This is NOT a good movie. Sorry to everyone (including one of my closest friends) who loves it, but facts are facts. On the other hand, there are more people than you would expect who love it! Something about this bad bad movie is just strangely lovable.
Continue readingWell, this is a movie that is very angry at authority figures! I can get behind that. The specifics of the message are maybe a little out of date, the GodMan is no longer as powerful in India as GodMob, but the general idea that blind trust in what you are told is bad, that’s a timeless message.
Continue readingWell, this was simultaneously better and worse than I expected! Mahesh’s directing and Sanjay and Alia’s chemistry together was far better than I hoped. And the anti-establishment message was a delight (I totally hit the nail on the head with my OSHO guess, by the way. Go me!). But the script as a whole just wasn’t quite good enough.
Continue readingIt finally released! And I decided it deserved it’s very own post. Generally looks like a decent movie (Mahesh could make no less), but also some interesting context.
Continue readingKind of a boring guy which, coincidentally, is what makes him so interesting. How does a boring boring person find a way to maintain some level of stardom?
Continue readingI thought I’d reviewed this movie, but I’d just hosted a tweetalong. Oh well, I am sure I can zip out some kind of a review in no time.
Continue readingOh there is so much to talk about with today’s stories! Not the actual stories, they are the usual fake bland PR stuff, but what they mean and what we think about them and all KINDS of things!!!!
Continue readingMy God is this a cute movie! It’s the kind of movie that you just want to pinch it’s cheeks and toss it in the air and dress in novelty clothing. SO CUTE!
Continue readingThis is a reposted post from a couple years ago, but it seems appropriate to remember her on her birth anniversary. Poor Parveen Babi, and also brave smart Parveen.
Continue readingThank you Filmikudhi for mentioning this book! It was a very good (and very quick) read. You can buy it for almost no money here. Really, check it out! Less than $2 and less than a 2 hour read.
Continue readingI already put up part 1, which covered the earliest Bombay generations. Now it’s time to move forward and bring us to the present day.
Continue readingThis is a suggestion from BollywoodNewbie (thanks BollywoodNewbir!) and it is a fun one, because the Bhatts are just so weird. Weird weird weird. And also, thank goodness, honest and open, so we know all about their wonderful weirdness. They are that one family you knew in high school that always had a messy house and strange food for dinner, but were super laidback and cool and it was more fun to be over at their house scrounging for food and painting on the ceiling than at home.
Continue readingThis is a bit of an odd duck for a “classics” post. It came out only 25 years ago, and isn’t as well remembered as some other films from the same era (Saajan, Khalnayak). I hadn’t even heard of it until it came up in an article on Sanjay. And then I watched it and went “wow! This is a brilliant movie!” So I am here to sing its praises, just in case you haven’t run across it before.
In honor of the release of Sanju today, I am reposting my entire series on Sanjay Dutt. If you can’t wait for the reposts, you can find the original posts in the index here. Continue reading
I think this is going to be the last part. The problem is, the more recent parts of Sanjay’s life don’t have the distance yet for them to be covered clearly. There’s little details, like him running the prison radio show, or Trishala calling him “Papa Dukes” on instagram, but the whole broad sweep of it isn’t clear yet. So I want to talk a little about Sanjay the person, who he is to those who know him, and leave it at that. (Hindi Film 101 index, including the other parts of the Sanjay story, here)
I’m back! The Sanjay story continues. And it starts to look a little brighter here. Before going even darker than ever.
Happy Birthday Mahesh! 69 years old today! And been directing films for the past 43 of those years. And half your movies are searingly intimate and real and incredibly high quality. And half of them are very low quality. What an interesting balance! Anyway, here’s my traditional 12 reasons I love you! (this is an updated and reposted post from last year)
This is a bit of an odd duck for a “classics” post. It came out only 25 years ago, and isn’t as well remembered as some other films from the same era (Saajan, Khalnayak). I hadn’t even heard of it until it came up in an article on Sanjay. And then I watched it and went “wow! This is a brilliant movie!” So I am here to sing its praises, just in case you haven’t run across it before.
Well, that was a terrible terrible very fun book! I believe essentially not one word of it, but BOY was it fun to read! Oh, and it also taught me nothing about the film industry, just a lot about Anu (who wasn’t really in the industry for that long).
After taking a little journey through film as a family industry and the Ratnam-Rahman connection, back to the old reliable Hindi Film 101 topic, tragic film heroines! Parveen Babi is a strong contender for “most tragic”. And part of that tragedy is how very short her story is, I bet I can do it all in one post.
Well, I guess if you give people everything they want, they will give you the one small thing you ask for in return.
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.
It’s still Mahesh Bhatt’s birthday! I celebrated by finally watching Arth. Well, most of Arth, I think I may have ended up with a slightly edited version.
Happy Birthday Mahesh! 68 years old today! And been directing films for the past 42 of those years. And half your movies are searingly intimate and real and incredibly high quality. And half of them are very low quality. What an interesting balance! Anyway, here’s my traditional 12 reasons I love you!
