Wednesday Watching Post: What Are You Reading and Watching and Thinking and Listening to This Week?

Happy Wednesday! And Happy April Fools Day! I will be doing nothing fool-ish on this blog, and that’s not a trick. Really. I think practical jokes, unless you are really really good at them, are kind of mean. So this will be a safe place of no jokes. Unless I do something silly like “find the thing that is wrong in this picture”.

I’ll start!

Reading: Find Momo! It’s a book someone gave my parents for Christmas and I love it, the photographers dog really likes to hide behind things, so he takes this really lovely artistic photos and also a dog is hiding in them. And there’s a website! Look forward to hours of soothing fun. http://www.letsfindmomo.com/

Watching: I watched Oh My Kadavule and reviewed it, that was fun! And last night I tried Netflix Party with a friend and showed her Bahubali for the first time, that was fun too! With my parents, I watched Lost in Paris, a French-Canadian movie that is really good and I recommend it if you like French type light comedies.

Thinking: I am officially living at my parents now, like all my charging cords are here and all my clothes are here and stuff, but I think I may start trying something like going to my real apartment for Saturday nights or something. I like my apartment! I miss it! I would go insane if I were living there all alone, but I still love it. And if I think of it as my “weekend getaway place” it doesn’t seem so crazy to be living in two places at once.

Listening: I’m in the middle of watching that new Allu Arjun movie with the impossible to spell title, and this song is INSANE!

Now, question for you in honor of today that comes from Moimeme: Which would be a worse birthday, February 29, April 1, December 25, December 31, or January 1?

Personally, I am strongly for December 25. No one will ever come to your party or even get you a special present. At least with the other days you have a hope of attention.

47 thoughts on “Wednesday Watching Post: What Are You Reading and Watching and Thinking and Listening to This Week?

  1. You mean February 29th? Right? Because that makes a lot of sense. Plus that is the worst day to have your birthday. Imagine when to wish that person,how do you arrange a party for that person? That is just sad.
    At least you are reading a book, i haven’t read a book for such a long time.
    Luckily revisiting Vedalam, 3 Idiots,Dil chahtha hai and finally watch Gandhi my father and Section 375 is slowly getting me out from the burnout. Slowly trying to listen to podcasts. This time i think my burnout is just severe.

    Like

    • If I had a Feb 29 birthday, I think I would just celebrate on March 1st instead except for leap years. Technically correct, and so much simpler!

      On Wed, Apr 1, 2020 at 8:06 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

      >

      Like

  2. That song has some choices. Little Richard 80s realness is one thing, but does he know what omg daddy means on the internet now? I am assuming they are both references, but it looks like he’s talking about actual dads which, lol. I have a VERY high tolerance for weird music but I had to turn it off because I couldn’t stand it. I like Allu though.

    I watched Dumplin’ which I liked a lot, now I am watching Hotel Mumbai but it’s difficult to fit into my schedule because too stressful to watch while eating. I thought watching something bloody and stressful would be cathartic and it is but I still hate unpleasant movies.

    Like

    • Yaaaaay, people watching Dumplin! Lost in Paris might be a good option for you too, try the trailer and see if you like it. And I started leaving the theater during trailers when Hotel Mumbai was being promoted, I can’t even see the trailer, I can’t imagine how you are watching the whole thing.

      On Wed, Apr 1, 2020 at 8:23 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

      >

      Like

      • It’s deeply horrible but like I said, that’s kind of cathartic right now? If I ever die in a terrorist attack, I absolutely do not want to be an actual character in a movie about it though. God only knows what they’d make of me.

        Lost in Paris actually looks right up my alley! Classic French physical comedy.

        Like

  3. I watched few movies.
    First Dia I was thinking about last week, and I loved it. I watch movies for emotions and man, this movie is made only of emotions. Basically it was like:
    Awwwwww
    OMG
    Awwwwww
    OMFG
    I felt 17 years old again in some scenes and in some others I felt adult again. I’m happy I watched it. Unfortunately I didn’t feel that way with the other movie I saw – Pyaar Prema Kadhal. It’s rom-com with strong heroine so I should love it but no. It was like watching your friend dating a guy who is not enough for her, and wating when they’ll split. I shouldn’t cheer for them to split in a rom-com!
    There are some very good moments in the movie e.g the “hero” slut-shame the heroine for sleeping with him (RED FLAG) and she is not ashamed, and shames him for being immature and childish. Only that after that scene she should kick his ass and forget about him forever and she doesn’t do it. The guy is like a broken record, only asks her when they will marry, and she doesn’t want, because is not ready and knows that after the wedding the family will tell her to have kids and she still has other things to do. There are plenty of scenes when we see she (obviously) is right and responsible, and only adult there but in the end it’s all contradicted and we are said she was the selfish one. He loved her so she should leave everything and do as he said. How dare she has other plans? What a trashy movie!

    I also watched this little Zee5 movie Baarish Aur Chowmein with Amit Sadh and Taapsee Pannu. It was ok, but the best part was Amit looking super hot.
    The last one I saw was creepy Valee, but I already wrote about it yesterday.

    Like

    • Amit and Taapsee have another movie together???? They are turning into a very very very very very low budget SRKajol!

      I spoiled myself on Dia after you were talking about it, sounds very much like NOT my kind of movie. All that angst! All those miscommunications! Also, is it just me or is the plot a lot like tum Bin 2?

      On Wed, Apr 1, 2020 at 9:16 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

      >

      Like

      • OMG You are right about Dia being like Tum Bin 2. Only the ending is different, but being honest I don’t know which one is better.

        Like

  4. I can’t watch any films right now because I’m too distracted by everything. I did attempt Street Dancer 3D (urgh, though the bit I saw affirmed my like for Nora Fatehi) and I rewatched a bit of War for mental health reasons. Otherwise, I’ve been busily keeping my house clean and cooking while my husband works and my son goes to online school. Unfortunately, I had a contract cancelled so I’m not working at the moment 🙁. Today I’m making sofrito (the base for Puerto Rican cooking) and reorganizing my basement so I can move some stuff out of the living room and create a work space for myself. We are also taking lots of walks which is really nice and excellent for mental health.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Oh oh! You can join is for the weekly watchalong! This Friday, 3pm Central Time, we are watching either Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (happy early 2000s rom-com) or Street Dancer. You can vote which one you want to see on this post: https://dontcallitbollywood.com/2020/03/31/this-friday-watchalong-street-dancer-3d-or-jhoom-barabar-jhoom/

      I don’t know if you will enjoy it, but I can tell you that the weekly watchalong is the biggest mental health boost of my week for me. Feels like hosting a party in my bedroom.

      Walks are so nice. the governor closed the parks here, so you can walk in the neighborhoods but nowhere else. It isn’t great. Luckily, Albie dog gets me up and out 4 times a day no matter what.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. I can’t believe I’m admitting this, but I’m watching Tiger King. I tried to resist but my sister wore me down. It is certainly distracting, but everyone in it is a horrible person, and I hate what they’re doing to the big cats and other animals in the show. Do not recommend unless you generally like trainwreck or true crime reality TV.

    Thursday night watching Parasite online with a little film group at work over Zoom. The opposite of Tiger King in many ways, but still very distracting. Dark humor at its best, to me.

    And I can’t wait for the Friday watchalong. Either movie is ok by me, as neither would be ones I’m likely to watch on my own!

    Like

    • I also watched Tiger King! And was really disturbed because I knew about the Big Cat Rescue for years before this. And I’m not an idiot, so I wasn’t going “oh no, they are terrible!”, I was going “wait, I do hardcore research when I am interested in Not For Profits, and I know they are legitimate and this documentary is really misleading/lying”. Yeah, the founder is sketchy, but all charismatic founders of successful not for profits are sketchy, you know? You’re watching it going “these poor Tigers, I wish there was a safe place they could go”. And THERE IS!!! That’s what Big Cat Rescue is FOR!!! Totally accredited, approved, every independent body you could want supervises it, no financial malfeasance, no animal abuse, the worldclass best sanctuary anywhere. And the documentary totally failed in making the difference clear, trying to find an independent objective group (of which there are many many MANY) to spend 5 minutes saying “this place Good, this place Bad”. If the documentary was actually about the Cats, not the people, it would have turned into an advertisement for BCR because it is the best rescue for abused cats anywhere. Anyway, just had to get that off my chest.

      I can’t wait for Friday watchalong either! I love Friday watchalong! And glad to know you are in for either movie. Although that also means we are close to a tie, so now I am torn up and have to decide.

      On Wed, Apr 1, 2020 at 2:42 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

      >

      Like

      • Coin flip! Just don’t use a double sided one like in Sholay.

        Thanks for the info about BCR. I agree the show was really misleading about BCR. And it’s true that it’s a thin line between charisma used for positive ends and charisma used for harmful ends. Some of the articles about the show are saying that the Human Society and others work with and endorse BCR. But how many people will read those articles vs just watching the show?

        Like

  6. I just watched Raghu Romeo – a very unusual romantic comedy. The leading man is….Vijay Raaz?? I never realized how tall he is. In most of his movies, he gives the appearance of being a small, underfed little fellow, when he is actually a small, underfed six footer! Oh, his real life wife, Krishna Raaz, plays one of the bar’s dancing girls. I just couldn’t figure out which one.

    As long as I was watching offbeat films, I rewatched Darr. Then I looked it up. Ajay Devgn and Sanjay Dutt were both offered the role of Rahul, before Shahrukh was cast. Both would have been way too obvious. The part worked so well because, along with his skill, Shahrukh’s boyishness added to the horror of his character. (Aamir Khan was also offered the part. Nothing like a scary little puppy as Rahul). And Jackie Shroff and Rishi Kapoor (!!!) were both offered the part that went to Sunny Deol. I would have love to see commando Rishi in the part.

    Now I’m interested in what other iconic roles were originally meant for very inappropriate actors. Randeep instead of Salman in Dabanng?

    I just finished book 10 in Jodi Taylor’s delightful Chronicle of St.Mary’s series of books. As FantasticFiction.com says: “Behind the seemingly innocuous facade of St Mary’s, a different kind of historical research is taking place. They don’t do ‘time-travel’ – they ‘investigate major historical events in contemporary time’.” The first book in the series, “Just One Damned Thing After Another,” is the start of a real, literary addiction.

    Like

    • Okay, I definitely want to read that series! Putting it on my list of books to order! Thanks for the recommendation.

      On Wed, Apr 1, 2020 at 5:38 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

      >

      Like

  7. Over the weekend watched Parasite, in the theater because they are still open here for the moment. Fantastic movie, very Indian in structure. There’s definitely a place where there is an “interval” and then the movie completely shifts in tone.

    After that I saw Ek Ladki which I really liked, except for Sonam. Fortunately, there’s enough going on that she doesn’t ruin it. Really lovely movie, loved that it was a basic romcom and not a big issue film.

    I’m about 15 minutes into Qarib Qarib Singlle (einthusan conked out and I didn’t have the patience to wait for it) and I love it so far. Parvathy is so so good and a great foil for Irrfan.

    My birthday is August 1, which I would like to say publicly is a kind of sucky birthday, because when I was little it was during school vacation and then I became an academic and it’s still during school vacation and no one is around, plus now it’s right after vacation has started and invariably my grades are due on or right after it. Also it’s the first, which one of my friends explained means you turn the calendar page over and realize you’re too late to wish me happy birthday. February 29th is actually kind of neat, but I probably would have hated it as a child. For a Japanese resident, April 1 would absolutely be the worst birthday. Nothing to do with April Fools, it’s the beginning of the fiscal/school year here and everyone is incredibly busy and stressed.

    Liked by 1 person

    • My nephew’s birthday is August 1!!! As a relative, I love it, because it is so easy to calculate his age in months. I suppose that is less important when you are an adult, but right now it’s super handy. On the other hand, your point about turning the calendar is REALNESS. Hmm.

      So glad you saw Ek Ladki! I love that movie so so so so much. It’s such a happy loving film. And Qarrib Qarrib is just as good as you think it is from the first few minutes. Only they whiff the ending a little bit. Just a bit rushed to the happy ending the way rom-coms can be sometimes.

      On Wed, Apr 1, 2020 at 10:53 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

      >

      Like

  8. I finished Crash Landing on You, it was cute! Though towards the end, I was invested more in the second lead couple than the main one and wanted to see more of them, which sadly didn’t happen! The ending was happy-ish I guess or rather as happy as it can be given the circumstances (hero is from North Korea, heroine from South). This just begs for an Indian remake set in India and Pakistan, but fun and happy, not Veer Zaara!
    Watched Ra.One for the 1st time! I was never inclined to because of all the bad press around it and my lack of interest in video games. I do remember liking the songs when they came out. Was listening to the soundtrack this week, it is still amazing and all the songs are good and so different from each other! One of Vishal-Shekhar’s best! I also came across a video of some VFX artists reacting to Ra.One scenes and thought maybe I should see the movie after all. It was fun, I had a great time! I’ve always assumed it was a flop, but did it though? Wikipedia numbers tell me otherwise, but then I don’t understand box office!
    I have to ask though, this is too sexual for kids, right? The ‘condom’ joke, the keys falling into the shirt, ‘power yoga’ moves, it’s full of innuendos! And the airport security guy getting turned on by punk G.One?!! Who is this movie aimed at?
    The plot is silly and simplistic, but that’s par for the course for this genre. I didn’t like curly-haired Shahrukh coz I hate it when he tries to play the village idiot! The visual effects look as good as any Marvel movie of this day to my inexpert eye, which really is an achievement!
    Oh, I was reading your Ra.One related posts, love the review, agree that G.One and Kareena had better chemistry (I think that’s intentional) and yes it would have been hot if they got it on! I anyway thought she and the son got over Shekhar’s death way too soon and easily!

    Like

    • Yaaaaaaaaaaay, Ra.One! For the box office, it broke various records (opening day overseas, that kind of thing) but it did not do as well as expected and distributors ended up losing money because they bid so high for the rights. One of those upside down movies, it actually made a ton of money and lots and lots of people saw and liked it, but because it didn’t meet expectations, it is a “flop”.

      And yes, it is sexual! That never felt strange to me, I guess because I saw it with a bunch of fellow-adult friends and we loved it. Huh. Shahrukh says he made it for Aryan, who would have been around 12-13. Maybe it was capturing that 12-13 year old boy kind of humor?

      Oh, and always glad to have another vote for robot sex!

      On Thu, Apr 2, 2020 at 12:04 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

      >

      Like

  9. My 8 year old has a 12/26 b-day. He doesn’t get his own friend party, but then neither do his brothers. They all share a birthday party because I am an evil witch. All their birthdays are in December but they don’t get a party in December, we randomly pick any weekend that is good for us.This past year we went went camping at the dunes in November, and I invited a ton of people because the dunes are like 2.5 hours away and I figured no one would come. WRONG. There were 28 kids. On their actual b-day each kid gets a cake and presents from the family, but see the 12/26 birthday kid is always with extended family on his birthday, so he gets more presents, especially since his older brother shamed his uncle (my younger brother) for not getting him anything four years ago. Now that 12/26 birthday boy gets substantially more loot. Of course every year my mom asks me if I really need to go out and buy a cake and everything the day after Christmas, and every year I say yes, I’m not really an evil witch. I can assure you that if his birthday was 4/1 and his brother called him a joke EVERY YEAR, he would not take it well.

    Like

    • This is the perfect solution! I hadn’t thought about how a family party would just have more family on 12/26. That works great!

      Your boys are very tolerant, my sister and I have birthdays a month apart and we would have rioted if we were asked to celebrate together. Of course, we also got much less spectacular celebrations than it sounds like your boys get. We only got to invite as many friends as the age we were turning. And since we kind of lost interest in parties around age 10, it never got that crazy.

      On Thu, Apr 2, 2020 at 12:23 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

      >

      Like

      • It is hard to imagine my 11-year-old ever loosing interest in parties. Or maybe it isn’t the parties, maybe it is the pinatas. My boys LOVE pinatas. There are no trees to hang pinatas on at the dunes, so we made our own and decorated them like soccer balls and took turns kicking them.

        Like

        • Well that sounds fun! Maybe we can make a pinata like that for Mother’s Day and kick it around the apartment?

          On Fri, Apr 3, 2020 at 12:05 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

          >

          Like

  10. I just read the next Himesh Reshammiya movie is called Namastey Rome, and I don’t know why but it made my day 🙂
    He is also working on The Xpose sequel. I love this man optimism. We should all be more like Himesh.

    Do you know any site with digital rights information? I use https://bollywoodsbuff.blogspot.com but they only have hindi movies, and not all. Is there any site with regional and lesser movies?
    I wonder if Happy Hardy and Heer will appear somewhere.

    Like

    • Himesh is so delightfully confident! He must live in a very happy world.

      Access Bollywood is my go-to, although of course they are US based. But they also have an “upcoming” list for Netflix and Prime.

      On Thu, Apr 2, 2020 at 3:07 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

      >

      Like

  11. Hello! Just went to look up something on Netflix and K3G and KKHH are now back on Netflix, along with a bunch of other Dharma films! Which is lovely, I am in need of comfort food.

    I haven’t been watching movies except with family, since we are ALL HERE ALL THE TIME. Last weekend we watched The Birdcage, which the kids were maybe not quite ready for, and then All the Money in the World after they were in bed. Michelle Williams is incredibly gorgeous and an amazing actress, doesn’t seem fair to the rest of the world, really.

    I always thought Christmas birthday would be the worst, based on my best friend growing up who had a late December birthday, but I read this over the holidays and I could see the special side of it too.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/12/what-its-like-to-be-born-on-christmas-day/604090/

    Liked by 1 person

    • YAAAAAY! And also, a small bitter “boooo” because of course Dharma films get added just as I do my massive Netflix list.

      My parents showed us the Birdcage when we were maybe only slightly older than your kids. It’s such a family movie! I also remember we got it from the video store and my Mom and the guy behind the counter complained to each other about how it was ridiculous that it was rated R, since it is such a family movie.

      Also, I really want an Indian remake, but I am stumped on the Nathan Lane part. My heart says Anil Kapoor for Robin Williams, but I don’t know who to play opposite him. Obviously the son is Sid M, that’s just too perfect. And Boman Irani and Ratna Pathak for Gene Hackman and Diane Weist. But Nathan Lane?

      Like

      • Saif wouldn’t do it, would he? I think he could. Or Pankaj Tripathi definitely could nail an aging star performer of a marginalized culture club.

        I don’t always agree with your Anil casting ideas but agree he’s perfect here. Sid is fine as the son. I think Tabu could be great in the Christine Baranski role, or Juhi since you liked her so much with Anil in ELKDTAL. Anupam and Kirron as Gene Hackman and Diane Wiest, if that’s not too on the nose? And since we have Anupam and Sid, how about Pari for the daughter?

        The really hard one to cast is Hank Azaria, he was hilarious in that part.

        Translating it to India feels right. It actually feels kind of outdated for the US now. The son demanding that his father hide who he is feels mean and unreasonable, it makes him unsympathetic, which I don’t remember feeling the first time. The dominant culture here has shifted a lot in 20 years. Where would it be set, though? I can’t imagine there are drag clubs in Mumbai like there are in Miami?

        Like

        • What if we set it in Goa? I am sure there are drag clubs in Goa, or at least it would be reasonable to imagine there is one there. And that would be kind of perfect for a place that recently changed from wild and counter culture to slightly more of a general party scene. Say Anil and ??? moved to Goa back when they were 90s hippie outsider peacenik types, opened up their dream cafe and started doing a 1am private show kind of drag thing that eventually became the main draw for the cafe and they were in all the “hidden Goa gems not to be missed” travel books and stuff. Their son could grow up running around in the kitchen and being spoiled by the staff and generally having a heavenly childhood. And then sent away to a really good boarding school where they told him to lie and say his mother was dead, he kept up the lie kind of through his really good college, and now he is grown up and engaged and they have to figure out if it is time for him to be proud of who his parents are, or if he should keep lying the way they told him to when he was a little kid. Tabu should DEFINITELY be the mother, a college girl on a year break who got a job as a waitress at their cafe, befriended Anil, they had one night together while he and ??? were in the middle of a big fight, and then Anil and ??? took care of her all through the pregnancy and happily took the baby after birth while she went back to her life in London.

          On Sat, Apr 4, 2020 at 10:12 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

          >

          Like

          • OK, describe what you’re looking for in ????, let’s see if we can crack this.

            And what’s the equivalent moment of Gene Hackman dancing out of the club in drag to escape the TV cameras? Everything has to build to that.

            Like

          • I think maybe we combine drag and hippies/druggies Goa culture? So it ends with all these very proper uptight folks wearing love beads with their hair down and all that.

            For ???, I want someone who can totally throw themselves into comic bits, but also nail the quieter moments. We need the relationship with Anil and ??? to feel real and loving, not comic, you know? But we also don’t want someone who performs in drag and feels like they are thinking “I am performing in drag!” the whole time.

            Maybe Anupam for ??? ! He played a Hijra in a movie I can’t find but he is supposed to be brilliant in it. I could see him doing wild over the top performances and big drama moments, but also being a really loving father and husband.

            On Sat, Apr 4, 2020 at 11:47 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

            >

            Like

  12. Have been reading about Shah Rukh’s, Gauri’s, Juhi’s, and Jay’s statement yesterday about support they are giving through various companies and the Meer Foundation to help out during COVID. Leaving politics aside (why is it necessary to grovel and thank public servants? bugs me in the US too), what a wonderful thing to read. And also, just happy for some Shah Rukh content.

    https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/covid-19-shah-rukh-announces-series-of-initiatives-to-help-citizens/articleshow/74954418.cms

    Like

    • Always nice to read SRK content! And so nice that he is providing food, that’s the basic that seems to get forgotten.

      On Fri, Apr 3, 2020 at 11:20 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

      >

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Idea for a post: I don’t know if you will like it, but I’m sure we all have something to say about the worst mom/ women characters in Indian films. Not something dark (we don’t need dark), but funny bad written characters. Like the wife in Valee who wanted to finally have sex with her husband, but drugged him insted of drug her bad brother-in-law. Tabu in Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo with her “You would not like me praising other men so don’t praise other people sons in front of me”. Or Jayasudha in saccharine telugu family movie Sathamanam Bhavati. I don’t remember well the story, but she wanted to see her NRI kids badly, so her husband Prakash Raj emailed them that they are divorcing. She also believed it, and was depressed all the movie.

    Like

    • Omg, Angie why are you reminding me of all the movies I hate 🙂

      It’s been years now but I still hate Sathamanam Bhavati so much for that Prakash Raj divorcing Jayasudha plot! She was depressed the entire time and she wasn’t even able to enjoy her time with the kids when they came to see her.

      Like

      • It was one of the most stupid conflicts ever.
        Why she thought he is divorcing her? They were living well together, there weren’t any problems, and the most important – if he is divorcing her for real, why shouldn’t he tell her?
        I loved how almost the same plot (eldery couple live alone and the wife misses a lot her NRI kids) was shown in other telugu movie Mithunam.

        Like

        • Yes! It bothered me that she never asks about it either and instead is just miserable about it the entire movie.

          I’ve never seen Mithunam but I’ve heard that it’s really good and also that it’s really boring.

          Like

          • Yes, Mithunam doesn’t have much action. But it has a song about brinjal (eggplant), and I don’t think we can say that about any other movie 😉

            Like

  14. I saw Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal with a friend on netflix party and that was a lot of fun! It was a really fun movie and I kinda wish they were planning on making a sequel.

    I also rewatched Varsham last night after many years and I forgot how good that movie is. Trisha was so pretty and the songs were amazing!

    Like

    • Ooo, KKK is on my list of possibles! I am maybe doing a Netflix party tonight, and we haven’t decided on a movie yet. Maybe that one?

      On Sat, Apr 4, 2020 at 2:12 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

      >

      Like

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.