Happy Saturday! I had a late night last night, hung out with my friend and her 2 year old for a long time then was up late writing my Love Aaj Kal 2 review, so I will be sleeping in and taking it easy today.
First, Love Aaj Kal 2 is so good! I know we all had terrible expectations, so I feel the need to be extra emphatic that it is actually worth a watch. This song video, which they just released on Thursday because they are DUMB, best captures the feel of the film.
Let’s see, what else to talk about? I’ve run out of my scheduled reviews, I was planning to do a Ramesh Sippy week next, but not sure if I’ve got time to watch all the movies I need to watch before next week. Maybe a Ramesh Sippy two weeks or something? I still have to watch Shaan, Shakti, Saagar, and Shimla Mirch.
And finally, today is Ashutosh Gowariker’s birthday! Which is your favorite Ashutosh film? Just to remind you, the choices are Baazi, Lagaan, Swades, Jodha-Akbar, What’s Your Raashee?, Khelein Hum Jee Jan Say, Mohenjo Daro, and Panipat. I know no one is ever going to pick Baazi, unless you really really love Aamir Khan in drag, but I want to be complete.
Okay, now you talk!
dontcallitbollywood 
Wait, you already watched Ramesh Sippy’s Andaz? That’s the Hema and Shammi single parents romance. If so, please please include the review in your Ramesh Sippy week/2weeks.
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Shoot, I didn’t! Okay, now I have to watch 5 movies. 6? A LOT!
On Sat, Feb 15, 2020 at 7:57 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I haven’t seen all of Ashutosh Gowariker’s films, but I just love Jodha-Akbar. Such a small story told with such grand sets. It’s my second favorite Hrithik film, and perhaps my first favorite Aishwarya film. And I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a longer love scene than Jodha-Akbar’s finale.
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Jodha-Akbar is so gorgeous! Lagaan got all the international attention and acclaim, but I think J-A is actually a better movie.
On Sat, Feb 15, 2020 at 10:13 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’m wondering on this Saturday where I can watch the Filmfare Awards broadcast…I keep seeing something that looks like if I have Sling TV’s lowest level Hindi package (I’ve been eyeing it anyway) it will be on at 3:30 PM Sunday pacific time. Anyone know any more than that?
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I don’t, but it’s always blown my mind how Indian awards shows aren’t broadcast live on TV like American awards shows are. I can understand maybe live TV somehow hasn’t made its way to India yet, but if I already know who all the winners are, why watch? Gully Boy swept, why do I need to watch a 3 hour broadcast about it? It doesn’t make sense to me.
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Hahaha so true. But are we sure not broadcast live in India? I wasn’t sure…
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The actual show is like 6-7 hours long. People arrive and leave through out, for instance Shahrukh arrived like 4 hours in last year to do his little bit and then was out again in 45 minutes or something. Think of it as the rough draft version of a show and then it’s edited together later. So the real version has all these gaps and resets of the stage and weird stuff, but the broadcast version is half as long and goes from high point to high point. Also, they create the illusion that the big names were there the whole time. So, like, if Shahrukh is on stage for 20 minutes total, they will chop up his time and insert it through out so it feels longer. Most hilarious and fake are the reaction shots. They insert reactions from people who weren’t even in the room at the time!
Lots of people know whose going to win too. People won’t even show if they don’t know they are going to win. Plus, FilmFare wants to plan the performances and things to highlight the winners. Or, the cynical folks say, they organize the winners to highlight the folks who agree to perform. The winners are less a surprise tribute to talent, and more a confirmation of increasing industry power that makes FilmFare want to suck up. Ultimately the whole point is to make people like FilmFare so they will agree to give access to the magazine.
Times of India and some other sites do live updates through out the actual show, which is how you can know how long it is for real and how little time the famous people were in the room and stuff. Anyway, I always think of it is proof of how much better produced FilmFare is. People want to watch it just for the speeches and performances, who cares who won. While with the Oscars we all suffer through that stuff just to find out who won. Or I suppose how poorly produced it is, that there is no hope of putting it together on a reasonable schedule for a live broadcast, they have to just let the thing last as long as it lasts and count on editing later.
On Sat, Feb 15, 2020 at 8:12 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’m gonna watch for the dresses and celeb interactions and to practice my Hindi anyway…
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Like it seems to me that Aapka Colors can’t be watched via an app in the US…if anyone knows I’d love to know
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