Happy Monday! And I have a sequel post! A sequel to my long think piece post on Saturday about what makes a film “feminist” beyond simplistic slogans and all that.
But first, regular questions! You can, as always, ask me anything from the personal (“what is your favorite item song?”) to the specific about the films (“what is an item song?”) to the general discussion (“are item songs empowering or de-empowering?”).
The only rule is, you have to let me answer first! If you have something to add to the discussion, feel free to jump in once I have given my answers.
Now, picking up on Saturday’s post, what are some films you watch when you want to feel like a strong perfect happy no need to change anything about yourself kind of woman? Not a “feminist” film with messages and so on, but just a movie that makes you feel like it is awesome to be a woman and be yourself? Here are some random ones for me. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani with Deepika’s I-know-what-I-need-for-a-happy-life-and-I-am-not-compromising kind of attitude. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom with Preity’s cool confidence and lack of guilt in whatever she has to do to get her chosen man, and Lara’s no guilt sex worker character. Tashan, in which Kareena’s desires lead the whole plot, and she is more ruthless and focused than any of the men. Ohm Shanti Oshaana, Dawaat-E-Ishq, Aiyyaa, I could go on and on but I don’t want to take all the ideas away from you!
Now, how about you? What movie makes you feel good about yourself when you watch it?
Oh, and just to get you in the mood, a video from a post that popped up when I was searching for Aiyyaa. Make sure to watch through to the middle at least, it gets better and better as it goes (if you want more strong women fanvids, here is the full post):
Okay, one more! (really, you should just click back to the whole post)
dontcallitbollywood 
Well, since I’ve never felt I had to change anything about myself as a woman, this is a hard question to answer. 🙂 And, not to be snarky, but I don’t get my sense of identity or self-worth from any film. So I almost never have a reaction of “Wow, that film made me feel good to be a woman!” So I will interpret your question to mean, what film do I feel gave a valid and complete portrayal of a female character? I can think of many from the 1960’s era, especially South Indian films, mainly because those were the days when most films had “family” stories, which automatically meant that not only the heroine, but other female roles, were strong and central to the plot. Moving to more recent times, I think one film that gave me that sense of satisfaction was Neerja, because I thought it did a great job of weaving her backstory (of the abusive marriage) and the way she came out of that, and how she used the lessons she learned during that time to handle the present crisis.
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Neerja was amazing!
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Liked Mouna Ragam, since it displyed a Woman character having fun, unlike other Tamil movies of that time that showed them crying.
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Yes! That is a great one. And she was such a strong fully realized character, she knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to ask for it. And wasn’t afraid to change her mind and ask for something else!
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My favorite for sure is Ohm Shanthi Oshaana. Being a Malayali Christian girl, the film resonated everything I face in a normal basis presented in a twisted fun way. Watching Ohm Shanthi Oshaana makes me appreciate my culture when/if I don’t myself. 🙂
Btw. Anushka Shetty’s new movie, Bhaagamathi’s first look released today. So, a hopeful future favorite movie for women?!
It looks so gooooood!!!
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Just looked up the poster, and it does look good!
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I would suggest English Vinglish. Okay it might not be totally on women empowerment but its nice. And also, i would suggest Queen. I once wrote a review on ‘Queen’on my blog. I loved the movie
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I thought of English Vinglish, too, but I thought they wimped out at the end, so it lost a few points with me. 🙂
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My very favorite is the Bengali movie Unishe April, by Rituparno Ghosh, which deals with the relationship between a mother and a daughter. There is a man in it, but he’s pretty much a plot point; it’s the women’s story that Ghosh is interested in. Realistic conflict that has a satisfying ending. And then I think Dum Laga Ke Haisha, because of how confident Bhumi’s character was about what she wanted and deserved from her life and her husband. And the usual suspects Queen and Kahaani.
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Yes, Queen and Kahaani. Although sometimes those make me feel like there is an impossible standard to uphold, like if I don’t go on a worldwide trip or solve a complex mystery, I shouldn’t bother. Which is why I lean more towards something like Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, that just says “do what you want with your life and it will all work out.
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If we’re talking Bengali movies, I want to recommend one I saw earlier this year — Bishorjon. I saw it at a film festival, so it might be hard to come by (or maybe not — look for it at your art movie supplier). It is the story of a woman leading an ordinary life (so Margaret can relax 🙂 ), but nevertheless it takes us through the many challenges she faces and how she overcomes them.
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Induna says it isn’t out yet on DVD but is “coming soon”. Which probably means at least there is a DVD release planned.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 8:23 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’m sure the dvd will come eventually, and maybe sooner than later. Sorry, I meant to say “an ordinary woman living an ordinary life” above.
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Thanks for that recommendation. I just watched the trailer and I’m going to need to see this movie. It has Abir Chatterjee, whom I’ve seen in a mediocre movie but he’s very good.
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Good question! So no heavy, serious feminist films…I would pick Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Phillauri, Piku, Dolly Ki Doli, both Khoobsurats, Aiyaa, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, Ek Main Aur Ek Tu, Jodhaa Akbar, and Bobby Jasoos. But probably the best just cool chick flick would be Aaja Nachle hands down!
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I love all your choices!!!! And Khoobsurat in particular, was one of the ones I had written out and then deleted because I didn’t want to keep all the options just for myself. Phillauri too. Not the bride character, but Anushka’s is wonderful,
And Aaja Nachle OBVIOUSLY!
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 8:31 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Never will I ever sing Hail Holy Queen again without thinking of this hymn (SRK)
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Copying and pasting all the recs that I haven’t seen! I’m still such a newbie when it comes to Indian movies. For movies that make me feel good about women and myself as a woman–Piku, Queen, Koyla, Dear Zindagi, Jab Harry Met Sejal. I would say Mardaani but the subject matter is too sad. Would love to see more female action roles. I’m sure there are more that I haven’t seen. For example, I love the character of Trinity in The Matrix. 🙂
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Unfortunately, there really aren’t that many female action roles. Naam Shabana has some great action sequences for Taapsee, but the rest of the movie bothers me a little. Oh, and Akira is wonderful!
And yes Koyla! Madhuri is so wonderful in that movie, determined about her view of the world and forcing everyone else to go along with it. Plus, I love the redemption of the mistress character.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 8:58 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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If you want female action roles, you should check our Vijaya Shanti’s Telugu movies from the 1980’s. She was almost like the female Chiranjeevi in terms of action films, and quite a few of them had political themes, too. I haven’t seen any of these films myself yet, though — funnily enough, the only film of hers that I’ve seen (fairly early in her career) was a straight Indo-American love story (which was different and unique enough).
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Here’s a Monday question: Have you learned Hindi to make it easier to watch the films? I’m seriously thinking of doing at least a basic tutorial, not aiming for fluency but just some common words to anchor the action onscreen, if that makes any sense.
I’m fascinated by the word kya which seems to have a lot of nuances depending on context.
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I am terrible with languages. Really horrible. So at this point, I “should” be a fluent Hindi speaker, but I’m not because my ear just doesn’t pick up languages. Instead I am barely good enough to follow a film without subtitles, and with subtitles, to catch the nuances that are missed.
It’s definitely helpful to have some basic background in the language, there’s a lot of things that just can’t be translated to English, for instance the formal versus informal “you” which we don’t even have in English. The trick is that a lot of the tutorials are focused on teaching you phrases like “where is the bathroom?” rather than explaining the structure of the language and things you would need to better follow the films. I just google searched “Hindi Language” and pulled up a variety of introductory articles, those might be more helpful to you than a tutorial. Learning things like the structure of a sentence and common words. This one, for instance: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/other/hindi/guide/facts.shtml
And of course there is the section in the back of my book where I give you common words from films and their meanings. Things like “khoobsurat” (beautiful) or “hamesha” (forever) or “izzat” (honor) you are unlikely to hear much in real life, or learn in an “intro to Hindi” class, but they come up constantly in films 🙂
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 9:02 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I have your book but forgot about that section, thanks for the reminder!
Being (sort of) bilingual in English/Spanish I’m familiar with the formal you and I’m guessing it might help me pick up some Hindi. I hope.
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Does Spanish also have gender endings? There is a lot of that in Hindi too, words that sound the same to me but have slightly different endings which tell you “daughter” or “son” and stuff like that.
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Yes it does. For example, hijo vs. hija (son and daughter)
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Well then hindi will be no problem at all for you!
I’ll give you a leg up, general “a” endings are for boys and “i” endings are for girls.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 7:12 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I think there are only about 200 words that are used regularly in Hindi films. 🙂
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I found this enthusiastic nice guy on YouTube, Anil Mahato, who tries to give you insights into the hindi language. This is his channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/DoodlesFan/videos
I scrolled down and down to start with his older videos. Here’s an example (It is fun and one can do a stop and go and take notes…you have the latinised scripting + the Devinagri + translation…it’s short, one subject, easy to note…):
In German, I have funny small books, ‘gibberish’ Hindi books where I learn Hindi word-by-word so I can better understand the structure of the hindi language (position of words is totally different from the one in German).
Two of the authors, Daniel Krasa and Rainer Krack, I found with an English version on amazon:
Making Out in Hindi (Making Out Phrase Book Series) 9. September 2011, Daniel Krasa und Rainer Krack
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I’ve watched a lot of his Hindi lesson videos, but I hadn’t seen this one. THanks!
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Thanks for the link!
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“What movie makes you feel good about yourself when you watch it?”
Strangely, since having gotten to know Hindi cinema – especially through my first five ShahRukh movies – I have become so confident about the woman I am that I feel about the women I see on screen, not about me.
But there is a movie that comes very, very close to the girl I was and the woman I became – it’s KuchKuchHotaHai…and I admit, watching Kajol is almost watching me (although my life was in no way the one Anjali lived 😉 )
As for (Hindi) movies I like(d) to watch because of the girl’s or woman’s role (and which aren’t with ShahRukh) there would be a lot…I just name some: Dor, Water, YJHD, Piku, AajaNachle, Fanaa, Dirty Picture…
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Yay, Aaja Nachle popping up again! That is such a great one.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 9:38 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh my gosh, Claudia. Now I wish that I could watch Kuch Kuch Hota Hai with you. Clearly I’m just missing something, because it seems like you’ve had a very interesting journey, and ended up in a cool place! 🙂
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🙂 … Basically, I think, everybody has somehow an interesting journey.
Watching a movie together: Wasn’t their something like that some months ago? At least via Internet there might be a possibility. However I would prefer a more private ambiance than twitter.
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That’s probably true. And certainly everyone’s journey is interesting to themselves and hopefully their near and dear ones.
There have been a few watchalongs on Twitter, but yes, one wouldn’t want to get too personal on Twitter.
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Youtube used to have this feature where you could set up a private youtube viewing channel, copy paste the youtube link of whatever you wanted to watch with your group, and even a chat function so you could discuss the movie as you watched it (I did this a few times with friends in different countries, and it worked surprisingly well.)
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So what is your favorite item song?
I agree with YJHD, then I would add Sonam’s Khoobsurat, Neerja, Piku, and Humpty Sharma.
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Ooo, favorite item song is tricky!!!! I think either Kajre Re or Ishq Kameena. Aish really is at her best when she is dancing.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 11:17 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Hmm, I think mine would be Sheila Ki Jawaani.
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I really love Sheila, but I think Aish slightly edges out Kat as a dancer.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 11:48 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yeah, that might be true.
What do you think is the worst item song? Where you felt like the song added nothing to the movie?
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The first one to come to mind is “Mary” from Brothers. It didn’t fit with the movie at all (like “Laila” which kind of felt like it matched the time and place where the rest of the film happened) and it wasn’t good enough on its own to justify its existence (like “Ishq Kameena”, which makes no sense either but at least is really fun).
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 3:34 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I haven’t seen Brothers. But I remember that it was a big deal back then that Kareena did an item song for the movie. The song was really catchy.
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One of the many reasons I gave up on Shootout at Lokhandwala is the first item song. It’s just so creepy. You expect a certain amount of male gaze, but this one makes you feel uneasy for the women in it.
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Technically, couldn’t you consider Deewangi Deewangi to be an item song?
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Hmm. I think I wouldn’t categorize it that way, just because our main character (Shahrukh) is also the main dancer. Unlike something like “Laila” where it is an outsider who comes in and dances for no real reason. Of course, by that standard “Manwa Laage” with Dips in Happy New Year wouldn’t work either.
I guess the (pointless and just fun to discuss) question is, do we define “item song” as “something in which woman/men dance sexily removed from the plot” or “something in which actors who do not otherwise appear in the film dance”. Or some combination of hte two.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 3:35 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Usually my standard definition of an item song is “something in which actors who do not otherwise appear in the film dance”. But everything depends on the context of the movie.
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I guess what we are really talking about is the virgin-vamp dichotomy and how it has shifted. It used to be the only time an actor not otherwise in the film would dance was when Helen or Cuckoo was brought in to do the sexy song. So “sexy song” and “guest dancer” were synonymous. But now, heroines are sometimes doing their own sexy songs, so we have to decide if “item song” means “guest performer” or “sexy song”.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 4:00 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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That’s completely true. I just read recently an article where Daisy Shah was complaining that when she does a song in a film it’s an item song, but when someone like Katrina does a song in a film it’s considered a guest appearance.
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I’d say combo. I’m thinking of Aamir’s (terrible) tap dance at the opening of Dhoom 3 that was completely disconnected from the plot (such that it was) and set in a sewer with lava flow or whatever the hell that was. A song that doesn’t have any real connection to whatever else is going on in the film.
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It’s not easy to define an Item song.
Dard-E-Disco cleary can considered as one as it displays sexuality by objectifying the main dancer although the dancer is also the protagonist of the (talked-about) film in the film.
Leila also is clearly an Item song, Sonny Leone is nowhere else in the movie, dances for the pleasure of the watching men (as a profession) but the song is important for the story as through Leila Raees gets knowledge about the whereabouts of those who want to murder him.
Kaal Dhamal is also clearly an Item song with no connection to the movie’s storyline although it doesn’t have one main dancer, but a couple (like Ishq Kameena).
I find it gorgeous that Indian cinema has a kind of dance where you don’t have a generalizing definition but still everybody knows it is an Item song 🙂
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One of those things like that old definition of pornography “I know it when I see it”
On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 7:24 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Ooh, favorites. Piku, Aiyyaa, Queen and definitely Ohm Shanti Oshana. English Vinglish hit a little too close to home sometimes for me, but is another good one.
That Super Bass fan vid for Aiyyaa!!! OMG how I love that!!!
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The B.I.T.C.H one isn’t available anymore 😦
Itemsongs:
Ish Kamina, Leila, Kaal, the one in Asoka, Dard-E-Disco, Deepika’s one in HNY… (but there are more where ShahRukh isn’t involved)…I simply like Item Songs (it’s visually so much better than pole dances 😉 )
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Exactly! The item songs are catchy and interesting to watch and tend to use the woman’s whole body in a natural way. They are inventive and fun and a lot more than just “sexy”.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 12:15 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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“Movie that makes you feel like it is awesome to be a woman and be yourself?”
Definetly Aiyyaa – Rani’s character is so rare to see in indian movies – crazy, but profesional in work, good girl, but not a saint, real, sensual women who is not sorry for her desires, a free soul. Usually heroines are or too chaste or too “liberated” but she is perfect.
But I don’t know how you girls can find Koyla as “good to be a woman” movie. For me it was more “being a woman sucks” film. Yes, Madhuri was great, and strong and beautiful, but what she gained for being so? Forcibly married, beaten, sold to brothel. There was no respect for women in this movie.
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This relates to what we were saying about movies being so personal and subjective. In Koyla, everyone who abuses women–from the aunt and uncle who basically sell Madhuri, to the big bad guy and his brother–are clearly bad–the audience is rooting against them from the beginning. I enjoy that Madhuri never ever stops fighting–she almost escapes by herself before Shah Rukh even starts to get his act together if I recall. Her dance at the temple is so powerful! And she and Shah Rukh are equal partners throughout. As Margaret said, I also like how the mistress protects Madhuri as much as she can in the brothel. The one subplot that grosses me out is with Johhny Lever and his dad both pursuing their housekeeper, and her seemingly being fine with that. Yuk! 🙂
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Oh, and just to add that I can see how Koyla isn’t for everyone. My husband couldn’t stand to watch it because he was so afraid for Madhuri. I called him in when the bad guys were getting their come-uppance at the end and he cheered along with me.
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Yes, you’re right. I personaly love Koyla but I think I wouldn’t ask my husband to watch it with me. I’m sure he would hate all the things I love the most in this film: unbelievable story, especially the part when SRK starts talking again, the villans, songs, unrealistic fights (being honest I love everything, except violence)
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Even the mullets? That’s what I haven’t been able to get anyone past, the mullet hair styles in that film.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 3:27 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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LOL I have love-hate relationship with those mullets 😉 They are terrible, but at the same time it wouldn’t be the same without them.
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To be honest, I grew up in the time those “mullets” were a rave…and again to be honest, I have a knack for those times where gentlemen and young heroes had a similar haircut. In short: It never bothered me (I even like ShahRukh with this haircut…it’s very Louis XIV-time-like 😀 )
Yep, Madhuri again a strong woman-role, this time with ShahRukh’s supporting her not trying to destroy her.
I watched Aiyyaa…loved Rani…and the way the movie was done 🙂
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So glad you saw Aiyyaa! The family is a bit hard to take, but the rest of the film is so wonderful.
On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 7:35 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I liked all the ones named by filmilibrarian: Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Phillauri, Piku, Dolly Ki Doli, both Khoobsurats, Aiyaa, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, Ek Main Aur Ek Tu, Jodhaa Akbar, and Bobby Jasoos. I wonder if Finding Fanny as Deepika takes charge of her life, if Highway as Alia finds a life and lives it or if NH10 as Anushka takes charge of the situation, would fit in this category.
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Absolutely Finding Fanny, Highway, and NH10 could all be films that make you feel good. Or not, depending on which parts you focus on, the triumph at the end or the suffering before. I guess that’s where it gets into personal experience and taste adn preferences part of it!
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 7:07 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I tend to focus on the positive rather than the negative.
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The original Tamil movie Magalir Mattum with 3 cracking women leads. Highlighted a lot of women related issues using comedy as the medium. Fun fun watch.
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I loved the American take on these issues in “9 to 5” and would like to watch Magalir Mattum (but cannot find it with subtitles).
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The movies that make me feel most awesome about being a woman fall in two categories
– women who buck convention and have a fun or even joyous time doing it. Not a fun time bucking convention, but a fun time doing the thing that happens to buck convention, instead of a self aware conflicted time bucking convention.
Parineeti Chopra in Shuddh Desi Romance
Vidya Balan in Dirty Picture
Maybe Anushka in Band Baajaa Baaraat
My guess is Aiyaa or Dolly ki Dol might work too.
-women buddy movies, can be 2 woman but usually 4-6 women who are good friends and sharing their lives together, both the fun and the turmoil. Watching women bond with other women makes me happy to be a woman.
Angry Indian Goddesses is the only example I can think of. Six interconnected women sharing a beach house in Goa for a wedding.
Otherwise the female bonding movie is almost non-existent in Hindi film, outside of the family structure.
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So excited about Veere Di Wedding on the female friends category!!!! I would also put in Dear Zindagi, the friendships weren’t the main part of the plot, since it was focused on just one member of the group, but it was so strikingly realistic in how they were presented.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 11:51 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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General questions
What is your current relationship with academia? Are you working on a PhD? If so, details? If not, why not, and any plans to do so?
Name your top 1-3 actors, actresses, performances, and movies in Hindi, non Hindi Indian, and Western cinema in the 2010s.
I would like to read the text to your original post about priyanka Chopra, for my own edification. Is there any way to see that?
Srk & Aamir – what is their relationship, and what is their tension? Why did srk extol aamir fans to “raise your standards” on KWK?
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SRK didn’t ask Aamir’s fans to “raise their standards” on KWK — he said they should find “someone they can look up to.” It was a dig at Aamir’s short height. This was during the “Rapid Fire round”, where the guest is expected to make witty and hopefully snarky replies, and the question was, “One advice to Aamir’s fans?” So basically I wouldn’t read too much into it, though Aamir seems to have done. 🙂
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PhD: No. My masters program I did part time and almost all evening classes, so I didn’t have to go into debt or shake up my life in order to finish. A PhD, that would be a full time commitment for years and years and years. And if i wanted a fully-funded program (which is the only sensible thing), I would probably have to move across the country. And there wouldn’t be a career at the end of it, there aren’t that many slots for professors of media studies, even if I got a job, it would mean moving cross country again. I know a lot of people who went through this in a lot of different fields, and at the end of it, they just don’t seem happy. I love my “real” job and my apartment and my friends and my church and all of that, I don’t want to give that up. Plus, I feel like I can affect more change in the world writing here than I ever could in academia.
top 3 Actors, actresses, performances Hindi, non-Hindi, modern Western: Hindi (limiting it to present day, not all time); Shahrukh Khan (duh), Akshaye Khanna (still high off of Ittefaq), Varun Dhawan (I really think he has something special); actresses; Anushka, Dips, Jacqueline Fernandez (she is better than she gets credit for), current favorite performance would be SRK in Dear Zindagi, Akshaye in Hulchul, Varun in Humpty Sharma, Dips in Chennai Express, Anushka in JHMS, and Jacqueline in Dishoom. Non-Hindi, Nivin Pauly!!!! Love him so much. Madhavan, because he’s Madhavan. And Prabhas, because he’s Prabhas. Anushka Shetty, Parvathy, and Simran for actresses. Performances non-Hindi, Nivin in Jacobinte Swariragam (more lowkey than in his other films, but subtly excellent), Madhavan in Vikram-Vedha, Prabhas in Bujjigaddu. Anushka in Yennai Arindhaal, Parvathy in City of God, and Simran in Kannathil Muthamittal. And for western, I have to pass, I haven’t seen a new non-Indian movie in theaters in years. I can answer for olden times movies!!!! Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Cary Grant with honorable mention for Jim Hutton. And Irene Dunne, Rosalind Russell, and Barbara Stanwyck, with honorable mention for Paula Prentiss.
No way to see the original Priyanka post that I know of, I wrote it here and deleted it here and never stored it anywhere else. Poof, gone!
Moimeme I think already clarified the Aamir comment. I think of Shahrukh and Aamir as those co-workers at a small office who never really liked each other, but don’t hate each other, and know that they have to find a way to work together to keep the business going. Salman and Aamir have known each other off and on since childhood, not close childhood friends but seen each other at parties and stuff. When they grew up and both became actors and then became top actors, it was natural and easy for that friendship to deepen. When Shahrukh entered as an outsider and an adult, he and Salman hit it off really well almost immediately, I think the Salman as an extrovert and Shahrukh as an introvert were a good combination, he sort of drew him out. Salman’s family is also so incredibly warm and welcoming, and Shahrukh and Gauri were lonely strangers who they took in and welcomed in their early years in the city, there was and is a special bond there. But Aamir and Shahrukh are both introverts, and both very private, so there was no easy way to close that gap. My understanding is that they work together, all 3 Khans have made comments like “we decided”. As in, they do actually get together and coordinate things constantly, aware of their joint responsibilities. Recently Aamir was unable to attend a charitable event he was supposed to host because of illness, he called up Shahrukh to take his place last minute. I don’t think they have, or will ever have, the actual loving bond they both share with Salman. But there is a familiarity, a respect there.
On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 12:06 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh oh Maddy! I propose a Madhavan movie for your next “Watch a movie with me on twitter” 🙂 How about Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein or better, the original version – Minnale?
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But I don’t want to be talking/tweeting over Maddy. He deserves our full attention.
On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 3:43 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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True, but on the other hand his character is quite annoying and deserves a little neglect 😉
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Not sure where to post this, but, in case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the trailer for Tiger Zinda Hai:
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I hadn’t! Thank you!
On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 7:21 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Another trailer release “while you were sleeping.” 🙂
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I was totally surprised a second into it when I realized it was an action remake of the Malayalam Take Off film (which is based on a true story). Take Off is one of my favorite films of the year. Hadn’t heard that link at all in the press leading up.
I know this will be more of a masala film once we start seeing the songs and see more of the serious drama stuff (looks like they have a kid now?). But it also looks very much like a Hollywood action film (as did parts of the first one) and Katrina could use this as a great audition reel for Hollywood roles.
Random sidenote: Salman always seems like he’s playing the Bruce Willis character in Die Hard in these kind of action roles and it’s not a bad thing.
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A lot of people are calling TZH a “remake” of Take Off, but I think that is a mistake. They are both based on one true event, but have completely different approaches to it. In Takeoff, the political situation, and even the kidnapping, are not the central issues. It was told entirely as a personal story of one of the nurses. In TZH (and I didn’t realize it was based on this incident till I started watching the trailer, either; i.e., it was not mentioned in any of the previous publicity articles), the real life incident is used as an “inspiration” to tell a fictional story about a super agent spy. Note that the name of the terrorist outfit has been changed to a fictional one, as well as all their trappings, and even their motivations and intentions (as much as we could glean from the trailer). Given that, I think they should have used a fictional country, too. So yes, it is a basic action film, inspired by a recent event, but not claiming to be in any way a depiction of that real life event. The original incident has only been used to provide a background to the “real” story of the film. In that way, I suppose you can say that the two films are similar; they both use the kidnapping merely as background for the story they actually want to tell.
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It’s reminding me a lot of Dangal and Sultan. One isn’t imitating the other, there was a big news story a couple of years ago, it’s reasonable that two different scriptwriters saw the same headlines and were inspired with their own separate takes on the same story.
On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 8:15 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Is it just me or do Rohit Shetty movies seem too bright and colorful? It looks fake especially in Dilwale and Golmaal Again. But then Singham and Chennai Express don’t seem like this. I like colorful movies but these two movies are too bright and colorful. For example the green fields in this song:
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Oh yeah, he goes wild for the CGI color correction. I noticed it even in Chennai Express. And a little bit in Singham. But I think there he made an artistic decision to save it for the love songs, and keep the real stuff “real”. Whereas in his more cartoony films, he makes it all like that.
Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if it hides some of the errors from a quick shoot. Maybe he can’t get the lighting right or something and doesn’t bother, just shoots on his digital camera and plans to fix it later with color correction.
On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 12:02 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Hmm, I wonder what he’ll do with the Temper remake then. I’m assuming he’ll go the Singham route since this is also a cop drama.
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Have you ever seen Ek Villain? I wanted to know how you felt about it.
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Me, Margaret? Yes, I have, as kind of background watching. Mostly because I’d actually seen the film it was a remake of, the only Korean torture-horror movie I have seen.
It was okay, nothing special. Siddharth had a good physicality for the role (tall and kind of tree-like, which fit with him as an implacable force). I find Shraddha wasn’t as bad as she could have been. Ritiesh was brilliant.
The most interesting part was what they did with the gender stuff. Ritiesh was brilliant in his role, and I appreciated the way they showed his misogyny, so that the audience could relate to his distorted vision, but also be aware that it was distorted, that these women did not “deserve” what happened to them. And that he wasn’t “driven” to kill by anything anyone had done to him.
I thought the ending was totally ridiculous and I can’t believe they went there. Just, how? What? Huh?
On Thu, Nov 9, 2017 at 1:06 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Did you know that Mohit originally wanted Arjun for the role but then Karan convinced Ekta Kapoor to take Sidharth instead.
Riteish was brilliant! I remember being so creeped out by his character even after I watched the movie.
I watched Ek Villain back in 2014 when I got into hindi films so I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Was it that he adopted Riteish’s kid or something?
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Arjun would have been better I think. He always has a kind of terrifying unpredictable brooding feel.
And YES!!! After this whole brutal revenge thing from Siddharth, and this kid being raised by a serial killer and witnessing terrible events, and the death of his parents which was caused by Siddharth, Siddharth adopts him! Maybe I would have been okay if it was done in a sort of bittersweet way, “both of us will never be really ‘normal’ or ‘happy’, but we can find a peace together”, that would have worked. But instead it was this total sunshiney perfect happy happy thing, that was just crazy!
On Thu, Nov 9, 2017 at 1:21 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Ok when you put it that way then yes that is crazy! Especially since it seems like Sidharth and the kid go on the finish the list of things that Shraddha wanted to do before she died.
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Did you see this? It would have been great to see Aamir in Deewangi Deewangi.
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I also love Aamir’s social skills. Just tell a flat out obvious lie and tell the truth years later when it doesn’t matter any more. Which seems to be in general how the film social practices work. You say “I don’t have the dates” “there is a schedule conflict” and everyone knows it means “I don’t want to do this movie”. And then years later after the movie has been made and it doesn’t matter, you can say “yeah, I just didn’t want to do that.”
On Thu, Nov 9, 2017 at 1:30 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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But I’m curious as to why Aamir didn’t want to do the cameo. Were he and Shahrukh ever fueding?
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I don’t think they were ever close enough to feud. Salman and Shahrukh, that was a real heart bond, and when it fell apart, that was real hurt on both sides. But Aamir and Shahrukh, my impression is they have always been friendly but not friends. Him and Farah too, he hasn’t worked with her that much, although they are certainly friendly.
Mostly I think it just isn’t Aamir’s kind of thing is all. From the director’s commentary and stories I have heard, Farah sold it as like a party. Which was smart, lots of people came and just kind of hung out because they had so much fun. It went on for days, there were drinks and snacks and Farah would set you up with clothes or you could just wear what you came in. And Shahrukh and Farah “hosted” and made sure everyone felt welcome and happy. But Aamir doesn’t really go to parties, ever, I don’t think he likes them much. I am sure if it had been sold to him as “we really need you here, you have a responsibility to show up”, he would have come. But it wasn’t really that, it was sold as “do us this favor please”, so he could just avoid it if he didn’t want to do it.
Semi-related, I think that is why Aamir hosts so few parties but they are always a Big Big deal. His once a year Diwali thing is brilliant for an introvert. He can invite everyone, pay back all his social obligations at once, and do it so big that no one blames him for only doing it once a year.
On Thu, Nov 9, 2017 at 1:41 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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