Happy Monday! I had such a nice weekend and now work is so HARD and I don’t want to do it. Boooo!!!
Here is where you get to ask me anything you want from “what did you do this weekend?” to “who is Jim Sarbh?” Just keep swinging back here all week as you think of new questions!
Now, question or you! Is this corny, fun, or boring?
I say, BORING! Let’s get some color in there! And explosions!
dontcallitbollywood 
Yeah, who IS Jim Sarbh?
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He’s not the kind of guy you would like. Sort of boring standard handsome man, no personality.
On Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 9:35 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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No gender or sexual ambiguity then? Straight hair and not funny?
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Nah, just a boring male model type, regular nose, square physique, says the lines just as written, dull.
On Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 10:14 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Man, too bad, good thing nobody gives him big parts and Made in Heaven 2 is up in the air.
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Chehre – quite boring. The only saving grace of this trailer is Emraan clicking a photo with his phone (because it reminded me about Hamari Adhuri Kahani) and Emraan in a pool with a girl (because it reminded me of Zeher)
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Shoot, I was kind of excited about Emraan and Amitabh together.
On Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 9:44 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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My question: Varun Dhawan is he talented? I’m asking because I’ve always thought he is the more talented and Sid M. is the prettiest, but lately I saw people discussing it and they all agree Varun sucks and his movies also and Sid is better. I’m curious what you think about it.
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I think lately at least, Sid has been working harder. Varun has done fewer movies and has seemed kind of lost in his film choices. Sid has straightened out focused on action films and done movie-movie-movie.
Slow but steady wins the race! Varun had big splashy talented things, Sid has been quietly working away and doing his best in everything he has and has gotten better. I’m so happy for my nice Sid.
On Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 9:57 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Varun is definitely a more talented dancer!
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In my head I decided Varun = Matt Damon. He has talent and he’s perfect for certain kinds of roles, but not much range.
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BITE YOUR TONGUE! Matt Damon is PERFECT. It’s just that he knows we don’t want to see him play anything besides Matt Damon.
Although they do have the same incredibly lowkey personal life behind the fame, I do enjoy that.
On Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 2:17 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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😂
I do think Matt Damon is good at choosing roles, and Varun could have a good career just remaking Matt Damon movies.
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I think Matt Damon can only play Matt Damon movies. You just have to be sooooooooooooo nice to make it work. In that category, maybe Sid M should remake Matt Damon movies?
On Tue, Aug 24, 2021 at 4:03 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Where are these people? I know Sid’s getting praise left and right for Shershaah, but I’ve seen so many Varun stans crapping on Sid for reasons I can’t understand because their comments are in Hindi, while Sid stans are clapping back in English going “ohoh, Shershaah is the highest rated Hindi movie on IMDB, what’s your idol doing” and it just feels like they’re digging up the rivalry for no reason. As a fan of both of them, I’m tired of it.
I’ve always agreed with your exact comment, that Sid is hotter but Varun is more talented. I haven’t been proven right as of late. I think Margaret has a point when she talks about choices. The last 2 or 3 years, Varun hasn’t made good film choices, and Sid’s always been a mixed bag, but at least they’re varied and interesting.
Maybe Varun is more talented, but Sid is smarter. That’s what I’m thinking.
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I laugh when people tout IMDB ratings for an Indian film. Hope they realize how easy it is to manipulate, for reasons nothing to do with the film itself. It has been done few times just in the last year, mostly to bring down certain people. Karan has been flaunting IMDB ratings on his account and he of all people should know how it feels to be on the other side of things!
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I think also Sid is more willing to take risks. He will sign a whole bunch of movies for the experience and connections and a lot will flop and some will hit. While Varun is cautious and only signs a few films, so the flops hurt him more.
On Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 4:20 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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These kind of petty rivalries that fans come up with are so silly! Not that I’m a big fan of either, but I’ve always found Varun to be the more competent actor. After seeing parts of Shershaah, I feel Sid has improved a lot and I’m happy for him. I always like to see someone working and growing at their craft and Sid is making good choices in that regard, while I don’t even know what Varun is doing nowadays. Both of them need to pick right projects going forward.
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Yep! Having watched almost every Sid movie, I could see the slow improvement in Ittefaq, A Gentleman, Jabriya Jodi, even in a bad movie he was learning and growing and working hard. Now he has a hit and all that quiet work over the past several years is paying off. It’s good to see.
On Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 6:26 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Ha! And you haven’t seen the most enjoyable one – Marjaavan.
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Thank you! I knew I had missed one and I couldn’t remember which.
On Tue, Aug 24, 2021 at 2:31 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Marjaavaan can only be enjoyable if you watch it drunk with friends. I wanted to see it in theaters when it came out, but I got sick that weekend, and it was gone by the time I got better. When I watched it on Prime months later, I was grateful I didn’t spend $15 to see it. Would have gotten a migraine.
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LOL Marjaavan is like school play version of a real movie, with the most popular (but not the most talented) boy in the school as a protagonist. The scenography is fake and everything is over the top, but I loved the romance, the music and the fact that Hindu, Muslims and Christians characters are friends.
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I feel the Khans and all the previous generation of actors had it better because they did so many films in their initial years, many of which were bad, but they got the chance to work on their skills that much more. Of course the way the industry works has changed – now people do less films and are judged way more with each film. But that learning experience is invaluable, given that most actors have no other training.
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In a way, Sid benefitted from having a series of flops after SOTY. It got him off peoples’ radar and let him hunker down and work. Varun went right on to 3 hits in a row and the pressure has been on him ever since.
On Wed, Aug 25, 2021 at 10:20 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I know I’m not supposed to hope for this anymore, but since Marvel and wider Disney are trying out different kinds of stories with veteran actors from other industries…does this not sound exactly like the kind of role we’ve talked about for SRK?
“Given his looks, [Tony Leung] has rarely been cast as an antagonist in his feted career in Asia; as the star of Wong Kar-wai’s masterpieces about unrequited love, the actor is unmatched when it comes to exuding pathos and longing. So when he does play a villain—as he did in Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution—he uses his magnetism to expose his character’s vulnerabilities, deepening what would be, in another performer’s hands, an uncomplicated depiction of a monster. In Shang-Chi, Leung slowly and precisely transforms Wenwu, revealing him to be no mere crime lord but a tragic romantic lead still grieving Jiang Li, clinging to conspiratorial thinking for guidance. He’s an avatar for loneliness, a living fossil of a man who had been excavated by love only to return to a life of unknowable power and no one to share that experience with.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/08/shang-chi-legend-ten-rings-marvel-review/619867/
Other question: did anyone watch Navarasa? I watched a couple of episodes on the plane because they were the right length for my attention span, and I liked them, plus the project as a way for the Tamil industry to take care of its people is lovely. But I’m kind of worried at least one will be tragic and break my heart.
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I LOVE TONY LEUNG!!!! And he has ABSOLUTELY played antagonists before. Or rather, antagonist/protaganists, Hong Kong movies like to blur right and wrong. In the realm of Hong Kong actors, he’s not even that handsome. Very very charismatic, but plays the kind of “average looking guys” roles. Awwww, now I am all sentimental for my Hong Kong period. You want handsome, Andy Lau is handsome:
My Dream role for SRK, which I already know won’t happen, is Ms Marvel’s Dad. He could be all confused and supportive and blustery at the same time. I’d love it.
On Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 2:15 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Ms. Marvel’s dad is clearly Anupam!
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Too old!
On Tue, Aug 24, 2021 at 4:01 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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“Not that handsome”?!
Aayah! (as they say in Hong Kong). Tony Leung is gorgeous, and certainly considered so in Asia. I saw Hero and my friends and I positively lusted after him. He stole the show in Infernal Affairs. Good looking, a great actor, and oozes sex appeal!
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Not disagreeing at all! I just disagree with the idea that he has the kind of looks that type cast him as a boring hero role. I think of him as having the kind of looks that let him play the interesting shades of grey characters.
On Tue, Aug 24, 2021 at 5:57 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Okay what was up with the drugs in Hasse Toh Phasse? I kinda missed the fact that they were supposed to be serotonin uptake inhibitors when I rewatched it over the weekend. I loved Zoloft and am so glad I took it when I needed to over 20 years ago. I have no memories of munchies or other side effects, like sticking out my tongue. But then it wasn’t an instant working pep pill.
Is there any kind of drug that actually fits with their description of what she was taking? Or was it a misguided all drugs are bad propaganda movie?
Maybe her tongue had nothing to do with the drugs as she did have processing differences?
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When was supposed to be until… I didn’t catch that until this last rewatch. Or I forgot about it.
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I think the “drugs are bad” message kind of got mixed up with that in vogue “people just don’t FEEL things any more!” message from a few years back. Like, she didn’t know how to process emotions so she took medication instead. But it was, like, prescription style non-addictive drugs? that she made herself in a lab instead of having a prescription for them? And they seem to have mixed up the manic effect of mental illness with a response to pills?
On Tue, Aug 24, 2021 at 11:03 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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That is a pretty significant mix-up. Surely at least one of the producers or director would have had more experience than that? But then, I’m not Indian. California probably has a different attitude to mental health…
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My imagination is that someone wrote the story meaning that when she got OFF the pills, she went nutty. Which makes total sense with what we see, she needs pills to even her out, otherwise she goes manic. And she goes off the meds to avoid emotions, to think faster, etc. etc. And then the script bounced around and landed with someone who had no experience, who read it and went “this is clearly a typo, it should be when she is ON the pills that she goes manic!!!! The other way makes no sense!”
On Tue, Aug 24, 2021 at 12:26 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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hmmm. okay. Pretty big plot fail though.
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Jim Sarbh, Sid, Varun, Tony Leung. All intriguing in different ways.
To me, Sarbh is anything but handsome. He’s “jolie laid”, appealingly ugly, with big features that work well on him. His body is decent, actually gym-decent, and he can definitely act. He blew away Dev Patel and Whatshername in The Wedding Guest
SId and Varun are pretty and bubble gum wonderful. Varun still is. Just watching him move makes me happy. Lately, SId has added interesting flavors to the chew. They were there all along but he never let us know. As for Tony, I’m just getting into Korean/Japanese/Chinese films and dramas. I used to think the women were simperingly lovely, the men too delicate, and the plots not gritty enough. I’m changing my mind with every watch. Huyn Bin in Crash Landing on You, started me off and I haven’t stopped yet.
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My two favorite Hong Kong Rom-Coms: Needing You and Love On a Diet. They are just delightful if you can find them. Same hero-heroine pair in both.
On Tue, Aug 24, 2021 at 2:11 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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