Nothing really worth deep analysis today, but lots of stuff to just report on and let you all react. Also, we get to make fun of Ranbir.
Vijay Sethupathi is Going to Be In Laal Singh Chaddha
So, yaaaay! Vijay gets a Hindi role in a big movie! And we get a good actor to watch in LSC! On the other hand, I do immediately wonder if he will be playing something similar to the “Bubba” role from the original, meaning South Indian=African American and there is so much not right with that.
Oh, but other good news, along with casting Vijay, Aamir is also concentrating on gaining weight for the role. So this film will be a feast for the eyes for those of us who prefer our men with more natural bodies. (story here)
Amitabh Goes Back to Work
Amitabh is such a trooper. He made a commitment to Chehre, so he left the hospital and flew to Poland against medical advice to finish a schedule. I’m a little worried about him of course, but also I have to say I am impressed (especially compared to Ranbir).
Arjun Kapoor Promises Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar Will Release
Well, this is exciting for the small subset of the world that actually cares! Arjun Kapoor promises that Sandeep Aur Pinky will get a new real release date once Mardaani 2 releases and Yash Raj is ready to move on to promoting new stuff. But do we believe him? Or do we think Sandeep Aur Pinky is going to get drive’d?
Akshay Makes Me Happy and Then Angry
A 28 year old sound technician who worked on Housefull 4 just passed away, and Akshay did a thing on twitter about it. Isn’t that nice? Knowing about the loss to begin with, and then publicly acknowledging it?
And then just as I am feeling all warm about Akshay, Priyadarshan announces he is doing another Akshay comedy. Sigh. I am okay with Akshay in some films, and I am more than okay with many Priyadarshan films, but I am not okay with them together. Just, WHY???
Ranbir Gets an Owey on His Widdle Shoulder, Nobly Goes On
Poor little baby Ranbir made a boo-boo in a football match and now his shoulder is all owey and he can’t work any more. Stop pestering him! Working is hard! Adulthood is difficult! We should all just be happy to see him out of at all, instead of home watching cartoons while Mommy Alia brings him cereal. No, NOT frosted flakes, he ONLY likes Lucky Charms, WHY IS HIS LIFE SO HARD?????
You ready for the real story? While on one of his many many MANY breaks from working (not a break from a film schedule to do other projects, but an actual sit-around-in-pajamas-playing-video-games break while he does nothing else), he played football and injured himself. A charity football match you think? No no, just for fun. And a serious injury? No, no broken bones or cast required. But Ranbir is such a precious delicate flower, that he has to wear an enormous sling all the time, and naturally can’t go back to work. Well, he will consent to go to Manali where the next schedule is, but he won’t actually work, instead he is going to sit there and watch everyone else film all their parts while he “recovers”. And then, if he feels up to it physically and psychologically, he might deign to say a few lines in front of the camera.
dontcallitbollywood 
Did you see this photo? Ranbir is such an ass. Run Alia, run.
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And he doesn’t seem fun either, does he? It’s one thing to date a charming womanizer who is so addictively joyful that even if he is cheating, you don’t regret the time you spent with him. But Ranbir seems to be more of a suckhole of depression and self-interest who draws you in until you can’t escape.
On Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 11:51 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Ha ha I love your description of Ranbir. I would only add that he isn’t even that good-looking.
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Yes, I don’t get it and it makes no sense. Shashi was inarguably the handsomest Kapoor, and yet also the one with the fewest ladies.
On Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 12:48 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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My theory on Ranbir is that he gives just enough to get the woman interested. Then pulls back and keeps her craving for his love by always withholding it. There is ultimately nothing in him that should make so many women so crazy but his mind games seem to get everyone hooked.
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Not just women, why do many of his directors want to work with him again despite negligible talent or work ethic?
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He has convinced the world that he is one of the greatest actors to have ever lived. I’ve heard people say with a straight face that Ranbir is the best actor in India after Amitabh Bachchan. They will point to movies like Rockstar as some kind of epic acting where all I can see is a whiny brat. And it’s the same basic role he plays in literally every movie.
He’s also crafted the image of a “serious actor” who doesn’t have a PR, doesn’t sell himself, and is purely about acting unlike all others.
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You mean the other people who actually WORK FOR A LIVING???
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Well, he talks about how dancing at weddings is a disrespectful thing. He doesn’t perform on awards shows, does very few ads (or gets very few ads), is apparently not associated with a PR, etc. Though that doesn’t really mean he doesn’t have a PR – just that it’s not known who represents him.
You see, he is much more serious about the craft of acting unlike others. He spends years on one movie role because he is so diligent about the details and prepares so much unlike others who churn out movies.
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You mean like his cousins who were disowned by their family and forced to work for food money? Or like he could have done and saved the family studio. UGH RANBIR!!!
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Wait, which cousins? I know nothing.
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Kareena and Karisma. The family disowned them (especially Karisma), so they had to go out and hustle.
On Wed, Nov 27, 2019 at 2:29 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I remember you said Kapoor women wasn’t supposed to work in movies, but I didn’t know Kareena ans Karisma have been disowned.
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Yeah, it’s not fully clear what happened, their parents separated and Karisma went to work. Whether they separated because Karisma went to work, or Karisma went to work because they separated, the end result was the same, Kareena and Karisma got no real “Kapoor” benefit in their careers beyond the name itself (which isn’t nothing).
On Wed, Nov 27, 2019 at 2:33 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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This! This is so true. The younger crowd that dominates most internet conversation has this picture of him being some pure artist who ‘prepares’ and ‘lives’ characters for long. And so ‘matured’ compared to the attention seeking Ranveer who has no class. Plus I guess Ranbir’s tormented hero roles-intentionally or otherwise- appeals to the desperation and emptiness they feel/imagine. And I think even Karan Johar,Alia Bhatt& a larger section of the industry also genuinely thinks he is some kind of born genius artist.
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And it still drives me crazy that RANVEER HAS AN ACTUAL ACTING DEGREE!!!!. Ranbir has a few months at a for profit school in New York and people won’t shut up about it, Ranveer had 4 years of a legitimate respected program. Which is why he is entertaining and interesting and comfortable onscreen, and can prepare for a role and deliver his lines and all of that like he actual knows what he is doing instead of being emotionally overcome by it all.
Maybe my christmas gift to us all should be another week of Ranbir hate? It seems to bring so much joy.
On Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 9:37 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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And I would gladly share it with the world. I would not call it Ranbir hate though. It is a fact that he hides behind a carefully constructed fake image that the world is too stupid not to see & a write up that shreds that image would be a public service..:))
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He would have never saved the studio even if he was earning enough to do so. It was owned by a dozen people at least. In practical terms, why would he work so hard and put in all that effort when most of it would not have even been owned by him.
It would be better off putting in his money and time into his own production house instead of studio where 10 other people would claim their ownership rights if it became successful.
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I’m pretty certain that Ranveer does *not* have an acting degree. If he did, we would have not heard the end of it. His PR would have made sure it was blasted everywhere constantly the way they do with everything else related to him. His PR is as exhausting and annoying as Deepika’s.
All I can find online is that he has a Bachelor of Art’s degree from the University of Indiana but nothing about what he majored in. He claimed in the roundtable that Anushka had to teach him even small things on set because he didn’t know anything about films.
Plus who would go to Indiana of all places for a degree in acting?! NY area, Los Angeles, London.. makes sense. But Indiana?!!
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Oh, now you’ve poked the bear! Both my midwest pride, and my frustration with academia.
Ranveer went to Indiana University just to get a degree but fell in love with theater while he was there, that is what his Bachelor of Arts is in. If you are serious about getting a degree in acting, you ABSOLUTELY would go to Indiana. An acting degree, a real 4 year degree, is about your teachers and the quality of the program, it has no relationship it the location of the school. And people actually in the industry know that. It’s just the general public that assumes going to school for theater is the same as doing theater and therefore you have to be in a big city. A Bachelor of Arts from University of Indiana is a far far greater American credential than anything anyone else in India has. Well, except for Jim Sarbh who has a degree from Emory (also not in New York or LA, also deeply respected theater program). A 4 year theater degree from a decent American school (and Indiana University is definitely a good school) means something serious. Indiana has the 89th best theater program in America, out of hundreds of schools. Ranveer mentioned it in some earlier interviews, just the story of taking a random class in college and falling in love with acting, but I think he realized quickly that this kind of degree isn’t something the public in India can understand (4 years of slogging away in a midwestern university with no glamour) so he doesn’t bring it up. But if he were, for instance, to try to get an audition at a stage production in Chicago, he would immediately be accepted while Ranbir would be laughed out of the building.
Here’s an interesting thing, Kevin Kline also got his theater degree from Indiana University and had almost the same story, was going to graduate in something else but then took a theater class at random and fell in love. Not that surprising really, that’s the benefit of going to a big school with a good department for everything, you can change your mind after you are accepted.
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Everybody doing movies in Poland when I’m not there 😦
Being honest I hoped Arjun and Pari movie would be drive’d because I don’t believe it will be released in cinemas anymore.
Today I also read that Lootcase’s producers changed their minds again and decided to release the movie in theaters. People say it’s because nobody wanted it, but I’m not sure.
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It’s weird that YRF is sitting on this film when they’ve released almost nothing else. Although maybe there is a logic to it, with War and Mardaani 2 coming back to back, they want to wait until they have an empty space in the schedule? Or until Arjun has an actual hit they can ride off on?
On Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 12:58 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I don’t know what they are waiting for. Parineeti’s and Arjun’s carrers instead of improve, worsen day by day. But Arjun looks so good of the promotional photos, not releasing this film would be a crime .
As for Vijay Sethupathi – Bollywood doesn’t deserve him. I can already imagine people’s comments (like when Dhanush was cast in Raanjhanaa), and Aamir casted him just because he wants Tamilians to watch his stupid film.
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Did I tell you Vijay is in Sye Raa? He has about 10 minutes of screentime and maybe 5 lines of dialogue. Clearly cast to bring in the Tamil audience, and also such an easy going guy that he is fine with that. And I imagine his role in Laal Singh will be the exact same kind of thing.
But you should watch Sye Raa, Vijay in tribal clothing and Sudeep in a big black cape with eyeliner.
On Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 3:15 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh yes, I know Vijay is in Sye Raa. I already added it to favourites on Prime but with this new work I don’t have time to watch movies.
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Booo, work!!! Booooooooo!!!!! Ignore your family over Christmas break and catch up on films, it’s what I am going to do.
On Wed, Nov 27, 2019 at 3:26 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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It may be something to do with the fact that everyone associated with that film is currently in a slump. I am a keen Indian film music listener / “follower” and think that Any Malik’s current status as public enemy number 1 may be adding to the already heavy baggage attached to this film.
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Oh that’s interesting! Thank you!
Especially if YRF is putting off even announcing, maybe it’s because they want the announcement and the music launch to come together? And Anu Malik is too toxic right now?
On Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 6:09 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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How is Bhramastra still filming? Why do Ranbir’s movies always take years and years to be made? It happens too often to his films for it to be completely unrelated to him.
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Well, he had to take a break to come home and play football for a few weeks. And YES. How is it just accepted that Ranbir’s films take forever?
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I think he plays every weekend when he’s in town. It’s a charity thing. Other celebs play in these weekend soccer games too.
I don’t want to make such an early prediction but Bhramastra sounds like a mess. It’s heavy in VFX and they must be doing reshoots. It seems they are adding star cameos – (always bad news) – SRK was filming for a couple of days for it with a green screen.
Besides OSO, almost all movies with heavy duty star cameos fail. It’s usually a last minute technique to drum up interest. Tubelight, Zero, the latest examples.
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And with OSO, I don’t remember big promotion for it. Like, it was a cool part of the movie, but it wasn’t what they were hanging their hat on.
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In other news, Red Chillies has announced their next production – a movie titled Bob Biswas, a spinoff from Kahaani. It will star Abhishek Bachchan. Sujoy Ghosh’s daughter will direct. She previously had a short film nominated in one of the competition categories at Cannes.
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I saw! Good movie, a nice small film in the thriller category where they have been doing so well
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Abhishek in the Bob Biswas spinoff instead of Saswata?? Is this supposed to be some sort of flashback scenario??
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I was assuming that Saswata is the villain and Abhishek is going to catch him.
On Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 9:58 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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That would make more sense except they didn’t mention him in the tweet and the articles I’ve read said that Abhishek is Bob Biswas!
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I think people are just being stupid then. If nothing else, it could be Abhishek hunting a Bob Biswas that we don’t actually see, a shadow he is chasing and never getting close to.
On Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 10:23 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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If Saswata is not in this I’m going to have some sort of episode. And I’d love for Parambrata to be in it also, but that’s not quite so crucial.
Wait, this will have to be a prequel, right? I don’t want to write a spoiler for Kahaani, but, right? So he can’t get caught, really.
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Or they just slightly rewrite Kahaani so that he escapes.
Or “Bob Biswas” is a made-up identity that is passed around and Abhishek is the new “Bob”.
Or Abhishek’s story ends in frustration and tragedy as he is killed by the man he is chasing.
On Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 10:25 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I don’t know if they’d be able to pull off “He wasn’t really dead!” He gets pretty decisively run over by a truck.
If Abhishek is the new Bob, then Saraswata has to appear, as a ghost if necessary, to train him in the art of assassination. Saraswata must be in this movie or I will boycott the producer, director, lead actors, sponsors, and distributor for the rest of my life. I feel this is my duty as the DCIB Bengali fan.
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I’m joining you too!!! Swaswata is THE Bob Biswas! How could you just replace him like that??Also I really want a Parambrata cameo too now!
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No, not the producer! Not Shahrukh! What would we talk about?
On Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 10:41 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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So Bob Biswas will be a spin-off of Kaahani, but Kaahani 2 has nothing to do with the first movie?
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Huh. Hadn’t thought about it like that. Yes.
On Wed, Nov 27, 2019 at 3:30 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Also, speaking of Mardaani 2, have you seen the trailer? YIKES. I liked the first one but I think I may have to pass.
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My reaction exactly!!!! The original was already dark, this is just super dark.
On Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 10:26 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Why can’t Rani just make a fun film? Same question I was asking for Hrithik before War. For god’s sake, why is she doing this to us?
She is so good in lighter subjects, has great comic timing and instead of we have to keep on dealing with stuff like Mardaani and No One Killed Jessica. Even Hitchki had to be an issue movie. I’m tired.
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I don’t want to see Mardaani 2 either but I think it’s great that Rani is starring in a police franchise as a lead woman with no male star on her level. More of this kind of thing for all the older female stars would be amazing.
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But, less rape-y if possible.
On Wed, Nov 27, 2019 at 12:43 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Am I the only person who really likes Parineeti? I’ve only seen 4 of her films, perhaps I’ve just never seen her be bad? I would prefer an Ranveer Love Week to a week of Ranbir hate. And in high school (early 90s) I babysat Kevin Kline’s niece and nephew while his sister (their mother) was out of town. They were normal upper middle class Berkeley, CA kids. He called on the phone once, he sounded like an uncle.
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You are not the only person who really likes Parineeti, it’s just that she has deeply disappointed us. Daawat-E-Ishq is a DCIB favorite, as is Ishaaqzaade and Hasee To Phasee. But then her career got WEIRD and suddenly she seemed to lose the ability to act, or any interest in acting. It’s really dramatic, comparing her performances in the recent (bad) movies with what she did in the early movies. What happened Pari?!?!?!
Ranveer Love Week does seem more kindhearted and in sync with the holiday spirit than “Ranbir hate week”. Although I still might feel the urge to write a “why is Ranbir’s public persona so powerful, and also so infuriating?” post.
And I am delighted and yet not surprised to hear your Kevin Kline story. Along the same lines (and the “famous acting places are not best acting schools” lines), Meryl Street used to come to Evanston a lot when her daughter was at Northwestern for acting and I knew a couple of people who would randomly see her because they were working at the hotel where she stayed or similar, and she was always very nice.
On Wed, Nov 27, 2019 at 8:59 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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What is Parineeti’s worst film? I want to challenge myself to see if I’ll like her after watching it.
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I think Nameste England, but I can’t confirm because I haven’t been brave enough to see it. Angie, our bad-romance-films correspondent, claims it is one of the worst performances she has ever seen and it killed her Pari love.
On Wed, Nov 27, 2019 at 11:16 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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It was Meri Pyaari Bindu that made me hate Parineeti. The movie could be good, but she was terrible (in my opinion). Her character first is a teenager and later grows but she played the young girl and experienced woman the same way. There is no growth, no change, only Parineeti’s “I’m pretty so I don’t have to act” expression she uses all the time now.
People say Namaste England is very bad, but I had my eyes only on Arjun and ignored Pari completely and so I liked the film (or better I didn’t mind it, because it gave me what I wanted – sexy Arjun).
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I love Pari too, but I saw Jabariya Jodi in theaters over the summer (I’d been following promotions for it forever) and it gave me a massive headache. Was probably the worst movie I’ve seen this year.
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Yes! Jabariya Jodi is where I went “wow, sidharth Malhotra of all people is the one carrying this movie”
On Thu, Nov 28, 2019 at 12:30 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I LOVE SID. I love Sid so much. It wasn’t like either of them gave terrible performances. They’re not the best actors in the world, sure, but it was just a bad movie. The best actors in the world couldn’t have saved it. It’s just so unfair to pin its failure on the two of them.
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Have you seen A Gentleman? The movie I love more than I should love according to all logic?
On Thu, Nov 28, 2019 at 1:52 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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YES!! Finally someone else who loves this movie!! I loved it! Everyone I’ve talked to about it didn’t like it and I don’t understand why!! Okay, Jacqueline isn’t great, but is she ever honestly? And Sid is hot and does what he does best, looking hot and kicking butt. It’s another big dumb fun action movie that probably would have done really well as an American release.
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And it’s clever! The little visual jokes in the film, the casual black humor, it’s legitimately funny and original and unique. And I respect Sid more just because he was willing to be in it.
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This is regarding Margaret’s explanation of acting degree vs theatre experience -thank you for shedding light on that! Interesting to know how these things are perceived in the American industry since majority of Indian actors have neither of those. Is it the case that most actors in Hollywood (not stars, regular working actors) have to have some years of stage/ theatre experience to get movie acting jobs? They don’t cast rank newcomers in anything, much less as leads? Also, I would assume much less people have actual acting degrees compared to some kind of acting experience?
Ooh I didn’t realize so many people have anti-Ranbir sentiments here! I think he’s decent, though it’s been long since I’ve seen a Ranbir film. What do you think of him in Sanju (haven’t seen), his performance is universally lauded though the film is problematic?
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There are 12,000 new theater graduates in America every year. It’s the same as any kind of degree, if you want to be a working professional in that field a college degree has a lot of meaning. Not prestige, but actual practical meaning. As a theater graduate, you would be expected to walk onto a stage and know what to do. Most of the actors I know have double degrees, acting along with directing or set design or something. Most likely most working actors in America, the ones who keep going and make it their lifetime career, have a theater degree. They just aren’t famous.
Movie stars are different, a lot of them have acting degrees or at least got part way through a program before being “discovered”. But it’s less about basic credentials and more about luck and charisma. Again, like any other profession. If I have a business degree, I will have an easier time being hired for an entry level job at a small company than someone walking in without a business degree. But if I want to found my own company and be a millionaire, that’s a special talent unrelated to being hired for that entry level job, just as likely whether or not I have the MBA. It’s almost more likely to find acting degrees among the bit players than the big stars. For instance, in The Avengers films, Clark Gregg (who plays Phil Coulson) is the one who has an actual acting degree. Most of the rest of the cast were discovered as teens and thrown into fame. And Clark Gregg started out leaving a theater program and trying to get work as an actor, then went back to school because he needed the degree.
In terms of film in general in America, acting is the ONLY part where it is acceptable to not have a 4 year degree from somewhere. Compared to India where the norm is still on the job training. If you want to work in film in America, a 4 year degree in editing, cinematography, directing, something, is the basic requirement. There are still people who slip in sideways of course, but most of the people working in film will have a real degree from somewhere. A 4 year degree from any random decent school is the equivalent of years of on the job training in terms of giving you a leg up in knowledge and respect. And connections too, most film programs bring in folks who are actually working in the industry to teach classes and mentor kids. I got to take one of those classes, I was going to school in Chicago but they flew in a real live Hollywood producer to teach a class. He was a nice man, not that great as a teacher, but it was super helpful actually to hear about life as a producer from someone who spent his life producing. That was just one class, if I was in the “real” film program probably half my teachers would have been working professionals. And then I could graduate and contact them and say “hey, you taught my such-and-such class, can you help me get a job?”
Really, a 4 year acting degree from any university in America (there are also obviously fake little for profit schools that don’t count) is invaluable if you want to have an acting career. You have real training, you have connections, you can enter the workforce feeling confident that you know what you are doing.
On Wed, Nov 27, 2019 at 12:14 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh, I forgot to answer the Sanju question. I think he was terrible in Sanju. It was basic acting that looks good because you can see how hard he is working. But you shouldn’t see him working! It should just feel like you are watching the character, not Ranbir-Kapoor-trying-to-play the character. Even Sonam was better than him. But because he made it look like work, of course everyone loved it.
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