Happy Wednesday! I am almost done with the week and I can’t WAIT!!! Sorry for all the lame posts, it’s turned out to be a bit busy at work, so my brain is a tad fried.
I’ll start!
Watching: I’m watching Schitt’s Creek, which is have clever dark comedy and half sweet romance and family love, I of course am watching for the romance and family love.
Reading: Not much! See previous comment about craziness at work. Gah!!!!
Thinking: I think the Dips-PC wedding date conflict may be my favorite story of the year. What do you think?
Listening: I’ve got “best of Rahman” going on Saavn, and I am finding myself liking the I soundtrack more and more. Especially this song, which has a ridiculous music video, and yet is really beautiful.
Now, question for you!
I did a post about fantasies a few days ago, so here’s a simple question: What’s your favorite fantasy romance narrative?
For me, I’m a sucker for “thrown together and sharing a secret knowledge no one else knows” stories. The sort of “us against the world” stuff. DDLJ, JHMS, Jab We Met, Running Shaadi, and on and on and on.
How about you? “Fake marriage that turns into true love” (Hulchul)? “Thrown into a whole new world thanks to a new man” (Jodha-Akbar)? “Make over as you realize your true strength thanks to the support of a loving man” (Sanam Teri Kasam)? Or something else? Just think of your favorite romance films and work back from there.
dontcallitbollywood 
Do you think Dips scheduled her reception as a snub to Priyanka? Part of me thinks that can’t be true but why did she pick that date? Dips can’t be that petty, can she? Also, isn’t Ranveer friends with Priyanka?
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I think it’s more that PC scheduled her wedding last minute. My feeling is that Dips and Ranveer have probably been planning this for ages, finding a gap in their filming schedules and coordinating with friends and all the rest of it. Their Bombay reception is probably going to be bigger than the wedding themselves, reserving the hall alone must have been done well in advance. And then PC has this semi-last minute wedding, I can imagine it being picked purely based on when the venue had an opening.
It reminds me of when the Ambani birthday conflicted with the Kate and Wills party. The industry split in half, but then Kate and Wills only through their thing together last minute, while the Ambani birthday had been planned for ages. And also looked way way more fun.
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I bet Deepika and Ranveer sheduled their wedding long before because it’s the release date of the film that was the start of their romance – Ram Leela.
As for PC…I still think she is pregnant and both have decided to ‘do the necessary’.
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My favorite fantasy is strong female lead with a grumpy/slightely flawed but lovable hero (e.g, Band Baaja Baraat, Khoobsurat, Humpty Ki Dulhania, Bride and Prejudice, Ram Leela). On a separate note, have you seen Band Baaja Baraat? I assume the answer is yes, but I noticed that you didn’t have a review and I would love to get your take on that movie.
Since I haven’t been able to watch Badhaai Ho, I have been bingeing on other Ayushmann movies: Vicky Donor and Subh Mangal Savaddhan. Also, I just saw this video of Ayushmann and Shahrukh and thought you’d enjoy it in case you havent seen it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUmXtNHeRDw
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I really liked Shubh Mangal Saavdhan! Bareilly Ki Barfi was the break out movie of Ayushmann last summer, at least the one I saw more people talking about, but I liked Shubh Mangal better.
Excellent fantasy, You should also check out Hum-Tum, one of my favorites of that trope. Gori Tere Pyar Main was going for that, but I think shot to far and just made the hero worthless.
I have seen Band Baaja Baarat, just haven’t thought to review it. It’s one of those movies that feels like the first shot and then others over took it. Other Anushka movies, other Ranveer movies, other light rom-coms. I also have a big problem with the sex plot point, I just do not find it believable for those characters, that Anushka would do it and that Ranveer would be so incredibly innept in how he handled it. But yes! I should review it, you are right!
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Oh no. I’m also sad you dont like BBB but I hope (and probably always will) that those who haven’t watched it will. I have seen Hum Tum and like it but for some reason there are portions of that movie that make me really sad. I am so curious as to why you like Hum Tum but not BBB. I feel like the sex plot point paralles are so similar to me (the guy and girl are friends and geniunly care for each other, girl has sex with the guy because she wants to, guy feels guilty/confused after sex and behaves bizzarely/horribly, girl shuts it down (like a boss) and then of course eventually there is a happy ending. Having said all of this, my husband, who for context is American and does not speak or understand hindi but watches a fair amount of hindi movies with me (even some without subtitles) cannot stand the sex plot point and Ranveer’s character for what I suspect might be the same reason you don’t. I also think for this movie in particular, in my opinion, the subtiles do not do the dialogues justice.
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Oh no. I’m also sad you don’t like BBB but I hope (and probably always will) that those who haven’t watched it will. I have seen Hum Tum and like it but for some reason there are portions of that movie that make me really sad. I am so curious as to why you like Hum Tum but not BBB. I feel like the sex plot point parallels are so similar to me (the guy and girl are friends and genuinely care for each other, girl has sex with the guy because she wants to, guy feels guilty/confused after sex and behaves bizzarely/horribly, girl shuts it down (like a boss) and then of course eventually there is a happy ending. Having said all of this, my husband, who for context is American and does not speak or understand Hindi but watches a fair amount of Hindi movies with me (even some without subtitles) cannot stand the sex plot point and Ranveer’s character for what I suspect might be the same reason you don’t. I also think for this movie in particular, in my opinion, the subtitles do not do the dialogues justice.
I agree that GTPM did not execute the fantasy well. Also, I just found the movie terribly boring and could not get into Imran or Kareena’s characters.
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I think BBB is one of those movies that was cursed by its own quality for me. Ranveer and Anushka’s characters felt so real to me, as did the lives they were living and the setting they lived in and all the rest of it, and I just could not believe that either of them would react the way they did in the immediate aftermath of their night together. It took me out of the film, made me question my perception of them up to that point. Like I said, I think they brought it back at the end, the last little bit felt true to the characters as I thought I knew them, but the immediate aftermath was just so wrong I couldn’t get passed it. While in Hum-Tum, their reactions felt exactly like what I would have expected based on their characters up to that point.
On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 1:58 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I tried to watch Fanney Khan last night and it was so awful I couldn’t finish it, just fast forwarded to the end. I actually liked Anil and Rajkumar’s characters a lot and would have liked a film just about those two guys alone. Divya Dutta was not a likeable character and the daughter was absolutely awful and completely unsympathetic (which ruins the whole premise of the film). The actress was either not directed well or she is just not very talented. Aishwarya was at her plastic and forced worst. What a wasted opportunity for a fun message film.
I like all of the romantic tropes in films, especially the forced proximity/marriage of convenience plots, the grumpy/brooding hero and sassy heroine, and the friends to lovers plots, too. I will always love BBB! I’m sad you don’t love it that much.
I rewatched the Ranbir/Ranveer KWK from last season last night. Ranveer is ridiculous but he’s very witty and smart underneath it all…maybe marriage will settle him down in his interviews, too. This time watching I did notice more of a competitive thing going on between them. I also was reminded of how sexy Ranbir. Arjun Kapoor was also looking particularly good in this episode. Can’t wait for the next new episode. I think Will Smith will be making a guest appearance.
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I do not understand Will Smith! Why is he so open to the India market? And why is he a Scientologist? And why was Bright such a terrible flop and just a thing that existed?
Now I really want to do a BBB review just so I can fully dig into why I don’t like it and possibly convince others to feel the same way.
The Ranveer/Ranbir one was so interesting because they have totally different energies. Ranveer was very out there and quick and non-serious and Ranbir was all intense and stuff. But I think they can also be the reverse, only they hide it. Ranbir can be goofy (but thinks he has to play the serious legitimate actor all the time) and Ranveer can be serious (but thinks he has to play the big goof all the time).
On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 9:53 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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What I find interesting about Ranbir and Ranveer is they are the biggest male stars of their generation but nowhere near Khan level. And practically speaking they play the exact same roles, not a lot of distinction between them vs. the Khans who all have very well defined niches. Someone I follow on Twitter was joking about them being the same person and obviously they have very different personalities in real life but onscreen I think there’s some validity to the idea they are interchangeable. You could cast Ranveer in a Ranbir role and vice versa without too much trouble or anything really lost.
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On the other hand, all 3 Khans started out in a very similar place (young lover roles) and it was only as time goes on that they defined themselves more and more. But on the mutant third hand, by the time they were 10 years into their careers (where Ranveer and Ranbir are now) they were definitely defined in a way that Ranveer and Ranbir aren’t.
Maybe it is related to the number of films? The Khans cranked through dozens of romances, and tossed in a few action roles and art films and everything else, in their first 10 years. They figured out what worked and what the audience liked, and they gained confidence and an increasing identity as one thing versus the other. Ranveer and Ranbir have barely worked, they both take months or years off to prepare for a film, and then another series of months off to help promote it, and then of course the long vacations in exhaustion after all their creativity. Look at Ayushmann, two films released within weeks of each other, three films last year. He doesn’t do the talk shows or the instagrammed vacations or anything else, he just does his actual job. Rajkummar Rao, same thing. The “parallel” stars are the ones working far more and far harder while it is the big name stars who are talking about “creativity” and discussing with a director and building a role and so on and so forth.
(I’m crabby this week, I’ve been slammed at work and have no patience for Ranbir and Ranveer and their casual attitude towards work. Heck, even their girlfriends work way harder than they do!)
On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 11:11 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oooh, interchangeable actors in each others’ roles, especially Khans, would be a good discussion post in itself.
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It would indeed! There’s all kinds of anecdotes about how one was the first choice for something and then someone else took it. Aamir was supposed to be in Darr, and Shahrukh was supposed to be in Lagaan.
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I watched Darling and JTHJ for discussion purposes and also had a few friends over to watch Jodhaa Akbar (second time for me). Two of them were HUGE Lagaan fans, so I figured this was a sure thing for them, and was I right! One of the best things in my life right now is playing matchmaker with Indian films and my friends. Like the time I pulled out Swades for my environmental activist neo-pagan friends with an interest in world religions!
I just finished Cecile Richards’s sort of memoir, which not a compelling read in some ways, but interesting all the same. She was raised UU, by the way! Now my reading group is moving on to Monica Hesse’s young adult novel, The War Outside. I have not gotten my hands on a copy yet. And I am reading two dissertations for upcoming defenses. My last two, I think, which is very exciting!
Thinking about: the upcoming election. In Maryland, which is a purple state (GOP and Dem mixed), we have a very popular GOP governor, Larry Hogan, running against a very progressive newcomer, former NAACP leader Ben Jealous. All the other state-wide races will go Democratic, but I think we are going to end up with Hogan again. Not thrilled with that, he’s bad on environmental issues and support for public education, but the Democratic legislature can keep a check on him. Otherwise, I am hoping for a Blue Wave nationwide because the direction we are going is scarily not good.
Also: I have been doing a pen and ink drawing everyday for Inktober, and have a super terrific time. My husband I went to a beach town (chilly but so what) for our 48th anniversary. October is probably my favorite month, and I don’t even dress up for Halloween!
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Looking forward to your comments on Darling and a little bit afraid of your comments on JTHJ, because I have literally not rewatched the movie since I saw it opening night in theaters. But I can probably still remember it well enough to discuss it.
On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 10:35 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I love it for Anushka and the music. Also bearded mature SRK. The rest, not to much.
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Congratulations on your anniversary! 48 years is amazing.
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A very diverse and interesting life after retirement you lead! Happy for you! And also my congrats for being able to celebrate such a long-lasting marriage and all the very best for year after year…
That reminds me that ShahRukh and Gauri have their 27th anniversary…so in comparison to you still 21 years to go. Hopefully they can and will do so.
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I saw that Luv Shuv tey chicken khurana just got added to Netflix last week, along with Sanju and some other more famous movies. I wondered why LDtCK was randomly in the mix? So I watched part of it last night (too sleepy to watch it all). Well, guess who plays the younger version of Kunal Kapoor in the flashback sequences? Vicky Kaushal! And Netflix seems to be having a love affair with VK lately, hence the addition of this movie, is my guess.
Other thoughts on the film… I can see why my favorite BW BF Kunal Kapoor didn’t become a lead actor, he really doesn’t have the screen presence to carry a film. Amazing bone structure on that face though, and the DoP does a good job of capturing that with his lighting 🙂
Also, they chopped off his beautiful curls for this. I guess they were going for the metrosexual London look, but bad move imo. Kunal without curly face-framing locks is like Sanjay Dutt without a mullet or Anil Kapoor without hair… it just doesn’t compute.
Overall a decent movie and worth a watch, with both Punjab and London based milieus and an ensemble cast.
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Luv Shuv was on Netflix years ago, I remember watching it there then. I bet you are right about Vicky being the reason they tracked it down and brought it back!
Agree completely with everything you said, especially the tragedy of the lack of long hair. Kunal without his curls is just not right.
On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 1:47 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I love in romances when the couple love each other deeply, but for some important reason can’t admit it and surrender to this love. Like in Hamari Adhuri Kahani – Vidya is in love with Emraan but can’t say that because of her sad past and because she is a decent woman. Or in Veer-Zaara, when Preity is still in India, and would love to stay , but has too many obligations left in Pakistan and must pretend she is not heart-broken. Tabu in Kandukondain Kandukondain . Similar situation when the man feels he is not worth the girl and doesn’t confess – Sanam Teri Kasam and many others, I don’t remember the titles.
Now when I think about it, it’s the same with my two most favourite books – Persuasion and Jane Eyre. Oh and North and South too . Maybe I just love the long longing gazes 😉
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Someday you should try watching Kaagaz Ke Phool, you will LOVE it.
Also, this reminds me of a joke I read years ago, the three sentence description of every Jane Austen novel: “I love her…she must never know. I love him….he must never know. They find out”
On Wed, Oct 24, 2018 at 4:01 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Thinking: still think the DUELING WEDDINGS 2018 DEEPIKA VS PRIYANKA WHO WILL WIN EVERYBODY FREAK OUT AND THROW THINGS thing is funny. I can’t remember if you have a favorite gossip story for your end of the year awards? If not you totally should. Assuming there’s anything to compete with it by the end of the year.
Watching: yeah, nothing. Worked all last weekend. But, I am taking a three day weekend, starting tomorrow and planning to watch some stuff. Lots of stuff I want to see, but none of it available for streaming yet here except Neerja, which doesn’t seem terribly festive. I might rewatch something.
I think my favorite romantic fantasy is when both people show some sort of growth caused by the relationship. Not the one where one partner is a trash fire and the other comes and saves him, although sometimes it works (I liked Wake Up Sid, for example, and Dum Laga ke Haisha).
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If you can track down A Gentleman or rewatch Daawat E Ishq or Band Baaja Baarat, then you can comment on my upcoming reviews! What fun!
I love the growth-from-relationship romance, and it’s surprisingly rare. Probably because it is so tricky to pull off. Imtiaz Alia does it really well in almost everything. Although, sometimes it turns into a leapfrog growth, one of them moves ahead of the other and then has to wait for them to catch up and back and forth, like Love Aaj Kal. That, I hate.
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Yeah, I’m going to finish A Gentleman this evening, and I forgot about DeI! I loooooved that movie and this is a good chance to see it again. BBB I actually rewatched fairly recently and I think I’m good to go. Do you think it counts as a mutual growth romance? Maybe it’s more like the characters just get more mature, with but not because of each other.
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Definitely a mutual growth romance! Only, I resent it that Ranveer doesn’t have to grow as much or as fast as Anushka.
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Watching: I’ve fallen asleep early pretty much every night this week. Maybe the shift in seasons getting to me, or fighting that cold everyone is coming down with. I did watch Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na a few days ago and liked it more than I expected. The friends in the airport metanarrative seemed clunky to me at first but they won me over. I didn’t expect to like Imran Khan but found him charming in a puppy dog kind of way. Paapu Can’t Dance Saala was funny and super catchy (and now I get has popped up as a reference in other movies, including Billu, so guess that was a hit? can’t believe JTYJN is ten years old). I really liked the actor who played the brother and his role in the plot and the sibling and parent relationships. Less the cowboys, the pacifist/warrior subplot, and the dating annoying people parts, but the horse ride through the city at night was a nice cinematic touch however (self-consciously) implausible.
Reading: I’m a ways into The Night Diary, which turns out to be good. I don’t usually read YA, but I love that this book exists and suspect I’ll want to give it as a gift in the future, once my older son’s cohort grows up enough. I know almost nothing about the partition besides that it happened, so this is a place to start.
Listening: back on a Natalia Lafourcade kick, this song has been in my head a lot. A good example of my favorite kind of love song/love story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABLT6hdgEek.
I like the Pride and Prejudice kind of love stories, two people with their own lives and identities who are thrown together by circumstances and can’t understand at first why they’re drawn to each other, then come to realize they fit in some essential way and grow together other over time. JHMS fits this category, must be why I liked it :).
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Your last paragraph reflects my own favourite romance plot 🙂
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The brother actor is Pratiek Patil. His mother was a great great actress in art cinema Smita Patil who died of birth complications, his father was married to someone else at the time and supposedly ready to leave his wife and be with Smita, but after her death he returned to his other family. So Pratiek has this tragic backstory that everyone in India knows, the little orphan baby who lost his mother. He was in Dhobi Ghat with Aamir, and then in this movie, and everyone was extremely excited about him partly for the sake of his mother but partly for himself. That way his face just takes the camera, that was all his mother, and he seemed to have inherited it. And then everything after this was kind of horrible. He recently made public that he was struggling with addiction for years, he is clean now and going to be married and looking for work again. So who knows, his career could go back where it started! Oh, and he dated Amy Jackson for a while.
If you like Pride and Prejudice stories, you should check out Qarib Qarib Singlle! I still don’t like the ending, but it is one of the best examples of two people who are very different and don’t seem like they can fit, but do.
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Oh, that was him in Dhobi Ghat! Yes, very talented. I hope he makes it back and gets the chance to restart his career.
QQS is indeed another good example that didn’t rise to the top of my tired brain last night.
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I think the last time I saw him was as the villain in a Tiger Shroff movie which was, like, whaaaaat? But he was still compelling onscreen.
On Thu, Oct 25, 2018 at 1:29 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I watched Koode, and that left me so emotionally drained and sad – I had to re-watch Adi Kapyare Kootamani to get over it. AKK is so harebrained and cute (Namita Pramod enters a boy’s hostel and can’t get out). Aju Varghese was awesome!
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I think Adi Kapyare Kootamani is one that Hotstar keeps recommending for me, sounds like it is worth checking out!
On Thu, Oct 25, 2018 at 1:41 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Ya perfect if you want a few laughs and don’t want to think too much!
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