Happy Wednesday! I am feeling very cozy and sleepy today, and very glad that I made a last minute decision to skip Animal (again) and instead stay home and watch a cozy movie on the TV with my friend. Sukhee? Something 70s?
Reading: I have been reading SO MUCH this past week. Reading is very bad for me, I have no self-control and tend to ignore all over aspects of my life. So generally I avoid it. But whatevs, it’s December, it’s dark and cold outside, why not spend 5 hours sitting in one place thinking about nothing? Anyway, I’ve almost finished Richard Osman’s “Thursday Murder Club” series, and I read Janice Hallett’s “The Appeal”. And I checked out but haven’t started yet SJ Bennett’s series in which Queen Elizabeth II solves murders.
Watching: Speaking of cozy, finished the new season of Bake Off! Oh, and last night I started the new season of “Paris in Love”. Paris Hilton continues to be a fascinating person. Tomorrow of course is The Archie’s release day. Not sure when I will be able to watch it, I’m working all day and then at night I’m going to an illumination thing in a park. Maybe Friday?
Thinking: Darkest time of the year starts now, BLECH! I keep falling asleep around 4:30, and then feeling wide awake at night. Plus the whole “I just want to hide inside and read” effect. Oh well, the world won’t end if I take a nap and spend a day reading.
Listening: Did you know Cher has a new Christmas song? I just found out!
Okay, question for you! What are your comfort activities during the darkest time of the year?
dontcallitbollywood 
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I want to say: Watch Sukhee, watch Sukhee, but I’m afraid you will feel forced and won’t watch it. So I’ll only say: it’s a rare movie about female friendship, about women who are for each other no matter what amd who have fun.
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I tried watching it and couldn’t really…. Just fast forwarded through it. The archetypes of women friends in it and the reliance on alcohol for fun felt so cliche to me… I couldn’t figure out why her husband just started to take her for granted after being so in love, seemed like a plot device that I couldn’t justify from watching what they had shown
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I’d love to chat with you more about what you liked, maybe I’ll be able to see it too ❤️
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Idk, I just watch movies and see how they make me feel, and this one made me feel good. I wasn’t analyzing much. I cried few times and I was cheering for Sukhee. I loved Sukhee’s relationship with her grandpa-in-law, so sweet. I melted totally when Amit had his “And since then I’ve loved you” moment. I hated the husband , but I wasn’t surprised he started to take her for granted because I have seen this happen often.
Sure, I’m 40 y/o homemaker who lives in a small town, far from family and friends and has a teenager son, so this movie hit very close to home. And also made me feel seen.
I liked this movie just for the fact it exists. When everybody makes movies about super spies and saffron heroes and women-centric films are only about some traumatic and dark stuff, here we have a nice movie about a group of women and their little problems. Refreshing.
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Yes I agree that it’s great this movie exists. I guess for me it hit too close to home in terms of the life I left. Yes the best part was the relationship with grandpa in law. I guess I had difficulty with the movie after he is no longer there. And perhaps it was too triggering for me in how I experienced control, gaslighting, abandonment in my life in India that I couldn’t tolerate and sit through it.
But even then I never thought – why did they make this movie….
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Angie — I watched Sukhee based on your recommendation and enjoyed it so much!!! I loved the female friendship. I loved that they all lifted each other up. I loved the relationship between Sukhee and the father in law. I also just liked that she didn’t go back to her husband when he said “forget about everything and let’s start over.” She took her time! I loved Amit Sadh’s sweet nerdy, sexy character! All his dialogues were so swoon worthy!
Also, the food scenes made me so hungry! Thank you for the recommendation! This was definitely my kind of movie! It was the perfect comfort watch when I was emotional and sleep deprived.
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I’m happy you enjoyed the movie.
I also loved how she took her time, but at the same time I’m glad she came back to him. I saw a lot of people commenting she should stay with Amit, and not with her husband, but I did they watch the same movie? Amit was super sweet, but she wasn’t attracted to him and didn’t want him. The husband was a jerk, but he learnt from his mistakes and was really sorry, and I’m happy she gave him another chance.
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Yes! He learned why he was sorry after she said no to him and then by the time she came back, he had learnt to be a good single father.
And yes, despite how cute Amit Sadh was, she wasn’t attracted to him.
I also love that the message was learn to live without her. Stop making her your invisible doormat. Don’t make her come back because you “need” her because then she goes back to losing herself. For example, I thought they would go the cliched route of how’s they going to eat without her and I love that all the community women brought him food or he could get delivery. The point of the movie if that husband and kids can learn to be independent the woman can have the freedom to go be herself outside of being a mother and a wife! Does that make sense?
Also loved Kisha Kapila’s single motherhood storyline!
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Listening to “Nasha ye pyar ka Nasha” from Mann… Only because that is my state of feelings this morning.
Looks like I’m dating someone (early days) but I feel a very strong connection and he’s very very nice and kind – all the things I’ve been looking for. I also feel so grown up and discerning in being able to see, observe, notice. And so grown up in bringing up what I need to communicate, being direct about my needs.
Anyway back to the song. It feels a nice fit for my feelings this morning 😂🥰
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Oh I’m “reading” on audio book the new book of Thursday murder club. I so so love this series and humor. I find myself laughing out loudly when listening to it
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My comfort activities during the darkest time:
Watching Elementary TV show seasons 1-4 over and over
Eating samosa or such comfort food
Listening to cozy mystery / mystery audio books
Writing in my journal “dear diary”
Talking to people on the phone in the evenings (when I can find someone I want to talk to and is available)
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We’ve actually had an almost perfect December so far. There has been enough snow to ferry the kids to daycare on our sled, and for the tiny little local Christmas market last weekend. And on Sunday we actually went downhill sledding in the park. Big Boy has discovered the joy of parlor games, which saves me from feeling secretly bored when playing with him. And I still have the Christmas baking to look forward to. For St. Nikolaus today, the kid’s got new aprons from their grandma. Oh, and we went caroling at a log fire today. I’d say anything with a real fire is perfect at this time of the year.
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Oooooo, that does sound pretty perfect! Tonight our household is going to a big outdoor light show in a arboretum that we go to every year, which is usually pretty perfect. Fingers crossed it starts a trend of Perfect events.
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I have been pretty under the weather and my wifi has as well, but I think both of us are on the mend finally. The only thing I’ve seen recently is Khufiya, which I wanted to like more than I did, but it’s reasonably entertaining. It’s partly set in Bangladesh so I got to hear some Bengali. There is a fairly big, like yell at the screen big, plot hole in the last big scene. Also there’s one scene in the US set in a very large and clean subway station which was disorienting when I remembered they were supposed to be in South Dakota. Does South Dakota have any subways?
Still no word on when/if Jawan will release in Japan–we may just get one SRK movie per year. However, my local theater is having a “South Indian Week”! This will include Sye Ra, Magadheera, Yamadonga, and Pushpa. I’ve seen Magadheera already but I might see it again. Any recommendations? I’ll be on vacation so I’ll probably see all of them. Each movie has one “cheering show” in case you want to sing the songs or chant the hero’s name, and one “regular show” in case you want to watch it quietly like usual. I might see a cheering show just to see what actually happens.
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A subway in South Dakota? 😄 And that wasn’t the big plot hole?
I’ve only seen Pushpa on that list. I liked it, it’s stuck with me more than a lot of the big action films. Allu Arjun does his (anti-)hero thing but the character is complex and the setting and retro vibe are visually cool to look at. You have to not mind violence.
Miss Braganza, I wanted to ask you about The Tale of Genji. I picked it up on impulse in a used bookstore on vacation and surprised myself by getting carried away. Have you read it? I just had the first book. So curious now about whether people still read it and if it’s in the background as a famous story you see in movies now and then or go visit as a tourist site.
Emily
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I have read The Tale of Genji–twice for different literature classes and once on my own. I do think it’s a fascinating book if you don’t mind the non-linear story. You might look into The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon or The Gossamer Years–they are diaries, not novels, but were written at the same time.
I think pretty much everyone is at least a little bit familiar with it. There are several modern Japanese translations, but people might read a little bit in the old style at school. There have been a couple of movie adaptations that I remember, neither terribly good. There have also been a few manga and anime versions. The places that she writes about are all long gone, but I have seen reproductions of the type of house she writes about in museums in Kyoto.
Here is the tripadvisor site for the Tale of Genji Museum. It’s in Japanese but there are some good photos:
https://www.tripadvisor.jp/ShowUserReviews-g946495-d545946-r438697942-The_Tale_of_Genji_Museum-Uji_Kyoto_Prefecture_Kinki.html
Anyway, glad you’re enjoying it! Always nice to find another Genji fan.
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The idea of the cheering show sounds so fab! Please do tell us how that goes
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Sye Ra is FABULOUS on the big screen, totally over the top spectacle. Yamadonga might be an interesting watch, it’s a sort of sarcastic story about tricking the God of Death. And Pushpa is great! Whoever put this list together has excellent taste 🙂
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My favorite video from YouTube today – https://youtu.be/mOq6zrdQXOY?si=0-28iq3YBn0k7J_m
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My remedy for the dark days is planning for holidays and post holidays. Are you making Christmas presents this year?
Emily
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I was gonna make presents, but as the time ticks by it is looking more and more like I am NOT. Oh well, I can give lovely donations and stuff instead 🙂 As for holiday planning, I was just looking ahead at the calendar and I remembered our annual Happy New Year watch on New Years Day! I hope folks can do that with me this year, it’s one of my favorite traditions.
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Aww ❤️
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Watching: I watched Sam Bahadur which was so nice and pleasant. In my opinion, it should’ve done better than Animal but I guess the hype is too big for that movie. I rewatched RRR and I am watching Honeymoon travels for the nth time. I wonder whether anyone has watched it as I would love to discuss it.
Listening: I am not listening to anything particular but I have been watching Indian Idol S14. I do think last season the contestants were stronger but they’re all very talented singers nevertheless. I really liked the rendition of Agar Tum Saath Ho by Menuka, she has such a good voice and I hope she wins.
Reading: I’ve restarted Possession by A.S. Byatt to finally finish it. It’s really good but not that easy to read as it’s so dense and jam packed with information.
Thinking: I have a lot of work but I’m excited for next week as its a very special week for me.
I don’t live in a cold place anymore but I adore sitting inside and reading and watching movies. I don’t like day’s in the winter so much but when its dark, I enjoy the light snow and being cozy indoors.
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Love Honeymoon Travels! And this week is the perfect time to rewatch, with The Archie’s releasing today! Get your Zoya-Reema background going!
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I totally get not going, but I really want someone to see Animal. I just want a trustworthy opinion on it from someone who properly hates Ranbir.
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I didn’t get to do much reading or watching this week, but I DID take a look at my Spotify Wrapped at the end of the year and was quite surprised to find that my most listened-to artist this year was Lata Mangeshkar! (Also most listened song was Hawayein from JHMS – no surprise there coz I kept bingeing the entire album 😄). I do love her, just didn’t realise I loved listening to her that much!!
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I’m watching my first Christmas movie this season, and it’s so terrible I must share. It’s Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane. The actors are so bad. The heroine is not only bad but also annoying. The plot is boring and ridiculous because they wanted to add a little of depth and make the protagonist regretful and sad, but it doesn’t work coz she is bad actress and the conflict is all FIRST WORLD RICH PEOPLE’S PROBLEM! Terrible. Not as bad as last year’s worst The Great Christmas Switch, but pretty bad.
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I just found out a terrible Christmas movie was filmed in Chicago last year! I think it’s called “Reporting on Christmas”? Anyway, now I am determined to watch it if only to see if I can recognize the locations.
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