Happy Saturday! And 13 days before Christmas! And I am spending the day wrapping and mailing my final gifts, because I have finished all my Christmas things almost two weeks early. Which is a day sooner than last year. Next year, a full two weeks early! Give me another few years, I’ll be done with Christmas before Thanksgiving!
Continue readingTag Archives: Rajinikanth
Ending Sridevi Day With The Beginning, Her First Movie Moondru Mudichu
This is really an unbelievable performance. As in, you watch the movie, enjoy the movie, then look it up and discover that it was Sridevi’s first adult role and she was only 13 and go “I don’t believe it”.
Continue readingIndian Film Myth Versus Truth
What a fun game/way to express our irritation! I am sure as Indian film fans (desi or non-desi) we have all dealt with the scornful outsider who thinks they know everything but really knows nothing.
Continue readingTwo Kinds of Fandom, Another Not Conclusive Thinky Post
Again, I don’t necessarily have a conclusion for this, it is just the beginning of thoughts and I’m not sure where they should be going. But there is such a nice interesting discussion going on the last thinky post on stardom, that I want to keep the thinking going.
Continue readingIntro to Rajinikanth: 5 Films to Watch Before Darbar
I’m not a southern film expert, like, AT ALL. But I do know enough to suggest 5 films that might help you to understand why Rajini Sir is such a big deal, and what he means to people. Because I just went through that journey myself and these are the 5 films that helped me. And apparently his next film is going to be big BIG (since just the first look poster got a cross-language release), so now is a good time to study up.
Continue readingImportant Question For Us to Answer! Is Jackie Shroff More or Less Appealing Naked Than Other Stars of His Age?
Popka Superstar claims that Jackie is not stomach turning when naked. I claim that he is. Now, for a fair and objective decision if this is ageism or Jackie-ism, I am going to list out the other actors of Indian film of the same age so we can compare bodies.
Continue readingDirectors Week: K. Balachander, Father of Tamil Cinema
Yaaaay, a classic director! Better than that, a classic director whose films are readily available online (thank you Rajshri Tamil official youtube channel, blessings on you and long may you reign).
Continue readingHappy Star Wars Day!!!!! Let’s Recast it In Hindi Film in Every Decade!!!!
Obviously, today is Star Wars day. And so I am reposting my Star Wars fanfic post. And I am adding on regional cast ideas (mostly because Prithviraj has to be Han Solo if there is any justice in the world)
Continue readingGlobal Box Office: Kedarnath Sells More Tickets Than 2.0
Box office day!!!! Yaaaaaay! And we get to see if 2.0 has staying power, and if Kedarnath has opening day power. And then answer to both is…..sort of! (as always, figures from bollywoodhungama)
Box Office Report: 2.0 Opens Up New Markets, Big in Australia and Germany
Don’t believe the hype! 2.0 did very very good, but still not as good as many other films of the past. The box office is still sliding. At least, the international box office. From what I am seeing, the Indian box office truly was record breaking. (as always numbers from bollywoodhungama.com)
2.0 Review (SPOILERS): Rajinikanth as 3 Separate Characters, and Akshay as 1 Indelible One
As I already said in my No Spoilers review, this move is surprisingly good! Well, “surprising” to me, because I usually don’t like Shankar, and the trailer made it seem like just shallow action. So, I recommend watching it if possible without having read spoilers. But if you don’t believe it can really be that good, read the spoilers and then go see it anyway. Oh, and I should say it isn’t a total “anyone will love it” movie, so if you don’t like action science superhero films, you probably won’t like this.
2.0 Review (No Spoilers): Surprise! It’s Actually a Really Good Movie!
This is my favorite way to be wrong. A movie I wrote off as terrible based on the ad campaign and so on turns out to be great! Boo for my predictive abilities but YAAAY for the WORLD!!!!
Hindi/Tamil/Telugu/Malayalam/Kannada 101 RePost: Rajinikanth Part 2, Homeless to Millionaire (in honor of the release of 2.0)
I already put up my part 1, which I am sure was not fully accurate and certainly not complete. But it is my stab at somehow pulling together what little I know into a cohesive whole, in the hopes that it starts a conversation and I can learn more from you all.
Hindi/Tamil/Kannada/Malayalam/Telugu Film 101 RePost: Rajinikanth’s Life, Part 1 Bus Conductor to Movie Star (in Honor of 2.0 Releasing)
Well, I did it! I finally finished my Rajinikanth biography! Now I just have the Savitri, Hema Malini, and Shashi Kapoor biography on my to do pile. Plus various other film books that aren’t star memoirs. Anyway, now I am ready to very tentatively try to put together some kind of narrative of Rajinikanth’s life, based on the movies I have watched (far more than I realized!), and this book, and information I gathered elsewhere
Songs From Upcoming Movies! 2.0 and Kedarnath
Fun fun! Song songs! I don’t know how these movies will be, but the songs are really lovely. Too bad it’s after Thanksgiving so I am not allowed to listen to anything but Christmas music until the 26th (allowed by myself, I have very strict rules for me).
Thalapathi, Ratnam and Rajinikanth Together
It’s a Mani Ratnam movie, so the directing is just all around excellent. But more importantly, Rajnikanth! It’s my first Rajnikanth movie (not counting Ra.ONE, because why would you?) and I have to say, he does impress!
Bloodstone! I Watched Rajinikanth’s Hollywood Starring Role!
Well, that was a bad movie! But absolutely worth the $30 it took to buy the last DVD copy available in the world. It was definitely an interesting experience and now I can tell you all about it, so you don’t have to waste time tracking down your own DVDs.
Hindi/Tamil/Telugu/Malayalam/Kannada 101: Rajinikanth Part 2, Homeless to Millionaire
I already put up my part 1, which I am sure was not fully accurate and certainly not complete. But it is my stab at somehow pulling together what little I know into a cohesive whole, in the hopes that it starts a conversation and I can learn more from you all.
Hindi/Tamil/Kannada/Malayalam/Telugu Film 101: Rajinikanth’s Life, Part 1 Bus Conductor to Movie Star
Well, I did it! I finally finished my Rajinikanth biography! Now I just have the Savitri, Hema Malini, and Shashi Kapoor biography on my to do pile. Plus various other film books that aren’t star memoirs. Anyway, now I am ready to very tentatively try to put together some kind of narrative of Rajinikanth’s life, based on the movies I have watched (far more than I realized!), and this book, and information I gathered elsewhere
TGIF: World Elephant Day, People With/On Elephants
My sister’s visiting, I’m feeling lazy, and it’s World Elephant Day on Sunday. So that’s as good a reason as any to look at people with elephants, right?
Thursday Tamil: Kaala Review (SPOILERS), the Problem of the White Woman Savior
I already put up the No Spoilers review. You can read that if you want to avoid spoilers, this is the place to come if you have already seen the movie and couldn’t follow the plot, or want to talk about it, or just want to read what I thought. This is also the place to come if you read the no spoilers review and don’t think you will ever want to watch this movie but still want to know what happened. It’s not the greatest film, so that is a decent possibility and I won’t judge you if that is your decision.
Thursday Tamil: Kaala Review (No Spoilers), People Are Not Unhygenic
I made a big fuss (okay, a modest fuss) about how Carol should see the Tamil version not the dubbed, and then I ended up at the dubbed. Oh well, it was either that or wait until Saturday. So instead I did a dubbed version at a midweek show which means I will be yawning and fussing through work tomorrow.
Tuesday Tamil: 16 Vayathinile, Sridevi Grows Up Onscreen
Happy Tuesday! Did not mean to make this another Sridevi week, I was looking for something intelligent and intense and on youtube with subtitles, and I landed on this film. And then later learned it was Sridevi’s second major role.
Kaala Teaser! Big Enough I am interrupting my vacation for it!
Greetings from the airport! Where I am all energized from the Kaala teaser! If Rajinikanth can still do fight scenes at 60, I can definitely handle dragging a suitcase through the airport.
Sridevi Daily Review: Chaalbaaz! Seeta Aur Geeta, But Stronger
This is the last Sridevi daily review. Not the last review, I am sure I will continue watching her movies, but the last special review. As I said in my earlier post, I don’t want to feel that I am dragging this out, that her death is over-shadowing her life, and so it’s time to move back to a regular blog schedule. But first, ChaalBaaz!