Well, I have to dip my toe back into the insanity of the Kangana/Hrithik situation, which has just boiled over again (now I am picturing a pot boiling over and my dipping my toe into it). And then, as a reward, I get to talk about SK Films restructuring, which is much more exciting.
Happy Birthday Sonam! So many birthdays in early June! But that’s no reason to ignore Sonam. She blew me away in Neerja, and then she blew me away again with her intelligent interviews on the status of female stars and female lead films in the industry. (this is an updated and reposted post from last year)
This is partly inspired by the Op Ed that was in the Washington Post a few days back. It was a so-so article, there were some things that I felt weren’t fully explored, but then on the other hand it was just a brief article for an audience with no background in the Indian film industry, so he couldn’t really explore everything. But I can! I want to zero in on one point from the article, how there are so few films with women working behind the scenes, and even fewer films with real female lead roles. This isn’t something that just came up in the past year, and it isn’t something that will be solved overnight.
So many Ks!!!! No wonder Karan thinks they are “lucky”. Or used to I guess, since ADHM didn’t have any. Unless you count Ranbir. And Fawad. Okay, I am losing the point! The point is, Karan plus 2 Kapoors and one Kapoor Khan.
I am making an exception and putting up two 101 posts in one day! Because I want to finish off the Kapoors all nice and tidy on a Thursday, so I can start fresh with somebody else next week. Speaking off, there will be a poll at the end of this entry for you to decide who you want to read about next. (also, after some nagging and requests, I have set up a menu area for Hindi Film 101, you can see them all here)
I gave you a few extra days, but I think everyone has now had more than enough time to respond to my voting post here, and it is time for me to tally and summarize the results! Which took me much longer than I expected, Math is hard! Although, there is one thing that became abundantly clear as soon as I started reading them over. Neerja really was the film of the year.
I am trying to keep each of these posts to around 2,000 words, just seems like anything more would be too over-whelming! Which means I had to break Ranbir off from his Dad. But, as a bonus, I am tossing in his youngest uncle (not much to say about Rajiv). And I will be back on Thursday to deal with the “other” Kapoors, Anil and Sonam and their clan. (part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here)
Many interesting things to discuss with this story! Mostly gossip stuff not industrial but, hey, in the Indian film industry, gossip IS industrial!
As I said in my review, I really really liked Akira. So I am delighted to hear that the box office is picking up a little! Almost as delighted about confirmation for the Amitabh and Aamir rumor. The Sonam news, on the other hand, not so great.
WILL SMITH!!! What the heck is he doing in India? More specifically, what the heck is he doing at a Rustom success party at Akshay Kumar’s house? I mean, it looks like a fun party. Not some huge fancy wedding/Karan Johar style thing, just a relaxed house party. But still! How do they even know each other?
Happy Birthday Sonam! So many birthdays in early June! But that’s no reason to ignore Sonam. She blew me away earlier this year in Neerja, but that’s just one of the many reasons I love her.
I was alerted to this news story by moviemavengal‘s twitter, feed and it made me so happy! And then to fluff up this post, I found some other random upcoming film news floating about the internet.
I watched Khoobsurat for the 4th time last night (I missed it in theaters, but have seen it 4 times on DVD after a friend told me I HAD to watch it). It’s just as good as it ever was, but it’s also a whole different experience watching it having just seen Neerja. In all sorts of ways.
I saw Prem Ratan Dhan Payo in theaters twice and bought it on DVD the day it came out, but I’ve only watched it 1 and a half times since it left theaters (the half is because my sister already watched the first half while I was at work, and then we watched the end together). But you know, I think I may like it even more on DVD than I did on the big screen.
Never make me direct Rishi Kapoor. Oh my goodness! He just gave an interview about Kapoor and Sons which does not make him sound very fun. For someone with such a bright and happy onscreen persona, he really does not come across as light-hearted in interviews. On the other hand, Sonam Kapoor, who comes across as sort of naive and simple onscreen has a really interesting business mind, which is makes me interested in her just announced next career move.
So, Sonam just started talking about this like two days ago, and now it is here! Coldplay’s new video, featuring Sonam Kapoor! Except, not so much. And also, not so much a bunch of other parts of India. But really, it’s a 4 minute song, it’s not about what’s left out, it’s about what’s included. And I guess it’s all fine?
dontcallitbollywood 