Happy Wednesday! Still a weird long week for me, but I’m plugging along and getting through it. Thank goodness for the Rani reposts.
I’ll start!
Reading: Elizabeth George, and I got The Great Mughals and Their India thanks to Datablue’s recommendation. I can already tell it will be a super fun chatty but not scandalous kind of read. I bought the paperback copy so I could mark pages and stuff, which meant ordering from India. But if you want just a kindle for funsies, you can get it here: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Mughals-their-India-ebook/dp/B01IN95QVM
Oh oh!!! If Takht ever comes out, we could have a little DCIB reading club! I would LOVE that!!!!
Watching: More Bergman, plus Cheers (very different kind of tones to those), oh and I went to a special screening of an old silent Peter Pan. That is a creepy creepy play, isn’t it? All the “Wendy wants more from Peter, but he just wants her to be his mother” stuff? Not healthy! And yet also, feels like it could come straight from a Raj Kapoor-Nargis movie.
Thinking: My sister and nephew are in town again and I have to say, Albie is a lot better behaved. Okay, not a lot better behaved, but some better behaved. He doesn’t cry. And hardly ever spits up. Although he does get fussy and insist on being held a lot. He is possibly slightly spoiled.
Listening: It’s Rani week, and I just read an interesting review of The Wedding Singer (here), so this song is going through my head. I defy you to watch this video and not be charmed. Check out Salman’s heartbroken fake electric guitar playing.
Now, question for you! Since it is Rani Week, What Film do you want Rani to do next?
Looking at all these old songs, Rani really has something special in the sexy scenes, especially with a strong partner. Something sort of earthy and real. I want more of that. And so (prepare to have your mind blown), I propose the second mainstream Lesbian love story, between Vidya and Rani. First half is meeting and falling in love and coming to terms with their identity (I vote both of them coming out of the closet together, after some experimentation in their past that they didn’t label, Vidya is a sexually unsatisfied childless middle-aged housewife who gets her first job at Rani’s company, Rani is a career woman who used the excuse of being “too busy for love” instead of examining why she finds men so boring). And then the second half is them dealing with their families who, along with the same-sex romance issues, also have issues related to class, background, etc. But of course it ends happily. And along the way there are many many chances for Rani and Vidya to display the earthy natural sexiness they both have.
Do you vote for that too or would you pick something different? Or would you make two movies?
dontcallitbollywood 
Does Albie hardly ever cry or does you nephew hardly ever cry? I think you may be confusing the two puppies!
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Albie Dog hardly ever cries, my nephew (so far as I can see) cries CONSTANTLY.
On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 7:03 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I want Rani to do a Bengali movie, honestly- she still speaks the language (though I don’t, so I can’t gauge her fluency). Alternately, I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing her and Prithviraj reunite in something more serious than Aiyyaa, Or in one of Vishal Bhardwaj’s Shakespeare adaptations, though I don’t know which character she’d fit.
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I love the idea of a Bengali movie! I feel like Rani is very protective of her place and legacy in Hindi film, and it might have made her more cautious about what films she is willing to take (for instance, only taking lead roles instead of supporting). But if she jumped to a different industry, it could free her up. Which goes to your second idea, Rani and Prithviraj. She doesn’t speak Malayalam, but surely there would be a way to still have her in a Malayalam film, right? If Rani and Prithviraj wanted to make a love story between a mute Hindi speaker and a young Malayalam man in Kerala, I would be there opening day.
On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 9:04 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I actually watched her debut Bengali film Biyer Phool that she did all the way back in 1998 with Prosenjit and Indrani Halder and thought it was DELIGHTFUL and was probably better than whatever gross rapist marriage movie she did in hindi. Bit surreal hearing her speak Bengali though since I’m used to hearing her speak hindi but that fun spontaneity that makes Rani such a great comic actress was there even then.
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Ooo, now I want to see that! Somehow I conflated it with the rape film and thought of Rani’s kind of first movie as a Bengali movie about rape. Did not realize they were too separate things.
On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 4:29 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Lol no Biyer Phool was a super light fun movie! The rape movie was the hindi one. I watched Biyer Phool without subtitles on YouTube so sadly I have no idea if a subtitled version of this film exists.
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I think a Rani and Vidya pairing would be brilliant. I also want her to work with Akshay as I’ve read that he has worked with everyone but her, however, I don’t actually want to see their movie.
I’ve been trying to watch Parineeti movies to see why she is now disliked, but the ones that are supposed to be bad, I can’t find to stream! Not even on Einthusan. Therefore I still like her; I haven’t seen EVERYTHING available to be streamed, so maybe I’ll change my mind even if I can never see Namaste England.
I’m reading The Years of Rice and Salt which a friend gave me. The friend who gave it to me grew up on a Ranch and has a bit of the mentality that different sexes can’t really be friends and sometimes he struggles with things to talk to me about, so he always talks about books. This generally works as I worked at a bookstore for over a decade. I’m sure he gave me the book in the hopes of having more easy conversations. It is interesting, but as I read it I am aware that this is a Western perspective of Eastern philosophy and life, and I wonder how it would be re-written by someone from the East.
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Golmaal 4! I actually found it kind of enjoyable, and you should see at least one Golmaal movie (the humor is aimed at kids your sons’ age, don’t know if it would work for them or not, but maybe). And you can see Parineeti smile and flirt her way through a movie instead of acting.
I didn’t realize Akshay had never worked with Rani. I kind of want to see it just for the Clash of Egos. It seems like both of them are now at a point in their career where they want to be the center and savior of any plot they are in, seeing someone try to work out a film with both of them playing the Savior of India role would be interesting.
Years of Rice and Salt is alternate history, yes? Those books always make my head hurt. Finding the kernel of consistency across the alternate storylines is so strange and hard.
On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 10:29 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I have seen Golmaal 4. Parineeti didn’t do much, but she also wasn’t offensive. It was a weird movie, full of older men acting as though they were in their late teens or early 20s. Tabu was not amazing, and it was the first time I had seen her in a film, so I was surprised to find out everyone loved her. I watched it because I wanted to see a Rohit Shetty film. As I was watching it I figured it was Hindi Slapstick comedy and as I didn’t speak Hindi and wasn’t from the culture that must be why all the jokes were falling flat. My kids probably would like it though…
I watch movies as mindless entertainment and read books to think, so I can do alternative histories. BUT this is the first one I’ve read in 7 years or so, thus I can do them, but I don’t do them that often.
I don’t really read books to think, I read a lot of YA, and while that can be interesting, they are pretty easy reads. And I don’t really watch movies as mindless entertainment. I got sucked into the Hindi films because I had to read the subtitles, and in paying attention was forced to notice the subtleties along with the subtitles. I think I will continue to be sucked in until I have a firm understanding of the culture…. which might be never. But that isn’t true, as now I am a fan of certain actors and I’ll want to see their movies. I’ve rarely been such a fan of American actors; my own reactions to SRK constantly confuse me.
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Yep, Indian films are addictive and will never let go of their hold on you. Also, I am very excited about my Christmas card for you because based on this comment, I think I perfectly matched your interest zones.
On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 12:09 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I watched The Sky is Pink since it’s out now on Netflix. Guys, a warning. It is heinously boring. I haven’t watched a more boring movie in a long, long time. Every time you think it’s over, it’s not. Nothing happens in the entire movie except a slow death march and overly cutesy ways of addressing the family as Moose, Panda, Giraffe, etc. It makes it hard to even keep track of who is being talked about. Wow, this movie is an epic level of disaster. I can’t believe even one critic would like it but it seems some did. Yuck!!
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Thank you for doing this service for us!!!! I hate those movies where you keep waiting for it to be over, and it never is.
And just in case, I will say again FARHAN!!! DON 3!!!!!
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I haven’t watched any other Shonali Bose movie (watched that movie with Kalki for 5 minutes and turned it off) but I can’t understand what she was thinking with this. There is literally no story and everything is anti-climatic. We learn at the beginning that the daughter is already dead and she’s telling her story from the grave in an overly cutesy way talking about Moose, Panda, Giraffe and so on. Born sick, gets treatment, gets sick again, get treatment, gets sick, decides not to get treatment, dies. Parents take care of her and fight sometimes about her illness and treatment. And that’s it.
Priyanka either has only bottom of the barrel acting options or she doesn’t know what she’s doing anymore. Because why? And Farhan, why would you give up direction for this kind of boredom? Did they think they were making a classic? Gosh.
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That’s what I was thinking from the trailer!!!! It felt both like the trailer was telling the whole story of film, and that the story was really dull. I just assumed there must be some twist the trailer was hiding which would make the film interesting. But sounds like, no.
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Oh there’s other cliched stuff like the parents trying to make her happy and taking her on vacation or hoping she can experience a boy loving her and other things like that. You know, the kind of thing we’ve seen before millions of times.
It was a true story so I’m sure for the people involved, it is a great epic but that doesn’t mean it works as a movie for viewers.
I have the same issue with Chappak. It’s going to be the same! At least it won’t be a death march to the end.
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I just tried watching Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and wow, what a bunch of douchebags. I need to know if this film is grossly sexist all the way through or do these guys evolve because whew I was turned off in the first 15 minutes.
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I watched it like 10 years ago and did not enjoy it at all. But we just had two separate commenters here saying “going back to this movie after seeing what else Zoya has done in her career made me see it in a whole new light and understand that there was a deeper message”.
I will say, even on my one watch not enjoying it, I found Hrithik’s character sympathetic and poignant and felt like he should dump his two horrible friends. I don’t know if you’ve gotten there yet, but the film explains that Hrithik’s Dad lost all their money and had massive debts, Hrithik has spent his whole adulthood trying to make money to pay back those debts. So his whole “workaholic just cares about money” thing has a real explanation. And his journey over the course of the film is figuring out who he is now that he has paid back those debts and is more than a money making machine. I don’t think I’ve heard from anyone yet, even people who hated the film, who did not find the Hrithik character and his story with Katrina powerful. The rest of the film, maybe not.
On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 11:22 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Hrithik being noble and responsible and simultaneously hot is incentivizing me to power through, LMAO
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Also, the British city worker bespoke suits to the relaxed vacation light shirts? It’s a good look.
On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 11:28 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I got to the part where shirtless Hrithik is covered in tomato bits and 🍅 😲🤤🥵
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Also, all kidding aside, Hrithik and Katrina are really good in this.
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I KNOW, RIGHT???? Like I said, I did not like it when I watched it, but that storyline really REALLY works even if the rest of the film doesn’t. And that was back before I was blogging, when I was watching movies without constantly analyzing performances and stuff, just sort of letting them flow over me. And even so, the Hrithik-Kat stuff works.
This is one of the performances of hers that makes me think she really shines when she is given a nurturing role. Bharat, this film, a little bit Raajneeti, Ek Tha Tiger, there’s just something special and loving and lovely about her.
On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 12:44 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You know, you’re right about nurturing Kat. Even Tiger Zinda Hai, which I know you didn’t like, had those great scenes with Kat taking care of the nurses that were sort of nurturing when she wasn’t disemboweling someone.
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Ha! The Tomatina scene is so fun. It’s a total cliche but perfect for the characters in that moment. I watched this once with a couple of Spaniards and they groaned when they saw where they were going but then spent the rest of the song figuring out how it must have been staged and filmed and admiring the production values. This is one of my favorite Kat scenes of any movie, the part where they’re sliding down on inner tubes, she just looks so free and happy. She and Hrithik together all tomatoey, what a match :).
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Watching Vijay Sethupathi movies–nice to see him in the header photos! Turns out a colleague of mine spent parts of his summers in the same town where Ram and Jaanu are from in 96. Sigh. This amazing colleague has offered to watch Tamil movies with me if I can’t find versions with subtitles. He’s not really into Indian movies, but likes to hear the Tamil. He and I are in a little work movie club together and we watched Koode (It was my turn to pick and I gave them the choice between Koode and 96). He liked it ok, but looked at his phone during the songs. And 5 minutes before Prithvi and Parvathy show up at the college tribute to Jenny, my colleague said, “Oh, it’s time for another fight.” I had to laugh, because he was absolutely right!
I know you don’t watch filmed interviews, but I watched part of this one at lunch the other day and thought Maddy had interesting things to say. And looks and sounds so nice while saying them! In English which is a treat also.
Work is still crazy. Just trying to hold on til vacation in 10 days. I would pay lots of money for a Rani and Vidya movie–love story, business rival story, on two sides of a bitter legal dispute, coming from two different backgrounds but united to fight an injustice, cop buddy movie, all of the above. Rani and Prithvi again would be lovely. Maybe she could have an extended cameo in Lucifer 2. 🙂
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So jealous of you finding a Real Live South Indian to talk to! I don’t have a single one and it is terrible when I have a question. Although of course I have all the lovely virtual South Indians here.
Vidya and Rani have technically been in a movie together, have you seen No One Killed Jessica? That would actually have been a perfect love story, except that they didn’t meet until the very end and only briefly. But Vidya as the cautious dowdy dedicated young woman and Rani as the fiery reporter would have been a hot hot couple.
On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 1:45 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Of course. I have a hard time remembering that is Vidya. Shows what a good actress she is!
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Now, picture that same movie, only it starts at the end when Rani and Vidya finally meet. They talk, they bond over the tragedy, Rani takes Vidya out and tries to cheer her up, they get drunk, they fall into bed together. Their romantic angst almost derails the fight for justice. Finally, in a dramatic on air speech, Rani confesses her love for Viday. Happy Wedding Montage.
On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 2:27 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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😍
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Maddy interview is so interesting on quantity vs. quality and script selection and audience evolution. Thanks for posting! Will watch the rest when it’s not so late.
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I love the lesbian romance with Vidya! I think they would work great as a couple. I’d take a love triangle with Juhi, too.
I was thinking about how awful all her movies with Govinda are, but how great their chemistry was. I’d love for them to work together again, although I don’t know if they’re actually even still talking, it seems unlikely considering the history. Anyway, I’d love them to do a parallel cinema drama about a married couple that hate each other or something like that. Govinda could be the villain in something with her, that would be great too.
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Rani as a naturally sexy young married woman with a husband who doesn’t appreciate her enough, Govinda as a wealthy scoundrel who decides to try to break up the marriage and seduce her? Lots of hijinks, Govinda is the husband’s new boss, he comes up with stuff like sending the husband on a terrible work trip and then “coincidentally” dropping by just as Rani learns the building is being gassed for termites and she and the kids have to move out of the apartment, so Govinda offers for them to stay with him. Oh oh! And this could be the Akshay movie! Akshay is the boring unappreciative husband of Rani, Govinda is the wealthy smooth funny boss who goes after her. And of course after being humorously unaware for the first half, Rani figures out what is happening and decides to play both guys against each other to make Akshay jealous and appreciate what he has, and to keep Govinda on his toes until he gives Akshay funding for his own business.
Classic 90s ending of course with Rani revealing she actually has a younger sister (Karisma?) and Govinda falling in love with her at first sight, so even Govinda gets a happy ending.
Come to think of it, did I just write Palm Beach Story? Have you seen that? What do you think about Akshay as Joel McCrea, Rani as Claudette Colbert, and Govinda as an evil Rudy Vallee?
On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 3:14 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I haven’t! This actually sounds great, and what I think a comeback to the mainstream would look like for Govinda in his mind. I like the way he and Akshay are together and the wink to real life, so it would work for me.
But the thing is, all the 90s/00s comedies with him and Rani like this were so bad I think they should just do something else entirely. I’d love something classical and deep or like, a detective where one of them is the Holmes and the other the Lestrade. Akshay can be the Watson, that would be great.
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Do we have any reason to think that Govinda would be good in a serious film? This worries me.
On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 2:42 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Well, if I didn’t, would I be suggesting it? If you talk to any hardcore Govinda fan, they will emphasise his versatility. He’s a pretty good heartless villain, but also especially good at melodrama and tragedy. You should watch Awaargi or Hatya or Swarg. I haven’t seen Maharaja but that’s supposed to be a good late role of his.
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Also, I do think Karisma needs to be in it. Maybe she can be the Moriarty.
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Govinda is a genius detective, Akshay is his Watson. Akshay has a crush on police officer Rani and is pursuing her, while she rolls her eyes at him. Because Akshay insists, Govinda reluctantly brings Rani in on their latest case, chasing down the unknown master criminal. To Govinda’s surprise, Rani is actually smart and good at what she does. And it is Rani who points out the obvious, the “housekeeper” they met at the Master Criminal’s house was most likely actually the master criminal just lying that she was a housekeeper (Karisma). It gets complicated from there, Govinda and Akshay pretend to still believe Karisma is the housekeeper and ask for her help, Rani goes undercover and befriends her in the supermarket, and so on and so forth.
On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 2:44 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh man, I want this so bad it burns. I especially love master criminal housekeeper Karisma and Watson Akshay, who I am convinced is a total himbo in this role. Why am I not a billionaire so I can finance this?
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Yes Akshay is totally a himbo! Rani won’t give him the time of day and has no interest in him, until she sniffs out that he works with Govinda and then she pretends to be interested just to get into the case (maybe a song with them with Rani faking interest?). And of course Akshay falls for Karisma-the-housekeeper and is devastated when he learns she is actually a master criminal. Maybe the comic tag of the film is Akshay faithfully visiting Karisma in jail every week while Karisma begs for mercy because spending time listening to his lame shallow love lines is the worst punishment of all?
On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 7:04 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Why does that last bit ring so true??
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Watched Tamasha. Hated it.
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And see, if you’d just read my review, you could have saved yourself 3 miserable hours of your life! Oh wait, did I review it? Or did I just tear it apart as part of my “Imtiaz Ali and Ranbir are bad for each other” article? Anyway, it’s bad and no one should watch it.
On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 4:42 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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It was actually easer for me to watch than Rockstar which was a struggle for me to get through but I was angry the entire time! Don’t know which one is worse though!
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I would say Tamasha is slightly better in terms of narrative. But Rockstar has those amazing visuals and songs. On the other hand, that can be why Rockstar is so infuriating, all that talent and promise wasted.
On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 4:56 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yes I felt like the message in Tamasha was a lot more clear and slightly more substantive than pain makes good art but I also hated how the message was “second generation rich bore is depressed because his life is monotonous” while completely ignoring the fact that his love interest that made him special might also be going through a monotonous life too? And Rockstar was so dull for me to watch when there wasn’t a song but also…those songs!
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I like the Rani and Vidya idea, but I’d set them up like the les couple in Awe, where they’re a perfect match on paper except for being same sex, so the family is stuck in a weird non-traditional traditional bind. Their personalities can be totally different, that’s the fun part to watch.
Surprised you didn’t suggest a Rani-Abhishek reunion. I’d put them back together, but in a thrown together by necessity kind of situation. Like Bogart and Hepburn in the African Queen, but minus the jungle (and leeches). Comedic situations but with a serious underlying purpose and a meaningful resolution beyond the romance.
Watching: season 3 of Outlander just hit Netflix. Also finally finished Gang Leader. That is a sweet movie. I’m still trying to figure out if the formulaic bits bothered me or if the multiple twists at the end brought it back around. I did wish the women had a bit more to do and didn’t stay so true to type. But I really liked Nani, going to check out what else of his I might want to watch.
Thinking: kind of a downer but yesterday was a weird day in my city with my kids being on lockdown in school because of an active shooter loose in a different neighborhood. Thinking about the different kinds of assumptions we jump to about incidents like this based on shreds of information, and also about schools and neighborhoods and religious communities and all the threads that tie us together in the place where we live.
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With your idea, maybe Vidya is a long time spinster, living with her brother and his wife and kids. She was a help while the kids were younger, but now the brother and his wife are increasingly eager to get her married and out, and despairing of it ever happening. She took care of their parents, and now she works at an old people’s home, a natural caregiver type, but no family of her own. Enter Rani, engineer with a good job, niece of a resident, her family also despaired of her ever marrying because she was working all the time. Her aunt fusses at her because she forgets to eat and has buttons missing from her shirts and so on. She and Vidya are clearly a perfect match. Maybe the aunt even sets them up (she’s a bit dotty and doesn’t understand gender any more), Vidya’s family is all excited when she says a residents engineer nephew wants to meet her for coffee, and Rani’s aunt primes her to be nice and understanding, and don’t worry she can keep working after marriage, this person just wants to take care of her. They meet and realize the mistake, but have coffee any way, dheere dheere love happens. And on from there.
Rani-Abhishek as two government workers coming together to track down a corruption scandal? Maybe Abhishek is the cool lowkey cop type like in Dhoom and Rani is a Type A office worker type who first discovers the inconsistancies?
So glad you liked Gang Leader! Nani is just so charming to me. I wish he did more stuff, I like almost everything he does.
And that is a weird day, blech.
On Wed, Dec 11, 2019 at 11:05 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yes to Rani + Vidya, I like those characters for them. Kind of reminds me of Vidya in Kismat Konnection, ha!
Rani + Abhishek – ugh, no more cop roles. How about something like she’s a teacher looking for a disappeared student, and he’s the taxi or rickshaw driver who gets reluctantly caught up her quest.
If you have any Nani recs, I’m open!
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I love your Rani + Abhishek idea!
For Nani, I am mostly going to steal the recommendations other people have given me. Ashta Chamma is his first movie, and I love it. It is a remake of The Importance of Being Earnest, with a desi twist (lots of jokes about the Noble Village kind of films).
Middle Class Abbayi (ABC) has him opposite two really great female performers, Sai Pallavi and Bhoomika Chawla
Eega is just a total kick straight through, even though there isn’t that much Nani.
Gentleman is a super complicated tricky thriller, with a happy ending (so you don’t have to stress about that)
On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 12:33 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Adding a Listening: this song is getting me through the end of this week:
Thanks, Sai 🙂
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(meant to post Vachinde, though I like most of the Fidaa songs so all good!)
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I love Vachinde! She is such a smart mouth.
On Fri, Dec 13, 2019 at 4:14 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Re: Nani recs, I forgot it was him in MCA. I didn’t love that one (though I own it now because it was so cheap I just bought it). I thought the premise was kind of goofy. And I didn’t like Nani as much, probably because I found his character kind of off-putting, where the character in Gang Leader is funny and self-deprecating. Among other things, I had my usual issue with MCA of the character’s amazing fighting skills coming out of nowhere with no logic or explanation. (The same was true of Gang Leader but easier to swallow with just the one fight scene, where he’s also assuming the benevolent protector role that confers movie superpowers.) Sai in MCA was great, though! Her most charming self.
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I watched Kannada movie Gantumoote on Prime and it’s now in my list of top Indian movies of the year. Such a lovely story about the coming of age of a girl. Unlike On Shanti Oshana & June,when the director is a woman,it gets the female gaze & inner workings of the girls’ mind so right. And the heroine Teju Belawadi is soooooooo good,I’m ready to give her the biggest find award. Oh bonus,the heroine loves movies. So there’s a subtle commentry on how movies impact adoloscence.
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Oooo, this does sound good! Maybe after the holidays I’ll be able to squeeze it in, thanks for the rec!
On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 2:34 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You’re the second person this week who’s praised Gantumoote and Teju, definitely going to check it out!
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Shah rukh signs a movie with Aashiq Abu and kumbalangi Nights writer Shyam Puskaran. Its been said that Shahrukh Khan loved Virus movie so much that he called Aashiq Abu and said to direct a movie for him.
https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/shah-rukh-khan-signs-his-next-with-malayalam-filmmaker-aashiq-abu-6163599/lite/?__twitter_impression=true
https://english.manoramaonline.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2019/12/12/aashiq-abu-shah-rukh-khan-film-shyam-pushkaran-movie.amp.html?__twitter_impression=true
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I wish it were true, but I’m not going to believe it until Shahrukh confirms.
On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 4:19 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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As difficult as it is to even imagine this combination,it seems true & is reported by reliable news channels like NewsMinute & Cue. This could be the best decision SRK made.
“There had been discussions about doing a Hindi film with Shah Rukh Khan for a while. On Wednesday, after he returned from the United States, we met him at his residence and spoke for about two-and-a-half hours,” Aashiq Abu told The Cue.
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Full link
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/shah-rukh-khan-star-aashiq-abu-s-first-bollywood-film-113983?amp&__twitter_impression=true
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He had a similar meeting with Atlee months back. Maybe his team is aggressively looking outside of the Hindi industry for directors? It makes sense kind of in the same way that it makes sense for YRF to cast Shalini Pandey. New, but experienced. Even if SRK is just looking for people to produce through Red Chillies and not as a star, it still makes sense.
On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 7:36 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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But Atlee never confirmed that he is making a movie with SRK rt? Here Aashiq has confirmed that he is directing the movie with SRK to be produced by Red Chillies,supposed to be an action entertainer. And Aashiq Abu & Syam Pushkaran aren’t the kind who talks for nothing.
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Just my random thought, but I wonder if Aashiq confirming ends up canceling this project? Shahrukh/Red Chillies likes to control these announcements. I can’t imagine their plan was “let’s have a meeting, and then have Aashiq casually mention it in the first interview he does”.
On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 8:18 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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The quick announcement from Aashiq does stick out a bit. But with ppl like Aashiq Abu & Syam Pushkaran,I don’t imagine SRK or Red Chillies can be fully in control. If this project has to work,SRK has to let go of at least some of the ways he is used to & submit to the director-writer’s vision & I hope that was one of the key discussion points.
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I wonder if that is part of the reason he is looking to the south? Purposefully trying to find directors who have less “SRK Big Star” baggage and might be willing to boss him around, or give him a new vision.
On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 8:28 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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That would be a nice way to reinvent himself,don’t u think? I don’t think Atlee has fresh/original ideas to pull that off. Still,I keep imagining this combination as eating Biriyani with Ladoo.Hope it works out well.
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Hey, fusion food is in! And maybe it will be less laddoo and Biryani and more like dosa stuffed with tandoori chicken (I would totally eat that).
On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 9:09 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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SRK met Vetri Maaran too so he has been meeting a lot of South directors. He said that SRK liked his movie and called him to Mannat to chat. So I think SRK is just watching a lot of movies and seeing what’s going on. He had dinner with Atlee on his birthday, which is a big day to have just a random meeting.
Not only the South.. he has been watching foreign films like Parasite too and recommended it on Twitter.
Also, maybe I’m misreading it but isn’t Ashiq Abu just saying they have talked about doing a movie together? Where did he confirm that they are definitely doing one though? I think SRK has bounced ideas around with a lot of people to see if they can do something together but I don’t think he’s decided on who/what yet.
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Yeah, we’ve talked about this before, it seems like Shahrukh always has a lot of meetings going on, some of them just a pitch and a no, but sometimes a whole series of meetings getting really specific before he decides the film just isn’t right for him.
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I read a lot of good things about a little kannada movie Gantumoote, and I decided to watch it. It was very good, just like people were saying and I recommend it, because it was very thoughtful and diffrent. One of those movies you can say was written and made by a woman. It was heroine’s journey from start to end, her POV, her feelings, her problems. A man couldn’t write something like this. I’m so happy it’s on Prime and that word of mouth is good, because I want more movies like this.
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Second comment recommending this movie! Now I am feeling more and more like I should check it out.
On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 11:47 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yes, definitely a worth watching film.
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Though you’d appreciate this thread
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Looking for recommendations for an Indian film or 2 to watch over my 10 day Christmas break.
I haven’t seen many Indian films in the last 5-6 years – ShahRukh ones of course, Andhadhun, Housefull 4, Dhanak, I’m sure there are some others, but not a lot.
It has to be on Netflix, but I think there are different rights in different countries. I can’t get A Gentleman here for instance.
So what are the top picks over the past few years?
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I reccomend Malaal if you like love stories. Netflix has the rights , but I don’t know if it’s available where you live (e.g in Italy it’s not)
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Bareilly Ki Barfi, Dhanak, Running Shaadi, Ek Ladki Ko Dekho. I think Bareilly and Ek Ladki would be my top choices for happiness and joy.
On Fri, Dec 13, 2019 at 1:24 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota is a very weird little movie but I enjoyed it a lot.
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Another one on Netflix! Thanks, I’ll put it on the list.
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Thanks Margaret and Angie. All are available on Netflix. I have a feast for Christmas. 🙂
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And you gave me an idea for a post, so thank you!
On Fri, Dec 13, 2019 at 7:29 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this, but I couldn’t find a better fit, so here goes. Recently, some one asked a question somewhere about the relative size and importance of the various film industries in India. I don’t know if it ever got answered, but basically, the three top industries are Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi, with each industry doing between 300 – 350 films each, and the ranks of which industry does most changes from year to year. So sometimes Telugu does 340, Hindi does 320, and Tamil does 310, or the way around, but basically these three are the top three.
Now just today on another forum, as part of a completely different discussion, someone posted this link, which is supposed to give the movies with the highest “footfalls” (i.e., number of tickets sold) through the history of Indian cinema. I don’t really know what is the source of this, but it has some very unexpected results (and some that are definitely erroneous. For instance, DDLJ here is supposed to have over 5 crore footfalls, while BOI definitely says it never made that benchmark, but never mind for the present). Note the number of Telugu films in this list, which surprised me. But also, if so many films of NTR are included, how come only one Tamil film of Sivaji Ganesan made it? True, it’s his most famous movie, but he was giving blockbusters throughout his career, so why is only this one on the list? But as I said, without taking it too literally, this list gives a good feel for what are the dominant film industries in India:
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I asked that question in November! I don’t often look at the most recent comments on this blog, but for some reason I’ve been doing that today and thus I saw your response! That’s so cool. Thank you.
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Aargh! sorry, I didn’t copy the right link above. Margaret, could you please delete that link to the song, and replace it with this:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls047470041/
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It seems like the majority of the movies on the list were made before 1980. Did more people go to the movies in the 50s-70s in India than now?
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Probably. By the 80’s, video was definitely established, and that’s when theater going decreased as most people watched movies at home on video. Now, of course, there are many more options, and theater attendance is even lower.
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Sorry, the above was me. I forgot to sign in.
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I wrote a very boring series of posts looking at the history of top box office films in India, benefit from my numbers obsession!
On Fri, Dec 13, 2019 at 5:36 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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