Happy Monday! Weird weekend, we had another blizzard here which just made everything feel surreal, snow covered tulips and stuff. But now I am back to work and things are normal.
Now, I have a question for you! Not so much massive and sociological as small and petty, and in order to make me feel better about my own small pettinesses by telling me I am not alone: What actor/actress do you dislike for petty illogical reasons?
If you’ve been reading me for a while, you know I have a petty illogical dislike for Randeep Hooda’s stupid face. Randeep Hooda, the actual person behind the face, I really like! He went with a Sikh charity group and gave food to refugees during the Kerala floods, he recently supported Alia on twitter during Kangana’s attacks, no one really has anything bad to say about him. But I hate his face with a fiery passion that will not die and has no reason behind it except that I hate his stupid stupid face.
dontcallitbollywood 
Busy weekend; family dinners, grandkids, In all the excitement, my doggie ran out the front door and was gone for half an hour. I experienced the same sort of panic you did when Albie had his adventure. At the other house, Buddy roamed free on several acres. Now he’s a suburban dog, confined to a fenced back yard. Takes some getting used to; for me as well. As to Randeep, I like the face; the torso’s not bad either. I used to think he was a bit stuck on himself and kind of a remote, disinterested actor. I’m glad to hear about his kinder side and will re-watch some of his films with that in mind. As to actresses that I have no reason to dislike but do? First on the list is Kajal Aggarwal. Maybe I’m tired of seeing her mooney face in every South Indian film. Maybe it’s because all the hot South Indian actors fall in love with her. Maybe I’m jealous. I’m not a fan of Sonam and Karisma either, tho the latter has been scarce lately. I used to like Karina Kapoor before she was Karina Kapoor Khan. I have soured on her recently. Not sure why. And whenever the opening credits announce, “Introducing…” followed by some newbie actress’s name, I usually groan and usually with reason. Actors I avoid for shabby reasons that don’t hold water? Ranbir (funny eyes) Suriya (way too short to be that foppish) Jr. NTR ( clunky) Mahesh Babu (goofy face) Akshay (I know, I know; he’s good and handsome, but hello, he’s EVERYWHERE) It might be the overexposure that turns me off; the same folks in the same roles. I really haven’t seen a fresh AND talented face since Alia and Ishaan Khatter came on the scene. Unless you know something I don’t. Duh.
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I also have a dislike for Ranbir but it falls into that valley of illogicial and logical combined. I don’t like him because, as an actor, I think he falls into the same things over and over again and makes lazy role decisions. And secondly, I also dislike his face a lot of the time. On the other hand, in the right role and the right movie I am capable of enjoying him.
When I think about exciting new stars, I mostly think about southern actresses. Sai Pallavi is super exciting, Aishwarya Lekshmi from Mayanaadhi is exciting too. Somehow southern films are willing to find great talented new stars in a way that northern films don’t. Kriti is still kind of new in Hindi I guess, and I am excited about her. Oh! And Kiara Advani! She is new and exciting. And Dulquer is new/not new, he is about to have his first mainstream Hindi film even though he has been acting in the south for years.
On Mon, Apr 29, 2019 at 8:38 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I adore Dulquer for many good reasons which I’m sure are the same as yours. And another new’ish newbie is Sara Ali Khan. Wonderful, genuine, talented actress. I think she impresses, or will impress, me more than La Grande Alia. I will definitely check out those non-Kajal southern names.
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I am not sure, but I think you might really enjoy Middle-Class Abba (MCA) and Premam, that will let you see how awesome Sai Pallavi is. Oh! And also Aparna Balamuralli. She is the heroine in Sarvam Thaala Mayam, she started out as a teenager in Malayalam films and is slowly spreading out to other industries.
On Mon, Apr 29, 2019 at 10:22 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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As feeling mostly falls into the “illogical” category, there are three actors I skip the movies since some time as I don’t feel like wanting to watch them anymore: Ranbir, Akshay and Aamir (please, you fans, don’t hold it against me…in any way I hardly got time to watch a n y movie…except those the kids watch).
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Another Ranbir un-fan!!!! And Akshay. I’m going to float the idea that they have both suffered from over-exposure, in their own way. Ranbir’s “sensitive artist” pose in real life matches so closely to his film roles that I think, despite his few actual films, people (including me) still feel tired of him because of the combination of allllll those characters and alllll those interviews. And Akshay is just straight up over-exposed, way too many movies each year.
On Mon, Apr 29, 2019 at 12:02 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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THIS!!! Why? I’m not entirely sure. I do know that Ranbir’s face bugs me, really really bugs me, but I don’t know why. I think he’s a good actor, but I think my Shah Rukh Kahn fan-ness makes me expect next-level facial emoting from ANY actor worth their salt. Ranbir’s face doesn’t move like I expect it to. (SRK can never get Botox; his face would lose its fluid mobility, and his acting would lose that incredible subtlety that draws in so many of us fans – but seems to be missed by so many of his critics.)
Akshay irritates me. He’s handsome until he opens his mouth, then I (unreasonably?) want to smack him and tell him to shut up. He’s also a good actor, but I think he vibes an arrogance I don’t think he’s earned. I always get the impression that he disdains any fan who does not count him as their favourite star. Perhaps its all the social issue movies? I dunno, I can’t put my finger on it. Oh, and not accepting that award – so stupid and pretentious.
Kangana, good actress I also want to punch. She should just shut the hell up and act. Her face is relatively bland though, so that’s helpful, I suppose.
Aamir Khan reminds me of Dustin Hoffman. He clearly takes himself wayyyy toooooo seriously. I could see him in an audition/shoot being unreasonable because *THIS is my CRAAAAFT* and he’s not a “commercial” film star and needs to be TRUE to his role. Self-importance and the inability to laugh at oneself is the greatest sin, in my book.
One love: Deepika. She had me at Dreamy Girl. No need to speak, act, dance. That otherworldly graceful beauty in her first Om Shanti Om shot at the premiere was so old movie glamour that she could have been a terrible actress and I’m not sure I’d have cared.
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OH MY GOSH! Aamir needs to do a Tootsie remake, like NOW!!!! Not for all the rest of the plot, but just for the puncturing of the brilliant actor who is impossible to work with personality. Plus, that kind of total disappearance into a different personality for half the film would be just right for him. Yeah, this needs to happen.
Akshay is very hit and miss for me. He definitely sleepwalks through a lot of movies just because he knows they will make money. But when he chooses to act, he can be amazing. I think of him as a businessman first and an artist second, and I think that is how he sees himself too.
Agree about Deepika! I have a hard time figuring out her acting ability, because I just love her face so much. So immediately unique, vulnerable, beautiful.
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LOL Catherine, I couldn’t write it better. I agree 100% with all you wrote. I would only change the reason I hate Akshay – because he is the biggest hypocrite in Bollywood. The guy gave up indian citizenship, but is there always making movies about India, and even worse doing “non political” interviews durning elections. I just can’t see his face without swearing (lol using those 2 words in hindi I know)
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I don’t like the way Akshay looks. I’ve only watched him in a couple of movies when I was stuck on a plane with no other options. Except for Dil To Pagal Hai. He was cute in that because so young and with limited screen time. It also weirds me out how he is so lovey dovey with Modi despite being a Canadian citizen to avoid paying Indian tax rates. Ugh.
I really want Rani and Kangana to just. stop. talking. so I can continue to enjoy their movies.
No questions today, except how is Albie’s pink eye?
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Albie’s pink eye is almost cured thanks to eye drops twice a day, and meanwhile I have a big ugly stratch on my arm and he punched me in the nose twice. He is not thrilled about the drops.
I go back and forth on Akshay’s looks literally film by film. Somehow depending on his facial expressions, hair cut, all sorts of other things, I find him either super super hot, or just bleh. He’s the only celebrity I’ve ever felt that way about and it is really weird!
On Mon, Apr 29, 2019 at 3:22 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Akshay is handsome until he opens his mouth and you see the big teeth and gums. Immediate demotion to downright ugly.
I know everyone keeps saying how fit he is but his face looks so skeletal and drawn now with age. He would look better if he gained a few pounds to give his face some fullness.
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Random questions:
Has it occurred to anyone else that SRK’s ‘meltdown year’ coincided with his son being the age he was when his dad died?
Is Dil Aashna Hai available anywhere to watch?
Is Ranveer Singh smart, or just adorably goofy?
How come certain Indian men (but definitely not all) can pull off everything from sherwanis and turbans to lungis and dhotis and tuxedoes and suits and look ah-mazing in everything where a plain-old white guy would just look like he was trying too hard?
Where is Raveena Tandon and why did she not ever do another movie with SRK? They had smokin’ chemistry in Zamaana Deewana.
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What fun questions!
It occurred to me, but just like 6 months ago when I was laying it all out and typed out “Aryan started boarding school at 14” and went “hey, wait a minute!”
No, because the world is cruel and horrible. But you can buy the DVD on ebay! https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=dil+aashna+hai&_sacat=0
I think he is smart. His goofiness has landed him a really good career, and he tends to do “goofy” things at the exact time and place to gain the most publicity.
My personal theory is that a traditionally built man can look good in anything, defined big thighs and arms and correctly proportioned shoulders and so on. But a skinny sculpted gym body can only pull off suits because they need the padding and tailoring to help them. And white guys are way more likely to have gym bodies than desi guys.
Raveena Tandon married a nice man, and then kind of went off the reservation and started doing risky art films and stuff. Here’s a cool thing, when she was 25 and still in the middle of her acting fame, she adopted two little girls, distant relatives of her family who had lost their parents. Here she is doing a cameo appearance just for fun in Anurag Kashyap’s nutty Bombay Velvet movie:
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Yay! You don’t mind my questions! I actually have GOBS of them that pop into my head at obscure moments. I shall keep a list for the time you ask.
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Oh, that is exactly what this post is for! I want to be a resource for people, at any point when something pops into your head, just got to the most recent Monday Questions post and lay it on me. Heck, give me more right now if you have any, I live for questions.
On Mon, Apr 29, 2019 at 8:30 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’ve mentioned about how Emraan Hashmi is my Randeep Hooda, but actually your post about the Bhatt family made me hate the actual person less. He seems like a nice, unassuming good guy. But his face. Honestly, I think it’s because the whole chubby face+mullet was really popular when I was a tween (Shaun Cassidy, bleh) and he reminds me of that. Also I have PTSD from accidentally watching one of his kissing scenes which really looks like he’s trying to hoover the actress’s entire body down his throat. But I bet he’s a great guy!
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Emraan and Randeep can hang out together feeding homeless people and raising money for cancer kids and comfort each other about the two white ladies who don’t like their stupid faces.
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I was so disappointed when I finally saw an Emraan kissing scene. He just makes chewing motions. Bizarre!
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I really have a petty dislike for Anushka Sharma because of all her cosmetic surgeries…I just hate when people disrespect their bodies and do these silly things for show/image…its such a terrible message for the young girls of India to watch her face change constantly…and then she didn’t even have the gumption to own up to it…instead she wrote that long blog post claiming it was just temporary fillers…blech!
I think this dislike is petty because I really shouldn’t be hating on someone for what they choose to do with their body…also she obv is not the only actress who got work done…clearly Sonam, Kareena, PC, Shilpa have all gone under the knife…but somehow I only dislike Anushka..mostly for the way she handled the whole thing…
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I can’t hate Anushka, she killed it in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, and she is so protective of SRK. Plus, she has a great smile. I can commiserate with hating body parts, and I’m not up on a movie screen in building-sized glory, so I can’t judge. I know about 4 women on the planet who don’t hate something about their body, and while we’ll all happily trumpet what we dislike, how many go out of their way to point out what they got changed? On the flip side, poeple like Meg Ryan break my heart. We didn’t need her to confirm she’d had (bad) work done. She was so beautiful in a cute, appealing, and natural way before her face changed. Certainly it was a failed attempt to retain her beauty and charm – because in film, older men are hot and older women are just old, right?
As an aside, how come no one minds that Karan Johar told Alia Bhatt to lose weight before he’d cast her? “Sorry, honey. Not hot enough yet. Lose the thunder thighs and come back in 3 months.”
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I will give Karan a pass for having Alia lose weight. Because I’ve seen SOTY and she is still a very healthy weight, and also I can imagine her body type with about 20 extra pounds and it wouldn’t look right. What kills me is Sonakshi and Parineeti losing weight. They lost enough to look different than they used to and, I think, not as good. I don’t know who told them to lose the weight, but I suspect it was more just the world in generally pressuring them than any one person.
In India, the absolute worst plastic surgery is Preity. She’s beginning to get her face back a little, but it is still strikingly different than she used to look and I hate it. She went from distinctive to almost bland. Oh, and Samantha in the south, Niki (another commentator here) pointed out that she did something to her nose in the middle of her career, and now it is all I can see. Her face just doesn’t feel like it goes together right somehow.
On Tue, Apr 30, 2019 at 11:00 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Is it just me that never saw Preity as particularly beautiful to begin with? Perhaps ‘cause my first movie with her was KHKN? Striking, for sure, but not conventionally beautiful. (Now, Rani’s eyes make me wish I could transplant my own. Sigh …) I *do* appreciate that in general, Indian actresses are way round-ier, curvier, and feminine-ier than the scrawny, emaciated, 12 year-old boy look favored in Hollywood.
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I myself never really saw Preity as beautiful. That’s what I liked about her, she had a very relatable girl next door look. And off the top of my head, I can’t think of a movie where she was made into “the beautiful one”, more likely to be treated as she was in Kal Ho Na Ho as someone who often went unnoticed. Post-plastic surgery she might be more conventionally “beautiful” with more symmetrical features and stuff but I find her a lot more boring to look at.
On Tue, Apr 30, 2019 at 12:30 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Clearly, SRK gets it. He’ll forgo carbs and get ripped, but the nose and imperfect teeth stay.
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Preity’s worst look was in KANK. Her face was unbearable to look at. I’m surprised Karan gave her the role because yikes, it made me uncomfortable just looking at her. It looked plastic but not even beautifully molded plastic like you see on some – just kind of lumpy and odd looking.
I don’t know what she’s done but her face is looking nicer now so good for her.
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I have a dislike for Alia Bhatt. I just don’t like her. According to me she has a very mediocre face. Her acting and dancing skills aren’t great either according to me. And KJO pushing her isn’t helping either. Now he’s trying to make her look sexy in that song with Tiger.
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Her face is very young. It reminds me of Shahid Kapoor, he looked so young for so long and it kind of hurt him as an actor. Around age 28 suddenly his face changed and I have liked him much more ever since.
On Tue, Apr 30, 2019 at 12:09 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Ooh now that you mention it, have never understood Shahid’s appeal as well 😆
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I liked him okay in Vivaah and Jab We Met, but it was Kaminey after his face changed that made me sit up and take notice.
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I like your questions, too, Catherine…Maragaret’s reply made me learn something new 🙂
For me, it isn’t about the looks, it’s something residing in my feelings towards the person.
The first movie I watched in a Mumbai theatre was Akshay’s Namastey London and I really liked it (Akshay and Katrina). After that, I watched other Akshay movies and liked them (him). It is only since some years, I started to even despise the man and stopped to watch his movies (actually since catering to the political ‘correct’ and opportune).
Aamir had my interest because of Lagaan andTalaash and many other movies, I liked. I found him an interesting actor…but that stopped, too, because of PK . From the beginning I had sensed a certain kind of ‘trying hard to be a good actor’ (which didn’t bother me…like it didn’t with Dustin Hoffman – for that matter), but PK was just the one with ‘too much’. I watched Dangal though on einthusan but found it too patronizing and a fake empowerment of women…so, yes, Aamir has lost my interest.
There isn’t any woman I dislike or any other actor, but there are definitely movies I skip because of lack of interest (apart from lack of time which is only postponing the watching).
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Catherine Schultz’s take on Indian men, and your response, are spot on. Even the ones who don’t have great bodies rock the clothes. But that said, India seems to have more than its share of off-the grid men. Just take a look at the backgrounds of crowd scenes or dancin’ in the streets numbers, etc. The guys up front, the hero, his boys, the co-star, the goons, look fine in their jeans or dhotis or whatever. But the onlookers; chai wallahas, rickshaw drivers, the real folk hanging out watching the movie being made? I sometimes wonder if the director picked them for their cringe value. Skeletally thin or obese and sweating, toothless or snaggley, spotty, bow-legged, none-too-clean; I could go on uncharitably but I don’t care to start my day on a stupid rant. Strangely enough, the women with these men are generally okay. No matter their size, they handle sarees and churidar, short skirts or business suits with aplomb. And the kids are ALWAYS wonderful to look at.
It just occurred to me. I’m in a bad mood; dentist later.
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I’ve visited India twice, which is hardly anything. But when we were out on the street, most of the men we saw were pretty skinny and tiny. I noticed it particularly because I am large-sized, 5’9″ and curvy. I was never afraid even when we were the only two women surrounded by men because I was usually about 5 inches taller and a quarter heavier than them.
It’s one thing I think about with movie stars, it’s not that they have to be rich or anything to be in movies, but there is a certain healthy family background that gives you good teeth, height, and so on and so forth which limits you more in India than in America.
On Tue, Apr 30, 2019 at 7:45 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I once asked my dentist why you see so many straight, perfect teeth in places like India where the kid is starving but has a million-dollar smile. Apparently, the ‘tougher’ your diet, the better your jaw and tooth formation. Upper class and western types of food are cooked and processed and require much less effort to eat, whereas poorer people eat more raw and unprocessed foods that require more chewing. Interestingly, of my 6 kids, the only one not needing braces was my son; he was ALWAYS chewing on something as a kid. Pieces of wood, plastic, pen caps, the rubber on the remote control. Of course he has perfectly straight teeth, anecdotally supporting what the dentist told me. Who knew?
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Huh! My family has terrible terrible teeth, both my sister and myself had those “vampire” canines, the ones that came in on top of existing teeth.
If we’d chewed on harder stuff, they could have been a little better, but still wonky in some places. But the weird thing is, when my grandmother was cleaning out her house she found my mother’s teeth mold from back when she got her braces, and it looks so close to my mouth, and my sister’s, that when we line all three molds up in a row it is hard to tell them apart. I wouldn’t think that genetics would control things like teeth that come in so much after birth, but I guess they do!
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I’d love to hear what you think of this “open letter to SRK”. And do you think Faridoon wrote it?
https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/amp/news/features/open-letter-shah-rukh-khan/
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Well, Rajiv Vijayakar shared it on Twitter, so perhaps he wrote it.
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I think Faridoon might have written it, and I can picture Shahrukh reading it and going “oh gee, I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE (sarcasm)”. They are all good points, but they are hardly original, or even something that Shahrukh himself doesn’t already know. It ends by saying “so, after all of that, I think you should take time off and be picky about your next script. Which you are already doing”. Which kind of proves that Shahrukh does already know all of this.
I guess I am glad Faridoon laid it all out for people who aren’t part of the fan community (where we have been saying this kind of thing for a while) or part of the Shahrukh team, but it’s kind of silly that he phrased it as a “letter” to the one man who already knows all of this.
And my biggest irritation is, as almost always with these discussions of what stars “should” do next, there is no acknowledgement of the industrial changes. He mentions Shahrukh’s 90s hits like he should be making those movies again. But that was when tickets were 3 times cheaper than they currently are and footfalls were three times higher, when there were no multiplexes, when there was no streaming piracy to worry about, when there was minimal competition from Hollywood films, when films ran longer in theaters allowing for word of mouth, when all of these things were different. He can’t just do what he did in the 90s, because it isn’t the 90s any more. And The Avengers isn’t a hit because it is a “good movie”, it is a hit because it is a good movie that had a massive long term global campaign driving the market, plus a massive release that squashed all other films, plus inflated ticket prices, plus plus plus. It’s a little more complicated than just good script=good profit.
The overall point is fair and reasonable, Shahrukh needs to stop trying to appeal to both the global and local markets and to let the script guide the film instead of his star persona. But I don’t like how all the rough edges of the situation are sanded off to make that answer seem easy, and Shahrukh foolish for not just doing that before.
It’s like someone saying “Just diet and exercise, and you will lose weight”. Sure, that’s true, now tell me how I find the time and money to eat better, and exercise, and what part of my life I should sacrifice to let that happen, and let’s also talk about genetic disposition and all the other factors that go into the proposed solution, and the lack of good public transit in America, and the way sugar is added to almost every product, and everything else that makes it hard. You know?
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I think a journalist named Rajiv wrote it. The music focus made me think it might be Faridoon, but the tone was a little too confrontational, I think. I agree 100% with what you are saying about the lack of acknowledgement of the changing nature of the film business and the consumer market.
The whole “content is king” thing vastly oversimplifies what drives consumer preferences, in anything, from snack food to movies to music.
I did like what he had to say about Shah Rukh continuing to grow as an actor, and that actors last longer than stars. But I think, as you say, Shah Rukh knows all that already.
The part of the letter I found most interesting was the writer’s idea that Shah Rukh is chasing an illusion, wanting to make movies that appeal to a broad audience in India and globally. I haven’t heard that quite put that way before. What do you think?
Also, the author says that FAN, JHMS, and Zero are faux-Hollywoodish rather than representing an evolution of Hindi film making. That comment reminded me of what you said about Bajirao Mastani–that the structure of the story was very un-Hindi movie like. I wondered if part of the reason you didn’t like the magical-realism of Zero is because it felt like a knock-off of something that’s been done in Western movies (English and Spanish especially), rather than something growing authentically from the story Rai wanted to tell?
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I think the global hit is something all Indian producers are chasing, it’s not just Shahrukh. It’s what everyone involved in film everywhere is chasing, it’s why Avengers happened. Now that I think about it, he kind of disproves his own argument by holding up The Avengers as the biggest possible hit at the same time he says you can’t appeal to the global and local market at the same time. I do think it is extremely hard to appeal to both markets, and Shahrukh’s attempts have largely failed, but it’s not fair to either single him out as the only one doing it, or claim it is impossible. I’d have liked him to dig a little more into why Shahrukh first broke through globally and what changed and why now is the time to let go of that dream for himself in particular at this particular point in time.
I don’t necessarily think JHMS, Fan, or even Zero are wannabe Hollywood films. Film is such a collaborative and large kind of art form, and Indian film has always thrived by picking up influences here and there and everywhere. Yes, they were pushing Indian film in a different direction, but not necessarily away from where it was before, or trying to make it something else. I do think there were too many genres mixed together in Fan and Zero, Fan had action sequences that weren’t really needed and Zero had that magical realism that was a hard fit (for me) with the realistic sections.
Really, I agree with all his points, I just want him to make them way more specific. It’s not that Shahrukh is foolishly chasing two markets at once, it’s that film has become a global marketplace, and Shahrukh has been a global star in the past, and all these other things that are part of Shahrukh chasing two markets. And it’s not that Fan etc. were trying to be “Hollywood”, it’s that they were trying to be a whole bunch of things at once, and don’t fit into familiar genres, and a bunch of other stuff.
Maybe he had a really detailed specific article written out and his editor said “blah! Too much detail! Just water it down and make things easy for people. Generalizations and stereotypes, go for that!”
On Tue, Apr 30, 2019 at 2:46 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I knew you’d have interesting things to say in response. Now I want a podcast episode of you and the author debating. Or maybe you could write a response blog and tweet it to him and Bollywood Hungama? Is yhat cheeky? I don’t know the rules.
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I don’t know the rules either, but I always worry about being mean by tearing apart another author’s writing. Definitely mentioning it in my Wednesday Reading post though.
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The Indian media has a habit of writing these pathetic open letters to everyone. I have seen this before so often with other public personalities. It’s the self-importance of it all that rankles me.
I don’t think SRK is chasing any specific market. If he actually was doing that, his movies would be more calculated and would probably work better at the box office. The issue is the opposite – he’s not planning anything and just going with what his heart desires.
Most of these analysts are silly and they think any non-rural movie is trying to appeal to Westerners. Or they rant like Box Office India does that these people are making European films. You should see the rants against Imtiaz Ali for his “European cinema.” It’s ludicrous and can’t be taken seriously.
At the heart of it, I kind of understand it but it has to be written in a proper way. For example, I do sense that the masses and single screens don’t take to these upper-class type films that SRK does most of the time. They can’t relate to a guy going through an existential crises while working in picturesque Amsterdam and driving a convertible. They would rather watch Simba where a rural corrupt cop turns good and avenges a rapist.
But the thing is, SRK is a certain type of person himself and certain things appeal to him. He’s on record saying he doesn’t like those rural type films, hated Karan-Arjun and swore he would never make a movie like that again, etc. He doesn’t relate to it and doesn’t like it. Even when he makes a masala movie, he does it like a spoof the way it was done in Main Hoon Na or even Chennai Express. Only Dilwale was straight masala and it sucked. He has also alluded to some of them being ‘crap’ movies and implied he doesn’t personally like them.
He’s an actor from English theater and his sensibilities are different from what’s working these days with the average public. If he’s worried about the box office, he needs to actually make more calculated decisions now. Get a team of writers and other people to look over scripts for him and narrow down the ones that look like they would work in today’s conditions. Do them like a job, not like a passion. Or go the opposite way and do a Netflix series to feed his artistic sensibilities where he doesn’t have to worry about any masses and can do whatever he wants and enjoy himself.
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Do you remember in the AIB interview when Shahrukh said the one thing he really hates is when people tweet box office figures at him? He knows the figures! He knows them better than everyone else! Why send him this? That’s what this feels like a little bit. Like a self-important busybody who thinks Shahrukh doesn’t know this already. But if it was phrased as “here are some interesting things for us to consider about Shahrukh and his career”, I suppose it wouldn’t feel as punchy and get as many clicks.
I don’t know about the getting a team system. I think that’s what Dharma does, and it isn’t working any more. For one thing, there is such a lag time in filming. Padmavat was a hit, Dharma greenlit Kalank, and then over a year later Kalank comes out and the audience doesn’t like those movies any more. How can you know for sure? And everyone is failing once the stakes get that high. All 3 Khans have had massive flops, combined with generally disappointing box office in the past few years.
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Period films never seem like the right target so I’m not surprised about Kalank. The audience can handle maybe one period film a year, nothing more than that. After the Bhansali hits, it seems everyone has jumped on that like idiots, from Kesari to Kalank to Manikarnika. Now Takht and others are coming. People will be fed up by then.
I was thinking more along the lines of finding straightforward story telling – nothing convoluted or difficult for the audience to understand because then you start losing people. Let’s say a team reads 100 scripts and narrows down 5 or 6 and SRK can then choose the one he likes from those. Right now I get the sense that he probably is not even reading all the stuff that comes to him because really, let’s be honest, time is limited. Stories from smaller directors and writers are probably not even looked at. This way there is more scope to dig things out and maybe give a chance to more unlikely people. And if 10 people are reading them, it’s more likely that poorly written stuff will get rejected before it gets to the final person. It seems like a safer way to operate than what he does right now. Like with Anand Rai, he just liked the director and said yes. There was no proper script, things kept changing, nothing was locked down and they were working by the seat of their pants. You can see the messiness in the movie itself. Readymade scripts also make the process so much quicker. He wouldn’t need to waste 3 years developing something like he had to with Zero. Going with his passion isn’t working so he might as well become more business-like in his approach.
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Interesting story, Catherine. I once read that a lot of ancient Egyptians died from tooth-related diseases. Their enamel grated off because everything they ate had sand in it.
Back from the dentist. I’ll never learn. It’s never as bad as I think it’s going to be. Apologies for my snarky comments earlier.
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I have a lot of legitimate reasons for disliking Ranveer Singh but some petty ones too. Petty reason no.1: he has the most punchable face I’ve ever seen. I wait for the day someone slaps him. I’m waiting for a Shirish Kunder moment. Just looking at him irritates me. Added on to that is that he just never goes away, ever. He shows up daily at every single minor and random event wearing outlandish clothes and jumping around so he can’t even be ignored. On top of that, he calls the paparazzi 5 times a day so you get bombarded with daily nonsense pics like “Ranveer enters the gym” “Ranveer leaves the gym” “Ranveer at recording studio” “Ranveer at a wedding.” There is a whole genre of “Ranveer at a wedding” pics that come out every single week. Then there are all the fake PR articles related to him that get released constantly. Just like with his clothes, he seems to think “more” is better in everything. He wants to be in everyone’s faces 24/7 no matter what.
I don’t know if anyone saw the Filmfare awards but watching his “performance” (it’s a travesty to call it that) will turn even fans into haters. It was THE most irritating thing with him trying to sing like the nominated singers and ruining every song while dressed like Elvis and wearing heels and shaking around. My god. PLEASE GO AWAY.
Phew. Done with my rant. I root for Ranbir simply because if he rises, we would hopefully see less of Ranveer. At least he is subdued and doesn’t act like an attention hungry lunatic 24/7.
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HA! This was a very satisfying rant.
Without satellite TV or following social media, I am immune to most of this stuff. But I do notice it when it pops up in the coverage of the films I am paying attention to. Shahrukh has a movie coming out, suddenly Ranveer is doing a viral video dancing to a Shahrukh song. Sultan releases, Ranveer just has to put up a video of himself dancing in the aisles at the theater. He is very good at “accidentally” jumping on top of someone else’s media wave.
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You could put it in polite academic tones, I’m sure. 🙂
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Oh, but that’s the nastiest!!!! “While I appreciate his overall point, I fear he has missed some vital details”. Sounds like you are patting them on top of the head and saying “good job, here’s a participation trophy”.
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😅
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From the LA Times: https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-china-india-bollywood-film-fans-20190430-story.html
Hollywood is surprisingly interested in China recently watching Indian films.
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I also have some inexplicable hatred for Ranveer’s public persona. The actor – I love. He was so good in Gully Boy! But what is with him in his appearances? I firmly believe this is an image he has cultivated to gain attention. Just saw his old interview during Ladies and he seemed pretty normal back then. +1 on Anon’s comment about his performance in Filmfare and also during Gully Boy he jumped onto people in the audience and hurt some folks in the process??!? I mean he needs to at least think through his actions. Also his love-story with Deepika is managed to an extent to portray him as the week-kneed, besotted lover. Ranbir looks disinterested but atleast he doesn’t try too hard.
Another actor I’ve grown to dislike is Arjun Kapoor. Mostly due to his laziness. Arjun’s lack of effort is pretty visible now especially in Half Girlfriend, Mubarkaan and Namaste England. I don’t know how one can regress with time but with Arjun and Parineeti that’s been true. I don’t dislike Pari because somewhere there is an effort to do better.
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I enjoy Ranveer’s persona from a great great distance. I don’t have to talk to him or deal with him, and I don’t even have to see most of the stuff he does. If he was in my face all the time, even in the distance of instagram and stuff, he would probably drive me crazy too.
Ditto Arjun, come to think of it. I haven’t seen him in a movie since Mubarakan and he really bothered me in that, but I escaped Half Girlfriend and Namaste London.
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Little late, but I finally realized who I don’t like for petty reasons (I have long list of people I don’t like for important reasons, or at least important and real for me). Marathi actor Swapnil Joshi – I don’t like his face and I can’t imagine watching 2 or 3 hours long movie with him as the protagonist (the reason why I will never finish Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai)
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Oh, that is a super irritating face! I will never watch Mumbai Pune Mumbai either now.
On Fri, May 3, 2019 at 4:05 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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