I wasn’t going to bother with a post about this, but we have already talked SO MUCH in the comments about how much we hate it, I thought I might as well give us one central place to discuss the new stupid Yash Raj promotional strategy.
Happy Wednesday! Time to talk about what all we have been reading and watching and thinking this week. Oh, and I have a fun question for us to discuss too!
Well, I have now seen all the less controversial/hardcore versions of Swept Away. This one, the original We’re Not Dressing with Bing Crosby, Overboard of course, and The Admirable Crichton. Which was a JM Barrie play, so I haven’t “seen” it, but I have read it. Next step, the Korean TV series! (not really, I think I am done with this story for another 5 years) Anyway, isn’t it fascinating how consistent it is across cultures?
In case have haven’t figured it out, I am working up to the final characters. Bhalla is 3rd to last, then Devasena, then Amarendra. I debated making Bhalla second, because he really is the co-lead of the films in many ways. But on the other hand, his character is slightly less important overall than Devasena. But only slightly. Feel free to make that your first discussion point in the comments, if Bhalla deserved the the second place instead of Devasena. (full index of Bahubal posts here)
Happy 4th of July! I am celebrating by not doing anything and just enjoying having a random day off in the middle of the week. And I am going to have a little song festival of American-themed Indian movie songs. As always with these posts, if I missed one you like, just mention it in the comments! (this is an updated and reposted post from last year)
I just cycled through a whole bunch of variations on that title, “unexpected”, “juxtapositions”, “breaking boundaries”, but really it’s just shock. That kind of “I can’t believe they went there!” shock. Which is why it is really too bad that I saw this film after having already seen a whole bunch of other movies that went to the same kind of shocking place. Since all the others were just imitating this one, it should have had the privilege of shocking me first.
This is a semi-random non-Indian post. Partly it’s because Niki has been talking about the show in her comments lately, partly it’s because I just started a rewatch while unpacking yesterday (I know it so well, I don’t have to pay close attention or even see the screen to enjoy it, so perfect for moving around boxes). Anyway, I always want to write about anything I am seeing, so why not let myself? And just to make it vaguely relevant, I’ll also talk about the things that are and are not Indian in the show and why it would and would not (mostly would not) work in a true Indian remake.
Well, this was interesting! For the first time ever, I got to experience the twitter madness of waiting for a song trailer to come out. Because usually the time zones/my interest level doesn’t allow for it. And I have to say, twitter is a cesspool of stupidity and misinformation! Who knew? Anyway, I am glad I usually stay off of it. Although this was kind of fun to experience once.
Happy Monday! I only have to work one day, and then I get tomorrow off, yay!!! And then I work 3 more days and it’s the weekend, yaaaaaaay! But, in the meantime, I still have to get through this day. So distract me with questions!
Yaaaay, another cute trailer! Which basically gives away the entire plot! But it’s a good plot, so I’m fine with that. Really, most of the time I think if you don’t want to see a movie once you know the plot, then it’s a baaaaaaad movie. We should enjoy films for more than just the plot, there are the characters and the dialogue and everything else. And this film is definitely going to be about the characters. (oh, and it was posted with subtitles right from the start, so I think this is a clear sign that Shahrukh is reading my blog and loves me)
I just wanted to share my joy. And also explain why posting has been down today. It’s because I have been obsessively putting my apartment together. It’s still not perfect, but it’s getting there! Most importantly, as the headline says, MY POSTERS ARE UP!!!!
I was hoping I could do this on Yash’s birthday or half birthday or something, like I did for Karan, but there’s no special occasion I could find, and I had this post idea poking around in my head, so heck, I’m just going for it.
I was looking for movie-to-have-on-in-the-background-while-unpacking, and Netflix reminded me that it has Dus now (for full list of all Indian movies on Netflix, check out accessbollywood.net here; for my opinion and recommendations of Indian movies on Netflix look at my post here). And I am so glad I was reminded! It really is the perfect movie. In a very particular category of movie.
Continuing our character posts, next up, Kattappa! Introduced 4th in the films, after Sivagami, Shivudu, and Avantika. And again, this is not meant to be the end all-be all on this character. Just sort of an interesting leaping off point to consider him. (full index of Bahubali posts, including other character posts, is here)
Happy Doctor’s Day! Which I only know about from Amitabh’s twitter. Which is true of so many things, Amitabh really does tweet about everything. (this is an updated and reposted post from last year, and once again, I STILL only know about it from Amitabh’s twitter!)
I am almost done with the official Bahubali novel, and I have to say, my fanfic matches my feeling for the films much better than the novels. I’m not saying it is better objectively, just that the things I liked from the films (strong characters, moral quandaries, a magical world, romantic love) are what I am playing around with in my fanfic, while the “real” novels are playing around with some whole other thing (it’s like the movies, but with sex! Lots and lots of graphic boring sex! And child killings) (full index of Bahubali posts, including the rest of the fanfic, here)
I was going to do something slightly more highbrow. Indian movie stars with the American flag or something. But then I thought “No! Why overthink it?” And so our theme for this week is a Declaration of Independence….from clothing!
This took an interesting turn! I wanted to talk about Sujata and caste in India, and I ended up spending a lot of time talking about race in America. Because, in the end, they are both about social illusions we have been trained to accept, which can be broken by something as simple as hearing a baby’s cry.
Another Jab Harry Met Sejal trailer! Isn’t it nice of Shahrukh to make sure my views stay up even as Bahubali fever ends? Or, to put it another way, isn’t it smart of Shahrukh to hold is promotion until there is a gap in the news cycle which he can fill?
I’m just cruising along with these character posts! Partly because, as I said before, they are more sort of discussion starts than the end all-be all. Every single moment of character development has been covered in the scene by scene posts, this is just gathering together some of the more interesting thoughts in one place. (full index of all Bahubali posts, including the other character posts, available here)
Well, Karan Johar is tweeting about it, so that means it must be news. Fine! I will talk about the new Jagga Jasoos trailer! And then as a reward for my good behavior, I will talk about the trailers I actually like.
Did anyone notice I skipped Hindi Film 101 on Tuesday? These loooooooong posts take a long time to write, and in the meantime I am missing reporting on trailers, news stories, box office. So I am trying to find a better balance, and since Hindi Film 101 is the least read of them all (then DDLJ posts, then Sunday Speculative. Monday Malayalam and Tuesday Telugu/Tamil, so long as I write about newer movies, do really well. No one reads about the K. Balachander films), it is getting the axe. Well, the half axe, I’m still doing it on Thursdays. (last Nehru-Gandhi post here)
Welcome back to DDLJ! I’m going to try my best to put up a post every Wednesday, we’ll see how I do. I already had to stop my box office posts when I got regular with Hindi Film 101, this may mean the end of birthday and/or trailer news posts. I’ll check viewership and see what the concensus is as to which are more important and based on that I may need to take another DDLJ break at some point. (All DDLJ posts indexed here)
I am so proud of that headline! SO PROUD!!!!! Everyone, stand back and admire it………..Okay, moving on, box office!
Another Bahubali post! A short one, more of a beginning of a discussion if you want to keep talking in the comments, than the definitive comprehensive take on things. (to see all the Bahubali posts, check the Index here)
dontcallitbollywood 