Okay, you ready to fight me? The problem is, unlike actors, actresses never really get the chance to lead the industry, there isn’t a clear “Queen” the way there is a clear “King”. So this list is a bit of a judgement call, I realize that, and that means there is lots and lots of space for us all to argue.
This is fun, doing these little over view posts! The lists help me from getting all tangled up in my own thoughts, and let you join the discussion, because everyone has an opinion on what wasn’t included and should have been, and what was included and shouldn’t have been.
I put up a version of this post a couple of days ago, but then we all spitballed back and forth in the comments and ended up coming up with a few changes. So this is the New Improved Better version of the post (original version, you can still view here). This is to help sort of orient you to Indian film history. A big accepted “classic” from each decade that will help you understand how the industry grew and changed. I don’t promise that you will be able to find and watch each of them (the website indiancine.ma is a fantastic resource you might want to try), but you should at least be familiar with the titles of these films and what they meant.
This is a loose collection of what I call “Hindi Film 101” pieces. Things that give you a basic grounding so that you are able to understand the films, and the film industry instead of feeling lost and confused. And which might also make you think a bit even if you are already familiar with the industry.
Continue readingI’m continuing to crank through the small time actresses, the ones who only need a few movies to fully understand their careers. Because it’s a lot easier than trying to deal with the male stars and their longer careers, or the handful of super successful actresses (sorry Rani! I’ll get to you someday!) (last small time actress post here)
Padmavati is almost definitely certainly not coming out tomorrow (I have learned to not really count on anything with Indian film releases, but it does seem pretty certain). So, if you are jonesing for a cinematic Indian history fix, what can you watch instead?
I already put up one random actress post based on the first people I remembered off the top of my head. This time I want to bring together a whole bunch of random smaller actresses that I can cover quickly. With some fairly random suggestions of films you could watch to get an idea of them, since all their films are kind of the same, one film is as good as another. This should kind of fill in the background players of the industry, the minor artists who help bring it all together. Continue reading
Well, the Padmavati issue has taken a slightly different turn, the release is actually delayed. I haven’t seen that with a big Hindi film recently, although I know it has happened before, both in Hindi and other language industries. And the delay and some other comments indicate that this is beginning to move into a different category, politics and violence. Which means you are all going to get mad at me again when I try to address it, and I may lose a few more readers (well, a lot of readers). And get a fair amount of notice by trolls and hate groups (don’t worry, I will block most of them). But I also feel a bit of an obligation to address it. And this is the toned down version, my original post was a lot angrier.
This came up on yesterday’s News Round-Up post when we were talking about Dips and Padmavati and where she might go next. The thing is, there is a standard route where she will go that is kind of an unspoken but accepted thing. So I thought I might as well speak it, just in case you are new to the films and are unaware of the expectations for an actress. Oh, and also give a comparison with Hollywood in case you are new to Hollywood and unaware of the standard route there.
Another starter kit post!!! And I will have to somehow figure out how to squeeze it into the menu bar at the top. Exciting! Also exciting, you are all going to have so much fun disagreeing with my choices in the comments!
This is a post that has been burbling around in my brain for a while, and I thought I might as well just post it. Plus, it’s been a while since I put up one of those posts that gets everyone talking and angry with me/aggressively agreeing with me.
Well, I was able to watch the whole interview! After I read a bunch of excerpts already and so on. I encourage you to watch it for yourself, and then come back and give your own opinion.
Happy Monday! And the Padmavati trailer is out. Was released in the middle of the night. Quite a thing to wake up to! And be warned, this started as simple discussion of the trailer and ended up going into a whole different and very intense kind of direction. Which probably most of you will disagree with, I am happy to debate you in the comments so long as you remain respectful of those who disagree with you.
Tomorrow is the start of Shahrukh’s birthday month, which means you will have to suffer through 30 Days o’ SRK on this website. But before we get into that, I want to try to explain why he means so much to some of us, why a good half of my blog audience is reacting to the news of 30 Days o’ SRK with silent cheers. At least, what I think it is.
And now we reach the era that the majority of us are actually aware of! Yaaaaay! Which is also why this is the shortest post, because I didn’t feel the need to give nearly as much background. Feel free to take off in the comments with your on details for these films, if you want.
This is essentially a joint post. I am not lucky enough to have a copy of this book, but Gwen from the comments is and put up excerpts for us from each section. YAAAAAY! I want to post them here to make sure you all see them, and also add on what I can, that is, a little more background information about each film/director.
Now, FINALLY, we reach the films people know! Which is a story in itself, the way films were ignored and forgotten during the early years, even TV only plays stuff from after 1970, let alone being able to find it streaming or on DVD or VHS. But, setting that aside for a moment, let’s look at these new “modern” films. (part 1 here and part 2 here)
I don’t care if no one else is interested in this, I AM!!!! Plus, it’s good for you few people who want a sense of where the industry came from and where it’s going. And it is basically the complete opposite of JHMS coverage, so that’s a nice little refreshing breather for us all. (1940-1955 in the last post)
I got lots of cool suggestions yesterday as to what I should cover next, but while I let those percolate (and please, keep suggesting! Here is the post where I ask for ideas), I am going to do something simple and look at the top grossing film year by year since 1940. Should be an interesting way to see the industry evolving, both financially and creatively. You’ll see what I mean when I am complaining about the out of control box office inflation lately. Plus, gives us all space to talk about something totally different from Jab Harry Met Sejal.
Remember yesterday when I was driven to an existential crisis by the way the release of “Phurr” kept being delayed and delayed? Well, googling around today revealed there is a fascinating industry story behind it. “Phurr” is being publicized as the first song to be released behind a “paywall”. Which isn’t actually true, but that’s another story. (also, it’s on iTunes now, but also on Saavn, if you pay for the app like I do, you can download and listen as much as you want)
I put up a random epic post last Monday going over every step of the filmmaking process. But it seems like as a follow up I should really zero in on what happens during a “schedule”, when you actually start filming. Oh, and my Hindi Film 101 schedule is now totally blown, you may not get anything at all next week, because this exhausted me. But it was so interesting I just couldn’t resist!
We’ve had a lot of discussion on the Jagga Jasoos post about where things went wrong. And I think part of the reason we’ve been going around and around is because the production of an Indian film is so very different from the process for a Hollywood film. And, in addition, the Indian film producers waste a lot less time talking to reporters than Hollywood producers, so it isn’t as easy to get a sense of what really goes into their process. So I am going to lay it out for you here!
Oh boy, getting close to modern times! And the stuff that doesn’t have, like, any “perspective of history” on it at all. Which is also why it is really important to know about it to watch film, because it is the stuff that is kind of being worked through actively still through film plots. (part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here)
dontcallitbollywood 