Happy first Shahrukh Wednesday!!!! I am celebrating by getting a Pumpkin Spice Latte. Which I am afraid to admit because now Miss Braganza is gonna go off on some New Orleans rant about the evils of flavored coffee, but whatevs, most people love PSL!
I’ll start!
Watching: I watched Psycho for the first time in my life for a film group! It’s smart and scary and made me want to take a shower. The shower scene is just so lovingly shot. Also, made me think how AMAZING Rajkummar Rao would be in a remake.
Reading: Just read up on Anthony Perkins, because Psycho. He did conversion therapy! Isn’t that interesting? He was openly gay to himself and his friends and in several long term relationships, and then in his late 30s was convinced to do “conversion therapy” and had electroshock treatment and all kinds of things and then married a woman and had children with her and stayed with her until he died. Tragic of course, because conversion therapy isn’t a thing so he was living a miserable self-hating lie. But also interesting because he had an easier time when Homosexuality was this hidden sin than in the 1970s when everyone got “open” about it and the option of saying “I was gay and now I am not” was on the table.
Thinking: I don’t care how pitiful Albie Dog looks, if I’m not cold, I’m not turning the heat on!
Listening: It’s Shahrukh Month! And Genevieve was just talking about “Janam Janam” in the comments.
Okay, your turn!
dontcallitbollywood 
Wait, Albie has a hoodie and still needs a blanket? He needs new sweaters.
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I think his butt gets cold, and the sweater would be too tight around his tail. But his nice blankie is all cozy.
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Amitabh’s 80th birthday is next Tuesday. What are you doing to celebrate? It also happens to be my father-in-law’s birthday, so we will be in England having a fancy dinner with them. Maybe, I will just watch Zanjeer or Don or some other iconic Amitabh movie that night.
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Watch Zanjeer! I just love it so much, and he and Jaya are so sweet.
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It’s sooo goood!!!! Thanks for making it easy for me. How are you doing to celebrate it?
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If I can trick friends into celebrating with me, I want to make them watch SAtyamev Jayate. It’s like an Amitabh movie, right? Sort of an homage? So that works.
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YES!!!! Great idea! And do you really need to trick anyone into watching SMJ2? It seems like a no brainer!
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I saw Fire Island, the gay Pride & Prejudice remake on Hulu, and it was FANTASTIC! I can’t remember the last time I laughed out loud so much during a movie. I just loved the characters. I recognize that I probably loved it more because of my connection to the the Austin books, but love it I did. Bowen Yang was really good in it, not funny, but sweet. I had only seen him on Saturday Night Live so that was a suprise for me. And all the other actors were great as well. I was so curious the whole movie through how they were going to translate Wickham’s evil, and it worked, but not quite. It had the BEST final kiss I’ve seen in a Pride & Prejudice film. I won’t say it had the best sexual tension over all, but it did have the best kiss.
And I’ve now seen Plan A Plan B twice so I guess I like it more than just a time pass. I am sick, which is why I’ve been watching so many movies. I had never been a fan of Riteish Deshmukh, I didn’t hate him, but I never felt he had a lot of on screen charisma. And, I didn’t think he was attractive. But now that he is 44 and looks JUST THE SAME but with a beard, he is attractive to me?!? Either he has aged well or I just always disliked his chin.
To test myself I went back and watched all of Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya to see if I would now like Riteish more, but no, I still thought he was only okay (unlike Genelia who lit up the screen).
I also saw Ranga Ranga Vaibhavanga and it was a lesson in the evils of strict family values / crap this culture is SO DIFFERENT from my own. I will say it had pretty people in it.
The seven year old and I saw Kuch Kuch Hota Hai together. It amazes me that he can forget the plot to things he has seen so many times before.
Hopefully today I’ll feel good enough to get some work done. Hopefully.
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My sister just recommended Fire Island to me!!! You and her are on the same page with movies recently! Looking forward to watching it.
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Oh. And I totally agree with you about Ritesh. I never found him attractive but the beard weirdly makes a difference. But every single person on Koffee with Karan kept talking about how cute Genelia and Ritesh are on Instagram so I checked it out and it has made me like him a lot more. I always adored Genelia though!
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I watched 3 absolutely random movies this week:
-Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru, I watched knowing only that it’s tamil comedy from 2013 with Siddharth. Netflix said this movie won’t be availabe soon so I gave it a chance. It wasn’t bad but I’m happy they don’t make movies like this anymore e.g every cheap visual effect you can imagine, this movie has it (freeze frame, black to white etc)
– Solamante Theneechakal – I knew even less about this one, only that it’s malayalam romantic thriller. I loved it.
It starts with two young policewomen who lives together in service quarters. They cook, dance and even have ig account together. There is even a song in the beginning about their friendship! I was like: the girls make such a cute couple and this movie is so awesome for showing a gay couple in a normal, sweet way. Really watch this song and tell me they are not gay:
I loved them together and was shocked when later a man entered their lives and it turned out they are not gay . But even with them being straight the movie was good, because it has 2 female characters working, having ambitions and their own problems. The thriller and investigation part was good also. I reccomend this one.
-Lover (punjabi) – I absolutely loved the first half of this movie. It’s the usuall school sweathearts are separated by evil father/uncle, but man this one was really made well. You know when you can see the quality of the movie in the little details e.g background actors , camera work, the scene setup, the father character who isn’t unidimensional and you can see he is strict but loves his son and suffers inside. It’s not a perfect movie (the second half and the climax are not good), but it’s much better than the usuall punjabi movies, in fact the first half looked like hindi movie. If we add the songs sung by my beloved Atif Aslam or Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and the fact that the protagonist Guri looks absolutely gorgeous in some scenes (like punjabi Nivin Pauly) it’s not a surprised I enjoyed it with all my heart.
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I just showed that song to my Queer friend, and she confirmed that yes, that is gay.
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So gay. Two non married women live together, far from their families, they do everything together and seem very happy. If it wasn’t enough one of them looks at good looking women passing on the street , and the other imagines her and her friend dancing together on the stage. C’mon !
I hope Ram Gopal Varma won’t watch this film because he is able to make his own perverted and sick version.
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Omg, I saw Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru back when I was in my Samantha fangirl phase and I found out that she had a cameo in it. Lol, I think I didn’t finished the movie and never saw the cameo though.
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Samantha’s cameo was minuscule. She has 3 sentences and is on screen for less than 2 minutes.
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Watching and Reading
For my book and film club, we are reading and watching Where’d you go Bernadette? We are meeting this weekend so I am starting both the audiobook and the film today.
Thinking
All my thoughts & volunteer time are devoted to politics lately, so it’s nice to come to this community for a pop and culture respite 😀
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When my book club travelled to antarctica (vicarious travel) we read Where’d You Go Bernadette? I have such a vivid image of a child scooping up soft wood with a spoon from rotten floor boards from that book. I never saw the movie.
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Alternately watching Sita Ramam, Koffee Karan and the Hallyu drama Chuno. Interesting to compare them.
Reading my galleys, a bloody bore.
Thinking about SRK brackets.
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It’s silent film festival, so I’m watching nothing but silents. I was scared I wouldn’t be able to muster the brain power but turns out the combination of having to pay attention but not having to think that most silents give you is perfect right now, so I am having fun.
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Context to explain why all of my answers are SRK related: Hi, I’m a relatively recent SRK convert. I took a class called “Bollywood Dance” in 2019 to fulfill the dance requirement for my Theater Arts BA. The first assignment was to watch DDLJ and I immediately fell in love. That semester I also watched KKHH, K3G, Veer-Zaara, KHNH, and OSO. Once the class ended I got distracted by other things and didn’t have time to continue exploring until a few months ago. So I’m back and voraciously making my way through the rest of his movies (plus interviews and articles and recordings of live performances and anything else I can find). I’m glad I found your blog because nobody else in my life besides my mom is even remotely interested and they’re all sick of listening to me talk about him.
Watching: I watched Raees for the first time yesterday. Loved all the Pathani suits. Cried at the end which I was not expecting to do.
Reading: My lovely mother gifted me King of Bollywood just a few days ago. I’m almost done with it but I may read it again.
Thinking: I’m still trying to wrap my head around ‘battery’ as slang for someone who wears glasses even after googling it.
Listening: Udi Udi Jaye, of course, but also Dhingana and Enu Naam Che Raees.
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Welcome! I am so glad you found us! Especially during the festive Shahrukh Month season! If you dig through my archives, I have a review of every single SRK movie, and if you comment, someone will comment back.
I adore King of Bollywood, definitely the best book on him, great read.
And you should watch Jab Harry Met Sejal! It’s the DCIB favorite, so much conversation for you to join in if you try it.
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I’ve actually been lurking here for a little while going through older posts. I watched JHMS about 10 days ago because you had written so much about it. I had been apprehensive because so many people hated it but I decided to watch it anyway because I wanted to know what you had to say. I loved the movie and the whole 27 part analysis was fascinating as well as helpful. I’m a bit shy, even over the internet, so I might go back to lurking sometimes but I’ll definitely keep hanging around.
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Well, comment whenever you want, I promise we will be welcoming.
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I also got into Indian film through SRK! My first was Chennai Express, which is a wild ride but so bright and hilarious and fun. I strongly recommend, if you haven’t already seen it.
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Ponniyin Selvan got me to rewatch Bombay which I loved on the second watch. I first saw Bombay early in my movie watching days and I liked the songs at the time but I thought the movie was kind of overrated. I appreciated it a lot more this time and the ending made me cry. This just tells me that I need to give Roja and Dil Se another chance as well.
I also saw Jeans for the first time because I love young Aish in Tamil movies. It was a lot cuter than I expected and funny as well. I avoided it for the longest time because Prashant looked annoying but it was a pretty cute 90s rom-com with great music.
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Yes! Return to the 90s! Everything is better back then.
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Lol, can’t disagree with that!
I’m actually surprised that it took this long for me to watch Jeans, especially since I loved the songs and loved Aishwarya in Kandukondain Kandukondain.
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I’m still adjusting to life back in Japan and jetlag, etc.
I watched Khuda Haafiz on the plane and could not tell you a single thing about it now except that it was really violent and there’s this weird scene where Vidyut repeatedly punches someone in the crotch.
I also watched about twenty minutes of Hum Do Humare Do and fell asleep for the rest of the flight, probably not because of it. But I can’t really make up my mind to watch the rest, because I hadn’t really gotten into it.
Thinking: my Twitter feed is full of love for Aishwarya right now! I’m getting in the mood to maybe watch Raavan again or something. Lord knows PS1 isn’t going to come out here until like 2025.
But I’m going to see RRR! In the theater, 2 weeks from now! And then I will go to Bangladesh, and then I’m going to see it in a different theater, because I want both theaters to know that Indian movies bring an audience. So, the plan is, I go watch RRR “cold” and try to figure it out from the subtitles, and then I look at your spoiler review, and then I watch it again. Or should I look at the spoiler review ahead of time? Is it hard to follow? I hate spoilers and can’t decide.
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PS1 is SUPER hard to follow. You can do it if you concentrate and draw a family tree in your head, but still pretty hard. I would recommend spoiling yourself, unless you really REALLY hate spoilers.
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But RRR isn’t that complicated to follow.
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This discussion may have already taken place and if so, I apologize for the repeat. Is anyone going to watch Godfather with Chiranjeevi and Salman Khan? It is the Telegu remake of Lucifer and looks highly massey and entertaining.
Here is the trailer.
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Oh and my plans to watch Vikram Vedha failed because stupid work and life keep getting in between me and Hrithik. So, I will have to live vicariously through your friend until it is streaming. What did you friend think of the movie?
Shelomit – I would love to hear your thoughts too. I think you said you were watching it last Tuesday.
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Oh, I don’t know if she saw it yet either! I will have to check. She needs to come over to my house soon to watch Satyamev Jayate anyway.
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I really like Lucifer and wasn’t convinced when I heard they are remaking it. Recently I also heard Chiranjeevi saying something like: Lucifer wasn’t that good and we improved it, and that’s when I lost all my respect for this remake.
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Aamir’s Forrest Gump hit U.S. Netflix already!
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Sheesh! WE don’t have to watch it, do we?
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I feel like it bombed so bad in theaters, I need to watch it. But I’m not really looking forward to it.
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Omg, it’s Harshvardhan Rane in a romance! And the trailer looks great. I’m getting Sanam Teri Kasam vibes with a happy ending. And the actress looks like Nargis Fakhri but seems like a decent actress.
Filmilibrarian
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I saw the posters few weeks ago but without any other information and I was waiting for some updates. Thanks for sharing!
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No subtitles which stinks, but definitely some kind of fake relationship and was she a child bride or something so she’s already married?
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I only got the part about fake relationship.
It’s definitely my cup of tea, not only it’s romantic and has Harsh but was filmed in London. I have a soft spot for Indian movies set in UK.
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Just signed on to Sun NXT for the Dhanush/Nithya Menen romance for the free 30 day trial. Let me know if there are any other exclusive titles I should watch while I’m there!
Been very busy rewatching tons of movies lately – D-Day (still one of my top ten Hindi films), Dear Zindagi – doesn’t hold up as well as I’d hoped, Kapoor & Sons – does hold up well, I Hate Luv Storys – surprisingly holds up well, OK Kanmani – have watched it twice in the last few weeks, introduced it to my friend yesterday and she loved it too…I liked it when it came out, but after watching so many Hindi rom-coms in contrast this one is just so unique and grounded and believable. It prompted me to seek out the Dhanush/Nithya romance today…will let you know what I think, of course. Hope it’s another one for my list! OK Kanmani is currently at #3 with Manmarziyaan and BBB 1st and 2nd.
Also really liked the last season of Masaba Masaba and want her to get more acting roles. She’s a natural actress and will get better with every role I think.
Oh, and I watched Mard (1985) with Big B and Amrita Singh. This move was incredibly OTT and all fun! I love dogs but I hate watching movies with dogs because I can’t handle when bad things happen to them. But Moti in Mard is the best. What a wild ride this movie is from the anachronisms all over the place, to Amrita Singh’s BDSM moment, Amitabh breaking the fourth wall, horses saving babies, and more. It also strangely pairs well with RRR and I swear Rajamouli was influenced by it! Have any of you seen it?
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I have not seen Mard and now I want to!!!! Dogs you say? I love dogs.
On the other hand, I will still say booooooooooooooooooooo to BBB.
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I really think you’ll enjoy Mard! Bollywood is for Lovers podcast covered recapped it in their last episode and I had to watch it immediately it sounded that nuts. It’s one of those films that even the filmmakers weren’t taking seriously (it’s a Manmohan Desai film I think). So all over the place in a good way, throwing in every hero story trope with a dash of nationalism and anti-imperialism, plus weird animal comedy. It’s also the movie I remember Sara Ali Khan joking about seeing Amitabh and her mom make out in a haystack!
I know BBB isn’t everyone’s fave and is definitely not as innovative or beautifully filmed like Manmarziyaan and OK Kanmani, but I feel like it still has to be in my top picks:)
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I LOVE BBB. One of my favorites. I agree with Margaret though, that even though the sex scene was gorgeously shot, the aftermath was really annoying and difficult to get through. The first half is so much better.
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SunNxt has 96. I watched it twice there and some other Vijay Sethupathi movies e.g Aandavan Kattalai , it was funny and nice.
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I feel like I’m finally going to have to break down and watch 96, aren’t I? It’s been on my watchlist forever, but I think it’s a sad ending? so I’m avoiding it. I also don’t know if I’ve ever watched a Vijay S. movie which is kind of crazy. Also have to see Super Deluxe still.
I just finished Thiruchirambalam and it was wonderful! Have always loved Nithya and Prakash Raj and the actor playing the grandfather were both superb in this. I’m still not sold on Dhanush. My first exposure was Raanjhanaa, so I always will associate him with crazy stalker love because he was so convincing in the role. I think I liked his character better in Atrangi Re, but I like the romance in this one much better. Still definitely makes my list and a really charming grounded rom-com and drama about fathers and sons too.
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Do you like emotional films? Do you like men who have feelings? If you answer is yes, you should watch 96.
A little spoiler but not really:
Yes, 96 has sad ending but nobody dies so it’s not like super tragic. I would say it’s melancholic and cathartic.
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Sun Nxt is one of the only streaming platforms that has Chi La Sow which is one of my favorite Telugu rom-coms in the last five years. You’ve got to check it out!
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Yes for Chi La Sow. A must watch!
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I just watched my first Vijay Sethupathi film, Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum, and I found one of his few rom-coms, of course! It’s a bad guy/good girl opposites attract which originally was devised as a black comedy and definitely has an edgier/quirkier quality to it. And the ending is a little ambiguous. I was recasting a Hindi version set in Delhi and Arjun Kapoor and someone like Sai Pallavi. Can’t think of anyone from the younger group of Hindi actresses that would fit the innocent but strong vibe like she does. Maybe Rashmika Mandanna.
I do recommend Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum to rom-com fans and I will definitely have to keep trying more Vijay Sethupathi films…his role and scenes are great in Super Deluxe but I’ve tried a couple of times to watch that one all the way through and I thought the aggressive color palette was obnoxious and just a simple way to look “arty.” Will try Vikram and Vikram Veda next maybe…oh and I also did try 96 and was bored and turned it off after 30 minutes in. I don’t get the whole college reunion trope in so many South films. I’m sure the romance is effective but it unfortunately didn’t work for me.
Just rewatched Dolly Ki Doli randomly. Such a fun (and short!) little comedy with great clothes and songs, and one of Sonam’s underrated performances.
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Now I need Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum remake with Arjun 😦
It would be interesting to see Arjun with Rashmika. And what do you think about Kriti in this role?
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So you’ve seen Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum then! It was very interesting! Arjun really needs to find more roles like that. Goon with a heart of gold. I was thinking Kriti for the imaginary recast initially and she would be good in it, of course. She is my favorite of the young bunch, but she does have a worldly quality about her even when she’s playing a small town girl that I’m not sure would work as well. I would like to see them paired up again though because I think they look good together, both being so tall and having such strong features.
Rashmika would be really good paired with him I think. I guess her first big pairing will be with Ranbir Kapoor in Animal.
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But back to the actual cast of KKP, I really did like Vijay. His eyes are beautiful when the light hits them just right. He has a similar sex appeal to Arjun and that’s definitely my kind of thing.
I thought Madonna Sebastian was pretty good in it and I wonder why she hasn’t become a bigger star after Premam and this.
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I agree that the school flashback can be boring in 96 (especially for non Indians who don’t have this school nostalgia) but it’s worth in the end. The best parts start after the reunion and school flashback.
If you want to see more Vijay ‘s movies you can try Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kadhal (KRK). It’s far from being perfect but the idea and the first hour are so good. Vijay meets 2 different girls and falls in love with both. Both romances are super sweet. Then after the first hour the movies worsen but still there is comedy, nice cinematography and songs. I enjoyed it a lot.
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Another rewatch last night: Rockstar. It still mystifies me why this is held up as Ranbir Kapoor’s best performance by a lot of critics? Yes, it’s showy and lets him do all of his tortured eye-acting but this is one of Imtiaz Ali’s worst scripts and, of course, one of the worst casting decisions ever made. I forgot how awful Nargis is and in the end her performance is the reason the film didn’t work and will finally be weeded from my DVD collection.
The music is great, but the complete lack of contextualization (beyond his stay at the mosque) to the way that his music develops and why he is drawn to sufi music and in the end merges it with his rock style…it was such a lost opportunity. Especially considering how Ali is influenced by sufism. Also made me think about how the Islam content in this film wouldn’t go over as well nowadays and would invite protest which is so sad.
I will say that the first time I watched it, I hadn’t seen any Shammi films yet, so didn’t fully appreciate the cameo or the homage in the Kashmir scene.
Fascinating to me how wildly varying in quality Imtiaz Ali’s films are.
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Well, you know my theory. Ranbir destroys Imtiaz, he is the secret ingredient that ruins movies. All the way to choices like “Ranbir is such an amazing actor, it doesn’t matter if I cast a block of wood named Nargis opposite him”
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Yes, you’re probably right with the Ranbir/Imtiaz combo. Tamasha, Rockstar (and the new Love Aaj Kal) are Imtiaz’s worst movies if one were to rate them. Tamasha has its moments and I understood what he was going for there at least. Here’s a question then…is Karthik the new Ranbir? I feel like he’s getting the same kind of roles that Ranbir got early in his career and now Ranbir is in a Luv Rangan film and they appeal to a similar fanbase I think.
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See, I can’t agree with you because I actually really loved Kartik in Love Aaj Kal 2! And also in other stuff I’ve seen him in, including Akaash-Vaani he’s been way more feminist and secondary to his heroine than Ranbir has ever been. Blech Ranbir.
But I do love the parelal! For me, I would say that Kartik is aging out of these male-female comedy roles and wanting to do more and Ranbir is imitating HIM by retreating to bro-humor stuff.
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I’ve always known the story about Imtiaz having to choose between Kareena and Ranbir as the leads and also the story about how Ranbir lobbied to get Katrina cast as the lead. Recently though, I read that Aditi Rao Hydari auditioned for the role and lost out to Nargis. She would have been such a better actor, I don’t get what Imtiaz saw in Nargis tbh.
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