Happy Monday! I was up way way too late watching and then reviewing Kammara Sambhavam, and now I am trying to stumble through a day at work. Help keep me awake with questions!
As always, you can ask me anything from the personal (“what is the latest you have ever stayed up for a movie?”) to the specific and factual (“why do Indian movies start so late?”) to the general discussion (“what is the latest everyone has stayed up for a movie?”)
The only rule is, you have to let me answer first! The discussion just goes better that way. But once I have answered, feel free to leap in with your own ideas.
Oh, and here is a question for you! Continuing our theme of the past few weeks.
What is the worst movie Akshay Kumar was ever in?
I think I have to go for Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi. Because it has a ridiculous plot and is super stupid and most of all because it has this song:
dontcallitbollywood 
Do you ever plan to watch a film without subtitles? (The Cinema Chaat bloggers do, not always successfully, but pretty well on the whole.)
I am asking this because last night I saw a Malayalam film which was advertised to have English subtitles, but actually didn’t. I even thought to myself (once it became clear that this was no temporary glitch), “Well, I guess I’m having my own Adventure Without Subtitles (@TM Cinema Chaat).” On the whole it was a surprisingly successful experience, much more so than I expected. And it allowed me to really see and appreciate the actors’ performances, their facial expressions, etc., in a way that I normally miss because I am too busy reading subtitles.
So, why not try it? You might like it! 🙂
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So far when I’ve tried it, it has just frustrated me endlessly. I can’t let go enough, I need to know exactly what they are saying. Which is my own problem, I’m too obsessive about getting every detail, but there it is.
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Ha ha, this was an *extremely* dialogue heavy film, so I also had that frustration, but still, overall, I had no trouble following what was going on (it helps that I *can* understand a bit of Malayalam — which actually means, identifying all the Tamil and Sanskrit words). You might just do it as an experiment — how much can the technical aspects that you like to write about — shot selection, cinematography, acting (including facial expressions, body language, voice modulation), editing, etc. — convey about the film, without knowing the language?
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Hey, it’s Dadasaheb Phalke’s 148th birthday today, as today’s Google Doodle informed me. 🙂 Any comments, commemorations?
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Shoot! I was going to write my SPOILERS post on the Malayalam movie, but instead I will try to dash off something on Dadasaheb.
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I read this comment on another post: Kalank isn’t a true multistarrer in my opinion since the main actors will clearly be Varun and Alia. Madhuri and Sanjay Dutt are too old to really matter in BW terms and Sonakshi and ARK are too small to matter.
And now I’m hold up, Madhuri and Sanjay are going to be in a movie together? Don’t they have some super loaded history to the point that she asked not to be included in his biopic? What’s up with that?
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Yep! Sridevi was supposed to be in this movie, Madhuri is her replacement. Which was the original focus of the stories and (I am sure) the original thinking, “who is a not insulting suggestion to replace Sridevi in a film? Has to be Madhuri”. But it has the second effect of putting her and Sanjay in a film together again. Although someone else pointed out in a comment that their names are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay on opposite sides of each other on the poster, as if to say “Don’t get excited! They are NOT a couple!” Which is possible, maybe one of them is the heroine’s parent and one the hero’s or something like that.
Madhuri and Sanjay had awesome chemistry together and were in a bunch of films in the early 90s. They were also rumored to be having a romantic relationship, which was shocking many times over. Sanjay was married, for one thing. And his wife was dying of cancer. And Sanjay was a bit of a bad boy type. Meanwhile, Madhuri was a “good girl” who in theory shouldn’t have been dating anyone at all, even the most eligible bachelor, her persona was the type who lived at home with her parents and would have an arranged marriage (which ultimately she did, well a soft arranged marriage, her family introduced them). And then Sanjay was arrested on the gun charges and thrown in jail, and whatever there was between them fizzled out, Madhuri never visited him and seemed to have cut him out of her life. Sanjay moved on and remarried, divorced, and married again. Madhuri had a successful career and then married Dr. Nene. In theory it is all long long in the past, but it seems as though Madhuri/her team is still nervous about in anyway seeming to confirm that there had been a relationship.
On Mon, Apr 30, 2018 at 9:19 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Wow, that’s all very juicy and honestly gives me incentive to see the movie 😆
I started watching Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. but had to stop because of a migraine. But the bit I saw was really funny (notable because humor doesn’t always translate well) and Sanjay has crazy screen magnetism. I’m always struck by how Indian movie stars are *~STARS~* in a way you don’t see in Hollywood anymore.
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Munna Bhai is one of the few Indian comedies that I do find funny. I don’t know what magic sauce they used, but it was both specific and still relatable to someone from outside that specific setting. Oh, and you get to see Gracy Singh again from Lagaan!
And yes to Sanjay’s magnetism, he is also someone that just got more magnetic as he aged, he was really striking in his early 90s hits, but I find him even more effortlessly magnetic in his older years.
On Mon, Apr 30, 2018 at 9:51 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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How do you unwind after a late night movie that really engages you, gets your mental and creative juices flowing, inspires you, or winds up all of your emotions?
I thought of this question because on Saturday night we went to see Infinity War–which delivers on its promise of being a big, dumb, fun, roller-coaster ride. We got home @11–super late for us, and my hubby and kid couldn’t sleep. They watched a bunch of Death In Paradise to unwind. My superpower is being able to sleep anywhere/anytime, so I didn’t have a problem, lol.
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Death in Paradise is one I haven’t fully gotten in to, but the whole rest of my family has. Because it is soooooooo relaxing. You’ve got the nice accents, the familiar characters, and a murder which is routinely solved at exactly 40 minutes so you don’t really have to pay attention to anything else that happens before then.
For myself, I always end the night the same way. I put on PJs, have a snack, and watch a sitcom I have seen before. So, Frasier or Friends or Parks and Recreation (my current one) or anyone of a dozen others. If I am feeling really hyper, I let it play on my bedroom TV while I fall asleep and Netflix (because they are so kind) turns it off for me after a few episodes. Having just that little bit of focus listening to the dialogue helps stop my brain from spinning around, but at the same time since it is a sitcom, I don’t really worry about anything bad happening, and since I have seen it before, I don’t have to pay THAT much attention.
If it’s a movie that really makes me think, then I have to write my review right away to get the thoughts out of my head and on to the page. Otherwise, I will do my relaxing sitcom thing, and then write it when I wake up the next day.
Oh, and with the addition of Hazel to my household, I now have the added task of getting home and immediately going for a twenty minute walk, and then petting a dog while I watch my sitcom. Which is a really healthy addition.
On Mon, Apr 30, 2018 at 10:39 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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The main things we like about Death in Paradise (aside from the comfy murder format as you laid out) are the setting, which is just stunning, and the fact that two recurring characters (Dwayne and the Commissioner) and multiple guest stars were part of the British sci-fi cult show Red Dwarf. Other guest stars have been from the Bertie and Wooster series, many from Midsomer Murders, Lewis, etc. Every show is like old home week!
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I love that about the BBC! It feels like being part of a small town, with the same people popping up again and again.
On Tue, May 1, 2018 at 8:54 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Definitely Joker and also I did not like how hijacked Toilet to make it about his struggle rather than a women’s (read somewhere the director had a titular heroine planned till akshay came) loser
Question: An Indian Infinity War? is there a possibility that could arise from Indian super heroes aka Bahubali, Chotta Beem, Shakthi Man
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Ugh, I forgot about Joker!
In terms of Infinity War, I kind of feel like that’s how the Ramayana and Mahabharata are already structured? It is this massive backstory for all these different characters, bringing them finally to the battlefield. If you wanted to do it that way, you could give each character there own separate film series, culminating in a series that brings them all together in one place.
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You should refine you question because Akshay has done very very bad movies in almost every genre. Should we write about bad action movies, bad romances, bad comedies, bad fantasy revenge horrors? In every “the worst bollywood movies” list there are at least 3 Akshay’s films: Jaani Dushman, Joker and Tees Maar Khan.
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Poor Akshay, punished for working so hard.
On Mon, Apr 30, 2018 at 4:01 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Your question made me think about his career, and from all main actors he has made the worst movies I think. I always thought Salman was the king of bad movies, but now I realized Akshay beat him. But it’s amazing how even with all those flops and terrible movie choices he is still here and doing great now. It’s something to celebrate and appreciate 😀
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Yep! A reminder to just keep going evenw hen it seems like things are hopeless, they can still turn around.
On Mon, Apr 30, 2018 at 4:14 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Hmmm a random question this time – Have you seen Stories by Rabindranath Tagore on hotstar (or has anyone else)? Is it good? The trailer looked nice, but wanted to check if anyone had seen it before trying it out.
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I haven’t, but it’s also on netflix so it seems like someone should watch it and report back. Maybe that person could be you!
On Mon, Apr 30, 2018 at 9:21 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Haha 🙂
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The National Awards were presented to all the winners last night in India. But most of the winners boycotted the ceremony, because the President of India was only going to present a small portion of them. The rest were to be presented by Cabinet Ministers. So the winners (or at least some/most of them) decided to boycott the ceremony unless the President complied with their demands to come and hand out the certificates to all of them. Read up about it and maybe you’ll have some thoughts. I’m still formulating mine. 🙂
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