OMG, this show looks like such trashy fun. Even if (I’m guessing) Shahrukh will appear for 30 seconds with no dialogue and Gauri will appear for 5 minutes in one episode and never again.
The wives! Maheep Kapoor wife of Sanjay Kapoor, sister-in-law of Anil Kapoor and Boney Kapoor, aunt of Arjun Kapoor and Harsh and Sonam Kapoor, and mother of Shanaya (Suhana Khan’s childhood best friend).
Neelam Kothari, an actress in her own right, in several big films of the 90s as a supporting player (Agneepath, Hum Saath Saath Hain, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai), then married a regular working TV/character actor Samir Soni (Lajja, Baghban, I Hate Luv Storys) and retired.
Seema Khan, wife of Suniel Khan, sister-in-law of Salman and Arbaaz Khan, daughter-in-law of Salim and Helen Khan.
Bhavana Panday, wife of character actor Chunky Panday, mother of rising actress Ananya Panday who is also the childhood best friend of Suhana Khan.
Maheep and Bhavana we have seen in public for years, part of the inner circle around Shahrukh and Gauri thanks to their childrens’ friendship. Seema and Neelam tend to be photographed a little less, or at least I am less aware of them. But I certainly know of them. Seema is the one stable daughter-in-law of the Khan family, her marriage with Suniel is generally assumed to be solid and it gives her a status in the industry and respect in the city. Neelam, of course, is Neelam! Generally liked, decently famous as an actress all by herself, and her husband works steadily and seems generally liked as well.
Generally speaking, I believe there is a strong community of film wives in Bombay. We know that Maheep and Bhavana and Gauri are friends because they are so photographed, but I absolutely believe that Seema and Neelam are also part of the same social group. And probably dozens of other wives who weren’t interested in being in this show are equally close friends. We know from the press that this community has big parties maybe once a week (birthdays and so on), and really truly huge parties every few months (major weddings and massive holiday gatherings). I’m going to assume there are also smaller get togethers in between, drinks after school drop off and so on. So that means this community of wives is seeing each other at least twice a week. That’s going to create a tight TIGHT relationship structure no matter what. So okay, we will follow these 4 particular women, and they will be all up in each other’s business, and maybe they aren’t “best friends” outside of this show, but I bet they are still super SUPER close friends just through propinquity.
What is this community like? What do we already know? Well, we know most of their kids go to the same school (the Ambani school). We know they always look spectacular, which means a lot of time on clothes and hair and general maintenance. We know they spend a lot of time with their husbands and kids, that is, a lot of time when you are talking rich celebrity culture. If this show wants to suggest they give in put on script choices and are doing the day to day grind of parenting, I’ll believe it. We also know they are somewhat isolated. This crowd of “wives” isn’t part of the old money Bombay society, or the artistic society, they are too rich to be “artists” but too new to be “money”. So fine, they can spend their lives shopping and taking care of their families and revolving around this one small world.
And finally, where is Shahrukh and Gauri in all of this? Well, we know that Maheep and Bhavana are two of their closest friends. Shahrukh and Gauri in their young years spent a ton of time hanging with Salman’s family, so they probably have an old connection to Seema as well. And of course Shahrukh co-starred with Neelam. Shahrukh and Gauri are also the Top Couple in the particular “star wife” kind of world. Kiran Rao and Aamir don’t really fit, they aren’t social beings and while they certainly know and like all these people, they aren’t regulars in the social scene. Salman is still not married, so he can’t be part of the couple world. Kajol and Sridevi and Rani and other former actresses just aren’t interested in playing the social game. Twinkle Khanna and Suzanne Khan are probably equally in influence to Gauri in the female scene, but their partners aren’t the same as Shahrukh. It’s not just that they aren’t as popular as film stars, but that they aren’t as all in on the film society. Hrithik has a hard time making friends outside of his family, Akshay likes to work and go home. And so Gauri and Shahrukh reign supreme, Gauri with her long time Girl Gang and loving the film wife social scene, Shahrukh with his actual power (as actor everyone wants to work with, and rising producer) plus just his social charm and hosting parties and attending parties and so on.
I’m gonna guess that Gauri will actually for real show up on camera briefly. She hates publicity, but these are some of her closest friends, it might be fun for her. I’m gonna guess that Shahrukh will just be glimpsed at a distance. It’s Netflix where he has a really good relationship, it’s his wife’s friends, but it would also way WAY lower his brand to appear on a reality show like this.
Okay, that’s all I’ve got! Watch the trailer and tell me what you think.
dontcallitbollywood 
Sooo much trashy fun!!! I have the release date marked on my calendar and I am clearing out the day to binge-watch it.
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I think it is the day after Thanksgiving, which is just perfect. A little bonus day off work with nothing to do but binge.
On Sat, Nov 14, 2020 at 11:18 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Who is Suniel Khan?
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It is sohail khan
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Do they legit speak English together all the time? (Sorry if that’s an ignorant question, I still don’t totally understand the dynamic about what language people choose in social situations.)
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Yes, for this crowd, it is believable. The star wives who can’t speak English fluently would be excluded from this kind of social scene (the Deol wives, for instance). Talking English would be part of having a certain level of education and general global sense of the world. If you can speak English, you can go on European vacations with your family, you can shop at the high fashion stores, you can go to dinner parties with foriegn investors, you can do all those kinds of things.
The biggest part of this is the children. You want your kids to be fluent in English far more than any Indian language. So, as a good mother, you would try to make English your home language as much as possible. All these women have been mothers for 20 years, so that whole time they would have been forcing their family into English as much as possible. I’m gonna guess they are probably about 70% English to 30% Hindi normally (there’s just so many great Hindi phrases that you can’t translate). But it wouldn’t be hard while the cameras were going to remember to be 100% English.
On Sat, Nov 14, 2020 at 12:45 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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” You want your kids to be fluent in English far more than any Indian language”
And then they also want their children to be actors in Hindi industry
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Yep! And that’s why the dialogue in film is so sucky now.
On Sat, Nov 14, 2020 at 3:50 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Many upper class families use english as house language these days… Especially in South india
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So English would be default for home and social interactions? I guess I’m wondering if it would always have been English even 20 years ago when they first met or if that’s something that changed over time?
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I’m all lost in my answers, I think I kind of answered this above but I’ll answer it again just in case.
Generally in the film social world, Hindi was the main language until maybe about 30 years ago. India went through a “liberalization” of the economy in the mid-90s which included opening them up to outside investment way more than ever before. Part of that meant that suddenly you had to speak the international language of English to succeed in any industry, including film. The rich society folks that the film people interact with would have all switched to English at this point. And the film industry started switching too as there were more and more foreign workers brought in and foreign investment. Almost everyone in the film world would have already known some English, it’s just part of having a decent education. But suddenly using it more and more and more makes you more fluent, and makes you more kind of “normal” in using it.
English is ravaging India in general for the past 3 decades, parents who want their kids to succeed know that they need to be fluent in English. So the push is for the younger generation to be all “English English English”. The younger movie stars probably have English as their primary language because of that. And the older people, like these wives, would have pushed to speak English at home and in private as much as possible to help their kids get fluent.
On Sat, Nov 14, 2020 at 2:52 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Thanks! I was just thinking about it in terms of person to person, I always found it difficult to switch languages once I had a relationship with someone in one language. But it makes sense it would be about the kids, that’s what caused me to start speaking English in my house too.
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Oh shit, Neelam is in it? How the mighty have fallen. Now I definitely cannot watch it because I will be way too embarrassed for her.
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I hope Gauri is on for only 5 mins. She is a loyal friend and she is doing this for them..it is NOT her thing at all. Panday is one of her closest. I suspect she is doing it for the money (Pandey not Garui). Her husband barely works and her daughter is being launched but not much money in that. It is very cringy but I will watch it!!!
As to English. Shah Rukh was sent to an “English Medium” school as they are called in 1970 at great cost and sacrifice by his parents. So the advantages of speaking English predate the 1990s.
This crowd speaks “Hinglish” at home. I have had bunch of conversations with more regular middle class kids who went to English speaking schools or who always spoke English at home and they don’t even know when they go in and out of Hindi and English. For the purposes of this show it will most likely be in English exclusively with maybe a few Hindi phrases thrown in and subtitled,
Can’t wait for you reactions….
Mpollak711
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I am thinking it is a friend thing too! Sanjay Kapoor isn’t going great guns either, can’t hurt to have this show. Plus, the other women are probably just a little bored. Gauri has her ten million businesses on top of being Queen of the city. But the other women have kids growing up and no super big career (I think Neelam maybe has a jewelry line? Or did at one point?), this show probably seemed really really fun to do!
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The show is produced by Karan Johar so it’s one more reason for the SRK/Gauri cameo. It’s the kind of thing you can’t really say no to if you’re asked.
This is the party where it was shot:
I’m guessing Gauri wasn’t going to allow them anywhere near her home to film a reality show so she set up a party at her store. A bit of free promo for her business too.
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Yeah, that makes sense. I don’t know if Karan producing would make it guaranteed though, because he has produced a few shows and Gauri and SRK don’t always participate. But I bet the combination of Karan producing and all of Gauri’s besties starring made it happen. One or the other wouldn’t do it, but the two combined will.
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It looks so BORING! And I have a feeling the glimpse of SRK in the preview might be all you get in the whole series. Maybe some more Guari though. But I hate reality TV, the last 4 years has given me more than I need.
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Pretty sure you are right about SRK and Guari. Don’t care! Still gonna watch it!
On Sat, Nov 14, 2020 at 9:23 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I hate it too, but I have a feeling I won’t be able to resist….
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Probably won’t watch. Didn’t bother with any of the American “Wives” franchises either. You see, I love Indian cinema for the glamor, romance and yes, the fantasy. True, much coming out of India these days is gritty and truly masterful. I appreciate those films too. But at the end of a long day of my own grit, all I want is somebody with a six pack dancing with somebody in a saree against a backdrop of palm trees and elephants.
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Then I will have to be the reporter for you! I’m definitely watching, I’ll tell you all about it.
On Sat, Nov 14, 2020 at 9:45 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Looking forward. Thanks.
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Does the show being produced by Karan Johar’s Dharmatic explain why Shakrukh and Gauri are on the show?
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and tht two of her best friends are in it.
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I stay miles away from reality shows but I’m excited for this! It looks fun and I’m hoping to be treated to gossip about the inner filmi circle. I know Gauri wouldn’t do a show like this, but I kinda wish Malaika, Suzanne and Twinkle were part of this, though the former two aren’t wives anymore.
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At least Twinkle has her comic essays! They are a super fun read if you can find her book, Mrs. Funnybones.
On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 6:10 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I was interested in her book at some point, but I’ve soured on Akshay to the point that I’m not not gonna pay money to his family!
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Bootleg it! There is a fair amount of Akshay, but also a lot about everyday life in the Star Wives world, so it’s worth a read.
On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 6:40 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Wasn’t there an actual SRK reality show about 10 years ago? I think I found a single episode of it online. And from what I saw if I were his children I would demand NO MORE reality shows. And wasn’t part of the SRK / Salman fued over whose reality show did better?
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Nope!
I suspect what you found was a bit of the “Inner/Outer World of SRK” documentary. Which is my favorite documentary, and interspersed interviews with him and people around him, with some nice candid bits on camera. Very limited access to his family, his kids and Gauri are in the background visiting him on film shoots, and in a brief bit at his home and office. And Suhana is SO CUTE!!!!
Salman hosts a Big Brother rip off, he’s not part of the participants, he comes in for little bits to supervise and host and stuff. Shahrukh at one point was hosting a “are you smarter than a 5th grader” show and I think people tried to create some fued between the two shows because Shahrukh’s flopped (as have all his various TV hosting gigs) while Salman’s is super SUPER popular.
I think the feud was pretty strictly personal, they both said straight through that it was about personal issues between the two of them, nothing to discuss. One story that is pretty consistent is that something happened at a party for Katrina’s birthday back in 2005-2006-something like that.
Big take away: you should absolutely watch The Inner/Outer World of Shahrukh!!! I think the whole thing is on youtube now, and I love it.
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When I went to YouTube I had seen the Outerword of Shah Rukh Khan, about his concert tour yes? And then I had seen the Inner World too, which really wasn’t inner, more about making films and going to doctor’s appointments. Right? I’m thinking of Somthing where Shah Rukh and his family were in London, he talked about how he loved to play in the parks in London with his kids as there just wasn’t space in Mumbai. They were playing soccer in the park and Aryan was upset about loosing (totally normal for a child), and SRK said it was something they were going to have to work on. And then he went to lunch at a restaurant with Gauri and some mostly or all female friends. And Guari didn’t like having the camera on her. WHAT AM I THINKING OF? I have a dim memory of not being able to find more episodes. I feel like it might have been on dailymotion. But I can’t find it now, obviously. It was old, Aryan was somewhere between 9 and 13.
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Oh man, now I want to watch it too! I’m thinking it must have been another TV special? Like Inner/Outer or the Letterman show?
On Sun, Nov 15, 2020 at 8:45 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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This is the show that’s being referred to: https://www.livemint.com/Home-Page/0DMn7bg6aCKGZ0l3VaASdO/Discovery-splurges-on-Shah-Rukh-Khan-series.html
It was a 10 episode documentary!! I haven’t seen it either but bits and pieces show up on the internet from time to time.
I recall the interaction Genevive is talking about. SRK was playing soccer in Hyde Park (right across from his house on Park Lane) with his kids and also Ananya and Shanaya. You can hear him shouting at Aryan to stop bullying the girls. Then he talks for a minute to the camera that Aryan is such a bully and cheater who wants to do anything to win and how much he hates it. He goes on a mini-rant about how he’s worried Aryan must be doing similar stuff in school. Later he goes out to lunch with Gauri and some friends.
A lot of clips with his kids have shown up online. That year the IPL was held in South Africa so there is a little from there too. One I recall is Suhana swimming in the hotel pool while SRK is standing nearby. She keeps complaining he’s not paying attention until he stands there and watches her doing her stunts and praises her.
Karan had also gone to South Africa and was sitting in the stands with SRK at one of the cricket matches. Gauri calls SRK on his phone. You can’t hear her side of course but you can hear SRK. It was a funny little interaction – SRK says “Gauri, I’m 42 years old. You don’t need to worry about my sleep schedule. ” Karan makes snarky comments on the side “She’s just pretending to care. The same way you pretend you’re having financial problems so that she’ll stop shopping.” He hands the phone to Karan so that she can yell at him.
I’ve seen a clip from Mannat too. SRK is seen having a meeting related to his cricket team in his library. Little Suhana pops inside and demands that he come and eat with the family now so he stops his meeting and goes with her.
There was a little from his Dubai house too. They have a private beach there. SRK and his family were there with his in-laws. They are all riding ATVs. SRK is mostly seen cribbing telling Gauri to slow down and complaining she’s a speed demon and that it’s not safe. She makes him sit behind her and makes fun of him being a coward. Even as they drive away, you see him sitting behind Gauri and still complaining.
If you search for “Living with a Superstar,” a lot will pop up on youtube and dailymotion. I haven’t watched it simply because it’s a disorganized mess and I can’t tell which episode or what order the clips are in. But if you don’t mind that, there is a lot available.
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https://www.facebook.com/Living-With-A-Superstar-Shah-Rukh-Khan-338958522385/
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