Happy Wednesday! Halfway through the week, I can’t WAIT for it to be done. It’s just one of those weeks. And there’s no new movie on Friday so I can have a whooooole evening to myself.
I’ll start!
Watching: Akaash Vani! It is everything I hoped for and more. To the point of being painful to watch. TRIGGER WARNING if you are considering it. But, at the same time, really cathartic. I’m sick of white-washing marital rape and parents who sell their daughters into sex slavery and believe they have done right. Oh, and also LifeSize 2: Christmas Eve, which is surprisingly good and has nothing painful about it at all.
Reading: A good romance novel, a bad romance novel, and a pretty good romance novel. It is December indeed! Oh, and also a friend sent me a link to this interesting article: https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/gW0RmkMUb27QUducQZaLIL/Why-dont-these-girls-work.html?fbclid=IwAR0rEpJlKtX3R09-RHtGkxEXTcfQp0LSXmWyqGgZwG2UdP45zq14IYalU4o
And there is a new Shahrukh interview. Not super interesting, not worth a post, but worth a read if you are an SRK fan: https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/shah-rukh-khan-the-beauty-of-love-is-that-you-dont-need-to-demand-or-beg-for-it/articleshow/67049848.cms
Thinking: What the heck am I going to do with Dog Hazel over Christmas? My parents are back 2 days before me, but that’s still a looooooooong time. I’m hoping I can find another friend or relative to help out, and there’s also a Rover.com boarder I could use if I can’t find anyone else. But that is EXPENSIVE!!! Would cost more than my plane tickets. Plus, I’m nervous leaving her with a stranger. The problem is, she is scared of other dogs. And cats. And little bunnies. So I can’t put her in a kennel, and I can’t put her with any of my many many friends who would love to have her, but already have cats and/or dogs. Hazel! Why are you so scared of everything???
Listening: Still officially Christmas stuff, but I did take a little break for something completely different inspired by watching Akaash Vani:
Now, watching question for you! I already put up the vitally important post asking what the sexiest scene was in Indian film, now let me put up a related question: What is the sexiest film for your favorite stars?
I’ll start!
Shahrukh, definitely Jab Harry Met Sejal.
Salman, tie between Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Koun
Aamir, tie between Ghulam and Rangeela and Lagaan (boy, he is sexy A LOT!)
Nivin, obviously Ohm Shanti Oshaana
Prithviraj, City of God (the gazing!)
Prabhas, Mirchi (no duh, will anyone argue with that?)
Nagarjuna, Geetanjali
Amitabh, Zanjeer
Anil Kapoor, the 30 seconds when he is dancing with Shefali Shah at the end of Dil Dhadakne Do and NO OTHER TIME
Jackie Shroff, a movie that does not exist in this world
(NO!)
Bonus/Alternate question, LEAST sexy moment ever (that is supposed to be sexy). Or to put it another way, will anything ever be less sexy than this?
dontcallitbollywood 
Mirchi had been Prabhas sexiest movie before Baahubali 2 happened. You can beat Amarendra Baahubali climbing over elefant, or spreading his arms to make a bridge for his girl. He was sexy in Mirchi, but not this level sexy.
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But Mirchi didn’t get bogged down in all that depressing social/political stuff. For me, politics=negative sexy points. So on the whole, once you add the sexy points from being walked on to the negative points from discussing the place of the rule of law, it averages out to less than Mirchi.
On Wed, Dec 12, 2018 at 6:41 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I find Mirchi even more political/social. Like what place is this? Where is the police? How people can live there if there is no justice, no security, only mad stupid man and their knifes? And Prabhas too – in one haf he is this sexy guy in elegant clothes, and in the second he cuts heads.
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But Mirchi (for me) is sooooooooooo stupid that I can just let go and not think about all that political/social stuff. Sathyaraj and Prabhas are good, Ajay is angry, everyone else is bad, I can live with this.
I agree though, the first half clothing options are a definite downside.
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https://twitter.com/SameeraKhan/status/1072677985252192256
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You just gotta laugh at this point! It’s just surreal.
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Feels like celebrity madlibs, doesn’t it?
On Wed, Dec 12, 2018 at 9:17 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I highly recommend you watch the whole thing, there are so many weird moments throughout. Aamir is off to the left looking completely lost and then Shahrukh goes over and hugs him 46 seconds in.
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Ah kkkkk. My mom is always complaining that I still noon, so I pulled an all nighter and at 7am, I pretended to have just woke up. She wasn’t happy since it was TOO EARLY! I swear, it’s something or another
I have been binge watching this malayalam talent reality show called Nayika Nayakan (Actor Actress). The prize is to be hero/heroine of Lal Jose movie. It’s so entertaining, and also this one guy, Theejus is just so cute ❤
Reading: Motivation Books.
Thinking: This might be arrogant but seeing that no South Indian actors/actresses were seen in the grand Ambani wedding made me very happy since their presence cannot be brought
I legit believe each and every person who attended had a monetary or industry wise gain to attend the Ambani wedding.
Twitter was hollering; white people who were surprised how rich the ambanis have to be to afford beyonce and Indians, making memes of Salman playing backup to the entire Bollywood film fraternity dancing to the tunes of the rich
Prithiraj's sexiest movie is Puthiya Mukham and Swapnakoodu
Agree for Nivin and Prabhas :)))
Amitabh was amazing in Kabhi Alvida na Kehna
Aamir in Ghajini
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Based on your Prithviraj and Aamir chooses, I’m thinking more manly swagger and violence is what you look for in your sexy heroes.
and really? Amitabh in KANK?
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oh yeah. It is in the name; Sexy Sam.
Oh yeah. I like macho in my men,
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I hate to break it to you…
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omggggg!
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I have seen:
Teefa in trouble, Stree and very very cute and funny How to Get Over a Breakup. I really recommend this one to everyone who looks for feel-good movie. It’s peruvian film made for Netflix with great and hilarious heroine.
Oh, and after watching Homecoming king and Patriot Act I’m now officialy Hasan Minhaj’s fan.
Thinking: Why I always get this ideas of perfect gifts when it’s too late to buy them?
Listening: It’s almost Christmas and I can officialy have this on repeat:
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I also always get the perfect gift idea when it is too late! Why don’t more people have January birthday’s? Or November? My father’s birthday is in November, and if I think of anything perfect a week after his birthday I can always swap it in for Christmas instead.
On Wed, Dec 12, 2018 at 11:54 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I forgot to answer:
SRK is the sexiest in JHMS
Madhavan – Salaa Khadoos
Tovino – Godha
Unni Mukundan – Oru murai vanthu parthaya
Prithviraj – I have seen only few movies, but he was sexy in 7th Day
Arjun Kapoor – Aurangzeb and Tevar
Akshay – haven’t seen any Akshay movie for ages so I don’t know
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Almost everyone missed the questions! I’m thinking I’ll just give them a separate post later today to make sure they get answered.
Is the key to Angie Sexiness that they have to participate in a wrestling/boxing based sport? I’m looking at Godha, Saala Khadoos, Tevar, and Oru murai vanthu parthaya. Or is it just that they have to have a wrestling-style body, muscled but not emaciated?
On Wed, Dec 12, 2018 at 2:26 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You are right! I listed all this movies, but it didn’t occur to me they are all connected. I knew I have a problem with water – soak a man with the rain or throw him into the sea and I’ll be : oh sexy; but I didn’t know I have a thing for wrestlers too.
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I think it makes perfect sense. A wrestler’s body is a very healthy traditional male body type, muscles and fat and strength. And, bonus, would do well in the wet unlike the skinny skinny types who would get pneumonia in about a second.
On Wed, Dec 12, 2018 at 2:58 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Watching: Malayalam movie Varathan. Fahad Fazil was A-mazing (as usual) but the last half hour felt like a different movie. Like Fahad developed super-hero powers all of a sudden and the character changed. Also, not sure if I liked it as much as people around me did. Btw, have you stopped review Malayalam films comepletely? Please don’t…..
Also saw the Producer roundtable, they shouldn’t have had Rhea in there. Sorry Veere wasn’t even that great a film, and she wasn’t half as articulate as the other folks. And SidRK speaks so well, why wouldn’t Karan just let him talk? AL Rai looked nervous and sleep deprived.
Thinking: Weddings, what else? And how if I had all that money, the designers I’d wear haha. And also that 2018 just started, how did it finish already ??!?
Listening: All I want for Christmas is you, love that song!
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My Malayalam views/comments dropped to almost nothing, and they were the hardest films for me to watch (because they required so much concentration and were so hard to find), I was getting depressed about doing all that work and getting no readers, so I stopped. I’ll try again someday, but probably not until after the holidays. Flipside is, for whatever reason (maybe just because Prime and Netflix have expanded their Hindi options lately?), my Hindi readers have been extremely active and faithful for the past 6 months or so, so I have been rapidly increasing the Hindi reviews (Shahrukh Monday’s, Friday classics, ReRuns on Sunday, etc.).
If I had all that money, I think I would pay for the fabulous designer outfit, but then just wear it in a room by myself and avoid all the media and fuss. Which seems like kind of a waste of a designer outfit, but then I paid for it! I should be able to do whatever I like with it!
On Wed, Dec 12, 2018 at 1:04 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I have been wanting to write about Tumbadd for a few weeks but inexplicably Wednesdays are the busiest for me. So here it is TUMBADD is amazing,unlike anything I have seen. It is supposed to be a horror film but it’s really not. There’s a constant feel of dread and tension all through watching it and I was felt very claustrophobic in few scenes. But if that isn’t a good cinematic experience,I don’t know what is.The visuals and detailing is stunning and the direction is superb. I read an earlier post of Atul Ajay not being up to the mark,but the background score this movie was done by them and it really elevates the movie. There’s just one song. The only department where I felt it could have been better was the acting.But then they are all unknown faces- so didn’t really bother much. The movie has a truly original story-more like a Panchatanthra story and themes to dig into.I highly recommend Tumbadd to everyone who likes a mythical tale.I regret not seeing it in theaters.It maybe my top movie of the year,displacing Goodachari and Pariyerum Perumal.
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Now you’ve got me all excited! I love when people recommend movies they are truly excited about. I don’t usually enjoy horror, but if it is as good as you say, I am sure I will like it.
On Wed, Dec 12, 2018 at 10:07 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I know that you don’t like horror but it is an important film for Hindi film industry. And it’s truly a genre-less film. And I’m excited to read all the themes and meanings that you would unearth.
Oh,in other news Rajiv Menon is back with his third film-no big star cast. But I so loved this interview of his with Baradwaj Rangan. There’s a part where he talks about pacing the scenes and keeping the audience with characters and it resonated well with what I associates with as feeling bored when watching a film. Very recently I was watching Pataakha(good film),and there were things happening on screen but I felt restless and bored. There’s some cartoonish background music also happening,but really it wasnt keeping me interested.I felt this boredom a lot when I tried watching Sanju,Padmaavat and some of the other movies by popular directors. Also the use of background scores to nudge the audience into feeling something. Rajiv Menon seems to be such a knowledgeable film maker and so articulate. And hot!!!! Did you know he was offered the lead role in Bombay? When he turned it down,Mani Ratnam went back to Arvind Swamy.
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Oh! Keep reminding me about Rajiv Menon!!!! This film has taken so long to happen, I am terrified I will miss it once it finally hits theaters.
On Wed, Dec 12, 2018 at 10:25 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’m too distracted thinking about Dog Hazel. Maybe she could stay with one of your friends but, like, stay locked in the bedroom the whole time.
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I’m working on it! I found a professional dog boarder person who could do it on rover.com (no other pets, available Christmas week, within a couple miles of my apartment), but trust Dog Hazel with a stranger? I don’t know. Plus I’d rather pay a friend than a stranger. So I’m checking with everyone I know who does not already have pets but likes them and is allowed to have them in their building. Which is a very small subset.
On Thu, Dec 13, 2018 at 8:24 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’m trying to watch Savyasachi, but it’s so annoying. I manage to watch only 15 minutes a day.
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Maybe you could set up a webcam live on your blog and all your loyal readers could watch her for you. I could take the night shift since it’s day here.
My local theater is having a dress-in-costumes-make-noise-during-the-show showing of Bahubali for Christmas and New Year, when I unfortunately will not be here. However, due to the success of Bahubali they are releasing Magadheera in Japan, in theaters! I’m thinking of going, but I can only go this Sunday and I’m throwing a Christmas party on Saturday and not sure I’ll have the energy.
I finished Praktan and was soooo disappointed. It really looked like a mature look at a divorce. I sort of went into it thinking it would be a sad story of painful regret. However, a lot of the flashbacks are of screaming fights, and the husband Prosenjit reveals himself to be a toxically masculine regressive loser who is jealous of his wife’s boss and gets mad at her for flaunting her higher salary (i.e. buying stuff). So, cool, they aren’t meant to be together, Rituparna has gone on and is living a happy life, but she feels a twinge when she meets him on the train, like you do. The disappointing part comes near the end, when Riturparna is talking to Prosenjit’s new wife, who is silly and giggly and much younger, and says that she has learned from watching Prosenjit and the new wife that she needs to compromise more. Wait, what? By quitting her job or not buying stuff? Really, Prosenjit comes off very badly in this movie and all Rituparna does is complain about not having their own place. It’s really like Do Anjaane in that if you are watching it from my perspective it looks like a marriage that just breaks down, but the film obviously feels it’s all the wife’s fault.
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I love Magadheera! I vote you do it, even if you are worn out.
Current Dog Hazel options are either I spend money and give her to a stranger, or she spends the first 3 days at a friend’s house, then another friend picks her up and takes her over to my place and she is there alone with walks twice a day for 3 days, and then the last 3 days my parents can take her. I’ll check with the 3 days-of-walks friend tomorrow at work, and then confirm that the other friend is willing to take her for only 3 days (she’s dogsitting for someone else the rest of the time), and if that all works out, I’ll go with that. And if not, off to the stranger’s house she goes!
I hate the movies where it is all the wife’s fault and I don’t think it is!!!! And this is inspiring me to say more nice things about Akaash Vani for tomorrow’s review, it is soooooooooo good.
On Thu, Dec 13, 2018 at 10:40 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I finally saw Manmarziyaan all the way through in one sitting. I do feel like my expectations were far too high going in and I had watched the trailer and songs and promotions too many times so there was a bit of fatigue and loss of freshness on the actual viewing. However, I did really like it but I think what sells it at all is the direction of Kashyup and his clear stamp on the film, plus those twin dancers were so cool! All three lead performances were very good, but none of the characters were sympathetic which troubled me in a romantic film! You want to root for the happy ending, but in this one, I thought that none of them really deserved one. As much as I love Abhishek and this return to more serious roles, I thought Robbie was underwritten and I was uncomfortable with the idea that he knew what was best for Rumi all along…it felt too much like grooming and that was gross. I didn’t actually get any chemistry between Taapsee and Abhishek at all. Vicky was actually the best written character and the best performance in the end. You don’t need to like him but you need to see his appeal. Still would put this one on my best of list this year (the music alone is great), but I can see why it didn’t quite hit big with audiences.
Badhaai Ho, on the other hand, was a perfect delight! It was just posted on Hotstar, yay. I had other things to do but I couldn’t resist and started to watch it. Loved everything about it. It’s such a sweet love story about the parents and Ayushmann and Sanya were really cool. A perfect example of why relatable, situational comedy is so perfect for this “new content” in Hindi films.
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I’m so happy about Badhaai Ho on Hotstar! It’s also the perfect film to Christmas, very family friendly and very good for having on in the background.
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