Happy Thursday! Yesterday was weird because it was New Years Day, and I had the tweetalong and stuff, so I moved the “watching” post to today. Enjoy!
I’ll start!
Watching: Do you like happiness? Do you enjoy good people doing good things? And puppies? Then get ye to Disney Plus and watch “Pick of the Litter”! It’s a docudrama about puppies learning to be guide dogs and all the good-hearted volunteers who help out.
Thinking: Should I flip my living room? I could move the sofa to the other wall and then the chair opposite it and so on? Is that a good idea or is it just because I want to shake things up for the new year? Or is shaking things up for the new year a good enough reason to move furniture?
Reading: I have an actual recommendation for you all! My sister found a series and shared it with me and I really like it. The “Pineapple Port Mysteries” by Amy Vasant. Our heroine is an amateur detective who lives in a retirement community in Florida. It’s not the best deepest series ever, but it is a super easy fun read, and very good for January. Here’s the link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074CDRD1Y/?ie=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0
Listening: I worked super hard on a post about the history of rappers in Hindi film, and basically no one read it. But doesn’t matter! It got me back into listening to my beloved Yo Yo. “Desi Kalakar” is SO GOOD.
dontcallitbollywood 
1. You are tempting me to buy Disney Plus!
2. You should flip your room. If you are thinking about it, then you should do it. If you hate it, you can flip it back.
3. AHHH thank you for the book series recommendation! I looked it up and the first thing I read was “If Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum and the Golden Girls had a baby, it would be the Pineapple Port series!” Done and done!
4. Oh oh I just read these two articles and it made me happy so I thought I would share: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/pakistani-cinema/pakistans-fawad-khan-on-the-hunt-for-new-talent-1.68510099; https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/582393-fawad-khan-searches-for-big-story-with-mahira-khan-and-humayun-saeed.
I miss Fawad so much and need him to make more movies! So I am hoping this will be a great way for him to find his next script.
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1. Do it! I feel like such a shill for Disney, but oh my gosh it is the perfect content for January. Everything is bright and happy and colorful, and all the people are good, and everyone learns good lessons. Not just in the “puppy’s and volunteers” TV show, but in all their stuff. Also, SO MANY MUSICALS!!! After High School Musical, they apparently decided all their TV movies should be musicals.
2. I’m doing it! I’m flipping my room! It will be a fun weekend project.
3. Yes, that is exactly what it is like! Or, put it another way, “Evanovich but slightly worse written”. And Evanovich is really really well written, so that’s a high bar to cross. And there are 10 books, all on kindle, really cheap to get the whole bundle of them.
4. Wasn’t there some big action adventure movie with Fawad? What happened to that?
On Thu, Jan 2, 2020 at 9:11 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yeah The Legend of Maula Jatt was/ is supposed to come out.. maybe? It feels like it is infinitely delayed. . . kind of like Brahmastra. Oh also, did you check out Alia’s Insta feed? https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/alia-bhatt-finally-shares-holiday-selfie-with-ranbir-kapoor-fans-ask-about-ayan-mukerji-s-presence-in-the-frame-see-pics/story-8zQSan0nc07v82k1x9vVgN.html. They are definitely a throuple, right? I don’t think they will ever come out and say it, but I always believed Ayan and Ranbir have been in a long-term, on-and-off, deeply-serious yet very tortured relationship together.
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Yep, I definitely think Ranbir-Ayan are a couple. Possibly non-physical, but it is clear that they come as a package deal. Any girlfriend has to understand that Ayan will be equal to her in Ranbir’s life, if not more important.
Ayan is the one I feel bad for, he seems to have put his life on hold in favor of running around after Ranbir. Ranbir can have a whole string of girlfriends, can even get married, and Ayan is just chasing along behind him, making movies for him, following him on vacations, and so on. At least the girlfriend gets the perks of social and family acceptance.
On Thu, Jan 2, 2020 at 9:51 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I would speculate that it is physical and maybe even volatile. Just the way they hold on to each other in pictures, it feels very very real and physical. Also, just reading Ayan’s interviews about Ranbir, the way he describes their relationship and his jealosy over Ranbir working with any other director, it is just so intimate and so so tortured! I also completely agree that any woman in Ranbir’s life has to realize that she comes second to Ayan (I dont even this it is equal.) And so far, everyone (Deepika, Katrina, and Alia) seems to have acknowledged that in some form or other. I don’t know if Ayan is putting his life on hold or if he and Ranbir came up with Brahmastra trilogy partially so they could continue to be together. This is making me think, there should be a movie made on their relationship! Star-crossed lovers, each having their own demons from childhood, instantly drawn to each other, help each other feel things they have never felt before, can’t tell their families, try to date other people but can’t help but get back to each other.
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Like 5 years ago, when Ranbir was still officially with Kat, Ayan was on Koffee and said something irritable about how he doesn’t like it when Ranbir has a girlfriend (of course now I can’t find the quote). Anyway, the feeling was very much “I don’t like when he is dating because it cuts into the time he owes me as his primary person”. Like in his ideal world it is just him and Ranbir and no girls, not the usual “I’m so happy my friend is happy” kind of thing. Ayan and Ranbir and Karan-Shahrukh mostly seem identical, but that’s one of the big differences. Karan has no problem “sharing” Shahrukh, and is good friends with Gauri too. And understands more or less that Shahrukh-Gauri have their own thing and that is healthy and normal. But Ayan-Ranbir feels more like their relationship should be enough, no one else is required in either of their lives. I mean, Karan and Gauri and Shahrukh may spend all night together once they get to a party, or if Gauri isn’t there Shahrukh and Karan may go together, but they don’t arrive together as a throuple!
On last years Koffee, Karan tried to sell the idea of Ayan being a “beard” for Ranbir’s relationships, like he and Alia were dating for a while but inserted Ayan in the instagram photos and stuff to make it look like a group hang. But that’s a weird idea, because if you are doing that sort of “group hang” cover, wouldn’t it sometimes be people who WEREN’T Ayan? Like, one of Alia’s friends or a different friend of Ranbir? But instead, 3 relationships in a row, it’s been Ranbir and the girl, and also Ayan, every time.
Oh, and the comparison that is coming to me is Raj-Nargis. This combustible outside of society love story that is all mixed up with their creative collaboration. Ayan just has to find his Sunil Dutt.
On Thu, Jan 2, 2020 at 10:52 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I also never bought Karan and SRK being a romantic couple. They care very deeply about each other and Karan might have at some point fallen a little bit in love with Shah Rukh (because who hasn’t). Also, to me, Karan’s relationship with Gauri seems just as close and separate from Karan’s relationship with SRK. With Ayan and Ranbir, it seems all consuming and very much like you said complete with just the two of them. There is no need for a third unless it is just for outward appearences. And I remember when Karan tried to say Ayan was the “beard” and my instant thought was umm no Alia is. Ayan is the constant. Others come and ago. Also, do you notice that generally when Ranbir holds Alia, he places a hand on her back (safe), when he holds Ayan, it is always over his shoulder (intimate)?
You know I am not a fan of Ranbir but I truly think Ranbir would be devastated if Ayan found his Sunil Dutt.
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Yeah, with Karan and Shahrukh it feels like a rare and wonderful relationship that is deeper than any of the traditional relationship boxes, but with Ayan and Ranbir it feels more like they SHOULD be married, they are each other’s “person” in a way that Karan-Shahrukh don’t quite reach.
For reference, Ayan-Ranbir photo that is pretty typical:
Versus Ranbir-Alia:
I don’t even know who Ayan’s Sunil Dutt would be! Which I suppose is the magic of a Sunil Dutt, some guy who comes from out of nowhere and is magically perfect.
On Thu, Jan 2, 2020 at 11:22 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Come back to the movies, Fawad! We miss you!
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I’m finishing this book of interviews with Indian directors and how they came to make their first films and it’s really interesting and good. I like how there are so many different paths to filmmaking. Some of them were actors, others were photographers or cinematographers. I got this book as a freebie but now I want to buy the first one too.
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Thanks for the rec!
On Thu, Jan 2, 2020 at 11:34 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I don’t like rap! I liked the movie Gully Boy, but I didn’t like the music. I should still read your post. Sorry.
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I forgive you, I suppose 🙂
Every once in a while I will get people saying “why don’t you write more about the history of music?” This is why! No one reads it! Well, and also I don’t know as much as I should.
On Thu, Jan 2, 2020 at 3:46 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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You know more than me!
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I read the rap post and I’m waiting to get back to Japan so I can listen to all of them while I grade or something.
I really enjoyed War, the action scenes, which I usually skip through, were really fun to watch. In addition, I watched Family Man in its entirety. English subs, yay! And I needed them, because it is very complex. Very good, but triggered my pet peeve: not only does it end on a cliffhanger, but it’s a cliffhanger of every single subplot. Like, optimally I think a show should sort of wrap things up, but tease the next season. Made in Heaven did that perfectly. You sort of feel a few things were done (Shobita’s marriage, Arjun in the closet, the relationship between whatsername and the photographer) but there’s still the tantalizing question of what’s going to happen to the store. Right now in Family Man, the terrorist plot is about to blow, all the agents are in danger, Manoj’s marriage is blowing up, and he’s in trouble at work. And I have to wait until they finish the second season AND I come to the States long enough to watch.
Also watched 20 minutes of Thugs in economy class before I decided I’d literally watch anything else, including the flight plan. Can’t stand Aamir’s character.
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Well, this is just confirming that I still don’t want to watch Family Man!!! And also, I am right not to bother trying to rewatch Thugs.
On Thu, Jan 2, 2020 at 6:59 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Watching: just finished Badla (finally!) but I’ll save that for the discussion.
Thinking: spent a good chunk of my break cleaning out and reorganizing the basement, after browbeating my husband into undertaking this big project we had been not getting around to for months, and now it’s so nice and we’re both unbearably pleased with ourselves. That’s my vote to move heavy objects around and rearrange parts of your home if it might make you happy. It’s this small load of wondering and dissatisfaction I’d been carrying around that’s gone now.
Listening: random but Badtameez came up on the playlist today and it was this moment of oh yes! that fun song from that movie where I liked Ranbir and he’s such a good dancer!
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This sounds like the voice of experience and wisdom! I am totally flipping the room this weekend. SO EXCITING!
On Thu, Jan 2, 2020 at 11:15 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Random question that literally no one else probably cares about. There were rumors that the movie Shimla Mirch was going to be released on Netflix yesterday and then I saw reviews and it’s clearly released somewhere but not on Netflix (or Amazon or Einthusan) and I can’t seem to find it anywhere. Any chance anyone knows where and when it will be released?? It’s a rom-com with Hema Malini, Rajkummar Rao, and Rakul Preet Singh directed by RAMESH SIPPY after a break of 2 decades!!! For those who might be wondering why the name sounds kind of familiar, it’s the guy who directed Sholay! I don’t care if it’s completely horrible, I want to see it soo badly!
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I was waiting for this film! I read about it few years ago, and later forgot .
Wikipedia says it was theatrically released in India on 3 January 2020.
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As one of the dozen people in the world who PASSIONATELY LOVE Ramesh Sippy’s last movie, I am very interested in this. Zamaana Deewana FOREVER.
On Fri, Jan 3, 2020 at 7:56 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Angie – I should have known you would care! It finished filming about 4 or 5 years ago but was never released. And then I saw multiple articles a few days/weeks ago about it being released on Netflix.
Margaret – yes, love Zamama Deewana. Everyone praises him for Sholay, Seeta Aur Geeta, and Saagar, which good reason but I love love love Shaan! One of my all time favorite movies. If you haven’t seen it, you should! Also, I noticed Kaalia (another Amitabh movie) just came on Netflix and I really like that one too! Especially the songs and of course Parveen Babi.
Here is the trailer for Shimla Mirch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fTWRt2i0E0.
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Oh! Kaalia is the one with the sari scene and the making eggs scene, right? Cutest Parveen moment EVER.
On Fri, Jan 3, 2020 at 8:56 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yes, yes it is!!! So cute! Also, have you seen Shaan? If not, you should absolutely watch it! It is SO good! And Shashi!!
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Marjaavan probably will be on Prime from 10th January and I just can’t wait. I don’t know why I’m so excited.
And speaking about excitement – I saw Anurag Basu’s new movie poster and I’m so happy because Sanya Malhotra and ARK are on it and they look like taken from the fanfic you wrote recently about Sanya and John Abraham.
Abhishek Bachchan looks nice too, with a little girl sleeping next to him. Maybe he will play a single dad?
Malang posters are out also and I like them. I’m not a fan of muscled guys with the veins poping up, but I like the colours of the poster and I like ARK and Mohit Suri so I’m interested.
https://twitter.com/ArkFanClub/status/1213072451728478208
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ARK just gets hotter and hotter year by year. Truly a gifted man.
I have a weird amount of faith in Mohit Suri, I’m not even sure why. But I am holding on to the dream of Malang being ridiculous and romantic and over the top.
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That’s what I hope it will be: hopelessly romantic, over the top and with beautiful music.
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