Happy almost-June! And Happy Wednesday! I am so ready for this week to be over, moving all weekend really takes it out of you. Anyway, in the meantime, here is the place to talk about all the things we have been reading and watching and thinking this week. And, to get us started off, I have a question for you!
My question is moving-related (as is my entire life right now): if you had to pack everything in boxes what book and/or movie (Indian related or otherwise) would you keep out of a box so you could have it always with you?
Having just gone through this myself, I can tell you that it was a songs DVD, Running Shaadi, Raees, and Maya Bazaar. And for books, it was my Kindle (I know, a kindle is really cheating).
dontcallitbollywood 
Completed GOT season 5BATTLE of hardhome is super cool. Nighy king does nothing but u can tell that he is unbeatable. Only wall stands between him and westros
Also watched rocky 1, 2, and 3
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Here is night king
He hasnt even speaking a word yet
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To answer you question, I think my one book would end up being Tony Romo: America’s Next Quarterback by Mac Engel. I love Tony Romo and the Cowboys, but mainly Tony, ever since I was a little kid and this one of the first books on Tony Romo that I had read. One of my most favorite books even if it’s just for sentimental value. Or maybe I would just choose the entire Harry Potter series.
Movie is too hard to pick so I’m just gonna say that I would take my laptop 🙂
I have most of my favorites either downloaded onto my laptop, onto Google Drive, or I bought them on Google Play. This includes Humpty Sharma, 1:Nenokkadine, Dookudu, Manam, Main Tera Hero etc.
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I was just trying to explain to my father that “young people” these days don’t have DVDs any more, they just download things. He could not wrap his head around it.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 7:44 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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True, we don’t have any new dvds at home anymore. I think the last dvd we bought was either Avatar or Eega 🙂
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I am not young 🙂 but I also stopped buying DVDs and watching many movies on youtube. So DVDs may become obsolete very soon.
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Well, that would have made my move a lot easier! It was about half books, a quarter DVDs, and another quarter dishes and random stuff.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 11:19 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Ever since I saw Rarandoi Veduka Chudham in the theater last weekend, I’ve been on a bit of a Naga Chaitanya kick. I first rewatched Autonagar Surya which is a flawed yet interesting action/political drama starring Naga Chaitanya and Samantha. I used to like this movie for the songs and romance but I actually understood what was actually going on in the movie this time. This isn’t a well made movie and it was delayed a lot due to financial troubles, but everything clicked when I watched this movie this time compared to when I saw it last two years ago.
Then I ended up watching Manam which is one of my most favorite movies! Such an amazing movie! As usual, I literally have no words to describe how much I love Manam.
Then I rewatched Sahasam Swasaga Sagipo (the Telugu version of Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada) which I happened to like more this time than the first time I saw it. Manjima Mohan didn’t seem as annoying as remembered her to be. Plus the ending didn’t seem to be as out of place as before. Also I’ve been watching this song on loop for a while now ❤
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Oh yeah, I also ended up watching Raees and I liked it. But I don’t have much to say about it except what was with the baby growing up so fast in such short time? Or did I get the timeline wrong?
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I had the same reaction! I think they did work out the timeline and based baby size on that, but didn’t clearly show it any other way. So the baby was like 3 months old for most of the post-interval, and then there was supposed to be a 6 month or so time jump to the bomb blasts. Which makes sense, that there would be some kind of a lag to coordinate everything and so on. Long enough that Shahrukh would have almost forgotten about the whole thing and his business would be back on a firm footing and all that. But the only way we know it is 6 months is because that baby doubles in size. They really needed a line of dialogue about “6 months later, it’s like that whole curfew never happened.”
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 7:46 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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That was actually kind of confusing. Instead of focusing on how Raees was about to go die, all I could think about was how big the son looked compared to the last time we saw him. I thought it was weird how they barely showed the baby in general even after he was born.
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Poor Manjima Mohan! Having to get hit by that truck twice, once in Tamil and once in Telugu.
I am awfully fond of Naga too, but I think I still like his Dad better.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 7:45 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh yeah, I totally forgot that she had to do this twice.
Obviously, Nagarjuna has made better movies in his career and he’s a much better actor. But I’ve always been fond of Naga Chaitanya ever since I saw Ye Maaya Chesave. Plus we both share birthdays and I really like his personality off-screen. Plus I find him to be very good looking ❤
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Hey, you were born 5 days (and many many years) after my father!
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 9:36 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Manjima mohan was really good when she was a child actress. But She was awful in her debut as a heroine as well in the Nivin pauly starrer Oru vadakkan Selfie. I liked that movie. Loved Nivin pauly and Aju Varghese in it but hated Manjima Mohan.
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Here is Manjima Mohan as the be of the child actress in this song.
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Actually, even I’m moving! I am starting college next week in Bangalore and will be staying in a hostel, so all the shopping and packing left me with nearly no time for books or movies.
Since I am in Bangalore mode, I rewatched Bangalore Days for the third time. I also watched the Tamil remake and guess what? Fahadh’s role was played by RANA! This is the first time I’m seeing him in a modern setting (I have only watched Bahubali and Rudramadevi), and he was quite good in this too! The rest of the cast weren’t as great here, especially if you compare with the Malayalam leads. Except Parvathy, who reprises her role.
I also watched Phillauri. It wasn’t that bad, considering that it came from the same writer as Shandaar. Boy, that was HORRIBLE! Phillauri was sweet, except when they went overboard with the CGI at the end.
I also read an interesting spin-off on Ramayana from the perspective of Urmila, Sita’s sister and Lakshman’s husband.
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Urmila, she’s the one who gets to sleep all the time, right? I am so jealous of that right now.
Congrats on college! I am sure it will be very similar to my college experience, staying up until ten in our PJs watching Shahrukh movies on our laptops, and then going to bed to get up early for classes. The best way to do college, those people who go out and get drunk and stuff are missing out.
And yay! Another Shaandar hater! In the “real world”, I know we are the vast majority, but the minority that love that movie all seem to be commentators here. It’s almost made me start doubting myself. Glad to know someone agrees with me.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 8:23 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You should doubt yourself, Shaandaar is a masterpiece! 🙂
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You’re right about the sleeping part, but the author kept her awake here to describe life in the palace during the exile.
I’m exactly the sort who’d rather stay up watching movies than going out and getting drunk! But the problem is that most of the people my age (at least my NRI friends here in Dubai) prefer Hollywood stuff and kinda look down at Indian movies and music. Which is why I love hanging out here. I do hope I find people who share my similar interests in college 🙂
It was me who dragged my family for Shandaar the day it cane out because I felt that since it had Alia and was directed by Vikas Bahl it would be interesting. I tried really hard to like it. But then the magic mushrooms happened and I gave up. They still tease me about that!
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I hate it when I suggest a movie that people don’t like! I just showed my parents Manam, and they were so-so on it, when I was sure they would love it.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 11:53 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Same with my parents and Manam!
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Same! Once I recommended my friends a Telugu crime comedy called Bhale Manchi Roju and she ended up hating it. The worst part is that my friend got excited about the movie since I praised it and she made her family go to it with her. Now my friend and her mom remind me of that whenever I recommend a movie 🙂
Do you know anyone who never loves a movie when they see it for the first time but then they love it after seeing it multiple times? My dad’s like that; there are movies where he didn’t like them in the theater but now it’s his favorite movie.
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My mother is kind of like that. Only, what will happen is that either she will seem to not like the film at all while watching it the first time, and then months or years later suddenly start talking about that wonderful movie, because I guess as time went on she came to like it. Or else I will show it to her a second time and she will love it and not remember that she had ever seen it before. Or the reverse. movies she absolutely loved and then has no memory of when I try to remind her of them.
she is also completely unpredictable in her film taste, and very eclectic. Which I shouldn’t complain about, it’s a big part of the reason my tastes are so eclectic. She showed me Murder She Wrote and Laura and Shall We Dance and Ruthless People and Soapdish and His Girl Friday and Auntie Mame and hundreds of others when i was little.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 6:44 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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To answer you question, I think I’ll cheat too, by saying my Kindle and my laptop 😊
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I would keep Jodhaa Akbar and K3G for Indian movies and any others I haven’t watched yet but I own (if there would be no access to my collection for a really long time that is…but I always unpack my DVDs and books first when I move). And whatever books I’m currently reading? I’m reading All the Single Ladies by Rebecca Traister and A Change of Heart by Sonali Dev right now.
After Rangoon and Badrinath, I’m on a classics kick until Phillauri is finally “available” with subtitles! Zanjeer was just ok…I can see why many like Deewar better as the true beginning of the angry young man thing. Jaya’s opening song was awesome and only at the end did she get to be cool again. I found the way her personality is sublimated the moment she falls for Vijay very off-putting. They have (obviously) believable chemistry but it’s unusually voyeuristic for me. Usually off-screen couples on-screen romances don’t bother me, but this one did.
Seeta aur Geeta was a pure delight and is right up there at the top of my list for favorite classic films. I literally guffawed at the scene where she ends up on the ceiling fan in the police station. One of the funniest Indian movie scenes I’ve ever seen. Hema Malini deserved the Filmfare Award for this one, for sure.
Then Abhimaan. Meh. Another one where I was too conscious of the real life dynamics between Amitabh and Jaya. I can see better now why she was a critically acclaimed actress in her youth, but the plot was a little too slow. While the music was very good, I have yet to really get into the classic Hindi filmi songs with only a couple of exceptions…so all the singing and emoting was a little much for me. I loved Bindu and the actor who played his friend/manager.
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Oh! You have to go over to the Hindi Film 101 post and tell Niki to watch more Hrithik movies!
So excited to talk about classics! Really interesting thought about Zanjeer being voyeuristic. I had a kind of similar reaction, only I liked it, because apparently I care less about movie stars’ privacy. In a lot of their scenes, it just feels so much like a young couple desperately in love and wanting to be married. Which fits their characters, but it’s more than that, it’s like the actors’ own emotions are so big right at that moment that they keep bursting out in the middle of their “fake” love scenes. I also find it fascinating to compare Zanjeer with the later Amitabh-Rekha movies. Amitabh-Rekha, to me, was sexier, but it didn’t have quite them same overwhelming sense of care that I get with Jaya and Amitabh here.
With Zanjeer and Jaya, I find the class stuff fascinating. When Amitabh decides to marry her and vice versa (even though they don’t say it, they clearly both know that is what is happening), he takes her to his sister-in-law to get middle-class female training. Only, Amitabh himself is not middle-class, he comes from a background pre-adoption as low-class as Jaya does. And, after losing his job and having his whole crisis of faith, he increasingly reclaims that identity. Jaya ends up being the outsider, the one who wants a house and curtains and so on, while he has changed back to being someone closer to what she was at the start.
Love Seeta Aur Geeta! And another one with off-screen and onscreen connections, Hema was being courted by both Sanjeev and Dharmendra at the time. It’s less in your face, but I feel like you can see that she is slightly more interested in Dharmendra, there’s just something extra in her face when she looks at him. (hopefully I didn’t just make Seeta Aur Geeta feel icky and voyeuristic for you too. If so, forget everything I just said)
Abhimaan was a bit much for me too, especially the last third where it feels like they just threw the plot out the window and invented an artificial solution to the conflict. If you want to see more Jaya, my favorite of her early movies is Anamika. It’s with Sanjeev, and it’s crazy and fun and charming and there’s a huge Helen number.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 8:51 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’m still trying to figure out who I like Amitabh best with…I think I like Zeenat Aman the best so far after Dostana and Don, though I was hoping it would be the pairing with Jaya. Only seen one with Rekha (Do Ajaane) and saw the chemistry but didn’t love the story. I think because I’ll always see Amitabh and Jaya as the “parents” of the current industry and enjoyed them first together in K3G and even in that adorable and very intentionally voyeuristic cameo in Ki & Ka…it’s hard to picture them in that sexy, young and in love stage. That scene in Abhimaan in the bedroom where he reaches up for her is supposed to be sexy (so sexy they do the scene twice!), but it gave me the willies and it’s a little too crass (and I don’t have delicate sensibilities at all). The “sense of care” you refer to is definitely one of the best qualities to the rest of their performances in Abhimaan, though.
I didn’t know about the potential love triangle in Seeta aur Geeta but, of course, that makes perfect Bollywood sense! That doesn’t ruin it for me at all…I vote for Dharmendra winning both of the twins! Sanjeev is booooring, though he does get some fun physical comedy, and Dharmendra is charming in his swaggering macho role. Their’s that scene where he rescues Geeta from the kidnapping at the end and she’s like “It’s you!” and she’s so happy to see her old friend and partner and it was so cute!
I’ve only seen about 25 or so Indian films made before 1990 (I consider anything before that date a classic film in this world…partly due to the seismic shifts with DDLJ in 1995 as the turning point). I often have to force myself to sit through the older films, but it helps to be in a certain actor or actress mode and so far I’ve gone on Sharmila Tagore and Amitabh kicks. But it’s helping that I finally started taking advantage of the media library at work. There’s hardly anything good past 1990 but it’s good for the classics. Priya Joshi (who’s written a scholarly book and essays about the industry) teaches here and I think she occasionally teaches a class, too.
Laawaris tonight!
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Oh my God Oh my God oh my God!!! YOU WORK WITH PRIYA JOSHI????? She is like my HERO!!!!! Her “Bollylite” journal article is one of my all time favorite articles, up there with Rosie Thomas and Sheila Nayyar and Rajendrah Dudrah (who is up there with Shahrukh and Raja Sen in my “crazy hot because of their mind” list) and Lakshmi Srinavas. I want to visit you and stalk her office and get her autograph on my battered print out of her original article. I had to special WorldCat request the article and it was SO WORTH IT.
Also, the whole article is about how modern Indian films are junk (but the argument is made in an incredibly informative and nuanced and mind-blowing way), so I love it that her university doesn’t have much modern stuff!
Moving on (although, seriously, I am just flying at the idea that I have communicated with someone who may have communicated with Priya Joshi. It’s like when I was doing my Master’s thesis research and I ended up emailing with the woman who made my favorite Sakshay slashfic video), Seeta Aur Geeta!
I know EXACTLY the moment you mean. With Hema in her “Geeta” character, but almost breaking character for a moment and looking way happier to see Dharmendra than she should have been. Dharmendra in real life was also totally the “bad boy” option, older and already married and kind of a tough guy with a past. Sanjeev was gentle and intellectual and blah blah blah, obviously she is going to pick the experienced bad boy. Although, if you do watch Anamika, you will fall in love with Sanjeev a little, he’s very charming in that.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 1:47 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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LOL, that’s such a geek response and it’s awesome. I think this is where I have to admit that I am woefully behind in reading any of the scholarly work on Indian films. I’ve only read a couple of Anupama Chopra essay collections and I tend to like the more popular culture take/memoirs that deal with Bollywood (Bollywood Boy and Karan Johar’s An Unsuitable Boy, for instance). It’s something I need to rectify and I think you’ve given some good recs before. I should start with Priya Joshi then. So here’s the thing with Professor Joshi. My colleagues and I all find her a bit intimidating and a hard nut to crack, so to speak. I’ve been putting off contacting her about work stuff for that very reason. Plus, I know myself, and I would inevitably let slip very awkwardly that I watch Indian movies and my “low-brow” taste would be too obvious and she might judge me. I once had that happen to me with a Pakistani-American literature professor who when she found out I liked Ali Zafar she said something like, “Oh, you and all the teen girls back home!” Devastating:)
I’ll keep you posted on whether or not I ever get up the courage to contact Priya Joshi!
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If you are looking to start with academic options, for me there are 3 articles that just blew my mind wide open, and were also super easy reads. Priya Joshi’s “Bollylite” is one of them. Rosie Thomas’ “Mother India”. And Sheila Nayyar’s “Oral Narrativity”. “Bollylite” gives you a sense of the social meanings of the films, “Mother India” introduces you to how the stars are viewed, and “Oral Narrativity” talks about the different narrative in Indian cinema and where they came from. All 3 authors have since expanded their work into books, but as almost always in these cases, the original article has the big points and the book is just kind of extra.
If you read those articles and nothing else ever, you will be set. Plus, once you read “Bollylite”, you will know what to say to Joshi to make her like you!
Oh, and avoid Ashis Nandy like the plague he is, I hate that man with a burning passion and all his “Indian film is an opiate of the masses” theories should be hacked to death and buried in an unmarked grave.
And I had the exact same conversation with a Pakistani literary professor, only about Fawad Khan and it was aunties, not teenage girls.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 3:04 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh and even if we can’t meet up in Chicago this summer when I’m there for ALA (my schedule is getting more filled up than I previously thought!), you’re always welcome to visit me in Philly, too, if you’re ever in town!
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Oh! I could finally see the Rocky statue!!!! The culmination of all my lifelong dreams.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 3:07 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Thanks for the recs! Raja Sen does have a sexy mind…I like following him on Twitter and reading his reviews:)
I’m serious about the open invite to Philly! I live out in on the regional rail line but if you want some place to crash, be my guest! I didn’t comment on your great Rocky post, but I also have been obsessed with Rocky since I was a little girl in the 80s. It helped that my dad was a big sports fan and I only have one brother who is five years older…so I always got “stuck” watching their movie picks. We’re now introducing them to my nieces and nephew and it’s so much fun…I even got my nephew a Rocky t-shirt for Xmas this year. And my parents named their new puppy, Rocky.
And since I went to college here in Philly and now live here again as an adult, it’s just cemented my love. We could do the whole tour from the Museum to the Italian Market if you came to visit. When I was in college and the first time I took my parents to the Italian Market, I picked a restaurant which had a photograph of Rocky on the wall and it was (and is) really authentic Italian family-style and my Dad still talks about it to this day.
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I’ve lost stuff after moving.So I’ve kept the Ocean’s Trilogy, K3G,Don,Devasuram with me on subsequent shifts.Since I have a partiality for heists and thieves, first three books of the Queen’s Thief series definitely stays with me wherever I go.
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Love the Ocean’s Trilogy. That should totally be remade by Farhan Akhtar or someone else cool like that, right? Only, it would be really really hard to get a whole cast of stars that big together. SRKajol as Clooney/Julia Roberts, Hrithik as Brad Pitt, Aish maybe as Catherine Zeta-Jones, and I am stumped on Matt Damon.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 9:32 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I think this calls for a full post like the Rocky one! I can’t wait for Ocean’s Eight!
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Unless something more interesting springs to mind, this may be this Sunday’s post! Now I just need a boyish actor who can also do comically sincere. Shahid? Ranveer? OH!!! Ranbir! His ADHM character, but played for laughs! That is PERFECT!
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 9:51 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Some parts of Ocean eleven was taken in dhoom.
It is more likely to be another Players.
Proper remakes are not good in Bollywood. Copying some elements can get u some decent result but I dont remember a good proper remake. Apart from an unknown movie Don Muthuswami, a funny film, whixh was a remake of another unknown and underrated movie named Oscar starring Slyvester Stallone
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Hearing that Biopic on Mammotty will start shooting next year starring Nivin Pauly as Mammootty and directed by Jude Antony(Director of Ohm Shanthi Oshaana).
http://onlookersmedia.in/latestnews/nivin-pauly-star-mammoottys-biopic/
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I wonder why not Dulquer? Maybe it was just too strange to play his own father. Ice Cube’s son played his Dad in that movie the name of which is escaping me, and he talked about how it was mostly fine, but then there were a few scenes with a baby and he had this realization of “wait, that baby was me, I remember this, and now I am playing a scene as my father with baby me”.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 10:33 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yep probably. But also hearing that vineeth sreenivasan may play his father Sreenivasan’s role in this movie.
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Jude antony confirmed that Sreenivasan’s character will be played be his son Vineeth Sreenivasan and Sukumaran’s character will be played by his son Indrajith Sukumaran ( Indrajith looks more like Sukumaran than Prithviraj). Now I wonder why he didn’t go for Dulquer in the Mammootty biopic.
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Dulquer with Prithviraj and indrajith when they where kids along with Mammootty and Sukumaran( Extreme left) .
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=prithviraj+dulquer+kids&client=ms-android-gionee&prmd=inv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjs_e-B46PUAhVGqo8KHT8kBsEQ_AUICSgB&biw=360&bih=560&dpr=3#tbm=isch&q=prithviraj+dulquer+Mammootty+Sukumaran+&imgrc=rk7CIahEUCCVCM:
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https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQpceY0h2EJYgQnjzb1dVVE2PQQ2-dxB6uEXXtY97R4HJEgiSQ_JD6wKqO4
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I’m thinking it’s more likely that Dulquer was asked and turned him down, for whatever reason. Maybe he felt it would be too strange to play his own father, maybe he didn’t want to be typecast as “just Mammootty’s son”, maybe he had other projects and didn’t want to give up that many dates.
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A really good review of Sachin: Billion Dreams from Jaby Koay. He didnt even know there was a Sachin before the trailer of this movie released. Do watch.
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I would keep Ohm Shanthi Oshana with me. I will be visiting my parents in Poland next month and I’m already little stressed, because I hate planes, but I thought that I’ll bring OSO with me, on my tablet, and watch it durning the flight. It makes me feel much better 🙂
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Ohm Shanti Oshana is a good one. I bought it streaming, and also on DVD for back-up. But I lent the DVD to my friend Dina (in an attempt to get her to watch her first Malayalam film), so now I have to make do with streaming.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 1:50 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I had a busy Memorial Day weekend and I forgot to mention the non-Hindi things I watched, too:) I really liked Whiskey Tango Foxtrot with Tina Fey. It has some major tone issues and whitewashes two critical roles (why in this day and age do casting directors still do this!). Still it made me want to read the memoir it’s based on.
Also watched this very quirky French rom-com, Blind Date, on Netflix. About a couple that lives next door to each other and the wall is so thin that at first they’re antagonists and then they fall in love…thru the wall…without seeing each other. I immediately recast it as a Hindi independent film with Kalki and Irfaan, for some reason.
Also continued to watch the soapy historical drama, Versailles, about Louis XIV’s building of the palace and it’s eye candy and historical porn.
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My new building, since it is right off Devon, is filled with desis including my next door neighbors. And I am debating how to make contact without being that weird white lady who says “Hey! Want to come over and watch movies?” I am considering just playing the TV really really loudly so they can hear it through the window, and then they will say “Hey! Is that Jodha-Akbar?” and then a friendship will be born.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 1:56 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Go for it! But I also recommend trying to casually work it in to small talk when you meet in the hallway:) Good luck and I know you probably have experience with this!
I completely sympathize. There’s a couple down the hall from me, too, that I’d love to meet simply because I want movie-watching buddies! They are South Asian, but their last name is Nazareth and they go to the same Catholic church as me, too. So I’m thinking converts or from Kerala, Goa? Maybe Malayalam film fans! I know it presumes a lot, but none of my Indian-American friends are that big into Hindi films! They all will watch them occasionally with their parents and, of course, they only *really like* Aamir Khan films.
Did I ever mention the first time I saw a Hindi film in the theater was with the couple who ran the convenience store across the street from me in Boston. He and his wife thought it was hilarious and sweet that I loved Indian movies (it was the early days of my fandom and he recommended Omkara so I always knew I could trust his taste).
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I am resisting asking what convenience store. When my sister was in Boston, she had a convenience store that was her regular source for DVDs and got very fond of the people. But I will ask which theater! Was it that funky one in, I want to say, Arlington? I saw Dostana there with my parents, which was not ideal. Dostana is really not a “parental” kind of movie to see.
My original make contact plan, which I wimped out on, was to move in with my Dard-E-Disco and DDLJ posters facing outward so the neighbors could see them when I took them up the stairs.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 2:49 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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The store was in Brighton and didn’t actually have DVDs, just friendly owners. You know, I don’t remember the theater I think it was one out past Cambridge. It was more run-down than funky. It may have started with a D?
Posters would have been a good trick!
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Have you seen this yet? I feel like King of Punjab recommending videos:) I’m looking forward to it. I really liked Ali Fazal in Bobby Jagoos and Sonali Cable. It’s standard Brit fair but the combo of a rising Indian actor like Fazal and Judi Dench could be interesting!
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I’m also, as always with this kind of film, concerned about romanticizing the British Empire and the trailer does do a little bit of that already. I’m less concerned because this friendship is an actual historical fact and an Indian writer has documented it as well.
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Little worried about Orientalism, obviously. but it does look fun seeing Judi Dench bounce of a younger actor! I do wish she could have worked with one of the more interesting and experienced actors. I would have loved to have seen Saif in this role, for instance, or Abhishek. Just to watch them fight for screen space with Judi Dench. And a little voice in my head is saying “Varun! Varun!” Which would have been a completely disastrous casting, but very amusing.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 2:31 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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The chronological SRK trek continued with Dil Se and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and now I am halfway through Baadshah, which I probably dislike more than I did the first time (only) I watched it. And also know this might be heresy, but KKHH is not on my list of favorite Shahrukh movies. Dil Se, on the other hand, is near the top. This was my third watch, and I invited a couple of friends who have seen other Indian films with me, and they were blown away by the look and sound of the movie, and we talked about the plot for hours afterwards.
I also watched Jeet, which King of Punjab had suggested because he knows I am an Amrish Puri fan, and it is one of his favorites. To be totally honest, this is not a film I would have chosen on my own. The action/crime stuff is not my thing, Salman (even young Salman) leaves me cold, and I feel sympathetic to Karishma as a person (thanks to Margaret’s Hindi Film 101 post on her) but I really displike her as an actor. But I like to keep an open mind. The only other Sunny Deol film I had seen was Darr, and I didn’t like him in that. I enjoyed him more in Jeet — he has an interesting blankness when he is in “animal” mode that makes the contrasts when he reforms much more interesting. Salmon was irritating, and I feel bad saying that, it is really a matter of taste, the the puppy-eyes thing in guys had never been attractive to me. The action scenes were very well done, and easily the best part. The Karishma/Sunny romance plot line was completely unbelievable, and I don’t know if it was him, her, or both of them. Amrish was at his evil best, but the ear hair was a horrible costuming decision. Prefer him in Oh Darling, Yeh Hai India.
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I also found Salman as irritated. He was absoluetly annoying. Thats y i skip 1 hour in between. I think that i did suggest that it is a bad movie if i exclude Sunny Paaji. It is unbelievable lovw but so is Twilight and Kuch Kuch hota hai and K3G
U r ryt about animal part. He was absoluete beast in 5he movie. We can see his c0nfusion about his feeelings about Kajal. He embraces her and becomes a good person. We can see his heartbreak. He unleashes his beast when he tells Kajal that he will kill everyone at her wedding. But we can see his love for her and he decides to do nothing. He cries. It was great.
Everything else means nothing. He gives up his life for his love.
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Hope that u watxh Angrej, so that we could discuss it.
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After 1998, there aren’t a lot of bright spots coming up. Although One 2 Ka 4 is kind of fun. But otherwise, it’s Mohabbetein, and then nothing nothing nothing until K3G. (I just finished writing tomorrow’s post).
and I am going to be a bad person and ignore most of your other comments and pick up on your mention of Darr and Sunny Deol. After watching other Sunny movies, and Darr many many times, I’ve decided that his character is supposed to be slightly off-putting. Slightly too macho, slightly too confident, slightly too unwilling to listen to others. Juhi isn’t choosing between the “hero” and the “villain”, she is choosing between two different versions of toxic masculinity. It’s only at the end, when Sunny finally learns to use some restraint and cleverness, and stops under-estimating his opponents, that I start to find him charming.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 5:32 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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This week I watched Chasme Buddoor and it was just so delightful and charming. (The 1981 one, obvs). It came very highly recommended, but for the first few minutes I was worried it would turn into something stupid, but it never did. Loved the Chamko soap scene and the song in the park after they discuss how unrealistic movie scenes of songs in parks are. It actually sort of reminded me of what I like in the best Bengali films: small scale, realistic characters, fully-realized female love interest. I didn’t personally laugh, but found it intellectually funny (as in “This was probably unbelievably hilarious in 1981 before people were always breaking the fourth wall”). I’m undecided whether or to go on a Deepti/Farooq kick, or if this will inevitably lead to heartbreak since everything else will be a letdown. The other idea is to watch all the Devdases (Devdae?) that I can find online, Bengali and Hindi and any other language it’s been remade it. (Don’t ask me why I want a project. I have enough to do).
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I went with “Devdasi”. Having gone through my own little Devdas marathon, i should warn you not to do it if you run the risk of seeing lovesick young people at any point soon in real life. You will have an urge to punch them, especially the men. Oh, also, try to find the Telugu version if you can, it’s an interesting variation.
I am so glad you saw and liked the original Chashme Baddoor! It’s just such a gentle movie. And, you are right, Deepti and Farookh never really had that kind of magic again.
Hmm, so maybe not Devdas or Deepti/Farooq. What would be another project for you? Oh! You could try the K. balachander films. Or Mani Ratnam. Not your Bengali genre, but Tamil. And sensitive and brilliant with great actresses and strong female characters and fascinating plots. Also, fairly readily available.
On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 11:03 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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OK, I guess that takes care of Devdas/Devdasi. Since I’m a college professor lovesick young people are a daily occurrence and I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to punch them. Maybe the Devdas project would be good for summer vacation.
I should watch more Tamil films. I must confess so far I’ve only seen one, which was 3 and I couldn’t get into it. (Although Dhanush was great and I did like the first half).
Right now I’m in that stage where I’ve just watched and loved a movie and all I want to do is watch the EXACT SAME movie, only different because I’ve already seen it, only there is no other movie like it! I’m sure you know the feeling.
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I definitely know that feeling! And, counter-intuitively, the best solution is to watch an equally good but totally different film. And since I have randomly picked Tamil for my recommendations, check out Alai Payuthay, or Mouna Ragam, or Moodru Mudichu.
Or, Bang Bang! And you can see Deepti in a cameo as Hrithik’s mother.
On Thu, Jun 1, 2017 at 12:45 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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In what way did you find the Telugu Devadasu to be a “variation?” (There’s a later version than the one you saw, sometime in the 1980’s, I think, starring Krishna — Mahesh Babu’s father — and his wife Vijayanirmala, who also directed. I’ve never seen it, but liked the songs from it.)
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the Telugu one had a lot more in the childhood and young man section than Barua and Bimal Roy. Including some humorous sections. It made the film feel a lot “richer”, to have those added layers.
It also looked richer in a different way, bigger sets and costumes than Barua or Roy used.
On Thu, Jun 1, 2017 at 12:46 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Very interesting. It was always considered one of the most authentic adaptations.
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Here’s the teaser of Mahesh’s next film, Spyder, which is directed by A.R. Murugadoss. It came out just minutes ago!
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Ooo, I may have to do a post on this! After I go to bed.
On Thu, Jun 1, 2017 at 12:06 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I would love that! If you want to club it with other news, then Katrina and Anushka Sharma just got officially confirmed as the heroines for the Aanand L. Rai dwarf film.
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You know how I love to club things together! Okay, I may do that.
On Thu, Jun 1, 2017 at 7:07 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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