Happy Wednesday! I have one more day being lazy with my parents, then tomorrow I pack up the car and drive back into the city and hit the ground running. By this time next week, I should have a painter scheduled, all the locks changed, the junk removed, the building deep cleaned, and myself and the dog moved into our unit with our little campsite’s worth of stuff.
I’ll start!
Reading: Still reading Ngiao Marsh! Such fun, disappearing into the soothing world of British murder mysteries.
Watching: The Dog House! My favorite reality matchmaking show! It’s on HBOMax, and it’s a whole TV show about people meeting potential dogs at a shelter. Will there be a match? Will they fall in love? Or will it just not work?
Thinking: Gah, moving! I’m distracting myself by buying small fun pretty things for the home (sugar bowl! Paper towel holder!), but it’s all very stressful. Will the tenants move out on time? Will I be able to fit all the stuff I ordered from Home Depot into my car? Am I spending too much money on everything and should I be saving more for a rainy day?
Listening: Himesh week! Let’s look at his first big hit as a singer:
And question for you! It’s Dulquer Salmaan’s birthday today! What is your favorite movie from him?
Kamaatipadam for me. He is just phenomenal in that movie, and I am SO impressed with how he used his star power for good in getting it made.
Bonus question, least favorite Dulquer movie?
Mahanati!!!! I don’t like it as a movie in general, and I really hate the way Dulquer’s character was made into the “hero” of the film, turning it into his story more than Savitri’s.
dontcallitbollywood 
Fav Dulquer movie: Charlie! I love this film.
Least favourite: I haven’t seen many of his movies but strangely I have many candidates for this category e.g I didn’t like at all Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal. Varane Avashyamund was also strange. Zoya Factor was unwatchable and Maniyarayile Ashokan (yes I know he only had a cameo in this film but he also produced it and is the reason this absolutely waste of time film exists) was the most WTF movie I have seen last year. Oh, I also don’t like all-people-favourite Ustad Hotel. From all those I think I will vote Zoya Factor because , while all others were bad at least I managed to finish them and Zoya was too terrible to finish.
Today is also Dhanush birthday 🙂
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Yaaaaay, I have avoided all your bad Dulquer movies! Except for Ustad Hotel, which I liked. And Zoya Factor, which I found harmless.
Also, yaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Dhanush!
On Wed, Jul 28, 2021 at 9:11 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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And haven’t you watched Varane Avashyamund? It has Shobana, Suresh Gopi and Priyadarshan’s daughter who is my Shruthi Hasaan . I can’t stand this girl.
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I have been soooooooooooooooo lazy this year!!!! And I look to continue being lazy, unless moving stress dissipates much sooner than I expect.
On Wed, Jul 28, 2021 at 5:20 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I think I’ve only seen Zoya Factor which was fine. Malayalam on the whole isn’t really for me so while I like him, I haven’t tried anything else.
Has anyone watched Hungama 2? Please, I need to know if it’s worth struggling through for Meezaan. I did like the songs so there’s that.
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Not that I will watch it in the near future, because guess who is still stuck in the quicksand of Christopher Lee’s enormous filmography? Yes, it’s me.
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Next time you gotta pick a less prolific crush! Like, Hrithik. Go back to Hrithik. You can finish him off in 3 days.
On Wed, Jul 28, 2021 at 9:40 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’m so used to having ones with 200+ movies now though, I don’t know if I can go back.
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Mahanati is either a bad movie, or high camp. You may want to check it out just to see if you can make it work as camp.
Hungama 2, not I, but maybe in a few weeks.
On Wed, Jul 28, 2021 at 9:36 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh my god, a diva movie?? Sounds great.
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Rewatched Sarpatta Parambarai – Had to rewatch for some of the characters in the movie.
Binged watched trailers of all soon-to-be released movies in Telugu and Tamil.
Navarasa – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go6O1wX8H-c
SR Kalyanamandapam – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ5bBHGlLLU
Family Drama – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl2XdcUUPmI
Thimmarusu – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE1nzxp7DZY
Favorite Dulquer movie – Kammatipaadam and least favorite is Zoya Factor.
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Yaaaaaaaaay! Another vote for Kammatipaadam!
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Yaaaaaay, another Kammatipaadam vote!
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Just came across this – Glimpse of Lieutenant Ram | Happy Birthday Dulquer Salmaan – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5GYNCvdXpw
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Thanks for the trailers.
When I clicked on Family Drama trailer I didn’t expected to see something like this. It looks interesting, but too violent for me. Also it looks like a good role for Suhaas, but at the same time I’m angry he always have to play emarginated or strange types. He is darker than other actors, but so what? I want to see him in a classic hero role. Not someone who dies in the end so the light skinned people can live in peace.
Thimmarusu – Wow Satyadev! I like him a lot.
Navarasa has a lot of people I like, and I’m curious how it is but I swore I will not watch another antology movies ever.
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I was trying to remember who is a fan of Suhas here – now I know. I was also thinking why Suhas can’t get ‘normal’ hero roles. I mean Color Photo was good movie but as you said he dies. I am hoping that Thimmarusu will be a hit. This is Satyadev first movie in a solo lead role releasing in theaters (I might be wrong about this). I don’t want him to be a OTT star alone. I want to know if Navarasa is almost full length movies or much much shorter movies to fit the anthology format. I am least looking forward to GVM part because he already showed what he can do/not do with shorter films. I want to see how the rest of them are.
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Oh yes, GVM episodes are in every tamil anthology. I know he has so problems with releasing normal full movies, but how many short films one can watch? I wish they used the money to make simple full lenght films.
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Yesterday a miracle happened and a movie I have been waiting to watch since late 2017 appeared magically on one of the sites I follow! Tovino Thomas’ Abhiyum Anuvum a.k.a Abhiyude Katha Anuvinteyum a.k.a Abhi and Anu. I almost lost faith it will ever hit any streaming site, but here it is, and with good subtitles 😀
I kinda knew it’s not very good, but still wanted to watch it because :
-Tovino is in it
-He looks absolutely gorgeous, because 2017 was his best year when it comes to the look
-It’s a romance
-I love the soundtrack
I thought all above will be enough for me to love the movie, but no. And it even has my favourite type of wedding (a very private and spontaneous one) and a soap opera twist I appreciate. But there is something, I’m not sure what, that annoyed me from the first scenes. Maybe it’s the way it was filmed, or direction. Surely also heroine’s hair, and maybe entire heroine? She was a little too much. Everybody was a little too much and too fake. But the worst was the writing in the end of the movie. Spoilers: The movie is about a couple who met on fb, talked for a long time and decided to marry the same day they met in person. The parents are a little suprised but also happy they are in love. After some time and a lot of sex, the girl became pregnant. Everybody is very happy till the midwife who helped Abhi’s mother during pregnancy comes and discovers who Anu’s mother is. Turns out Abhi and Anu are siblings because her mother was a surrogate mother to Abhi. The woman dies of shock after hearing this. Abhi’s parents press him to divorce and abort the child. Anu refuses and asks Abhi to stay with her till the delivery. They are both very sad and depressed and in the end she gives birth to a baby girl and disappears from his life. For half of the movie I was wondering: man it’s sad but if they really are siblings what they can do? And then in the last scene there is a writing: Abhi was a test tube baby so he isn’t related to Anu and their marriage was valid. And I was like: Am I a joke for you? What is wrong with this people? So yeah, I recommend it only to people who want to watch Tovino being beautiful. Don’t watch it for the plot.
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UGH! That sounds not only stupid, but regressively stupid, likely it will make people afraid of science.
On Wed, Jul 28, 2021 at 5:17 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yes! And the worst thing is all the characters are upper caste, educated rich folks from the city and none of them, even for a minute, had a doubt or asked a question. Like c’mon didn’t you have biology classes at school people?
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Or DID A DNA TEST!!!!! How hard would it have been to just confirm they were biological siblings, no mistake?
On Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 5:55 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Favorite Dulquer movie: my first love, OK Kanmani. Kind of shocked no one has said Bangalore Days, or it that too obvious? I haven’t seen that many of the others and none I actively dislike, though your review of Karwaan made me pre-emptively exasperated with his character to the point I never watched the movie so maybe that counts?
Watching: finally, years later, watched Dangal as my family weekend movie pick. Good sports movie, my mom and kids liked it, appreciated the feminism and the sister story. I admired the choice to have Aamir locked away during the triumphant climax so the victory was all Fatima Sana Shaikh’s (though even there, it cuts to flashback when Aamir threw her in the river as a girl and taught her to fend for herself, so it’s not reeeeaally all her victory even when he’s locked in the dark basement with his glum face on). Don’t totally get why it was a massive international hit and still like Chak De India! better if we’re going to compare feminist sports movies built around male stars. The wrestling scenes were great, though! Found myself twisting around on the couch in sympathy, and I learned a lot. Thanks, Aamir, for teaching me about both cricket and wrestling, neither of which I knew anything about before watching your movies.
Oh, and I finished Mr. Sunshine. It’s ultimately a war story, set at the moment in the early 20th century when Korea was lost to Japan, I shouldn’t have been surprised the ending swung patriotic and not exactly happy. It was beautiful and really good, probably the best scripted K-drama series I’ve watched with even higher quality than usual acting and production values. But whatever I watch next needs to not make me sad.
Reading: The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die. Which I knew was translated from Bengali but didn’t realize was kind of a classic until I just now looked it up. I have it because my local bookstore was giving away mystery books to celebrate… something…World Book Day maybe?….and I picked the slim brown paper-wrapped package with Bengali novel written on the front. It’s lovely so far, appreciate a well told tale with a sense of humor and a not-too-friendly ghost.
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I considered Bangalore Days, but then decided it was more of an ensemble picture so didn’t count. OK Kanmani, on the other hand, that’s allllllllllllllllllll Dulquer.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay Dangal! Such a well-made movie. Just goes right along, you can follow the plot, you care about the characters, it all makes sense.
I’m definitely not going to watch Mr. Sunshine! Especially since the title feels like a bait and switch, sounds so happy and then ISN’T.
That novel sounds really fun! I’m tempted to read it too. Oh, and you should check out the Byomkesh Bakshy stories if you can find them! Very light, very fun, very Bengali.
On Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 12:09 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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My TBR pile is formidable, but I’m glad I picked this one on a whim to bring on the trip. Hoping I am getting back into reading more.
BTW meant to add about Dangal: watching it after the Aamir/Kiran break-up news definitely influenced how I felt about it. I might have felt more generous without that in the background. It is very well constructed with good writing and performances, even if yes, still fully revolving around Aamir’s character.
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In related news, do you know the Mrs. Miniver story? Greer Garson was cast to play the title role in Mrs. Miniver, mother of a grown son. Everyone was all “this is career suicide!!! No one will see her as young and vibrant any more!” And then it was a fabulous role and she got nominated for awards and stuff but, more importantly, started a hot affair with the actor who played her son. Neatly avoiding the career suicide issue, while also making it squirmy to watch them onscreen together.
On Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 12:35 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Wow, yes. Very neat parallel.
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I just looked up The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die and it looks great and it’s only 150 pages! Thanks for the recommendation! Unfortunately, it is not available at any of the libraries near me. I might just go ahead and buy it. Let me know what you think. I plan to read it this weekend.
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I will! I’m getting used to the structure. Each section switches between character perspectives and the first switch was jarring enough that I flipped back to check if it was actually a short story collection. The writing is very engaging though, it’s a fun read.
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I’ll finish tonight, but just to say I got to the part where the two stories connect and it’s worth the temporary disorientation.
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Thanks for the update. I just started it. I’ll keep you updated on my thoughts.
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I read some news today:
-Vikrant Massey will be in Forensic remake. Tovino Thomas plays the main role in malayalam version. I’m happy the role went to one of my other favourites
-Talking about Vikrant, have you seen 14 Phere trailer? I think the movie is already on Zee5. I was waiting for this movie but the trailer was so disappointing! After having seen Haseen Dilruba, 14 Phere looks so boring. Nobody cuts his body parts for love, there are no explosions or passionate gazes. Dull
– Something is happening on twitter today. First I saw Hrithik tweeting his photo and asking Kiara Advani is it good. Then she added her on the photo and forwarded it to Vijay Devarakonda, he made the same and send it to Samantha. movie with all those handsome people? I wouldn’t mind.
https://twitter.com/TheDeverakonda/status/1420721577960697856
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Forget that movie of them all together! Throuple! They are a Throuple!!!
On Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 8:57 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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They added Dulquer to the conversation and in the end it turned out it’s only some fashion brand ad. What a letdown! A fun action movie with all those actors, northern and southern young stars (+Hrithik) could be a pan India hit. Something like War 2.
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Booooo! Yeah, that’s no fun. I wanted it to be a throuple thing.
On Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 2:14 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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If only we were film producers. I once looked up how much some smaller films cost to make to see if I could finance one, or maybe with a few friends, but sadly, no.
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Forget that, I looked it up when my sister got married, and it only costs $30,000 to get Amitabh to your wedding.
On Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 2:18 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Well, yeah, but it will cost more to make a movie, and the point is to make the movie of my dreams. If I really wanted to, I could definitely hire Govinda though (for what? that’s the question). I even have his booking agent somewhere.
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No no! You hire people for a wedding, but then secretly film them, edit it together, dub in dialogue,a nd poof! Movie on a budget! I am a genius.
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You can do what Jess Franco did to Christopher Lee twice, which is to hire them to do like a ten minute scene, then a few random moments, and edit in a movie around that, although maybe not a softcore porn like he did. Although maybe yes.
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Oh oh! Wedding cross over! I could hire, like, JLo and Justin Timberlake and people, and also Amitabh, and mash it together into a glorious nonsensical film.
On Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 2:27 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Then we can use the money we make to make an actual film!
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What about a fake wedding/real concert? Say that we are just hiring for a wedding, and then charge all the “guests” $300 a head?
On Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 3:27 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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It will definitely leak out through gossip, and then we will get sued.
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Pish tosh, it’s the Indian legal system, we just delay until we die and nothing bad ever happens.
On Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 3:38 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I like your moxie.
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I have not been doing much this week. I’ve been prescribed anti anxiety meds by my doctor. The side effects haven’t been that bad, but I haven’t been eating that great, so I’m recuperating at my parents’. Maybe until the wedding I have to go to next week. Idk yet.
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When I got on my daily not-Prozac (generic version) I felt generally lousy and headachey for about 2 weeks, and then adjusted. I still feel bad if I forget a day, or even take it a couple hours later than usual, but otherwise it’s fine. Hopefully helpful info!
On Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 1:16 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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