TV and web shows

Mere Dad Ki Dulhan ... is becoming a decent watch, as Ambar Sharma slowly shedding the worst of his khadoos-pan, influenced by the interactions with his online friend, Baawra Mann. I would be skeptical if it wasn't for the fact that I have personally had a lot of online interactions and made some really wonderful friends online, some of whom are now good friends in real life. I guess even online, if one is careful, one can actually connect with people with similar mindsets.
So yes ... online friendships can lead to real life friendships ... even at the age of 50 plus. As Ambar Sharma is finding ... sometimes one can talk to unknown, anonymous people freely, free of the fear of being judged too harshly ... when people don't know you in the context of your family and relationships, and can evaluate you without all the extra baggage, without being influenced by their own relationships with your loved ones.
And Guneet too ... she has resisted all match making efforts by her mother ... was Ambar Sharma right, and was she really using her mother as a shield to protect herself from her own feelings, her own weaknesses? Ambar holds up a mirror ... and her online friend, No Drama Please, encourages her to go for it ... meet the doctor ... after all, it will make her mother happy, and she can always say no,  can't she?
I like the way they intersperse light hearted scenes with more serious ones ... the fun scenes of the four friends getting Ambar ready for a date ... who is this mysterious Sweety, anyway? Doesn't Ambar want to meet his online friend? Or is 'Sweety' a proposal from someone else? That part is not clear.
Also I like the arc of Niya's office troubles ... yes, she left her training period less than two months into it, after being sent by her office ... and yes, it will have repercussions on her professional life and career. Is it justified? After all, Niya and her father only have each other ... so is it okay for her to put him first? Most children do not ... they do put career first, usually with encouragement from their parents, who feel that children have their whole lives ahead ... but it's something to stop and think about.

Tara continues to be quite irritating ... how can a 16 year old girl be so dumb?! But then she is from a very small town, with no experience of city smartness at all ...
Wonder if her father will actually go to Canada ... or will he stop in Mumbai to train his daughter and help her struggle to redeem his name. Or does the actor have some more work lined up, for which he needs a break. Or is it a plotline to ensure he is not around for the drama lined up for the enxt few weeks. The show ends in February ... so not too long to go.

Watched Jamtara on Netflix ... interesting show, all the more because it is based on a true incident ... a phishing scam by some poorly educated, almost illiterate youths in a backward village, Jamtara. However too much drama ... and not enough details ... how did the kids get the bank details of their victims ... Also I'm quite tired of the rural India gangster dramas ... I want to watch some lighter, urban shows, like Made in Heaven and Four More Shots Please. I can't take more of these gangster shows with their crude language and violence.

Watched De De Pyaar De on Hotsar finally ... Tabu  has some amazing screen presence!!! She lights up all the scenes she comes in. Ajay Devgan looks bored and has the same expression most of the time ... the new girl Rakul Preet is pretty but barely adequate in acting skills. She still does better than Ajay though ... and one wonders what she found to fall in love with in that man, a man who doesn't have the gumption to tell either her or his wife the truth about his relationships - her, that he's still married, and his wife, that Aisha is his girlfriend. Ajay Devgan's looks and acting don't help either ... he's neither charming nor good-looking ... and he looks disinterested most of the time. I loved the talking to Tabu gave her daughter and her in-laws at the end ... stop blaming him for your own faults. And honestly ... since it was a guy falling for a younger woman, they gave the ending they did ... otherwise, Tabu the actress, and Manju the wife were so much better, as actor and character, than either Rakul Preet or her character, and Ajay and his character. 

Movies and Shows

The Rise of Skywalker ... the last in the nine movie series of the Star Wars saga ... a saga that began in the '70s when I was still in school. Haven't really followed the new movies as they came out, but caught up with a few over the summer because of my daughter, who is an avid fan ... and went with her for this last one, more out of nostalgia than anything. Okay watch ... the ending was really stretched ... giving Bollywood a run for its money!!!

Knives Out - great fun watch ... one of the best movies of the year. A whodunit in the old Agatha Christie, Hercule Poirot style ... kept me guessing till about halfway through ... and was a totally fun watch all through. Acting top notch ... with some old favorites, including an almost unrecognizeable Christopher Plummer,  a savvy Jamie Lee Curtis, an ageing! (sadly!) Daniel Craig ... and a really cute Latino heroine, whose name should be more familiar than it is!

Also watched the first few episodes of the YHM spinoff, Yeh Hain Chaahatein ... supposedly about a single mother, but was amused to note that the single mother is not actually a single mother, she is just raising her dead sister's child. I suppose that is progressive enough for SP ... to actually have a single  mother would be too much for them ... although a divorced dad was acceptable. Acting is quite bad ... screenplay is weak and very crass ... no subtlety at all. Doubt I will watch this.

Mere Dad Ki Dulhan ... still watching this ... the show has improved as has Ambar Sharma's temperament ... Nia seems very dependent on her dad, but he is actually slowly breaking away and interacting more sensibly with Guneet, Dr Pandey and his staff. Even his interactions with his boss's son, Randeep are more restrained than I would have expected. The story regarding the breaking of relations with his wife's sister and family needs to be more fleshed out still ... but I'm reminded again of why I like Varun Badola so much as an actor. And I am loving Shweta Tiwari as Guneet ... liked her in Parvarish, but she was quite loud and crass there ... here her character is evolving nicely, and I am becoming her fan.
The younger hero, Randeep, needs to tone down a bit ... though he seems to be getting more comfortable with his character ... and I actually like his back story as well ... not just a spoiled rich brat of an indulgent father, but a young man actually trying to make his own name independent of his father, with little success ... still quite spoiled ... but he now has a solid reason to actually work hard and make the travel agency turn around. Wonder if Nia will go back to the US, or will leave her job and stay back. Now that Randeep is firmly in India for at least six months, either could happen. Again I liked the way her boss Kabir quite firmly told her that she has to go back, as she doesn't have a job here any longer. That probably means that she leaves her job and training, and decides to work with Randeep at the agency ... I will be sorry if that happens ... I wish she could complete her training, but two years is a long time for the show to run without her!

Also watching Tara From Satara ... total time pass. 

Watch list

Hotel Mumbai - Dev Patel, Anupam Kher. A fictionalised account of the horrific Mumbai bombings, which concentrates on the Taj Palace hotel attacks. Very gripping and well done. There was some amalgamation of stories from other attack sites, woven into the narrative and reset in the Taj hotel. The narrative brought out how the youth are completely brainwashed into carrying out acts which are actually against their religion, and also firmly declared that Pakistan was behind the terror attacks, as acknowledged by Pakistan itself. Also brought out how how idiotic brainless treacherous so-called 'journalists' worked as traitors for India by broadcasting the plans for bringing down the attackers, thereby warning them and causing more hostage deaths. Those so-called journalists should be tried for treason. Maybe then their true faces will be revealed.

Acting was brilliant all through. A good watch ... disturbing and gripping ... and sobering, as one reflects that the movie is based on true facts.

Side note - watched this in the hall, saw Sanaya's Vicco ad on the big screen :) Looks like while Sanaya waits for a good break on the web platform, she will be doing ads on the side. My interest in following her career, or what's left of it, is dwindling rapidly. Not blaming her too much for not wanting to do TV ... Indian tv has gone down the tubes and there is really nothing worth watching currently. I continue to watch Tara and Mere Dad ki Dulhan, mainly out of habit, not really interest. Although I like Varun Badola, his character is quite obnoxious at the moment ... I am enjoying Shweta Tiwari ... she is a very good actress, and her character is very sweet.

Started watching Out of Love on Hotstar ... a HS original, based on Dr Foster, which I haven't watched. Quite a dark show ... have just watched the first episode ... will update as I watch more. Rasika Duggal is excellent as the paranoid suspicious wife ... the rest of the cast is decent ... she has the lion's share of screen space and acting ... and is doing a very good job so far. 

Badhaai Ho

Watched Badhaai Ho ... simple, cute movie, a really fun watch. Ayushman was excellent, so was Neena Gupta, though I felt she had less to do than the other senior actors. The stars of the movie were the actor who plays the dad, and Surekha Sikri as the Dadi ... she had the best one-liners! The actress playing Ayushman's love interest was just okay ... the dance at the end was totally unnecessary as she is a completely ungraceful dancer, and her outfit was atrocious! The lady playing her mom was good. The two sister's in-law of Neena Gupta were TV actors, well known ones - one was Alka Kaushal, Varun Badola's sister ... both were good in their roles. The kid who played Ayushman's brother was decent.
Movie itself was a cute commentary on the hypocrisy of Indian society, done with dollops of humour, but the actual issue was not really addressed in any great depth. I loved the ending, the best scene was the hospital scene when the baby girl is born, and both much(!) older brothers instantly falling in love with their baby sister, the dadi with her poti, and the dad with his daughter ... I can just imagine both older brothers being fiercely protective bade bhaiyyas as the baby sister grows up ... would be fun to watch a sequel on that theme! 

Sanju

Watched Sanju yesterday ... Spoilers ahead!

Thoughts on the movie - Ranbir Kapoor is absolutely fantastic as Sanju, he smashes it out of the park with his performance. Vicky Kaushal as his friend, is equally superb, in fact in a few scenes, he overshadows RK. The scene where he gets drunk to pluck up the courage to talk to Sunil Dutt to save Sanjay, is brilliant. Ranbir's acting in the drug scenes, in the scene where he breaks down at his movie premiere, pretty much all through the first half of the movie ... is also brilliant. he has gotten into the character of Sanjay Dutt, not just the physical resemblance, but also the mannerisms, the slouching walk, the dialogue delivery ... the change in body and physique ... amazing. His fear of his father, his struggle to live under his shadow, and the way he pretty much gave up and went haywire ... that would have made a movie of its own. The whole drug addiction phase and how he came out of it, is a good lesson for all youngsters who might be tempted to try drugs ... he was lucky that his father could afford a de-addiction program for him, but many people are not so lucky. But kudos to him that he came out of it, and went the opposite direction - into being a fitness freak.

Paresh Rawal as Sunil Dutt is okay ... I couldn't connect him with Sunil Dutt, but as a father worried about his son and wife, and torn between his son and his own moral compass, he was good. Sonam is bad as usual, her screechy showdown with Sanjay was awful. Dia Mirza as Maanyata was okay ... as I have no idea what Maanyata is like in real life ...  she was the supportive loving wife in the movie, and was okay, but unremarkable ... probably more a fault of the scripting, which didn't give her any opportunity to show much acting skills. Anushka was average as well .. don't know why an A lister actress was needed for the role. Manisha was sweet as Nargis, especially in the song Kar Fateh ... her resemblance to Nargis was strong in the song, not so much in the other scenes.

The second half was about the terrorism tag ... as a story it was good, but since it is based on real life, it felt like a major attempt to whitewash Sanjay Dutt. Apparently Sanjay Dutt was desperate to get rid of the 'terrorist' tag ... in the movie, Hirani made it all about wanting to protect his family, after the threats on Sunil Dutt and his sisters. Also made the contacts with the underworld more based on fear and wanting to keep on good terms with them and not antagonise them, rather than being buddies despite knowing their involvement in the Mumbai blasts, Was Sanjay Dutt really so naiive that he didn't know what they were involved in? The jail scenes were powerful, especially the scene with the overflowing toilet ... yuck!!! He lived in really bad conditions in the jail, especially when imprisoned under TADA ... when you feel bad for him momentarily, but then one really can't sympathise with terrorists and anti-nationals, and he was suspected of being both at the time. The movie tries to build sympathy for him all through the jail scenes, his fear of the underworld, his fear for his family ... as a fictional hero, he would walk away with the sympathy ... problem is, he is not fictional, and the whitewash gets quite blatant.

Just hope Hirani doesn't attempt a similar whitewash for Salman Khan!

But as a movie, Sanju is very good ... very well made, and brilliantly acted. Ranbir Kapoor, take a bow. Vicky Kaushal ... take several. Another movie where the main character has the author backed role, and VK walks away with major applause ... he was brilliant in Raazi, he was great in Lust Stories, and he is absolutely brilliant in Sanju. 

Recent movies

102 Not Out - Watched this a couple of weeks ago - nice, sweet movie, with two main characters and one very able supporting character carrying the entire movie on their shoulders. Amitabh Bachhan and Rishi Kapoor - nice to see them together, this time as father and son. Expectedly they delivered their roles beautifully ... but special mention to the actor playing the supporting role - he was amazing, and held his own with these two stalwarts.

Raazi - Fab movie!!! I haven't watched Talvaar yet ... but after this movie, I am a fan of Meghna Gulzar and her style of film making. I'm not a great fan of Alia Bhatt either, but have to say, she was very, very good in this movie ... she had the author backed role, of course, and she played it beautifully. Helped that she has the innocent look required for the role ... a different actress might have brought more steel into the spy bits ... but Alia did well. Vicky Kaushal was amazing as the husband ... the kind of guy any woman would want as her life partner, sensitive, supportive, loving and respectful of his wife and her feelings - dream man!!! The actors playing Alia's trainer and his second hand man - both perfect! Mir's scarred face hinted at a more active, more dangerous past in the shadowy world of spying, while his second in command retained a youthful look and a touch of innocence. Sehmat's family - her father and mother, Rajat Kapoor and Soni Razdan - Soni Razdan with very little screen time and few dialogues, managed to convey subtly her disapproval of her husband's decision to send their daughter into the shadow world of a spy.
Sehmat's husband's family was such a lovely normal family ... they welcomed a new daughter-in-law into their midst without  reservation, despite the fact she was from an 'enemy' country ... probably because they thought (very mistakenly, of course!) that she was the daughter of a man whose first loyalty was to Pakistan. Vicky Kaushal as her husband was a lovely man, as mentioned ... but everyone, including the father-in-law, the older brother and sister in law, were warm, welcoming and affectionate. The father-in-law was warm and affectionate with his family, but 'kadak' and all business when discussing work with his sons. Arif Zakaria as the suspicious servant, who was Indian by origin, but Pakistani by choice, did not do much except glower suspiciously at Sehmat ... I expected him to turn color at some point, but he didn't. The side characters - the flower seller, the shopkeeper, the rickshaw vala ... all were brilliant ... it was reassuring to know that India has spies planted everywhere ... till one realises the converse must also be true, and other countries must also have their own spies planted here.
Loved the song Mere Vatan ... a song that can be sung by any country anywhere ... patriotic without being jingoistic. Also loved one dialogue by Iqbal, Sehmat's husband, when his father got furious that Sehmat was a spy ... he said, she's doing this for her country, the same way we do what we do for ours. 
Oh for a world without borders ... without the artificial borders created by politics, by religion, by color ... what a beautiful world it would be! 

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.

Other Shows We're Watching

Restarting this series ... as we're all going to be jobless next week after RR ends.

I have been watching very few shows, so please add any that you find interesting.

I'm probably going to catch the new Sonali Bendre show on Life OK ... looks interesting.

Also caught a few scenes of the new show on Sony Pal, don't remember the name, the one with Barkha Bisht and the girl from NBT ... it has a very NBT feel, a story about a widow with a child, and her parents/inlaws wanting her to re-marry ... the kid wants to play badminton. Even the sets look similar! The setting is a Muslim milieu, otherwise the resemblance to NBT is very strong. Good actors all ... worth giving a shot.

Still watching LAT and YHM ... but there is nothing much to discuss in the stories as of now ... or maybe I'm not sufficiently involved in the shows to discuss them. They're both pleasant to watch as of now. YHM is typical Ekta with perfect heroine, surly hero with heart of gold, plenty of villains and vamps to up the drama, and pleasant supporting characters.

Also still watching KBC. I enjoy the Thursday episodes, when AB brings in film stars to either promote their new movies or to earn money for their favorite charity. Very good attempt by Sony ... and as usual, a good show that doesn't get top TRPs. 

Also watching Anupam Kher's Sunday talk show ... he brings in interesting people.

After saying I'm not watching too many shows, this is quite a long list!

Watched Mary Kom last night ... enjoyed it. Hats off to PC for the sheer hard work she put into portraying the character ... she basically learned an entire new sport over a few months, and did the training and body building for it as well. 

Movies and Books

Movies:
Watched Special 26 over the CNY break ... good fun watch! About an hour into the movie, you know where it's gonna go ... but it's a fun ride. Manoj Bajpai as good as ever ... enjoyed Anupam Kher, Akshay Kumar and Jimmy Shergill. It's being touted as one of Akshay's best performances by audiences as well as critics. so Akshay is happy. The romance track was completely useless and unnecessary, and the girl was pretty useless too.

Also watched Zero Dark Thirty ... the true story of the operation to kill Osama Bin Laden ... very interesting watch again ... although it was a long movie!

Books: 
Read the first of the Clifton Chronicles by Jeffrey Archer. Read a funny anecdote about the launch of the books - JA launched the books in India, as it's not only one of the biggest markets for his books, but also the place where they get pirated the fastest. Driving to his hotel in his car, he was stopped by a street urchin, who offered to sell him his own book, before it was officially launched, saying it was "the latest Jeffrey Archer". JA told him ... "kid, I AM the latest Jeffrey Archer!"

Also read my first Nicholas Sparks ... thanks for the recommendation, girls! Am looking for more now.

Read 2 States by Chetan Bhagat ... the guy is no great writer for sure.

Movies, Books, Music

Haven't made a post on books and movies for ages, and the last one has disappeared into the archives of 2012. So here is a new one for the new year

Movies - watched Matru ki Bijli ka Mandola last night. A different movie from Vishal Bharadwaj, compared to his Maqbool and Omkara. Pankaj Kapoor was brilliant. Shabana Azmi was good. I liked Anushka Sharma for the first time ... had found her only okay-ish in Rab Ne and Band Baja Baraat in the past. The movie itself was good, an interesting watch, liked the subtle and not-so-subtle political satire beneath the surface.

Re-read Kane and Abel over the holidays, Now plan to re-watch Kismat.
Next on my list - Gita Mehta. More book recommendations please?

Movies We're Watching, Books we're Reading

EID MUBARAK to all those celebrating! 

Thanks for this suggestion, Shweths ... have a few movies to mention! Am combining the books and movies post, otherwise there will be too many posts every week to follow.

MOVIES:

OMG Oh My God ... went for this movie expecting a slapstick comedy, instead got a surprisingly good movie on a serious topic, very well made and with fantastic arguments. Paresh Rawal owned it ... Akshay Kumar as modern Krishnaji was excellent.

English Vinglish ... watch this again without any expectations and loved it. A must for all housewives, and for their husbands ... and for anyone who dreams of making things better, of feeling better ... Sridevi's speech at the end of the movie was brilliant.

Arbitrage ... Richard Gere. Susan Sarandon. Need I say more?

On the To Watch list - Argo, Hope Springs, Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

Any reviews of SOTY? Is it worth watching?



BOOKS:
Just started Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Haven't read a really good book for ages ... suggestions please? 

Edited:
Am adding some of the book and author suggestions here for easier reference.

Jeffrey Archer
Room by Emma Donoghue
Nicholas Sparks
Hunger Games trilogy - author please?
Grisham
Dan Brown - da Vinci Code, Digital Fortress
William Dalrymple
RK Narayan, Munshi Premchand
Old favorites I grew up with - PG Wodehouse, Agatha Christie
The Sherlock Holmes series - if you haven't read them do give them a try!

Georgette Heyer - for those new to her books, try These Old Shades and Devil's Cub, Frederica, Arabella, The Grand Sophy, Bath Tangle - all her heroines are spirited, smart and sassy, and her heroes are tall, dark and handsome with some major hangups in life :) but they are also witty and intelligent ... and when they fall, the typical knights in shining armour - no wonder I love them!

Gurcharan Das
Gita Mehta
Anyone tried Anita Desai? I have one of her books, haven't read it yet.

Cecilia Ahern - Love, Rosie and PS, I Love You
James Patterson
Robert Ludlum
Ruskin Bond
Rick Riordan
Jhumpa Lahiri
Chitra Kumari Divakurni

JK Rowling has a new book out - mixed reviews - The Casual Vacancy. My daughter is reading it, will get back with her review.

Ann Patchett - Bel Canto, State of Wonder
Life of Pi
Ayn Rand - Fountainhead - a heavy read but good book.

Another one on my reading list - Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson

Tell me if I've missed out any - I tried to get all the popular suggestions