Angry Young Men (2024)

On one of the WhatsApp groups I am a part of, there are regular discussions on OTT watches. Since I am not a regular consumer of OTT content, I don't engage. However, every once in a while, a recommendation catches my eye and I plan to watch.

"Angry Young Men' was one such recommendation.

I am not sure why this docu-series will have multiple seasons. The three episodes of Season 1 explore different aspects of the legendary partnership between Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, and how they jointly delivered 20 hit movies. They made film writing a cool profession (and lucrative atleast for them), and the lines they have written continue to resonate after decades.

The docu-series has been produced by their children - Salman Khan, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar. Their children got a headstart that they didn't enjoy, and it is fascinating to see how powerful families in Bollywood behave.

I used to be a huge fan of Amitabh Bachchan, until I read film gossip that he has treated women badly. His name surfaced during the #MeToo allegations too. Salim - Javed scripted movies played a big role in him becoming Big B. He makes an appearance in the docu-series, along with his wife and children.

Both Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar have been married twice, with Javed Akhtar taking a divorce. I wish Salma Khan too had been interviewed, the way Helen, Honey Irani and Shabana Azmi have. Outwardly, the wives have peaceful coexistence. Javed is an atheist, so it isn't due to influence of the religion he was born into. I found it interesting that Salim initially refused to be a witness in Javed's wedding as he was superstitious - marriages didn't last when he was a witness.

Both writers were considered overconfident and arrogant, and Javed makes a reference- "We underestimated the impact of goodwill"

"Mere paas Ma Hai" - this line covers so much about their relationship with their mothers. In so many of their movies, the mother figure has a central role in the stories.

Javed mentions- "Anyone who has experienced extreme deprivation of food and sleep is not the same again". He tears up as he talks about how he feels he doesn't deserve 5-star treatment.

I liked the analysis on the women characters in their movies. I also liked that Hema Malini's Basanti was an inspiration to Kareena Kapoor's Geet. No wonder I liked both characters :)

Their stories have provided livelihood to many, and inspiration too. May we continue to see writers and stories flourish.

Hindi movie fans, do watch.

Fighter (2024)

Thanks to my following Hrithik Roshan on Instagram, I heard and watched 'Sher Khul Gaye' in December 2023. The song is catchy, though I wondered how it would fit into the 'Fighter' story that seemed to have a link to the Indian Air Force, and was going to be released close to Jan 26, 2024. Soon, I started getting recommendations of multiple videos where people were dancing to the hook step. There is even a video featuring Tiger Shroff.

I watched practically every recommended video. However, I didn't watch the movie in the theatre - a combination of busy weekends and ill health prevented me from doing so. I waited for the OTT release and watched it within a day.

To my utter surprise, I found the movie's pace and storyline gripping - it is a well-written movie and looked authentic for the most part. I got to know later that Indian Air Force cadets were part of the movie. 'Top Gun' style, Hrithik Roshan "Patty" is the Maverick of the team who expectedly carries grief and is romantically unavailable. Right from the start, Deepika Padukone "Mini" pursues him, he admits he likes her and acknowledges her sarcasm and wit, and yet the relationship doesn't get a name or move ahead for the most part. I wouldn't say their chemistry is the best I have seen, but they are united in grief and I liked how they shed tears at different junctures. Both have lovely, expressive eyes.

Even if it is pleasurable as ever to watch Hrithik dance, almost all the songs could have been done away with as they didn't move the story ahead one bit. Hrithik turned 50 this year, so hearing him being referred to as 'Young Man!' is a bit jarring. I still can't prevent myself from keeping track of his age, and it is scary to think 'Kaho Naa.. Pyaar Hai' was released 24 years ago.

I liked that one chopper pilot is female who fights with her family to pursue her ambition. I liked how the 'Goose' storyline has a happy ending. I liked the casting of all parents in the movie - each one of them looked authentic. I was thankful they didn't show torture scenes in explicit detail.

'Fighter' is going to be a series, and since Deepika is expecting a baby later this year, I wonder if she will feature in the remainder of the series. It will be a nice touch to show her on maternity leave.

I hope to watch the next one in the series in the theatre. Only if it stars Hrithik Roshan. Maybe they will get him to age, like the original Maverick.

Dunki (2023)

Despite being a SRK fan, when ‘Dunki’ was released in theatres in December 2023, I decided to wait for the OTT release. The sibling watched the movie and enjoyed it a lot. As for me, the story is different.

I watched the movie on my 9-year old laptop with my mother and maternal grandmother for company. My laptop needs replacement, and I am almost stubbornly wanting it to last 1 more year before I do so. The result is that it keeps getting updated – I dutifully pay the MS license fee - but has a mind of its own.

Let me not get side-tracked with its story.

‘Dunki’ has a great premise – it intends telling the story of poor, illegal immigrants who make use of the ‘donkey flight’ technique to move out of India. While there are moments of disbelief regarding the change of clothes that the characters repeatedly obtain, there is a scene in the container with human faeces getting spilled. That was the moment I started paying more attention.

It was moving to see all the characters learn English to obtain student visas, most of them get rejected because what they learn isn’t enough, and then opt for the donkey flight as it seems the only way out. Once they reach their intended destination, more struggles await them. One of them works as a living statue (he is the only one who gets the visa), another is advised to do a sham marriage with a drug addict. As for the third, he can’t bear to see his mother wear pants and work in a factory in Laltu, and the way he expresses his anguish is sad.

Post the rejection of his visa, there is one character who dies by suicide - he doesn’t reach on time to save his ex-girlfriend who is a victim of domestic violence. This storyline moved me the most.

Then, of course, there is SRK. A former Indian soldier, he is patriotic to the core and wouldn’t lie about how his country treats him. He stays unmarried as his lover decides that moving out of India is the best course of action for her, and both lie to each other about being married to other people. Finally, they are briefly united in India before she dies of a brain tumour.

It is SRK’s character graph that left me truly disappointed. Sparkling wit is mostly missing, the love story doesn’t inspire – even if he prevents his lover from being raped, and the dramatic end to his lover is unnecessary. I couldn’t help think if he had been given a special appearance role as the IELTS teacher, it would have been more impactful.

If the movie worked for you, drop me a line, will you?

12th Fail (2023)

I usually lament about the storytelling in Bollywood biopics, and I didn’t know what to expect when I went to watch ‘12th Fail’. I knew nothing about the storyline, but since Vidhu Vinod Chopra is associated with the movie (and there was strong word-of-mouth recommendation), I took a chance.
I am truly glad I did.

Based on a non-fiction book, 12th Fail is the story of Manoj Kumar Sharma’s life. Hailing from Chambal, he overcame school-level academic failure and poverty to eventually get selected to the Indian Police Service. The movie depicts the struggle of many students appearing for the UPSC (and how it differs from the PSC), and what it takes for some of them to do better than the others. For instance, the command over English is deftly tackled.

There is much to love about the movie’s writing, pace and authentic casting (for example, the UPSC tutor); I was particularly impressed with how some aspects of casteism were addressed. The Brahmin protagonist is shown cleaning toilets and working in an atta chakki to provide for himself as he studies – today, he would be eligible for the EWS quota. He receives ready help from a much richer Brahmin fellow-aspirant – something that eludes the oppressed castes. This friend later disrupts his love life by spreading false rumours to his girlfriend’s parents, but he chooses to forgive him.

Another gorgeous scene is when the rich friend tells a senior aspirant, “Isn’t it only 4 attempts for us?”. The senior aspirant replies with a smile, “You have a problem if we have 6 attempts?” The senior aspirant goes on to play a critical role in ensuring Manoj Kumar Sharma succeeds.

Even though his path to UPSC mains and interview was vastly different from that of Manoj Kumar Sharma, the movie reminded me of my upright father more than once. I was happy to see the UPSC Dholpur house, and I also wept copiously at many scenes.

The EWS quota and the NRI quota (both based on varying degrees of financial stability) get preferential treatment over the SC/ST and OBC quotas, and discussions about “merit” are barely done in the case of the former two. I recollect multiple discussions with my father on this, and am truly grateful for the role he has had in shaping up my views since childhood. He gives full credit to the UPSC and job content as the game changer when it comes to his views on caste.

I racked my brains to check why I found Vikrant Massey (he plays Manoj Kumar Sharma) familiar – I haven’t watched any of his other movies – and finally landed on the Cornetto ice-cream ad that featured him and Alia Bhatt.

Watch the movie. It is a sleeper hit, and I am very happy about that!

Jawan (2023)

In 2023, I have visited theatres multiple times and had watched the trailer of ‘Jawan’. I couldn’t make out the storyline, but I liked the presence of a woman-gang around SRK and the usage of the song ‘Bekarar Karke Hamein Yun Na Jaaiye’. SRK’s move into a full-time action hero means long-time fans like my mother don’t relate to his recent movies, and I hope he considers them as well when he makes future movie choices.

To watch ‘Jawan’, I had a colleague's company - it was great fun watching a SRK movie with a fellow fan! I went for a late-night show after years, and it felt very good. The audience was clapping for SRK more than once, and it was wonderful to be part of this experience.

For a change, let me start with what didn’t work for me. Unless it is ‘Chennai Express’, I can’t watch train sequences set in India without getting triggered – they remind me of blasts and more. The sudden introduction of songs, Nayanthara’s character development, dramatic scenes at a women’s prison, the intense violence from all corners – all of this left me a bit disoriented even if I admired Nayanthara’s spot-on body language during fight sequences. I kept hoping the violence would deescalate, and it didn’t happen. Given how the movie ends, a sequel can be expected, and I am not sure if I will be able to stomach this level of violence again.

Let’s get to the better parts now. Bridging the North-South divide with astuteness, treating women characters well and spreading awareness around social issues without being preachy is something SRK is really good at, and I have deeper appreciation for this as I age. The movie draws deft attention to villagers living in areas closer to borders, treatment of women prisoners, farmer suicides, public medical treatment facilities, corruption in Armed Forces, awarding of death penalties, faulty EVMs, and the behaviour of the average voter. Each time when it looked like a rape sequence would be introduced and I slowly started getting triggered, the women uniformly resorted to self-defence that left me proud of seeing it on the big screen. Reality was shown when without exception, these women who resort to violent self-defence are jailed.

As for the performances, I particularly liked three of them. I got a chance to watch Vijay Sethupathi finally – I loved his acting, how he captured the Vijay Mallya look, and the authentic dialogue delivery with accent. Even if I couldn’t relate to her action sequences, I liked Sanya Malhotra’s portrayal of the Government doctor Eeram – her character may have been based on Dr. Kafeel Khan, and I love that genders have been flipped, something I noticed in ‘Ghoomer’ as well. The surprise package for me was Deepika Padukone – her character had been given more thought, and the way she portrayed a single mother was way better than Nayanthara’s portrayal of the same.

The movie’s release has been timed well, right before the General Elections in 2024. If it inspires more people to exercise their voice and vote, it has truly done its job.

Ghoomer (2023)

In the past, I have enjoyed the interesting portrayals of women in R Balki’s movies (Cheeni Kum, Paa, English Vinglish). Across age groups, the women have a mind of their own, are decisive and experimental in their relationship status. So, the minute I saw the poster of ‘Ghoomer’, I knew I wanted to watch it. The sports link was evident, and to my delight the portrayal of disability too.

During illness episodes, one after another, I used to mention words that sounded similar, or words that meant more than 1 thing (remember paryayvachi shabd?) This time, Ghoomer reminded me of the song ‘Ghoomar’ from Padmaavat. Watch the movie to see why Ghoomer has a significant role to play.

Ghoomer has sought inspiration from the life of Karoly Takacs, the Olympic medal-winning shooter. Like him, the budding cricketer Anina played by Saiyami Kher loses her right hand in a freak road accident and must give up her dream of representing India as a batter. An older cricketer past his prime, played by Abhishek Bachchan, gives her career a new life by encouraging her to become a bowler instead. Like all good coaches portrayed in media, he makes things difficult for her initially, helps her build strength in her left hand, and eventually she becomes so good at bowling that she gets another chance to represent India, and goes on to win glory.

There are two other strong women in the movie – Anina’s paternal grandmother played by the fantastic Shabana Azmi (may everyone be blessed with considerate paternal grandmothers like the ones she has portrayed in 2023) and the trans woman Rasika played by Ivanka Das. Witty, observant and helpful, these women light up the screen when they appear.

Balki’s movies, however well-written, have a few moments of unbelievable drama that leave me flabbergasted, but the overall taste is so good that I am willing to let them fly by. I haven’t been tracking cricket for years now, but enjoyed the scenes featuring cricket and can see why women’s cricket is gaining popularity. I was happy to see more attention given to bowlers (finally!) and the references to Physics.

Finally, the real reason that I wanted to watch the movie – Anina is a person with disability (PwD). I liked the scenes featuring other PwDs who rejoice at her bowling spell, the looks given by her team members when the scoreline is against them and they miss having an extra batter, and I read that the DCCI (Differently-Abled Cricket Council of India) hosted a special screening of the movie for 50 paraplegic cricketers. So far, all good. What’s not good? Yet again, a PwD has been shown as a super-achiever and hugely inspirational figure, instead of remaining human with flaws like any other. The other option would have been to portray the PwD as an object of pity – disability portrayal offers only these two extremes – so this was better to that extent.

While I was a bit sad to see how quick Anina is to forgive the male driver who leaves her disabled and her childhood friend who gives her the idea to hand signal while driving, I wasn’t surprised. Forgiveness is expected of women, irrespective of the harm meted out by men. The only silver lining is that the male driver is repentant and tries to make amends. As for the childhood friend, he loves her.

Watch the movie. You’d be happy after doing so!

Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023)

When I watched the trailer of ‘Rocky Aur Rani’, it reminded me of ‘Vicky Donor’ – the male protagonist is Punjabi and female protagonist is Bengali. One focuses on brawn, the other on brain. Needless to say, opposites attract and the rest is sexual chemistry. Oops, history.

I wanted to watch ‘Rocky Aur Rani’ with my mother, and she agreed to come along. She is a fan of typical Bollywood (minus the violence), and was happy to watch Bengalis on screen. Mentions of Bengalis triggers pleasant childhood memories in her.

I was mildly shocked to see the nepotism at play right in the beginning of the movie, when the song “Heart Throb” featured Varun Dhawan, Ananya Pandey, Sara Ali Khan and Janhvi Kapoor. It distracted me from the rather delightful storytelling (with a voiceover by Ranveer Singh) about the Punjabi Randhawa family. The matriarch Dhanalakshmi, played by Jaya Bachchan in a manner reminiscent of the patriarch Amitabh Bachchan in K3G, is a self-made, successful businesswoman who treats her DIL in the same manner as how her MIL treated her. Rather shabbily, mildly put. The matriarch’s milder poet husband Kanwal (played by Dharmendra) suffers a fall early in their marriage, has partial amnesia and is unable to walk or care for himself. It is the tougher matriarch who provides for the family. She isolates her son from her husband and grooms him to be her arrogant successor. Now, she wants her grandson Rocky (played by Ranveer Singh) to take on the family business.

It was interesting to see how Rocky isn’t averse to working with her, even though she rules with fear. His passion for dancing remains hidden from the family, and he is unable to stand up for his mother or sister. Or himself, for that matter. He is well-behaved for the most part, perhaps a credit to his mother.

In a rather ‘tharki’ turn, Kanwal exclaims the name Jamini (after forcibly kissing a much younger woman who isn’t bothered by it) and the family doctor advises that they must find out who Jamini is. Jamini (played by Shabana Azmi) is Rani’s (played by Alia Bhatt) paternal grandmother, who had a brief extra-marital affair with Kanwal. As Karan Johar’s movies emphasise, rich people in unhappy marriages find empathetic soulmates in affairs (remember Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna?), but family always comes first. So, Dhanalakshmi continues to remain lonely, unhappily married and provides for her ailing husband and remainder of the family – something that’s ignored by the affair partners, and every other character.

Rani (a famous TV anchor who is educated in Delhi University and Colombia) agrees to help Rocky make their grandparents meet. While doing so, Rocky and Rani too fall in love. Watch the movie to see how both love stories end.

While I wasn’t thrilled with the casting of the parents on both sides (much like in Hindi TV serials, they looked of the same age as the lead characters), the casting of the grandparents was fantastic. The delightful usage of old Hindi film music, especially while flirting, was welcome too.

The movie touches upon a host of issues – impact of misogyny, assertive feminism, extra-marital affairs, domestic violence, objectification, fat-shaming, men who enjoy classical dancing (and people who oppose this), how education and lack of English skills don’t matter when it comes to matters of the heart, cancel culture (and how mild rich young men are affected by it – I am laughing as I type this), how DILs can bond with their MILs and SILs with their FILs. 

In K3G, the female protagonist (played by Kajol) was loud in dressing, under-educated and non-English speaking. Here, it is Rocky who is all of this, with one vital difference. He is rich. Super rich, in fact. This is the commonality that both families are bound by, and hence nobody needs to worry about marriage expenses or real differences in lifestyle or what happens if both Rocky and Rani give up their jobs. Perhaps the boondi laddoos will save all of them (Rani gets the recipe!), much like the matriarch did.

Sanju (2018)

Since the early 90s, I have watched Sanjay Dutt’s movies and read about him in film magazines. I found him more realistic in ‘Khalnayak’ than ‘Saajan’, though I watched both mainly for Madhuri Dixit-Nene and in 2019, I went to see their pairing in ‘Kalank’.

As for Sunil Dutt, Sanjay’s father, I was happy to see him feature in the remixed song with Deepika Padukone in ‘Om Shanti Om’. My main memory of him is associated with ‘Mera Saaya’.

Watching ‘Sanju’ was difficult, mainly because it brought back so many memories. All those years ago, despite attempts by multiple film directors, I could clearly say, “I don’t understand anti-heroes” and didn’t spend time on knowing why a terrorist takes to arms, why drug addicts take to drugs, why people reconcile with lawbreakers many years later or why evidence is the cornerstone of justice. Simpler times, where one could effortlessly move on from one song to another, one movie to another. There was no question of watching the movie again, unless Doordarshan miraculously obliged.

While ‘Sanju’ has performed really well at the box-office and won accolades for Ranbir Kapoor, watching it left me feeling unsettled. I am experiencing fatigue related to jail scenes, police atrocity and underworld presence, and this movie had all of this. The movie does a good job of clarifying why Sanjay Dutt isn’t a terrorist, how stress can trigger episodes of drug abuse, how parents can bring up their children well and yet lose them to outside influences, how wives can be understanding and supportive of philandering husbands. Lots of fictional characters have found their way into the movie, and I stopped looking for reality once I realized this. 

Movie-watchers are from all age-groups, and I think about the children who would have had access to ‘Sanju’, much like me with ‘Saajan’ all those years ago. I have more admiration for ‘Saajan’ now – an orphaned disabled poet found a happy ending. Social media suggests Sanjay Dutt has found his happy ending too.

Drishyam (2013) and Drishyam 2 (2022)

Last year, a colleague kept recommending ‘Drishyam 2’ to me and said the Malayalam original is even better. Still recovering from the barely-watched ‘Tanhaji’ in 2020, I didn’t want to watch the Ajay Devgn starrer anytime soon and forgot all about it.

This year, I got reminded of the movie and started watching it one night on Amazon Prime. The movie gripped me, and even as I was piecing the story together over multiple weekends, I kept wondering why Shriya Saran was cast as the wife and Ishita Dutta as the elder daughter – in real life, they have an 8-year age gap and they didn’t come across as mother-daughter at all.

That’s the only grouse I have against the movie. The rest of the movie is well-paced, well-written and I was happy to see the crucial role played by the manuscript of a book. The interplay of everyday settings, law, law enforcement and trauma portrayal delighted me, and I felt sad for both Ajay Devgn and Tabu’s characters. Tabu resigns from her powerful job in addition to dealing with personal loss.

PTSD and neurological impact of trauma is strongly associated with men from Defense Services, and I was happy to see how well it was woven into the story and portrayed by the civilian elder daughter. There is far more awareness required regarding PTSD in women, particularly related to voyeurism and self-defence.

I then decided to watch ‘Drishyam’ in Malayalam – I am familiar with both Mohanlal and Meena, and I read that Asha Sharath had done a good job. My first attempt flopped. I found a version on YouTube and the subtitles couldn’t be turned on. I watched for a bit, understood a bit, but knew that I couldn’t continue doing both. I then took a mobile subscription to Disney Hotstar.

I kept thinking how old Mohanlal is, but surprisingly he and Meena didn’t look mismatched and the child stars were excellent. I liked how casually sex talk was woven into the script – as one example, the lines around villagers being normal as they watched adult movies on cable TV made me smile. I didn’t smile at the sexist references related to kitchens, vessels and shopping.

One can be right and have no evidence to prove it - Asha Sharath’s character showcases this unhappy situation well. One can be ethical, make grave mistakes and have family support – the elder daughter showcases this well.  

The male protagonist played by Mohanlal / Ajay Devgn is hugely inspired by movies, and it is sad to see that ‘Drishyam’ has inspired more than one murder in the country. I am not sure what ‘Drishyam 3’ has in store, but I am more likely to watch it in Malayalam as I liked Meena way more than Shriya Saran.

Vikram Vedha (2022)

 

Even though the Tamil original of 'Vikram Vedha' received better reviews and performed well at the box office, I went ahead and watched the Hindi remake. While watching the trailer, I couldn't understand Madhavan's dialogue delivery clearly and felt I'd understand the Hindi version better. Vijay Sethupathi caught my eye, and I hope to watch one of his movies soon.

After many stylistic elements, I was glad to see the story settle into a nice rhythm. The inherent violence in encounter killings is well captured, and much like in Quentin Tarantino movies, the usage of music (Raj Kapoor songs in this case) is interesting.

I felt happy that the honest cop is helped by the gangster - when his department lets him down - and liked the portrayal of moral dilemmas right through. The way the movie ends - in a standoff - a sequel could well follow, though the box office performance might prevent it from being made. At the same time, I'd be interested in watching the role of law and the lawyer after this stage :)

I watched the movie mainly for Hrithik Roshan, and wasn't disappointed. I did think about how Saif Ali Khan would have played the gangster - the UP setting reminded me of his portrayal in 'Omkara'. I understand greys well, but life is certainly easier in black and white. Or is it? 

Tu Jhooti Main Makkaar (2023)

After watching movies featuring Ranbir Kapoor regularly, I somehow lost interest and missed watching many of them. When “Tu Jhooti Main Makkaar” was going to be released, I had no idea that Arijit Singh has done playback singing for Ranbir many times over. The songs looked good to me – even if they reminded me of “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani”, released a decade ago.

It piqued my interest when I read that Shraddha Kapoor’s character was a bit different, and in search of something light to watch, I decided to go for this movie. I had the sibling's company as well.

Firstly, it was wonderful to see Gurugram and generally happy, flirty Punjabi characters again – they remind me of some great times in my life. Shades of “Hitch” made me smile – it is now much easier to appreciate the easy-going break-ups rather than dramatic ones!

It was interesting to see how the joint family was portrayed differently for both Ranbir and Shraddha, with Ranbir enjoying the warmth and general camaraderie and Shraddha struggling with not having space to just be and watching her educated mother give up her dreams. I loved the dialogue delivery of both Dimple Kapadia and Hasleen Kaur, who play Ranbir’s mother and sister. The ease with which they portrayed the healthy family unit was lovely. Ranbir’s sister spends plenty of time at her maternal home along with her daughter – and this was also a nice touch. I heartily laughed at the sequences shot during the car ride and airport featuring the nonstop banter in Ranbir’s side of the family.

Now come the tougher observations. In the fight that takes place on the day of their engagement, even if Ranbir’s character wants to make it easier for Shraddha’s character (watch the movie to know why), the way he asks her if she is fucking dumb and how she should have asked him before applying to a job in a different city left much to be desired.

Shraddha’s character makes it clear that she wishes to lead her life in a nuclear family unit, and as movies would have it, the warmth of the joint family wins her over and she gets happily married and settled into her life in one – in short, the hero “rescues” her, with her MIL even helping her after a drunken night and not expecting her to do any housework. What happens to her independent streak and fractured equation with her side of the family is left completely unaddressed – her mother makes an appearance only in the last scene when Shraddha has a baby.

Earlier, Shraddha does indicate that Ranbir’s life wouldn’t change post marriage. Later, she happily takes to playing golf with him – as if adapting to his hobbies isn’t a change by itself. She likes to run – he is not shown as having taken to it! It so happens his best friend is married to her best friend - else I would have liked to know who she spends more time with.

Dimple is shown as an undemanding, genial MIL – I wonder what it would be like to see the story from her side, where she takes care of everything for her son and DIL and spares them all labour. Also, when she repeatedly slaps her adult 30+ year old son (even post his wedding, even after he says it is abusive) and his best friend, it isn’t clear why she wouldn’t do the same to the women in her family.

By no means are relationships all fun and frolic – routine life and responsibilities do take over. In midst of this, sparing some time to look at structural inequity and patriarchal expectations is necessary. And yes, pyaar hota kayi baar hai! 

Pathaan (2023)

Place: Mumbai
Date: February 2023
Mode: Theatre

I last watched Shah Rukh Khan in the theatre in ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ in 2017. I was in midst of a psychotic episode, and back then, my family and I didn’t know that mental stimulation must be kept to a minimum. My parents felt watching a movie will keep me away from being online, so we went to a nearby theatre. Post the movie, I resumed writing incoherently – this time, including references from the movie!

I am glad that I went back to the same theatre to watch Shah Rukh in ‘Pathaan’. I have been his fan since childhood, mainly because his characters (and dance moves) seemed to treat women with more kindness, humour and respect when compared to other heroes of his generation. Also, whether intentional or not, there is intelligence that found its way into his dialogues.

All of this continues in ‘Pathaan’ as well. I liked how geopolitics found mention, and was surprised to see that songs were kept to a minimum. Shah Rukh has slowed down in his dance moves – age doesn’t spare anyone – and I am glad that his character doesn’t turn rogue.

I laughed at some of the dialogues, and could hear myself laugh in the fairly empty theatre. Shah Rukh still gets me to laugh, and this is a precious tie to my childhood. The highlight of the movie for me was watching Shah Rukh and Salman share screen space, and banter. Both are 57 years old, and are still able to attract audiences to theatres. I saw children at the 8:15 p.m. show, so younger audience is also familiar with them. I am also happy that an older woman (Dimple Kapadia) had a pivotal role– it reminded me of Judi Dench in James Bond films.

Deepika Padukone’s character could have been fleshed out better and given better action sequences. I feel Aishwarya Rai does a much better job with action sequences – her movement is fantastic, so perhaps a friendly chat can help. For her personal stance and experience with #BoycottBollywood, Deepika seems made of stern stuff.

Shakuntala Devi (2020)

Place: Chennai

Date: August 2020

Mode: Amazon Prime

After “Crazy Rich Asians (2018)”, "Little Women (2019)", Parasite and Contagion, Amazon Prime is becoming like a theatre watch for me, and it is nice to be able to watch some movies despite Covid. I keep movie watching for weekends, and it is a nice routine to follow.

My latest watch is Shakuntala Devi. My mother and I watched it together, and enjoyed it. I first heard of the movie via Nayanika Mahtani, the writer of the movie – we are both in one online group. I got curious to see how the movie has been written and to my pleasant surprise, it is well written and well edited. As with any biopic, I am left with questions around how true the incidents depicted in the movie are, but I must say that I liked that the movie didn’t have too many songs. Perhaps the casting of Vidya Balan in the lead role had something to do with this – she isn’t known for her dancing skills.

Both my parents have witnessed Shakuntala Devi in action when she visited their educational institutes, and while I had heard of her, I must confess that I didn’t know much about her. Via the movie, I got to know that she opted to marry a divorcee and herself got divorced later. It makes me view her as a gritty woman. Her difficult relationships with her mother and her daughter have been fleshed out well, and I shed tears in one scene where she visits her childhood home after her mother has passed away, and she bawls at the sight of her mother’s material belongings that include newspaper cuttings of her performances.

The feminist flavor given in the movie to her choices make me want to know more, especially in the context of her book on homosexuality where she has referred to her ex-husband as being homosexual. The movie shows that she says this to sell the book better, but the Wikipedia entry says her book went unnoticed when it was published. 

The movie made on the “Human Computer” is worth a watch.

Bluffmaster! (2005)

Unlike books that leave much to the imagination of the reader, movies shape imagination via the actors chosen to play roles. If there are positive attributes associated with the actors, they spill-over and create a halo effect irrespective of the role. For instance, did you develop more empathy for cheaters after SRK, the emperor of romance, played one in KANK? When I first watched the movie, I had anything but empathy for the character. The unfairness of it all stung me deep. Especially since the consent of the respective spouses had not been obtained.

As I later reflected on the movie, I saw that SRK eventually did the ‘right’ thing by opting for the divorce, staying away from his lover and then got married to her after a gap. Marriages to affair partners don’t last as easily, but why bring in dosages of reality?

After writing about it in the context of neuroticism, I have found myself thinking about the role that Abhishek Bachchan’s casting has played in making con artists more acceptable. He comes across as a nice, funny guy who is westernised, and this has got highlighted multiple times in movies, including in KANK. In ‘Bluffmaster’, he cons and lies to his girlfriend and somehow by the end of the movie, he is back with her after a series of events that can pass off as light-hearted comedy.

Listen to this song. Does anything suggest that a con artist is at play? Or are we happy ignoring signs when he sings, “Yeah I'm a bad boy” because she is quick to sing, “But I'm a good girl” and asks him to come to her so that things get better. 

It takes a special woman, that's all?


 

Bharat (2019)

With references to Wagah border and Attari station, there is plenty to write about when it comes to 'Bharat'. I am refraining from doing so as I want to see if box office collections go beyond Rs. 300 Crores - the amount spent is Rs. 100 Crores.

There is something that Salman Khan understands about love that the other two Khans don't. When he chooses to be non-violent, i.e.

Plenty to write about the casting of heroines, and I will write about DP i.e. Disha Patani instead of JD i.e. Jahnavi Dave, an acquaintance from my days of watching improv comedy in Mumbai. Watching her in a Salman Khan movie says more than any feminist move will ever do. I rest my case.

Refreshing to see as many bespectacled women in #Bharat. Wondering why Disha Patani played the stereotypical Radha and with the item number to boot. Age is on her side, not on Tabu's side. Think. #BollywoodCelebs

— Anuradha Sridhar / Sochi🎋🎗🎈 । सोचा / Wimbledon! (@anuradhasridhar) June 16, 2019

Memories of 2012/ 2013 will not go away, but as I get new chances to form new memories in the same place, I am grateful and thankful. From 'Dabangg 2' to 'Bharat', life can change :)

Resham Ki Dori (1974)

Once upon a time, Bollywood thrived on a staple theme of hero brothers taking revenge for rapes and other atrocities committed on their sisters. Brotherly-sisterly love has been celebrated onscreen so many times and with so much mush that it explains why this particular sibling relationship is more tiresome than others.

I like the way Suman has sung this song, and given that Raksha Bandhan has just gone past, perhaps you could listen to it as well.

 

Sangam (1964)

Along with ‘Mera Naam Joker’, ‘Sangam’ is one of the longest movies ever made – the run time is almost 4 hours. In the days of DD, I have watched the former for the most part and I can tell you that watching a movie that long is very difficult on one’s concentration and patience. I can’t imagine what it took to make these movies!

Last year, right before the start of my sickness, of all things Arjun~ and I ended up discussing a reference from ‘Sangam’ and I kept bringing it up later as well. Much like this movie, ‘Sangam’ is about friendship and is far more grown-up in treatment. In some respects, it reminds me of 'Pearl Harbor'. What also strikes me is that movies that address class divide might not address sexism well.

I heard the song after a really long time today and was pleasantly surprised not to find it evoke the sadness that I remember from childhood. Listen to it. Vyjayanthimala’s bindi looks so good on her! She’s truly a superstar.

Dil Se (1998)

When I was flipping TV channels today, I saw that the entire Star suite was missing – this left me surprised. I didn’t notice the channel in which this song came up.




In 1998, when I was in 12th Std., ‘Dil Se’ (or rather its Tamil version ‘Uyire’) was one among two (or perhaps two among three) films that I watched in the theatre. I later watched the Hindi version and I absolutely love the music from this film. While other songs became more popular, the above song captures the relationship between the lead pair rather well.

Today also brought memories of how Preity Zinta’s character (in her film debut) responded to Shahrukh Khan’s character in their first meeting in this movie, and All India Radio. I have earlier written about one scene from this movie – read it here. The post was written almost 8 years earlier, and the movie was released 18 years earlier. Time goes past with no way of slowing it down.

Kapoor & Sons (since 1921) (2016)

The sibling recommended the movie to me, and I watched it along with my parents in Chennai. I have almost given up watching Hindi movies and went for this movie because my mother still enjoys watching them. I was also curious to see what ‘hits’ in Bollywood now look like.

The story-writing is quite interesting, and I like how homosexuality has been addressed in a dignified manner. This story about a dysfunctional family doesn’t hesitate in its portrayal of shades of grey, and even as the rest of India seems to be going gaga over Fawad Khan, it is Sidharth Malhotra who I enjoyed watching the most. The scene where tears roll down silently from one of his eyes is beautifully done, and yes, it wouldn’t have been possible without Fawad’s presence in it. Coonoor looks beautiful, and I liked how the evidently North Indian family seems happily settled in the South.

Rajat Kapoor looked quite young to be do-beton-ka-baap, and the brothers were well-cast. Sidharth's real year of birth is referred to in the movie, and perhaps actors today are trying their best to keep things real on screen whenever there is a chance to do so. Given his character's fondness for Boris Becker, I wonder if he is a fan of Boris Becker in real life too.

At a time when Bollywood romances are going kaput one after the other, I am hoping Sidharth and Alia go from strength to strength in real life as well.

Bang Bang! (2014)

When the movie title was first announced, I thought it was a silly name – even if it rightly gave the impression of several gunshots. I knew that it was a remake of Knight and Day, and the original movie hadn’t been a great watch, even though it starred Tom Cruise.

Then I saw this song, and got excited. I wanted to watch the song on the large screen.




The movie was released on October 2, 2014 – just at the start of the long weekend. I watched Hrithik Roshan, the lead actor, tweet about the #bangbangdare and I experienced a surreal moment when he was online past 2 a.m., at the same time as me. I am waiting for the day when one of these huge celebrities notice my tweet.

The movie was released and the reviews weren’t flattering, especially with reference to the storyline and the heroine Katrina Kaif. It left me disappointed. Nevertheless, I was happy that the movie started off strongly at the box office - it has now crossed over Rs. 300 crores overall.

This weekend, I wanted to take my parents out to watch a movie. I had already watched Haider (highly recommended) and Bang Bang! was the only other Hindi movie playing at the Chennai theatre we wanted to go to. Chennai has a ceiling on theatre ticket prices since 2007, and I knew that even if the movie was terrible, it would still not be a prohibitive watch.

As it turns out, the movie has not too much in common with Knight and Day. As for the flaws in the storyline, if I get into talking about them, the points that I wish to highlight would get lost.

Hrithik Roshan has the ability to play superhero, much like stars from Hollywood, and that’s no easy feat. His stylist Anaita Shroff Adajania has done wonders with his look for this movie too – she had earlier styled him in Dhoom 2. He carries off aviators extremely well (a silent nod to Tom Cruise and Top Gun?), his body is to die for and I welcome the sex appeal. If I go by his waist, he must be a lean man in real life, despite his muscles.

The scenes involving the flyboard have been shot extremely well. I was mesmerized when I watched them, and I later got to know that it is for the first time that scenes with a flyboard have been shot in a Hollywood or Bollywood movie. Hrithik injured himself while shooting these scenes, and had to undergo a brain surgery.

Siddharth Anand, the director, seems to like cars. Stock car racing found its way into Ta Ra Rum Pum (yes, I have watched this too) and here F1 makes an appearance. The F1 car scenes were shot in Abu Dhabi, and Hrithik has driven the car himself! Perhaps it was a car from Marussia. I’d like to check with Army officers if they are indeed given unlimited expense accounts, and taught all these skills.

Danny Denzongpa, Kanwaljit Singh and Deepti Naval are nice to watch in their limited roles. I wish Katrina Kaif had picked up something from them. As for Jaaved Jaffrey, he is cast in a role different from his role in Salaam Namaste made by the same director.

Online / internet dating is made fun of, and the way the lead pair gets together involves a case of mistaken identity. What’s not funny is the way the heroine asks the hero why he is with her when she (in her words) is clearly so boring, and he clearly so exciting. The hero, being a superhero, gently reassures her and reminds her of how great she really is. In reality, these 'scenes' would look quite different and self esteem issues might get discussed.

Finally, watch this song. Is there anything Hrithik Roshan cannot do?

Here!! Some more bangbang before Thursday! title track http://t.co/Dc4BjuU8Ji poora gaana!
— Hrithik Roshan (@iHrithik) September 29, 2014