Wednesday Watching: What Are You Reading and Watching and Thinking and Listening to the First Week of June???

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Happy Wednesday!!! Today I get to take a break in the middle of work and drive up to Wisconsin. Because driving at rush hour is for the birds. I would have gone late late last night, but I forgot I had to catsit this morning. Cats are now fed, and I am ready to go once the traffic calms down!

I’ll start!

Reading: Anne series, of course! More people should join me and Saira in our slow progression. They are such fun quick reads, and sooooooooooooooo much to think about and discuss.

Watching: I’ve watched RRR 3 times in 4 days, with y’all on Sunday, to friends who helped build a fence with me on Saturday, and then to my co-worker while “working” yesterday. It holds up! It’s still wonderful! And, stick with me here, but I think the film is subtely implying that one hero is “fire” and one is “water”. Am I crazy? Is there some light touch to a visual metaphor to show that?

Thinking: I am so pleased with my front yard! I’m gonna have to jerryrig a gate since none of the standard ones fit our sidewalk, but otherwise it is done! A fence and grass for Albie to run and play, and a place for a nice bench for me to sit and watch the world go by.

Listening: KK, obviously. After checking his songs list, I think this is my favorite of all the ones he did. Or at least, the one where the singer’s interpretation added the most to the song:

Question for you: What is your favorite KK song?

29 thoughts on “Wednesday Watching: What Are You Reading and Watching and Thinking and Listening to the First Week of June???”

  2. It’s really saddening that such a talented, skillful and versatile singer died this young. The song that came spontaneously into my mind is Indiawale as the kids love the movie Happy New Year so much that they hum and whistle the song rather often…
    However, if he was meant to die this early I think it is great for an artist to die while performing his art.

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  3. Reading: getting back to reading books again, when not writing.

    Listening: Late to the party, but listening to Pasoori from Coke Studio. Not only are the music and lyrics on point, but the message is beautiful as well. Also listening to KK’s songs, and realize how much he has been there from the beginning. ‘Aankhon Mein Teri (Ajab Si)’ from OSO, ‘Tadap Tadap Ke’ from HDDCS which is my favorite song ever of his, and ‘Aur Tanha’ from LAK2 from his recent movies.

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  5. Reading: I just finished Daddy Long Legs after mentioning it in the Anne of the Island book club post. It’s still so long, also it works a lot better as an adult. As Judy is 18 and Jervis is supposed to be like 32, it kind of works better. Plus you can really see Jean Websters politics and also the small things Jervis does for her. Like how he randomly makes surprise trips whenever Jimmie Mc Bride might come over or how he shows up to convince her to come to Europe. You can also see Judy’s feelings better and compare it with her feelings to Jimmy. It just comes together so well. I was so happy after I read it.

    Watching: I’ve been trying to watch Radhe Shyam but so far it’s pretty boring. Nothing has happened except some boring palmistry explanations. I also tried to watch the animation of Daddy Long Legs but the inaccuracies and the childishness were annoying me after some point. Also I don’t remember Judy mentioning she was a redhead in the book, I feel like that was Sally.

    Listening: KK, I feel quite depressed that he died since he’s made some of my favourite songs. I know everyone loves tadap, tadap (including me its my favourite in the HDDCS album) but I wanted to listen to aankhon mein teri is my favourite. There is a lot of childhood memories also associated with it which is why I love it so.

    Thinking: I am exhausted and it’s only half the year done. I feel so tired all the time and I was sick last week too. Where I live there is also this weird gloomy weather where its not cold but neither is it warm. So it’s kind of depressing as it’s been raining for 4 days straight.

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    • YES! I noticed the same things on later reads of DLL. That Jarvis obviously sent her to the same college as his niece because he’d heard about it from his niece, and then came around to “casually” check her out after getting fascinated by her letters. And sends her to his old nanny for vacation, and comes around when Jimmie will be there, and so on. I think that divide of her not knowing who he is is really important for their relationship, they can have the big fights and all of that, and she isn’t afraid of losing her scholarship or too grateful or anything. I also wonder if maybe that’s why he never wrote back? He wanted to be able to meet her in equal footing and start fresh, not have two relationships going at once, one in person and one by letter.

      Radhe Shyam stays boring! Save yourself! There’s also a Fred Astaire version of Daddy Long Legs, but it is even more inaccurate, don’t bother with it.

      Sounds like you are having a blechy day! Exhausted and rainy and sick and KK depressing. Watch O Jaana! It’s so happy.

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      • I do love that Jarvis while having petty arguments with her sometime like about that Europe trip. It’s still nice that he wants her to like her for him and not for some sort of way of retribution. One of my favourite things about this book was that it doesn’t have characters of the equal social standing but also never really talks about it. It’s like Jarvis being socialist almost immediately makes him of equal standing as Judy. It’s so refreshing from the usual 1800-1900 style and also is a great way to encourage more class breaking relationships.

        A funny thing is when I searched O Jaana I found Kangana’s face and was like this can’t be what you recommended+also it seemed sensual/sad. I then found the right O Jaana.

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  6. Three times watching RRR and and it most definitely holds up. Ram and NTR, the music and the moves, the fights, the magic.

    Can’t say the same for Gangubai. The story is predictably okay but there’s something about Alia. She drives the film and I watched the second time to make sure I wasn’t mistaken. But no. Her acting is perfection, not a wrong move, inflection or expression. She gives her usual magnificent performance while at the same time failing to inhabit her role. I didn’t for a moment believe she was Ganga Kothewali; maybe the scared, jilted girl but not the rest of it.

    Some critics maintain Alia was too young to play an aging prostitute/crusader. But she’s been around long enough to know how to drop the pretense and lose herself in a role. All the greats do it, keep control but put themselves aside in favor of who they’re supposed to be. I’m not explaining it right, but look at Irrfan or some of Deepika (Chhapaak) and all of Vijay Sethupathi and Vijay Raaz. And so many others. I think Rajamouli wanted Alia to find that sweet spot between actress and performer in RRR, but when she didn’t he slashed her screen time.

    I believe in her however. Maybe marriage will wake her up (she’s got some maturing struggles ahead with Ranbir) and she’ll take a cue from Denzel when he was asked how he managed to ace such diverse roles: “I just get out of the way.”

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    • The way you feel about Alia in Gangubai is how I feel about almost all Bhansali actresses. I think, as a director, he just can’t move people past the technical aspects of the role. Madhuri, Manisha, Rani, even Dips a little bit, were able to bring something more. And his actors are very strong, in fact I think that might be what makes or breaks his movies. Ranveer, Shahrukh, Ajay Devgan, they go deep deep deep into their characters. But Alia needs a director to guide her, I noticed the same thing with Kalank. She is technically perfect always, but without a strong director to force her into the character, she doesn’t go any deeper than technical.

      And yes, I also think she will get better. Even SRK struggled with similar issues as a young actor, I think all actors do, get so caught up trying to master the technical elements that they lose track of the Real.

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  7. My favourite KK songs, I can’t express how happy they made me feel.

    Dil Samandar from Garam Masala.
    Oh, old times when watching Akshay and John was fun and sexy and brought nothing but happiness.

    Soniye from Aksar. I hum this song every time I’m on the beach. I like to think I’m as sexy as Udita when I’m in the water. Unfortunately I’m not but the song makes the moment better 😉

    Tumse Milkar Hua Hai from Ehsaas . Ehsaas was the first dvd I ordered in internet, and I did it because I was obsessed with this song , that’s how much I loved it.

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  8. My Anne of….. set came in the mail yesterday – I’m starting with the Island. I finally finished RRR, I guess it only took two days. And I would like to see it again, and force the family to see it with me. I have to come up with a plan for that.

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    • Yaaaaay! So excited you are reading the Anne books! Especially Island, I look forward to you Ruby Gillis and Mrs. Douglas thoughts.

      What my Mom used to do was say we can stop watching after 15 minutes. I think this movie has a solid first 15 to pull the kids in.

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  9. KK was surely the voice of love….his love songs has that passion which I never saw in any one’s songs…like okay other might be great singers n very good technically but kk was technically superb and that feel…that gut voice…Dil ibadat, labon ko, o MERI Jaan from metro…..when he sings, chhhua tune Kuch is Tarah, badly fiza, badla Sama….o MERI Jaan….that moment…..even the most stone hearted could just melt…..his songs always made love feel like some energy, it’s not just a soft feeling…….and when the song demanded softness …then he also came up with o MERI Jaan from tum mile which is such a relatable couple separation song…his awarapan…abhi abhi…..list won’t end. .his loss seems so personal….it’s like our childhood, our teenage has gone.

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  10. I’ll be hard pressed to find a bad KK song, his voice is gorgeous! For every 90s kid growing up in India, “Pal’ has a special place – no farewell in school, college was complete without it. I can’t listen to it in the best of times without tearing up, now it’s impossible. It was his swan song as per rumors, how apt! A great live performer, he performed at our university fest, and I’ll always treasure that! It’s heartwarming to see the outpouring of love as I always felt he was a bit underrated, hope he knew how adored he was.

    The Pritam-KK combo is top-notch, like Alvida from Life in a Metro. The mellow opening stanzas hits me harder than the latter frantic vocals

    Kya Mujhe Pyar Hai is an eternal favorite

    He is one singer whose voice I’d describe as ‘sexy’ and Labon Ko made me realize that

    He was equally excellent in softer soulful songs and absolute bangers – Dus Bahane, It’s the Time to Disco, Gori Gori. I’ll end with Bas Ek Pal

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    • He was not underated in the minds of audience…atleast us the 90s kids… If you see on the you tube comments section, everyone was like why don’t they make sing him more….he is perfect n all …whenever any of his song used to come offlately, it’s just that he didn’t receive much recognition in terms of awards and also….social media was not back then , when he sang most of his songs…otherwise everyone of us knew his importance not in a way that we need to praise him n post hashtags on social media….in a way that he was and will always be a part of our life …..you can’t play your 10 most favourite love songs on any app n can’t happen to not listen to him…he had a regular presence in all our life….that is his stature. We didn’t feel like need to start hashtags for him cz he was there with us daily, as a part of our life…it was his constant presence in our day to day life……everyone irrespective of religion, politics, culture is just so sad and pouring their heart out about his melodies and memories….thats a rare feat in such a diverse country like India…..he was the only singer whose concert I wanted to attend once in my life…..but it’s unfortunate that I will never be able to do that now….

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  11. I watched Vijay Sethupathi-Samantha-Nayanthara’s romantic comedy Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal. Some haters will say it’s not a good movie, but can a bad movie has 2 cute romances with VJS at his cutest? Of course not!
    The first hour is absolutely perfect in my opinion – there are two super cute,different and not rushed romances, Vijay is adorable as only he can be, Samantha and Nayanthara and their characters are great (and so beautiful, I love Vignesh Shivam’s way of filming. He takes those pretty actors and beautiful light and slowly, without haste focuses on the faces) .Plus there is a cute scene in which Vijay starts flirting with Nayathara and is like: So you are searching for a groom? I know a nice guy, but he is a little dark, and doesn’t have a six-pack. And she answers: Good, a little out of shape is even better 😉 #perfectAngiemovie

    Unfortunately Vignesh Shivam wasn’t sure what to do with the idea of double romance and the movie slows down and gets a little worse, but still there is Anirudh’s music, Vijay’s pretty face and funny comedy scenes, so it never becomes bad.
    And in the end (it’s not a spoiler) there is a mixed hindu-muslim wedding with the guests separated by a curtain. Slowly they start exchanging food under the curtain, and it the end they throw it away and party together. I loved this scene with all my heart and I recommed the movie because it’s adorable.

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  12. I started watching that TV series that Filmikudhi mentioned during watchalong, “Dharmakshetra.” It’s pretty cool! (Albeit a little dialogue-heavy for me to follow while doing housework, which is how I usually wind up watching TV series.) In the course of looking that series up, I discovered VERY important news for those of us with U.S. Netflix: “Jaal” is streaming! Don’t you just love it when Rekha goes hog-wild? Bait for Popka in particular:

    Unfortunately, it’s taken till now for me to appreciate KK. I had to look back over his discography to think of anything he’d sung–even “Tadap Tadap,” which Kirre mentioned above, and which is such a well-known and excellent song. This one from “7 Khoon Maaf” I really like, especially in the context of the scene:

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