275 thoughts on “Fan WatchAlong! Starting at 7:30pm Chicago Time”

  2. Hello All! I had a Moldman covering my apartment in plastic all afternoon, then rushed to a 5 year olds birthday party, and thank goodness Filmikudhi texted me to remind me so I speeded home for this, my reward at the end of a long day.

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  4. Okay, first 5 minutes comment, all the film clips and interviews are real UNTIL the “my fans made me” award speech. And I may be a bit of a Gaurav since I know that.

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    • ooh, I didn’t notice it really – I will have to rewatch again after the watch a long, especially since I now own the film on YouTube.

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  9. Okay, Cyber cafes – my lifelike when I lived in Berlin in the Early 2000s. But now? When was this film made? How big are they in India – most people have phones no? How needed are cybercafes?

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  10. Hi, friends! I just wanted to pop by and say hello. I just put Mr. Toddles to bed and finally looking to relax and Fan is decidedly not relaxing! So I will hopefully catch you guys next week! For now, I am going to go watch Baadshah or Duplicate or Yes Boss, or one of the many movies Shelomit has recommended.

    I hope everyone has a blast, especially the newbies! Watchalongs are the best!

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      • Anytime! 🙂 She is always so punctual that I figured something unusual had happened. Plus, its easy to get carried away having fun at a 5 year old’s birthday party! Such a fun age!

        Also, OMG, I wrote a novel on your review of Biradari. I think I had more to say and just cut myself off.

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        • Ehehehe, the “novel” is a delight. I’m so glad you found something to enjoy in the movie, Faryal’s deadweight notwithstanding. The comedy played really well to me. Anyway, I will reread in detail and then reply c:

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    • I’ve been so distracted with reading comments and (honestly snacking) that I don’t remember what their own economic situation is. Does his physical resemblence to SRK help their family financially? That would make a big difference in their encouragment levels.

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      • No! I think we know that his Dad has a good salary job and gave him the start up money for his cyber cafe. The SRK thing is just his fun thing and he keeps all the money.

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  13. Okay, I’m really gonna sound like Gaurav now, but we all realize these are new clips of old songs that SRK remade just for use in this film, right? Like, we’ve all memorized the hair/clothes/dance moves enough to know that?

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  15. Sorry Margaret I seem to have lost the link for the watch along. It’s my first time. Can you please share the link. Or the instructions on how to get on. Sorry to disturb

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  16. SRK also did not travel without a ticket the first time. Is there a deep character meaning here, or just setting up Gaurav for weirdness?

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    • Starting to establish that Aryan Khanna is not SRK and using it as an instrument to illustrate his madness when he hangs out of the train to manipulate? Would he have truly jumped or was he just so sly as to know how to manipulate? I think the latter. Also feeds my narcissist theory

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      • I have a narcissistic relative, or a relative with borderline personality disorder – who is diagnosed with neither in therapy as therapists are humans and can only see what is presented to them. ONly mentioned because regardless of what he is, Gaurav sees himself as only a dedicated fan. Loyal to the point of possible death – but I don’t think he ever intended to kill himself, so manipulative yes.

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      • No, because he had family support in Delhi, and some degree of success before he came to Bombay. Maybe part of how Aryan Khanna so clearly has NOTHING prior to his stardom? Like, no one and nothing in his life related to his “normal” life?

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          • Yep, and his Mom gave him the money for the tickets. Because his Mom loved him. And then the next time, it was for a contract with travel included. Maybe it’s also that Aryan is a little more MAD than SRK? Like, SRK is crazy and a dreamer, but he didn’t come to Bombay with money for a ticket, he had a plan.

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    • You’ll have to find a copy of the film yourself, not sure where it might be available in your country, in America it is for rent on youtube.

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    • I bought the film on YouTube, though it is also available for rent. Then you just get to the time in the film where everyone else is and start commenting. I was a bit bummed that it wasn’t available to be streamed on one of my regular subscriptions, but so is life.

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  19. I think through out this movie we have moments of “oh, I would have done that too” with Gaurav, followed by “no, that’s too far”. The being nice to the cool girl at the cafe, the slight posturing with the customers, that’s something anyone would have done. But then beating up the customers like a mad person, and being proud of it? And here, romantically traveling on a fan journey, totally normal. But the irrational dedication to it, no.

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    • Pre-pandemic I ran an afterschool program, and my kids drew pictures of him and I was going to send it in a fan book, with what I learned (tongue in cheek) about India from all his films. But I never sent it.

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    • One thing I think about with this movie is that it works better if you know those stories. Like, big starts absolutely do meet regular fans all the time. But on their schedule, not on the fans. If Gaurav wanted to meet Aryan Khanna, then he could have easily done it with a little patience and accomodation, instead of wanting it to happen perfectly right away.

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        • We have I think 4 regular commentators here who have met him? And I have a friend who met Aamir Khan. Similar, you just dedicate the time and be patient and hang out at the film sets, and when they have a moment they will call you over. Wait until SRK is in your town, go on the fansites and find out what hotel he might be at or where he is filming, and hang around and try to get lucky.

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          • I went to the sets of josh in 1998 but SRK was not on that day and I was in school so couldn’t go back unless adults took me. I’m now in the US so I have no idea if there will ever be an opportunity, perhaps I missed my chance. 😭 now I have a day job to make a living

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  22. Pingback: Fan WatchAlong! Starting at 7:30pm Chicago Time - MAHARASHTRA.online

  24. I’ve been telling so many people the Salman-Shahrukh real life story while we see Pathaan, how they were friends, had a fight, made up, and no one will ever know what really happened because they are so big they aren’t going to talk about it, and personal is personal. Which is I think what this storyline is getting at, the little upstart is making a personal issue public, and Aryan Khanna is just not going to play that game.

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    • Makes me think of the Vivek-Salman beef, where the people involved were less of equals in the industry and you got the real sense of Vivek making a fuss to try and bring himself some publicity.

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    • This past 4th of July a non-invited (but dropped off) 13-year-old ruined our party. And his parents never called or anything after we called and told them to pick him up (he scooted away after we called so they couldn’t). We ended up kicking ALL the 13-year-olds out. And now can never have another 4th of July party for the fear that the 13 year olds will again appear and ruin it for the 8 year olds. It has taken me SEVEN months to get to the point where I won’t yell at this child’s parents if I see them in person. And these are people that we have had a relationship with for over 10years. And I think about this, when I think about the SRK & Salman conflict. SRK came to his birthday party and ruined his birthday, about ego stuff. And didn’t apologize until years later. Maybe Salman said something off, but it was his birthday, at his house. When lines are crossed in your own home, the healing takes longer.

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  25. Pingback: Fan WatchAlong! Starting at 7:30pm Chicago Time – Bollywood News

  26. And this is how he actually COULD have gotten to see Aryan Khanna if he really wanted to! Hang out at his film sets, wait for your chance, it’s fine. Don’t just, like, get angry because he’s not spending time with you on his birthday.

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  27. I don’t “watch” news – I read tons of it, but about 10 years ago I stopped watching any of it. Still though, the idea that news about movie star fights is on the mainstream news that you see sitting at a restaurant seems crazy to me. But I haven’t seen regular TV since 2004. I’m gonna assume that it is all the way it really is, if I was the sort who watched TV in India.

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  29. Good parenting! Or is it? I mean, he’s tricking the kids, but he is teaching them to share and be kind and stuff like Gaurav never learned.

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  31. I love the assistant actress, blanking her name at the moment, but I also love that this is one of those classic “no gender defined” sort of characters and they opted to cast a woman. This movie has so many great strong female characters in it!

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  33. Now I’m thinking what I would do if I were Gaurav’s parents. Hmm. I think I would have forced him into other interests when he was younger, bribed him to join a sports team or chess club or ANYTHING. And I wouldn’t have helped him with his SRK show, if he wants to do it, that’s fine, but he is on his own to make it work. He could still be a strange person with a specific obsession, but at least he’d see some limits in the world.

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  37. Hmmm. What should Aryan have done here? I understand his thinking, the arrogance combined with responsibility, that it is up to him to solve this problem because he caused it. But it also protects him, right? If his mad fan is blamed for this, he will get in trouble, best to keep it quiet.

    Should he just have ignored the whole thing? Or reported it to the police and left it to them?

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    • I know that the world saw the character of Aryan as being mean – but I don’t see that at all. He is trying to protect the world from his fame, and the insanity it causes. I don’t think he has done anything wrong.

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      • I honestly have no clue what the correct/kind/effective way of handling this kind of situation WOULD be, even though some version thereof happens to public figures all the time : /

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        • I believe Aryan’s goal and expectation was to give this kid a wake up call and stop him from turning violent, and then he made the effort to give him a real sincere speech about going home and loving his parents and stuff. He just had NO idea what kind of kid he was dealing with.

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          • Oooo, good point! More enabling. Instead of saying “he’s old enough to be responsible for his actions and no better”, Aryan (just like his parents) saw him as a little boy who still deserved protection.

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          • The opening montage gives us a bit of a comparison of their ages. Seems like Gaurav is meant to be maybe 6-8 when Aryan is having his first successes, so min. 15 years younger.

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    • Aryan’s mistake here is thinking that a narcissist can be reformed with one lesson. Gaurav lacks the capacity to understand what just happened and sees it as an abusive ex-lover would think about a breakup. He should have let this guy face the consequences of his actions and not gotten involved in it beyond informing the authorities.

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      • Oh, YES! That’s it exactly!!! 9 times out of 10, this would have worked, put a good scare in him and send him home. But this is the 10th time and Aryan didn’t realize that.

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  38. I’m reminded how awesome film is. Where I live SRK would physically be diminuative, smaller than the average male. But walking into Guarav’s jail cell, he takes up all the space, he fills the screen, and then to know that it must be two screens edited together. filming is awesome.

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  41. Here is where the line comes between Aryan and SRK, and I think also SRK’s morals as a star. He would never just drop a fan like this, no matter what they did. He wouldn’t say “why should I give you 5 seconds?” He may think it in a dark moment, but then he rejects it.

    Maybe it goes back to Aryan being more of a selfmade star than SRK? We don’t see a Karan in his life, or an Adi, or anyone in his inner circle. He believes he really did it on his own.

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    • But seriously, does anyone OWE 5 seconds to fans? Individually? He waves from rooftops, he creates movies. What does a star owe his fans? When he has SO MANY, SRK simply can’t give 5 seconds to every fan. Just because you love someone, they do not HAVE to love you in return, and of couse, if you expect it, it isn’t actually , love, but obsession.

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      • Maybe it’s the balance of awareness “I owe them all 5 minutes, but I’m not physically capable of that, and I have to accept it”. I think that’s where the real life starts tend to land, they do everything they can and forgive themselves for not doing more. Instead of resenting it.

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    • Kajol said that SRK really knows who he is and puts in hard work for it. So imagine if he were someone more private or unwilling to share of himself, he would be like Imran Khan who just wanted to be away from the fame. SRK isn’t that person, he has acute awareness of who he is and what he is willing to do for his stardom.

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  44. I am not dealing well with the images I saw of buildings in Turkey collapsing like sand castles. So as I wath Guarav walk up apartment steps I can only wonder how they would holdup in an earthquake. Therefore his return home is filled with a sense of additional disaster in my mind.

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  45. I just realized, we never actually see Aryan Khanna do the work of being an actor. We see him make appearances, do interviews, go to weddings, prepare a stage show, but never actually do the thing that made him famous.

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  47. Where the hell did he get the gun from. Police officers in Britain don’t carry guns (according to American Myth), why would a mere security guard have a gun?

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  49. Yep, another moment of Aryan is just as mad as Gaurav, and more mad than SRK would ever be. SRK gets crazy and mad, but not in this kind of situation (as we just saw ), he goes quiet and smart and strategic.

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