Happy Monday! And Happy Amitabh’s Birthday! And happy colonizing slaver torturer rapist mass murderer day! I mean Columbus Day!
Here is where you get to ask me anything from “how old is Amitabh?” to “was Columbus Italian or Portuguese?” Just keep swinging back here all week as you think of new questions!
Now, question for you for Amitabh Day and Shahrukh Month: What is your favorite Amitabh-Shahrukh movie?
This is HARD! As a movie as a whole, I like K3G best. Just for their interactions, I think I like Paheli best. And for random fun “I forgot they did that together!” I like Bhoothnath best.
dontcallitbollywood 
Is Amitabh the most important movie star in the history of Indian film?! What do you think?
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He is the most important movie star in the history of HINDI film, but I’m not as certain about Indian film. For Hindi film, his stardom created a new version of the industry and drove forward a whole generation of creative talents. But for Indian film in general, I’m not sure if I can say that Amitabh is more important than stars who held high political posts and controlled the real power of their states.
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Should actors have the freedom to associate themselves with any product? Amitabh recently appeared in a tobbaco product surrogate advertisement – there was backlash and he quickly said he no longer is associated with that brand and will not promote the product.
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I am strongly “yes, they should”. They are private individuals, so long as they aren’t breaking any laws that affect all other citizens, they should be allowed to do whatever they want. If there is a public feeling of objection, not legal, then they can/should respond to that public feeling as they choose.
Which is what happened in this case it sounds like. If Amitabh felt that the public backlash would hurt his personal brand/career, then he could end the contract. But it was his choice, he could just as easily have said “nah, don’t care, gonna keep the contract”.
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What do you make of Kangana’s nasty indirect dig at SRK? She posted how people like Jackie Chan, unlike some,made a public apology when his son was caught with drugs. Is she trying to stay relevant? Doing anything she can for press? I was disgusted by the post. Why should SRK apologise at all? That would be an admission of guilt for one thing; and his son is an adult responsible for his own actions. I think SRK’s dignified silence is the right approach.
Kangana seems to really hate SRK. A few years ago, she said in an interview that she would never work with him or the other Khans (not like they’re asking!). Any idea where this animosity comes from?
While I think Kangana is an excellent actress, after the Hrithik episode, I refuse to watch her movies as I am so turned off by her brand of crazy.
I don’t know if Aryan is guilty or not, but I feel bad for his family. This has got to be horrible for them.
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Sorry, not sure why this landed in Spam.
So far as I am concerned, it’s all politics. Kangana is a BJP mouthpiece and is following orders to go after the Khans in any way possible in order to further the anti-Muslim politics.
Second, we do know if Aryan is guilty. He was found with no drugs on him. At the most, he is guilty of being at a party that had drugs. I’ve been at a party that had drugs. I think you would be hard put to find a single person in the world who has NOT been at a party that had drugs. If that is now considered “guilt”, then we are all guilty.
Sorry, this comment might come off as a little irritable, I’m not irritated at you, I’m irritated at the situation 🙂
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Thalaivi is now on Netflix USA and I saw it… it’s a perfect So-Bad-its-Good movie!! Everything is so caricaturish and amateur that it is hilarious…every scene has Kangana delivering dramatic dialogues to a thunderous background score (as other actors pretend to look up to her with respect and admiration)…I could not stop laughing!
Do watch it if you are in the need of a good mood uplifter
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If only it wasn’t Kangana! Her very existence depresses me. Why couldn’t it have been Tamannah or someone?
On Mon, Oct 11, 2021 at 10:30 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Why no celebratory post for Rekha yesterday? (Admittedly, I don’t keep track of this stuff myself, but upon learning that I missed Rekha Day have made plans to observe the festivities tonight.)
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Because I forgot 🙂 To help with your celebration, here are my three part posts on Rekha:
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Rajnikanth attracts more slavish devotion altho I’d argue Amitabh is the better actor.
While I remember watching films with Amitabh and Shah Rukh (Paheli comes to mind altho you can hardly say they co-starred) names escape me. I watch an Indian movie almost every night and always forget the name. It amazes me how everybody else remembers.
And Colombia was Italian, dammit. I’m proud of his intelligence, determination and courage, and loathe all the nasty, dirty, racist stuff he gets blamed for and most likely did. No excuse, but those were nasty, dirty, racist times.
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I was hoping someone would mention Paheli!!! It’s such a funny one in their combos, not the big budget big pictures of the others.
On Mon, Oct 11, 2021 at 11:31 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I forgot Amitabh was in Paheli! Some time ago I was shocked to rediscover Sunil Shetty was in it also. In my head this movie has only double Shah Rukh and Rani and nobody else.
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I found new movie to obsess about – seems that Vidya Balan is filming a relationship drama / comedy (I’m not sure) with Pratik Gandhi, Ileana D’Cruz and Sendhil Ramamurthy. I already love this film and its cast.
https://www.peepingmoon.com/exclusive-news/news/59441/PeepingMoon-Exclusive-After-finishing-Jalsa-Vidya-Balan-heads-to-Lovers-with-Pratik-Gandhi-and-Ileana-DCruz.html
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Ooo!!!! Illeana and Vidya onscreen together!
On Mon, Oct 11, 2021 at 1:59 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yes, and maybe Vidya and Sendhil will play a couple and I’m so ready for this sexy pair.
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I love this line in the article, “Lovers has been billed as a slice-of-life drama that challenges social patriarchy through a new-age storyline.” I am so curious what a “new-age storyline” is!
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Oh oh! May December flipped genders? Please please???
On Mon, Oct 11, 2021 at 3:56 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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YES! I would be here for that. Or, maybe Vidya leaves Sendhil for Ileana. Here for that too.
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Favorite Amitabh-Shahrukh movie: K3G. The perfect balance of 70s duty and 90s love!
Favorite crack-me-up Amitabh-Shahrukh movie? Mohabbatein. It’s just. So. Terrible. But also so memeable. The “Tradition. Hard work. Discipline.” The staring at the sun! Multiple sweaters! And the worst crime ever, forgetting your teenage daughter’s/housekeeper’s birthday!!
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Don’t forget, Shamita Shetty being the “modest” and “good girl” while wearing basically NOTHING.
On Mon, Oct 11, 2021 at 2:24 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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At one point, I really thought they were playing into the “sexy schoolgirl” stereotype. Aditya is great but costuming is not his strong point.
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I watched rockstar finally and I felt almost betrayed by how bad it was. The praise kind of brainwashed me I guess. So while trying to find reasons for how bad it was I found this video:
I think what Imtiaz is saying is true that after that scene there was nothing in common. I feel like if the movie went in that direction it would’ve been better cause the second half was completely illogical. Especially that stupid ending. I’ve read your review on rockstar so I’m really curious what’s your thoughts on this interview of Imtiaz?
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Join us in hating on Rockstar! And yes, it is a BETRAYAL. Ugh, so bad and so much potential with the soundtrack.
I can’t watch the interview at work, can you summarize for me?
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Basically Imitaz is asking Ranbir whether he still believes in Rockstar being perfect to which Ranbir says he still believe that’s true. So Imitiaz says he believes after that balcony scene the lovers should’ve realized that they have nothing in common when there’s no struggle to get together.
Yes, Rockstar is so bad. I watched Loveyatri recently and even that looked like good compared to Rockstar. At least it didn’t take itself too seriously and knew exactly what it was. The soundtrack was also so so good that it hurt that it was in such bad of a film.
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Both Rockstar and Loveyatri are about good for nothing men who don’t deserve the women they love. But at least Aayush in Loveyarti is enough smart to not kill his lover with his penis. I appreciate it in a movie.
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That’s my biggest beef with Rockstar. Ranbir literally killed her because he couldn’t both to put on a frickin condom!!!!!
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Thank you! Self-awareness from Imtiaz! And yes, I think that would have gone a long way to fixing things. Let Ranbir realize his difficulties were illusions and face real problems.
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Do we know where Columbus was from, and does it really matter when he sailed for Spain and all his important writings are in Spanish? Anyway, here’s my annual bid to rename this Arrival Day or something that lets us talk about how it was the beginning of massive change across at least three continents without pretending that one flawed dude contained the vision of everything that would result.
Can’t disagree with K3G for character development or dramatic arc, though I kind of love their scenes together in Mohabbatein – just the heavyweight duel feeling of them. My favorite Amitabh character in an SRK movie, though, would be the dad in Veer-Zaara. I like his lighter side, without the dirty old man side that shows up in so many later roles.
(Least favorite would be KANK!)
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Another advantage of Arrival Day, we can talk Vikings and Jamestown and all the other arrivals. I like it!
I do like the Mohabbatein contrasting acting monologues over and over and over again. But the movie is so BORING.
On Mon, Oct 11, 2021 at 3:17 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Oh yes, bad movie but fun character contrast. My edit would cut out all the scenes that didn’t have SRK or Amitabh in them.
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Oh, I did have another question, I forgot. I had been picturing Pathan as a historical, but the Wikipedia entry describes SRK’s character as a RAW agent. So now I’m a little less excited because it feels like it might be just a straight up action flick. (Not that I mind an action flick but I was hoping for more dimensions and a family angle to the story.) Is there anything actually known about this movie beyond casting?
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Nope, we know nothing. Unless it’s announced by YRF or SRK, it isn’t real, is my rule. And they have announced NOTHING. So I don’t even believe casting at this point, like Dips could have been traveling for an ad shoot with SRK and not Pathan at all. YRF in particular NEVER announces unless it is 100% sure. So it could still be any caste and any plot and any anything.
On Mon, Oct 11, 2021 at 4:30 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Hoping someone can answer this and solve my dilemma: If I’ve watched Drishyam in Hindi but not in Malayalam can I watch Drishyam 2 or do I need to watch it in Malayalam. I probably SHOULD watch it in Malayalam because everyone says it’s subtly different, but I’m dealing with limited watching time and have to make hard choices.
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I vote, yes you can. I’ve heard they are almost scene for scene remakes, and honestly I didn’t like the Malayalam Drishyam that much
On Mon, Oct 11, 2021 at 9:50 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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What happened to Jimmy Shergill? He used to make hindi and punjabi movies and now I don’t see him anything. Is he still working?
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Internet says, he’s been the lead of a TV show “Your Honor” for the past couple years. It’s a remake of the same Isreali show as the American “Your Honor”, an honest judge breaks all his rules in order to save his son in a hit and run case. This is a great Jimmy Shergill role!
On Tue, Oct 12, 2021 at 1:40 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Question: In Indian English, what does communal mean? I’m pretty sure it doesn’t mean community minded. I’ve been called communal twice this morning in the comments section of a WaPo article and based on the other words in the comments I know it wasn’t complementary, but I can’t quite figure it out.
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It means religiously prejudiced. It’s the religious version of “Racist”. And often it is a “those who smelt it, dealt it” kind of word, they think you are being “communal” becuase the religious identity is all they can see in a person.
On Thu, Oct 14, 2021 at 1:14 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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So if I was say, defending a Muslim’s right to exist, would a person calling me “communal” be the same as calling me “anti-Hindu”? Or is it that I’m “overly focused on religion”? Or is it that I’m “trying to stir up anti-religious sentiment”?
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All three, plus “you are clearly a Muslim person who has received orders from on high to defend a member of your community”.
On Thu, Oct 14, 2021 at 1:43 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Actually I’m clearly Pakistani, and male, which goes hand in hand with what you wrote. Ah hah, it is starting to make sense now. I’m sticking with my community only – communal!!
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Yep, like all those people who only see race when talking about American news stories. You know, versus the enlightened folks who don’t think it matters what color of the skin someone has if they are arrested.
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Okay another India Question: A Bolly Buzz article said that Guari Khan has quit sweets and is keeping a Mannat until her son’s release. What does the Mannat mean?
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Literal translation is a wish. It’s usually a fast or some sort of withholding, promise made to god with the hope that your wish will come true. Usually, people will only break the fast when their wish comes true.
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So is she actually fasting, or is she fasting from sweets?
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I have not read the news but based on what you mentioned, it seems like she is fasting/refraining from eating sweets until Aryan is released.
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Definitely the word was “Mannat”? That’s weird, because that’s the name of their house. Maybe it just meant she is not leaving the house?
On Fri, Oct 15, 2021 at 1:54 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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huh. Well she doesn’t seem to be leaving the house. I wouldn’t be either. “Reportedly Gauri Khan has quit sweets and kept a ‘mannat’ for her son’s release!”
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I mean, I’m surprised if she’s eating ANYTHING, let alone sweets. Feels more like a “can’t sleep, can’t eat, can’t breath” sort of situation.
On Fri, Oct 15, 2021 at 2:55 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Work is back to keeping me behind on posts, so I apologize if someone mentioned this already, but what are your thoughts on Meenakshi Sundareshwar? Do you plan on watching/reviewing? I’m into it! I think it looks super sweet!
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I am feeling OverWhelmed By Life right now, so I’m not committing to anything!!! Beyond finishing Little Things, because I have to do that just for me too 🙂
On Sat, Oct 23, 2021 at 3:48 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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