Okay, back to work! Ish. I’ll still be taking things slow, but I need to do something, and I also need to finish all my thoughts on ADHM before I get too far from the last time I saw it.
Part 4! I am just zipping along! Sort of! Not really! But to be fair, I am also doing really short posts. I could probably have knocked this whole thing out in 4, if I did longer lengths. But then I would get all tired and resentful and wouldn’t have the energy to post about anything else. So, part 4, still not up to Interval! (part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here)
I saw ADHM for the second time last night and, just as I suspected, I enjoyed it much more on a second watch, when I knew what was going to happen and I could focus on just appreciating how they built it up. And this also means I have a much clearer memory of the details, and can come back to my full summary in multiple parts, all renewed and refreshed!
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.
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 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.
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?
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.
I already put up my no spoilers review, this is the review with spoilers, assuming you have already seen the movie. Or can’t quite bring yourself to watch it but still kind of want to know what happens. In that case, I am here for you!
I already put up my non-spoiler quick little review. This is the bigger one with lots of plot details. I won’t be doing the full summary, like I do sometimes, but I will be revealing all the plot high points. So if you are kind of curious about this movie, but not curious enough to spend the money and time going to a theater, read this! Normally I try to encourage people to see the movie anyway, but in this case, I can sincerely say, “don’t bother, just read this.”
I already put up a non-spoiler review, and a spoiler-y review that goes into detail all the way through the first half. And now I am refreshed, post-nap, and ready to move on and finish off the rest of the film!
I already posted my non-spoilers review, now it’s time for the Spoilers one! I’m going to also try to go through the whole film real quick point by point, so you can follow my reasoning even if you haven’t had a chance to see it yet. Or if you don’t want to see it, but you want to know what happened. (second half through to the ending available here)
I already put up my spoiler-free review, right when I got home late last night, but now that I’ve slept on it, I’m ready for my spoiler review! And I am very excited because there are all these plot details that I am DYING to talk about!
I put up my non-spoilers review already, now it’s time for the one where I zoom through the whole film for those who missed it in theaters and want to know what happened, and for those who saw it in theaters and want a detailed discussion of every part.
No one cares about this movie, do they? That’s kind of too bad. It’s a sweet little film, and it says something a little unusual and interesting about relationships, and also narrative structure and assumptions.
In my earlier non-Spoiler review, I mentioned that Mohenjo felt like 3 good movies smashed together into one, a romance, a political drama, and a big action movie. Now, after I’ve had time to let the movie percolate in the back of my mind, I think the romance is the best of the 3. Not by much, they are all strong, but the romance was just the slightest bit better filled in and more emotionally resonant.
I’m really excited about these super early rumors for Ajay and Anil’s next, even though they contain basically no substantial content, so I am reporting them anyway!
I already did a detailed discussion yesterday comparing and contrasting the first halves of DDLJ and Humpty. And that got so long that I decided to break at intermission and talk about the second half today. This may be slightly too much thought to put in to Humpty (although it is a very good movie. With a terrible title), but it is interesting as an example of how DDLJ has forever changed and influenced the Indian romance film.
I just watched Humpty Sharma again, for like the 7th time. But it was interesting watching it now, while I am in the middle of my DDLJ recap. So I was hyper aware of what it took from DDLJ and what it got rid of.
I broke off sort of in the middle of a scene last time, because I was going soooooooooooo slowly, and because there was so much important stuff to cover! But now I’m back, and I’m going to get through to the moment when I fell in love with Shahrukh 12 years ago. Actually, I think it was 12 years ago this month. It was during summer school, and July sounds about right.
(part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here, part 5 here, part 6 here, part 7 here, part 8 here, part 9 here, part 10 here, part 11 here, part 12 here, part 13 here, part 14 here, part 15 here, part 16 here)
This isn’t just Shahrukh making his move on Kajol in the context of this film, this is Shahrukh making his move on, well, the world! It is in this next series of scenes that he turned from “promising young actor who has a certain something” into “Godlike Superstar”. (and also, if you’ve read my book, you know these are the scenes where I personally fell in love with him)
(part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here, part 5 here, part 6 here, part 7 here, part 8 here, part 9 here, part 10 here, part 11 here, part 12 here, part 13 here, part 14 here, part 15 here, part 16 here)
dontcallitbollywood 