I watched the Luka Chuppi video before work, but the other two I have to go by descriptions and comments because I didn’t see them until later. Please watch them and tell me more about them! And also, that is why this is just a little post, not a big post.
Well, this is a fun song! Feels kind of small and unambitious in the same way the last one did. But that’s okay, it’s still fun to watch, and it has actual dancing in it, and it doesn’t feel like they are worried about the film and throwing money at a big dance number to save it. Plus, Kriti and Karthik are both really pleasant dancers to watch. Not necessarily brilliant trained dancers, but with some natural rhythm that makes them pleasant to watch, and this song leans into their strengths.
Ranveer Video Crowd Surfing
Claudia linked this to me in a comment, I mostly find it interesting as another example of Ranveer being very very good at building a star brand. He took something that was true about himself (long before he was famous, his friends say he was already dressing and acting outrageously) and kind of amped it up a little bit to build a star persona. It’s not “real”, because the “real” Ranveer must include quieter moments and sadness and seriousness and so on. But it is a simplified version of real which is easy to digest and repeat and turn into an identifiable part of who he is in public. Of course, big rewards come with big risks, if he goes too far, he will end up having his whole brand (personal and professional) suffering.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Btbi0iWjXkI/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1uza52r8uo3uu
(sorry, wordpress is being fussy about embedding, click the link)
I think building a clear brand is what other young stars struggle with, Rajkummar for instance hasn’t found a really good kind of “hook” to make his personal brand memorable. Maybe he doesn’t want to be locked in like that, but it is limiting the spread of his stardom and name recognition. And then there is Ranbir who was gifted a persona by the media and hasn’t figured out how to escape it and build something of his own. Purely in terms of branding, I would put Ranveer and Varun at the top of the heap among the younger crowd, they are very very good.
Kangana Pinkvilla Video
I haven’t watched this, but can we start by acknowledging how WEIRD it is that Pinkvilla is the source? I think of Pinkvilla as the unreliable gossip press place, and in depth interviews as something you see on bollywoodhungama or rediff or Times of India or NDTV. And yet Pinkvilla is where Kangana routinely issues her statements, going back to the “silly ex” bomb she aimed at Hrithik. I don’t know if everyone else has stopped taking her calls, or if she just likes them, but it is odd.
Based on the comments and the excerpts printed with the video, Kangana spends a lot of time talking about the pettiness of the industry which doesn’t support her. Complaining because actresses send her trailer videos and so on and she posts about them, but then none of them respond to her trailers or post good things about her films. It’s that same kind of unawareness of the consequences of her actions that has popped up over and over again. You can’t say “the whole industry is corrupt and nepotistic” and then follow it up with “why don’t they like me?”
Without having seen the video, the other thing I find interesting is the comments. Even the people who are supporting her, are saying things like “I love Kangana as an actress, but this doesn’t make sense to me”. Even on Pinkvilla, “her” website.
dontcallitbollywood 
I would like to join a discussion but not to start.
Just to let you know that Zero is out on einthusan 🙂
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If Zero is on einthusan, that means it is out on DVD/streaming in India. And will probably hit Netflix soon, maybe after hitting youtube first. So, yaaay for those of you desperate to see it again!
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Thank you Claudia!
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I bought it on Google play over the weekend. Yay!
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Kangana is absolutely crazy at this point. What used to be her honesty is now starting to look a lot like arrogance and insecurity now. Everything that’s happening with her and Manikarnika’s director is just an unprofessional mess.
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I’m trying to watch it, but I don’t know if I can get past the opening when she claims credit for restoring national pride (which I guess was lost until now?) and also claiming credit for all the people coming up to her and telling her that it was the best movie they had ever seen.
Also, what is she wearing???? If she is filming something, it makes sense, but doesn’t it seem a bit overdressed for an interview?
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Its Lakme Fashion Week and she walked the ramp along with Anil Kapoor and Jahnvi. The interview must have been done after the runway show or before it. I’ve yet to watch the interview myself because of the constant reminder to the brain that what she says is clear lies is work in itself.
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Interesting she picked a Telugu designer.Anusree Reddy is more popular down south.
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I watched Katrina’s bits in Zero. Yes, she plays the part well but it was so poorly written. So was SRK’s part. Honestly, it was so hard to follow and I couldn’t figure out anyone’s motivations. Admittedly, I was starting from the middle but I know the entire plot already. Just bad writing and directing.
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I think it probably would play better if you started from the beginning. There was an adjustment period built in, just to the SRK CGI if nothing else. I don’t think it would fix all the problems or anything, but maybe be a little less jarring to understand Shahrukh’s character and the world building.
But yes, Kat’s character definitely could have been better written. I’m glad her performance stood out even so!
On Tue, Feb 5, 2019 at 9:48 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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The whole Kangana “thing” baffles and upsets me. She lies openly and often and yet serious people ( Sucharita Tyagi, Anupama Chopra both of Film Companion, Priyanka Chopra,not my fave but serious) talk about how great her “outspokenness” and “honesty” and “feminism” is. Her back story has changed from running away from an abusive home to “ look how tight knit we are and Here are pics). I’ve ranted on this before,I know but each time she gets crazier and crazier and no one seems to call her on it.
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That family backstory really really bothers me. First because, how unfair to people who actually did escape abusive homes! Kangana is taking their story. It is as bad as her claim that she can understand #MeToo victims because Hrithik dumped her. And second, what a horrible thing to do to your family! To publicly label them as unsupportive and horrible and so on, when they were nothing of the kind. I don’t understand how her parents can so easily forgive that. And if she is lying now and it actually was abusive and horrible, then I have sympathy for her, but am also a little upset that she is now publicly sweeping it all under the rug for the sake of a good public image.
I can follow the thinking of why her style is appreciated, Indian female public figures are usually so careful in what they say. But I am with you with being frustrated that people are still saying that. On the other hand, do you remember what happened when Sonam very gently said something about her being unreliable? She was immediately attacked for being unfeminist and unsupportive and so on. Kangana and her followers seem like they kind of bully you into either saying nice things about her, or nothing at all. Seems like maybe it flows bottom up? The social media team bullies the lower levels of the media into following her narrative and they bully the higher levels and suddenly even someone like Sonam Kapoor can’t say anything negative without having tons of trash articles flying around about how she is unsupportive of a fellow woman. And of course Kangana’s narrative is that everyone is being mean and picking on her, while in reality if she were anyone else, she would be in a far worse position after everything she has said and done.
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