Happy Wednesday! And Happy Valentine’s Day! I am going to celebrate by buying a special fancy flavored coffee instead of making my own at home and being cheap.
I’ll start!
Watching: Minsara Kanavu, which took me two nights to finish because the Dog kept interrupting me (more on that in a minute). And tonight at least one friend is coming over for my traditional “V-Day with SRK” party, so we will probably be fast-forwarding through a movie we have seen before. Chalte Chalte maybe?
Reading: Still going through Rajinikanth’s book. For online articles, I added a link to the Padman review, but in cased you missed it, here is an article that has been making the rounds which brings up some interesting points about the basic premise of the film, that women in India need lessons on menstrual health:
Thinking: This dog! The last 3 nights she’s had a new thing, if I look away from her (for instance, to watch Minsara Kanavu) for more than ten minutes, she starts jumping and whining and finally barking. It’s not that she wants a walk or needs more water or anything, it isn’t even that I haven’t been paying attention to her (I’m petting her and she is right next to me), it’s that I haven’t been 100% absolutely focused on her at all times. If she can see me, she needs me to be loving her to the exclusion of all other interests. I’ve had to hide in my bedroom sometimes just because if she can’t see me, she’s fine. She doesn’t have separation anxiety, she doesn’t really “need” attention, but she feels she deserves it, I am there to love her and woe be tide me if I try to do anything else. So yes, she needs a different owner, someone who wants a little dog that obsesses over them when they are in the room and forgets them when they aren’t.
Now, questions!!!! A simple one for Valentine’s Day:
Favorite romantic movie?
For me, DDLJ (duh), but my runner up might be a tie between Jab We Met and Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania.
Favorite couple in a movie?
Again, Shahrukh and Kajol in DDLJ (duh), but runner up might be Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sonam in Raabta. I know it’s crazy, but that’s where I’m at right now! Oh, and of course Bahubali and Devasena.
Favorite love song?
Well, I just watched Minsara Kanavu, so obviously “Vinnelave Vinnelave”. But also “Pyaar Hua Ikrar Hua”, justifiably famous. And “Ajnabi Shahar Hai” is just one of my favorite songs in general. And “Bolne Halke Halke” from Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. And “Hoshwalon Ko Khabar” from Sarfarosh. So, I guess a 5 way tie!
Now, how about you? What have you been doing this week, and what are your favorite love movies, couples, and songs?
dontcallitbollywood 
Favorite romantic movie(s) (Hindi): always hard to choose, but right now probably a toss up Mujhse Dosti Karoge, Khoobsurat, Jab We Met, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Chori Chori (with Rani and Ajay), Daawaat-e-Ishq, Hasse Toh Phasee,Band Baaja Baarat, and numerous others. I would probably choose BBB or MBKD as my top favorites. Notice no sad stories though Sanam Teri Kasam would top that list.
Favorite non-Hindi romantic movie(s): Last of the Mohicans, Firelight, Matchmaker (with Janeane Garofalo and David O’Hara), and a million others.
Favorite couple in a romantic movie (Hindi): I’m with you on Raabta…they had really cool chemistry, but I would go with any Aish/Hrithik pairing, Imran and Katrina in MBKD, or any Anushka and Ranveer pairing.
I don’t think I have a favorite Hindi love song but it might be the sad song, Alvida, in D-Day.
Watching this week: saw I, Tonya and still don’t think that Tonya Harding should be redeemed.
Reading: St Marks Is Dead by Ada Calhoun about the St Marks Place neighborhood in NYC where my favorite dive bar of all time is…and An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole, a historical romance written by an African-American heroine with an African American heroine and a Scottish American spying during the Civil War.
And now headed into my Olympics obsession, too. I’ve been a figure skating fan since the Calgary Olympics and Gordeeva and Grinkov wowed me. I’m really rooting for my favorite French pairs skaters, Cipres and James, and the Chinese pairs skaters Sui and Han. I’m usually less interested in the singles events…but obviously rooting for the Americans there, especially Marai Nagasu. And then there’s the ice-dancing…I also fall into the Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir shipping obsession whenever I watch them on the ice. Best ice-dancers of all time. And I also really like the Americans Hubbell and Donohue (their free dance is pretty hot, too). The Shibs (the sibling ice dancers) are great but the sibling thing is always a little weird for me.
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You like so many romantic movies!!!! BBB I can never forgive for having them have sex. Well, for having them have sex and then Ranveer being awful about it. A kiss would have been fine, something he could have treated lightly and done without thinking, but going all the way and then him not realizing what a big deal it was? UNACCEPTABLE. The rest of the movie is perfect though.
Last of the Mohicans was my last pre-Indian films obsession. I saw it in a film appreciation evening class I was taking at the community college while I was in high school. And the next week we were supposed to discuss it, and all the boys were like ready to discuss, and all the women (ranging from me at 16 to a nice middle aged lady with kids) were not ready to have an intellectual reaction yet. And we also all admitted that we watched it in class, and then went home and immediately rented it and watched it 5 more times. And it’s not Daniel Day Lewis! I don’t care about Daniel Day Lewis! It’s the character. Oh, and then I read the actual book in an English class in college, and the characters are all reshuffled and the plot is different, but it’s also really fun.
Have Anushka and Ranveer been in anything besides Ladies and BBB? Am I forgetting something obvious?
Oh man, I love Alvida! It is just so beautiful, I think it is my favorite “Alvida” song, it conveys the perfect feeling of saying goodbye to something/someone. Even if it relates to my nemisis Shruti Haasan.
There were a couple of Olympics we watched as a family when I was a kid, which was such fun, but somehow now the Olympics are locked in my head as a “family” activity, and I just feel weird watching anything on my own without my parents/sister/someone. Movies, on the other hand, totally a solitary experience!
On Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 8:51 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I love BBB for the very reason that they had sex and it was so perfectly placed before the interval. Despite all of the cultural taboos around premarital sex (basically everywhere in the world), we all know that it still happens and I love that this film acknowledges that and moves beyond it. Yeah, Ranveer’s character is an idiot but that’s the point.
They were in Dil Dhadakne Do, too! Obviously, Ladies vs. RB, was the weakest of their three films together but even that as an overall film was fun with great songs like Thug Le. They will always be one of my favorite pairings along with Hrithik/Aishwarya, Abhishek/Rani, SRK/Kajol, and Kunal/Konkona. That last one was my first jodi obsession and they were in two films together. Maybe someday they’ll star opposite each other again…weirdest combination but it works!
Last of the Mohicans was my gateway drug for a lifetime love of Daniel Day-Lewis. When he did all those cool Jim Sheridan Irish films I was locked in. He is the ultimate thinking woman’s sex symbol and damn if I didn’t find his Lincoln just a tad sexy, too. I so wanted to be Madeline Stowe in Last of the Mohicans…her character was brilliant, she has great “period drama” beauty, and that kiss! She went on to do another gem of a romantic thriller with Aidan Quinn that I also wanted to live in (except the whole stalked by a killer thing).
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I’m still obsessing over BBB! Which shows what a good film it was, that I am so committed to figuring out why it doesn’t work for me and what would have made it work. I think I would be happier if it had gone one of two ways. Either replace the sex with a kiss so it could legitimately be huge and life changing for “good girl” Anushka, but Ranveer could legitimately still not know what was happening with his heart and be stupid and awful about it. Or, have Ranveer be stupid in a different way, and awkwardly propose but clearly not be into it. So he is aware of what a Big Thing he did and how Big it would be for Anushka, at least at first, but still not know how he feels and still insult her and ruin things by making it so obvious that he really doesn’t want to marry her and isn’t in love with her the way she is in love with him. It’s not so much that sex wouldn’t happen, it’s more an acknowledgement that for Anushka’s character in particular, this would be a major issue and Ranveer’s character just didn’t seem to care about her the way he should have. Once they were in the fight and everything that came after, I am down for, it’s just that the initial misunderstanding was so clearly on Ranveer in a way that seemed unfair to Anushka’s character, she had to be perfect and wise while he was an idiot. I have the same issue with Salaam-Nameste, Preity is so clearly clearly clearly in the right and Saif’s behavior is just so unacceptable, I can’t get past it. If they had changed it just a little bit, I would have been fine, but instead they made him be just absolutely unforgiveable for about 20 minutes.
I also love Kunal and Konkona! Something about his otherworldly beauty and her very human normal look is just wonderful together. Laaga Chunari Main Daag had a lot of issues, but those two central couples were magic.
On Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 10:24 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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The entire lead up to Anushka and Ranveer having sex is one of my all time sexiest movie sequences. (I think it’s the piano BGM) It always makes me swoon. So other issues aside, I’m glad those two had sex. 😉
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I also love the BBB sex and the romantic piano music. I’m gonna say I’m pro-sex. For me, it cements this movie as a grownup love story, albeit a fun one with young people. People are not always on the same page when they have sex, and the first time they have it it’s not always a perfect melding of souls and bodies. Particularly if it’s a drunken hookup. And that’s OK and you can come back from that! Anushka was, as ever, more mature about it and dealt with her feelings without making it his problem, and Ranveer falls in love with her for that, and steps up and matures a bit himself. That’s my take, anyway! The only problem I have with it is Ranveer’s look–he doesn’t look like a guy who’s just a bit buff from lifting heavy stuff, he looks like he works out with a personal trainer five times a week and then has his chest professionally waxed.
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Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Mahashivratri Margaret!!
I suppose you’ve already seen the email I sent you so that’s what I was doing for the first half (I was supposed to have a working day but I gave myself a day off today!). Already did the fast yesterday so no fast today. I just lounged around, sunbathed a bit, waiting for beau to get home for lunch, exchanged presents, he went to the gym, I took a long shower and a nap, now we’re out getting wine and something to eat.
Favourite romantic songs- Maula Mere Maula from Anwar, Zara Zara from RHTDM, Mellaga from Varsham, Dil Kashi (I forgot the film it was from but Sonu Nigam has sung it), Nahin Samne from Taal, Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo (any good rendition works but I like Farida Khannum’s Coke Studio one the best), Bahon mein chalo aao, Chura Liya hai tumne, Phir Le Aaya Dil from Barfi, I’m your Man by Enrique Iglesias, Inside Out by Bryan Adams, No-one Else Comes Close by BSB and Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage Garden.
Favorite film couple and favorite romantic film – Zaroon and Kashaf – Zindagi Gulzar Hai. That’s the first one I could think of!
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All your love songs are either ones that I have a deep connection with, or have never heard of! Nothing in between. Nahin Samne I listened while falling asleep every night for a year in college. Bahon Main Chalo Aaye was the first classic song I liked, it was on this super long Asha-Lata songs DVD I got, I watched it over and over for months before finally getting around to seeing the whole movie. Chura Liya Hai Tumne I liked fine, but then I saw Ashaji sing it live and the crowd went wild, and now I love it. And then I have literally never heard of/thought about any of the others.
And really? Zaroon and Kashaf? I like them, but I wouldn’t say they were my favorites, or even that romantic. He’s so horrible! And she’s so difficult! It’s a miracle they ever manage to compromise enough to let themselves care for each other. Which, I guess, is kind of a romantic thing.
On Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 8:55 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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They Darcy and Elizabeth!!!! And she’s not defensive. She’s subversive. That’s why it’s so romantic!! He manages to get her to fall in love with him without changing who she is and without changing who he is either!!!!
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I love that you got so excited about this you forgot to put in verbs in the first sentence.
On Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 9:48 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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That’s just my phone keyboard thinking it knows how to spell better than me. That, or maybe the wine is hitting me 😂
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Happy Valentine’s Day Margret!Hubby did the sweetest thing by coming along for Bhaagamathie & sitting through 3 hours of Telugu without subtitles. In the end he liked the movie better than me.
Watching ‘Altered Carbon’. Murder mystery masquerading as sci-fi with too much mumbo-jumbo & little depth. Don’t think I will finish the season.
Reading-following Asmita & your conversation, started on Devdutt Patnaik’s Myth-Mithiya.
Favourite movie-Alaipayuthey. Mani Ratnam movies are a romantic’s paradise. Even in movies like Kannathil Muthamittal, Guru,whatever little romance is there is just too lovely. Alaipayuthey takes me back to school days-all of us 16 year olds-went en masse to see it & came back in-love with Madhavan.
Favourite couples-too many. Scarlett & Rhett Butler is so fascinating. They love each other so much, yet bring out the worst in each other. Mohanlal with Revathi is my all time favourite in movies. They have done such interesting movies together. Kamal & Sridevi is another one. Currently shipping Prabhas & Anushka. Also DQ & Nithya in OK Kanmani.
Favourite songs in Hindi-Baahon Ke Darmiyaan from Khamoshi, Ae Ajnabi from Dil Se, Kahin To Hogi Woh(Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Nah). The list is too long for Malayalam,Tamil
Question suggestion -couples one wants to see together onscreen & the kind of movie/characters that would suit them.
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That is indeed very sweet! And he has now upped the game for all other hubbies of all other blog readers. Will see if anyone else is able to get a husband to sit through an entire Indian film without being able to understand the language or otherwise enjoy it!
“mumbo-jumbo and little depth” describes perfectly most sci-fi stuff for me. The kind of thing that feels smart for the first third because there are all these new concepts and so on, and then you realize that behind the new concepts there really isn’t anything there.
I don’t know if I’ve read/have Myth-Mithiya yet. Devdutt is one that any time I see a book for sale, I snap it up, but he seems to have varying quality. His massive Jaya and Sita have soooooooooo much in them, often when I read his smaller books, it feels like he is just pulling bits of stuff he already wrote in there. And now I want to reread them! Ooo, Devdutt may be my airplane book on my trip in a few weeks.
How did I forget Ratnam! You are absolutely right, his romances are almost better when they aren’t the point of the movie, just these sort of poetic short story feeling bits thrown into the rest of the film. Both Aish and Abhishek and Madhavan and Vidya in Guru are just there in the background of the “real” story, but their romances are so lovely.
I forgot about DQ and Nithya! They were so amazing in OKK, and even in 100 Days of Love (a much worse movie), they still had something special. This sounds shallow, but really tall guys with short full figured woman always make a great romantic pair to me. I don’t know why, it just looks good and makes me happy.
All your songs are good, I can’t believe I forgot about Kahin To Hogi from JKYJN. It’s the epitimy of romantic love and longing and pain all in one song.
Hmm, question is tough. Because I have many many thoughts. Varun and Parineeti, I am sold on their chemistry after seeing just the item song in Dishoom. They would be great in a silly rom-com type thing, something where each is tricking the other and then they fall in love without meaning to. Aditya Roy Kapoor and Deepika, they both have this feeling of depth and pain. I want to see them in something like, a widow and a widower who meet in a grief group and fall in love. Crossing industries, I somehow feel like Anushka Sharma and Abhishek would be really interesting together. He always does well opposite a strong actress, and they have the height thing going for them. I’d be really interested to see something like Anushka being a cop from the south who joins Abhishek in a task force, she is pushy and aggressive, he is laidback, they fall in love.
On Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 11:10 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Okay, because you mentioned ‘south’, I know you meant Anushka Shetty with Abhishek & not Anushka Sharma. How about SRK & Vidya(I know they had a short stint in Hey Baby)together as witty do-gooder(an extended version of Dear Zindagi role) v/s stubborn business woman whom he wins over through his wit & charm. Should there be a child for either one of them, from a previous relationship. Maybe for Vidya.
Fahad & Sai Pallavi-in a Mouna Ragam remake. I’m going into overdrive. So will stop here.
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Sai Pallavi would be perfect in a Mouna Ragam remake! there was something unique about Revathy, and I think Sai might have it too. I want to cast her in all the Revathy movies now! What about a Love remake with Amit Sadh playing the brooding troubled hero and Amrita Singh playing the abusive mother?
I will never figure out the Anushka’s. My only hope is if one of them (I don’t even know which one any more!) turns into Anushka Kohli instead.
Have you seen the German movie Mostly Martha, or the Hollywood remake No Reservations? That’s what came to mind with your Vidya-Shahrukh idea. The heroine is a precise successful controlled head chef, her sister dies and she is suddenly guardian of her young niece. At the same time, a new assistant chef is hired at her restaurant who is all relaxed and happy and funny and keeps flirting with her, which she hates because she sees him as a professional threat and it’s not how she works. She has to bring her niece to work at night, the assistant chef charms her and makes her laugh, she slowly learns to open up and be more loving towards her niece and at the very end there is an implication that she might be ready to start something up with the assistant chef as well. There’s also a cultural thing, in the original the heroine is German and the hero is Italien.
I could totally see a remake with Vidya being Bengali or Malayali or something, running her kitchen like clockwork, and Shahrukh is a Delhi guy brought in to add northern foods to the restaurant menu and she hates the whole idea of it and of him. And at the same time, her sister and brother-in-law are killed in a car accident and she has to figure out how to relate to her grief-stricken in shock little niece.
On Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 12:17 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh yes.. No reservations would be perfect for SRK & Vidya. Was going through your SRK reviews & how come there’s no Swadesh there.Why.. why..Blasphemy!
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Some movies I haven’t reviewed because I have nothing to say, some because I have SO MUCH to say and it’s over-whelming to think about. Swades is definitely in the second category.
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It’s always a tie up between Jab we met and Saathiya.I do have a soft corner for Paul Bettany-Kirsten Dunst starrer Wimbledon.It’s that rare movie where we have the hero and heroine in the same profession and are not competing against each other.
Favorite romantic couple right now would be Kumar Gaurav and Poonam Dhillon from Teri Kasam.They hate each other, fall in love,get married while terribly young,quarrel and nearly drag their siblings marriage down along with theirs before making up at the end with a kiss.They have chemistry but I so feel like giving the couple a good shake and tell them to get over their precious egos. Check out Poonam’s Kill Bill vibes as cultofkumar calls it at her tumblr.
Favorite romantic songs would be Ehsan tera hoga from Junglee, Aja piya tohe pyar remix by Instant Karma,Yeh zameen ga rahi hoon from Teri Kasam, Gerua, Khuda jane and of course Alvida.As far as English songs are concerned I’ve not found anything to rival Bryan Adams’ Everything I do from Robinhood-Prince of Thieves.
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First, I knew this had to exist and of course it does:
I forgot about Saathiya! Yes, definitely another favorite. It’s Mani Ratnam, but shifted so it feels familiar to my Hindi film sensibilities.
And which Alvida? The D-Day one we all love, or a different one?
On Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 11:13 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Shahrukh just takes over everything and makes it better.Which Alvida song? Why the blog favorite of course.I liked the Hindi Saathiya better too.It had that extra Bollywood gloss.Or maybe it was because I don’t care for Shalini.
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Ehsan tera hoga is such a beautiful song ❤
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Yes it is.Shammi looks so earnest as he confesses his love.Usually he’s so happy and carefree.Hindi films do have the most romantic lyrics and dialogues.
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I love Wimbledon too! One of my favorite romcoms.
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I love Wimbledon, too! Definitely top 10 all-time American rom-coms for me.
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My favourite filmy romance is actually an old Telugu comedy classic – Missamma starring NTR Sr., Savithri in lead roles and ANR, Jamuna, S V Ranga Rao etc in supporting roles. It’s more of a comedy than romance, but I’m yet to see a couple cuter than those two (There goes my favourite couple). What surprised me is how fresh and young the romance felt.
Favourite songs are Roop Tera Mastana (Aaradhana, How can you just look at each other for 5 minutes and make it so steamy!), Kadhal Sadugudu (Alaipayithey), Mellaga Karagani (Varsham), Parandhu Sella Vaa (O Kadhal Kanmani)
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Roop Tera is so amazing! There’s a reason it made Rajesh Khanna into the biggest star. Co-sign all your other choices, especially Parandhu Sella Vaa, because of how it takes the “Roop Tera” set up and does something different with it. They are falling in love alone in a hotel room, but it’s not about sex, it’s about getting to know each other.
On Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 11:33 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Have you heard the Style bhai remix of Roop tera mastana from the late 90s? The music video shows the impact the song had on the general public. Housewives,teenagers,office goers,someone in the shower- everyone secretly crooning as they go about their lives.Plus the rap section does not deter from the melody.Honey Singh and co needs to sit up and take notice.
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I haven’t! And now I really want to see that when I get home. Sounds like a great Valentine’s Day viewing option.
On Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 2:41 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Here’s something I came across today, sort of both goes and doesn’t go with today’s theme. Any way this is Bharadwaj Rangan’s interpretation of Manirathnam’s recent films
You’ve seen all of them, right? Thoughts?
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I’ll le tyou know if/when I get a chance to watch it!
On Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 11:36 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Here in Brazil we celebrate Valentine’s Day only on June 12, so I’m not on a romantic mood anyway! hahahh
Now, the though questions:
Favorite romantic movie?
I’m really obsessed with Yeh Vada Raha, since Rishi Kapoor is the love of my life. Love Aaj Kal is also really sweet, despite the bad acting. I happen to love SRK in a lot of his romantic movies, like Kal Ho Naa Ho and Veer-Zaara. Oh, and Jab We Met (mostly for my lovely Shahid with his honest eyes).
Favorite couple in a movie?
SRK and Preity are great together in Veer-Zaara. I also love Hrithik and Aish in Jodhaa Akbar and Saif and Vidya in Eklavya. Deepika and Ranveer have great chemistry in Ram-Leela.
Favorite love song?
Wow, I don’t know. So many songs, so many sighs…a recent one is Titli, from Chennai Express. That was so sweet and colorful.
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You celebrate Valentine’s Day on June 12? That’s so strange! Why??? Oh, the internet tells me because of Saint Anthony, who was really more love appropriate anyway, and is popular in Portuguese speaking countries.
Yeh Vaada Raha is pretty great, although I also get distracted by the rest of the film. Like, what kind of plastic surgery also makes you grow 5 inches taller? And yay! Another Jab We Met lover!
Saif and Vidya in Eklavya are a good choice. I forgot they had that and Parineeta together. Strange they didn’t turn into a more regular jodi. I’d love to see them in something together now, playing more mature roles.
Titli is really nice! And a different sound, with the kind of light flavor to it on top of the romantic depth.
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Favorite love movie – Veer Zaara. It’s so sad but rewarding. Favorite love song – Hridayum from Notebook (2006 Malayalam Movie). I was crushing hard on this one guy and I would listen to this song constantly as it reminded me of him. Favorite couple- Prabhas and Anushka. They are so perfect together!
Reading – Physics, Bio, OChem. I didn’t pass OChem last semester but I am determined to pass it this semester 💪🏽.
Watching- Haha! So funny story. I was supposed to start Ash Monday on Monday but guess what it is on TV! On Monday!! MCA (Middle Class Abbayi). So I shamefully watched it and It was avaerage. I loved the romantic angle but the conflict with the villain needed work. Yesterday, I watched Tiger Zinda Hai, and, Katrina is just so stone faced! It was really annoying!! Salman was okay. Lolz. I was expecting the Swag song to come in the middle and rescue me, but, it came in the end :(((. I honestly should have fast forwarded (like you said in your spoiled review, after I watched it, hehe) and I wouldn’t have missed anything. Right now, it’s 10:55 and mass is at 12:15. The Lenten Season is approaching!
Thinking: Valentines Day and no one cares about it. In my college, everyone is like worrying about the nesting deadlines. I want all to have fun just like how we passed hand made cards in elementary school.
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Happy Ash Wednesday! Or, as I think of it “that day when all the Catholic school kids had dirty faces for no reason”.
Glad that you agree with my feeling of Tiger Zinda Hai. And you should absolutely reclaim Valentine’s Day! I have turned it into a friends-and-family celebration, I give cards to EVERYONE. Well, you know that, I even give cards to blog readers.
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Maniratnam’s Gitanjali is the best romantic movie,
and Mani is God of Romantic movies.
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I celebrated Valentine’s Day in the traditional manner, with a rewatching of DDLJ. Or, half of it, because I had a party last night and I’ve been working late. So, Tuesday was the first half/European trip part, last night party, tonight (Thurs. my time) is the Punjab part. I’m excited and already starting to tear up when I imagine Amrish Puri saying Ja Simran Ja. That gets me every time.
But I’m not sure it’s actually my favorite romantic movie for the romance. I really like movies where the two people seem to have lives outside of falling in love with each other, like Wake Up Sid or BBB as I discussed above. Swadesh is also in this category, and I love its quiet and understated love story.
I also watched The Indian Detective, for Anupam. Eh. No one in it can act except him and I think they’re going to dust off some tired tropes about street food making people sick. One episode was enough. (But glad our Anupam is doing well!)
Thinking: Leaving for my vacay tomorrow, to NZ!!! Wheeeeeee! One excruciatingly long meeting to go and I’m outta here!
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Oh oh! You can be my investigator on the ground! Find out why the heck the New Zealand box office MAKES NO SENSE!!!! No seriously, if they are in the middle of a heat wave, or some sporting event, that might explain main things which puzzle me.
I think I know what you mean about love stories. It’s ones where they have to sort of grow up into loving each other. It’s a coming of age/changes story and the love story is part of it but not all of it. Socha Na Tha is one of my favorites of that category, because it seems like it is a straightforward love story, but if you watch closely there are hints of problems hero and heroine already have and growing up they need to do. That’s why they separate for a while before coming together, they didn’t need to just be “in love”, they needed to work out all their other stuff first, and then the love would work out too.
On Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 10:44 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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How is this possible that nobody mentioned OSO as favourite romantic movie? It was my first thought along with Veer-Zaara and , yes, Hamari Adhuri Kahani (nothing more romantic that a man who risks his life for a woman, and not to win her, but to free her from guilt). And if we are talking about sad romantic movies – Sanam Teri Kasam 🙂
Best romantic hindi songs in in my opinion: O Re Piya, Dheere Jalna, Mannat (Dawat-E-Ishq), Aave re hitchki (Mirzya), Pehle Pehel (Umraao Jaan), Teri Ore (Singh is king), Tere Bina (Guru) – basically every more traditional song with drums and anklet’s sound 😉 Oh, Maula mere Maula Asmita mentioned is beautiful too. Really you don’t know this song? I even watched the entire movie just because of it.
Almost forgot ultimate romantic song – Tum Hi ho. I cry EVERY time Arjit sings “teri wafaa ne mujhko sambhala”
Not hindi : MALARE
I continue with “at least one Tovino’s film a month”, but I decided I should watch his movies chronologically and so I watched 2 shorts films he did at the beginning of his career, and now I’m watching Prabhuvinte Makkal. The subtitles are not perfect, and the movie is quite difficult for me, but I’m determined to finish it.
I watched Newton last week too, and I tried watching 15 minutes long version of Dilwale (the old one with Ajay and Sunil Shetty), but without succes because only after 7 minutes I gave up. Ajay’s leather jacket with leopard prints will haunt me now.
Thinking: after seeing Ammi trailer (with Tovino as Lord Krishna!) I started reading and thinking about Kamala Das.
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I was thinking about OSO, but then is it a romance or is it more of a coming of age movie?
Malare is a great one! Very swoony and ecstatic. In the Malayalam area, I might also pick the final song from OSO. The whole movie may be more of a coming of age than a romance for me, but that last song is all romance.
Oh shoot, did not realize Kamala Das movie was coming out. Now I am going to have to read and think about her too!
On Thu, Feb 15, 2018 at 5:29 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Hearing great things about Kamala Das movie. Also hearing that Tovino was really good as Lord Krishna in it.
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And of course it’s not playing here. Meanwhile, Aadhi is held over a second week. Still SO MAD at Mohanlal about that!
On Thu, Feb 15, 2018 at 10:50 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Mohanlal’s look in Kayakulam Kochunni also starring Nivin Pauly (In the title character) directed by Roshan Andrews (Director of Mumbai Police). Cant wait for this. Based on Kayakulam Kochunni, a character similar to Robinhood.
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Wow, he looks different.
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This will be the look of Nivin Pauly in the same film
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Did you or anyone watch Love per square foot yesterday? Billed as India’s first direct to Netflix feature film. Has Vicky Kaushal, ratna pathak shah, supriya pathak, director Anand trivedi(?). Just released to Netflix on Valentine’s day. I’m planning to watch this tonight.
Started watching The Test Case on AltBalaji. It has Nimrat Kaur as the first female commander in India’s army, or armed forces, our something like that.
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You are so adventurous! I haven’t even watched Breathe yet, and that has Maddy to reassure me and Amit Sadh to tempt me.
On Thu, Feb 15, 2018 at 3:35 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I have an idea for Silly Sunday (and maybe it may help promote the blog). Madhavan and Amit are always on twitter lately because of Breathe, and Maddy always says that he would like to do a romance but ,age appropiate one, something like An Officer and a Gentleman. You are so good in inventing stories. If you feel like writing it, do it, and you can tweet it to him. Who knows maybe he will answer. And I won’t lie, even if he won’t it’s always plesaure reading your fanfics 🙂
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All you needed to say was that you enjoyed my fanfics and wanted a Maddy one! I am totally down for fanfic by request. In fact, I prefer it, it helps me write. I haven’t done a Maddy one in a while anyway, I think the last one was him as Joseph in my Christmas trilogy.
On Fri, Feb 16, 2018 at 7:57 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yes, I do 😀
But really why not write something nice about Madhavan or Amit and try to let them see it. Especially Amit, I read his interview recently where he told how everybody praised him after Kai po che but nobody gave him job 😦 and then he answered one of the compliments people were sending , saying that he hope somebody will hire him after Breathe. He is so talented, it’s so sad he passed through all this.
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