Happy Monday! I am still China Cabinet-less! But by Thursday, I will have one one way or another. Sigh.
Here is where you can ask me anything you want from “what is your favorite movie?” to “why do Indian films always have mother/father issues?” Just keep swinging back here all week as you think of new questions!
Now, question for you! Inspired by Kainaat in the comments, what is an Indian movie where you like the remake better than the original?
I know there are others, but right now all I can think about is Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke/Houseboat. The original is all about a distant divorced Dad and a May-December romance and Sophia Loren being sexy. The remake is about Aamir and Juhi being ADORABLE.
(for those who care, Moving Update: I found a funky weird china cabinet option at a resale shop for $40, but I have to hire someone to move it. If I can find someone, I will have that within the next few days. If I can’t, the shop gets to keep it and my $40 goes to a good cause. My Build-Your-Own new china cabinet option is supposed to arrive on Wednesday. If the resale shop works out, I can just return it for a refund. If the resale shop doesn’t work out, I will build that one. At this point, I can’t open any more boxes or do anything else until I have a place to store my dang dishes)
dontcallitbollywood 
I assume the facial expression in the video still is your “china cabinet” face?
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Of course!
On Mon, Aug 30, 2021 at 10:42 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Lol…
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Remake… I liked Baazigar more than “A Kiss before Dying” – and not only because of the music. It was – emotionally – more understandable.
A pity that I’m not living in Chicago right now – with my Ford Transit, of course…
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YES! I was all set to find friends and manhandle the thing into my apartment, but it is 6 inches larger than will fit in my car. So, hiring someone is a necessity.
On Mon, Aug 30, 2021 at 11:08 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Idk maybe this is a controversial opinion but I felt like Oopiri was a better movie compared to the Intouchables. It was much more entertaining and I felt like the caretaker’s (Karthi) story was more developed in Oopiri compared to the Intouchables.
I was thinking about it lately and I realized that I haven’t seen that many movies this year that came out in 2021. I’ve been spending my time watching older movies or catching up with 2020 movies. So my question for you is what are your recommendations of movies that I should check out in the 2021 releases? Any language is fine.
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I’ve seen 18 2021 movies so far but only 4 are worth mentioning.Maybe you have seen them already
1. Haseen Dilruba is a must watch. It’s fun and Vikrant Massey is absolutely dreamy/creepy/terrific.
2. Uppena – romantic, colorful with nice OTT ending
3. Mimi
4. Maara
Films to avoid :
1. Ray – so bad it killed all love I had for Harsh Kapoor. And his part wasn’t even the worst in this antology (but almost)
2. Sreekaram – 2 hours long social ad titled “India doesn’t need more engineers, we should all be farmers now”
3. Anugraheethan Antony – a dog hater wants us to feel sorry for him but we know he is good for nothing
4. Prem Tame (bengali) – another good for nothing guy in a world of dog haters
5. Sardar Ka Grandson – boring
6. Kutty Story – just another useless anthology
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Thanks for the list Angie!
I’ve seen the promos for Haseena Dilruba on Netflix but I wasn’t sure whether it was worth the watch or not. Taapsee can be a hit or miss for me but I’m gonna give it a try!
I’ve been meaning to watch Mimi but just haven’t gotten to it. I saw Uppena but to be honest I didn’t really like it. It was colorful and had good songs but I felt like the ending was a bit too much for me. I also haven’t seen Maara but it looks like it was a remake of Charlie which I didn’t really like when I saw it years ago.
I actually saw Sardar Ki Grandson and thought it was decent. I doubt i’ll ever watch it again but it was a 2hr timepass movie.
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Maara is like Charlie but different. Some details have been changed to suit better Madhavan. I personally liked Charlie better but just a little bit better because imo both movies are good and worth watching.
And have you watched Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar? It’s not my type because it’s too realistic and I like my movies colorful and romantic, but it’s a good film.
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I think it’s been like five years since I saw Charlie and I barely remember it so I’ll keep Maara in mind.
I was curious about it when it arrived on Prime but then I saw the trailer and it looked too dark so I didn’t watch it. I heard it was good but like you said, it didn’t look colorful enough for me to want to watch it at the time.
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I liked Sairat, the Marathi film, better than Dhadak. Ishaan was ok, but Jhanvi was too young or too inexperienced for the part. When her baby was thrown out the window and landed dead at her feet, she tried really hard to act shock and grief. That might have been the problem. She was acting, not feeling. Her early scenes when she flirts with Ishaan were believable. But I didn’t get much chemistry between them. She’s grown since then but she still “acts”. Ishaan now has almost reached his brother’s level of skill. He was amazing in A Suitable Boy. Tabu helped of course.
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I can’t think of any except Sarkar being a remake of The Godfather, although I KNOW there are more that I like, mostly from genres I never watch like auteur films. Couldn’t sit through more than 10 minutes of The Godfather, but have watched Sarkar often.
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Talking about the remakes, Niithin’s version of Andhadhun soon will be on Disney + Hotstar ( 17 September) I’m so curious how it is. Can’t wait to read the reviews.
I also just found out there will be malayalam version of the film with Prithviraj, Mamta Mohandas and Unni Mukundan. I follow Unni and read news about him so how it’s possible I didn’t heard about this project earlier?
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Hmm, I saw the trailer when it came out and I didn’t feel like Tamannah matched Tabu’s performance. But it did look like they remade Andhadhun completely and that they didn’t change anything so I’m thinking it’ll get good reviews.
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I haven’t used it yet, but I know people who’ve used the Dolly app to help move and they’ve had good experiences. Not sure what your budget is though.
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That’s good to hear!
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I have reached the conclusion that Aamir has been ruining the originals for me by doing remakes, both good and bad. I already mentioned Dil Hai Ke Maanta Nahin/It Happened One Night. You reminded me of Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke – I love it so much that I have no desire of seeing Houseboat, even with the lure of Cary Grant. And then Mann is so bad (except the songs), that I don’t feel like watching An Affair to Remember, which I’m sure is much better. Oh Aamir!
Speaking of remakes, I came across this 1939 film called Stolen Life with Michael Redgrave, whose plot reads very similar to Sharmilee. I was excited to watch it but can’t find it anywhere! I think it was also remade later with Bette Davis.
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We have the same taste in Aamir movies! I cannot stand Mann either!!! On a similar note, do NOT watch Akele Hum Akele Tum (if you haven’t already), which is his remake of Kramer vs. Kramer. However, do watch Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, if you have not, which is very very loosely based on Breaking Away. I have pretty much watched every
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I have watched both of them. I remember very little of AHAT and JJWS is great! Did not know JJWS was a remake. With Ghulam/On the Waterfront and upcoming Lal Singh/Forrest Gump, Aamir seems to have the most Hollywood remakes of any star!
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Yes!!! If only he would pick better movies to remake in his old age! I have no interest in watching Lal Singh!!
Re: JJWS, the writer/director claims that he only became aware of its similarity to Breaking Away after the movie was already made, but I find that really hard to believe. 🙄
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I also just realized that the last sentence in my first comment cuts off awkwardly. I was going to say, I have pretty much watched every Amir movie there is (not all but pretty close to all), so I am happy to give you my recommendations if you are ever considering watching a particular movie of his. However, it sounds like you have seen most of this movies as well!
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I have grown up watching movies of the 90s actors! I’ve always sought out the movies of Aamir and Shahrukh especially, so yeah that pretty much covers their most famous films. Thanks for the offer, if I ever decide to watch any of his lesser known films I’ll ask you!
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Same. I grew up watching 90s films so of course it is also one of my favorite decades for Hindi films!
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This seems like exciting news for US folks who weren’t interested in paying for Hotstar:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/hotstar-disney-streaming-bundle-hulu-espn-1235003995/
I wonder if the Hotstar content will be basic Hulu or premium.
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Woot! This is WONDERFUL news! I don’t mind paying, but the platform was a minor mess. The app broke down a few times, hard to search,a nd even the pricing levels were confusing. Very happy to have Hulu take over maintainance.
On Tue, Aug 31, 2021 at 5:48 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I really like Hum Tum, even years later, whereas whenever I see clips from “When Harry met Sally”, I am even more turned off from ever wanting to really watch it. It came out when I still wasn’t watching many movies and doesn’t look like it has aged well.
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Thank you! I really like Hum Tum too, but no one I have shown it to enjoys it.
On Wed, Sep 1, 2021 at 1:47 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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