Happy Wednesday! Today is the last day my office will only be 2/3rds staffed. Starting tomorrow we will be half-staffed (fun fun!) until Tuesday. So I am terrified of getting sick.
I’ll start:
Reading: I’m back to Bujold, having finished all the Commander Vimes Terry Pratchett series. And sometime this week, I have to dig into Confessions of a Thug and finally finish that thing. Well, “finish”, I am planning on careful skimming.
Watching: Remember last Wednesday I was debating what to watch with my friend? We ended up watching Bloodstone, Rajinikanth’s one Hollywood film, for kitsch value and shortness. Besides that, nothing exciting, I finished Eklavya over the weekend and have Murder She Wrote going on in the background for coziness while I blog most nights.
Thinking: What am I going to do about Namaste England? I either have to watch it tomorrow night after work (not appealing, I hate midweek late shows) or Saturday during the day (also not appealing, I was going to vacuum). Friday is set aside for Badhaai Ho, it’s what everyone would rather see. So I have to stick Namaste in somewhere around the edges.
Listening: The fun one! I restarted my work phone and ended up losing my playlist, so I did a “synch all downloads” thing in Saavn which I think made it start trying to synch all my past downloads, I ran out of storage space after about a dozen, so the upshot is I now have a very random selection of songs that I had forgotten about and am quite enjoying.
Now, question for you! In the new “listening” category: What is a song you used to love and recently rediscovered?
For me, I guess “Tu Hai”. I really liked it back when the movie came out, and then the movie was so terrible and all the other songs were so unremarkable that I forgot about it.
dontcallitbollywood 
Watching: Saw A Star is Born and enjoyed it…could actually be an instant Hollywood classic. Also watched Table 19 with Anna Kendrick…kind of charming. Still trying to get up to speed with all the 2018 Hindi films available through streaming and now falling behind. Watching Sanju this weekend with my new movie buddy. Totally addicted to Kim’s Convenience and halfway through Season 2. It’s so cute and I totally called it on the central romance. But I’m also rooting for Janet and Gerald.
I think you should go see Namaste England on Saturday afternoon. You should vacuum on Thursday night. But I really hope you see it!
LikeLike
So happy someone else is watching Kim’s Convenience!!!!! that means I could possibly have an excuse to do an Indian remake fanfic, just for the two of us. Anupam Kher as Appa? Or Shahrukh? Also, I love the central romance! Jung totally sells the transition from “who is this weird boring woman” to “I find her delightful!” And of course it helps that she actually is delightful. And I can picture so easily the backstory for them Jung always going for the pretty confident types and not thinking about the woman he just really likes and respects, and Shannon with her series of failed awkward crushes never really believing the cute guy would like her. Not so sure about Janet and Gerald, they are both so (accurately) stupid and 20-something, I am more inclined to want to hit them upside the head than ‘ship them.
I’ll see how I feel this weekend. It does feel like more a matinee kind of movie, doesn’t it? Not so much deep dark thoughts in the evening, more “well, that was a fun way to kill an afternoon” in the sunshine.
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 10:19 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Anupam for Appa would be the obvious choice, but maybe Pankaj Tripathi? Or Pankaj Kapur? Sanjay Mishra? For Amma…Kirron Kher or Shefali Shah (paired with Pankaj Tripathi would be good)? And Sid for Jung and that young actress from Karwaan for Janet?
LikeLike
Ooo, I like the Karwaan actress for Janet! Sid has the right look, but I’m not completely convinced of his acting abilities.
Of course Shannon is the almost impossible one to cast. What actress has the ability to pull it off?
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 10:55 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I kind of like the tiny hints that Amma and Appa were very cool when younger, which makes me think we could really lean into that in a remake. What about some eighties heroes and heroines? Madhuri as Amma? (We could have more dancing scenes!) Not sure how that would work with Appa, maybe Anil Kapoor? Or is he too inherently peppy?
LikeLike
I was thinking of Anil, but he might be too inherently peppy for me.
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 11:06 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I think you’re right about Amma and Appa, so maybe Anil and Juhi? I still think Sid would be great to play the kind of not book smart kind of guy that Jung is. Simu Liu is such a great facial expression guy that it is hard to picture Sid doing the gradual changes in the Shannon romance. Maybe Ranveer for Jung and then Arjun for Kimchee. Still the Karwaan actress for Janet. Shannon is tough, but maybe Alison Brie based solely on her character in Community…she’s perfect!
LikeLike
Well heck, if we’re casting white for Shannon (I was thinking more like she is a local Telugu girl and they are a Punjabi family, or she is Punjabi and they are southern, or even she is an ABCD and they are more recent immigrants, that kind of cross-culture), then I would just want the original actress over again. I am sure she would be game for a mostly Hindi remake.
You are right about the subtle expression changes as Jung’s arc continues. Hmm. Ayushmann or Rajkummar could do it no problem, but they aren’t handsome enough. Maybe Sushant Singh Rajput?
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 11:50 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
`
I binge-watched all available episodes of “The Good Place” and still can’t figure out if it’s brilliant or stupid. I’m leaning towards brilliant.
–
LikeLike
You have almost convinced me to try it out. But new sitcoms are so scary! It’s so much easier to just rewatch Frasier in a never-ending cycle.
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 10:26 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I love The Good Place! I do think you would like it.
LikeLike
So I thought this was interesting: because of the success of Crazy Rich Asians, the New Yorker tweeted their review of Dil Dhadakne Do:
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s such a poorly written review, pretentious in that New Yorker way that you actually don’t have any idea what the film is actually about by the time you’ve finished reading their short pithy reviews.
But I totally agree that the two films should be discussed together and they are right to make the connection. Makes me wonder had this film been made in English how it would have fared. I made my mom watch it and she liked it more than other Hindi films I’ve shown her.
LikeLiked by 1 person
DDD might have been an interesting one to film in English and Hindi simultaneously. Or even release a full “English” version with the songs removed. I don’t want to lose the Hindi-ness, especially since it is a script that uses puns and language humor, but it could have been interesting if they’d made the same story with the same cast but for the American market.
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 11:01 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
And now I am in my usual illogical spiral of “why does that person get to write professional movie reviews? Why don’t I get to?”
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 10:38 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s not illogical at all. And if you wanted to work toward it, I’m sure you could get a gig writing reviews. You might think of pitching yourself as a reviewer for an Indian publication giving the US perspective on the films.
LikeLiked by 1 person
YES YES YES! — but I suspect the “pitching yourself” part is what’s holding things up.
LikeLike
In that I pitch and pitch and never get a response from anyone and don’t bother mentioning it on the blog because I assume it is a given that I am pitching these things and why spread the misery of saying “well I sent in another half dozen pitches and never heard back from anyone and then saw they are using a less qualified author”? Then yes, that is the problem! I also don’t share all the teaching positions I have been rejected for (even the continuing education classes!) and all the conferences I went to and gave a presentation to an empty room because no one came to hear my talk, and all the academic journals that told me I was no good, and so on and so forth. Just assume that if I am providing everything through a blog, it is because I can’t find any other outlet that will take me. And I also don’t necessarily want to call out by name all the perfectly nice people who got those positions, I am sure they are doing their best.
And if you actually have a contact at a publishing company or a publication or an agents office or a university, than please share it. But simply saying “you should send in more pitches” leads to more of a depressing spiral of memories of rejection than anything useful.
(sorry, that was a whole bunch of millennial resentment of people who don’t seem to grasp just what a nightmare the job/opportunity market is right now. Picture me speaking for every person of my generation who has folks saying “but have you considered applying for jobs? Maybe then you would get one!”)
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 12:29 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLiked by 2 people
`
uh . . . never mind. I’m an idiot.
`
LikeLike
You are so nice! And I have tried that many many times, many many many times. I think I am just bad at pitching myself (thus the monthly request for help with promotions). I send in the pitches, they just never go anywhere. Thus the yelling at myself not to feel bad when I see these things, because I need to learn to just accept what I can and cannot do and stop thinking about it.
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 11:52 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLiked by 2 people
I completely hear your pain and I’m sorry. As someone who wrote a whole novel that never got published, I understand.
LikeLike
News of the week – I have a new crush! And it’s Arjun Kapoor 🙂 It’s been some months that I started liking him (for being a nice person, good brother, for learning a little of sign language to send a message to his deaf fan etc) , but today I watched Aurangzeb and oh my, I’m in love 😉 But why his acting is so uneven? He was good in Aurangzeb playing double role in a movie with Prithviraj, Rishi and other awesome actors, but looks terrible in Half-girlfriend and Namaste England trailers. Maybe he need to work with the best to give his best?
From other news – I have seen 2 other good movies about cops – Action Hero Biju and Talaash. I loved both.
The song I rediscovered few days ago is Teri Ore. I haven’t listened to it for months and had goosebumbs when I played it after so long time.
LikeLike
Welcome to the club! Aurangzeb sold it for me. There’s a really good serious dramatic actor in there and he should be doing more action/thriller/realistic roles. He needs the right kind of chemistry with his female leads to succeed in any romantic film. I blame half of Half Girlfriend on the terrible source material and half on Shraddha. He’s actually fully likable in 2 States and Ki & Ka when he has a good co-lead.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I hate hate hate hate hate Ki & Ka, but strangely I really like the central characters/actors. I think that might be why I hate it so much, I feel like the rest of the film let down the great performances at the center.
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 11:55 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLiked by 2 people
A new crush is very big news! And I agree about Aurangzeb, he was so so good in that. It’s an okay performance in a vacuum, and then you realize it was only his second movie, and he was going up against massive heavyweights, and it becomes much more impressive. And I think it was also the perfect role for him, using his kind of dark edgey vibe just right without going too far.
I don’t know what’s going on with Arjun now, he was so good when he started and then has gotten worse as time goes on instead of better, which just doesn’t make sense. It’s supposed to go the other way!
And I am so glad you saw Talaash and Action Hero Biju. Both very similar views of police work, calm and intelligent and responsible with little heroics. And Talaash is my favorite recent Aamir performance. Check out Sarfarosh if you want a similar policeman Aamir.
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 11:16 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
<<I don’t know what’s going on with Arjun now, he was so good when he started and then has gotten worse <<
Ha, maybe he had a secret twin, who acted in first movies, and now is gone and the second (less talented) Arjun took his place? Or he took some acting classes from his cousin Sonam?
LikeLike
Or maybe we are watching the secret twin now and the real Arjun is off somewhere else?
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 3:30 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
LOL
Or, the most likely – he worked too much with Shradha and Parineeti and doesn’t remember what real acting is. What are his upcoming movies?
LikeLike
Namaste England, and then the really exciting one (to me) is Most Wanted, with the same director and Raid, I think he is playing a cop. I don’t remember who the co-stars are, but I really respect that director and him alone wouold be enough to elevate it.
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 3:48 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I purchased the cd(bluray) of MohenjoDaro for Tu Hai song and just watched it last week. A R Rahman & Ashutosh Gowrikar seem to share a chemistry that results in atleast one great song every movie
the song(s) I recent rediscovered are from the movie Barsaat (starring Bobby Deol)
I had not listened to these songs in a long time, because I am not a fan of Kumar Sanu’s nasal voice.
But listening after a long time, the songs still sound as good as they first were
LikeLike
I don’t know if I ever listened to the Barsaat soundtrack! I think I watched the movie years and years and years ago, but I never listened to the soundtrack.
I wish they still made songs DVDs, there are so many movies where I really just want one song but have to buy the whole DVD to get the visuals.
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 12:40 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Poor poor me–I’ve just been working working working, doing family stuff, rinse, repeat. So I haven’t been able to participate in much Shah Rukh’s birthday month stuff. I’m super mad about that. I’ll try to do catch up comments as I can, but it’s never as good as participating while the post is fresh. I also feel oddly like I’m letting you/this “community” down, which is probably silly AND egotistical but there it is.
However, I feel much less whiny about working such ridiculous amounts of time over the last 6 weeks after reading your comments about how you are not getting traction with applications, presentations, and pitches. While it is hard and I am very, very tired, I am doing interesting and rewarding work which is within my area of expertise. It’s good to be reminded how incredibly lucky that makes me.
I stayed up too late to watch Wake Up Sid and Sanju in the last week (my secondary–by quite a lot–crush being Ranbir). You must hate Konkona’s plot in Wake Up Sid. I mean, have you tried becoming a secretary for an editor and then putting an essay on his desk a couple of times? (sorry, bad joke)
Knowing nothing, I assume that many writing jobs are based on who you know, but I am shocked about the teaching positions. This blog and your book shows what an incredibly engaging teacher you’d be. Harummph!
I haven’t been listening to Hindi music long enough to have forgotten then remembered songs. 🙂
LikeLike
I was missing you! Seemed like you weren’t around as much. I want to tell you to keep feeling guilty and like you are letting us down (because that way you will keep commenting), but that’s not right. Go off and do what you are supposed to do in your life! We’ll be here when you come back. Although you are also definitely missed when you are gone.
Konkona’s plot does drive me a little crazy, but then I just think about how that magazine is going to be out of business in about 6 months and she and Ranbir will be living off Anupam, and then I feel better. Anyway, you should comment on those reviews! Even if it is late, I will always respond, and from view counts I can tell that loads of people hop over to read new comments on old reviews.
Everything seems to be kind of based on who you know. I am so lucky to have my current job just through craigslist, but then everyone else hired after me has been a personal referral. For teaching jobs now, you seem to either need to know someone, or have a PhD and years of teaching experience already. And that’s for absolutely anything, including no credit continuing Ed fun classes. For writing jobs, it definitely has a “I know this person because we worked together on the campus newsletter in college” kind of feel to how people get hired. A lot of places just straight up say they don’t accept pitches, they will reach out to you. Which raises the question of how they know you exist, unless it is from that old friends network. I’d probably have a better chance breaking into the actual film industry than I would the industry that writes about film. For one thing, the film industry has way way more paying jobs, actual living wage paying jobs, available than the writing industry.
Oh, you’ve been watching for longer than that! I think you just have a way better memory for songs than I do.
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 1:42 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
You would be terrific scriptwriter 🙂
LikeLike
I got your Halloween card and I am highly amused that one of the scary items is hairy shirtless Anil 😂
LikeLike
My friend told me that was too scary and she has to keep her card in a drawer.
Also, yaaaay! You got it!
On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 3:40 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Watched Khoobsurat Monday night rather than going to sleep at a reasonable hour like a sensible person (after day one and before day two of big all day work meeting thing). It was fun and kind of goofy, the Disney roots showed through. I’m not a Sonam hater but I found her v annoying in this part – the dialogues didn’t do any of them any favors but she didn’t bring much beyond making faces and bumping into things unconvincingly. Fawad, though…what a beautiful man. Pretty sure he could have chemistry with an empty chair, or a set of curtains.
When the Pakistani actors stopped being able to work across the border, I was focused on Mahira, I think because of the timing with Raees and how she had to do the promo interviews remotely. After seeing ADHM and Khoobsurat, though, starting to be convinced it was Fawad who was right on the cusp of making it big time. Seems a loss.
LikeLike
Have you seen Kapoor & Sons? That was Fawad’s last movie right before the ban and the political excitement. It was a good large role for him, and he got to play opposite Alia and Rishi Kapoor and Sidharth Malhotra and did really well. Karan was on track to mentor him and talking about how he was the most exciting actor in years and so on and so forth. And then it all went away.
LikeLike
Sadly I missed Kapoor and Sons before it disappeared from Netflix, but this gives me another good reason to track it down elsewhere.
Politics is the worst. Especially when it gets mixed up in art. So much wasted potential.
LikeLike
And it was so poorly timed, there had been years of slow build of Pakistani actors appearing in Indian films (Shahrukh’s father in Om Shanti Om is a Pakistani TV actor), and then just as they finally start rolling out real open leading actors in films, poof! Politics!
On Thu, Oct 18, 2018 at 5:55 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
This is just me speculating but do you think that Vicky Kaushal is getting the Dharma opportunities that Fawad would have gotten? I remember that Fawad was supposed to be doing Shakun Batra’s next movie but then that got pushed aside after the controversy. Also Raazi got announced as Alia’s movie sometime late in 2016 but Vicky Kaushal wasn’t announced until mid 2017.
LikeLike
Yes I do! I think Karan had a “mature interesting actor” slot that needed filling in his stable of stars, and Fawad was the one he picked. I didn’t know about the Raazi scheduling and announcement, that makes complete sense, it’s a perfect Fawad role. Pakistani, and dignified and upper class and sensitive, and all the rest. And then Karan had to scramble a bit and landed on Vicky as a replacement.
On Sun, Oct 21, 2018 at 11:14 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Ooh, now I’m looking forward to my Halloween card!
Like Procrastinatrix, I’ve been having a hard time keeping up with the blog, mostly because of work but also me. Like, I accidentally started watching Eklavya last week because I got the schedule mixed up. But I will attempt to finish and comment on Sunday.
Not much else on the Indian movie front. When I realized I was supposed to have watched A Gentleman I tried watching about 10 minutes before I fell asleep and my ipad fell on the floor, but it looks really fun and I’m looking forward to watching it in about two weeks when I have bit more time.
I finally finished Shyamali, the classic Bengali film in which Uttam gets married to a deaf girl, which I started some two weeks ago. I anticipated that the girl would die, but she doesn’t; she stays alive and stays married to Uttam but another woman falls in love with him in addition. So the girl doesn’t die, but Uttam has a mother, the deaf girl has a mother, and the other woman has a mother, and they go down like a line of dominoes. Every time I came back from getting a snack another picture got another garland. Anyway, it was diverting enough, and 1950s Uttam looks like a young South Asian Marlon Brando, and he even has a beefcake scene in a low-cut shirt and a dhoti, and that’s all I really ask.
I also watched Tokyo Trial (on Netflix) because it has Irrfan in it and I like recent Japanese history, and it’s just impossibly clunky and I don’t think I’ll finish it. I might skip through to the Irrfan parts. I actually wondered if the dialogue had been written in Japanese and then translated. One problem is that Japanese TV has a tendency to believe that the audience needs every little thing explained to them. (Like, in an American medical drama the doctors all use medical jargon, and American audiences think “Huh, that’s a bunch of jargon for verisimilitude” and don’t worry if they don’t understand it. Japanese medical dramas put subtitles with definitions). Anyway, people explain things to each other like the extent of the Japanese occupation in Asia, which probably everyone who was reading a newspaper knew, let alone a bunch of elite jurists engaged to decided a war crimes trial).
And Netflix Japan has added Bahubali 2, but in the Hindi dub, which is making me irrationally irritated. Wait , no, my irritation is COMPLETELY RATIONAL. I don’t want to watch Bahubali if Prabhas’s voice is not coming out of Prabhas’s mouth.
LikeLike
Oh dear! It sounds like you are having One of Those Weeks. If you manage to finish Eklavya, the review is going up on Friday. Or you can wait until Sunday and comment on Qarib Qarib Singlle (which I think you may have already watched).
I just looked up Tokyo Trial and I am fascinated! It’s Japanese produced? But with British actors and directors plus Irrfan Khan?
You’re irritation is ABSOLUTELY rational!
LikeLike
Eklavya is Friday?? Crap!! I thought it was Sunday. OK, going to be late again on that one. I actually haven’t watched QQS, and I really want to because of Irrfan. But I have a work trip this weekend so Eklavya is going to be it.
Yeah, Tokyo Trial is Japanese produced. The actual trial had judges from a bunch of Allied countries (Australia, NZ, Canada, US, UK, the Netherlands, China, India,and the Philippines, if memory serves) and the actors playing those judges seem to mostly come from those countries. Irrfan is, obvs, the Indian judge. It does SEEM interesting and I might just hang in there, but the dialog and some of the acting is just so clunky. It feels like they are reciting lines from a history textbook in spots. Maybe this will even out in later episodes, though.
LikeLike
Late is fine! Late is great! And all the dates and titles are pinned to the home page in their little permanent post.
On Thu, Oct 18, 2018 at 9:55 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Badhaai Ho is getting fantastic reviews so I really want to see it this weekend but I have to see A Star is Born for a podcast comparing it to Aashiqui 2 so I’m living your life right now, basically. I don’t know how you manage to see all those films, it’s both expensive and really time consuming.
The other news is Dips & Ranveer are getting married in November at Lake Como which seems a bit pedestrian for them. I would think Ranveer would want a ceremony on the world’s highest bridge with a double bungee jump and fireworks.
LikeLike
I saw that Lake Como story a few weeks back, but I am holding off on believing it. Angie, our Polish/Italian correspondent, was very dismissive since apparently Lake Como is a super boring and unimaginative place to get married.
I feel like Dips is a very quiet traditional kind of person, so I am guessing she is having the marriage she wants (quiet, not a lot of publicity, staid and respectable). Maybe Ranveer gets to pick the honeymoon and they will go trekking in Nepal or something.
On Thu, Oct 18, 2018 at 10:39 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Lake Como is beautiful, and I can believe Dips wants to marry there, even if it’s not the most original place (and who knows maybe she is Star Wars and wants to have wedding like Anakin and Padme) .
I think maybe the reception in Bombay will be super eccentric and in Ranveer style.
LikeLike
Good point about the Bombay reception! If nothing else, I think Ranveer has a lot of family in Bombay so he might want to do the full big Punjabi wedding there for them.
On Thu, Oct 18, 2018 at 11:19 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I was curious about how bad Namaste England will be and the reviews are out. Unanimously ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE. Which I expected, but I was pretty amused by the salty reviews. Apparently Parineeti’s character is manipulative and a slut shamer, and Arjun’s character is spineless. Lovvveee the reviews though – they are having a field day!
Badhaai ho is the anti namaste england. It made me happy to know that people are preferring good cinema.
LikeLike
People are preferring good cinema, but unfortunately not the movie theaters around me. Badhai Ho is only playing at 11pm at the theater sort of close to me (30 minutes away) or at 6:40 at the theater over an hour away. Meanwhile Namaste England gets the prime slot.
I really am curious about this, the same thing has happened with all the off beat movies this year, Stree and Andhadhun and everything else, the mainstream flop got the good slot and good theaters and the surprise hit got the bad ones. I wonder if it is individual theater owners making bad decisions, or if it is distributors putting pressure on to give their bad film an advantage?
On Thu, Oct 18, 2018 at 3:05 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Badhaai Ho and Namaste England are both playing at the swanky theater with booze in Burbank. Not sure of the significance of that.
LikeLike
They are both playing at the swanky theater extremely far from me, not sure what that means either since the swanky theater=theater which has been showing Indian movies for over a decade and recently got a refurbishment. Maybe that is the correlation? the kind of theater that would have been forward thinking and started showing Indian movies years and years ago is also the kind of theater that ends up hitting the new trend of swanky seats and alcohol and all that. But it is also irritating because there are only 20 seats per theater and they sell out super fast. I’m debating seeing Namaste England tomorrow after all just because of showtimes, and then do Badhai Ho with a matinee on Saturday.
On Thu, Oct 18, 2018 at 6:34 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Namaste England’s bad reviews make me sad for Arjun, but a little part of me is happy because maybe he will understand those rom-coms with bad actresses are not good for him and maybe he will start care and work hard.
LikeLike
I can’t believe Parineeti got here from Ishaqzaade – she was so good in it. Seems like the break really messed with her acting! Also, was very evident that both Pari and Arjun really worked on their characters in Isqhzaade. Now they seem to be just coasting along.
LikeLike
I think both of them kind of took a “break”. Arjun felt like he wasn’t working at all in Mubarak and it sounds like in Half-Girlfriend too. In Ki & Ka at least he put in some effort. You have to use those acting muscles or you lose them! Or at least stop growing. Hopefully Panipat is a chance for Arjun to find himself and work hard again.
On Thu, Oct 18, 2018 at 3:59 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I never understand when young actors say they want to do one movie a year. When I was dancing, if I didn’t dance regularly my body would just give up – lose stamina, forget the basics etc. It has to be similar with acting right.
LikeLike
That’s what it feels like to me, if I look at where Amitabh or Aamir or Ajay were after 5 years, doing constant shoots and working with dozens of directors and co-stars, versus where Ranbir or Varun is, there is no comparison. Commercially, artistically, in every way, they just aren’t as trained.
On Thu, Oct 18, 2018 at 4:25 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Two 2018 films in one weekend, plus KWK S6E1! Just watched Soorma and completely loved it, but agree with you that the ending felt incomplete. There’s no closure on whether or not he ends up marrying Harpreet? I think they do, based on my google searching. I get that he had to do it all for himself in the end, but there was a very believable love story at the core of this film and it needed some closure. Both Taapsee and Diljit were perfect in their roles. And absolutely loved Angad Bedi and the guy playing the India coach. Why hasn’t Bedi has a bigger career. He’s very talented and totally hot! Of course, I have a girl crush on Neha, so anything she loves I do! So Soorma will definitely be added to my sports film keeper shelf…so much better than that long bore Dhoni, just wish it was a little bit rounded out at the end. The pacing was fine and it could have been just a bit longer and it still would have worked.
Also watched Sanju and I hated it! I like Ranbir usually, though I’m on to his schtick and though I find him distractingly sexy (though clueless) in his off-screen appearances I think he’s an emo mess. I really don’t care for Sanjay and do not get why the audiences like him. He doesn’t really seem to deserve the adulation. He’s no Robert Downey Jr. who can mess up multiple times and still get away with it. Vicky Kaushal was the only good part of that film. Even Sonam did well with her short part. But Ranbir was hammy and he has acquired that awful tendency that Hrithik has that when he is playing an emotionally demanding part, he ends up making the character seem childlike in a creepy way. HIs acting in this was terrible. Dia Mirza wasn’t amazing, she just looked good compared to the crap that Ranbir was laying down. Don’t get me started on Anushka. What does Hirani have against her? The wigs are stupid and this role was totally pointless and was a hackneyed framing device.
LikeLike
Guy playing the India coach was the lead actor in Monsoon Wedding, Vijay Raaz, he was the Nawazuddin of the early 2000s and then kind of faded and I’m not sure why. Anyway, I always get excited when I see him.
I loved Angad Bedi too! He was so good! I am so happy for Neha Dhupia!!! And yes, the romance was very nice in it, I loved how they each challenged the other to be better selves (Taapsee finally breaking free of her controlling coach for Diljit, and Diljit finally trying to succeed in life for her). But it got so confused after she left him, I kind of lost track of how many years passed and everything, and then the ending didn’t totally resolve it.
I am glad we have a similar reaction to Sanju. Except that I do like Sanjay in real life and therefore was even angrier at the film for not including the more remarkable parts of his story (staying in touch with his oldest child despite drug addiction, jail terms, and everything else, for instance). And I almost never like Ranbir, so this film was par for the course.
On Sun, Oct 21, 2018 at 8:02 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Yeah, I knew who Vijay Raaz was, but I was too lazy to look up his name again:) I do like when he appears as well and he does remind me a lot of Nawazuddin. He even has that kind of sexiness in some moments that Siddiqui has. Plus he was in one of my favorite moments of Sanam Teri Kasam! The two of them and Deepak Dobriyal all used to compete for the same roles, I bet, but now Siddiqui has graduated from character actor.
Also just saw the teaser for Vidyut Jamwal in Junglee and it looks pretty fun! He could be the most attractive man in India. And the film looks pretty cool…why is it that there aren’t more Indian films (or at least mainstream Bollywood films) about land or animal conservation?
LikeLike
You just got me to watch the Junglee teaser, and it does look really fun!!!!! Although I am still distracted by how much Vidyut looks like Tiger, but not, if that makes sense.
LikeLike
But he’s the masculine version of Tiger;)
LikeLike
That is perhaps the meanest and most accurate thing ive ever heard about tiger. I love it.
LikeLike