Happy Monday! I’m so tired and so not ready to be back at work. Great vacation, but now my allergies are acting up, I haven’t had enough sleep, and all my muscles ache. And I have to go to work! It’s the WORST!!!!
This is the place to ask me anything at all, about an actor you are curious about, a film you are thinking of seeing, a news story you want more background on, or just a general wonderment like “why is everyone named Kapoor?”
And, I have a question for you! What should I do tonight to recover from returning home?
dontcallitbollywood 
Hi how do you take the need of srk and Aryan dubbing for look king Hindi ?? I feel this is a testing the water for srk with aryan .
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Writing the post now, going up in about an hour.
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My question stems from my recent research into Kiara Advani’s background. In the current “young” upcoming hindi actors, who are the true outsiders? As in, absolutely no family or friend connections to bollywood. Based on this criteria, for example, Ranveer Singh, Tara Sutaria, or Kiara Advani would not be considered outsiders. The only ones I can think of: Ayushmann and Aparshakti, Kriti Sanon, Tapsee Pannu, Karthik Aaryan, Diljit Dosanjh, Sidharth Malhotra, and Rajkumar Rao. Who am I missing?
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Off the top of my head, Radhike Apte, Amit Sadh, Sushant Singh Rajput. Bhumi Pednakar, Veeni Kapoor, Ileana D’Cruz, Rakul Preet Singh. Definitely slanted female over male, but there are still quite a few “outsiders”.
But then, it also gets into what we determine as outsiders versus insiders. Katrina for instance, she got her first big break in Boom entirely on her own, but then soon after started dating Salman. Does that make her an outsider or an insider? What about Aparshakti whose brother was already successful before he launched? Sid with his close mentorship relationship with Karan? Rajkummar and Hansal Mehta? Karthik Aaryan and Luv Ranjan? They aren’t alone in the industry any more, even if that is how they started.
On Mon, Jun 17, 2019 at 12:48 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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This is FilmiKudhi btw. I have a feeling this comment will be anonymous. My definition of outsiders is based on them not having any family connections to Bollywood nor grew up around the Mumbai elite with Bollywood connections. So, with that, I change my mind that Aaparshakti would not be an outsider give his brother’s status when he came to films. However I stand by the others I mentioned. With that same definition, I would still consider Katrina, Sid, Rajkumar, and Kartik to be outsiders and most of the ones you mentioned besides Bhumi. Bhumi went to Arya Vidya Mandir (same school as Sonam and Sonali Sinha). She went to a very expensive Mumbai film college and if not she has said she would have been sent abroad for her schooling. So to me, she falls in the Tara Sutaria category. She might not have any family connections but definitely grew up with friends from or connected to Bollywood.
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It was anonymous! I wonder why?
I’ll just throw a few more names at you because I am interested in your analysis, how about Akshay Kumar? Grew up in the Bandra-zone, but not a super rich family or super good schools. Amitabh Bachchan, not rich or Bombay but connected to the Gandhis? Sharmila Tagore, not film connected but a Tagore?
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So ShahRukh isn’t an outsider either… Aziz Mirza brought him to Mumbi (through Circus)…and Vivek Vaswani had watched him in Idiot…and he had some small TV roles before Fauji…
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So, to me SRK and Askhay Kumar are still outsiders based on the definition I have used. Neither grew up with connections to bollywood through family or friends. From my understanding, maybe I am wrong, but Aziz Mirza heard of SRK through the serial Fauji and then asked him to come to Mumbai and then cast him in Circus. Same with Askhay. He grew up in Koliwada (Sion area) which is very different from Bandra. He did not grow up with anyone from a filmi background. Amitabh Bachchan and Sharmila Tagore are slightly different to me. I don’t know how I would catagorize them. Sharmila for example, as you said, is a Tagore. Satyajit Rai (her first director) put out a call for pictures/auditions for the role of Arpana for Apur Sansar and didn’t like any of them for the role. Then he heard of Sharmila’s dance recital nearby and that she was related to RabindranathTagore. He reached out to her parents, sought her out, and then cast her. So, based on that, I am not sure how I would catagorize her. Same with Amitabh. He grew up very far away from Mumbai in a very scholarly family with political connectionsbut not really any bollywood connections.
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I think we are going to see more people of the Sharmila/Amitabh type. There’s been such a burst of upper class types entering the industry, ones where it isn’t nepotism exactly but it is a different kind of connections.
On Tue, Jun 18, 2019 at 12:52 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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How was the Sunday with the kids and the elders???
When you ask (me) what you should do…I’m mostly inclined to whisper into your ear “the next DDLJ scene” ;.)
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Sunday was exhausting! The kids got wet in the lake and had to dry in front of the fire, the elders had to be helped in and out of boats, and then when it was over, I had to leave and drive two hours to get home at 9 o’clock at night.
On Mon, Jun 17, 2019 at 3:00 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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At least the weather was nice 🙂
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Kind of nice. About 60 degrees and over cast. But it didn’t rain!
On Tue, Jun 18, 2019 at 9:37 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’ve been thinking about how actors who are in popular songs get a kind of bonus career relevance from the fact those videos come up on rotation all the time. Or it seems like they do? Hard to say if other people see what I do given algorithms and all. Thinking like Kat and Sid in Nachde Ne Saare, or Ranveer/Priyanka/Anil in Gallan Goodiyan. Is this just luck from the actor side? Can you do anything to up your chances of being in a super hit song? Kat seems to show up in a good number of them – Sheila, Kamli, Tu Meri, Uff. Just be beautiful and a good dancer and willing to do item songs? Seems like a happy way to stay visible without any effort beyond the original filming.
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Yeah, it is a big benefit. The downside is a really good song like that can kind of unbalance the movie, end up overshadowing it. And being in those kinds of songs can undercut your dignity as a serious actor. Have you seen Bharat yet? Kat has one super sexy item type song, and it really doesn’t fit with her character in the film, but they put it in because Kat always does those songs. But it’s still luck, everyone tries to have a hit song in their movie, and it doesn’t always work out.
On Mon, Jun 17, 2019 at 10:28 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Still fascinated trying to figure out how the music piece fits in with the movie piece. There seem to be some formulas that work – Gerua or Zaalima type songs. Big star + big production + top composer. That also sounds expensive. Surely there are also surprise hits that end up immortalizing songs or actors who no one saw coming?
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Oh yeah! Every big composer had that first break through song no one saw coming. Aashiqui 2 is the most recent one I can think of, the composer and singer and actors all came out of nowhere. Well, not so much the composer, but Arijit Singh and Aditya Roy Kapoor were totally new.
On Mon, Jun 17, 2019 at 10:56 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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People may have not gone to watch Zero in the theatre, but Mere Naam Tu has become really popular and a success and the singer Abhay Jodhpurkar made his debut in Hindi Cinema with this song.
Interestingly, the lyricist for Aashiqui 2 is also the one for the Imtiaz Ali movies (including JHMS) and Mere Naam Tu.
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Hope your doldrums have passed. Have only one question: The Deols, Parts 2, 3, 4 and so on??
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Working on 2 now 🙂
Glad to hear someone is waiting for it!
On Tue, Jun 18, 2019 at 9:57 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Kalank – do you think it will be on Prime? Other Dharma’s movies are there, so I guess also this film will be. And it’s already 2 months since it was released, shouldn’t it be already in streaming? I didn’t follow the trailers, songs, and stuff, but now I’m curious if the movie is really bad, and miscast.
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It’s not that bad, a fine entertainer of the 90s type, you know? Not perfect, but good songs and some good scenes and you can watch and enjoy it and then forget it. And also read the Margaret Edit which is much better.
I am assuming Prime as well, maybe they are negotiating for a TV debut first and that’s the delay? Or some other contract question.
On Tue, Jun 18, 2019 at 4:10 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I have a question of coming up with movie recommendations. So my friend’s younger sister is like 11 years old and she’s recently got into Hindi movies. She’s 11 so she doesn’t really know what her type of movie is but she does like movies that are funny. It’s kind of hard to come up with recommendations for her since my friend would kill me if I recommended anything that has a sex scene or two people in bed. So it’s really hard to come up with recent Hindi rom-coms that are not inappropriate for her. She’s seen a lot of early 2000s movies like K3G and Mujshe Dosti Karogi, so I’ve told her to see KHNH, 3 Idiots, RNBDJ, Dawaat e Ishq, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, etc. This is a 11 year old so anything before 2013 is something she’s likely not seen.
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I have so many ideas!
Dil To Pagal Hai, for some reason, has been a guaranteed hit in that age group among little girls I know.
I’d also suggest Fidaa (which no duh you know about because you are the one who recommended it to me), it’s a little slow, but it’s kind of like a fairy tale, isn’t it?
Dhoom 2 is the all time favorite of my friend’s little sister who also got into the movies around age 11. Don’t ask me why.
Speaking of Hrithik, Kaho Na Pyaar Hai might be another fun one. Also Aap Mujhe Aache Lagne Lage and Na Tum Jaane Na Hum.
Maine Pyar Kiya also would be a good option.
Chennai Express
Bunty Aur Babli (it’s got that little bit of a sex scene, but not really)
Aaja Nachle
Student of the Year 1 and 2
Baaghi 1 (NOT 2!!!). It’s got violence, but in a very fun way with lots of high kicks and stuff and minimal blood
Hasee To Phasee
Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om (you probably already recommended those)
Karan Arjun
Judwaa (1 or 2)
Humko Deewane Kar Gaye
Singh is King
Tezaab
Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani
And I could go on, but let me know what you like out of these and I will give you more options. And I am sure other commentators (who have children about that age) will have better ideas.
On Thu, Jun 20, 2019 at 8:22 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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So I’ve got some feedback for you 🙂
She didn’t like Kal Ho Naa Ho because it was so dramatic and kind of an adult drama. Also RNBDJ turned out to be just okay and kind of boring. I asked her if she saw DDLJ and she said it was meh. I thought this means that she might not like SRK but apparently she didn’t like Kajol in DDLJ.
She’s obviously seen Fidaa but she thought it was kind of overrated.
She didn’t like Mubarakan which I thought she would have liked. But then it turned out she liked Dhoom 2 and 3. And she also loved Khoobsurat.
So she’s a kid that watches anything but she’s kind of picky in what she likes. And I don’t think she really knows what her preferences are yet at this age. But thanks for your help!
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Hmmm. Dhoom movies. Maybe Dishoom? Oh! Or the Tiger genre! Heropanti, Baaghi 1, Munna Michael, Student of the Year 2? They aren’t very good, but they are very bright and fun and fast paced.
I will crack this 11 year old girl yet! Despite the thousands of years of failures of trying to interpret 11 year old girl tastes, I shall be the chosen one who does it.
On Sat, Jun 22, 2019 at 8:24 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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She really wanted to see SOTY2 before it came out but she decided to wait for it to come on prime since the reviews were so bad. I’ll find out what she thinks of Tiger because I know her sister doesn’t like Tiger.
We will figure out this kid eventually! 🙂
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Khoobsurat! (that one with Sonam+Fawad) I’m sure 11 year old girl will love it.
And Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. I don’t remember if there are some sex scenes but I think not.
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Oh yes, definitely Khoobsurat!!!! But definitely NOT Veere Di Wedding. I think if you showed that to an 11 year old, her family would never talk to you again 🙂
On Thu, Jun 20, 2019 at 9:11 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Also Mubarakan. I found it very funny, the songs were colorful and nice, and no sex if I remember well.
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Yeah, no sex. There were sex jokes I think, but of the kind that would go over the head of an 11 year old.
On Thu, Jun 20, 2019 at 9:24 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Okay, she’s seen Khoobsurat before and she loved it. That’s the only movie she said she loved but it’s such a unique movie.
I don’t think there’s anything in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan so I recommended it to her.
Thanks Angie!
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Khoobsurat is so Disney! The only other indian Disney movie I can think is telugu Anaganaga O Dheerudu, and maybe she knows it. I haven’t seen it, but maybe I should.
Bareilly ki Barfi – is there any sex in it? I don’t think so. The heroine smokes cigaretes, I don’t know if it’s a problem for the girl. But it’s very funny and not so dramatic like Kal ho naa ho.
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Oh oh! Dilwale!!!! Bright, fun, fast paced, lots of great songs.
Pretty soon I am going to be pulling 11 year old girls in off the street to test these.
On Sat, Jun 22, 2019 at 8:46 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge – I haven’t seen it also but it was a hit, and about young people and fb so maybe 11 years old would like it.
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Oh yeah, Bareilly Ki Barfi would be a good suggestion!
Margaret, Dilwale isn’t that good of a movie. Everyone I’ve talked to seems to hate it because it’s so predictable.
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