Monday Morning Questions: What Do You Want to Ask Me On Trisha’s Birthday?

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Yaaaaaaay, Trisha! Secretly very good actress of Tamil/Telugu/Malayalam cinema (I say secret because her acting is so natural, you think she is just being herself, and then you see 5 different Trisha movies and realize she is totally different in each of them), who I am VERY INVESTED in getting married to Rana Daggubati. Oh, and also Happy Monday.

Here is where you get to ask me anything you want about anything. Like, why do I care so much about Rana and Trisha? Or, what Trisha movie should you watch? Or, how is my dog doing?

And I have a question for you! It’s Star Wars day!!!! Who is your ideal Indian Princess Leia? Any language industry, any era, who is perfect?

The worst things Princess Leia has ever done

Jaya Bachchan. Hands down. The 1970s Jaya, the one from Zanjeer, who was tough and quick and didn’t need a man, but also kind of did need a man. That’s my princess! Plus, she’s got the super short thing going for her and somehow thanks to Carrie Fisher, I require the super short thing in my Leia.

Ten UNFORGETTABLE Scenes from Amitabh Bachchan's Zanjeer - Rediff ...

But I am willing to listen to other ideas! You want to make an argument for 2000s Rani, or present day Anushka Shetty, or 1980s Sridevi, I will listen to you. You will be WRONG, but I will listen.

37 thoughts on “Monday Morning Questions: What Do You Want to Ask Me On Trisha’s Birthday?”

  1. Good morning! I’m largely absent because my depression has gotten so bad that (almost) keeping up with work and being a somewhat functional human being to live with are taking up all my energy. I’m assuming I’m not alone in the toll this is all taking on my mental health. Grateful for all my blessings, home, job, family, so far not directly affected by COVID 19, but that doesn’t keep a person from struggling. Just wanted to pop in and say hi and I’m so sorry I missed JHMS! One day I will read the comments and enjoy.

    Princess Leia–I can’t believe this, but Alia Bhatt came to mind and refuses to leave. The energy she brought to Dear Zindagi would work well for Leia, she has the right look for me, and even has interesting parallels with Carrie Fisher in terms of family history and age at which she became a movie star.

    My question for you, and others, is what does your emotional graph look like over the course of a week these days? Is it evolving or has it settled into a recognizable pattern in the mid-corona world? Oh, and did you ever watch MegaMind? If so what did you think?

    Oh, and why do you care so much about Trisha and Rana? Oh, and my first and only Trisha movie is 96. I love Janu so much that I’m kind of afraid to watch others. What are a couple that you’d recommend to a Trisha newbie?

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    • 96 was like a second innings. Best movies of Trisha –
      Varsham -https://dontcallitbollywood.com/2016/03/24/varsham-see-in-america-a-movie-in-the-rain-would-be-sad-but-here-not-so-much/
      Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana – https://dontcallitbollywood.com/2016/11/13/nuvvostanante-nenoddantana-so-cute-a-childhood-love-story-between-teenagers/
      Athadu – https://dontcallitbollywood.com/2016/12/28/athadu-angel-and-the-badmanbombai-ka-babuassassinsthe-killer/

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    • Good morning! I’m gonna be honest, which hopefully will make you feel better and not worse: my overall happiness and mental health has rocketed upwards in the past month, not down. My job is busier than ever (my real job that is, not blogging) because it is cloud based software support. Keeps me mentally healthy working all day, and I have no long term money worries (or at least, no new ones). I am less isolated, not more, since I moved in with my parents at the start of lock down. And I am generally more physically healthy than before, thanks to eating the food my parents make me, and taking longer walks with the dog than before. I still have occasional moments of anxiety, but I have had those for years, and now I feel anxious and I go out to the living room and cuddle up on the couch with my parents and the dog and watch a movie, instead of sitting alone in my apartment with all the lights on. I don’t know if this will make you feel better or not, but I hope you take it in the spirit of “oh that’s nice, I don’t have to worry about Margaret, she is happy and not faking, maybe there are other people in the world who are also happy right now” instead of me bragging or something.

      More importantly, Alia for Princess Leia? She has the young round face, which is almost as important as the height thing, I think. That combo of cute and pretty with cynical and tough. So long as Han Solo is not Ranbir. Can you imagine an angsty self-doubting Han? Blech!

      We did not watch Megamind, last night we saw The Lego Movie 2 instead. And I had my parents watch the Kanan Gill stand up special. But Megamind is still on the long term list!

      If you feel like seeing Trisha do the classic “manic depressive heroine”, you can check out Hey Jude on Netflix. For a funner option, she and Prabhas were in a good standard Telugu action movie Varsham. Oh, and Yennai Arindhaal, which I loooooove, but is kind of hard to find. She and Rana were supposedly dating, then she got engaged to a “respectable” option, then she broke up with him at the last minute (supposedly because she couldn’t forget Rana), now she and Rana are still bestest friends but not officially dating. And they are somehow super super cute together! Like, more so than you would think just because they are both famous attractive people.

      https://data1.ibtimes.co.in/en/full/571207/trisha-calls-rana-daggubati-psycho-her-birthday.jpg?h=450&l=50&t=40

      https://cdn.pinkvilla.com/files/styles/contentpreview/public/trisha_rana.jpg?itok=v5nToKdH

      On Mon, May 4, 2020 at 7:36 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

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      • Thanks for being honest. I’m very happy to hear that your health is good and that you are happy! I asked the question because I’m interested in other people’s internal worlds–we really don’t share those very much. And I know that my internal state isn’t permanent–literally the only thing that keeps me going some days. As Shah Rukh often says (and, I suppose other thinkers too, haha), life is change, the only certainty is uncertainty, etc etc.

        Oh I’m glad you don’t hate the Alia suggestion. Han is a tough one. Vikrant Massey for Luke, I think? So who would be a good foil for him as Han? I’m thinking someone 5-10 years older or so. Definitely NOT Ranbir. I like him unlike many around here but agree he’s not suited to the role.

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        • I kind of think Ranveer might work for Han? His usual cockiness and energy just toned down a bit? And he already had good chemistry with Vikrant in DDD.

          Alternatively, thinking way outside the box, Shahid and his little brother Ishaan as Han and Luke.

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        • I can say that I do have anxiety attacks, real attacks. They started after I turned 30 and they have various biological causes I can identify (not enough sleep, too much caffeine, no sunshine that day, too much sugar, stuff like that). They come on when the sun goes down, my brain starts getting increasingly obsessive about any random thing I can find to obsess about, from global warming to “what if my landlord makes me get rid of Albie Dog?” I have to just get through it, and then I wake up in the morning and I am better. It’s hard, because one part of my brain is running fast and obsessing, and the other part of my brain has to think logically and remember the things that helped me get through it last time. I can’t stop the anxiety by sheer force of will, but I can comfort myself by calling my sister, watching soothing things on TV, turning on all the lights, and so on. And reminding myself of all the other times I felt like this, and nothing bad happened (my landlord hasn’t evicted Albie Dog, for instance), and I woke up in the morning with all of it gone away.

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    • It’s patchy for me, sometimes I’m doing way better, sometimes way worse. The worst thing for me is the feeling that everyone else seems to have loads of spare time and I just don’t, between work and other stuff I have to do. Most of the time I’m still rushing to get things done but also not seeing anyone. Of course, being so busy also means I don’t have a lot of time to dwell on things, so it’s not all bad.

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    • My emotional graph changes, but generally I can’t sleep through the night and I get mild panic attacks two or three times a week. But one of my issues is a complete lack of alone time as I am always with my kids, and psychologically I need alone time. I try to get out for an hour by myself in the mornings, but I have to leave the house by 6:45 to make that work, and it is hard to drink a cup of coffee before 6:45. With pandemic schooling I’m busy. The kids and I were talking about it in the car, we are actually doing fun things, we get out everyday (we live in a rural area), we’ll look back on these days more fondly than we feel about them in the moment. Because in the moment, we miss our friends and family.

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    • My emotional patterns have settled into almost the same as before Covid, I guess. Tuesdays and wednesdays are stressful because the weekly newspaper I work on goes to print that night. Mondays are stupid “why do I have to work again” days. And I keep expecting too much real relaxation from the weekends. That just doesn’t happen when you have a two year old around.

      That is also part of the reason why we have been such extreme couch potatoes even before the lock-down. It means not that much has really changed for us. We’re really, really lucky. But even so, in the background there’s always this restlessness, this vague feeling of restriction. I’ve actually started doing a tiny mindfulness exercise every morning.

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      • My sister is in a similar place, my nephew is 9 months and their life revolves around teething, learning how to stand up, whether or not it’s a bath day, the same things that would have been their focus before.

        On Tue, May 5, 2020 at 12:54 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

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      • Thanks for sharing. That line about the weekends really resonates. Yep, that background stress/anxiety/sadness is taking it out of me. Someone on Twitter likened it to when a background process on your computer is taking up 20% of the capacity–you can still do everything else but it takes longer and is a bit more hiccup-y than usual. 🙂

        How cool that you work for a real life newspaper! Thanks for that–we need good journalism more than ever these days!

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  2. Why don’t you invest less in Trisha/Rana and more in me/Rana? That’s what I want to know.

    I watched Laura, which was great. Now I’m going to finish Chalo Ishq Ladaaye if einthusan will let me, then I will probably take some time out to stare at some Telegu and Tamil stars.

    It’s sad because what I actually want to watch is AbFab and Rosemary and Thyme. I might do a big dvd order one of these days, because I also want Murder she wrote and Sandokan but IDK how doable that is financially.

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    • Buy the DVDs! If you don’t get them now, you may not have another chance. For example, I am having a very hard time finding Jeeves and Wooster.

      I am so glad you watched Laura! You should read the book sometime, it is amazing. And Vincent Price, right? Not at all what I think of with Vincent Price, but he was great.

      Do you have a super cute photo of yourself with Rana? No? Then I’m sticking with Trisha!

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      • Good point. I will get them if I can find them and afford them because I know how rare they can get.

        It was a weird role for Vincent Price, but he was still great in it. Totally embodied that kind of guy. Though of course I prefer him in a more intense role.

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        • If you are still on a Noir kick and haven’t seen it before, now you need to watch Murder My Sweet! It’s tied with Laura for me in terms of “most romantic film noir”.

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          • I just listened to some stuff about Bela Lugosi, so I might go on to some classic horror next. Much like noir, classic horror deals with a lot of disease and isolation stuff and it feels like something suitable to now.

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  3. Waking up on a Monday morning to find out on this blog that you’ve assigned my betrothed to another is like finding out on Twitter that I’ve been fired. Well not really but still. 😉

    After barely watching any content for a month (I spend my free time zooming, exercising, tiktoking … far too addictive, cooking, watching the news and listening to all kinds of podcasts), I watched all female content this weekend. It’s just so satisfying to see such good actresses get so much great content to work with nowadays.

    Killing eve, season 2, Hulu & BBC America
    It’s hard to jump into season 2 and be back on thr mood for it, so I rewatched the last 2 episodes of season 1 first.

    Big Little Lies, seasons 1 & 2, Hulu & HBO
    For me (my svc provider? My geo/metro? My country?) Hulu is running lots of prestige HBO content on Hulu for no extra cost.

    Mrs America, Hulu & FX
    So far ive watched the episodes on phyllis schlafly, gloria Steinem, and Betty freidan. The ERA movement and its main actors have been underserved by recent fiction. It’s a goldmine for content, be it dramatizations or parodies. Same for the equivalent ladies fighting for women’s rights in India.

    Love Aaj Kaal 2020, Netflix
    I watched this in the theater and wad one of the few that liked it. I rewatched streaming and liked it even more. Ive been telling others to watch it as well

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    • Sorry I pressed send before asking my question.

      What are your favorite streaming content of 2020 so far? Could be Indian or not. Could be migrated content or made for streaming. The only gating factor is that it should have launched, or reappeared, online in 2020. Eg big little lies and killing eve are older content that got fresh launches on hulu in 2020. This matters because not everyone had HBO or bbc America for the original runs.

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      • Ugh, I don’t even know if I can answer this, because I don’t know everything that has just appeared! BLL for instance technically has been streaming, just in the HBO streaming channel, so I didn’t really notice when it hit Hulu.

        So I am going to choose to limit this to things designed specifically for streaming. Not just TV shows that ended up streaming, but content that specifically wanted to take advantage of the binge format, and the narrow casting to a chosen audience.

        Queens of Mystery: Very tweet, very light, very romantic, very British countryside. Produced by Acorn TV specifically for their streaming audience who are interested in this very very limited appeal thing.

        Mentalhood: Karisma is a delight, and the show feels light and predictable and then keeps surprising you. With the streaming format, they were able to bring in bigger names like Dino and Karisma for a limited commitment, and be more risky in the content. Plus aim the show specifically at the upper class folks who are struggling with the very specific issues of these characters, without needing to talk down to the audience and explain things,

        Pick of the Litter: Disney Plus, a limited series following a bunch of guide dogs thought training. So happy, so sunny, so everything.

        On Mon, May 4, 2020 at 1:13 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

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    • I had no idea you felt that way about Rana! You’ve been keeping your emotions too hidden, like Elinor in Sense and Sensibility.

      I watched Killing Eve 2 when it was broadcast, and found it not quite as good as 1 (which is I think pretty common with TV shows), and it makes me nervous to start Killing Eve 3, if that is going to be not quite as good as 2, and we are going to just keep going down in quality.

      I also saw Big Little Lies! Everyone’s all “oooo, catching up on streaming shows” and I’m like “your lives are so much more exciting than mine! I am already caught up! This is normal life for me!” I watched BLL last summer through library DVDs, and it was indeed good and addictive and all that stuff.

      I am consciously avoiding Mrs. America because I know it will make me angry and frustrated. But I am also enjoying the still shots I see for the pure period costume satisfaction.

      I am so glad you liked Love Aaj Kal 2020! Check out my new posts on it, and the new comments, there is a growing minority of folks who really loved it.

      On Mon, May 4, 2020 at 9:51 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:

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      • I thought that everybody felt that way about Rana. I mean, come on! He’s up there with Shahrukh and his red satin sheets.

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