(Yet another reposted post! But it is one that really belongs in the Hindi Film 101 series, so this is just righting a wrong)
Valentine’s Day! Day of love! And for that reason, a good day for a one of post just about love stories. The two kinds of them, the socially relevant ones in which the romance is just a jumping off point for a broader social issue, and the fun fun fun ones that just make you smile.
Once again, I ended a series on a Tuesday! So I am going to give you a little longer to decide what you want to read about next, and do just a little one-off for Thursday. And, for the first time, I am going to attempt to cover Amitabh. Except he is so big, I think I will try to do it piecemeal. Starting with The Coolie Accident, mentioned in my Rekha coverage.
Part 3! I am so glad I decided to do this in multiple parts. I probably could have squeezed it all into one, but Rekha has really lived many lives, it is only fair to give her many posts. Oh, and again, almost all this information comes from This Book. Buy it if you like these posts and want to learn more! (post 1 here and post 2 here)
This is such a fun one to write! Mostly because it is so fake. Rekha is brilliant at manipulating the press and crafting an image for herself, so her whole life story (as presented to the public) sounds like something out of a bad melodrama. Oh, and almost all of this is based on This Book, which is a super fun read and if you like this post, you should go buy it and read it.
Oh, this is gonna be a fun one! And I am sure it will only be able to scratch the surface, so please add on nifty details in the comments. And I should also acknowledge, it is almost entirely taken from This Book. If you like this post, Buy It! And if you disagree with this post, Blame It! (not really, I’m the one who bought the book and chose which parts to believe and repeat)
My first Hindi Film 101 series was on the Kapoors which took FOREVER. So I am doing a nice little refreshing change and doing a simple 2 generation family (so far) with only 2 major stars in it (so far). The Khanna-Kapadia-Kumars!
Well, there was no over-whelming consensus on my voting post last Thursday as to what to do next, so I think I will pick the Khanna-Kumars. Partly because I started Dimple’s story and never finished it with the Kapoors, partly because I am in love with Twinkle and Akshay after their Koffee appearance, and partly because Rajesh Khanna was a very big deal and you should know about him!
I am making an exception and putting up two 101 posts in one day! Because I want to finish off the Kapoors all nice and tidy on a Thursday, so I can start fresh with somebody else next week. Speaking off, there will be a poll at the end of this entry for you to decide who you want to read about next. (also, after some nagging and requests, I have set up a menu area for Hindi Film 101, you can see them all here)
I am trying to keep each of these posts to around 2,000 words, just seems like anything more would be too over-whelming! Which means I had to break Ranbir off from his Dad. But, as a bonus, I am tossing in his youngest uncle (not much to say about Rajiv). And I will be back on Thursday to deal with the “other” Kapoors, Anil and Sonam and their clan. (part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here)
2 weeks into my new series, and I am getting decent views and comments. Yay! I will tentatively continue. In case you are new to this, the idea is that if you didn’t grow up surrounded by Hindi film, it can be hard to learn all the things that small children in India just know by osmosis. And so I am giving you a little “101” course on the things you need to learn. Kind of a follow up on the basic grounding I gave in my book. (part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here) Starting with the Kapoors, because where else?
Okay, I was thinking this would be a nice easy starting point for my new Hindi Film 101 series, and it is taking FOREVER. But I’m glad I’m doing it this way, because each of these branches and generations really needs their own focus area. And (hopefully) it will make it easier for you to refer back to them (part 1 with Prithviraj, Shammi, and Shashi here, part 2 with Raj and Nargis here)
I am trying a new thing, sort of cliff notes version of Hindi film history. Not the actual history (“Bombay Talkies studio was founded by Harivanshri Rai and Devika Rani…”), but the gossip history that everyone kind of knows if they’ve grown up with the films or if they’ve been following them for years. But I know that isn’t true for some of my readers and so, just for you, I am giving you the kind of informal oral history. Starting with the Kapoor Family (part 1 here).
I have had so much fun in the past few weeks talking with Ryan C in the comments. He is new(ish) to Indian film and is asking me all sorts of wonderful questions, and giving me delightfully enthusiastic responses, and it made me think about how maybe I should do more posts sort of aimed at that level. Ideally, you can get that from My Book (really, read it! It’s super short and fast and once you are done, you will know everything you need to understand the movies), but now I am thinking maybe I should try something like that on the blog as well?
dontcallitbollywood 