Happy Wednesday! Halfway through the week. It feels like a short one to me, but maybe that’s just me.
I’ll start!
Reading: I am enjoying my last few moments of happiness reading fun fiction before I return to the long depressing slog that is Memoirs of a Thug in order to finish it before the movie comes out. Although, maybe I shouldn’t bother? Based on the first look poster of Amitabh, this is going to be much more Pirates of the Carribean and much less “legendary vicious bandits of the Indian plains, attacking travelers and taking their lives and their money”.
Watching: Koffee With Karan promo! It’s irresistible. Oh, and also The Godfather. After Raajneeti and Sarkar, I really had a hankering for it.
Thinking: I know morally I should be upset about Salman being blackmailed into the ridiculous change of “Loveratri” for “Loveyatri” (because the first was, obviously, super offensive to the sensitive powerless Hindu community in Gujurat). And yet, I cannot find it within myself to feel anything about this movie. Although I did appreciate Salman’s “oh I give up” attitude when announcing the change.
So, what are you watching and reading and thinking? What do you think about Thugs and Koffee and Loveratri…oh no wait LoveYATRI.
dontcallitbollywood 
I renewed the SunNxt subscription & have watched 4 or 5 Telugu films. Starting with Kshanam-superb as mentioned by everyone. While Goodachari was great as a film, Adivi Sesh hadn’t worked for me that well as a lead. But in this movie, he was very good as NRI with broken heart. His scripts seem to have no room for any distractions in the form of comedy or elaborate song & dance numbers. There’s already so much happening that you don’t miss songs. Songs, whenever they happen, are part of the story. The BGMs of both movies elevate the proceedings & I could find the BGMs online along with the songs-seems they are more popular than the songs themselves.
Tholi Prema-run of the mill love story with a strictly average hero & heroine. Rashi Khanna looks & acts like Katrina. Varun Tej has the same fidgety, awkward vibe from Fidaa but here he is presented in a more masala, heroic way which he can’t quite pull off. He has more of a grounded, silent sufferer vibe to him than a hot headed,cocky guy. The songs again are so good. Telugu movies are worth the watching just for their soundtracks & BGMs.
Mahanubhavudu-loved this. This is my third Sharwanand movie. Both his earlier movies had him in this intense, serious roles but here he was so much fun as the guy with OCD. The movie is nowhere a realistic take on OCD like in 24 North Kaatham & shows OCD as something that can be outgrown if u try really hard which is stupid but other than that it was good time pass.
Jai Lava Kusha-Jr NTR in three roles. I stopped midway while hubby carried on. Again songs & danced are good. I fonished the Malayalam novel that was pending for a long time.
PSV Garuda Vega-it came up in the recommendation list because of Kshanam. Dont know anyone in the cast or crew but turned out to be a good thriller. The climax was though totally Telugu style with bombs being propelled through steam pipes & what not. And item song by Sunny Leone.But still good, tight film.
So that was my Telugu week. I may take a break to watch some Tamil now.
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I can tell you the Tiger Shroff version of Kshanam found loads of time for comedy and dance numbers. Which is of course why it was such a strange movie, with the pattern of “serious and intense drama-WACKY COLORFUL COMEDY-serious and intense drama”.
Glad to have one person tell me I didn’t have to bother with Tholi Prema, I’ve been feeling bad after getting so many recommendations for it and ignoring it.
I need to watch more Sharwanand. I’ve only seen Malli Malli Idli Rani Raju (or whatever that title is, I can never remember it)
And of course PSV Garuda Vega is the one I am most interested in because I am all about the ridiculous fun Telugu endings.
Oh, and I so agree about the music! Telugu and Malayalam sound just immediately more interesting to me than most of the Hindi songs we are getting. Maybe it’s just that they are different, but I don’t think that’s all it is, I think they are legitimately better crafted than what is coming out of Bombay lately. Maybe because there is still a strong respect for “songs” there? The Telugu films that stop dead for the song sequences and still have song launches and everything, versus a lot of Hindi films that almost seem ashamed of their songs.
On Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 8:11 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I have seen Mallu Singh and so I’m in love with Unni Mukundan again 🙂
Oh my, what a movie! I’m sure, if I ever got a chance to direct a movie with one of my crushes it would be exactly that terrible-beautiful. Not enough funny, a little dull and slow, but then Unni appears and changes everything. Zooms at his handsome face starts, and we can admire him from like 100 different camera angles, and in slow motions sometimes. But there is more, soon he has the second epic entry (this time in turban!) and another zooms on his eyes, beard and muscles 😉 I felt a little guilty that I was enjoying all this so much, but then I thought: c’mon finally there is something good for woman too and OMG I wish Madhavan made a movie like this too .
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Watch Priyamani Thozhi! It’s not nearly as extreme as this, but there is a lot of long loving camera work around Maddy’s face.
On Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 9:04 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I shared my entusiasm for Unni and Mallu Singh on twitter and one random malayali guy answered: where is the sarcasm? Even in Kerala nobody has such high regards on Unni and this movie.
Well I think they search other things in movies 😉
From other news, I watched a lot of stuff on Netflix: -documentary about first english queens (interesting, I have learnt a lot)
-To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (not bad but I not as good as people said)
-french movie I Am Not an Easy Man
-The staircase (only 3 episodes because it made me nauseated)
And the most important: I finished North & South. Beautiful!
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I’m so proud of you for finishing North and South! Have you already seen the miniseries? If not, that’s another treat for you. Or I guess even if you have watched it already, now you can enjoy seeing it again with additional perspective.
On Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 12:53 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I haven’t seen it, because I was saving it for after the book, but maybe it was mistake. When I ended the book (and it’s important to know that the best scene is on the last 2 pages. Almost 600 pages and the best thing is in the very end) I rushed to youtube to watch the series, and it was big disappointment because the first episode is missing and the quality is terrible. But I though: I will watch only the best parts then, and I discovered that everything was different – poor Bessy wasn’t like in the book, some scenes were added, and most important the final scene was changed! I’m sure I will like the miniseries some day, but now the book is too fresh in my head to accept modifications.
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I love the miniseries, but it’s definitely going after the Pride and Prejudice hangover crowd. They make the romance the center of things and it is all very dramatic and swoony. Also, personally I love the final scene. But I can see how it might be hard with your book hangover to accept the changes.
On Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 2:10 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Watching: This was “spread the Indian film love” week for me. Thursday night a friend came over and we watched Makkhi (me for about the fifth time, her first). Then on Sunday after church I did a little SRK evangelism and took my DVD of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi to another friend’s house. She liked it so much we cranked out Om Shanti Om on Netflix and made it a double feature. Before I left, made her a list of movies to watch on Netflix, and when I got home I sent her the link to this blog. She’s also dress historian — costume and textile curator at a museum — so we are making plans to see Sui Dhaaga together. I also watched Kabali, and the One Heart concert on Netflix; my husband wandered in during Kabali and ended up watching the whole thing.
Reading: Lots of articles about how companies are targeting the Baby Boom “silver” market. Very depressing; as a member of this first generation to have our every inhalation and heartbeat be monetized, I am learning far too much about how generational stereotypes are created and spread by the media. I also finished John Hodgeman’s Vacationland, which very, very funny and a nice break. Now I am reading Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Upmost Happiness.
Thinking: Mostly about what I am writing, but also trying to figure out how I am going to plant my fall seeds when it WON’T STOP RAINING.
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I’m jealous! I haven’t watched an Indian movie with a newbie in ages. I keep trying to convince one of my co-workers to try it out, but no interest so far. And, obviously, both of those movies are excellent choices for newcomers, immediately exciting and different while still being accessible.
I am really hoping “millennial” is a temporary identity for my generation, because it really doesn’t work very well. Those identifiers end up rubbing off so many rough edges and we need the rough edges. It’s a new kind of Orientalism almost, only sold by advertising companies instead of Empires, neatly categorizing people and rejecting anything that doesn’t fit the category.
I am jealous of your rain. It’s been that about to storm sunny and humid hear for the past few days and it’s super uncomfortable. Makes it hard to sleep or think.
On Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 9:14 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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After re-watching City of God, I became mildly obsessed with the actor Indrajith Sukumaran. I just could not believe that that lovable teddy bear was the real life brother of studly and intense Prithviraj. I had to research this.
So, I watched the movie Oruvan (on Amazon Prime). Indrajith wasn’t quite as teddybear-like. He played a homicidal maniac with anger management issues and a terrible buzz cut. Not exactly the stuff dreams are made of, unless you really like nightmares. Prithviraj does appear in the second half, as a studly and intense police officer with a very….unusual…mustache. (He does look fine in a uniform.)
Still researching Indrajith, I watched the movie Amen, also on Amazon. The sweet, cuddly guy returned! As a sweet, cuddly priest, trying to save the community’s church. (A touch of trivia – all the songs except one were filmed in a single shot.) Indrajith does resemble his brother in certain angles, especially around the eyes. He looks like a happy combination of Luciano Pavarotti and Prithviraj. The movie itself was kind of charming, with a climactic battle of—clarinets!
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Amen is so good, but I didn’t think it had the heart that City of God had. Agree with you though, Indrajith was just wonderful in City of God. It’s funny, I think the two brothers are equally talented and charismatic, but Prithviraj has the slightly more standard looks and so he became the bigger star.
Oh, and here’s my Amen review: https://dontcallitbollywood.com/2017/04/03/monday-malayalam-amen-art-above-all/
On Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 4:13 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’m home in Japan after a wonderful week in Bangladesh, during which I was unusually busy and did not see any movies, TV shows, or even a lot of ads. I can tell you that the Head n Shoulders ad with Ranveer is super popular right now. Also Diljit is advertising something, but the TV was at the other end of the room so I couldn’t work out what. I am looking forward to watching more Sacred Games and catching up with the blog. My most exciting news is that I scored a biography of Suchitra Sen in the Dhaka airport!
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Oooo! I am super jealous of the Suchitra Sen bio! You must share anything you learn from it.
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I’m really enjoying my (hot, tiring) work trip in Zimbabwe. The TV choices in the small-town hotels where I’m staying tend to be South African soaps (fun but not for hours on end) and football/soccer (same), so I’m happy I brought along Yes Boss, Raees, and all of Neill Blomkamp’s movies–I like his eye and take on storytelling. I hope he makes more movies, or interesting Netflix or Amazon-type serial TV.
Sadly, my co-workers aren’t really into music or movies, so they aren’t up for watching a movie with me, nor to share any cool local music. Hmmm. I’m going to be taking a long-ish trip with one of the drivers next week and I’m hoping he’ll clue me in.
Reading a book recommended by my husband, who is a yoga and meditation teacher, about the practice and benefits of Tantric Meditation focusing on aspects of Shakti. It’s thought provoking, and good to read while I’m traveling and have time to try out some of the meditations. I used to meditate daily, but haven’t for a while.
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I have a very warm feeling for Neill Blomkamp because he saved my job. The movie theater I worked at was really struggling and then District 9 came out and kept us going. Wasn’t a big hit opening weekend, but by golly it kept selling tickets week after week after week.
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District 9 is good but my least favorite of his due to the ick factor. I just googled him to see if he’s got other stuff coming up and he’s apparently directing the RoboCop sequel. Hmm. My favorite movie of his is Chappie, which has a 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Well, I never said I had taste. It’s a truly off-kilter movie, but a great message about what it means to be a person.
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Chappie did not do well at my movie theater. But the posters did look interesting, more interesting than District 9.
On Thu, Sep 20, 2018 at 8:36 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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