Happy Monday! I have a car again! I am so happy! I can spend time chatting with you all and then drive to work, instead of running for the bus.
You can ask me anything from the personal (“what color is your car?”) to the specific and factual (“What movie is coming out this Friday?”) to the general discussion (“Is it more fun to watch movies in theaters even if you have to drive far or to stay home and watch streaming?”)
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! Keeping up my system of stealing from Koffee, I’ll give another standard coffee quiz. One word response to each of the following (well, as many as you know):
Shashi Kapoor
Mammootty
Nagarjuna
Rajinikanth
Kamal Haasan
Anushka Sharma
Sonam Kapoor
Deepika Padukone
Taapsee Pannu
Parvathy
Or, feel free to add on as many people as you want if you have a good one word for them!
dontcallitbollywood 
Nagarjuna – Way more handsome than his sons.
Kamal Hassan – Great actor when he’s not too worried about prosthetics and make up. Also should do more comedies since he’s so good in them, but unfortunately he’s not going to do anymore movies.
Anushka Sharma – okayish actress, not a big fan.
Sonam Kapoor – should never ever open he big mouth. Cannot stand her.
Deepika – An actress who actually showed growth.
Tapsee – good actress, over energetic
Parvathy – Love her! Superlatively talented actress, down to earth ( I met her on a flight), an actual feminist who had the balls to take on a big star, unlike the Hindi film actresses who tend to talk about issues only while promoting films. She also helped a lot in the Kerala floods relief work, she was actually on ground and reporting and stuff.
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Oops I forgot it had to be 1 word 😂
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But all your words were so good!
On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 7:18 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Anushka Sharma – producer
Sonam Kapoor – fashionista
Deepika Padukone – star
Taapsee Pannu – feisty
Parvathy – smart
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I like them all! I might change Parvathy “smart” for “brave”, but I’m not sure.
On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 8:04 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Shashi Kapoor: ***sigh***
Rajinikanth: Icon
Anushka Sharma: So-so
Sonam Kapoor: Nepotism
Deepika Padukone: Charisma
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Well, you are a little mean! You would totally win the Koffee quiz, because you know that is what Karan is looking for.
On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 8:58 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Aw, I don’t think I’m being mean. Just that Anushka and Sonam aren’t the strongest actors and Sonam in particular has an acting career because of her family. But I respect both of them for what they are doing behind the scenes. Sonam is using her family status to raise up women in the industry and I can’t snark on that. In terms of acting, Deepika is the one who has real star power and on-camera magnetism.
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This is so interesting. Personally I like Anushka and Deepika and think they have both grown a lot as actors. Another commenter once referred to Deepik as the female Hrithik Roshan though. Ouch! 🙂
Wonder what makes the different in preferences? For me my prefs have been shaped by at what stage in my Hindi film journey I first saw the person, the order in which I’ve seen their performances, and if I’m honest, whether they’ve worked in a Shah Rukh movie, just because I know his movies far better than anyone else’s. This goes for men and women.
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I find Anushka and Sonam to be bland on screen. Even in Veere de Wedding, Sonam stood out as the weak link in the cast. But speaking to your point about SRK, my favorite Anushka performance is in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
Deepika was really good in Piku and held her own with Amitabh and Irrfan, which impressed me. I would definitely not compare her with Hrithik! He’s always working so hard to impress you, it’s kind of exhausting to watch sometimes. Deepika has an ease in front of the camera that is very different.
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I did an Ashutosh Gowarikar Netflix fest this weekend – Lagaan, Swades, Mohenjadaro (sp?). It’s clear the AG is a creative visionary even if he stumbles in his execution at times.
Among these films, the one that stuck with me was Swades. Deeply sentimental, slightly but earnestly over-acted by all the actors (lead and supporting), I have some issues with the storytelling choices (like too much exposition at the start to backfill the story). Gayatri Joshi was a revelation, matched SRK toe to toe, even uses her eyebrows to portray emotion ala srk lol, but seriously, no mean feat for a first timer. Disagreeing with conventional wisdom, I don’t think SRK’s was an un-SRK-like performance in Swades. All the trademark SRK mannerisms were on display. However I feel he employed them to correct effect to both heighten and narrate the story without overpowering the story. I think at this point in his career, the audience still expected to “see” SRK in every SRK film, so didn’t have the luxury of completely disappearing into a character.
Raju Hirani and co should study Swades as a template for how to make an overtly social-message movie with a clear POV, without completely lecturing or manipulating the audience.
Was wondering if you could do a review on Swades sometime, maybe as a Friday classic? If not, then maybe summarize your thoughts on that movie here?
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Oh I should absolutely review Swades!!!! You are right!!! Every Friday, I just stare at my DVD shelves with my eyes out of focus and see what pops. That’s my very scientific method for deciding what to review. Swades hasn’t popped yet, but it would be a great one.
Agree completely about Raju needing to study it. It’s not preachy, it’s not bombastic, it is showing instead of telling. And it also doesn’t look down on the people being helped. There is no “savior” here, Gayatri Joshi and others in the village were already trying to do things, Shahrukh just joined in their fight and contributed his own experience and knowledge. And there are no simple answers, the overall message is just to find the best community for you and the best way to help it. Shahrukh’s character doesn’t judge his colleague who stays in DC and neither does the film, that was his choice and Shahrukh had to make his own choice.
Now that I think about it, in an odd way it could be seen as a balance to My Name is Khan and vice versa. In both, Shahrukh’s character becomes part of the community and contributes to it. But in MNIK, he is an NRI who has made a home and found a place in America and so he gives his energies to America. In Swades, he never really fit there, and so he has to return home to find a place and a people that he can help.
Also, I remember Mohenjo Daro as being mostly terrible with a few moments of brilliance. Was that how it felt on your watch?
And can I point out that you skipped What’s Your Rashee?
On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 9:01 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh is what’s your rashee an AG movie? I had no idea.
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Yep, it’s his “one of these things is not like the others” movie. Harman’s father must have paid him All the Money to make it happen. Or, maybe he wanted to do it, there are also quotes from him saying he wanted to see if he could make a quick comedy instead of something that would require all the research he did for the other films.
And you got me to look up the movie which lead me to learning it is based on a book called “Kimball Ravenswood” which is one of the most Chicago titles imaginable and now I kind of want to read the book just to see if it lives up to the specificity of that title. Especially since it is from the 1970s, and the Indian community here in the 1970s was kind of in flux.
On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 9:59 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Mohenjo Daro just felt like AG had probably always dreamt of making a Charlton Heston style Biblical Epic, because it somehow felt like an homage to that sort of movie. It was more kitchy than terrible, if that makes sense. I wasn’t mad at it, but it certainly could have been so so much better, given the importance and significance of the topic. All that really stays with me is Hrithik over-acting ala Heston, and how much the lead actress looks like Nicole from The Pussycat Dolls – very beautiful but much more Kardashian than Indian (but maybe that was the point, per migration patterns back then).
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Yes! I think you got it exactly! It was supposed to be The Ten Commandments or something similar.
Maybe the problem is that it didn’t go big enough? I loved the alligator fight, and the taming the horse scene. But then the end flood scene just didn’t feel big enough, and there was all that talky talky talky dragging down the energy in the middle. Come to think of it, there was a lot of talky talky talky in Jodha-Akbar too. But everything was so pretty in that movie, I didn’t mind the talky talky.
On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 10:10 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Unrelated to anything…just saw Arjun Kapoor being cute on twitter about an image from Sui Dhaga promotions and realized that Arjun and Anushka have never done a film together and they would be amazing! This is now my top on-screen ship until it happens. Imagine them in a rom-com with an enemies to lovers plot set in the corporate world where they are competing for the same job or something.
What is your dream pairing of the current group that hasn’t happened yet? I feel like we’ve done this lately but I can’t remember…
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The first one that leaps to mind of the younger generation is Varun and Parineeti. They came so close, and their chemistry was great in the little bits in Dishoom and on the Dream Team tour, and then somehow it didn’t happen. But they are both capable of being so cheerfully enthusiastic and over the top onscreen, I want to see them together! It feels like a perfect match.
On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 9:25 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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My question is, how did the Summer go by so quickly? Our kid is starting 8th grade tomorrow. Eeeeek!
I’m thinking about going to see AR Rahman on the 31st, if I can get joyomama to meet up with me there. 🙂 I just went to the website to look at ticket prices, and, hilariously, they are promoting this concert as being in New York even though it is in Fairfax, VA. Guess they didn’t update their template or something. Or they have discovered how to make wormholes in time and space.
Also–who is the terrible promoter you were mad at a few months ago for turning Salman’s concert in Chicago into a political opportunity? The person/group organizing/promoting Rahman is V.K Taneja of Elite Bollywood Entertainment.
So that’s two questions. I haven’t seen enough of most of the folks above for a one word answer, but enjoying other peoples’!
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My Mom was just saying the same thing to me yesterday! Not about her kid starting 8th grade, but about summer going by fast. I’m having the opposite feeling, this has felt like a really loooooooooong summer to me. 3 major hosting events, 2 trips with my sister, plus the whole car fiasco towards the end of it. Oh, and my first summer with a dog! There’s been so much happening that it made the 3 months seem long, you know? Fall is my favorite season anyway, so I always look forward to it, but I am especially looking forward this year. This summer was exhausting, let’s move on to bigger and better things.
Speaking of, I am also debating the AR Rahman concert! I didn’t know if I would have a car for a while which made it completely out of the question. Now I have a car, but it is really far away, at a different location than they usually are (which is already an hour away). And I have to think about ticket prices and stuff since I am still trying to pay off repairs on the other car. Really it’s just because I am spoiled, I already saw Rahman a couple years ago, so I don’t have the urge like I would usually. However, I would highly HIGHLY recommend you to go! It’s supposed to be a stadium concert, the one I saw was his artsy music focused concert and it was kind of boring. I had a friend who saw one of his earlier stadium tours, and she said it was amazing, laser show and so on.
The terrible promoter for Salman was the Chicago local guy (also the one who brought in the Governor, who has the lowest approval rating of any Governor in America). The International promoter was Sahil (also coincidentally based in Chicago). So not these guys. Which just means they aren’t definitely bad, they could still be sort of bad.
On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 10:40 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Thanks for the encouragement. Your comments about him playing his more artsy, avante garde stuff–which would be over my head–were in the back of my mind. I feel reassured. Udit Narayan may be there too (not clear from the messed up promotional materials). I love his voice and will at least know a couple of his songs.
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I just read that Preity zinta is/was in Chicago today did you know that?
And as usuall I borrow the questions you suggested – what movies come out this week? And are you planning to see it?
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I did! She was doing one of those seen and be seen events. A banquet, super pricey tickets, and then you can tell people “Had dinner with and met Preity Zinta”. I always feel bad for the celebrities at those occasions, having to make nice with all these people and take a ton of selfies, and sort of sell themselves instead of their talent.
Yamla Pagla Deewana, and Stree! I think I can skip the latest YPD, but Stree I am curious about. Maybe a Saturday matinee if I can’t make it on Friday.
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Ayalum Njanum Thammil – does the heroine dies in the end because of some incurable illness?
I’m asking because I want to see it, but it looks like very sad movie, and I can’t afford to see another movie with dying heroine.
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No, not a dying heroine. It’s more sort of wistful than sad.
On Sat, Sep 1, 2018 at 4:09 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Thank you, I’m watching this one then.
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