No young women really in his orbit in this one, but that’s part of what I find so interesting. That just 16 years ago, it was all about the male generations handing things down to each other (Amitabh to Shahrukh to Jugal Hansraj/Uday Chopra/Jimmy Shergill). And now we are in a space where the future is a young woman.
I find this an interesting one to think about. Because Shahrukh manages to be in a May-December romance, in which the power is balanced between both parties. Very hard to do, often in the fictional version of these relationships, the young woman is supposed to “control” the man with his desire for her, or the man is so much wiser that she obeys him in every way. But Rab Ne is different.
King Uncle is a silly silly not very good movie. Did I mention silly? But it is notable for building an entire film around a female child character. Children based movies are rare enough in Indian film, but female child based films are even rarer.
I knew this movie was a big deal, and I knew it was inspired/related to Maine Pyar Kiya. But I didn’t know how innocent it would be! Innocent like Maine Pyar Kiya, but even more so.
Thanks to a recommendation in the comments on my Halloween post, I watched Sardaar Ji! My second Punjabi movie! These movies are FUN! And, they make me feel like I am a cool Punjabi woman who can handle anything, at least for a little while.
Third and final Shivaay post! I already put up a No Spoilers review, and a Spoilers review. Now it’s time for the more specific detailed summary of the whooooooooole movie.
I’m just assuming this is going to turn into multiple parts. Shivaay I’m going to knock out in one looooooooooong post, but this movie is a lot more interesting than that one. If you aren’t down for a detailed shot by shot moment by moment discussion, you can check out my quick spoiler review and No Spoilers review I already wrote for ADHM.
I put up my Spoilers review first, for once, because I wanted a place for people who had already seen the movie to discuss it. But now it’s time for a review for people who haven’t seen the movie yet, and are curious what other people think about it. But NO SPOILERS. Because the plot is very carefully constructed to build point to point, and if you do decide to see the movie, you should try to go in fresh.
Normally I’m not that careful about spoilers on this blog. I flag them when I put them into a post, I put up spoiler and non-spoiler reviews, but I don’t care if you read the spoiler review before you see the movie, or if you put a spoil in a comment, or whatever. However, in this case, I’d like to try to keep the experience that Karan carefully crafted for the audience. So I’m putting up this review early, so everyone who has seen it has a place to think about and talk about the film as a whole. And then the other review will be for people who haven’t seen the movie yet, but are planning to.
I’m going to put up a full summary later, probably today or tomorrow. But in the meantime, here’s a review for people who’ve seen the movie, or are never planning to see the movie and don’t care about SPOILERS.
I saw Shivaay tonight! Because it was the practical thing to do based on theater schedules, even though everyone else is seeing ADHM. I’m glad I saw it, not necessarily glad I saw it before ADHM.
I watched this movie months and months ago when it first arrived on American Netflix, but that was before I was blogging seriously so I didn’t pay very close attention. I wanted to watch it again, now that the remake will be releasing soon (January 13th), and think about how this film could possibly be remade.
Mani Ratnam strikes again! Another great romance with a complicated heroine and interesting supportive hero. Oh, and I am going to assume for this entire review that you at least know the big thing that is revealed 10 minutes into the film, so if you are obsessive about SPOILERS and don’t even want to know that, DON’T READ ANY MORE!!! But if you are fine with the 10 minute in reveal, but want to be protected from what happens in the remaining 113 minutes, keep going until the usual SPOILER marker.
I LOVED this movie! This is going to be my new happy making comfort food film every time I get down. Everyone is happy and good and does good happy things and has good happy things happen to them. And even if something bad does happen, not to worry! You’ll just get another chance in your next life!
I saw Nadhiya before in Mirchi, and was stunned by how the “mother” actress was so much more beautiful and interesting than the love interests. That is even more true in this film, to the point that it is almost acknowledged in the script, that Pawan Kalyan was more interested in bringing his aunt home, than in spending time with her daughter who he professed to be in love with.
As you may have picked up from my Aval Shanmughi and Ambe Sivam posts, I have a hard time with Kamal Haasan. Yes, he is a brilliant actor. Yes, he has movie star charisma. But it just seems like his characters have to be so perfect and so wonderful, that no one else is allowed to do anything. But this Kamal Haasan movie, this one I liked!
Force 2 is coming out, which finally got me to go back and watch the first one. I remember there was a lot of buzz about a “whole other kind of John Abraham movie”, and I remember really liking the songs. And then I remember learning about the plot and deciding that I didn’t want to see it after all.
Really, not many surprises here. The broad strokes are all familiar. Which is a good thing, stories become legends because they are powerful, why mess with something that works?
Fitoor is certainly the biggest flop of 2016 for the Hindi industry, if not of all time, and may have actually brought about the downfall of an entire studio. So it seems insulting to compare another film to it, but I didn’t actually mean it as an insult. Well, not an insult to Mirzya. I always mean to insult Fitoor, because that is a terrible terrible movie.
Okay, the first half felt like it had a very clear and defined message about working hard and pursuing excellence for its own sake, with no hope of reward. And then the second half just felt all meh and mushy. And it’s when the romance was suddenly shoved in with seemingly little connection to the rest of the film. (first half summary here)
I put up my non-spoiler review up right after I watched it, but I wanted to kind of let the film percolate before I attempted my detailed summary/spoiler review. Which might mean that a miss a scene here or there, but I should have a better idea of the overall message of the film. Oh, and I let it percolate too long (or not long enough?) so this is going to be too long and end up split in two parts.
This was not the best movie to watch the same time as Pink. Or maybe it was the best movie to watch? It certainly helped highlight exactly why Pink is groundbreaking! And yes, I know, it’s another one that wasn’t recommended, but it’s the last one on the Netflix list. And I really hope it isn’t the first Malayalam movie anyone watches, because ENRAGING!!!!
I saw MS Dhoni: the Untold Story! My first opening night movie since Akira! It was so nice to be back in a crowded theater with whistles and crying kids and all the other good things.
I was sailing along through this movie, dum-de-dum, more or less seeing where it was going, and then BAM! The last half hour hits, and everything changes! Such an odd experience! Kind of like when you miss the last step on the stairs.
This was a so-so movie. Unless I am missing some deeper level. But I am pretty sure it just made its way onto my list because of Namitha Pramod, no deeper reason. It’s a fine movie, with a couple of original ideas, but that’s kind of it.
dontcallitbollywood 