Follow up to my Rom-Com post! And one I actually feel more deeply about, there are a lot of great clever action films out there that don’t get attention while big stupid ones do, a much bigger problem with action than in the rom-com genre.
With action movies, there tends to be a lot of focus on the big serious overwrought ones with dark lighting and “realistic” fight scenes and statements about Indian society and tormented heroes and so on. Or else on the action movies with the really top stars and the fanboys who cheer and cheer. But what about the little fun light action movies? The ones without the huge stakes and dramatic patriotism, or the big stars? They tend to be forgotten even though, most of the time, they are way more fun and inventive than the others.
A Gentleman : My favorite favorite favorite movie of 2017. It is just freakishly clever, so funny I never stop laughing unless it is to throw in an “AWESOME!” at one of the fight moves. It takes the whole idea of the perfect action hero and turns it upside down, at the same time as making fun of NRIs, Florida, and karaoke work events.
(Also has the most catchy song used for promotions)
Action Jackson : This one had a semi-big name star, Ajay Devgn, but somehow was just a little too odd to be a big mainstream hit, or popular with the fanboys. But, it’s brilliantly crazy! Like a manga crossed with a Tarentino movie crossed with a 1970s silly thriller. Ajay fights shirtless with a samurai sword, how can you not love this movie?
Akira : This is such a simple and wonderful concept. A remake of a southern action movie by the same director as the original, everything the same except that the genders are flipped. The troubled silent violence prone hero is a heroine, so is the campus bully she defeats, so is the honest cop who is the only one who believes her. And the silently supportive love interest is a man.
Bang Bang : A Gentleman was my favorite movie of 2017, but Bang Bang was easily my favorite film of 2014. Silly and delightful with the best songs and the stupidest plot, and some amazingly delightfully impractical fight scenes (barefooted waterskiing behind a plane? Yep, that happens!)
Byomkesh Bakshy! : This is a legitimately great movie. Not just a great-fun movie, but actually good. Only no one besides me seems to have seen or appreciated it, so I am putting it on this list just to try to make you watch it. A period film that really digs into the complications of India during WWII, gives you a feel for period Calcutta, has a perfect cast of people you’ve never heard of, plus Sushant Singh Rajput.
Dishoom : The top player of the Indian Cricket team is kidnapped in Dubai! Hero cop John Abraham is partnered up with inexperienced local cop Varun Dhawan! Will they solve the case before the big India-Pakistan game??? Also, Akshaye Khanna is there.
(Also, there’s a dog)
Dus : Oh the early 2000s!!!! Abhishek was cool, Zayed Khan was still working, Esha Deol was too, and Suniel Shetty was hot. Okay, that last isn’t just an early 2000s thing, it’s just a fact of life. Also, Sanjay Dutt is there as the grizzled head of the team, and Shilpa Shetty as the tough cool girl member. Don’t bother following the plot, just enjoy the car chases and sexy item numbers and cast of many.
Flying Jatt : How is the most enjoyable Tiger Shroff movie also the least successful one? I have seen a scarily large number of Tiger Shroff movies, and they are generally enjoyable, but this is the only one I would actually want to watch a second time. He’s a superhero with a costume and a secret identity and the power of flight, but he is still afraid of his Punjabi mother, and also heights. So he only flies 4 feet off the ground.
R…Rajkumar : I really shouldn’t like this one as much as a do. Crazy regressive romance, amoral hero, and an ending fight/song scene that lasts way to long, and yet something about the chemistry of tiny scrappy fighter Shahid Kapoor falling for gorgeous trapped-in-a-wealthy-family Sonakshi Sinha, plus Sonu Sood wandering around being crazy evil, it just makes me happy!
dontcallitbollywood 
Flying Jatt just shot to the top of my must-watch list (but only 4 feet off the ground 😂)
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His mother also uses his flying abilities to finally dust the ceiling fan. His mother is wonderful and saves the movie.
On Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 11:23 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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When TheFlying Jatt was in theaters, I wanted to go because I liked the trailer, and you said it’s just meh, so I can always catch it on dvd. You deliberately misled me. 😦
That’s so cute about his mother using his power to dust the ceiling fan. See, that’s the kind of thing that made me want to watch it.
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Well, I should say that the last third of the film gets way worse. After all the little clever things, it goes back to the old “super power fight scene punches!” for the end. Bleh!
On Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 8:34 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Same question as with the rom-com post… What’s on your standard list here? Dabangg? Dhoom series? This is a genre that I don’t know as well (usually when I go action I go grittier, like A Wednesday or GoW), so I’d love to know your “white lady” list for this. 🙂
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Hmmm. Dhoom series for sure, and the Tiger movies, Dabangg, Singham, maybe Don and Don 2, Kick, stuff with huge budgets and glossy DVD releases. These are more the sad little forgotten films that snuck in and out of theaters and no one appreciated the,
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Oh and the Ek tha Tiger series… Definitely mainstream fare 😉
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Now this is a list that my husband will be more interested in. Not that he’s a macho guy, but he gets too emotionally invested in romantic movies–comedy or drama. But we can both enjoy goofy (intentionally or not) action movies.
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My Dad is the same way! Sometimes I think the whole “women enjoy rom-coms because they are emotional” is actually the opposite of the truth, women are hard and cold and therefore can handle the misunderstandings and broken hearts and so on of the rom-com.
Let me highly HIGHLY recommend A Gentleman!!!!! Really, so clever and fun and funny. Dishoom isn’t bad either, but I like A Gentleman best.
On Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 5:26 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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“A remake of a southern action movie by the same director as the original, everything the same except that the genders are flipped.”
AR Murugadoss didn’t make the Tamil original of Akira.
I’m surprised that you didn’t end up putting a link to Dus Bahane Karke Le Gaye Dil 🙂
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He didn’t? That really surprises me! I just assumed because it was so odd for him to make a Hindi film.
I was so tempted to do a Dus song! But I decided to limit myself to only Bandook Mere Laila.
Oh, and so long as you are commenting, I should tell you I finally watched Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu! And I didn’t like it. I think it was one of your recommendations, and I think it was the first movie you recommended that I haven’t loved. So, the streak is over 😦
On Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 8:19 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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No, I haven’t seen the original or Akira but it looks like the original was a small budget action movie made by a debut director that became a surprise hit. I guess AR Murugadoss liked the story and felt that he could remake it on a bigger scale.
I mean, you didn’t really like Ninnu Kori either so we can say that the streak ended there 🙂
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True!
On Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 8:32 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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That Dus theme song might be my favorite high energy bolly song. Great for making housework seem fun!
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Since you’re talking about Dus, here’s a song from the original (unreleased, because incomplete) Dus:
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I’d like to recommend Taxi 9211.I love how they took the core concept from Changing Lanes and ran away with it.In a direction the creators of the original could never have imagined.Nana and John are irresistible as the two sides of the same coin who try to one up each other.Nana especially has a dry.Plenty of chases(in car and otherwise) and tense situations but nobody is killed.Both of them have to learn their lessons and change themselves before finding their happiness.
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Thank you! I’ve wondered about that movie because the cast and songs looked fun, but then I know it was based on changing lanes and I was worried about the stressful plot. Good to know it’s not stressful after all.
On Wed, Mar 21, 2018 at 7:57 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh boy. Hubby and I watched Akira last night. I should have come back here to look up some of the others on this list which I couldn’t remember. Just too dark and violent for us, with not enough cathartic ass kicking, and nothing to lighten things up. Too realistic, I guess. I can appreciate the wonderful points about women, people who are different and rejected by society, differently abled people. But we were in the mood for a fun action flick and this was not it. I guess “Southern remake” should have been a clue? I came out really liking Sonakshi, and I already liked Konkona a lot. My first Anurag movie. He had fun chewing up the scenery.
At any rate, I have no idea when I’ll get hubby to watch another Hindi flick with me. 😦
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A Gentleman! Watch A Gentleman!!!! and I know what you mean about Akira, it’s just a whole pile of horrible, with some awesome action scenes thrown in.
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