Happy Monday! I am finally done with my strange summer responsibilities! Last big hosting event is finished, and so on and so forth.
You can ask me anything from the personal (“will there be a Monday Malayalam this week?”) to the specific and factual (“Are the floods still happening in Kerala?”) to the general discussion (“what is the best Malayalam movie to watch?”)
Only rule is, you have to let me answer first! The discussion just goes better that way. But once I answer, please feel free to leap in and join the conversation.
Now, question for you!
In honor of Karan announcing a new season of Koffee, a Koffee style quiz question!
Who do you think will be the next big actor, Rajkumar Rao, Vicky Kaushal, Aditya Roy Kapur, Arjun Kapoor, Other?
And who will be the next big actress, Kriti Sonam, Vaani Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Other?
dontcallitbollywood 
Can’t wait for the next season of KWK. I’ve been watching Open House with Renil Abraham and there are some good episodes…Vidya Balan is on one and she’s adorable as usual especially with avoiding questions about her past with Shahid. I think the “years” long rumors that she is pregnant are finally true. Not to go all Jennifer Aniston-y on this issue!
So I’ll answer your question on who will be the next big stars, IMO. I’m thinking star-status like Ranveer Singh or Deepika…
Of that bunch of actors: Vicky Kaushal. He’s got the acting chops, the looks, and the clear backing of Anurag Kashyup and Karan Johar (two of the biggest arbiters of taste in the industry). Rajkumar Rao isn’t as traditionally attractive and he doesn’t really have the action-hero potential either. Aww…my Arjun…he’ll be a Akshay or Ajay at best, but never a Khan or even a Ranveer Singh level of star. ARK…no way. I like him in some things but he seems kind of ambivalent about pursuing his career. Maybe he’ll just end up being Mr. Katrina Kaif. Others: I hope it’s not Tiger! I don’t think Ishaan Khattar will last either for some reason. I actually think SRK’s son (and maybe even Saif’s son) are definitely future stars.
Actresses: I would say Parineeti has already reached her highest level of stardom, but a b-list stardom. Sadly, because she’s awesome (have you watched HTP or MPB yet?!!!). Of the rest of that bunch probably Kriti Senon. I could see her having a Deepika type of career trajectory. She was great in Raabta and BKB. I hope not Shraddha, of course, but she keeps getting cast which amazes me. I’m kind of hoping Vaani, but there’s not enough buzz around her. Bhumi is one of the others I would think about (especially because of her KJo connection). I think Taapsee Pannu is really the one to watch long term. Then there’s the new ones, Jahnvi, Sara, and eventually Suhana. I have no idea who this Ananya is that people keep talking about….
Question: what star-kids (besides SRK’s kids and Taimur) do you think will be entering the industry that we haven’t started talking about yet? If you could bet on it now with just a hunch. Hrithik’s sons are bound to be pretty,
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Yeah, Vicky right now is really having a break out year. In a smartly commercial kind of way. Without being obvious about it, he’s not getting the big launch that will make people tired of him, he’s getting the small roles in big movies or the big roles in small movies that will slowly introduce him to the audience and get us liking him before his big cross over hit type performance. Very similar to Ranveer, come to think of it. BBB is more commercial than anything Vicky has done so far, but it was also a pretty small film comparatively, and he followed it up with a bunch of similarly small films until slowly we all started going “oh yeah, Ranveer Singh, he’s nice.” Oh, and Vicky beating Rajkummar would fit with the pattern of “Margaret always backs the wrong horse”, since I was all “rah rah Rajkummar” for a bit here.
Shahrukh and Saif’s son are proof of one part of nepotism, children of charismatic photogenic people will grow up to charismatic and photogenic themselves. Akshay’s son would be another one to watch in that way. I find his face really striking in photographs. Of course, we have no idea if they have actual acting talent, but they can certainly take the camera.
Ananya is Chunkey Panday’s daughter. Chunkey’s been around forever, he’s never been like super famous or successful but he and his wife and kids are part of various friend groups and you always see them at parties, especially intimate parties like birthdays with only a dozen people invited. Ananya is part of a friend group too, she and Suhana and Sanjay Kapoor’s daughter are best friends since kindergarten. Ananya is getting launched in SOTY 2, we’ll see if she can actually act. Her father impressed me like crazy in Tezaab, almost stole the film from Anil Kapoor as far as I was concerned, so the talent is in her family.
for star kids, if this nepotism backlash continues they may end up getting settled in some other way. But assuming it dies down within the next 5 years, there’s Navya Naveli Nanda, she is almost guaranteed to be launched. She loves the camera and the camera loves her. Nyssa, Kajol and Ajay’s daughter, they’ve talked about wanting her to start working sooner rather than later and both of them were full time actors before 20. I’d be surprised if Karisma or Sushmita Sen’s kids became actors, they look like nice kids, but I don’t get that feel of “I love the camera” from them. On the other hand, Shahid’s daughter really does love the camera. In 15 years, I could see her getting a launch. Maybe opposite Taimur?
On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 8:51 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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How often do you rewatch movies that you don’t like much? Because I don’t do it that often but recently I decided to rewatch Meri Pyaari Bindu again just for a couple of moments that I really liked and I ended up really enjoying the movie a lot more than the first time.
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That’s one of the reasons I miss having my regular movie nights with my friends. It’s been replaced by going to movies in theaters, but when we were watching DVDs in my apartment, they would make me watch things that I otherwise wouldn’t have seen again. Not movies I hated, but stuff I was just sort of neutral on, like Don. And then as a rewatched it, I would learn to appreciate it more and more.
On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 9:57 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I have a follow up question to Niki’s. You’ve mentioned that you have such a good memory for movies that you don’t really need to watch them again to refresh your memory. How often do you re-watch movies you really like? Is it only when you are doing something special like the scene by scene series, or do you sometimes re-watch for fun or comfort? By yourself, or with others who preferably haven’t seen the movie?
I don’t watch enough movies to have an opinion on who is up and coming. As far as future star kids–seems that Rani and Adi’s baby would have a pretty good shot if she wants it. And little AbRam–though he is so gregarious I could see a future in politics for him also.
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I don’t really rewatch movies that much. Because they are kind of locked into my brain, so it’s boring to watch the same movie a second time. Sometimes it even ruins the magical experience of the first watch, since I can remember almost everything, all that’s left is to notice the mistakes which I missed the first time around. Part of the reason I have such respect for DDLJ is that I rewatched that movie obsessively for about a year in college. And it never got bad, I never noticed a flaw, a missed moment, a poor acting choice, any of that. The movie I had watched the most before that was Singin’ in the Rain which, similarly, has no missed moments or lost opportunities.
I do rewatch rarely when I will get a sudden urge to see a movie I haven’t seen in a while, like the last time I watched Kannamitthal Mutthamittal, or LOC Kargil (weirdly) sometimes really hits the spot for me. But most of the time, if I want to feel better and remember Om Shanti Om, for instance, I will just close my eyes and watch it in my head.
Oh, and I LOVE watching movies with others! I don’t watch the movie, I watch their faces and get to experience it all over again through their eyes. I think of it as being an emotional vampire.
On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 10:12 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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So finally Priyanka got engaged.
I may getting afraid of the Papa and photos of her now.
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I’m from Kerala so being so far away from home and watching the news and doing whatever little I can from so far away is extremely frustrating and heartbreaking. I wish I could be there to help at the same time I’m very thankful that my parents are here on a visit so they missed out on the fury of the floods too. It’s a whole lot of mixed emotions. I hear such heartrending stories of loss and then some heartwarming ones. Mixed emotions it is.
On your question Vicky and Pari making way to big stardom will give me most happiness. With Rajkumar being like the Irrfan/Nawaz of the Times.
I loved the poster of Jabariya Jodi. Did you?
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I loved the poster too! And it gave me hope for the film. My biggest concern was their ability to pull off these characters, and based on this image, they can make it work. Not necessarily “realistic”, but sort of cheerful and bright and silly and not feeling like two Bombayites playing dress up.
I would be happy with Vicky and Pari making it to the top, but I want more for Rajkummar than Nawazuddin’s career! Irrfan’s, maybe, so long as it’s Irrfan at his peak, not those long years at the beginning when no one really noticed him and he had to make do with tiny roles.
On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 10:58 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I wonder why you didn’t mention Alia…in my eyes she has the most potential to be an A-list star of those established actresses under 30 (as for the new-comers, I have no idea).
When it comes to the men, I hope, Varun will establish himself as a mainstream A-list star, but I also think that Rajkumar, Vicky, Ranveer and Ranbir will each have a certain position with great star power. Nevertheless, I’m almost sure that for the next decennies it may not be the time of megastars and/or legends.
Margret, I miss the continuation of your DDLJ analysis…and is the lack of time the reason for less movie-nights with friends?
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I started out thinking about Ranbir, Ranveer, Varun, and then I realized I was bored with them. I am much more interested in the younger generation coming up. Alia on the other hand, she feels like the only actress of that younger generation who has really broken out already. Kriti and Shraddha and the others are on the cusp, but they aren’t yet really famous on their own.
The DDLJ analysis, it’s partly time (I think my regular weekly schedule is about 30% more than I have time to do). And also I noticed my last few posts weren’t that interesting, so I decided to take a break and come back with fresh thoughts and fresh eyes when I felt ready.
On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 12:27 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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So no Monday Malayalam today?
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Hoping to manage a Monday Malayalam, my life is semi-good right now, groceries purchased and dog home and no family visiting at the moment. I’ve only got about half an hour left on a film I started yesterday, if I can finish it and then find the time to write the review, I will be back on schedule. And then the problem is finding the time to squeeze in a Tamil/Telugu film today too.
On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 2:05 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’m happy your life is getting back to normal 😉
I have another question: Should I watch Veere Di wedding? Do you think it’s my kind of movie? Months ago , when I have seen the trailer I was decided to watch it, but now, when it’s finally available I lost all interest. I’m not sure it’s worth the time.
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I want you to watch it, because I want your reaction. But I’m honestly not sure if you will like it or not.
Reflects on Life, I think, figured out the issue with the film exactly. The heroes are both female and rich. If you identify more with their female struggle, you will love the movie. They are strong interesting female characters with a great friendship and supportive life partners. But they are also very very rich. If you are the type to start to get frustrated with how money never really seems to be an issue for them, then this movie won’t work for you.
On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 3:46 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Next big Actor – going to call Vicky Kaushal cos the critics love him and KJo does too (KJo will ensure his access to the big movies). Don’t think Rajkumar can do action/dance, and I do feel he’s getting sterotyped a bit.
Actress- Kriti Sanon and Tapsee. I loved Tapsee’s interview and both of these girls seem to love mixing it up. Parineeti should’ve been doing this, she would suit the heartland girl very well but I think she somehow wants the big Yrf/Dharma films. Sigh, she’d have been a good competitor to Alia. JabariyaJodi does signal she’s headed taht way too maybe?
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Anushka and Dips started out overlooked in big films the way Parineeti is/was, and then they got the right roles and surprise us all. So maybe Parineeti will do that too. She’s 29, so a bit on the old side, but she’s got 4 films lined up in the next year, her career could look totally different in 12 months.
On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 2:14 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Why do you avoid talking about Tapsee?
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in general or in this post? In general, I don’t consciously avoid it, she just doesn’t do a lot of stupid PR stuff like the other actresses so she doesn’t come up much in the news. If she ever reaches the point of “Taapsee posts photo of her puppy on twitter….and it’s adorable!”, then I guess I’ll have to say more stuff about her. Probably things like “this is the most transparent PR stunt ever”.
In this post, it felt like she was a little bit better, farther along, than the other actresses. Kind of the same reason I didn’t include Alia. It feels like there are established people like Dips and Anushka, and then Alia by herself right behind them, and then Taapsee and Bhumi and maybe Kiara Advani right behind, and then all the people on my list, the ones who are still barely known by the audience and haven’t fully broken out.
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Bhumi & Kiara are promising but yet to prove their mettle imo. They are probably in the same bracket if not behind Shradhdha, Parineeti & Kriti.
As for Tapsee, she never features in any of your posts, comments, response to comments or even fanfics. Vicky Kaushal, Rajkumar also don’t do stupid PR things but they are mentioned in plenty. Just wondering if you dislike Tapsee for some reason like maybe she is a dog-hater?
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I can picture Taapsee so clearly in a photo with a dog, so doghater is out.
No, I think I’ve just never really gotten a handle on her. She was in Running Shaadi, my favorite rom-com of the past ten years, and she was good in that, but I came away thinking about Amit Sadh more. She was good in Pink too, but I noticed Kirti Kulhari more. And then in Mr. Perfect, she had an interesting role but it wasn’t a very big one and it was an early movie. Oh, Ghazi Attack! She was in that too, and again, I didn’t really notice her. Maybe she’s one of those actors that makes everyone around them look good at the cost of not being noticed themselves? Or maybe I’ve just happened to see her in movies that turned out to be break out roles and amazing performances for others so she kind of got lost (Amit Sadh, Kirti Kulhari, Prabhas, Rana)?
So, no hatred here. Just not a real clear grasp of who she is onscreen. Which might mean she is phenomenally talented! I felt the same way about Vidya Balan for years and it was just because she kept being cast in bland roles and didn’t get a chance to really show her stuff (Kismat Konnection, Heyy Babbyy, like that). Also Deepika, come to think of it (Bachne Ae Haseeno, Housefull).
On Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 3:45 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You missed Soorma. She was there in that too rt? And Judwa2!
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you’re right! and i saw all those films and i know i talked about her in the reviews, and yet i clearly don’t remember her in them now.
it could be worse, it could be like shruti haasan where i remember her because she was so baaaaaad.
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I do agree that she’s yet to make a breakout performance that makes us go wow or remember a film specifically for her. I guess she doesn’t get the roles handpicked for her & hopefully Manmarziyaan does that. But I loved her in Mr Perfect. Even with a poor characterisation & the focus clearly on someone else, she still came off as a lovable character. Have you watched her debut movie Aadukulam with Dhanush. For a newcomer, she was good. And then there’s this song with Arya that is just funny.
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For Actor – Vicky Kaushal only because I feel like I’m seeing/hearing a lot about him now in general. For Actresses – I’m going with Kriti Sanon. I’ll just throw out there that I’m notoriously bad at guessing the next big thing when it comes to actors.
I’ve actually got two questions for you. Who is an actor/actress that you thought could have/should have made it big but never quite got there for whatever reason?
And there’s news floating around that Sanjay Leela Bhanshali got the remake rights for Kaththi which just doesn’t seems like a very Sanjay Leela Bhanshali-type film to me. A little while ago, there was news that SRK bought the remake rights of Hey Ram, And then there’s the whole which role will SRK take in the Vikram Vedha remake question. So I guess my question is what goes on in the decisions behind remake rights? Some of these choices seem just odd.
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Maybe SLB will produce the Kaththi remake? I remember seeing him say before that he likes to produce the types of films that he wouldn’t direct himself. I think SLB also produced the Hindi remake of Tagore starring Akshay.
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That would make a lot more sense. Although, I guess a SLB directed Kaththi would be something else to watch.
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I am also notoriously bad at picking the next big thing! So I have a long list of actors that I thought were talented and promising and somehow went nowhere. Shahid Kapoor was a big one, I always kind of liked him and then he really stunned me with his talent in Kaminey and also Dil Bole Hadippa. DBH was just a pleasant little rom-com, but he elevated his character to something more. But now I don’t know what’s going on with his career and it just generally is not looking for him. Imraan Khan, he had another good streak, I thought he was really good in Jaane Tu….Ye Jaane Na, but also in Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola. And, strangely, Chunkey Panday! Watching Tezaab, I noticed him far more than Anil Kapoor. And then he sort of disappeared and came back as a character actor.
And for actresses, I really liked Ayesha Takia and Genelia D’Souza. And they didn’t have bad careers exactly, but not spectacular ones. Oh and Sushmita, of course, I want her to do/have done more.
From the remakes I have seen, it seems like often the remakes either keep the story but change the feel of the film entirely, or else didn’t really even want the story just a few set pieces. Singham, Holiday, they were almost shot for shot remakes, but they changed the songs and the star and that was enough to make it feel totally different, a light hearted silly romp instead of a sincere gritty film. And then there’s something like Bang Bang where they changed almost every detail of the plot but kept a few little details like the light hearted drugging of the heroine that they thought would be interesting. Most of the time it feels like a combination of the two, like they watch the original film and like the basic plot idea and a couple of cool bits of scenes, and then recast it and threw out everything they don’t like and add in some other stuff.
I bet Niki is right, that Bhansali wouldn’t direct Kaththi himself. For Shahrukh and Hey Ram, I could almost believe he bought those rights just to make sure no one else did. That is a tricky tricky film. Vikram Vedha, that makes total sense to me. It’s exactly that sweet spot of a great story with some good set pieces and they can throw out the rest of it. Stuff like, the hero cop has a lawyer wife. But you can make her his new wife with no kids (like in the original) or you can make her his wife of 20 years and they have two kids. Or you could even make their romance happen during the film instead of in a flashback. Same with the villain, you can make him the devoted older brother, or the devoted father, or the devoted older brother to a sister, you can make him a smuggler or a thief or whatever else. You just want to keep the chase scenes that are so cool and don’t worry about the details. And the idea of a top cop tracking down a top thief and discovering that they are on the same side, at least this once.
On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 10:55 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Reading through the comments, I’m a bit surprised not to see Ayushman or Sushant on anyone’s list. Any thoughts why not?
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Oh interesting!!! For me, I have lost a little faith in Sushant after his string of failures. Raabta (which I loved) made no money, his astronaut movie isn’t even happening any more after all the publicity, and the Sara movie which is never coming out. And for Ayushmann, I feel like he’s there, he’s arrived. Everyone knows him, there is a distinctive “Ayushmann Khurranna” kind of role, I can’t see him breaking out of it into a different bigger place.
But then, what do I know? I am always wrong about these things!
On Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 9:19 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh wow. I didn’t know that about the astronaut movie. Is there something about Sushant that makes people not want to work with him again? Or has he just not picked the right things for him? A combination?
I wondered if it was something like that with Ayushmann. I hope it continues to be a fruitful niche for him.
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I don’t know what’s going on with Sushant. He’s either had a strange string of bad luck, or there’s something that makes the films fail. I’m leaning towards bad luck because going into Raabta he was riding high. And then that one failed which made it harder to get funding for the astronaut movie possibly so that one failed and then the Sara movie got sucked into issues with the director and the whole KriArju mess. At a minimum I think we can say he ran into problems because he was shooting too high too fast. He was looking for a string of high profile big budget movies, which turned into a string of high profile big budget failures. If he’d thrown in something small along the way, like Ranveer did by adding in DDD and Befikre, it wouldn’t have been such a fast descent.
On Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 10:07 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Having now seen him in mirzya and bhavesh joshi, I’d say Harshvardhan Kapoor has screen presence and can really carry a film. Per your question, he could easily leap to the front of the line if he only had the ambition and drive to do so. He seems more versatile than ranbir and more naturalistic than ranveer. Plus his looks are very 1970s – amitabh bachchan, al pacino… which is a very man’s man look that can straddle action, comedy, and romance, and straddle art, parallel, and mainstream film.
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I would love for Harsh to fall forward! I loved Mirzya, and Bhavesh Joshi. Although I do think he has a long way to go in acting ability and star charisma. But with his slow career growth and young age, he’s got the time for that. He’s got the weird biopic coming out, that will probably be more commercial than anything else he’s tried before. If he manages to sign a rom-com after that, and then gets at least one big blockbuster hit of some genre, he could be in a really good position before he is 30.
On Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 12:53 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I really appreciate that he tries something new. He could use his contants and get main role in some ” guaranteed hit” rom-com or something, but he chose those 3 quite unusuall movies instead. I don’t know where this will lead him, but I like his courage.
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I agree 100%. There are so few such projects though in Bollywood, whereas you can make an alternative career of it in Hollywood, like Joaquin Phoenix or Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Hopefully, Bollywood is changing on that score.
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