Happy Wednesday/Madhuri Day!!!! I am almost through my weird busy week. Worked remotely on Monday, worked on no sleep after a delayed late flight yesterday, work normal today, then go see a co-worker in a show tomorrow night (Othello, it’s like Omkara but without the songs. So, completely depressing), and then Friday is De De Pyaar De (unless Dina talks me into seeing SOTY2 again so she can watch it).
I’ll start!
Reading: I found a new forum I like, this one. And I have also discovered the sick unhealthy joy of reading Rahul Desai reviews just so I can think about how much I disagree with them. It’s not a good thing to do, but it is a great stress relief.
Thinking: Podiatrist! Should I go to one? I have a bunion that is getting worse and worse. It doesn’t hurt, it just means I don’t fit in my shoes any more. But a podiatrist? Don’t I have to be an old woman who uses a grocery cart before I can go to one?
Watching: I’ve been on a bit of a Gautham Menon kick. Nothing new, just rewatching stuff I already have seen. Oh, and also Nancy Goes to Rio! Weird fun 1950s musical, definitely going to be rewriting it eventually. There’s a whole 3 generation show people plot that would translate very well.
Listening: Like I said, Gautham Menon! The soundtrack for Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada is a bit so-so, but this one song is amazing.
Now, question for you! Follow up on the much more important question from yesterday: why is Madhuri sexy?
The thing about Madhuri is, she is sexiest as a thing you watch. Like, not when she is interacting with other people, just when she is everything within herself. She is so kind of otherworldly perfect that it doesn’t feel like she needs anyone else. Right? I don’t think about love scenes with her, I think about dance solos.
dontcallitbollywood 
Going to see Student of the Year 2 today after reading your Non Spoiler review of it I thought it would be a fun watch amongst all the studying to have a breather.
Reading: History books from high school to read up on Finnish history (not my strongest subject) so I can pass entrance exams and hopefully (finally) get in to a university since I’ve had enough “gap” years already and want to go study but have always stumped when it comes to the entrance exams previously.
Thinking: History and all the drama on Twitter about Game of Thrones latest episode and all other drama happening there.
And also Eurovision week which is happening now! It basically our version of American Idol, except countries compete with their best or entertaining singers to host the competition next year. Its a good tourist boost for them as well if they win and the singers (otherwise would be unknown beyond their respective countries) get a lot of exposure should they make it to the Final. The acts themselves range from spectacular to so bad its good and to all out camp. Let’s just say that its a fun ride to go through the acts of different years and see how varied the competition can be and especially who in the end won.
As for Madhuri, I think for me it’s the way she moves and carries herself. Always strong and even in love songs has the upper hand in terms of who is really in charge in the situation. Then of course is the fact that her dancing is beyond perfect which just adds to the appeal along with that kilowatt smile of hers. Her small movements and tilts of the head while dancing just make you look more at her, to capture attention with little things is sexy in both dancing and irl.
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Yaaaay, I really think you will like SOTY2!!!!
Bluetooth, was that a Finnish thing?
I was planning to watch Game of Thrones start to finish someday, once it was completely finished, but the final scene is getting such bad reviews now I don’t even want to bother.
Eurovision! My sister had a Slovenian roommate who was born the year someone with his same first name won Eurovision, so he spent his youth being teased with people singing the song at him.
I like your point about Madhuri’s little movements. I wish people would let her do little precise movements more now. I suspect that because of age related stuff she can’t do the really athletic dance moves any more, but rather than let her just focus on the little gestures, they keep trying to fake the big moves.
On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 7:23 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Bluetooth is Sweden’s invention. 🙂
Yea don’t bother with this season. I am watching for completions sake to see how bad its going to get in writing and to see where Sansa (my fave) ends up. But seasons 1 to 4 or 5 are good though some odd choices are made at the end writing wise when GRR Martin didn’t participate anymore in the writing. You can just stop there or just read the books. The lore in them is so interesting!
Slovenia has some interesting songs throughout the years. Sorry about your sister’s friend. Though now it will be far worse to be named Khaleesi considering where the story has gone. It’s unfortunate.
They should have just taken the best parts of small movements in this and put them in to Kalank in her song, except for the end.
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Bluetooth was named after Harald Bluetooth, King of Denmark and Norway. They named it after him because he managed to bring together a lot of warring Danish tribes, like Bluetooth brings together people to communicate more easily.
(Scandinavian history is my other big interest after Indian film, though I’m sure Kirre Ranin has a lot more knowledge than I.)
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Thanks for the info about Bluetooth info! 😀
Personally my general Eurocentric history knowledge is better than Finnish history which is half Sweden’s as well since we were under its control until 1809 and for a little over 100 years Russian, but we had our own thing going on at that time.
But sure if anyone wants to ask some things about Nordic or Scandinavian history I am open to it.
And if anyone is interested in Finland then this is a good video to start on.
Though a little correction, though people seem to have the conception that we eat Reindeer meat I can say this: Yes we do eat it, but mostly in Lapland since they are herded there, but in the south where I live we never eat it. Fish is more common than anything, especially in summer.
Not all of Finland is like Lapland, no matter what the tourist broachers say.
Sorry to make such an ad for Finland in this comment section. Just got excited!
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I’m watching my inbox and my 1iota account in case some good Samaritan gives up their ticket to Shah Rukh’s taping for Letterman. I definitely have a problem. I can relax this evening because they stop releasing tickets 24 hours before the event.
Watching women’s human rights get stripped away in state legislatures across the US. Watching kids in cages on the US border, thinking about karma. Watching the chicken hawks in the US gov’t trying to get us into a profitable (for them) war in Iran. So, you know, happy happy.
I’m sad to say that I don’t think Madhuri is sexy. She is too perfect, too beautiful, too, as you say, self-contained. She comes the closest for me in little domestic scenes, like the ones between she and Shah Rukh in Are Re Are and a couple of scenes in Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam and Bucket List.
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I was thinking about Madhuri in Bucket List too, I think her scenes with her husband there are one of the few times I’ve felt like she is completely comfortable with her screen partner in a love scene. I don’t know if it was the director or the script or what, but it feels different to me than other times I have seen her.
On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 7:55 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Thank you!
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Fingers crossed for you procrastinatrix!
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Thank you!
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Watch her in Dil! She and Aamir have crazy chemistry in that one (and the movie itself is just crazy).
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I remember watching Eurovision on RAI (radiotelevisioneitaliana) as a young teen in Italy. It was the biggest deal. I miss it. American song and dance reality contests don’t match it, in my opinion.
Books, books and more books on India and Indian cinema (yours included, Margaret) by way of study and research; Elizabeth David to ease my savage brain. (She’s so damn British after all that Indian zing.)
Listening to NPR while trying to tackle my messy house. Can’t clean to music; it distracts me. I want to sing and dance.
Thinking? Podiatrists are probably the easiest doctor to see.
And one question: Did anybody catch some of the current crop of Netflix docs about Indian film? For the Love of a Man, about Rajinikanth was weird and upsetting to me. Another about an American director of early Indian films, was very interesting. The Bollywood one was stupid.
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Who was the American director of early Indian films?
I’m jealous of your ability to do research! I’ve got a stack of articles I want to read that I haven’t been able to get to with work-work and blog-work and so on.
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Ellis R. Dungan left So. California in the 1930’s to direct Tamil films.
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Fascinating! The Tamil industry was just getting started then, I think it lagged slightly behind Hindi films. And then ended up leaping way ahead in terms of studios and technological stuff later on.
On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 12:27 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Reading: I usually read two books at a time. One is my day-time book, one that I want to be sure I don’t miss a word. This is usually either a fictional work or if it’s non-fiction, I’m taking a highlighter to it. For this one, I’m finishing up King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and The Seductive World of Indian Cinema by Anupama Chopra. I’m already into the last chapter so that should be finished today at lunch. Then I have my before-bed book. This is one that is interesting but not so gripping that it will keep me from falling asleep. It is almost always non-fiction. For that I am reading The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics by Riane Eisler. It’s alright but it seems like everything she’s saying could be said in about 1-3 chapters instead of a full book. She repeats herself a lot and the ideas she espouses are not quite radical enough for me but they would be a vast improvement from our current situation.
Thinking: Which movie are my friend and I going to see this weekend? Right now I am torn between De De Pyaar De and Mr. Local, a Tamil movie that seems to have a so-so plot but the songs seem great!
Watching: I finished Dhoom 3 last night. I wanted a little brain candy after Mughal-E-Azam. Today I will be starting Luck By Chance as I continue my way through the list on IMDB of any movie SRK has had any appearance in.
Madhuri Dixit: I agree, I don’t find her sexy per se. More like just incredibly beautiful in an almost other-worldy way. And her dancing is just perfection!!
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I need to figure out a way to read. My problem is that I get so caught up, I don’t do anything else. Like, forget to eat or get dressed and stuff. I usually read when I am traveling, or in a waiting room or something with an artificial deadline, but maybe if a set a timer it would have the same effect? Or tell someone to call me and not stop until I answer?
I really liked SOTY2, so if you haven’t seen that yet, it would be my recommendation for the weekend. Or John Wick 2, that’s gonna be real good too 🙂
Luck By Chance is like one of those non-fiction books, there is SO MUCH in it. Here’s the index of the annotations I wrote so you can catch all the references: https://dontcallitbollywood.com/2017/08/31/luck-by-chance-annotations-index/
On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 8:16 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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The timer thing could work! Provided you actually listen to it haha
I don’t know, I wasn’t really in love with SOTY so I’m not super excited about SOTY2. Not that I am a snob, I definitely like a fun, silly movie, but SOTY just didn’t grab me. I think the thing I liked most about it were the little hints of flirting between the two male leads (Kjo having a little fun maybe?) but even if the second film could lend itself to that, it’s already been done. Unless you think SOTY2 was better than the first?
Oooooh thank you for the index! I will definitely be following along with that as I watch!
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SOTY2 has a similar look, but a very different kind of plot to SOTY1. Much more about our hero and the villain, and a little bit about the love triangle. If you like shirtless silly men pretending to be high school students, this is the movie. Otherwise you can watch shirtless silly men pretending to be in love in De De Pyaar De.
On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 12:15 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Well that doesn’t make the situation any easier! Who doesn’t love a good movie with silly shirtless men? And I don’t know if anyone is shirtless in Mr. Local but after watching Comrade In America I’ve learned that I find men wearing lungi(s?) super-attractive so now there’s that to factor in, too!
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Luck by Chance is WONDERFUL. Enjoy!
What did you think of Dhoom 3? You should also watch the other Dhoom films for comparison. I love that dopey series even though it’s utterly ridiculous.
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Oh I could never bring myself to watch a sequel without seeing the preceding movies, even when people convince me that I don’t need to in order to see the following ones.
I thought Dhoom 3 had several logistical plot holes (where do these orphaned twins whose only income is a struggling circus get the money to get a BatMobile-esque bike??), just like the first two (in what world would Uday Chopra be a cop let alone a detective working with Abishek Bachchan??), but that’s not why I enjoy them. They are indeed dopey and ridiculous but such fun!
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I watched Detective Pikachu with my son last week, and it wasn’t bad
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And today I finished Urumi, and OMG Prithviraj! You know how in the movies they show a person in slow-motion when sombody falls in love? I experienced it with Prithvi . He was so sexy as a warrior. And his scenes with Genelia were just too hot.
I must find you review of Urumi and read it now, and also I want to learn more about Vasco da Gama.
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Yeah, Prithvi in Urumi is pretty amazing. And so is Genelia! I was so sad they couldn’t manage a happier ending for them.
On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 8:26 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Did you manage to track down Vinod Khanna’s Lekin yet? The only copy I found is an unsubtitled one in Youtube.Urumi belongs to the category of movies known as Northern Ballads in Malayalam. Prithviraj is doing a similar role in Kaliyan, which incidentally is based on a character from the lesser known Southern Ballads.Since Prithvi comes from that part of Kerala, he’s bound to connect more with the character.
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Oh that reminds me! Kayamkulam Kochunni might be a good follow up to Urumi. It’s less epic feeling, but it’s still an adventure movie with a cute hero and stuff.
On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 11:29 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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No luck with Lekin 😦 I saw few scenes from this unsubtitled version on youtube, and than youtube recommended me Patar Ke Insan (with subs), and I watched it instead.
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I’m astonished that some people think Madhuri isn’t sexy! Look at her burning up the screen with Anil.
Or how about Choli Ke Peche? CRAZY HOT. Also featuring another sexy woman, Neena Gupta
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OKay so judging from these it’s entirely possible I just haven’t watched enough Madhuri Dixit films yet.
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Madhuri is one of those people whose legend kind of swallowed the reality, I think. You have to go to her lessor older movies to see the pure sexiness. Rajkumar, Anjaam, simple movies with simple ambitions, and she is way sexier in them than in her later mega-budget things. At least, I think so. Rajkumar I can actually recommend the whole movie, not just the Madhuri parts.
On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 12:22 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Ahhh Anjaam is one of those that shows up on Amazon but then they say it’s either “unavailable right now” or not subtitled (I can’t remember which off hand). So one of these days I’ll just have to buy it, (Oh darn 😉 )
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Will definitely add Rajkumar to my To Watch list as well!
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It’s a weird weird movie, and totally worth buying on DVD. One of those “so bad it’s good” films that you can even show to outsiders.
On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 1:27 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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My not finding Madhuri sexy is related to my own hangups and preferences. It’s not a commentary on her as a performer. 🙂
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Madhuri’s look in Dhak Dhak is honestly my favorite. Whoever did her makeup deserves a raise!
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But did she look as good as Anupam Kher?
On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 1:46 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Hello M,
While you are at reading Rahul Desai’s reviews check this one – https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/don-2-two-plates-and-a-ham-burglar/article2744512.ece#! Used to be a guilty pleasure reading it over and over.
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Watching: Kai Po Che. Did you never review that one? I really liked it. Kind of a mad rush to the dramatic end, but the three-way friendship was pretty great. This might have been my first Sushant Singh Rajput movie, I now see why he was going to be the next big thing. Rajkummar is the soul, though, as he does. Amit balances the other two.
Also saw there’s a new Mahira movie on Netflix, 7 Din Mohabbat In. Super light and fluffy cotton candy rom com. I didn’t like it as much as Ho Man Jahaan, but it’s fun to see her in a bubbly role.
Listening: Zingaat turned into my pickup song at work, and now I wake up with it in my head. I don’t mind, it makes me happy.
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I saw 7 Din Mohabbat In trailer now and I think I have never seen such contradictory trailer: romantic scenes are perfection and something I look for in every movie I watch in every language, but the other scenes are a perfect example of what I don’t want and avoid in every film. How it was as a whole, in case Italian Netflix decides to add pakistani films?
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I’ll finish 7 Din tonight and let you know. I stopped before the end because it was late on a work night. So far, I like the male lead Sheheryar, he’s charming, and of course Mahira lights things up when she’s onscreen. She plays a put-upon orphan taken in by Sheheryar’s mother as a child and treated as a servant. She pouts and flounces and dances with photos of Sheheryar because her mother is marrying her off to a mean guy and makes trouble anytime she sees Mahira and Sheheryar acting friendly. Sheheryar is a classic 80s-style nerd who has to learn how to stand up for himself. The genie, on the other hand, is stupid. Stupid plot device, bad special effects, terrible sets in his bottle world.
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I’m excited, and I think I will like it very much. Thank you.
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OK, that got really weird at the end…but mostly in a fun, girl power kind of way. If you miss some of the wackiness of the 90s, this movie has that. It’s like Khoobsurat meets Labyrinth.
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Avoided Kai Po Che, too sad! But glad to get your reaction. Same with Dhadak actually. On the other hand, 7 Din Mohabbat In sounds right up my alley.
On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 11:50 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I didn’t see Dhadak, just love that song!
The thing about Kai Po Che is that 3/4 of it is just a really well done, well acted buddy movie. You know something bad is going to happen, and it does, but the bad stuff is all stuffed into the tail end. Of the bad stuff that happens, one thing really got to me, but the climax that the whole movie hangs on felt kind of “oh”. I don’t know why, maybe they were trying to keep it to 2 hours and they didn’t leave enough space for the interior shifts in the characters to show up as dramatically onscreen as the action does. That’s what I meant by the ending feels rushed. But still totally worth watching for all the rest of it. The writing and the three main performances are very strong.
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It’s just the “based on a true story” part of it that kills me, I know I will be all distracted thinking about the real stuff the whole time. Although I also really want to see it because I loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove Amit Sadh.
On Thu, May 16, 2019 at 8:13 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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