Happy Wednesday! It’s Wednesday, right? I was up kind of late last night working on the Telugu review. But now I will have coffee and it will all be better.
I’ll start!
Reading: I got my Savitri book! Fascinating, it’s not written by an academic or professional at all, but rather a dedicated fan. It’s a little bit of a bio and a lot of comprehensive film summaries and interpretations. Basically, it’s all the Telugu fansites and books and everything out there combined and condensed into one massive English language book. Thank goodness! That’s all I wanted.
Watching: Now that I’ve seen Raazi and am a super Meghna Gulzar fan, I’m having a friend over tonight to watch Talwar. I’m excited!
Thinking: I gotta manage sleep better. I was doing so well too! Went to bed early Sunday and Monday, and then blew it on Tuesday. And probably another late night tonight. Oh well, movies are important.
Now, your Wednesday question!
It’s Karan Johar’s birthday week!!!!!! What do you most wish for him this year?
If I were a Fairy Godmother, I would wave my magic wand and let him get married this year. Not that everyone has to be married to be happy, but Karan has expressed over and over again how lonely he is and how much he wants companionship. And obviously I wouldn’t wave my magic wand and make him attracted to women, I would wave my magic wand and make same-sex marriage legal and socially acceptable in India.
At the very least, even if he doesn’t get married, I do want him to be in a safe stable happy relationship, again because he has said he wants that, not because everyone needs it.
Professionally, I want him to continue stepping back and stepping forward at Dharma. That is, I want him to step back as a producer, do more films that take their lead from the director rather than him. More Raazis, Ittefaqs, Agneepaths, and so on. Let him step back a little from managing every detail of the movies he produces. And I want him to step forward a little more and make more films like his short in Lust Stories, small fun projects that let him grow as a director without the pressure of it needing to be a big hit.
dontcallitbollywood 
Watching: Haven’t seen any movies since I watched Pari (which I really liked). Really not in movie watching mode (or even tv bingeing mode). Just watching random episodes of newer tv on DVR and random YouTube videos. But I did get really into the Royal Wedding stuff this weekend!
Reading: Finished a decent 1st in a historical mystery series (A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee). The main character is a white Englishman, shell-shocked veteran of WWI, opium addict, and widower, who is a detective in 1919 Calcutta. The author is Scottish of (I’m guessing?) Bengali descent. I’ll keep reading probably. Also read and absolutely adored a romantic comedy romance called The Hating Game by Sally Thorne.
I just wish that Karan Johar would focus on writing and directing more films!!! I get that producing films is a full time job and now he’s a parent, too, but there are really no films like Karan Johar films love them or hate them and I really want more! At least there is his contribution to the Lust Stories anthology (so cool that’s coming straight to Netflix!).
LikeLike
Maybe the babies will force him to reassess his priorities and get back to directing and let Jugal Hansraj run Dharma for him? Now that I have seen Masoom, I only want good things for Jugal, and he seems like he is growing to be Karan’s right hand man in the office anyway.
Plus, easier to be a single-parent as a director than a producer! He can make his own hours, bring the babies on the filmset with him, take time off between projects, really best thing for him all around.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 8:19 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Wait! Is Karan & Jugal Hansraj a thing? What’s his connection with YashRaj & Dharma?
LikeLike
Jugal started working as assistant director/writer type at Yash Raj years ago, and then transitioned to Dharma a few years back. He is the script reader/developer for Karan, one of a team that reads through everything they receive and passes the good stuff on up to Karan. If you look for his name, he has had all sorts of interesting credits in films over the past 20 years or so. Like a lot of other people, but it’s Jugal, so I actually notice when his name pops up and go “hey! Jugal Hansraj is credited as co-writer on this film! That’s cool!”
I think he would be great at taking over Karan’s producer responsibilities, loads of experience in all parts of the industry, already settled in at Dharma, he can spot talent and supervise it even if he isn’t directing the film himself. And then Karan can stay home with his babies and focus on making new movies for us as a director/writer.
He would probably also be great as a personal partner for Karan, but then who would run Dharma? Unless Jugal takes over totally and Karan becomes a full time parent, but then who would direct movies for us? Yes, I think my original plan of Karan getting a nice younger trophy husband who is happy to stay home and take care of the house would be best. Sid or ARK or anyone else who’s young and pretty and not that talented.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 8:52 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Last week I finally put a list of movies I need to watch, and then (as always) I watched something else.
First Rangashtalam, which I didn’t even planned watching, appeared on Prime, and I thought: why not? It wasn’t bad, there are many very good things in it, but I’m surprised it’s third highest grossing telugu movie.
Then I rewatched Race and it was so much fun! I love how unapologetically crazy it was. I have seen it many years ago but the plot is so elaborated I didn’t remember half of the twist. But now, when I have it fresh in my mind, I’m even more disappointed by Race 3 trailer.
This week I finally finished Andaz Apna Apna, which I have been watching for weeks! I understand now why it wasn’t a hit in the beginning and why it became cult after.
And last: Sai Pallavi’s Diya . I don’t know how I feel about this movie- It was both good and bad, touching and ridiculous, interesting and super predictable.
LikeLike
You watched so many movies! And I have only seen the Hindi ones.
I had that same “hey! This is even better than I remembered!” feeling the last time I watched Race. I watched it the first time close to when it came out, I knew all the songs and was curious to see Akshaye Khanna in more of a character actor role, and Saif was hot, and so on. And then it was much better than I was expecting. Going back to it now, when I am no longer as interested in Saif and Akshaye is always a character actor and other songs are fresher in my mind, I thought it wouldn’t be as fun. But it really really is! It’s a good movie as a whole, doesn’t need any hooks to get you in like liking the lead actor, anyone can enjoy it.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 8:43 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
True!
Is Race 2 as good as the first part? I haven’t watched it, but now I think I should. And yes, Saif is so HOT in Race. And I don’t even like him as a person!
LikeLike
Race 2 is not nearly as good. Mostly because Akshaye isn’t back for it. It’s not quite as well written too, there are odd dangling plot threads and stuff, it doesn’t tie together perfectly the way the first one does. But it still has a better more twisted plot than most other films. And also great songs.
Oh, and it picks up from the first one, Saif plays the same character and Anil is back, which is cool.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 9:48 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Now when I read your reccomendation to watch Running shaadi I remembered one thing I wanted to ask Indian commentators regarding doctors and patient rules – Can a doctor talk to patient’s family (an adult patient) about his problems without his permission? In Europe he can’t, and I thought the same is in all places, but maybe I’m wrong because in all movies, the patient is the last to be considered. I hated it in Running shaadi, when the doctor met Tapsee’s father and was like: Oh you know, your daughter was pregnant.
The same was in Diya. Sai and her boyfriend were 19 years old, so adults, but the doctor instead of talk to them about the situation (she was pregnant), called the parents and they decided the pregnancy must be interrupted. Sai, who was the mother, cleary said she don’t want to do this, but nobody listened. I can take a lot of ridiculous things in indian movies – even people flying, but can’t stand unreal doctors/medical stuff.
LikeLike
I wondered about that too! I can find hardly anything on it online, but the little I found does confirm a right to confidentiality that certainly starts at 18, if not younger. But then I don’t know what happens in common practice, how elastic those rules are on the ground.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 3:58 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Watched Rangasthalam. It was good & a little too long-there was enough plot to make two movies. The color palate & Ram Charan’s hair(man, it’s so well styled) stood out for me. And Aadi Pinnasetty, who did his brother’s part. He was good as the husband in Ninnu Kori also. He’s very natural & great voice. I was priding on watching Telugu movies without subtitles but this movie had a whole different rural lingo & accent that I had to turn on the subtitles. It’s not the typical masala film which was a surprise.
Reading-The Handmaid’s tale after hearing about the Hulu series from a friend. It’s a bit of a difficult read with the writing style that the author has used.Plus it created a claustrophobic feel with the world in which it’s set. I may need an easy read to get it off the system.
I wish Karan Johar made a complicated love story with Kajol, SRK & Salman with the emotional intensity that was there in ADHM. Like when Anjali & Rahul are married for 15 years, little Anjali is all grown up & gone. Anjali meets Salman again & feeling guilty starts an affair. Something on those lines or a new story altogether.
LikeLike
Ha, Ram Charan’s hair was distracting me all the time, because I like it, but he plays a simple village guy in simple cloths and this hair was too perfect!
LikeLike
Okay, just throwing it out there to see if I am alone in this: Little Anjali grows up and falls in love with Salman. Yes? No? Too creepy?
It would certainly have emotional intensity, especially if Salman and Little Anjali meet and fall in love and only when they are engaged does she take him home to meet her parents and he realizes her mother is his old love.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 9:15 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Isn’t this basically the plot of Gigi? This gives us a good creepiness yardstick, at least. (Although it’s also got the whole courtesan thing to add to the creepiness…)
LikeLike
I love Gigi and I refuse to allow myself to think about the creepy factor because it’s so pretty and fun and delightful and French. Having said that, no way can I insert Salman into that scenario without it becoming completely gross (and I’m actually a big fan of Salman as a performer).
LikeLike
Would have been great, only I can’t get over the visual of Salman exercising with lil Anjali perched on top of him. But there was some cutesy dialogue on Salman asking lil Anjali to marry him-so it’s definitely thinkable. Only I want the romantic tendion to stay on Kajol-SRK-Salman. Maybe introduce a younger woman in SRK’s life-Illeana(so u get your older man-younger woman romance). Kajol feels betrayed yet again & hangs out Salman who has never married & has a girlfriend of sorts-Jacqueline. So Salman is scared if he will be hurt again & resists Anjali’s advances. But ends up giving in to her. I don’t know how to end this. 1. Maybe lil Anjali(Fatima Sheikh) will come back & unite Kajol & Salman. 2. Kajol & Salman remain good friends. 3. Salman realises he loves Jaqueline & goes back to her. Anjali forgives SRK & goes back to him. Too many options-I’m drained.
LikeLike
I’d kind of like to see Kajol and Salman remain good friends. Sort of like ADHM, taking head on the idea of male female friendship. I’d like to see Shahrukh be flirtatious and maybe get close to a younger woman as part of a sort of midlife crisis thing, he takes Kajol for granted and doesn’t bother being romantic with her (and vice versa) and gets excited by the idea of a younger woman who is clearly attracted to him and makes him feel desirable again. He would never exactly cross the line, not kiss her even, but it would clearly be a physical flirtation with double entendres and lingering glances and hand brushes and so on. And while Shahrukh is starting this affair (ish) that is purely physical (ish), Kajol would be starting an emotional relationship with Salman, he would show up in her life and find her crying maybe because Shahrukh gave her a vacuum cleaner for their anniversary, and let her know he still loves her, and they would get close and talk about intimate details of their lives and so on. And then Shahrukh would find out and be furious, and Kajol would stand up to him, and eventually he would realize it was all his fault for not meeting her needs (maybe after he meets up with Illeana again and she tries to kiss him and he suddenly realizes that his flirtation wasn’t really harmless or fair to her or Kajol), and then he has to do a big romantic gesture to win her back and prove that he still loves and desires her, she isn’t just a habit.
I would have Salman be in a relationship with someone like Jackie but put Kajol first, and then after seeing Kajol and Shahrukh go through this whole emotional journey, and feeling his closeness with Kajol, he decides that he wants more. Clearly Jackie is just a habit for him and he should let her go and let them both move on to better relationships. And then Salman can end the film with, I don’t know, his secretary maybe? Someone he never really noticed or thought about before because she wasn’t the sort of sexy exciting woman he usually dated, but now he sees that he can have the sort of emotional closeness with her that he had with Kajol.
Or, in a very ADHM ending, Salman ends things with Jackie and decides he would rather dedicate his life to just being Kajol’s supportive friend and having that much of her than ever try for second best. But that seems very unhealthy and depressing.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 10:13 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Watched Deadpool over the weekend. Since Deadpool 2 is out, we thought we should see the first one. Enjoyed the dark, rude humor overlaying a genuine love story, but some of the violence made me a bit nauseous. Then heard that Ranveer dubbed Deadpool for the Hindi version of DP2, so I decided I needed to see more Ranveer movies to get an idea how he’d be. Watched Gunday (fast forwarded through angsty bits when Arjun is on the run) and part of Ladies v Ricky Bahl (my 13 year old daughter came in right when they all get to Goa and got into the story, but then had to go do homework, so I agreed to finish it with her later, lol).
So far I’d seen Bajirao, Padmavaat, Dil Dhadakne Do, and Kil Dil (because I have a soft spot for Govinda), and could take or leave Ranveer. I find him charming sometimes, but he’s too Ranveer-ish to ever seem like a character other than Ranveer. He’ll definitely be a good Deadpool, though, since part of that character is being meta and blurring the boundary between character and actor.
Listened to an audiobook of the latest Inspector Gamache mystery (Glass Houses) and was really disappointed. The plot involves the current opioid epidemic in N. America, and there were so many absurd premises about it that I kept getting mentally booted out of the story. Wish the author had done more research, or had someone do it, before she wrote the book. Or just picked another type of crime to structure the plot around.
LikeLike
I am surprised to find myself recommending Befikre. It’s a very light slight movie, but Ranveer does a good job with a sometimes tricky role, and there are definitely interesting bits to it. And it is a very painless watch, if you want more Ranveer.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 10:13 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lootera for a very un-Ranveer like performance.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lootera’s been on my list for a while. Thanks for the recommendation!
LikeLike
Onward with my Sunil Dutt watching spree.I managed to watch 3 films this week thanks to my insomnia.And so couldn’t find time to even begin a book.As for Karan,I wish he’d stop making those awful SOTY movies,let Alia choose her own scripts and fly on her own.
Back to the Sunil Dutt movies, the first one I saw was B.R.Chopra’s magnum opus Humraaz.Our heroine Vimmi is a bigamist who’s killed off midway into the movie.Who killed her? Is it her first husband, the dashing Army Captain Raaj Kumar? Or her second husband, the famous theatre actor, Sunil Dutt who thinks she’s cheating on him?There’s mysterious phone calls, a secret love-child and an inept police officer as usual.There’s plenty of 60s melodrama.Vimmi is a graduate of the Nargis Fakhri school of acting.Mumtaz in a tiny role acts rings around her.But the lovely soundtrack makes it all worth the while.
Then there was Yash Chopra’s Waqt which had every popular star of the 60s.Sunil Dutt plays the middle brother who’s a lawyer with wonderful foster parents.He’s so irritating in the beginning with his irritating endearments for his sweetheart Sadhna.His chemistry with the latter is smoking though. When Sunil Dutt learns that Sharmila, his foster sister, is in love with a poor driver Shashi Kapoor he dismisses the latter very rudely.He remonstrates Sharmila about falling in love with a man who’s without a “Proper” background or people.A frustrated Sharmila retorts “You’re a fine one to talk about a proper background.Didn’t my parents just pick you off the streets?”
I had to track down Sunil Dutt’s first movie Railway Platform.He’s an educated, unemployed very frustrated young man who’s making a journey to fix his sister’s marriage along with his whiny mother.The train has to suffer a delay of 24 hrs at a remote station.He learns that one of the first class passengers is a runaway princess and plots to collect the reward her father is offering.He’s however none too averse to falling in love with her and arranging a quickie wedding before her father arrives.Then there’s the poor illiterate store keeper’s daughter who loves him passionately.Kudos to the Maharaja for convincing Dutt to back down by asking just a few important questions without raising a furor.The movie would have been good if the attention had been kept on the romantic triangle and not on the society that sprung up at the Railway station.
LikeLike
Finally a Sunil Dutt movie I have seen! Although I was watching Waqt more for sweet young Shashi and cool Raajkumar than boring middle-child Sunil. I also had a strong feeling that Sunil was doing a Shammi Kapoor imitation the whole time, and then later read that Yashji wrote the film for the Kapoor brothers, Raj as the troubled suave older one, Shammi as the wild middle one, and Shashi as the sweet one.
I kind of want to Humraaz now! If only to see if Vimmi is anywhere near as bad as Nargis Farkhri. Don’t tell me the end! I want to be surprised.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 10:14 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Poor Vimmi had a tragic life.So I do feel bad dissing her.Don’t you want to slap Sunil Dutt silly in Waqt for all that Gul-e-gulshan nonsense he sprouts? If the role was written with Shammi in mind, it makes sense why Sunil didn’t suit.Raajkumar of course got all the best lines even though he didn’t get the girl.And if you really want to see Sunil Dutt do a Shammi check out “O meri baby doll” from Ek phool char kaante.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMTS6noR8IQ
LikeLike
The middle brothers almost always seem to come off worst in those lost-and-found movies. The oldest has the dangerous dark life, the baby is the happy baby, but the middle one is just sort of blah and boring. I felt the same way with Yaadon Ki Baarat, even Dil Chahta Hai (assuming Aamir is oldest, Akshaye is middle, and Saif is baby) the middle one was boring.
It’s funny, Shammi started out his career trying to be Raj and failing and then finally accepted who he was and started playing himself, and then all these other actors like Sunil had to struggle to be Shammi.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 11:43 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
But I loved Akshay in Dil Chahta hai.He’s the sensitive,romantic artist -the one with the most depth.Sunil Dutt was never a good dancer like Shammi Kapoor.He realised that early on in his career and you never seem to catch him properly dance.But definitely a better actor than Shammi.His strength was everyman heroes who make morally complicated choices.He constantly reinvented himself to stay relevant – socialistic hero with gray shades in the late 50s,romantic hero in 60s, the innumerable dacoit roles and finally an action hero in the 70s.Most actors play negative roles at the beginning of their career (like Vinod Khanna) or at the tag end (like Rishi Kapoor).Sunil played one every few years.And he never seemed to have any problem playing second fiddle in a heroine centric story like Sujata,Sadhna,Main Chup Rahungi or Mother India.His movies from the mid 70s are far-inferior in quality.That’s after he suffered a financial loss with Reshma aur Shera.
LikeLike
Fascinating that, based on the teaser trailer, Sanju is going to focus on that same aspect of his son’s career.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 12:04 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Reading: Submissions from my writing group which is fun because I get to critique them and then we meet to talk it over and help the writers shape their work. I alas have no bandwidth to write anything myself at the moment but I enjoy helping other writers with their work.
Watching: Royal Wedding! Sexy glances between a literal princess and the commoner he fell in love with. Super fun to see a real life fantasy playing out like that. No movies alas. The past two weeks have been craptastic so I haven’t been able to watch anything since Yeh Deewani Hai Jawani (which was perfect and helped me understand Ranbir’s stardom). I need a suggestion for another light funny movie. Can’t take Pari yet, too dark and my headspace is not there.
Thinking: My husband is going camping with friends for Memorial Day weekend so I need to figure out what to do with my 11 year old son.
LikeLike
P.S. Does Karan Johar have a partner?
LikeLike
He is shockingly frank about it in his autobiography, without ever quite coming out of the closet. His first sexual experience was with a sex worker when he was in his twenties, and it was unsatisfying. He hardly ever has sex because he can’t do casual and desperately wants a committed serious relationship like his parents had. He has had one long term relationship, over a year, and enjoyed that feeling of having “someone”, but was never passionately in love with the person. He has 3 times been passionately in love with someone who claimed to love him back but it never turned into a real romance, each time they moved on and left his life, and it broke his heart each time.
He does have a lot of super close friends in his life (including Manish Malhotra who is obviously also gay, but has never been more than a friend), but he doesn’t have that one “person”. He ends the book by saying that he just signed up with a very confidential matchmaking agency and is hopeful. But that was a year ago so either it didn’t pan out, or he is keeping that relationship very quiet. He said his one long term relationship was with someone in New York, so no one in India really even knew about it.
Anyway, it’s sad! On multiple levels, that Karan’s sensitive romantic soul can’t flourish in the secrecy that a gay relationship requires in India, he can’t successfully breakthrough and connect with another man. That he clearly keeps falling for straight guys who let him down gently and end up damaging him more by sending him into these deadend emotional relationships. And that there is this social expectation that of course because he is a gay man, he wants to go around having casual sex all the time and is probably perfectly happy with that, when he is really just a traditional monogamous Indian man who happens to like other men.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 10:36 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Watch Race.
LikeLike
Befikre! Just because I was just mentioning it to someone else. Or, heck, I will just direct you back to this list: https://dontcallitbollywood.com/2018/03/18/hindi-rom-coms-to-watch-once-you-finish-the-standard-list/
Off that list, I’d pick Running Shaadi and Deewat-E-Ishq as the most immediately grabbing you, and lightest easiest watches.
DON’T watch those movies with your 11 year old son. Or maybe do, I don’t know him. Bahubali or Eega/Makkhi are the best 11 year old boy movies I can think of, and outside of movie activities, the only things that occur to me are the activities from my Sunday school class (painting windows, building massive cardboard forts, throwing jellybeans at each other, which aren’t necessarily the best. Best activity I have found is to ask an 11 year old to explain to me their current book/favorite movie/video game. It never makes sense to me, but it amuses us both for a while.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 10:28 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I like your 11 year old suggestions a lot 😆 Hell, I’ll try Bahubali, maybe he’ll enjoy it. The kid did watch Raja Hindustani with me, captions and all.
LikeLike
Bahubali, thank goodness, doesn’t require that many captions. There are lots of plot details you might miss, but really all you need is “long lost heir to a magical kingdom” which is a universal story beyond language.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 10:58 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Wait, why Deewat-E-Ishq is not for 11 y/o?
Eega is good, but for my son it was a little too violent (he is 7 y/o and still prefers movies about animals and stuff instead of superheros and fights). But he loved Baahubali plot, when I recounted it to him as a bedtime story, and changed the people for cats 😉
LikeLike
I would have loved it when I was 11, but I know at least one 11 year old boy who would get bored with the lack of events occurring and large amount of talking.
I really really want to hear the story of Bahubali done by cats! No, I want that to be a youtube series. With live actors.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 2:43 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Watching: Lion King over the weekend, cos my husband wanted my daughter to see it. Suddenly realized Baahubali 1 has lots of similarities with it, especially around Can you feel the love tonight. Well, also the plot. Of course, nothing is a straight lift but now that I think about it, there are thematic similarities.
Thinking: Race 3, how a movie can carry such bad buzz even when the leading man is coming off a huge success. Have never understood how the people involved in a movie can’t see a lot of the things an audience can. Or maybe they think they can surprise us. Either way, not going to catch this even online. Saif was great in the Race series. Enough sophistication/charm to pull off the grey role. but Salman – he’s never the bad guy so don’t think this will be interesting.
LikeLike
I’d always heard that the Lion King was based on Hamlet, but maybe that means B1 is based on Hamlet too and we’ve all been reading it wrong? I really want to write a paper or something comparing B1, Hamlet, and Haider now.
I know what you mean! All of these movies I look at and go “no” just immediately, and then think “why did they even make this?” Like Jagga Jasoos, start to finish it made no sense. I saw the first poster and immediately hated it for a whole bunch of reasons, and then I watched the movie and all the things I saw in just the first poster were still there. And if they had stopped filming at the time that first poster was released, they could have saved sooooooooooooooo much money.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 11:29 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Well duh Hamlet!! How’d I miss that? But the seeing the lake scene, that was definitely Lion King. I loove baby Simba, so cute 🙂
Oh also seeing – Madhuri’s interview with Masand and she looked like she’d rather have been in the 90s and 2000s when one didn’t have to give profound statements or take a stand. A couple of photoshoots n you were done lol
LikeLike
I really noticed that about Madhuri in her joint KWK with Juhi. Juhi isn’t big on profound statements or anything either, but she likes to chatter away and laugh and be friendly. While Madhuri just sat there next to her and let her take the lead.
On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 12:38 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Yeah, some of the 90s actresses are very diva like – Madhuri, Sridevi, Aishwarya, Kareena (to a certain extent). Maybe its how the industry was at that point. Today the audience prefers celebrities who open up and are human.
LikeLike
Yes yes to paper comparing the three!!
LikeLike
I was in Tokyo this weekend and immediately got sick, but not too sick to work. So, mostly working and then going home and flinging myself into bed. I haven’t watched or read anything–was hoping to get slightly sicker so I could stay home and watch a whole movie but it did not happen.
I hope you like(d?) Talwar. It depressed me, but it’s a really interesting movie, I love what Meghna Gulzar tried, and Konkona is of course stupendous.
Thinking: Finally Dangal is coming to the cinema here! Only showing at a stupid time! (10:00 in the morning! Who goes to the theater then?!) Hoping I stop coughing so I can watch!
LikeLike
I hate that, being right on the edge of sick. Unless it happens on a weekend when I don’t have to work anyway. Then I can use it as an excuse to stay home in bed without feeling guilty for just spending my weekend home in bed.
LikeLike
Finally getting around to watching Luck by Chance and loving it so hard but also glad I waited because a lot of the funny bits would’ve gone over my head if I’d watched it too soon. Also, Hrithik is so hot dancing in Baware, wow! I’m so hot and cold on him but this is definitely an instance of hot.
I have the Eros Now sub on Amazon and it’s definitely worth the cost to get movies like LBC.
LikeLike
Yeesh, complete butchered the spelling of Baawre.
LikeLike
If you want to read as you go along, I went with straight up Annotations for LBC. There are sooooooooooooo many references, I couldn’t really do a review, more just footnotes to read along with the movie.
Also, so happy you are watching it! It’s a great movie, and also a great window into how the industry functions.
On Thu, May 24, 2018 at 9:58 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Oh yay, thank you! You’re doing God’s work here. 😄
LikeLike
I just saw this video on youtube that I thought some people here might like. It’s an interview of Kamal Hassan by Jayaprada (obviously for some kind of talk show) where he talks about Savitri a lot. Though ostensibly it’s a Telugu show, most of the conversation is in English. Even if you can’t get what they’re saying, people might find it cute to see scenes and stills from a film where Savitri and Gemini Ganesan play parents to the little boy Kamal.
LikeLike
Reading: Bobby Deol interview about not working for 4 years, and Race 3. But why they don’t translate hindi sentences? The site is in english, interview is in english, but every quote is in hindi. I want to know what he is saying.
https://www.filmcompanion.in/bobby-deol-race-3-full-interview-exclusive-career-failures-comeback-family/
I’m so excited for Bobby being in Race 3 and I’m surprised by my excitment. I didn’t like the trailer much, the movie doesn’t look like Race , some actors make me roll my eyes but still I want this movie to be hit, only for Bobby.
LikeLike
I hate it when websites do that! Translate the quotes, or don’t print them, don’t do this half and half.
Even if Race 3 is a flop, maybe it will be one of those flops where they say “Bobby Deol was a welcome breath of fresh air in a stale script” and it will still help his career.
On Fri, May 25, 2018 at 3:58 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Yes, and in this interview it’s even more annoying because it’s all like: So I wasn’t working and I was depressed, and then I met Salman who said something in hindi and I said: something in hindi, and he called later and told me something in hindi.
And yes, I hope this movie will help him.
Oh and today Tovino’s film Abhiyude Katha Anuvinteyum a.k.a Abhiyum Anuvum a.k.a Abhi&Anu was released in Kerala. This is the one I was waiting for since October, and now can’t wait to know if it’s good or terrible.
LikeLike
I’m no Hindi expert, but I’ll make an attempt for you. Then the real Hindi speakers can correct me. 🙂
Aapko kya kaam chahiye? Haan, haan, sochenge, sochenge! — Oh, you want to work? OK, we’ll think about it.
Kya kar rahe ho? Yeh daadi ugalee tunay — What are you doing [these days]? Then something about his beard — either, what’s with this beard?, or get rid of this beard, or something.
“Dekh, jab mera career theek naheen ja raha tha to main tere bhai kee peeth pay chadh gaya, Sanjay Dutt kee peeth pay chadh gaya.” — Look, when my career wasn’t going right, I went and fell on your brother’s feet, I fell on Sanjay Dutt’s feet.” (I’m not fully sure about the exact words, but generally that he asked for help from Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dutt)
“Maamu, mujhay teri peeth par chadhnay de.” — Uncle, I’m falling on your feet.
“Definitely. Tu yeh daadi shave kar de.” — You shave off this beard.
“Yeh genre kya hota hai?” — What is this genre thing?
Apne hee kaam karengay na. — Your own [people] will work with you, or alternately, you will work with your own [people]
“Shirt utaarega?” — Will you take off your shirt?
“Vo shirt naheen utaarega.” — He won’t take off his shirt.
Koi aapka naheen hai, aapko kuchh karna hai to aapko apnay-aap karna padega — This is a really tough one for me. But something like (guessing from the English quote that follows): Nobody else is you. If you want to do something, then you have to do it yourself. Sorry, that may not make sense.
Kyunki gharvaale dekhtay hain chehra har din aur boltay hain, “Tu udaas kyun hai itna?” — Because your family sees your face every day and say, “why are you so down/sad?”
“Naheen, tu chup ho gaya hai.” — No, you’ve become very quiet.
I hope that helps you to get more out of the interview. You know, I saw photos of Bobby with that massive beard, and I, too, wondered what was going on with him. I mean he’s a good looking guy, but that beard made him look twenty years older.
LikeLike
Thank you Moimeme, you have been very helpful. The part about Sanjay Dutt was driving me crazy, because it was important and impossible to understand from context.
LikeLike