Remember those series of posts I did over a month ago about my sister going to Chennai and what I should ask her to bring me? Well, she finally got home about two weeks ago, and then came to visit me this weekend and hand deliver everything. So I am reporting back to you all!
I’ll start slow, with the “grown-up” books. You know, the fancy autobiographies and academic studies and interviews and stuff.
Now, notice over in the corner the slightly less respectable and academic books? Yeah, I also got a good haul of comic books. I am super excited about Brave Women of India! And also, of course, Bahubali.
Also in the corner, you probably caught a glimpse of the DVDs. Not as many DVDs as there could have been, because they are impossible to find! My poor sister went to 9 stores in total, in 2 different cities, including one mall that was really sketchy and her driver didn’t really want her to go there, and conscientiously handed over the enter list to every DVD store, and all they could find were these. I am excited about Thiruda Thiruda in my quest to complete the Ratnam filmography. And, of course, I am happy to have DVDs of Spadikam, Annmariya, and the others I have already seen and loved.
And then there’s Bahubali. Which is its own separate category. The book, as I knew.
Also, a surprise! My sister got 4 of these, my parents got the other two and she is keeping one for her household.
And finally, the greatest gift of all, which you probably saw in the background of the other photos, THE SWORDS!!!! Which were carefully carried from India all the way to America to a conference, then home from the conference, then from her home to mine.
And not only that, she preserved the relevant parts of the packaging!
No joke, I am planning to take the swords and the packaging to a professional frame place and have them put together a shadow box display arrangement.
Oh, and then one more finale. The thing that was easy to find, but very very expensive, and also very very large and heavy to be taken from India to a conference to home and then back to my place.
dontcallitbollywood 
Cor, she must have had a massive luggage weight allowance! You lucky ducky.
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Thanks so much for sharing these with us! I thought you were just going to post a list, so the photos were a lovely surprise. I feel like I should thank your sister, too, for going to so much trouble, not just to shop, but to haul everything around with her.
And yes, how *did* she manage about her luggage allowance? Did she get anything for herself? 🙂
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I don’t know how she did it on all the other trips, but coming from her home to Chicago, she had an extra suitcase just for presents, which will fold up and fit inside her other suitcase for the trip back, now that it is empty.
On Sat, Jun 10, 2017 at 7:12 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I meant, how much excess baggage charges did she have to pay? 🙂 Nowadays some American airlines will only allow one checked bag even for international flights, while most foreign airlines allow two checked bags.
Anyway, however she did it, she certainly looked out for her little sister! 🙂
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You certainly saved the best for the last 🙂 Unfortunately Dulquer’s Njan seems to be the only new Malayalam movie in the haul.Amar Chitra Katha comics brings back some old memories. I’m only surprised why SLB hasn’t turned to them for inspiration.Kanwal and Kehar would make a great tale. It is about how a dancer and her lover.She manages to outwit and get away from the Sultan who imprisons her lover (albeit with the help of the hero’s friends).Or about ugly King Kusha whose mother tricks the beautiful vain Prabhavati into marrying him.Of course the princess finds out the truth and he has to woo her back.There are so many interesting stories.
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Yeah, there were no new Malayalam movies available! She looked and looked and looked, and this was it. I mean, I’m happy, because I really liked all the ones there, and I am happy to own them now. But it is odd that the DVDs aren’t more available.
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What an awesome sister you have! I was really interested in some of the books…I have Twinkle Khanna’s second book, too, on my shelf to read…
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And is that Raavanan there in the DVDs? I own it, too, and I can’t wait to hear your opinion. I’m watching Iru Mugan now and it’s ridiculous fun. Vikram was the reason I started watching non-Hindi films. His Arul and Majaa are on my DVD want list. I’m trying to catch up with his recent filmography now.
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Oh, and one last thing…is that SRK a coffee table book you don’t already own? Wow! Have you seen Lights Camera Masala: Making Movies in Mumbai by Sheena Sippy. I just bought a copy used on Amazon…it’s really interesting and the book design is cool, too.
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NOOOO!!!! Not another book! I can’t take it! I just got all of these!
And yes, this is an SRK book I don’t own! Because it is super super super super expensive. I haven’t even flipped through it, because it’s always shrinkwrapped in stores. Very excited!
On Sat, Jun 10, 2017 at 11:22 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I am really not that interested in Raavan/Raavanan, but I have to watch it as part of my Mani Ratnam completion project. So i am glad to hear it is good!
On Sat, Jun 10, 2017 at 11:21 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I really liked her first book, so I am excited to read this one! But Rise of sivagami first.
On Sat, Jun 10, 2017 at 11:13 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yay! Njan is one of the most underrated Malayalam movies of all time. It’s also one of my favorites. It’s incredibly layered and warrants multiple viewings. The structure is more like a novel than a movie. It also features a great central turn by DQ.
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Oooo, then I am excited!
On Sat, Jun 10, 2017 at 9:17 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh you got Raavanan. That is one of the most visually pleasing, audibly wonderful epic saga. I loved it but most people hated it. It was a kind of poetic saga for me. I saw it in theatres and couldn’t forget aishwarya raised for one week and was hangover from the philosophy the movie presented for two years ! Good luck viewing that.
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I’ve been avoiding it, because I saw songs and stuff from the Hindi version and it just did not look good. I don’t know why I forgot there was a Tamil version out there with a better cast!
On Sun, Jun 11, 2017 at 3:43 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Abhishek bacchan made me puke with his ridiculous performance for a psychologically deep character of huge depth. He showed no variations at all. That’s when I decided I am never going to watch his movies again. Thankfully I watched the Tamil version dubbed into my mother tongue – Telugu.
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Prithviraj in Tamil, right? I just re-watched City of God for the 8th or 9th time, so I have complete faith in his ability to play a complicated shades of grey character.
On Sun, Jun 11, 2017 at 8:59 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Vikram plays Abhishek’s character and Prithviraj plays the character that Vikram played in the hindi version.
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I’m so confused! So Vikram is “Raavan” and Prithviraj is “Ram”? Have I seen Vikram in anything?
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Yes, Vikram is Raavan and Prithviraj is Ram. I don’t think you’ve seen Vikram in anything but he’s a really good actor. He was the one who acted in the original version of Salman’s Tere Naam.
Filmilibrarian was mentioning that she was watching Vikram’s latest, Iru Mugan. Here’s the trailer of that if you want to check it out:
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You are so good keeping track of all my watching for me! Don’t go to college! I will be lost without you! Or do go to college, you are going to do wonderfully considering how good you are at keeping track of everything I write, actual studying is going to be a breeze.
On Sun, Jun 11, 2017 at 11:32 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I think abhishek’s role was handled by Vikram’s exceptionally well. Vikram’s role in Hindi is taken over by prithviraj.
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Well, first off I am incredibly jealous and clearly you have the best sister ever:) But also, I’m really charmed by the very fact that Devasena’s sword is sold along with Bahubali’s? I feel like here in the US, most toy manufacturers would pair Bahubali’s sword with like, Bhalla’s mace or something and all Devasena would get in terms of merchandise is a makeup kit or something lame (Just look at the way female superhero merchandise is packaged and sold here compared to male superhero merchandise!) But the way these are packaged, they’re very gender-inclusive, so say, a little girl can pretend to be Devasena and be completely badass just like her brother is pretending to be Bahubali. It’s surprisingly progressive.
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Thanks! Actually when I was hunting I found Bahubali’s sword alone, or Bahubali and Devasena, but no solo Devasena stuff. But still much better than, e.g., the Star Wars merchandise options.
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I used my Bahubali coffee mug this morning.
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My fantasy is that this is all because Karan has one of each. I like to think of him in his office approving merchandise and suddenly thinking “Wait, there’s a sword for Yash, but nothing for Roohi! And she already has the stupider name, why add to the jealousy?”
On Thu, Jun 22, 2017 at 8:53 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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