Wednesday Watching: What Are We Reading and Watching and Thinking and Listening to the First Day of February????

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Happy Wednesday! So much is happening all of a sudden in the film world, and I’m not sure I’m ready for it! There’s Pathaan, then there’s a Pathaan press interaction, then there’s this amazing announcement of a 4 part Netflix thing on YRF!

I’ll start!

Reading: Lovely coverage of Pathaan, which is nice. Also info about my local elections, I still can’t pick a Mayor. The one whose ideas I like the best is a 27 year old kid with no chance. But do I vote for him anyway as a moral issue? Or do I not because that would be throwing my vote away?

Watching: I started the X-Files! It’s soothingly 90s, and the chemistry between the leads is crazy good. Very nice to just run in the background. Also, of course, trying to get people to go to Pathaan with me, I watch every SRK movie at least 4 times in theaters and I’ve only seen it twice and I’m feeling itchy.

Thinking: OMG, the trailer for the YRF Netflix show!!!! Adi’s been talking about a 50th anniversary celebration for YRF, and about delaying everything until the pandemic is over in order to help the theaters. I’m thinking this Netflix show is part of his strategy, get people softened up over streaming, and then do a theatrical re-release. Wouldn’t that be great??? Alternatively, do this Netflix show and then launch his own streaming channel.

Listening: “Jhoome Jo Pathaan” is still good.

55 thoughts on “Wednesday Watching: What Are We Reading and Watching and Thinking and Listening to the First Day of February????”

  1. I just watched the trailer for The Romantics this morning and I cannot wait! And of course the hook of the series is that they interview everybody and even Aditya is interviewed. Cute moment in the trailer where everyone is surprised! Since this is so clearly part of the studio’s self-promotion, I don’t expect anything earth-shattering in the interviews…just lots of gushing and celebratory comments. But the filming looks really nice and seeing stars in what looks like their own homes being interviewed. Just so much fun! And everyone is in it!

    There’s the docu-series on Amazon Prime about B-movies which I’m thinking about watching as well.

    I’m still thinking about Pathaan a lot too and also enjoying all of the joy over its success.

    Reading: just finished a nice Indian-American rom-com novel by Sara Desai, The Singles Table, also finished reading my first Johanna Lindsey novel (the first Mallory family book published in 1985…surprisingly charming and not too problematic though very soapy), started reading a m/m historical romance by Cat Sebastian (one of my favorite romance authors), finally trying to finish the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas

    Listening: all of the YRF Spy Universe soundtracks…really appreciating the themes that each character has and I still love Ghungroo the best of all of the songs, I listen to a lot of the Bollywood themed podcasts and realized I missed listening to the BBC’s Beyond Bollywood and catching up with that one

    Watching: finished rewatching Ek Tha Tiger and Tiger Zinda Hai. The latter was a bit cheesier than I remembered it, but I did enjoy watching the Katrina action sequences again and though it was clunky in the screenplay I did love the whole RAW and ISI agents working together. Take Off is still the better version of the core IRL story but for what YRF was doing here, TZH really is an entertaining film. One of my favorite Salman films for sure.

    Will rewatch War next, but at this point I definitely like all four films almost exactly equally…they each have their charms and their faults, also An Action Hero is on Netflix and that might be on the schedule this week!

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  2. I have two pieces of non-Pathaan non-YRF related news but hopefully of interest to DCIB.

    First, Fawad Khan was in Houston, TX in mid-to late December for the holidays (pretty sure his sister and her family live there) and hosted a New Year’s Eve meet and greet at a desi restaurant! Desi food plus Fawad = YUM! Apparently, he is often in Houston during the holidays and does this usually every time he is there and there is interest! So for any Fawad fans who are close to Houston, this may be an opportunity again this year.

    Second, Amazon is making a movie of my beloved novel Red, White, and Royal Blue!!! I remember having a discussion about this novel with a few people on DICB who loved it too. Regardless of whether you have read the book, I can see the movie being right up the alley for many DCIBers! It is a enemies to lovers gay romance between the prince of England and the son of the first Latina president of the United States! It is funny, sweet, so sexy, and swoon worthy! I hope the movie does it justice, but either way, it should be a super fun watch!

    https://www.teenvogue.com/story/red-white-and-royal-blue-movie-everything-you-need-to-know

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    • I remember talking to you about Red, White and Royal Blue a while back, and I am so unbelievably excited for the movie! Had a hard time buying the Alex and Henry casting at first, but the more I checked out behind the scenes stuff, the more I can buy into them. I can just imagine the trailer in my head. I really hope the movie does the book justice. Hoping for a fun summer, perhaps Pride month release.

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      • Yes! I thought it was you! I hope the movie does the book justice too. I feel so jaded after watching the second season of Bridgerton. I loved the book so much and the show messed it all up.

        I am still holding out hope for this one though! They can’t possible screw this up, right? Just follow the book!

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        • Still somehow haven’t finished Bridgerton S2, but I never read the book so I can’t say. I am enjoying it a lot though.

          How often do filmmakers actually stick extremely closely to the book? It’s rare, I think, they always mess with something. That being said, I saw pictures of Alex’s actor in a recording studio, and fan accounts think he is recording voiceover for the emails. So maybe it will be close and we will not be disappointed!

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  4. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really a fan of Pathaan but I’m so happy to see Shahrukh finally getting that big blockbuster and love that he deserves đŸ™‚

    On the other hand I saw An Action Hero, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, and the trailer to the YRF Netflix thing and I feel like I’ve fallen in love with Hindi movies all over again. Also getting more original songs like this one have helped too!

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    • Also I saw Duplicate for the first time which I really enjoyed! I was never a huge fan of the Shahrukh-Juhi pairing before but they were so adorable together in Duplicate. What is y’all’s favorite movie with them both?

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    • I enjoyed Tere Pyar Mein also. Thank you for posting! I am looking forward to watching Shehzada and Tu Jhooti Main Makkar. I may wait to read the reviews for TJMM before going to the theaters though just to make sure either Ranbir or the ending of the movie doesn’t annoy me too much.

      Also, you reminded me that I haven’t seen Duplicate in a long time and watched it last night. So fun!

      Yes Boss is definitively one of my favorite SRK-Juhi films. Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman was of course the first SRK-Juhi film I watched and while the beginning of the movie is great, towards the end it gets really dark. It is an interesting one to watch because they are both so young and fresh in that one.

      Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani to me, relies on their friendship and comfortable chemistry. And finally, One 2 Ka 4 is another one of my favorites. It has cute kids. Shah Rukh is a bit if a jerk but comes around, Juhi is adorable, and it has a young Fatima Sana Sheikh!

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  5. My Zee5 account started working so I watch as much as I can there before I unsubscribe.

    Atithi Bhooto Bhava (hindi 2022) with super cute Jackie Shroff, Pratik Ghandi and Sharmin Segal (she was in Malaal). It’s a comedy about a couple who meets a ghost and help fulfill his last desire. It was ok and light, nothing groundbreaking, but then – the climax. It was so romantic I cried buckets, and I’m surprised my tablet still works, because it was all wet from my tears. I love when movies surprise me like this one did.

    Bimbisara (telugu 2022) fantasy action with NTR Jr’s half brother Kalyan Ram. “Pretty trashy but engaging” as one of the reviews said.

    Natrang (Marathi 2010) I’ve had it on my watchlist for ages, but I knew only that it’s an important Marathi film with good music. It was odd. I didn’t like it much.

    Chaalbaaz (hindi 1989) . I loved how light it was. I would love a modern version with Janhvi. What do you think?

    Hridpindo (bengali 2022). OMG this film, I just couldn’t . It’s about a woman who has retragrade amnesia after an accident. She thinks she is 15 years old and doesn’t remember having a husband. Her old flame, hearing about her condition comes to meet her, because he still loves her and wants to take advantage of the situation. Everythig was good, but the problem is that the actress absolutely sucked and instead of acting like a 15 years old, she acted like a 3 years old on cocaine. She single handedly destroyed the movie. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was wondering how the director could watch her and keep filming. She was so bad! Later I read she is Prosenjit Chatterjee’s wife. Which explains a little but also shocks me more.
    The guy who plays ex-love was so hot, I think I managed to finish this torture only for him. What a pity there wasn’t a good actress to make this couple work.

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    • I like Janhvi quite a bit and she’s perfectly pleasant on screen but I think she would struggle with the range of emotions shown in Chaalbaaz. I feel someone like Sanya Malhotra would do a better job but no one can beat Sridevi.

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      • Yes, she would struggle, but I would love to see her in some light comedy, with a lot of dancing. So far she played a air-force pilot, a ghost, drug smuggler and a girl in a freezer. Just make a romantic comedy girl! she is so pretty and can dance, perfect for a colorful romantic film.

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    • Also Prosenjit Chatterjee had a hilarious incident where he called the Prime Minister to help him with his Swigee(food delivery service) cancelling his orders on twitter. It was quite ridicioulous

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    • Angie – A whole slew of movies that were only on Zee recently showed up on Eintusan, including Jhund, Unchaii, Behen Hogi Teri… etc.

      Margaret may be able to shed more light on this, but it feels like either Zee stopped trying to sue Einthusan or maybe made a deal with the site. Either way, now I don’t have to worry about paying for Zee!

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  6. Watching: I’m currently watching Ustad Hotel and honestly it’s a little boring. I honestly need a fun romcom rather than a nice thoughtful movie. Also I’m quite annoyed that Dulquer is so ungrateful and tricked his dad(even though his dad’s asshole, I do like to see value for money) into paying for his fancy Swiss education and gets mad that his dad is mad about being tricked. Like I know he’s an immature manboy but I really can’t stand him.

    Listening: I’m currently listening to some great old hindi film songs. I wonder have you watched the film Anupama by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, if not you should watch it. It’s such a wonderful film.

    Reading: Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway which has gotten a bit interesting after 100 pages. I also did some research about the 20’s mordernist gang (Hemingway, Fitzgerald,etc.) and it was fascinating+tragic in equal parts.

    Thinking: How nice the Amar, Akbar, Anthony remark by SRK is. I feel politics is always trying to spread hate and has often encouraged both sides to go to the extreme. However these kind of comments though simplistic just shows how beautiful life is and why we should embrace love instead of hate.

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    • Ustad Hotel has the best soundtrack! But yes, the romance is so-so.

      I haven’t watched Anupama! But Hrishikesh and Dharmendra and Sharmila? Yes please!

      That Amar, Akbar, Anthony is so lovely, it keeps making me smile.

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      • Anupama is SO GOOD and Kuch Dil Ne Kaha is just beautiful and there’s a wonderful scene of Sharmila wandering around singing it and Dharmendra is hidden watching her and falls in love and it’s the best thing.

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    • My grandmother accidentally signed herself up for a month of Prime, so I spent January in a sometimes-harrowing exploration of the older films on there. After so many gambles on mostly middling movies I’d never heard of, I wanted something comforting last night and happened to have the unexpected but bright idea of rewatching “99.” Does anybody even remember that movie??? It’s so excellent!

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      • . . .I did not mean to make this a reply to the above post, lol.

        A P.S. for any Prime-havers amongst you: the best discovery I made in their catalog was probably “Ek Baar Kaho” with Shabana and Navin Nischol. You have to endure kind of a lot of comedy Jagdeep at the beginning, but it turns into a really sweet middle-aged romance.

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      • Is this the 99 you are referring to? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_(2009_film)
        I have never seen it, but I have really enjoyed some of Raj and DK’s movies so I am guessing I should.

        I have also never seen Ek Baar Dekho but I love middle-aged romances so I will add that to my list.

        Recently, I have just been watching the movies I have already seen because sometimes that is just comforting and I don’t have to worry about fully paying attention to them!

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        • Yep, that “99.” It’s a really solid, funny, sort of crime caper-type movie. Kunal Khemu and his friend are sent to collect a debt from Boman, but street kids steal the money out of the trunk of their cab so they wind up collaborating with him and Soha Ali Khan on a cricket bet to try and make it back. My favorite character is Dimple, the giant goon that the Delhi bookie takes around to his appointments.

          I hope you like “Ek Baar Kaho”!

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    • Finally somebody who don’t like Ustad Hotel. Everybody was saying how good it is and I was so disappointed when I watched it. Dulquer character is annoying, his sisters also, and I hated the girl (I know, she didn’t want to get married and that’s why she used DQ secret passion to break off the engagement, but she also had a secret and should be a little more compassionate). On the top of all that there was this white girlfriend and the treatment of the white girlfriend is a litmus test. Rarely an Indian movie pass it, here it wasn’t the worst but in the end, of course they failed.

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  7. Watching: like Filmilibrarian, I’ve been watching the Tiger films. I gave up on Ek Tiger Tha years ago, but Pathaan inspired me to try again. I managed it and doubt I will ever watch again, but Tiger Zinda Hai is better so far.

    Reading: loads of dumb course materials for a high–pressure course I stupidly signed up for. đŸ˜¦

    Thinking: OMG how am I going to cope for the next 3 months (the length of the stupid course).

    Listening: DDLJ songs for the last few days, for some reason.

    Can’t wait for the Romantics now, though. This is the first I’ve heard of it!

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  8. I’m sure it won’t surprise you but my answer to all of these questions is SRK. I’ve just been kind of swimming in an ocean of SRK content since last Wednesday and I have no intention of getting out.

    Reading: Honestly, twitter. It’s probably not great for my mental health long term but right now with everybody freaking out about Pathaan the chaos and mob mentality is fun. Lots of hardcore fangirling. I saw one tweet from a girl saying “Sorry Ranbir, Pathaan was so charming that I’m officially leaving you for SRK.”

    Watching: Going to see Pathaan again for the 3rd time tonight. I don’t even really know why. I feel like a kid getting off an amusement park ride and immediately sprinting to get back in line for the same ride again. Also I keep having this weird imposter syndrome feeling where, since my mom and I are the only white people there, I feel like I’ve sneaked into somewhere I don’t belong and I’m just waiting for someone to notice me and throw me out. Totally irrational but a very strong feeling all the same.

    Listening: Mostly the Pathaan songs on loop, but I have a fun anecdote. I occasionally put on random SRK interviews to listen to in the background while I’m doing stuff. What can I do, I like to listen to his voice. English or Hindi, it doesn’t matter. I find his speech patterns and just the way he talks calming. Anyway, since there are a million and a half interviews from the Zero promotions I end up listening to those a lot and I just happened across one where he was talking about the SRK myth vs. him as a person and he mentioned that if he even accidentally brings that into the house with his family his kids will start making fun of him “Oh My Gaawd!!! Esss….Aaar…..Kaaay….The Star Is Here!!!” and I just about fell out of my chair laughing both at the way he mimicked them and at the whole family dynamic that implies.

    Thinking: All of the thinking. Everything from 2am discussions with my mom about Fan and Aryan Khanna’s actions and motivations and gradually becoming more and more confused about how anyone would not immediately side with him over Gaurav, to that one instagram account that identifies and lists the prices of all of SRK’s clothes. (BTW for anyone reading this, only look for that account if you truly believe he should do what ever he wants with his money because, like… I didn’t know they even made watches that expensive.)

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  9. I am sure someone else posted this already, but I am finally watching the songs from Shehzada and enjoying both of them! Kriti and Kartik look like they are having so much fun in this movie.

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  10. Well, the Romantics is also not going to be on Netflix Japan because the gods hate me. It’s enough to make me give up my career and free healthcare and move back to the States.

    Still no word on Pathaan either.

    I am now midway through three movies and can’t get the motivation to finish any of them and won’t let myself watch a movie until I plow through at least one, dammit! First is Code Name: Tiranga, which was adequate and I kind of want to find out what happened although I think I already know. Next is Karthik Calling Karthik, which I loved ten years ago, but now not so much. There are like four musical montages to show the story of Farhad and Deepika falling in love! There’s a getting to know you montage and then a decorating montage and then another montage for some reason on top of the montage where he gets his hair cut. I usually love decorating montages but I’m montaged out. The last is Mission Majnu, which I guess I’ll finish but it’s making me feel soiled and so far the plot is weirdly the same as Code Name: Tiranga.

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    • Wait! Yesterday there was nothing when I searched for The Romantics, but today it’s there! Hurrah! I guess I can stay in Japan a bit.

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    • I went on a whole journey with Karthik Calling Karthik, when it first came out I thought it sounded stupid, and then I heard from people it might be worth watching and thought maybe I should watch it, and now it sounds like it is coming back around to stupid. So I never have to watch it!

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  11. I saw Mission Manju – and I saw it. All the way through (which is rare for me) but I was doing other things at the same time, and I don’t speak Hindi, so well I still feel like I actually saw it, even when my attention was maybe 70% there. I also saw the Telugu movie Gatta Kushti on Netflix, it had a single scene that was worth the whole movie. It would have been a good movie it there were multiple of these scenes, but even with onely one, I didn’t feel like I wasted my time.

    I was watching Filmikudhi’s trailers and came to the realization that I just dislike Kartik. I dislike him enough that I would be totally happy if I never had to see his face again. I don’t know where the strength of this negative reaction came from. I mean I also dislike Kareena, but at the same time can admit she is good in some movies, still I don’t like her face. I don’t like Kartik’s face. And though I have seen him in some movies I don’t think were bad, I’m fairly certain I would have liked the movies better if anyone other than him were in them.

    After my head injury in March of 2022 I can say that my vision is almost back to normal. I organized a Children’s Theatre program in my town in January and that kinda jump started my brain. I don’t need reading glasses any more though if I am at all tired the vision does get blurry – so maybe I should start reading again for real. My book club is travelling to Morocco so currently I am reading Moroccan books.

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    • I’m so glad your head is doing better! Which means if I do another DCIB book club round, you have to join, right? No more excuses!

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  12. Now that we have the Spy Universe, how would you rank the four movies in it? I haven’t seen the Tiger movies, now I’ll have to before Tiger 3 comes out. Do we know what is next after Tiger 3? Sid Anand is making a different movie with Hrithik-Deepika next so I’m not sure.

    For anyone wanting more Pathaan related things, Khandaan just dropped their episode –

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    • I’d say Pathaan, then Ek Tha Tiger, then War, then Tiger Zinda Hai. Ek Tha Tiger is just a really solid movie, well-directed, well-written, all of that. War is a blast. Tiger Zinda Hai is a little too dark for me.

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  13. Oh! I meant to tell you, I finally watched Jersey, with my kid who is mildly interested in Cricket because he has a friend now who’s a competitive player. It was fine. Shahid was good, it was kind of a quiet performance but he’s always v good lately. The part at the beginning where you see the sweet relationship he has with his son was maybe my favorite part. By the end, I didn’t love the plot and I didn’t totally get what it was about this character that made him want to remake the movie so he could play him. The plot is not so different from Patiala House but the character journey is less appealing IMO. You get to see a touch of romance in the flashbacks to how he met his wife but her character doesn’t really get its due in the story. Didn’t like the ending at all, honestly it made me feel manipulated. So that’s my review! If you haven’t watched it, you can contentedly continue not to watch it and know you aren’t missing a secret modern classic.

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    • OMG yes!

      Jersey Spoilers!!

      I have seen the telugu version, and hate it with passion.
      It doesn’t have any sense, but people praise it so much . Like, c’mon the guy was good for nothing from beggining to end. He had chance to work, be a good father and husband but instead he chose to die for no reason and abandon his son. And it’s shown like it’s a great thing to do! Total loser if you ask me. I’m surprised Ranbir wasn’t the one who bought the script. But maybe it would be too much of work for him.

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      • I also hated how they vilified the wife who was always supportive and trying her best. Like what’s her fault if her husband is a good for nothing wastrel. Also I hate how he never cares or admires how his wife left everything to be with him and is working so hard to ensure their life works out. It’s just kind of annoying because at the end they act like his son was the only light in his life when the whole reason he wasn’t homeless and on the streets was because of his wife.

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        • I felt so sorry for the wife. She was working like a dog while he was there whining that his wife doesn’t understand him. What he wanted her to do? Pat him on the back for bing a failure?
          This movie is the worst, a pure trash.

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  14. Watching/Listening: Still in my RRR haze a bit, and while I was home alone last Saturday, I skimmed my way through most of Magadheera, and I enjoyed it! The effects left a lot to be desired, but I’m chalking it up to it coming out in 2009. Not bad, but things have improved a lot since then. Ram Charan is so dreamy, and his chemistry with Kajal was incredible, besides a few jokes that probably wouldn’t fly today. And the songs were great. I’m particularly fond of this one, especially around 2:45 which gets so sexy it’s literally electric.

    And this one, which based on the views seems to be really underrated.

    Thinking: Feeling a lot better after getting sick last week, but this stupid cough won’t go away. Plus the occasional sore throat and tiniest bit of an off voice. I keep thinking I’m gonna wake up tomorrow back to normal and it never happens. I’ve had to take cough medicine every day for the last week and a half in order to sleep, and that’s only been for a few hours at a time. I have tickets tomorrow for Pathaan, so I’m hoping there’s a breakthrough overnight.

    Reading: Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman. A writer has a fling with an actor while she interviews him, stuff happens, and then they do another interview 10 years later. Idk if it’s the dual timeline, or if it’s because I had to stop reading for a while when I got sick, but it is so boring so far.

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