Padmaavat

So much ado about nothing ... Karni Sena should cut off their own noses now, in place of the one they've been demanding!!! The entire movie sings praises of Rajputs ... their valour, their bravery, their principles, their shaan ... their everything!

After the last few duds, SLB has made a better movie ... where at least there is some thought and depth given to the characters. As always, his cinematography is fantastic ... the shots of the Chittor fort, both inside and outside, are majestic, the interiors are rich without being garish (for once!) ...and the costumes and jewelry are simply exquisite.

Ranveer Singh as Khilji is menacing, manic and outright crazy. His eyes show his madness ... he has done a brilliant job. The actress playing his wife is sweet and pretty, and shows her helplessness well ... though his wife, she is completely at his mercy, he has no respect or love for her, she is merely another possession ... to be used and discarded at will. He has more regard for his slave cum lover? ... his questionable sexual inclinications also brought out subtly and not so subtly.

Shahid is poor casting ... he is underwhelming and looks puny in front of the huge furs and robes worn by Khilji. His two subedars, Gora and Badal Singh were more impressive as Rajputs.

Deepika looks gorgeous, her costumes are stunning, and her jewelry is a visual treat. Her acting and her dialogue delivery were impeccable ... she never loses her regal bearing for even a second ... and her eyes are so expressive! The last scene , the jauhar scene, stays with you ... although it could have done with some editing!!! The war ... alternating with the scenes of the women inside the fort ... the last 20-30 minutes were visually stunning. And the Ghoomar song was beautiful .. the rest of the songs are forgettable.

The entire movie needed to be about an hour shorter ... at least half an hour. How the armies move between Delhi and Chittor at a moment's notice is stretching the imagination quite a bit. 

Three Hollywood movies

Watched three HW movies over the last two weeks.

Darkest Hour - Winston Churchill, the man, warts and all, his leadership during the IInd World War and the story of how he sent a civilian fleet to pick up the British army boys marooned on Dunkirk ... among other events :) Also shows how unpopular he was among his own cabinet members. Interesting movie, as I am very hazy about these events in modern history.

The Post - the story of the scandal before Watergate ... the Pentagon Papers, and the Vietnam War ... the American presence and how military experts predicted America's failure in Vietnam, which was kept hidden from the American people for over many years and three Presidents. Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep ... just these two names are enough to guarantee a certain quality ... and they don't disappoint. 

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri - a slice of rural/small town America ... and you begin to see why Trump won the Presidency, if the majority of the American population is anything like the one shown. Uncouth, ignorant, unintelligent, foul-mouthed, frankly racist ... the closest comparison is Haryanvi Jats. A movie where it's hard to like any single character ... they are all so UNlikeable. A woman who gets annoyed with her daughter and tells her she hopes the daughter will get raped ... a daughter and son who call their mother bitch to her face, and worse ... a husband who leaves the mother of his teenage kids for a dumb blonde 19 year old ... a racist, unintelligent cop, who follows his equally racist mother's advice to mess up the people prodding him to work on a case by jailing their friend, or beating up an innocent young boy ... a police chief who decides to kill himself because he can't bear a slow long drawn out death by cancer .. leaving his wife (who looks like his daughter!) and two young kids orphaned and alone ...  and a movie where every second word is a cuss word. Reminded me why I dislike most HW movies ... since both The Post and Darkest Hour were set in an earlier time, the language was so much better!
I believe the movie is up for the Oscars ... I hope it doesn't get too many. Don't know what the message was ... except for a very weak attempt at showing a slight reformation of the corrupt racist cop ... didn't come through very well if so.

Sanaya ... more news

Dunno what this is about ... but Sanaya is obviously out there, trying hard for work and trying out new things. She still sticks to her guns and won't do a regular TV show just for the sake of doing it ... but is ready to try out different things. Good for her!!!

So we have two projects to look forward to ... Vodka Shots and this short film. Took a look at the director's works online ... he has 2-3 short films on YT ... between 10-20 minutes long. Obviously low budget stuff, but decent content.

Edited - and one more!!!



Sanaya is back with a bang!!!! Obviously not finding anything great on TV ... don't blame her, as after ages, I find that nothing, absolutely NOTHING, is watchable on TV ... even finding RKC running out of steam ... she has decided to widen her horizon to include the web. A web show and now two short films ... she is doing something different and new ... good on her!!!  Good timing as well ... the web is definitely picking up in content, both in quantity and quality ... Sanaya seems to be setting the base for a long acting career.

Was not too enthused about the Sachin Gupta film, as whatever I saw online was quite average ... but this PH is much better. They have worked with Vinay Pathak and one of their short films has won some awards.

But more than that, I'm excited that Sanaya is well and truly back at work, and we will see her acting soon ... in not one but three new characters!!!

Edited 28/01/2018
Apparently the ML of Dum Dum Dumroo has changed


And as I'm greedy, can't help hoping that she does get a good TV show as well in the near future, because I really would like to see her daily on my TV screen again ... it's been so long. 

RKC Week 24 Jan 15 - 19 Epi 125 - 129

Very quick recap as I am losing interest in the show ... it has started dragging, the story telling has become too linear and not properly fleshed out ... and currently none of the characters are very likeable. For a show to click, the viewers have to connect with at least one character from the heart ... be interested and vested in his/her trials and emotions. Right now, even Satrupa has lost that connection, the thread that was keeping me hooked to the show. She is too proud, too ungrateful to the Pandits, her love for her daughter has become an obsession, and she is not concerned about anyone's feelings, least of all Anami's ... she just wants ... no, demands her return ... without trying to reflect on why she ran away and how she can atone for what she did.

Anami lost my sympathy long back ... she is too impulsive, too quick to jump to conclusions and believe the worst her Satrupa ... even when Adhiraj and Dadi both warned her about Sudha, Satrupa has told her that Purushottam did kidnap Laddoo, she has forgotten all that, and is ready to believe that Satrupa wanted to kill her parents so that she comes back ... Ergo, she will go back ... for revenge.
Not the story I signed up for, or wanted.

Laddoo ... why is no one talking to him about the kidnapping? Anami is blind and obtuse ... but what about Adhiraj? And what about Adhiraj ... he left his job, his work, and helped Anami run away ... now he's tamely going back to work?

Panditayin irritates me too ... she is as possessive about Anami in her own way as Satrupa is .. she gave her up to Satrupa, but she now wants Anami back ... does she not stop to think for a moment about Anami's future? Will she remain a Benaras ke ghat ki ladki all her life? No future, no education, continue drinking tea from a saucer and fighting fake pandits, because those are her sanskaar ...
If Panditayin was a selfless mother, she would realise the opportunities that LM and Satrupa can give Anami and urge her to stay, give it a try, at least till the age of eighteen, to sambhalo her own future ... and maybe that of Laddoo as well.

Murari Pandit is the only somewhat sensible person as of now.

Forgot to mention ... Sudha is evil ... but Sangeeta Ghosh has been playing her brilliantly the last week.

And I love Narottam's turnaround ... for me, right now, he is the most deserving heir to LM and RS. Courageous, principled, humble, mature ... if only he was not involved in Vatsalya's murder, that is.

The story is going in circles right now ... the TRP effect, I guess. Pity ... another good show bites the dust. let's see how long SP gives it ... with these TRPs, not much longer I guess ... though Ekyavan will go first ... its trp's are even lower. 

RKC week 23 Jan 8 - 12 Epi 120 - 124

The runaways continue to run, getting closer and closer.

Satrupa's world continues to crumble ... everyone in LM wondering about the reason Anami ran away, somehow Satrupa get the unspoken blame from everyone ... including from her own guilty conscience.

Adhi Anami romance is still a bit pheeka ... Anami is too much brat, too little a woman.

Sudha is worming her way into Baldev's life.

The week went in running away, reaching Haripur, where the Pandits reached before Adhiraj, Anami and Laddoo ... a tearful, over-melodramatic reunion ... while in LM, everyone frets and fumes over Anami's disappearance, and Satrupa discovers that Adhiraj has also run away with Anami, and her fury multiplies. Gone is the concerned mother, now is only the LM bahu, who wants her daughter back under her control ...

And in the last episode of the week, Sudha's men reach Anami at the same time that Sartupa's faithful Sher Singh does ... and to more deadly effect ... as they burn the house down, where the Pandit family is staying. Adhiraj finds one of the men ... who utters only the single syllable 'Sss ..' ... to keep alive the daughter's hatred for her mother, as usual Anami jumps to the conclusion that Sss... can only mean Satrupa. Of course Satrupa hasn't helped matters ... on the phone, she could only threaten Anami that she has to come back ... no cajoling, entreaty, softness, motherly love ... that's not Satrupa.  Unfortunately for Satrupa, she can't be the kind of mother Madhu Pandit is to Anami ... she was that mother to Vatsalya ... but never to Anami. For Anami, Madhu Pandit is and always will be, her only mother. Satrupa has betrayed her once by giving her away at birth, and a second time, by hiding Laddoo from her. She has lost Anami's trust, and with that, all chance of being her mother ...

At least till the end of the serial! ;)

Vodka Shots - teaser articles

Lots of articles on the teaser of Vodka Shots ... seems to have caught the attention of the media.

Post from the author - she seems excited!


India Today

Vodka Shots teaser out: Sanaya Irani as Keya Sharma narrates a story of us millennials

The teaser of Sanaya Irani's web series Vodka Shots is out and it looks quite promising.

IndiaToday.in | Posted by Manpreet Kaur

The teaser of Sanaya Irani's web series Vodka Shots is out and it looks quite promising. It brings bitter-sweet truth of life of us millennials in front of camera.   

Sanaya, who was last seen shaking a leg with husband Mohit Sehgal in Nach Baliye 8, is playing the role of Keya Sharma in the series. And the show is about Keya's character making her way through a ruthless life.

The promo focuses on the 'Love your Life' trend that has become part of our lives and the way we try to publicise it. Keya's life takes a U-turn when the independent girl, who is working as an RJ, bumps into her ex-boyfriend and he starts pestering her all over again. 

She had also posted the first look on her Instagram page and shared a video on Facebook few days back.

In the video she says, "Here I am, in a brand new avatar as Keya Sharma in my first web series Vodka Shots."

It is created by Mamta Yash Patnaik.

Pinkville also has a nice article

https://www.pinkvilla.com/tv/news-gossip/vodka-shots-sanaya-irani-cynic-keya-sharma-breath-fresh-air-395031

Vodka Shots: Sanaya Irani as cynic Keya Sharma is a breath of fresh air

Sanaya Irani is back with a web series Vodka Shots. Her new look for the show is quite a treat for her fans.

Sanaya Irani ruled the Indian Television for a decade as Khushi Kumari Gupta, Gunjan, Chanchan and other characters. 

The gorgeous actor is now back with Beyond Originals web series Vodka Shots wherein she will be seen playing the character of Keya Sharma who is a cynic at heart. 
Sanaya will be seen playing an RJ in the series who has a flourishing career and boyfriend who could anything for her, but things change when her ex, comes back into her life. 

Vodka Shots revolve around the complications of particular relationships, especially in the modern times. Vodka is used as a euphemism for how ruthless and bitter life can get. 

Vodka is used as a euphemism for how ruthless and bitter life can get. Speaking about Sanaya's look on the show, she looks hot in hot pants and crop top teamed with a jacket. 

In a small promo shared by the production house, we see hazy images of Sanaya as Keya as she recalls how the entry of a certain ex, messes things up for her. She is seen cursing vodka and her life and is seen contemplating about what's in store for her. 

Earlier, Sanaya did a special series of her popular show Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? for Hotstar. 

It is indeed great to see the gorgeous actress back in action. 

Meanwhile, Sanaya recently attended her close friend Drashti Dhami's pre-birthday celebrations. She was joined by husband Mohit Sehgal for the same. The duo looked extremely happy with each other and were all smiles. 

Sanaya - Vodka Shots trailer

Trailer of Vodka Shots out ... gives a Fashion feel ... Keya Sharma, a girl caught between two loves, past and present ... bad boy vs good boy. Who will she choose?

Sounds interesting ... trailer is dark, broody ... Sanaya's voice is soft, jaded, with a hard edge reflecting Keya's cynicism. The drinks ... a vodka shot ... pushed aside for a glass of coconut water ... reflect her choices. 

Definitely looks better than Black Coffee in terms of sets ... the apartment is plush but minimalistic, the living area flowing into the balcony seamlessly through large glass doors ... a green vine covered wall providing the colour to an otherwise stark white and grey interior. The kitchen cum bar table where Keya pours herself a vodka shot with a basket of fruits, and more bottles of liquor ... good attention to detail.

And the best for the last ... yippeee ... halleluiah ... Sanaya is back after three years finally in the fiction space with a new character!!! 

Sanaya - Vodka Shots

Beautiful pic of San from new Year's Eve.



First look of Vodka Shots


Posted by Sanaya


I was looking forward to  the web series just to see Sanaya acting again ... but am now getting excited about the show too!

In the meantime, watched Black Coffee, the Beyond Dreams first offering ... all I will say is, hope Vodka Shots is better! :) It was quite amateurish, although the story itself was interesting ... interesting enough for me to watch all seven episodes. Acting was very average ... I believe both the actors are popular among the online audience, but they're definitely not great actors! That's one thing we can look forward to in Vodka Shots for sure ... with Sanaya there, acting will be good. Hope the ensemble cast is good too. She has said yes because of the script, so that's another thing to look  forward too.

Caught a few minutes of another show on Sony Liv ... Love Bytes ... the acting there is much better and that show seems to have a better budget. Hope Vodka Shots is more like that one.

Yash Patnaik Interview re Black Coffee

Param Singh and Harshita Gaur starrer Black Coffee was Beyond Original’s debut venture on the digital space. The series not only managed to garner around 10 million views, it has also been receiving accolades for its quality of content. The first episode of this series went on to grab a million views. Helmed by well-known producer Yash Patnaik, the series has now added another feather to its cap. The digital series has earned 9.4 ratings on Internet Movie Database IMDb. The online database is a huge portal for TV shows and movies around the globe. With such massive ratings, Black Coffee is the third highest rated web series in the country.

The enamoring Yash Patnaik seemed pretty elated with the happenings of his baby project. In an exclusive conversation with TellyChakkar, Yash shared his excitement and plans for Beyond Originals.

“It is definitely encouraging. The show is being appreciated by all. It doesn’t have a huge budget or a big star cast. It’s a strong content driven show. At a time when a lot of disruptive content is happening, we wanted to give the audience a different content which is simple, relatable and doesn’t go heavy on your head or heart. We thought of going simple with Black Coffee. The audience’s reaction has been really good,” Yash says.

He also informed that they have joined hands with Sony LIV. Talking more about it, he says, “We’ve joined hands with Sony LIV, so now the series is also going to be available on the platform. We’ve received encouragement from other OTT platforms. Plus we’ve reached around 1 Lakh subscribers and a rating on IMDb which is an authentic parameter is an icing on the cake.”

This is not the first time that Yash’s content has garnered good ratings on the online database. Earlier Beyond Dreams’ Kuch Rang Pyaar Ke had a rating of 9.3 points, which is highest ever for a TV show. Yash continues, “Our content delivers number and ratings are vindication of your conviction. It helped us believe that good content will get appreciated.”

With such a successful stint, the second season is already in pipeline. He says, “Season 2 has been a huge demand. We’ll be coming back with season 2. We ended the first season with a cliffhanger. We shot for two conclusions one with close ended and the other with open ended.  After the good response that we got past 2nd episode we decided to keep the cliffhangers. The series will take a couple of months.”

Currently the digital medium is witnessing plethora of web series high on adult content. However Yash is particular that Beyond Originals won’t stick to the adult content. Yash shares, “We used certain cuss words in the first few episodes of Black Coffee however we realized we don’t need it. In Beyond Originals, we’ll have filters; it’s never going to be a mix bag of everything. Our filter says no cuss words and no sleaze in our content. That is a filter we have to maintain since we have to cater to a certain section of the audience.”

The production house is planning to release a series every alternate month. Currently the team is prepping for launching its next series titled Vodka Shots starring Sanaya Irani.

RKC week 21-22 Dec 25-29, Jan 1-5 Epi 110-119

Did not update ... was busy with guests, and RKC seems to have been SP-fied ... the pace is much slower and dragging.

The last two weeks went in Laddoo's kidnap and the aftermath, the best scene this week was the Anami-Satrupa confrontation, when Anami finally hears from a guilty Satrupa's own mouth, how she kept Laddoo hidden from Anami for her own selfish 'mamta' ... selfish because she put her own longing for her daughter's love above that same daughter's pain and anguish and worry about her brother.

I understood where Satrupa was coming from ... I even sympathised with her ... more than with Anami, which is credit more to the acting ability of the actress, for what she did was truly difficult to forgive.

Anami-Adhiraj are boring together ... they have no spark. Anami is too much a child, she is still not woman enough for romance to be believable. The way she started yelling at the bus driver was stupid!

Satrupa back to Mommy Don ... she wants her daughter back, and she will get her back, come what may. The lady has bent but not broken yet ... till she bends to the Pathaks for taking care of her daughter, her redemption will not be complete. She is still thinking of Anami as 'hers' ... as her possession, not a child with a mind and feelings of her own.

And Anami too, has a lot to learn ... to see the world in shades of grey, not just black and white ... to know the reasons her mother gave her away ... to understand the roles Satrupa played in her life, wife, LM bahu, head of Royal Steel ... mother was only one of Satrupa's many roles and responsibilities ... sadly, she didn't receive much joys of being a wife, and LM bahu was a heavy burden to bear ... motherhood was the only role which brought her pure joy and that too was overshadowed by the role of bahu and caretaker of RS for the heir.
And Anami has not brought her that joy again ... that longing remained unfulfilled. Till Anami understands Satrupa's pain, she will not grow.