I am trying SO HARD not to call this Chachi 420! Not that I ever saw Chachi 420, it was just so heavily promoted, and the title is so catchy, it’s hard not to use it instead of the original. On the other hand, not hard at all to avoid calling this Mrs. Doubtfire, because it changed the biggest message of Mrs. Doubtfire when it translated it to a Kamal Haasan film.
Okay, how many Teacher’s Days ARE there?!?!? I already did the American/International Teacher’s Day, and Guru Purnima (click the links if you feel the need to review former teacher songs), and now there’s ANOTHER Teacher’s Day? Just for India? Thank goodness there are so many teacher songs!
Now, if you remember, I looooooooved Ohm Shanti Oshaana. Whole-hearted no reservations loved it. And the big main thing I loved is still there in Aiyyaa, that it is a love story from the female side instead of the male, the woman gets to fall in love at first sight and be the stalker and make all the big gestures and stuff. But, all the little things in Aiyyaa are just WEIRD! Weird weird weird! I can see why it wasn’t a hit.
I was watching this thing thinking “okay, saw that in Sadak, saw that, saw that.” And then I looked up the years, and Baaghi was first! Sadak gets the mentions as this really cool deep love story, but it’s just doing what Baaghi did already. Okay, so Sadak is doing it better (because Mahesh Bhatt > Deepak Shivdasani), but still, Baaghi did it first!
I just found the most amazing new artist on youtube, which inspired me to think I should put up a quick post of all my favorite east-west mash-up videos.
My church did a service inspired by Krishna Janmashtani this morning. It was nice, a sort of general message of appreciating the innocence of the child, and how that can be spiritual, with lots of quotes from Swami Vivekananda. But I got so distracted hearing the slowed down instrumental version of all the hymns that I usually hear in movies!
This is partly inspired by a review that accessbollywood just posted of all the new heroes launched in the past few years and how Tiger Shroff compares now that his 3rd film is releasing. I mean, it’s a totally different topic, but I am stealing her idea of using this new release as an excuse to look back at previous similar films.
Forbes came out with their top earning actresses list yesterday, and the top earning actors list today. While yesterday Deepika was the only Indian news, today there are FOUR Indian actors on the list. Plus Jackie Chan right at the top at number 2. So, yeah, Hollywood watch out! Asia is coming for you! (also, Shahrukh is the highest Indian on the list! Woot-woot!)
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, so I am going to hit the highlights and mention a fewer smaller stories I found interesting as well, and see if I can cover it all.
I liked Mohenjo Daro better than Rustom! Surprise! I went in all set to be bored, since Rustom got the better reviews and the better box office, and then I ended up really like Mohenjo Daro! Much better than Rustom, which felt kind of old hat once you removed the period clothes and titillating connection to “real life”.
I was thinking I would do a full summary for this film, like I usually do for a major release. But then I started thinking about it, and the whole movie is basically exposition. There isn’t nearly as much to talk about as usual in terms of visuals or dialogue or character moments. So I’m going to skip through it pretty quick and just lay out what happened. If you don’t want to bother seeing the movie, but are curious about how the plot plays out, you are in the right place! (if you just want a regular review, look at my first Rustom post)
I know, I’ve been stuck on SRKajol and Ranishek and all these couples from the early 2000s! So I am going to try to find some of the new fandoms that those kids today are into.
There is more than you think! I’m not just talking about Dostana, or Kal Ho Na Ho, or Dunno Y…Jaane Q, or Bombay Talkies, or Margarita with a Straw, or even Fire. In the whole history of Indian film, there have always been those people off to the side, being themselves and being Queer.
This is kind of a repost, I put this up as one of my first fanvid posts ever. But the original post was kind of short, just the videos. So here it is, expanded and perfected, in honor of Pride.
If you are like me, you have long been frustrated with how hard Netflix makes it to find all their Indian titles. OK Kanmani, for instance, I only learned was in their system when I searched for Mani Ratnam specifically. Fandry, I only know is there because moviemavengal reviewed it. If you have also been suffering and cursing their search parameters, I have news!
Karisma Kapoor’s divorce FINALLY went through! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!! Oh, also there is a really weird picture of Aamir that just came out.
My publisher is making a limited number of books available through a Goodreads giveaway. If you are interested, here is the link:
And if you aren’t interested, because you already have/read my book and LOVE it, please post a review on goodreads, so other people can know what a genius I am.
Quick news update today, not really new-news, mostly following up on developing stories. Oh, and an interesting article about Shahrukh.
I’ve probably seen Sholay about 15 times by now. Partly because it is just impossible to turn it off once it starts. I think “oh I will just watch the train scene!” And then it is 4 hours later, and I’m all the way at the end. Besides watching it, I’ve read so many books and articles and essays and watched so many films that compare and contrast and discuss with it, I’m honestly not sure if I have anything new to say about it. Or maybe I have so much new to say it can’t be condensed into one post?
So, I and a few other lovely people stayed up very late/woke up very early to watch K3G together on twitter. And if you missed it, there is a way to relive the experience!
This movie made me so nostalgic! I remember 12 years ago my college roommate came back to the dorms and told me the whole plot while she unpacked all the food her mother sent her back with. And then I never actually got around to watching it myself in all the years since then, for no particular reason. Until today!
My book is out today! Woo! Available digitally or in paperback.
Here is the paperback link on Amazon.com Here it is on Amazon.in. And here is the general page for the digital edition (available through Amazon, iBooks, and others)
I think I’m going to celebrate by putting up an 8th picture of Shahrukh on my wall and having pie.
My publisher is helping me set up a watch along of K3G in a couple of days. If you want the live and fresh experience of my take on a film, check it out on twitter at my account, @mredlich21, or starting at 8pm CDT time on Thursday the 2nd (that’s 6:30am Friday the 3rd in India and I am embarrassed to tell you how long it took me to figure that out) follow and join in with the hashtags:
This movie, unfortunately, dealt with an issue that I know way too much about to really enjoy. That “unfortunately” isn’t for me, as I will explain I’m actually remarkably fortunate to have had so much experience with it, but it is unfortunate for the film. Which I wasn’t really able to appreciate on its own merits.
dontcallitbollywood 