Help me with Bollywood and Indian cinema in general

There's a part of me that thinks Hollywood/Western/non-Indian action films have become polarized. They're either all CGI, superhero, green screen, totally and obviously fake and comic book to the point where the actors may as well not be there at all, or they're striving incredibly hard for authenticity and a gritty reality that just ends up being kind of boring. The Indian action films I watch are a fun mixture of the two. But I could be massively misrepresenting modern non-Indian action films. tbh, I don't watch many non-Indian action films in them, because I do not find the awesome guys either charismatic or hot, so I can't be arsed.

in them = these days (don't know what happened there)

It's kinda crazy how violent Jawaan is, considering it's a mainstream blockbuster - child deaths, so many hangings!

A lack of star power is def a big part of the problem with modern Hollywood, partially since now it's so much about the franchise (whoever plays Spider Man matters less than Spidey himself).

fav random line from Jawaan, coming from a talking head commenting on the fact that the main character is holding the nation's entire stock of voting machines hostage until they give in to his demands: "this is not good for our democracy".

It's kinda crazy how violent Jawaan is, considering it's a mainstream blockbuster - child deaths, so many hangings!

Right? And SRK's social media team is all "oh, hey, take the kids, take the whole family, hope the little ones enjoy it." It was rated 15s in Ireland, and there were people there with small kids. I wouldn't let small kids watch that.

Thank You For Coming - Bhumi Pednekar plays a woman who's never orgasmed, until the night of her engagement...but she doesn't remember who it was with! Very self consciously progressive romcom - apart from the centering of female pleasure there's also casual marijuana use, a subplot about revenge porn and a portrayal of homosexuality which ends up very 90's and stereotypical but it does aim to be positive. Aleays feel a bit cheated when the actors don't sing in an Indian film - this has several musical numbers but all they do is dance, and not that impressively either. Anyway as a non-Indian male I am doubly unqualified to judge this film but it was a nice time, barely two hours. My favourite joke: in the middle of an anti-patriarchy catharsis session with girls shouting "I don't want to lose weight!", "I don't want to pluck my eyebrows", etc. one boy pipes up with "I don't want to study maths!" and there's no awkward silence or calling out, kid just gets away with it.

Lots of interesting videos on this channel it seems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd14bNaEdlc

Oh, nice.

My BBC Sounds notifications hiting paydirt:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/favourites/m001rjch

Hmm, I think that link is connected to your account. I just get an error when I click it.

Oops, this work?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001rjch?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

Ah, yes, very good. Thanks!

I just love him so much. Did we sit and watch Jawan again when it hit Netflix on Friday? You know we did.

I saw it was on netflix but the words "extended cut" gave me pause, I had a blast with the theatrical but one thing I didn't think was "this could stand to be a bit longer".

It's only a few minutes longer. You would barely notice the difference.

btw, what are the essentials I should watch before Om Shanti Om? I realise there's no way I'll get ALL the references, but would like to have at least a few "aha, I get it" moments.

I don't really know. It was the second SRK movie I ever watched, so apart from recognising Hrithik in the extended "Deewangi Deewangi" number, I was very much in the "I assume this is some hilarious Bollywood reference I don't get" camp. Having seen it since I've learned more, I do at least understand that they make jokes about SRK being a notoriously bad timekeeper and always being on fire, but otherwise I think a lot of the older films they specifically reference are not that easy to come by - at least, outside India.

For example, I saw this musical number on Youtube the other week, which comes from Amrapali, a classic film that is referenced in Om Shanti Om. You can't get it anywhere, as far as I can see. Not streaming, and no DVDs available on eBay or other outlets.

Apparently on netflix in the US if you wanna invest in a VPN!

https://letterboxd.com/muktaa_/list/every-movie-referenced-in-om-shanti-om/

Using the filters it seems there is only one film that straight up isn't on any service anywhere: 1977's swashbuckler Jay Vejay, which does look like a lot of fun. 5 logs on letterboxd!

I will say though a lot of Indian movies I've found on streaming seem to have machine generated subtitles, which often end up quite poetic but entirely impossible to use to understand what's happening onscreen.

God, living in Ireland you get fleeced by streaming services left and right. There's so much we don't get, but we pay the same subscription fee. Moan moan, I'll just get a VPN, I guess.

Didn't go to Dunki in the cinema, because it opened four days before Christmas, and I'm not subjecting myself to the city centre at that time of year, not even for you, SRK. Anyway, it'll be on Netflix in a few weeks.

Very much looking forward to Malayalam film Malaikottai Vaaliban next week, based on nothing but the enthusiasm of some people I follow on BlueSky, and this intense trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqDLiObvefA

I saw Dunki at my local cinema. It was... well, it's always enjoyable to watch a Bollywood movie at the cinema, not a big turnout this time though, so less atmosphere. The narrative is kinda bizarre but it def has a heart.

Ah well. At least the songs in it are good.

Hanuman - Telugu superhero film, first installment in a cinematic universe. My LB review:

Pays off the dumb "superheroes are the modern mythology" talking point by having its hero actually be based on local mythology, to the extent that this white boy sometimes had trouble following along (though the sung recaps of the mythological elements were very helpful). The film also takes considerable advantage of its gorgeous rural setting and overall the tone is agreeably goofy, closer to a live action Asterix than anything in the MCU. The one concession to "well that just happened" American-style superheroics is Vennela Kishor's character, whose constant referencing of DC and Marvel properties does grate, though I will say his habit of exclaiming "shazam" at every opportunity and in a variety of emotional registers grew on me. A great time at the movies, looking forward to more in this shared universe!

Got some amused smiles on the way out of the cinema; tube wasn't running so I got on a bus that had a group of lads who asked me if I had enjoyed the film, and then proceeded to slag off the subtitles in Telugu (at least that's what I assume, ENG word "subtitles" in derisive tone only thing I understood obv).

Also gonna try to catch Merry Christmas (romance/mystery, puzzlingly released in January) and Naa Saami Ranga.

Merry Christmas is a must see! Wonderful sensual love story leading into a deliciously silly but emotionally affecting mystery. Reminded me of 50's Hitchcock, equal parts Movie Stars being charming and sexy and intense tension. Set in 60's Bombay, but ofc within the Christian population - noticed the male lead's last name is Pinto, the female lead is Maria, there's an Henriques as well, are all xian converts in India of Portuguese descent?

I watched Jawan last weekend. That was a lot of fun. It felt like 10 movies rolled into one. Insane highway chase setpiece near the end too.

Some of you might be interested in this thread I started over on ILM:

Rolling DESI and SOUTH ASIAN music thread 2024 - Bhangra, Bollywood, Chutney Soca, Baila etc...

Nice. I don't think I've ever posted on a thread on ILM in all my years here.