In my last few posts, I’ve mentioned how the ADHM issue isn’t quite the same as My Name is Khan yet, because the government and police haven’t weighed in and picked a side. That is no longer the case.
Oh man, it looks SO GOOD!!! Dear Zindagi, not ADHM. ADHM looks the same as before, this new teaser provided no new info.
Yaaaaay! Karan says something! And it is personal and passionate and well-written and completely serious. Not his usual “Koffee With Karan” persona, that other side of Karan, the one that comes out when he really cares about something.
The biggest news is really the meta-news that there are 3 news stories about ADHM to one about Shivaay. Clearly, the people who run English language industry news sites are pretty sure that their readers care more about ADHM then Shivaay news.
I’m still sick, so this may not be as logical and clear as it could be. But I still have to report it because it is SO BIG!
Lots of not-so-happy news items today, but also a baby! So if you slog through the less happy parts of the post, I will reward you with a baby at the end!
Thank you Karan for not saying what time you would post this one exactly, and therefore not making me stay up all night waiting! Much better to have it just suddenly appear in my twitter feed.
I thought there was news today, but then I dug into it, and yeah, there’s no news. It’s just rumors and suppositions with famous names thrown in to make me click the link. Oh well.
This is, like, half a story. But it’s about Bahubaali 2, so I care DEEPLY. And I figure most other people would as well. Also, kind of interesting from an industry stand point.
I already had a little news post today, but now there is more Amitabh and Aamir news, so I HAVE to post about that!!!
I thought Ajay couldn’t top suing Yash Chopra’s widow days after his death, but this is pretty bad! Not that he’s actually necessarily in the wrong, just like he wasn’t in the wrong last time, but it’s just turning into a whole thing again which isn’t going to help anybody’s film.
Okay, Raja Sen, on whom I have a HUGE brain crush (see also: Rajinder Dudrah), interviewed Karan for rediff, and you should go there and read the whole thing right NOW NOW NOW. And then come back here so we can talk about it.
I saw Varun Dhawan!!! And other people were there too. I mean, other people in the audience, it wasn’t just me and Varun alone in a room. But also, there were other people in the show. Only, I don’t really care about any of them. Which is really the big news, that Varun was so clearly superior to everyone else in the Dream Team show.
It’s Kajol’s birthday! YAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! I LOVE her! Love love love! So I am going to do a full 42 reasons I love her, one for every year she’s been alive. Oh boy!
Finally! A juicy story involving family connections and possible repercussions through out the industry! I mean, most likely it will all blow over in a couple of days, but at least it is exciting while it lasts!
Quick news update today, not really new-news, mostly following up on developing stories. Oh, and an interesting article about Shahrukh.
Normally I’d try to fluff this post up with some other new-news, but I’m not even going to bother! It’s all about the party!
(That photo up above isn’t from the party, it’s from the Royal event a few months back. But don’t they look handsome?)
Karan is 44 years old today! Not married, no kids, but it doesn’t matter because his legacy is going to be everything he has done for Indian film for the past 18 years. And Student of the Year is a big part of that.
A couple of unrelated casting stories came out yesterday about some films Dharma has in production. Well, unrelated except that they both prove Karan Johar is the choice of stars looking for a safe place to launch their kids.
Just announced/leaked/confirmed/however you want to put it: Kajol is doing a cameo in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil! And also, Fawad and Siddharth. But mostly, Kajol!
Which brings up the question, what the heck is Ae Dil Hai Mushkil?
Karan Johar tweeted a link (restricted link, so I can’t embed it, but you can find it through the Times of India here) to the first trailer to Aligarh this morning. It looks like a great movie, but the trailer, and the fact that Karan tweeted it, raise some interesting questions. Related both to Indian film and Indian society.
I did it! I got all the way through the first half of Quantico, watching just in case there is a moment that directly relates to or reveals something about Priyanka’s Indian career. And there is not! But I will be back in March (or whenever), just in case at some point she breaks character, faces the camera, and tells us all about what she really thinks about Kareena Kapoor, what the big fight with Karan Johar was about, and if Ranveer Singh actually hates her as much as he seems to in interviews (and vice versa).
So far, it’s just been a bunch of stuff that those who watch her Indian stuff already know: she is totally willing to do sexy scenes and kisses, her hair is great, she definitely has a new nose, and she has weird chemistry with powerful older men. Oh, and she can’t act (duh).
What I didn’t realize before was how much she is willing to sell out her identity in order to make it overseas. I know that she isn’t the one writing the show or producing it, but she claims she had her choice of scripts and concepts, and this is the one she chose? One that turns a Christmas episode into a New Years one because they didn’t want to deal in anyway with whether a Hindu and a Muslim would celebrate Christmas? One that, last week, dismissed her Om bracelet as a symbol of her personal identity, rather than a sign of her being a practitioner of the 3rd largest religion in the world? One that argues we should avoid violence against the Muslim community because it will turn them against us, not because it is wrong?
In his interview last month with Vogue India, Shahrukh Khan was once again asked why he has never taken a role in an American film, despite being the most popular international star:
“I hope everyone who ‘goes across’ does very well. We’re the biggest filmmaking country in the world and it’s time we were outbound. Yes, if there’s a film with the right role for me, I’ll do it. But I’ll be honest; I’ve never been offered such a film….They should be [afraid of me]. They have to offer me something that doesn’t disrespect my audience of 1.2 billion. I’d never disrespect that,”
Not just Shahrukh, but all of the major stars have given some version of this explanation. Aamir, Salman, Amitabh, they don’t want to work overseas unless it is something that respects them, and respects their audience.
So the biggest thing I learned about Priyanka from my death march through this show is that she doesn’t respect her audience, and she doesn’t seem to respect herself much either.
dontcallitbollywood 