion and all of that killed almost a year when he could have been filming something else. And then he put in a lot of time on prep work for Mangal Panday (my favorite rumor was that filming was delayed for 6 months because he insisted on growing his own mustache, and he couldn’t do it). And then there was the post-production and promotions and all for Mangal which killed even more time.
I was just looking at his filmography, and it looks like the lesson he learned was to not put all his eggs in one basket two films in a row. Between PK and Dangal, he did the voice over for Dil Dhadakhne Do, just to keep his hand in. He had another big break between main roles in major films between 3 Idiots and Talaash. But he kept his hand in with appearances Dhobhi Ghaat and Delhi Belly. Which took the pressure off, it wasn’t like we were all thinking “wow, this must be the most amazing movie in the world if Aamir Khan did nothing else for 4 years!”
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Lol, maybe he’s delaying Thugs of Hindostan for the look as well. I was under the impression that they started already but apparently they are supposed to start shooting the movie in June. By the way Fatima Sana Sheikh got confirmed as the female lead.
Maybe that’s why he’s doing the special appearance in Secret Superstar? So it’s not like there are too many expectations on Thugs of Hindostan.
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Bollywood Hungama does not give Sarkar 3 a good review 😦
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Well, my local theater is only playing it at 4:30 and 11, thanks to Bahubali showtimes, so that makes me feel better about missing it.
On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 4:57 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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