Happy Wednesday! I keep reading the headline as “sudden infant death syndrome birthday week”. And now I have put that in your heads as well. Don’t think that! Move on!!!
I’ll start!
Reading: Of course, this week’s DCIB short story picks!!! Three middle-aged romances from LM Montgomery, they are all delightful, and let me know if you are having technical issues, they are also short enough that I can literally copy and paste them into an email to you.
Watching: Columbo! I finally convinced my parents to try it. We are all finding it very soothing, largely because of the time capsule effect of all the 1970s technology and stuff. Oh, and I also saw Meet the Patels because my Mom made me. And I have been watching a ton of bad true crime shows. I totally know how to start a cult now, if I wanted to start a cult.
Thinking: In an effort to feel in control of my life, I am going to start packing! No matter what, come June I am not renewing my lease. So all my stuff will be moved into storage while I live with my parents, or all my stuff will be moved into a new apartment. Either way, I can start packing now and feel like something is happening.
Listening: It’s Sid Week! So, a Sid song, of course.
Now, Wednesday question for you! For Sid week. What is your favorite Sid movie?
A Gentleman! Forever and ever and ever.
dontcallitbollywood 
I watched Maara, and loved it. It’s not a copy of Charlie but an adaptation, some things are different. Sharadha Srinath is not Parvathy, but she is very good and has beautiful clothes. I liked her and her character. But the most important thing: Maddy is so cuddly and round 🙂 I just wanted to hug him and say Awwwww. Can’t wait for your review.
Then I saw malayalam movie Ormayil Oru Shishiram. I watched it for Deepak Parambol. Do you remember a communist character from Thattathin Marayathu? He has a small role but it was enough for me to have a little crush on him. So when I saw a romantic movie with him as a protagonist I knew I must watch it. It was a big mistake! The movie was so boring! They took some things from Premam, added few, the most boring ingredients from 96 and made a movie. There is no chemistry between the leads, the girl looks half-asleep almost all the time (I don’t blame her, the script is so boring) and Deepak has no beard because he plays a 16 years old boy (all the class looks like 40-something in school uniforms). Such a waste of time. I swear if I will see another school-nostalgia movie I will start screaming.
LikeLike
Just finished Maara, like literally 5 minutes ago. Agree, it is very different from Charlie in a lot of ways. The took out my favorite thing from Charlie, which is irritating, but also Maddy >>>>> Dulquer.
On Wed, Jan 13, 2021 at 9:08 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Oh so you just watched the hug scene. I like entire movie but this last hug added so much sweetness to the film. I love Maddy’s and Shradha’s facial expressions in this scene.
LikeLike
Yay, I solved “N or M?”. Not the pointy-headed Prussian, but then even Tommy didn’t see that. But all the rest of it.
SPOILERS
It all unravels pretty quickly when you well remember your own kid at almost exactly two and how many words he knew and that he definitely wasn’t talking in a made-up language. And then you might accept that some hygiene freak (how fun is it that they were always around) would buy a second copy of children’s books, but why keep around the old ones?
I think it’s a point in Christie’s favor that when the solution relies on some “expert” knowledge like that, her expertise makes sense.
END SPOILERS
By the way, the weirdest thing about reading a WWII book from Britain was all the praise of patriotism. Not something Germans learn anymore.
And I gave Mismatched a chance because it seemed so beautifully low stakes. Just a bunch of teenagers in a computer class falling in love. And the Hinglish seemed simple enough that I could kind of almost follow. But then Dimple’s roommate started hanging out with Rishi’s lifelong best friend, with the latter even acknowledging that she *like* liked her. So I fear I have become actually invested. And now the roommate has just outed the friend (which I will maintain was a case of gay panic and massive denial), and then the single existing season just ended!! What am I going to do now?!
LikeLike
SPOILERS
Isn’t it satisfying that the ending of the whole “I feel so useless and our kids are off in the world” problem is “let’s adopt a needy orphan”. Just very Tommy and Tuppence. The spywork and all is fun, but it’s really about relationships. END SPOILERS
See, this is my Bridgerton fear!!!! I want to watch a nice lowstakes romance series, but what if there is something that sucks me in??? Also, have you seen Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na? the heroine’s best friend is written as a Lesbian, without the film ever specifically identifying her that way. But the writer thought of her like that (his idea was that she was emotionally slightly more sophisticated than her friends, because she had had to figure out her feelings at a much younger age) and clued in the actress and she sort of played all her interactions like that. Anyway, it’s a nice movie, but you should watch it just to see how that plays out because it is really interesting.
On Wed, Jan 13, 2021 at 9:47 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I’m trying to remember, and I think I probably watched “Jane Tu … Ya Jaane Na” with my old Bollywood gang. They definitely recognized the friend as lesbian, too.
LikeLike
I just read The Girl On The Train will be on Netflix from February 26th. I think it’s a wise decision, even if I’m a little sad for Avinash Tiwari.
Also the next photo from Manorama Calendar is out. This time it’s Tovino with a horse.
LikeLike
This is the BEST CALENDAR!!!! And is that horse kind of small?
On Wed, Jan 13, 2021 at 9:54 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
First, from all your posts, I am so glad I didn’t read the Bridgerton books before watching the series. You will have to let us all know how Simon Basset in the series compared to Simon in the book. I generally enjoyed the series but started getting very annoyed with Simon towards the end because his problem wasn’t a real problem!
Next, have you read the Discovery of Witches or watched the show? Discovery of Witches are probably some of my favorite romance novels, so I was terrified to watch the show. But with second season here, I feel like I have to watch it.
LikeLike
I’m gonna try SO HARD to not remember the books while watching teh series. From the moment the series was announced, I’ve been thinking “but, there isn’t enough there-there to justify a TV series”. Sounds like they took the basic ideas of the books (which did have some great character motivations) and just expanded like mad on what was already there. Have you heard the three sentence description of every Jane Austen novel plot? “I love her, she must never know. I love him, he must never know. They find out.” That’s basically all that the books are, two characters with complex backstories that make them not fully trust each other, lots of sex, and then at the end Love Triumphant.
And no, I have not read or watched Discovery of Witches!!!
On Wed, Jan 13, 2021 at 10:44 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Yes, the three sentence Jane Austen plots! That is basically the series too but with a lot more characters and back stories added. I still enjoyed the series, but I think it just annoys me when the whole misunderstanding could just be solved by one honest conversation. These are not actual problems. Just talk it out, you fools.
You should absolutely read the Discovery of Witches, but fair warning, only start it when you have time. The books are long-ish for romances and very intricate. You can’t just gloss over stuff because there is so much good stuff in there.
LikeLike
I’m thinking about taking a long weekend sometimes in the next few months. I can’t go anywhere, but it is nice to have something to look forward to, you know? And if I can’t go anywhere, maybe instead I should plan to enjoy my vacation by reading a whole complicated book series start to finish!!!!
On Wed, Jan 13, 2021 at 10:55 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Ooh what a fun way to spend a long weekend. It feels like my dream come true. Also, if you haven’t read the Graceling series (Kristin Cashore), I recommend those too. One set of novels doesn’t compare to the other besides they are both fantasy adventure romance novels. But the Graceling series also has a surprising amount of depth to them. Now, I am off to read the LM Montgomery stories while I eat some lunch.
LikeLike
I did like the vampires in Discovery of Witches. And the whole in law situation would translate well to Indian film.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Watching: True Crime docs and rewatched Queen’s Gambit
Reading: Got a late birthday present from my parents of Sondheim’s lyric books ‘Look, I Made a Hat’ and ‘Finishing the Hat’. They are so huge! I expected them to be smaller, but they really are the kind of hardcover books one treasures. Just, so wonderful, since I love musicals and just his rhyming and storytelling is so good!! Also, his comments on the sides are pure self deprecating and sarcastic snark at his early work, but are so informing!!!
Thinking: I need to finish a schoolwork, but I can do it easily later in the day, since I want to read these books now
LikeLike
Those books sound so fun! I am so happy for you!
And I am also still binging True Crime docs. Very excited about the new Nightstalker one that just released.
On Wed, Jan 13, 2021 at 10:47 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I’m tutoring English classes right now. With my student I’m reading The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan. One of my top 5 go to books. Not watching, listening, or even thinking anything since it’s exam week for me.
Favorite Sid movie. It’s not really a sid movie but Kapoor and Sons. Though, the most Re watchable Sid movie is the Gentleman.
LikeLike
Woo, Kapoor & Sons! Such an interesting film, although Sid is the weakest part. Unlike A Gentleman where everything is perfect.
On Wed, Jan 13, 2021 at 12:49 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I forgot to say that I saw some old movies recently. Not only Miracle on 34th Street , but also The Incredible Journey you recommended like 2 years ago for my son and The Cat from Outer Space. I liked them all.
And yesterday we saw Onward and like it a lot too. And Soul, but it was strange, or maybe I didn’t pay attention.
LikeLike
No, Soul was totally strange!!!
And I still want you to find The Incredible Journey-the Book to read to your son, he would like it so much! The movie is okay, but the book is great.
LikeLike
Madhavan Interview With Baradwaj Rangan
Maddy – Baradwaj are the only interviews I watch. I don’t have patience for other stars and journalists. As always Maddy is very eloquent and nice. They talk a lot about Maara (how the first filmed scenes were garbage and they canceled shooting and restarted only when the script and everything else was good), Rocketry and other movies. I especially liked when Baradwaj asked why Maddy made Nishabd and he answered with the question: Why do you think I did it? And the answer is money. He needed cash to finish Rocketry. I understand it, but on the other hand the last movie he was in was Zero, and it was only a little stupid cameo, and the last lead was in 2017 in Vikram Vedha. I was so excited for Nishabd and now I see he knew it would be a disaster and made it anyway. It’s a little disappointing.
LikeLike
Hmm. It’s kind of an interesting ethical question. If Anil Kapoor does a movie for the money, who cares? It’s a job. But with other actors, could you argue that tehre is a covenant of quality? Once their name is attached, they owe it to the audience to be pickier? Or, alternatively, is it that their fans are so loyal they will follow them even into a bad film? While with someone like Anil, if the movie looks bad, we will simply not watch it.
On Thu, Jan 14, 2021 at 3:52 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Maddy’s situation is particular because he has made many silly movies for money earlier. But then he had enough, he left everything, had his sabbatical, and returned saying he will make only good movies now, the ones he believes are worth making. And I was ok with it. But then he comes with this Nishabd! You know I don’t mind bad movies, and have seen many bad films for my crushes (Savyasachi included), but this one even I couldn’t finish. It was unwatchable.
LikeLike
Still not done with Jodhaa Akbar. This movie is unbelievably long.
Watched AK vs AK and practically lost consciousness laughing. I think my favorite bit was Harsh sending himself up, but the middle-aged fight among the Christmas decorations was a very close second. The continual theme of a big action scene and then Anurag reaching for his inhaler was just brilliant. I thought the theme was that big mainstream bollywood always wins, even as it has to literally dance for the people’s pleasure, but the meta-joke is it’s Anurag and Vikram making that point.
My favorite Sid movie that I don’t like Sid in is Kapoor and Sons. My favorite Sid movie that I do like Sid in is Ittefaq. I maintain my belief that he is getting better at acting.
LikeLike
Have they had sex yet? Once they have sex, it’s just boring predictable battle stuff, and then scrolling text ending.
Yes, AK vs AK!!!! It’s just SO GOOD!!!! And so funny, and Harsh is the KING.
I agree, Sid is getting better. Which I appreciate because he doesn’t have to, he is never going to get the super arty roles or anything, the stuff he does get he could get away with just looking pretty. But he is really trying!
On Fri, Jan 15, 2021 at 2:42 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
I completely missed this post, but do I even really need to contribute my favorite Sid movie? Does anybody who reads my comments not know what it is? Come on.
LikeLike