Happy Wednesday! I stayed up much too late last night and now I am sleep at work (again). But I got the Tuesday Telugu out on time by golly!
I’ll start!
Watching: I finished Kim’s Convenience, and now I am sad. Really, it is such a wonderful show! I am telling everyone to watch it. I also watched Balu Mahi with a friend on Sunday, and we agreed that Pakistani men are shockingly handsome, and Pakistani films are shockingly feminist. These two things are probably related somehow.
Reading: Suhana Khan’s Vogue interview of course (link here)! What little of it is currently out. She sounds like a nice 18 year old girl. Not too mature, not too deep, a little overly sure of herself and that her future will line up in a nice tidy path. Which is a tribute to her parents, that she sounds like a nice 18 year old girl and nothing more or less, not growing up too slow or too fast. I also noticed the references to Shahrukh popping in and out with a “pretend I’m not here”. Which is also good parenting, felt like the magazine interview equivalent of popping up to offer snacks to the kids hanging out in the basement. Giving them their space, but keeping an eye on things and making sure they know you are around if they need anything.
Thinking: Dog Hazel was going insane last night! No reason I could see. Kept pacing around the apartment and going over to the door. Either my ghost has moved from the closet (he smokes in there, I had to move all my clothes) to the hallway, or I have rats. Or the neighbors got a dog. Or the neighbors were just going up and down and up and down the stairs a lot. Anyway, it kept me up.
Now, question!
If you were being interviewed by Vogue, what would your high concept be for your photospread?
Well, I have long hair because when I was 5 years old I wanted to have long golden hair like a princess in a fairy tale. So if I am getting a Vogue photospread, I would want them to turn me into a princess with long golden hair like in a fairy tale. Or else Fearless Nadia, just because she is awesome. One or the other.
I guess that’s the follow up question:
Which photoshoot should I choose, Fearless Nadia or Fairy Tale Princess?
Fearless Nadia
Fairy Tale Princess (Andrew Lang fairy tale book style, not Disney)
dontcallitbollywood 
Having your 1st movie launched by kjo is OK to a extant. But what has she achieved ??? Student ,theatre lover ,future star.
Student,i m also a student ,when can I come for my photoshoot vogue. ??
Theatre lover ohk I don’t qualify as have never done theatre but love can be generated.
Future star at 18 year old without doing anything the girl is future star.
I M tired of such magazines who cozy up to superstars
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Well, in this case, they are going to sell a ton of magazines, which is the point. And Suhana wanted to be in a magazine, which is okay too, what 18 year old wouldn’t?
I don’t know, I don’t mind. It’s not like she is getting money or some kind of achievement award for it, it’s just a magazine that will be forgotten and thrown away in a month. If it wasn’t her, it would be some other celebrity doing a somewhat vapid interview and fun photo shoot. It’s what they do.
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But that’s the point.rest of the celebrities would have earned the right to be on the cover.
What has this poor little rich girl having struggles achieved in life ?
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I guess I just don’t care that much about magazine covers. Especially a non-industry magazine like Vogue. It’s not really going to give her a higher profile, she already has a high enough one, if anything it is going to benefit the magazine. I’ll wait to get upset for if her career overly benefits from her name or she gets an award that doesn’t make sense or something like that.
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I agree with Akshat its not fair to those who work so hard and actually have talent even just to get a little bit of recognition not solely by having a famous guardian.
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I’ve started watching Kim’s Convenience, too. Only seen three episodes so far. I’m curious if the Korean-Canadian community supports it or are there objects to the stereotyping.
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Ugh, don’t even ask! It’s mostly good feedback, and the “Appa” actor has given powerful speeches about his identity and being an immigrant when he wins awards. But when I checked out online discussion boards, I immediately found a bunch of people saying “so stereotyped and embarrassing, stopped halfway through the first episode”. Which is also irritating to me in general as a media person, because how can you make a judgement if you didn’t finish it?
On Wed, Aug 1, 2018 at 7:15 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Enjoyed Kim’s Convenience, too. But couldn’t binge-watch as I usually do; got kinda weary after 2 or 3 episodes and had to take a break. What I’m doing this week, in between slogging through my life, is re-reading Tejaswini Ganti on Hindi cinema, and ordering a ton of stuff from Amazon about non-Hindi Indian cinema. I feel the need to be more informed. I’m a writer with a contract for my Bollywood-themed novel, A Shining Place. (doesn’t mean a thing; they may or may not publish it. I’ve been down this road before.) And lately, I have come to realize that I’m not as informed about the film genre I love as I thought I was. Hence, the dig-in to learn more. Any suggestions re: reading material and other ventures, will be gratefully accepted. Oh, and regarding Suhana? She’s adorable and on her way to stardom. But I was hoping Aryan would be the first chip off the SRK block. Her has a sort of brooding appeal, very like but very different from his father.
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I don’t really have suggestions for non-Hindi reading, I am still a novice there myself.
Two authors to throw out there, Devdutt Patianiak, I love love LOVE him for an introduction to Hinduism. He is very accessible and very open-minded and clear. And his books are addictive. If you like the discussion on the Bahubali posts about the philosophical underpinnings of the story, that is what Devdutt is very good at. He will tell the story, and then will briefly explain what the meaning of it is, why it is more than just a story.
If you like Ganti, you should try her more academic book Producing Bollywood (if you haven’t already) and you should definitely track down a copy of Rosie Thomas’ Bombay Before Bollywood. Sheila Nayyar has an amazing essay on Oral Narrativity in Indian film that is a really good theoretical grounding, and Priya Joshi’s BollyLite article is another amazing one. Anupama Chopra’s books on Sholay, DDLJ, Shahrukh, and her First Day First Show book of essays are really good: her other stuff, not so much. Lakshmi Srinivas is amazing for talking about the perception of the films in the general public. Gayatri Chatterjee’s book on Awara is important for being one of the first serious analytical studies of Hindi film.
And, from my personal prejudices, Rachel Dwyer is worthless and I hate her. And Ashis Nandy is my nemesis and horrible. Oh, and Gregory Boothe is good, I just find him really really dull to read.
On Wed, Aug 1, 2018 at 9:23 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Looking up Devdutt and Srinivas. Ordered First Day First Show. Shukriyaa. The quest begins!
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Nadia Walia’s photoshoot is more badass, but your hair deserve fairy tale princess photos. I admire you for having such long hair. I had long her when I was little, but my mum couldn’t stand my continuous laments durning brushing and so she cut it short.
Watching: Mayaanadhi – very good
Sleepless in Seattle – in the second half Tovino liked my tweet and I couldn’t focus anymore.
The Prince of Tides – OMG how depressing this movie was, I managed to watch only half.
And I finally have Netflix ! But I’m so disappointed because THERE IS NO BALU MAHI !!!
And no malayalam at all. From south only Eega, but in hindi (my son was happy when he saw it on the list), and maybe 2 tamil (one of them beautiful beautiful Nila I’ve seen months ago). From hindi, some random movies, I’m not much interested. So buuuu Netflix Italia 😦
But, at least Wild Wild Country is available and I’m watching it right now. And I hate this Sheela so much!
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Sleepless in Seattle! I love that movie. And perfect for SRKajol, right? Just crying out for a remake.
All I knew about the Prince of Tides is that it is used as a punchline for depressing therapy secrets. And then I finally looked up the plot recently and HOLY COW!!! That is so depressing! I never want to watch it.
Eega is worth it all by itself!
I’ll be curious if there are things in Italy that aren’t in America, you can check my Netflix list for everything you have to see if a recommend it, and let me know if there is something you have that isn’t on my list and so probably not available in America.
I hate Sheela so much too! It’s such a strange documentary. I can’t wait to hear what you think once you finish.
On Wed, Aug 1, 2018 at 9:32 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Prime has added a lot of classic american movies lately, that’s why I ended watching The Prince of tides. I only read this brief sinopsis that it’s about man who talk with his sister’s psychiatrist to help her. I thought: Not very happy movie, but not bad either. But when I started watching I was darker and darker with every scene, and in the half, I saw what was coming and I stopped watching. I wish I haven’t started 😦
And I know that Prime Italia had some movies, american Prime hasn’t, but don’t remember which ones.
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My mind is blank about classic American movies, besides Sleepless in Seattle. I guess While You Were Sleeping, Return to Me, Circle of Friends, Soapdish, and Tootsie, if those are available and you haven’t already seen them.
If your son is still into dogs and cats, the Beethoven series. You may find them boring, but he should like them.
On Wed, Aug 1, 2018 at 10:56 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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It is so nice of you to sort through all the twitter noise and give me the good stuff! I would say you “curate” it for me, but I hate the way that word has been redifined lately and I refuse to go along with it.
Was your big take away from that that Ali Abbas Zafar calls Kat “Goldfish” and that is super cute? Because that’s what I got. And, in a larger sense, a very classy statement from Katrina that supports the film and supports her fellow artists and makes the whole situation sound the best way possible.
On Wed, Aug 1, 2018 at 10:31 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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And yet more news for you!
Goldfish is both adorable and a little weird, like is he saying Katrina has bug eyes and fish lips?
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Oh ew, it’s a video. What does it say?
I am pretty sure India does have something to fear from Hollywood, so long as they are both competing for the same audience. If Indian film went back to the single screens and the cheap tickets, then it might be different.
Maybe Katrina makes a face like a goldfish sometimes? Now I am ‘shipping her with Ali Abbas Zafar.
On Wed, Aug 1, 2018 at 4:59 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I don’t see why you couldn’t be Fearless Nadia and a fairy princess at the same time. I would like to be a tragedy queen for my Vogue shoot, and pose on a bed in my sari and jewels holding the glass of whiskey that will be my downfall. And then I also get to lie on the train seat in my sari sleeping with a note folded between my toes. I guess I just want to be Meena Kumari for my Vogue shoot. Maybe that’s kind of morbid, or maybe I just want to lie down for most of it.
End of the semester, so still grading and going to parties and have done no movie watching at all except still plowing through Ami She o Shakha, which got super weird after the halfway mark. I wonder why that happens? They even reference it in The Dirty Picture.
And speaking of completely different after the intermission: at the end of semester party one of my colleagues told me she had seen an Indian movie on an international flight. “It was a love story the first half, and then the second half is totally different!” So I told her this does not even slightly narrow it down, and she said it had one very handsome guy, and one guy who looked like Ben Stiller. After intensive plot googling we figured the movie was Raabta. Handsome guy=Sushant; guy who looks like Ben Stiller=Jim Sarbh which I hadn’t thought of but can kind of see.
Gearing up for birthday watching of Bahubali 2 and happy I share a birthday week with so many illustrious people. I’m taking the weekend off, so I’m hoping to also start Sacred Games finally, and I don’t know what else. I have a list of movies that are waiting for a special occasion, but it’s all earnest serious Bengali stuff and I think I’d like to watch something fun.
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Ooo ooo! A fairy princess who reveals herself to secretly be Fearless Nadia in disguise over the course of several photos! Or the other way round, Fearless Nadia who reveals her real identity as a fair princess.
I like your Vogue idea. You could even put apple juice in your drunk glass and have something to drink under all those hot lights. I would also suggest maybe having them put a video on for you to watch and then it’s essentially just relaxing on the couch watching TV, only with photographers and a great sari.
Have you seen Raabta? I love Raabta! And it is, indeed, super weird in the second half. Which is what makes it wonderful.
You should definitely watch fun stuff not serious stuff for your birthday. It’s your birthday! Live a little!
On Wed, Aug 1, 2018 at 10:13 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I binge watched La Mante on Netflix and loved it. It is violent, intense, and requires a great deal of suspension of disbelief, but it matched my mood perfectly. And the woman who plays the titular character is fascinating. So at home in herself, in the way many male actors are, including Shah Rukh.
Otherwise my life is work, family, and protesting 45. I fon’t have time to read this blog, which I hate!
Love everything about the Vogue/SRK/Suhana stuff. It leverages maximum positive attention for daddy and daughter. Smart as always.
My high concept would be as a Roman maternal or civic goddess. Think Juno or Fortuna. Fits my hody type and personality and makes the Latin geek in me happy.
I see you as a Waterhouse heroine for your shoot. Not a victim like Ophelia or the Lady of Shalotte, but maybe La Belle Dame sans Merci.
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You’ve got me thinking about watching La Mante now! I looked it up, and it looks like the exact kind of limited series I like. Lots of dark places and dripping water and serious people in suits talking about the evidence. Only, it’s in French. I like the BBC ones better just because I don’t have to look at the screen all the time, I can listen to the dialogue instead. Right now I am going through DCI Banks on Prime. It’s really not a great show, which is perfect, because that means I can watch and blog without worrying about missing something.
You totally missed an amazing conversation about feminism yesterday morning, which is kind of like protesting, right? Anyway, I was thinking “where is procrastinatrix? This is exactly what she likes talking about!” So now I know. You were out in The World.
Daddy/daughter controlled by mother! My impression is that Gauri has a really good relationship with Vogue India, there was comment about the stylist being a friend of hers and having worked with her in the past. It’s a different vibe than a FilmFare interview or something, feels like they carefully chose a group that is going to be kind to their daughter and bring out the best in her, not spoil her or try to tear her down.
Yes! I like the Juno idea! I couldn’t pull it off, but you could. And then you get to have a peacock in the background. And wear really comfy clothes.
You got me to google Waterhouse paintings, and those are EXACTLY the heroines I wanted to be when I was 5 years old. All romantic with long hair and big clothes. I kind of want to travel back in time and give 5 year old me a book of Waterhouse paintings because I would have loved it and studied it and studied it.
On Wed, Aug 1, 2018 at 10:28 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Good point about Gauri and her connections about Vogue. The comments from Karan and Juhi about Suhana’s cover have been sweet.
Waterhouse paintings are so fun and rich to look at. They make me think of Anne of Green Gables because Anne and Diana would have LOVED them, and had even more misadventures trying to act them out. 🙂
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Not so coincidentally, I also loved Anne of Green Gables covers. Most of them are super cheesy and romantic, with pretty faces and interesting clothes and the heroine starring off into the distance. Oh, you’ve got me wanting to reread the series again now! That should go well with La Mante, right? A Paris brutal serial killer and an idyllic farming country romance?
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*body type
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Maybe you have already seen it:
I’m so excited!
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NETFLIX!!! Why you got to do me this way? I don’t have TIME for this stuff!!!!
On Thu, Aug 2, 2018 at 8:31 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh my gosh! There are so many new movies on Netflix this month! PK, Haider, Tamasha, Rang de Basanti, Highway. What just happened?? And right as I go on vacation.
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Oooo, I get to try my new spreadsheet system for tracking and updating my Netflix post! Fun fun!
On Fri, Aug 3, 2018 at 9:52 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Big profile of Ramdev in the NYT. I’m puzzled why he agreed to this because it’s painting a chilling picture of the BJP and Hindu fundamentalism.
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Blech. Not reading that, too depressing. Going back to watching Kishore Kumar songs and trying to put together yet ANOTHER singer post for this never ending week of singers being born.
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I’m glad I did read it because I didn’t know the whole history and now I’m thinking the Bollywood community must be walking on eggshells between threats from other industries, falling ticket sales and fearing to piss off the government. Doubly so for the Muslim Khans. What a terrible situation. Plus I fear a major pogrom/bloodbath in the near future.
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Yeah, if you’ve seen comments here about “reasons” that the trolls may be going after the Khans a little harder, or the Khans really really need to do patriotic films right now, that’s why.
Oh, you missed Aamir’s big thingy thing! About two years ago, he issued a statement about “intolerance” in India, this was right after a high profile cow-protection lynching, and he got a lot of bad blowback for it, including losing his police protection and his status as the face of “Amazing India”. Shahrukh gave a similar statement shortly afterwards and his next movie got a lot of boycotts and angry protests to the point of affecting box office. Anyway, it’s made them a bit cautious since then. The one concrete thing I saw was an article about how one of the government departments had planned a public service campaign with Shahrukh, he had agreed to do it free of charge, and then the word came down that the centre didn’t want them using Shahrukh any more and they had to pick a Hindu actor (essentially).
But, just looking at the Hindi film industry, there is also a push back. Mulk just came out today about these exact issues, that Muslims now have to “prove” their right to be Indian. And it was directed by a Hindu director and starring a Hindu star, both of whom have been vocal about why they want to make this movie. And Raees, which was a very odd uneven movie, also had a direct image of Shahrukh leading a Muslim mob against a Yatra procession of the type that started the Hindutva wave back in the late 80s. And Salman is a bit less outspoken (what with all his court cases), but he also played a Muslim in Sultan, and made Bajrangi Bhaijaan which is just beautiful.
There was a pogrom in 2002, here is an article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/mar/14/new-india-gujarat-massacre
On Fri, Aug 3, 2018 at 1:05 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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