I’ve seen Sultan twice now, and looking at a possible 3rd time sometime this week, but for those of you who can’t see it, or can only see it once, or saw it and are trying to remember everything that happened, I am going to try my best to remember everything I saw and write it all down for you.
(part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here, part 5 here, part 6 here, part 7 here)
It’s time to start my traditional full summary shot by shot and scene by scene of the movie I just saw in the theater! Sometimes these can be incredibly long (like Fan) as I get distracted by backstory and metaphors and references and stuff. And sometimes they can be really short, because there just isn’t that much to talk about (like Rocky Handsome). In this case, I honestly don’t know how much I will have to say, so I’m just going to start and see how fast I go!
(part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here, part 5 here, part 6 here, part 7 here)
I already put up a spoiler-free review, and I’ll be putting up a full summary over the next few days, but in the meantime here are my spoiler-y thoughts.
(for a different perspective, check out moviemavengal’s review)
I saw Sultan! Yaaaaaaay! It lived up to my expectations. It did not exceed my expectations, but it did live up to them.
Happy Sultan Day! I have my tickets already for the 7 o’clock show, planning to get there half an hour early so I can get a good seat. But in the meantime, let’s have some Salman songs to get us in the holiday mood!
This is entirely from the Hindustan Times which has done an amazing job laying (lying?) out the new realities of the box office for big ticket films. You should absolutely check out that full article, because it is fascinating! I just have a few things to add to it.
Sultan‘s coming out tomorrow, woo! Which means I can’t put it off any londer, I have to deal with the one part of the film I am really really not looking forward too: Randeep Hooda.
Okay, there is no connection between Sultan and Ghajini except in my mind. But it suddenly hit me that the thing I like best about Ghajini might be similar to what Sultan will do.
Thanks to a commentator’s recommendations of important Salman movies, I just watched Garv: Pride and Honor. I am so glad I did! Because it is important not just as a Salman movie (I am thinking this was a big turning point as he went from romantic hero to action hero?), but as a perfect example of the modern Indian action movie. Which is why it is good to see before Sultan, since this is the standard that Sultan will be breaking away from.
Sultan week continues! Today, let’s talk about Sultan and Ek Tha Tiger! The one other time Salman worked with Yash Raj Studios.
Salman isn’t actually a wrestler or anything in this, but there are soooooooo many fight scenes! And I kind of feel like I am getting a glimpse of what life was like in the Khan household when all the boys were young. I’m picturing lots and lots of wrestling and fake fighting between brothers.
Sultan week continues! Day 2, I’ve already talked about Salman as a widower, what relationship Sultan may have to Ali Abbas Zafar’s other films, and what connection it might have with previous Anushka performances. New topic: why a mustache?
Now, I should really be talking about Patiala House for this, I know, because it is another movie in which Anushka inspires an athlete (art imitates Life!). But I think Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola has more of the tone of realism and sort of sweet sadness revolving around loss and the past that I expect from Sultan. Plus, I kind of suspect Patiala House might be so good, it deserves it’s own post, not just a combined with Sultan post.
Well, that’s easy, they share a director. What I am curious about is what elements the director might bring between the two films. Especially if Sultan came about through the same process as Fan, that is, if it was always the end goal for Ali Abbas Zafar and his early films were just training.
Sultan is coming out in a week, woo! And all signs point to Anushka dying and Salman being a grieving widower looking for a reason to go on (NO SPOILERS or inside info, that’s just a guess based on the trailers). Which is why Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha is the first movie I want to talk about for our run-up week.
Before Fan came out, I talked about how a lot of the news seemed to just sort of stop in anticipation. Because people knew the media and fans would be so focused on the big release, they weren’t be spending much attention to unrelated news. Same thing happening here! A lot of news items tangentially related to Sultan, minimal items not related at all. And I’m not interested in those anyway (I’ll pay attention to IIFA once the performances start being posted on youtube), so I am ignoring everything not Sultan adjacent.
None of these things have anything to do with each other, but none of them are really worth their own post either, so I am going to combine them all to have a decent sized post.
2 new videos! One which revealed a lot, and one which revealed NOTHING. But both got me excited.
Well, Dishoom is the one that came out today, but so long as we are talking about that, might as well talk about Te3n and Sultan too.
Data, right? That’s the plural and datum is the singular? And since I am going to be talking about several separate quotes, I want “data”.
Oh man, I hate this! When the news stories are about stars being selfish and horrible instead of surprisingly kind and generous. Although, I guess it is only news because we are so used to the other stories in which they are kind and generous.
Yay! First looks at other movies! It’s like they are already preparing us for a post-Fan world! Although, hopefully, we won’t have to really face it until at least a month from now (a Shahrukh release has to stay in theaters at least 4 weeks, right?).
The time difference between India and America is so confusing. Yesterday was Friday there, I think? And there was no news. And now it is Saturday and there is a lot? I don’t know if that is because people are issuing statements/rumors on the weekend hoping they will be hidden, or if they put it out now hoping people will pay more attention since they have more leisure time. In any case, my Friday news round-ups are always bigger than my Thursday ones.
(Also, I love the header image and have no explanation for it. And I don’t know if I even want one)
My goodness, it has been a long time since I checked out the news sites! Let’s see what’s been happening.
Just announced, Anushka’s going to be opposite Salman in Sultan! Which means, she will be opposite all 3 Khans within 3 years (Jab Tak with SRK, PK with Aamir, and now Sultan). Not as impressive as when Kat hit them all within 15 months (Ek Tha Tiger, Jab Tak, Dhoom 3), and she got to kiss two of them onscreen (and presumably the other in real life), but still pretty awesome!
So, how does this change my prediction for the Raees/Sultan Eid Box Office clash?
dontcallitbollywood 