What an interesting looking movie! And what an interesting movie for this studio to make with these stars at this moment.
Well, this is just fascinating! Let me start with the basic thing. Through out the talk about making this movie and the casting and the promotions and so on, it was described as “Varun plays a tailor, Anushka plays an embroider”.
But, surprise! They are married! Anushka plays Varun’s wife. I don’t think it was sold as something else in order to surprise us and build buzz (although that didn’t hurt), I think (hope) it is because Anushka truly is more important for her professional skills than simply because she plays Varun’s wife.
So far as I can see, the plot is that Anushka encourages Varun to work for himself, even if it means just sitting on a street corner with his sewing machine. And slowly they build a factory and go through troubles and finally find success, as partners.
Something else I am trying to figure out watching the trailer, is this meant to be present day or slightly in the past? I can’t remember seeing a computer, or a cell phone. But it’s also in a village, so it’s hard to know. Besides computers and cell phones, there wouldn’t be much difference. Bicycles, busses, old pedal sewing machines, those would all still be in use. Also old-fashioned mustaches and haircuts.
If it is in the past, that is a very different story in lots of ways. First, it means that we are watching the rise over several years of this family. Second it means that we are watching the rise of the whole “Made in India” movement. I thought it was going to be a return to fancy homemade clothing after there are already so many textile mass production companies. But it might be showing the start of the textile mass production trend.
Most importantly, setting it in the past means it is NOT blind Modi propaganda, which was a little bit how it was sold. Blah-blah, India shining, India on the rise, individual success is the only way forward. Instead that means it is an acknowledgement of the basic fact that India’s current economic status was slow growing (as economic statuses tend to be) and comes from factors that existed long before the current government came to power.
Or, I could be completely wrong and it’s just that the village look looks like the past but is actually the present. What do you think?
What I am sure of is that I am very excited by the characters and story Anushka and Varun are in. Varun struggles a bit when brought out of that “innocent young hero” role. But at the same time, he’s a bit too old to play the complete innocent any more (October was a stretch). So a nice young man who’s just been married is kind of perfect.
And I love the idea of this married romance. From the trailer, it looks like they are setting it up as a husband and wife who don’t really know each other but think they might like each other and are bonded together by their struggles. Which is realistic, struggles do bond you, but also a bit different. We aren’t being sold the “the marriage tie magically makes them the perfect couple immediately” myth that most movies use. Or even the “they were in love before marriage and then after marriage life intruded and love ends” idea. No, life together is what IS love, what builds love, believing in each other and talking and working.
That’s another hidden message of the idea of self-employed. Remember my nepotism post? Pre-industrialization, families worked and lived together with everything mixed in. It was only with industrialization that there became this strong line between “men work, women stay home” and the sexes were so segregated. If you are self-employed, your wife can be part of your business, the two of you as partners, instead of her trapped home taking care of the family while you are miserable and lonely at your job.
My biggest concern is accents. Does it feel like Varun and Anushka are trying a bit too hard? It does to me. But often these things are more noticeable in the trailer and then when you watch the whole movie you don’t notice it at all.
dontcallitbollywood 
I think it is set in the near past. Some of the old fashioned things are because its the villages and some because its a few years ago. My guess: its starts in the near past and ends in the present or close to the present. I have a feeling this is the kind of movie that in the end credits there is a montage of them with children and grandchildren. I agree with you about the accents; I don’t know enough to know if they work, but I do know that Indian audiences are very critical if you don’t get them right. It also has a “Guru” kind of feel to it and I loved that movie. Looking forward.
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I really hope it ends with a montage showing their lives! It also feels like the kind of movie where we will really care about the people and want to see them happy in their lives. when all the struggle is over.
On Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 9:06 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yeah, it does have a Guru kinda vibe to it!
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Pingback: Sui Dhaaga Trailer! I Think They Might Manage to Pull This Off — dontcallitbollywood – Business Startup-Bay Area
Sui Dhaaga looks really good! Have you seen Dum Laga Ke Haisha? I really liked that movie which is why I had some pretty big expectations on Sui Dhaaga. So far it looks like DLKH was a smaller, more grounded story, but I’m really curious how Sui Dhaaga turns out.
I was really surprised to see them married too! I am really excited to see the dynamic between Varun and Anushka.
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I was so happy with DLKH for how will it evoked the small town feel. It didn’t feel like a flimi version of a small town, it felt like an actual small town. And I am hoping for something similar here, not a filmi version of a tailor and a small work shop, but the actual version of it.
On Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 12:09 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I think Sui Dhaaga will end up feeling more filmi but I’m hoping that it will be a good thing. Like the story is big enough that it needs to be told in a more filmi way. Am I being clear? Like in DLKH, it’s a just a story about a couple in a small town but this seems to be about a couple in a small town who start a business and later a factory.
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Yes, that makes sense. Kind of like what Toilet did, but better (I didn’t like toilet). Starts out just two average people, and then they grow and succeed and suddenly it’s filmi with big dance numbers and stuff.
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I haven’t seen Toilet but that’s kinda what I mean.
Sorry, that was me from a different device earlier 🙂
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While I do like the concept of the film I don’t know why Varun’s acting kinda seems off for me.
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It seems to me that Anushka’s character Mamta will be the driving force and that Varun as her husband will go from prentending that ‘all is well’ to making it happen that all is well because they are partners from the get-go of their own business. I got the feeling that first Anushka makes sure that Varun gets the courage to use his talent for his own good, then backs him and then works with him then does her own work.
I have a very positive feeling about this movie. It’s from the Maneesh Sharma part of YashRaj. I have high hopes that Maneesh will do another movie with ShahRukh (strangely, he hasn’t directed since FAN).
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Maneesh seems to be far more of a producer than a director. It’s always like 2 movies as a producer to one as a director I think. But then he’s a great producer, so I’m okay with that.
On Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 3:12 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I think, Maneesh directed three movies in a row because he absolutely wanted to direct ShahRukh (it was his dream since being an assistant director), but he had to show his mettle. When he knew he would do FAN with ShahRukh, he turned to producing with the director he has now again let direct. It seems like the way to fulfil his dream made him confident enough to support other talents.
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I’m excited for this. I think they’ll make an interesting pairing, and I hope that Anushka brings up Varun’s game a bit. In the few parts I’ve seen him in so far he’s charming and energetic, but I haven’t seen much depth.
I loved DLKH except for the fact that the one slightly heavy, very pretty young woman was presented as such an anomaly. I’ve been in several Indian villages over the last couple of years, and overweight young women (and men) are not as common as in Indian cities, but certainly MUCH more common than one would expect from any Hindi movies I’ve seen so far. 🙂
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Similar to Fanney Khan, I just wish they had an acknowledgement that the weight issue was very specific to this situation instead of socially accepted norm. I am fine with the idea of Ayushmann’s character not being attracted to this particular body type, people have different tastes. But it was slanted ever so slightly in the direction of “obviously no one would be attracted to her and it would be embarrassing to be seen with her”.
But I loved the way it handled arranged marriages, and the work that goes into them, which feels like this movie will deal with as well.
On Tue, Aug 14, 2018 at 11:18 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I love those half filmi-half real films. I liked DLKH a lot, it’s one of the few movies I recommend to people, and I’m happy that Sui Dhaaga looks similar.
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