The Reel Firangis

I am a bit behind on following up with all the trailer drops and movies coming out but I felt the need to post on this and comment about it. If you have not heard what this is about, feel free to read about the controversy on the link above. 

To sum it up quickly DP (Deepika Padukone) and filmmaker Meghna Gulzar teamed up for a movie called “Chappaak”, which is based on real-life acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal. Promos are in full swing right now and DP launched the “Chhapaak challenge” aka inviting people on TikTok to “recreate your favorite looks” and post them. 

Except it is not about recreating the fashion looks with the clothes but also the face of an acid-attack survivor. 

Because apparently in 2020 for Deepika and team, acid-attacked faces are looks to be recreated. What the hell were they thinking? 

They probably weren’t come to think of it. 

I gotta say that is not a pretty picture for Deepika. At best it makes her look stupid, at worse she looks disingenuous and insensitive. Not saying she is (I don’t know her personally so I can’t judge) but I honestly cannot understand how that idea ever was greenlighted and how nobody in that entire team realized this was not sensitive.  

Most importantly it makes the movie look more like a hypocritical exploitation of people’s suffering for Box Office profit rather than a compelling and empowering work with a strong societal message. 

Anyhow this is a huge mess. I would not like to be in the shoes of the PR who had that idea/greenlighted it. 

Imtiaz Ali’s much-hyped remake of his own 2009 hit “Love Aaj Kal” has finally dropped its trailer. The original starred Saif and Deepika as the modern love couple. They are replaced by stars-n-the-making Kartik Aaryan and Sara Ali Khan in this version. 

Love Aaj Kal 2009 was a fun and thoughtful movie that presented modern relationships struggles while emphasizing on the timeless nature of true love. The first movie also relied heavily on the crackling chemistry between Deepika and Saif. 

Mohit Suri (Ek Villain, Aashiqui 2) and Aditya Roy Kapoor (Aashiqui 2, Fitoor, Kalank) are teaming up again with Disha Patani (Bharat, Bhaagi 2 or 3?, MS Dhoni) as the female lead this time around.

At first, it looks like the same Mohit Suri canvas except on steroids.

Hot and tough (aka shirtless, 6 pack, tattoos), and troubled (read has a lot of issues with law order and/or substance addiction) boy meets hot and innocent (read impressionable and virgin) girl. They fall in love madly cue toxic relationship. Then trouble - previously boy’s addictions, Riteish Deshmukh. Now drug addictions, Anil Kapoor AND Kunal Kemmu - messes it all up. Violence ensues. One of them dies tragically. Movie becomes a Box Office hit.  

Except that Malang seems to bring a sizeable twist in that formula: the girl. She does beedis and raves in Goa (therefore not innocent), cuts her hair and is in the very last shot of the trailer wearing a shady hoody and her new lob menacingly. 

I have so many questions right now; Is she going to be the ultimate villain? Is she going to avenge his death? Is she a honey trap? Why does she need to cut her hair for? Do I still think this is going to make a lot of money at BO? Kidding, I definitely do. 

Okayy so the collab of the year 2020 had been announced. After several suspicious « house visits/contract meetings» we finally got the annoucement of insta. Alia Bhatt is doing Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s next, titled « GANGUBAI, Mafia Queen ».

Alia is excited coz 3 posts in a row on her page... I should be excited too but I actually am legitimately scared for this.

Warning ⚠️ lots of unpopular opinions below. All are personal so be free to think and comment differently!

SLB makes boring movies. Padmavaat and Bajirao storylines are one pagers that he lost in between visual effects and dilited into 3 hours+ movies. Not good.

Alia’s acting. Never thought I would ever think that way but here I am. She was so bad in Kalank. And Kalank was Dharma’s mediocre attempt to be SLB. So if she was bad in the « gandhi copy » (@dietsabya fan here) I am worried for her to be cast in a SLB movie.

Then I see this pic and I hope to be wrong about this. Maybe SLB is in a mood for a new « Black » or another « Guzaarish ». Maybe this time he got a great story. Maybe Alia will be directed better and will overcome her Kalank perf?

Houseful 4 trailer dropped and they actually did something new with the franchise?! It is a clear spoof on Bhansali’s blockbusters Bajirao Mastani and Padmavaat and not going to lie, that part looks fun as hell. Also Riteish as a dance guru is priceless.

Bard of Blood undoubtedly was one of the most anticipated releases on Netflix for me this year.  With SRK producing (under his home banner Red Chillies), Emraan Hashmi as the leading man I had high expectations which were reinforced by the trailer. The rest of the cast is a bunch of talented people including my new girl crush Shobita Dhulipala who stole my heart in Amazon Prime’s fantabulous Made In Heaven. So, how did episode 1 go? (small spoilers ahead!) 

 The episode opens on a dazed Adonis aka Kabir Anand (Emraan Hashmi) who flashbacks to his best friend, Vikramjeet, sacrifice and subsequent death while on a mission together. Post that incident Adonis retires and teaches English Literature at school while not overcoming From there we are introduced to the pivotal characters of the story quite straightforwardly - name and caption appear for each onscreen - as four Indian agents are kidnapped by Talibans and Kabir is being called back into active duty to rescue them. Vikramjeet’s real cause of death and bigger threat for India are at stake in this rescue mission.

I am not going to lie, the very premise and the straightforwardness of the pilot, of the dialogue and the shots made me think of a Tinger Zinda Hai at first. You know in the first 15 minutes who is in whose camp and who is fighting against who. Which worried me at first because clearly, Bards ambitions’ are not to be a masala entertainer but a grittier and more complex work. However, the last half of the episode revealed more depth and complexity to the stakes of that rescue mission. Moreover, I am lead to think that with such straightforward introductions of the players, we are in for a few surprises in regards to alliances, dalliances, betrayals, etc. In the last part especially, the straightforwardness of the series really worked for it as more layers to both the case and Kabir’s past were uncovered complexifying the canvas without losing the viewer. The cast - especially Emraan - are doing a fantastic job in that sense as well.

All in all after all the anticipation I was still surprised by Bard of Bloods and even if I struggled a bit for the first 15-20 minutes, the last half really builds up tension and leaves up wanting to watch Kabir/Emraan go back to what he does best (hint: not soporific English Lit lectures)!

WAR’s first song, the Ghungroo song just dropped and it is gooood - not a big surprise as Arijit Singh and Shilpa Rao are the lead vocals behind it.

What makes the song even better though is the picturization, starring Hritik Roshan and Vaani Kapoor. Hritik is back and how! He has never looked so rugged and so good and that hook step belongs to him!!! 

Only complaint? That end sequence with Vaani doing acrobatics is ... unnecessary.I like the girl but let’s be real we are all here to see King Roshan dancing his way back to his superstar throne.

Kedarnath teaser has dropped: this one took its time! The movie is Sara Ali Khan’s much-hyped debut vehicle and Abhishek Kapoor's comeback as a director after Fitoor. 

The teaser looks good and quite epic. Sara Ali Khan is ... blinding. If her acting matches up to her screen presence she is going to be serious competition to Alia Bhatt. I hope she is. I love Alia to death but it is sort of boring how she has a monopoly over the “young and upcoming female superstar” category. Not to say other New Gen actresses are not talented but none have had the opportunity to show BO power a much as Alia has so far. Hopefully, Sara will shake that up a bit. 

As usual, I will mention what I am not totally sold on. 2 words here: Abhishek Kapoor. Of one, Fitoor. Fitoor was a terrible experience and no, it is not about Katrina’s performance. Mainly because she was decent in that movie unlike Aditya Roy Kapoor who served a reheated version of his Aashiqui performance. Fitoor was mostly a really bad take on The Great Expectations (some might say an “insult”). Scenario aside the narration felt like a this grotesque over the top montage of scenes supposed to create drama. It felt forced and unnecessary where it should have been gut-wrenching and impactful. Worse, it ended up being downright boring. 

While I liked Kai Po Che but always thought the directing was the weakest link of the movie even there. Have not seen anything else from Abhishek Kapoor but needless to say I am worried. The grandeur shown in Kedarnath’s trailer gives me major Fitoor flashbacks. For Sara’s sake let’s hope I am wrong.  

September is already over and boy did it bring some excitement on the movie front with some major trailer releases!

Thugs of Hindustan is arguably one of the most anticipated movies this year. Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan in one frame, need I say more? 

Okay, it has a lot of Pirates of the Caribbean to it, Aamir being the desi Jack Sparrow. I know I should not be excited about it but I am. And since we are in guilt territory, I hate to admit it but I am super hyped about Katrina’s dance numbers, although she looks the same as she does in every movie. 

Trying to redeem myself and my taste here with Sriram Raghavan. Andhadhun trailer is out !!! It looks so good and I am absolutely looking forward to that OST. 

Little Things season 2 trailer is out !!

Even though I did not watch season 1 I am looking forward to it since Netflix does a really great job with romcoms. “Love per square feet” was all things Vicky ;) ...

Following the global success of Sacred Games, Netflix has confirmed the hit series would be back with a second season. As someone who gave up on finishing season 1 after episode 6, I felt it would be fun - among the positive reception of the news - to be the party pooper and to dive into why I think Sacred Games season 2 is not a good idea. At all. 

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Gaitonde's flashbacks and his rise (and fall) as a mafia lord were, in my opinion, were always more interesting than the present-day mystery. What accentuated this imbalance was that Gaitonde's backstory was kept at the forefront of the first half of the series. Since Gaitonde can obviously not be a part of season 2 it does leaves wondering how they will make it interesting without him around. Also in season 1 Sartaj's character and its evolution was a huge draw-in. However, as Sartaj turned "bad boi" in episode 6, which it leaves me wondering whether the character still has scope for growth in season 2.  That being said, I love Saif Ali Khan and he probably is the only reason I would give season 2 a try.

As autumn settles in, it brings with it stressful yet shorter and colder days. 

Thankfully though Denmark has Hygge to get us through those dark depressing days. Hygge is a lifestyle philosophy that focuses on slowing down a bit to focus on simple pleasures (cozying up to a book, cooking at home, posting everything of the aforementioned on Instagram..) in order to get through the cold. 

But what is staying at home cosying up under Ikea blankets, being grateful, reading a book and posting heavily edited pictures with "Lark" filter on Instagram to show off our "lifestyle" without the appropriate soundtrack?

Since there are one so many times I can listen to "crackling wood" playlist on youtube, I turned to my Bollywood to put up a playlist for the perfect "Hygge" day.  

The start of a Hygge day would be to cozy under the blanket with a great book (Lost Japan by Alex Kerr) on a cold Sunday afternoon. For that one I absolutely would have “Tu Bole... Main Bolon” (Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, 2007) 

After all that lazying up, a good Hygge thing to do would be to enjoy nature time, walking in the woods, playing with dead leaves, picking up mushrooms for dinner praying you don’t die eating them... All in all enjoyable activities made better by “Geet Mein Dhalte Lafzon Mein” (Udaan, 2010) 

Sun is already setting though (yes at 4 pm) I now have enough mushrooms to poison cook for the close friends I invited over for dinner. Which, after cooking together we enjoy along with great conversation and “Khoney De” (NH10, 2015) playing in the background.

“Love You Zindagi” (Dear Zindagi, 2017) closes the day, with a dash of SRK’s dimples for additional gratitude.

September is here and we are all back to the grind! But Bollywood saves the day providing with plenty of new movies to add to my watchlist. Trailers have been dropping in masses for the past month or so. 

Starting with the latest one to drop “Badhaai Ho” starring your neighbor-but-better Ayuhmann Khurrana. As usual with Khurrana the plotline is quirky and so are the characters. I like the themes in the trailer (late pregnancy, parents’ sex life, etc.) and the cast oozes chemistry. I think a lot of the movie will ride upon crisp dialogues and comic timing so eagerly hoping for that.

Batti Gul Metter Chalu’s promotions are in full swing, and boy does this one looks promising. It is probably the movie I am the most excited about after watching the trailer! The social issue, the courtroom drama, (can I mention Shahid again?), this one seems to have it all. The only thing that slightly worried me is how much time the trailer spent on painting the set up (basically 50% of the trailer). I can only hope the actual movie will take less time in doing so. 

Sui Dhaaga was ... a bit underwhelming tbh. I don’t know, maybe I expected too much of its trailer. Which is a bit all over the place imo. But I cannot skip that one, not when Varun and Anushka are acting together in one movie. So praying for the movie to prove me wrong and adding one more on my watchlist I guess!

Raazi is the latest Alia Bhatt's BO success. It is based on the book "Calling Sehmat" which follows a young muslim Indian Kashmiri married off to a Pakistani family as well as her game changing role as an intelligence agent for India right before the 1971 Indo-Pak war. 

Raazi is overall a solid movie with a good plot and an infinitely interesting heroine and solid performances. It is unapologetically patriotic yet it does something interesting in regards to Pakistani characters: it makes them "human. Indeed it would have been easy to paint Sehmat’s in-laws as horrible people but they are not. They are actually really kind to her and there is no interpersonal conflict here. The whole point of the movie lies in watching those characters placing their countries above their own interests and likings; 

While I laud the movie for that I have to admit the final product left me a bit underwhelmed. Maybe I was expecting too much from Raazi but I felt the overall direction of the plot was a bit confused. 

At some moments it seems like the movie wants to focus on Sehmat internal conflict of her individual convictions VS her country’s interests. However, there are unnecessary long sequences on the whole India VS Pakistan conflict - which is interesting, only that it ends up taking away from the first conflict and the climax of the movie. Not to mention, Vicky Kaushal and his character are criminally underused. Had Iqbal been more suspicious of Sehmat earlier in the movie I feel the tension in the plot would have been truly gripping. 

After “Lust Stories” and “Sacred Games”, Netflix has launched promotions for its third project with Radhika Apte. Which, as someone who loves Radhika, I should logically love. 

But tbh I am worried. 

See I like Radhika Apte, a lot. She has a unique but unmistakable beauty which is a refreshing change in the industry. She dances like a dream (watch Lai Bhaari if you don’t believe it) and acts really well. Furthermore, she makes interesting career choices who have paid off so far. 

But then Netflix happened. 

In Lust stories she played an offbeat teacher who has an affair with one of her students and goes a bit crazy following the deed. I felt she did okay but when put against powerful performances by Manisha Koirala, Kiara Advani and - my favorite- Bhumi Pednekar, her performance felt a bit superficial. 

The real bummer though was her performance in Sacred Games. It was bad and there is no excuse for it. Sure she had the weakest and most annoying and useless character on the show. I guess it did not help but her portrayal was awful. I cannot pinpoint it but, as a career woman myself who has worked and has friends working in male-dominated environments, her interpretation is dramatically off the mark. The main conflict of her character was how trapped that woman was in a men’s world: that suffocation, the insidious power dynamics are nowhere to be found in her portrayal. It is a double bummer as has ventured into that territory with Padman but the depth she displayed then was nowhere to be found in Sacred Games.

Back to Ghoul though, it looks like an interesting project although scary as hell so I might skip it tbh. But I guess with this one we’ll get to know whether Netflix was ever a good idea for Radhika Apte. 

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