Happy Monday! Time to see what everyone’s been up to over the weekend. Not as exciting as some Mondays, but there are a few mildly interesting stories out there.
Dabangg 3 With Sonakshi
This is kind of a confusing story, because it is only news if you for some reason thought Dabangg 3 might not have Sonakshi. So first there is all the background on that. Sonakshi was rumored to have fallen out with Salman, and Dabangg 3 was rumored to be a prequel film, showing Salman’s character before he became a cop.
The first thing is clearly a nothing story, Dabangg is such a great franchise Sonakshi would have to really hate Salman and vice versa for them to stop working together on it. It’s not like “Oh, I mildly dislike this person, I won’t sign a new movie with them that may or may not be a success”. It already is a success, they already have been working together, they would have to go against the forces of inertia and actively choose NOT to act together.
But the second rumor is puzzling, how can Sonakshi be present in a prequel since much of the plot of the original Dabangg was about how Salman’s life changed after meeting her? Bollywoodhungama tosses out that maybe we will also see her character before their meeting, but I think that is a TERRIBLE idea!!!! Another part of the original Dabangg was understanding that Sonakshi’s life was kind of a sad drudgery before Salman burst in. I don’t particularly want to watch a whole movie of her sad drudgery without the happy ending of seeing her meet Salman, and I also don’t want them to retroactively sugarcoat her life as it was established at the beginning of the first movie.
(I love this love song, but remove Salman from it and think about just watching Sonakshi make pots and do her marketing for a whole movie. Dull, right?)
Anyway, my guess is, if it is a prequel thing, they will stick Sonakshi in as a framing device. I would love to see something like Salman telling the story of his life before her to her as a distraction while she can’t sleep because she is pregnant, or to help their baby go to sleep while she is in bed next to him, or anything like that.
Or, maybe it isn’t a prequel at all, and that is just a rumor, and we will get a real sequel again and Sonakshi will have a full-fledged love interest role.
Diljit and Kriti Come Together For Comedy
I am very excited about this! Dinesh Vijan who directed Raabta is making another film, which he promises will be a small romantic comedy, set in Patiala, featuring Kriti and Diljit. He says it will let the Hindi audience see Diljit do comedy, and namedrops Bareilly ki Barfi in terms of what Kriti’s character will be like.
So many interesting industry things to think about in this announcement! First, two promising stars who both come from outside the Hindi industry. Kriti from Telugu and Diljit from Punjabi. Although very different careers, Diljit being a legitimate superstar and major force in Punjabi film, while Kriti barely started her career as a heroine in Telugu before jumping to Hindi.
But the bigger point is that Hindi film is no longer a good place to nurture talent. The stakes are so high that there is no time to learn. So our new promising stars are coming from other language industries and from TV, .
Also, Diljit is supposed to be playing a comic role! Wonderful! His comic/romantic Punjabi heroes are something really unique, soft and kind and loving and just plain funny. Not at all the typical strong silent hero.
And it is being promoted as “a small rom-com”. That is, the filmmakers know the audience wants a small rom-com now, that is the selling point, thank goodness I am not the only one noticing this trend!
Oh and finally, yay another movie by the Raabta director! I loved Raabta and thought it was really well-made, glad he is getting a second shot with lower expectations. Especially with Kriti, who was great in that film.
(This is such a happy love song! Glad he is making a whole movie that is just a simple love story now)
Shahrukh’s Next with Farah or Karan?
This reads to me as a bit of a “run it up the flagpole and see who salutes” story. Word is going out that Shahrukh is done with “different”, wants to do another solid hit love story in his comfort zone, possibly with Farah and Karan. I think Shahrukh’s team, or Karan’s team, or just the media in general, is more curious about what the reaction to this story would be than believing the actual story. Are the public going to get excited about another Shahrukh Khan traditional movie, or do they want something “different”? And that will change slightly how these two potential movies are written, and change a lot how they are promoted.
It’s also a very frustrating story as someone who has been following the whole sweep of Shahrukh’s career, and the film industry changes in general. Karan Johar is making different deeper movies than before, if the public wants a “Karan Johar Romance”, thinking of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, well, that may not exist any more. Or if it does, it may not be made by Karan Johar himself any more. And if they want a “Farah Khan Romance”, well, that never actually existed. Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om had romantic tracks, but they were straight up masala movies, action and comedy and everything was mixed in as well.
(If this is all you remember from Om Shanti Om, you are forgetting a lot of stuff)
A better/more accurate way to say it might be that Shahrukh has been stretching himself as an actor by working with a lot of new-to-him directors and in different kinds of roles. But now he is ready to work in a more familiar role with more familiar directors, to take those new abilities he has learned and try them out in an old setting.
And that he wants to work with his old directors in their “new” phase of life. Farah, I don’t care about as much, Happy New Year to me felt just the same as Main Hoon Na but not as good. I don’t think she has necessarily grown much as a director. Which is fine, some people make the same thing over and over again for their whole career. But the possibility of seeing Shahrukh and Karan come together 8 years after My Name is Khan, that I find FASCINATING!!!!
Both of them have grown so much as artists since then. Karan has made Student of the Year, his Bombay Talkies short, and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, all of them radically different from what he was doing before, either a lot lighter or a lot darker or a lot bitterer. And he has worked with different actors, brought up and trained 3 new talents, been challenged by established talents (Ranbir and Anushka and Aish), all very different from the easy comfortable “I just write and direct what I know Shahrukh can play” attitude he had in his first 4 films. Whatever they to do together, even if it is promoted as “just like those movies you already loved”, I am sure it will in fact be something completely new because they are different people than they were before.
But that’s all speculation and rumor and so on. Here’s the actual fact: at his birthday press conference, Shahrukh confirmed that he had not signed anything at all after Aanand L Rai’s film and so would be totally free in early 2018. Karan has made several comments recently about wanting to make another film, and wanting to make it with Shahrukh. Farah has been very friendly with him lately as well.
So Shahrukh could sign with Karan for his next starting filming in 2018. Or with Farah. Or with Farhan Akhtar who has also mentioned having an idea for Don 3. Or with Aditya Chopra or with any other director in the industry.
I guess that’s the biggest part of this story, Shahrukh is free after his current film. He is almost never free. From my full SRK filmography posts, it looks like when there is a gap it is because he is gathering strength and considering options for a career shift. I assume the same thing is happening here, he is holding off on signing and considering where he wants to go next, because where he currently is, is not working.
(It also might mean fun cameos like this! When he is in between big projects/phases, he does little cameo type stuff just to stay in the public mind, always a treat)
dontcallitbollywood 
I would love to see Karan work with Shahrukh again!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Super interesting about Shahrukh holding his calendar open and considering his options. While I am enjoying him doing different things, I would be really excited to see him work with Karan again — as you said, they BOTH have grown as artists in 8 years. Do you think Shahrukh is at the point of doing something like an Amitabh role in a Karan film — or is he not quite past the romantic storyline yet?
LikeLiked by 2 people
This news story is saying “romance!” but I don’t necessarily believe them. I think anything Shahrukh does with Karan would be a lead role, and since it is Karan, would be a relationship based film. But I could see him in something like, say, Baghban which isn’t strictly speaking a “romance” in the normal way of things.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 11:35 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLiked by 2 people
I am very confident that Karan could write something mature.
I like the topic of Baghban, but would like only one son, one daughter and the adoptive one and another outcome…they should be a positive learning process also for son and daughter.
The adaptation-way of the movie is really interesting.
Farah: I love her humour especially if it targets the filmindustry…a tight movie with a lot of insider jokes would be welcome.
Adi: What about the warrior- movie? (a continuation to Lucifer, his son’s imagination in Ra.One)
When ShahRukh made clear at the promotion of JabHarryMetSejal that he would not sign a movie in the near future, I thought what you wrote, Margaret…time for listening to himself and the cineworld around.
He knew that he had acted well in Fan,Dear Zindagi, Raees and JHMS, so I think he didn’t feel ‘at fault’. I liked that he was unwavering in his visions.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t think Karan would necessarily remake Baghban, but I would love to see him look for an idea like that, something where a mature couple is the center of the story in a believable way that we haven’t seen before. What about a look at a marriage falling apart and coming back together late in life? Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna if it focused on Priety and Shahrukh finding their way back to each other after infidelity? I am sure he has a story like that in him, different colors of love, not just the “college students meet and fall in love” story. He’s already proved that with his last few films, now I want to see him bring all of that to Shahrukh.
I remember the Adi historical/warrior movie rumors, but those seem to have died down. Especially after Befikre was such a disaster. But who knows, depending on how Thugs of Hindostan does, Yash Raj might want to try it again.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 12:44 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would love a mature romance with SRK and Aishwarya, Rani, or Vidya (that would be really cool!) directed by Karan. Also would definitely like to see Farah do something less wacky with him. I think needs to do a more human character based comedy like a Dostana or Piku. She has it in her and she should try something new. But, I guess that might be too much of a stretch for her, based on my observations of the kind of humor that people expect from her…ie Lip Sing Battle. Imagine her doing a hilarious behind the scenes of the film industry dark comedy…based on the game nights and dinner parties she throws…it would be amazing and SRK could be the center of it!
And Diljit and Kriti is the perfect pairing. I also loved Raabta (one of my favorites of the year) and this director is cool and he will definitely bring something to the small love story genre.
I really disliked the recasting of the heroine role in Singham, so I’m glad Dabangg will be consistent, but not sure we really need another film in that franchise.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like your Farah idea. I think she might be a “curse of high expectations” kind of director. Main Hoon Na was so fun partly because it was so ramshackle and silly and clearly made on a shoestring. Om Shanti Om, the plot required a kind of “epic” scale. But since then, she seems to have leaned “epic” when small and silly might have been better. I’d love to see her reigned in, told that she has to set her story in one place with only a few sets and only 2 big name actors.
I’m really excited about Diljit and Kriti too! She has a natural strength that should work so well with his laid back hero type thing.
I am trying to keep my expectations low for Dabangg 3. I love Dabangg 1, Dabangg 2 was fine but not nearly as special. I am hoping that Dabangg 3 is being looked at as a “closing the trilogy” kind of thing, so they will feel like they can experiment a little more instead of just retreading the same notes.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 11:47 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Also love the Farah idea. Something like Get Shorty or Death to Smoochy (only funny, unlike DTS).
LikeLike
I would love to see KJo and SRK doing a middle aged NRI (or not NRI) take on High Fidelity, with Aish, Vidya, Rani, and Tabu. SRK is a divorced NRI, in his first post-divorce relationship, with a slightly too young for him woman, and it’s failing. So he revisits his arranged-marriage exwife, his college girlfriend, and his high school crush, to hear their POVs on why their relationships didn’t work out. There are present day scenes as well as flashbacks to their relationships. He uses his learnings in his next relationship, with someone more age appropriate, and the movie ends there (on a high note, but with no engagement or marriage culmination onscreen).
Kriti would be great in a romcom where she is the protagonist/hero, not just the love interest. She has a very Julia-Roberts-style character in BkB, and I can easily envision her in Julia Robert’s role in any Julia Roberts movie (Mystic Pizza, Pretty Woman, the DV movie, Pelican Brief, Runaway Bride, my best friends wedding, notting hill). In Dilwale, I wanted more of Kriti and less of Varun, esp since Varun was getting repetitive in the film.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I like both these ideas!!!! Especially the first, I’d love to make it very meta and reflective, dealing with Shahrukh’s “reel” romances, showing how film romance in Indian cinema has changed along with him, and so on. The high school crush being Juhi (his first real co-star pairing, when he was young and inexperienced as an actor), the college girlfriend being Kajol (his first mature co-star, equal talents with equal roles in their films together), the arranged marriage being Aish (not quite right, but all the numbers and analysis said they should be a hit together), the current too young girlfriend being Anushka (too old for her, but no one else is available and they have great chemistry), and then ending with someone like Tabu who he has never worked with before, indicating a new era.
And then you are right, Kriti has what I think of as a very “strong” presence onscreen, I don’t want to see her in a soft kind of wifely role, I want to see her as the aggressive lead out there making things happen. Which is why I am so happy with her and Diljit, he has a very “soft” screen presence, they should make a great pair.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 3:50 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wow, you really ran with this idea by adding the meta layer, making it a love letter to Bollywood romance! And that’s how this can become a kjo srk fk joint production, because Farah is all about the meta. Farah can add in self referential humor as well as a song and dance for each couple referencing their era in their flashback (or cheeky mimicry in their current meeting).
I thought of Anushka too for the younger woman, since I envisioned her with a high power career (doctor, lawyer, consultant) whose focused too long on her career and now facing the biological clock. Men her age are intimidated by her alpha personality & accomplishments and don’t want kids right away. Older men who don’t mind having (more) kids are not threatened by her personality and accomplishments, plus with an eye on retirement & old age, feel a sense of security knowing that their partner is a high wage earner and will be for some time. Anushka seems perfect for this sort of woman.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Speaking of meta, I could also see Kareena playing that role. Which is essentially the kind of relationship she landed in in real life.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 4:53 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Good point about Kareena… That would be meta squared !
LikeLike
Another meta idea involving kjo srk and maybe Farah, but I don’t think Bollywood or Hollywood are ready for yet.
A movie roughly based on KJos love life starring SRK as KJo. We see hints of it in
KJOs own filmography. The married man who really doesn’t want to be gay & thinks he’d rather have an asexual heterosexual life (Randeep in Bombay talkies), the heterosexual male best friend who loves KJo but “not like that” (Anushka in ADHM, or SRK IRL), the heterosexual female best friend during his youth who KJo thinks he’s falling for in his heart, but his body and hormones keep telling him otherwise (Twinkle IRL, or Kajol->Rani in K2H2). Right now this would have to be an indie film with a serious tone. Someday i’d like to see Bollywd leapfrog Hollywd and make something like this as a dramedy or even a rom com.
LikeLike
Oh oh! I have two things for you! First, a paper I had published a few years back, on how Karan’s movies all have some version of queerness in them:
Click to access 06_Redlich.pdf
Second, my Karan-Johar-Needs-to-Get-Married-and-Have-Babies fanfics. All very light and happy!
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 5:05 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Great, both your enthusiasm for a joint venture (ShahRukh, Karan, Farah). And a (meta-)take on romance could very well include a light but honest look on a gay romance… oh, my imagination just gears up 😀
Thanks a lot for the paper about Karan!!!
LikeLike
Thank you Claudia, and thank you for the link to your paper and fanfic, Margaret.
My interpretation of the gay subtext to K2H2 is different than yours, but I’m happy to read yours, it not only makes mucho sense, it also educates me on other ways to look at gay subtext.
And I hadn’t thought of the gay subtext for KANK. I’m a stalwart fan of KANK, and I find it and ADHM (and the bombay talkies short) to be my favorite KJo movies. Yet reading the gay subtext into KANK gives that movie so much more heft and meaning.
LikeLike
I hope he won’t sign Farah movie.
First reason: I just don’t like her style.
And the second: I don’t think “Farah Khan” movie is something Shah Rukh need in this moment of his career.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent second point. Unless Farah shows a better ability to give him something different than she has before. He doesn’t need another light fluffy character.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 2:14 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Honestly I think the media is just seeing pics of him with Karan and Farah and drawing conclusions from that. Nobody has any inside information nor has SRK told them anything about what movies he’s thinking of.
LikeLike
Yep, sounds right to me. He hasn’t signed anything, everyone is looking for indications of what is coming, and meanwhile he is spending time with old friends.
I could believe that they are talking about possible films together, but also about anything else under the sun. And I also wouldn’t be surprised if he takes this time to be careful, and then announces another movie like Dear Zindagi, new director, interesting script, and he isn’t even the lead.
LikeLike
How reliable is imdb? There are two projects announced…
Well, I am sure they talk about work…also with Farhan and Ritesh. It’s not only about ideas but also to get a shedule and who works when on what and about the money. I like it when ShahRukh combines being with family and friends and his hunger/thirst for working on something.
LikeLike
Imdb generally seems less reliable for Indian film than American. Even with American, the “in production” listings are pretty shakey, but with Indian film at least 50% of the time they don’t pan out.
And I agree, I think Shahrukh loves his work and is so obsessed with it that he can’t be really happy in a social situation totally divorced from it, he likes hanging out with people where he can talk about work.
On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 6:07 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Totally agree with you, SRK does not need another Farah Khan movie. I don’t like her movies, other than SRK is in them, they seem to be rather weak on the story/plot. It seems she just wants him to take off his shirt. Not that I have a problem with that, I have a problem with how the story gets him to do it. Recently, I’ve thought she has shown back up in SRK’s world to try and get him to do another of her films bc they are friends.
I, for one, like that he is trying different roles and directors and hope he continues to do so. But, IF if he does another one with Karan Johar, I can’t wait to see it!
I really enjoyed Kriti Sanon in Raabta; so much better than in Dilwale. So the idea of Dilijit and she in a comedy sounds like it would be a fun movie to watch.
LikeLike
I saw some of the Ittefaq press conference and one thing I noticed is exactly the opposite of what the media is indicating about him running back to a safe place with Karan or Farah. Even at the press conference, he emphasized that it would have to be something “different, cooler, wilder” and away from the family stories he had done with Karan before. I did not even sense that there is any new movie on the anvil because SRK emphasized that even if they don’t work together they will still be friends.
Despite the supposed flops, I see a strange peacefulness within SRK lately. He may be trying to reflect on where he needs to go next but I don’t think the answer is going to be that he starts redoing the same stuff as before.
One thing I really don’t think will happen in spite of online fans clamoring for is pairings with older actresses like Juhi or Madhuri. Unfortunately, working with same people as in the 90s gives a very stale impression to the movie. What India really needs is older actresses who enter movies so they are still fresh new faces but are not the typical 20 years old girls. Though if it’s scripted well, I don’t think that’s a big problem either. SRK and Anushka were absolutely fine in JHMS.
The india media has a tendency to draw silly interpretations when a movie doesn’t work commercially IMO. It’s too easy to say “oh he’s too old for romance” or “romances are dead” or whatever else. It’s that specific story that doesn’t work and it’s not necessarily a generalized thing. JHMS was simply not a commercial product but SRK being in it and it being promoted well made it seem so and led to shock from the audience who expect something much more standard issue than what they go.
LikeLike
For the heroines, I think both Aamir and Shahrukh were trying that this year. Aamir went to television, and Shahrukh went to Pakistan, trying to find “new” co-stars who had approximate experience to themselves. I would love to see Shahrukh and Mahira work together again, but I don’t know if he would want to risk that political storm. However, there has got to be another TV actress, or art film actress, or someone else out there with experience who hasn’t really had a big film before. Or a regional actress! I’d love to see him opposite someone like Shobhana from the Malayalam industry.
LikeLike
There was a gorgeous fan-fiction that included Madhuri, Juhi and others. The relations with a mature ShahRukh role could well be an old romance, a work-relationship or the divorced mother of his kids without coming across as “stale”, I think. And there are still some actresses like Sushmita, Vidya, Sridevi, Tabu, were the pairing would have some freshness.
To be honest, I really would like a very well made ShahRukh-Kajol movie…
LikeLike
SRK and Karan doing a film having a lot of angst.
A central idea that pans out from what Julia Roberts said in Notting Hill – “my looks will go, they will discover I cannot act and eventually she would just become a person who vaguely resembles someone who was famous for a while”.
Using the idea of perhaps launching Shah Rukh by producers who completely accepted that their movie would flop. Wanted it to flop in order to get rid of some black money or swindle some distributors with whom they had an axe to grind. Instead the movie is a runaway hit and a new hero arrives in Tinseltown.
An arc of the hero becoming a superstar and eventually fading away into oblivion. Much like Dilip Kumar. The character retires from cinema after one too many injury, maybe a debilitating disease that snatches his memory from time to time.
But a film journalist looks him up when doing a History of Indian Cinema, his life unfolds with snippets of behind the scene truths. And towards the end how the ages star starts streaming a new movie – appreciates the craft involved, comments on the actors and the journalist has an epiphany of what the actor has been trying to say – Cinema is about dreams, hope, miracles. Biggest than a few men and women and resilient to the challenges of time. Fade out to Raj Kapoor’s ” “Jena Yahaan, Marna Yahaan….”
LikeLike
I love it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, starcrossedhaa, very good idea…and close to what cinema is about indeed. Would maybe please to ShahRukh to do such a movie…somehow with an appeal to global cinema!
Why not writing a more detailed draft/fan fiction ?
LikeLike
When did you start writing “Shahrukh” as one word? I thought you used “Shah Rukh” as your blog style.
LikeLike
But didn’t she wrote already Shahrukh when starting her blog???
LikeLike
Claudia’s right, always Shahrukh. It’s in the “House Style” sheet.
On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 10:44 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I prefer Shahrukh bc that is what his mother named him. I believe that he chose Shah Rukh to delineate between the man and the star. Just my opinion.
LikeLike
I think likewise. I would write Shahrukh, too but have opted for ShahRukh…it respects his wish to have the distinction in S R K but also his autograph where he nowadays writes his name as one yet with R. However, when I would write about ShahRukh like a journalist, I would write Shah Rukh or Shah Rukh Khan because I would like to distinguish between a more personal, subjective approach and a more professional one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Do you have a list of directors that you want to see Shahrukh work with? I mean people that he hasn’t worked with before.
LikeLike
Hmm. He does best with character driven stories, I think, so I wouldn’t want to see him with Rajkumar Hirani or Sooraj Barjatya, just because they tend towards more situational stuff. Although actually, maybe present day Sooraj Barjatya, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo was a lot more stripped down and focused on just a few characters, and I think Shahrukh might have been able to do something interesting with any of those roles. Murgadoss maybe, I’d like to see him in a darker kind of action space. Oh! I just thought of my top pick!!!! The woman who directed Bareilly Ki Barfi and Nil Battary Sonnata. She has really interesting character stuff.
On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 12:19 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Those are all pretty interesting options. I also think that Shoojit Sircar would be really interesting as well.
Do you think that Shahrukh would direct a film one day?
LikeLike
I know this goes against what a lot of Shahrukh fans say, but I don’t want him to direct a film. I think he is wonderful as a creative collaberator, but I don’t trust him to take the reigns all on his own. As it stands, for at least 15 years, every film he has been in, he has also helped with the second unit direction as needed, given in put to script rewrites, advice to other actors, and so on and so on. Much more than what an “actor” usually does. But there has always been someone else who has the final authority, who is fully focused on the script and the story and so on. And I think Shahrukh might work best that way, providing support and moments of brilliance to someone else’s vision.
On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 2:20 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
As long as he doesn’t trust himself enough to pull that task off he won’t do it…everything else okay…directing…no, I think like you…at least not yet.
LikeLike
A well-made Karan Johar film with SRKajol would bring back this magical pairing with a bang. A much more mature story line…My mind is buzzing already!
Perhaps SRK as a womanizer/star author/actor with a teenage daughter and Kajol is hired as his new brand manager/relationship coach or bridge to his daughter, and sparks fly?
A remake of the Catherine Zeta Jones/Aaron Eckhart Hollywood movie – No Reservations? with SRK in an apron, and Kajol as a competing chef? Stuff of dreams:-)
A fallen from grace movie star comes back with a bang and with a new manager (a homely but charming and fierce Vidya Balan) who cannot stand him or his movies?
An orphan (Kriti Sannon or ) falling in love with her benefactor (SRK) who is rich, and considerably older..I know a Malayalam film that I adore with Mamooty and Shobhana (Kaanamariyatha) with this story
A remake of 2 weeks notice(Hugh Grant/Sandra Bullock) with SRK/Kajol, or SRK/Anushka Sharma or SRK/Balan.
or a remake of the Lake house with SRK/Kajol. Starr crossed lovers across time!
Remake of pretty woman with SRK/Anushka Sharma?
So many options…:-)
As for Farah Khan, NO. Just, NO:-)
LikeLike
Like all these ideas! Have to just add on that two of them would be remakes of remakes. No Reservations was a remake of a German film, Mostly Martha. And the Malayalam film plot with the guardian and younger ward sounds like a variation on Daddy-Long-Legs.
The only reason I mention them is because if you enjoyed the remakes, you will probably really like the originals! I don’t know about Mostly Martha, but the novel Daddy-Long-Legs should be available for free, it’s old enough that the copyright has expired.
On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 3:45 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Oooooh, did not know that….Thanks! will check it out.
LikeLike
This is all fascinating~I’m going to need a lot more time to process all the interesting ideas… but one thing for sure: while I would never presume to give advice to SRK, as an interested observer I am not at all excited about another Farah Khan film. IMO she rode to fame on SRK’s money and talent & fans but has yet to do anything successful (other than choreography) on her own to prove her worth.
I think she needs to prove herself by creating a mega-hit without him before he works with her again. And, as someone said, he should keep her on a tight rein as far as budget goes.
I was thrilled to read some months back that SRK rejected a script presented to him by her and told her to go back and work on it before showing it to him again. This is the kind of maturity I think he has to show in the future if he wants to achieve his goals and leave the legacy he deserves. And I think she may have peaked creatively with OSO. She should have done at least one film since HNY. Is she just waiting around for SRK to re-start her career as a director?
One more thing~where was the gay subtext in KANK??? I went to design school and thought I had excellent gay-dar but I’m stumped!
LikeLike
My interpretation, which is unique to me copyrighted and all that :), is that the marriages and affair make more sense as two men discovering they are in love with each other. There is such a strong sexual component, it’s not just that they don’t love their spouses, it is that the thought of sex with them is disgusting. I don’t think it is necessarily intended to be read that way, but I think Karan was at least opening the door to the idea that sexual attraction is a part of a marriage, not just finding a man and a woman who are compatible on paper. And I think he may have been drawing on the feelings of trying to be something you’re not, trying to pretend everything is okay, and ignoring the person who feels “right” to you.
Similar to how his Ae Dil Hai Mushkil relationship makes more sense when thought of as two men, one of whom is straight and one who is gay. Which Karan said in interviews is where it came from, relationships he has had like that, where he was in love and the other person just wasn’t and never would be.
On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 5:05 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Asking SRK to control budgets is a pipe dream. He loves spending money and making things look big and spectacular. In the Farah/SRK dynamic, it’s Farah that’s more concerned with keeping budgets tight and reducing the scale of things. I think it was OSO that had a director’s commentary on the DVD. I think it was mentioned on it that SRK would keep telling Farah to make things more opulent and she would be the one refusing. Like that song that had all the star cameos, it was Farah that insisted a small set was fine since the stars were the focus while he wanted to go really big.
LikeLike
Huh. Makes me look at Happy New Year in a different way. Farah wrote the story, and it’s a small budget story mostly. Maybe it was after Shahrukh came in that they added the multiple massive dance numbers and action scenes and all.
LikeLike
It could be. SRK tends to think a commercial movie means making things look as grand as possible. He’s known to be an extremely generous producer even when it’s not necessary.
He also tends to be the one that over-promotes everything. I’m actually hoping that his experience with Ittefaq will teach him that it’s not necessary to always go on every single tv show, do thousands of interviews, hold dozens of events, etc.
LikeLike
That would fit with my impression of the Ittefaq production responsibility. Shahrukh backed the idea, Abhay made the film, Karan handled the promotions. Karan is great at promotions, always knows what should be big and what should be small.
LikeLike
I would love to see him in a role as a dedicated father again. He’s a little older now, and with mounting criticism about him acting with women half his age (which does seem a little harsher when targeted at Shah Rukh than the other Khans), it would be nice to see him transform a little the way Mr. Bacchan did much later in his career. Not that we don’t want to see him in love stories, but I would love him doing something “big brothery” with proper script and execution, something with Aditya Chopra’s vision and Karan’s ability to nail the emotion right. Karan tried a little with the father-role in KKHH, and Dilwale would be a much better movie if it focused a little more on the emotional connect between the brothers.
Just – I loved SRK play a dad before, and I would love to see him in a Defending Jacob Chris EVANS type role.
What he needs is an RDJ type revival, just my opinion. (I will always love him, but I feel like directors aren’t using him well enough. Though directors aren’t entirely to blame. FAN was phenomenal, and yet it didn’t do well.)
LikeLike
Yes, he needs a reinvention badly! And he seemed on the way with Dear Zindagi and Fan, interesting mature roles. But Zero undid all that good work. And Raees was a great performance, but he should have played older.
On Sun, Apr 19, 2020 at 10:43 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike