Ever since I watched the Telugu remake of the Malayalam blockbuster Premam, I have been playing the song Evare, and the original Malare over and over. The sweeping melody and the lyrical voice of Vijay Yesudas in both versions just transport me into a place of peace.
The Malayalam song video I found has English subtitles.
I watched Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya (If you loved someone, don’t be afraid) written and directed by Sohail Khan (brother of Salman Khan) over the last two days. I bought it super cheap in one of my DVD orders from India and it had no subs, but Youtube to the rescue.
Wastrel Salman first wins over Kajol, and then has to win over her family, especially her skeptical brother Vishal. Salman is particularly ridiculous in many scenes playing his role for broad comedy, and I was wondering if he let the Vishal brother of Kajol character upstage him so much because it was his actual brother. I literally had no idea Arbaaz Khan was Salman Khan’s brother AND that he was the producer of Dabangg. He is such a looker in Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya! I think this is one of his first movies, and he did a great job.
I’ve spent most of the last week stunned and in depression after the election. I didn’t really watch many movies. Moving on, and sharing some of my distractions!
Who else is watching The Crown on Netflix? My jaw DROPPED when Matt Smith playing Price Phillip sleeps nude and graces us with more than one look at his
“bum” in just the first two episodes. Yowza. Great interview with Matt in Entertainment Weekly: “Shit gets interesting.” So cool that he’s getting such a plum role and something completely different.
How big fans of Matt Smith are we in this house? We went to the 50th Doctor Who convention in London and my youngest son ran up and just hugged him before our photo op. Look at that grin on my son Ben’s face.
Someone has done a Mashup of the Dangal trailer with The Powerpuff Girls and it’s just glorious, even shared by one of the young actresses in the film.
What I’m reading:
How streets, roads, and avenues are different. Prince Michael Jackson Can’t Sing or Dance. The Oscars finally have a producer team. I’m loving the new Koffee With Karan Season, especially this weekend’s Akshay/Twinkle show, but not everyone is as pleased. No matter what, you must read this expansive interview of Karan Johar with Baradwaj Rangan. Facts and Stats about your name. “If he were alive today, he’d use Twitter.”-Martin Luther, media pioneer. “We couldn’t believe our eyes.” – 40 ancient shipwrecks found in the Black Sea. What it was like to sell beer to Bill Murray at Wrigley during the World Series.
America didn’t stop being America last night and we didn’t stop being Americans and here’s the thing about Americans: Our darkest days have always—always—been followed by our finest hours.
One last note on the election. Aaron Sorkin pretty much sums it up in this letter to his tearful daughter, more eloquently than most, as he usually does. Read the whole thing.
The battle isn’t over, it’s just begun. Grandpa fought in World War II and when he came home this country handed him an opportunity to make a great life for his family. I will not hand his granddaughter a country shaped by hateful and stupid men. Your tears last night woke me up, and I’ll never go to sleep on you again.
I love Ajay Devgn. Unabashedly love him. In Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, I am totally Team Ajay. One of my Desi friends expressed amazement that I like Ajay and was looking forward to Shivaay, “What? He’s so ugly!” She’s still my friend even though I now wonder both about her eyesight and her mental acuity. He has superb screen presence and can actually act, but he just has an unmistakable swagger as an action star. The Shivaay trailer just blew me away. We’ve never seen this level of stunt work and action cinematography in Indian cinema. I had heard mixed things about Shivaay once it came out, but there was no way I was going to miss this film on the big screen.
With Shivaay, it’s almost like Ajay the director is trying to combine an action thriller like Taken with the emotion and family heart of Bajrangi Bhaijaan. The action sequences are fantastic, and really thrilling. They measure up to the quality of Hollywood films, and the Bulgarian scenery is just gorgeous.
I absolutely adored Ajay’s relationship with his young mute daughter. She was a terrific child actress. Did she have to be mute? — maybe that was a way to get around the plot point that she doesn’t look like her Indian father and the actress wouldn’t be able to speak good enough Hindi. As Margaret of Don’t Call It Bollywood points out, this is really a special father/daughter relationship on screen. It has nothing to do with a daughter leaving home for marriage, and we have an adoring single father. 
Why did this film not touch me in the heart the same way Bajrangi Bhaijaan did? It has more serious peril with human trafficking by the Russian mafia, and a cute kid and all, I can’t quite put my finger on why it didn’t work for me. Shivaay was just that much darker and had few moments of lightness and fun. Ajay also didn’t have anyone supporting him of the quality of Nawaz or Kareena.
There was maybe too much time spent in this romance plot with Polish actress Erika Kaar, who does not have the acting chops of Kareena Kapoor Khan. The villains are also mostly interchangeable Eastern European bad guys. The big reveal of the ultimate bad guy mastermind was pretty predictable, and the final battle was pretty damn awesome. The title track by Badshah is great, but the rest of the music tracks also don’t have level of Bajrangi Bhaijaan’s soundtrack.
Ajay is a solid action director. I wish the script had been a bit better, and aside from the delightful child actress, the supporting players of better caliber to match Ajay’s intensity. I would still recommend catching Shivaay in the theater, because the action scenes look amazing on the big screen. Ajay’s showing the way — you can play a dad, and still have swagger and cool.
And wield wicked weapons like those rock climbing hooks!
Three and a half stars out of five for the great action.
Shahrukh Khan was my entree into Indian Cinema. And it’s all because of Netflix. Netflix streaming’s algorithm recommended Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge to me because I love romantic movies. Then I watched Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and I was a goner. I think my story is similar to many other non-Desi fans of Indian Cinema — Shahrukh Khan is our gateway to this wonderful world of film. And the internet and Netflix makes it so easy now to really dive into an obsession.
How big a fan of Shahrukh Khan am I? This is my phone’s lock screen background:
I’ve seen 50 of Shahrukh Khan’s 70 plus movies. Picking my favorite Shahrukh Khan films after the top two is like picking my favorite children. SRK brings something special even in the worst of films.
The only Shahrukh Khan film I really can’t stand and won’t watch again is King Uncle, and really that’s a Jackie Shroff Annie remake and SRK is barely in it.
But enough of the worst, on to my favorite Shahrukh Khan films:
10. Swades
My love of this movie about an NRI who returns home to India is particularly for this song sequence. In Yeh Tara Woh Tara, when the projector won’t work in the village, SRK leads the children in a song about the stars. And we get that classic arms outstretched pose projected on the sheet used for the screen. Just a magical moment of a song.
9. Chak De India
I love that SRK did this film about a girl’s field hockey team. Just a masterful performance and a great message. He’s let his female co-stars have top billing in his films, and here he lets a whole team of them take center stage.
8. Don
I recently watched the original Don with Amitabh Bachchan, and I am now even more impressed with how Farhan Akhtar kept the spirit of the original, while updating it and giving it a new twist. Plus he has the cool seventies music from the original updated and incorporated in this fantastic film. I love Shahrukh Khan in double roles, just love seeing him create two different personas in the same film, from Baazigar to Fan. This is one of the best, and so delicious to see him in a dark sexy villain role.
7. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai can be silly, but Karan Johar can just get me right in the gut with his love story triangles (or quadrangles). This gazebo scene is just so sexy. That SRKajol magic! We get SRK/Rani plus a sweet Salman Khan as a bonus.
6. Om Shanti Ohm
I love Farah Khan and her collaborations with Shahrukh. Main Hoon Na barely missed the cut for this list, but I have to give it up to OSO. Farah has given us an homage to classic Bollywood film, launched the debut of Deepika Pudakone, and the song sequences are just amazing. Farah was a choreographer first, and the great music is paramount in this film. I will love her forever for making SRK the item guy in the sexy Dard-e-Disco. We won’t talk about how many times I’ve seen the Dard-e-Disco song video.
I saw Om Shanti Ohm early on in my watching of Hindi films, and I don’t know if I recognized anyone except Kajol the first time I watched Deewangi Deewangi. This song is my yardstick of how far I’ve come in watching Hindi films. Farah Khan loves allusions to other Hindi films in her movies, and cameos and this is the king of cameo songs. I didn’t know Dharmendra or why Shahrukh made that hair gesture with the thin guy I now know is Zayed Khan. These days, I’m so advanced I know the guy playing Shahrukh’s father in the second half is a big Pakistani soap star (And I’ve watched him play Fawad Khan’s father in Zindagi Gulzar Hai)! OSO is just that much funnier and you just appreciate it so much more knowing filmi background. I laughed so hard at the Filmfare scene on a subsequent watch with Abhishek being nominated for Dhoom 4 and SRK being nominated for two identical looking romances in the Swiss Alps with sweaters.
5. My Name Is Khan
This may have been the first movie I saw with SRK where he wasn’t playing a version of the SRK persona, but was really acting a character. Shahrukh plays a man with Asperger’s and his relationship with Kajol in the first half of the film is just wondrous. The second half of the film is like looking at my country through a fun house mirror. The flood scene somewhere in the South where SRK is taken in by an African American family is a little weird, but it’s still a very moving film with a powerful message.
4. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
KKKG feels like the ultimate Bollywood film. It’s got just about everybody in it! I’ve shown this movie as a first Hindi movie to friends because it introduces you to all the major players. I’ve posted just the reunion scene of SRK with Jaya who plays his mother, and without subtitles, I’ve had people demand to know where they could see this film because of the emotion they saw. This song, Yeh Ladka Hai Allah, may be my ultimate SRK and Kajol dance and fall in love number ever. It is just so, so swoony. Yeh Ladka Hai Allah, indeed. And the outfit Shahrukh is wearing is so, so gorgeous.
3. Veer-Zaara
Veer-Zaara is Yash Chopra at his peak. Lush scenery, beautiful songs, and an interfaith romance that just makes me tear up each and every time I watch it. My favorite song sequence of Shahrukh’s ever is Main Yahan Hoon from Veer-Zaara. Oh, my gosh. The way Priety is trying to forget Shahrukh as her father forces her to become engaged to Manoj, and yet, she sees Shahrukh everywhere. He haunts her. And then goes in for her collarbone in the rain and I swoon. Every. Single. Time.
2. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (Match Made in Heaven) was the second Shahrukh Khan I ever saw, and I watched it right after DDLJ. This is how new I was to my love of SRK. I actually paused the movie and looked it up, because I could not believe Raj and Suri were the same actor. I loved the comedic Raj, but quiet nerdy steadfast Suri stole my heart. Such a great film. Aditya Chopra is the master. I watch this film over and over.. It is my comfort and my solace. Watching this film cemented my love of Shahrukh Khan forever.
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (The Bravehearted Wins the Bride) is the one that started it all. The first half can be a little silly, reminding me sometimes of a prank filled John Hughes film. But, oh, man, the second half hits you. I can’t even really express what watching DDLJ did to me the first time (and every time). It touched my heart and gave me something I didn’t even know I was missing. Hollywood rarely makes Rom-Coms anymore, much less musicals. This film opened my world and gave me the gift that is Indian cinema. Since I watched DDLJ in the summer of 2014, I’ve watched over 300 Indian films. Thanks, Shahrukh for making me fall in love! And Happy Birthday!
Paheli, Shahrukh Khan’s 2005 movie about a ghost or spirit is one of my all time favorite Shahrukh Khan movies, even if it is not one of his blockbusters. It’s not a scary Halloween movie (like maybe Darr, which is more creepy than scary), but it does have a ghost! Paheli means riddle.
Fantasy film seem to be unusual in Hindi cinema, and in this film Shahrukh Khan plays both a number counting merchant husband, and a bhoot, or a ghost or spirit (sort of a genie, really) who takes his place. Rani Mukerji is the bride who captivates the Ghost, with Amitabh as a wise shepherd in a cameo. It’s a fable that is also about women’s empowerment, and the scene where SRK tells Rani he’s a ghost is one of my all-time favorites. She laughs at first, because it sounds ridiculous! But her real husband barely noticed her, and wouldn’t sleep with her on their wedding night, but this ghost is obsessed with her every since he saw her at the well he haunted.
He could have lied and just taken her in the guise of her husband, but he loves her enough to give her the choice. Swoon!
Rani and SRK have always had great chemistry, but man do they smolder in Paheli. Yowza.
The costumes are just stunning, and the music in the film is just fantastic:
Amitabh Bachchan has a fun cameo as the wise shepherd who must solve the riddle of the two husbands. Juhi Chawla, who co-produced the film, plays Rani’s sister-in-law whose husband (Sunil Shetty) had disappeared. Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak play puppet narrators and of course Anupam Kher is the father.
I love Shahrukh in double roles and these two roles he makes completely separate people. The husband is comedic and obtuse, and the ghost playful and sultry.
Plus, I love the idea of a ticklish ghost! Paheli has been overlooked but I love it. And I love its message of female empowerment and choice.
I realized that Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is actually the first film directed by Karan Johar that I have seen on the big screen. Sure, I’ve seen Johar/Dharma productions, like Kapoor and Sons, on the big screen in the two plus years that I’ve been watching Indian cinema, but this is the first totally Karan Johar film.
I went to the first day, first show, at my local theater and they were NOT prepared for the Diwali crowds. The theater was pretty full, and there was a long line at the ticket window. Interestingly, I was not the only non-Desi there. There were two women who were fans of Aish from Bride & Prejudice, but didn’t even know what the title of the film meant or who SRK is. (!!!)
This will be as spoiler free a review as I can make it. We know the film is about unrequited love. If you think about it, many of Karan Johar’s films are about unrequited love, be it from a lover or a parent.
Anushka and Ranbir meet when they are both fighting with their boyfriend/girlfriend. They kiss and Ranbir sweetly hugs her, and Anushka pulls away. “What kind of kiss was that? Save those kinds of hugs for your family!” There is no sexual chemistry from her side, but they are soul mates in every other way. They both love old 80’s films, quote dialogue to each other and sing old song lyrics to each other. I caught some of the filmi references (like them doing the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai finger to the noise bit), but there were many I didn’t catch. (Can’t wait for Margaret to do a full summary on Don’t Call It Bollywood where she can instruct me on all the ones I missed!)
We knew about the Shahrukh Khan cameo as Aish’s ex, but there are some other fun ones. Alia Bhatt and Lisa Haydon! Fawad Khan’s role has been cut down so much that it’s not much more than an extended cameo.
I wish the songs in the film had had subtitles, because I felt like I was missing meanings from the lyrics now that I was seeing them in the film itself. Anushka is his friend, his best best best friend, but we can see that Ranbir wants more. He declares himself after she returns to her former love, but it’s too late.
Then he has the passionate relationship with Aish, and I loved her as this mature seductress! She and Ranbir had great chemistry, and the cameo with SRK was a delight. Shahrukh and Aish just give off that old lovers vibe and it was perfection for this film.
There is a twist in the final 15 minutes or so of the film that I mentally said to myself, “Oh, Karan, really, you’re going there?” But damn it. Karan made me cry! It was predictable, but he played my emotions like a violin and the tears were running down my face.
The music as we know, is just sublime in this film. The title track and the way Ranbir perform it is so amazing. Really his performance through the film is excellent. But I was most impressed with Anushka. She just gets better and better with each film.
Anushka criticizes Ranbir’s singing in the film (he wants to be a singer) and says he can’t really sing with emotion until he’s experienced heartbreak. And that, I think, is ultimately the message of the film. Great art, be it film, music or poetry, comes from heartbreak and pain.
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Premam [Love], the Malayalam film starring Nivin Pauly was one of the first Malayalam films I ever saw, and it remains one of my all time favorites. When I heard they were making a Telugu remake of this massive hit film, I was filled with dread. They’ll ruin all that made it special, no one could match Nivin Pauly’s charm in the three different ages, etc. Then I saw Naga Chaitanya in Manam and discovered he was the lead in the Telugu Premam. Now I HAD to see it because he was so adorable in Manam. I saw one of the last screenings at my local theater, all alone. For the most part, Naga Chaitanya captures the magic that is Premam. He’s great in the three parts, playing Vikram (Vicky) at 16, 20 and his late 20’s.
First, one of the best decisions of the remake was to have two of the actresses reprise their roles. Anupama Parameswaran returns as the wild haired teen that is the object of 16 year old Vicky’s massive young love crush. In the Malayalam film, she is the Christian Mary, here she is Suma. The Telugu love song sequence references that great wild hair, slightly tamed in the Telugu remake.
In this first section of the film, I nearly thought that Chaitanya was doing an impression of Nivin Pauly as a teen. He must have really studied Nivin’s performance, because so many expressions were similar and head tilts and so on. If you’d never seen the Nivin Pauly film, you would love this Telugu film unreservedly. One thing from this early sequence that differs is that I think the Malayalam film was in a more rural setting which added to the feel of innocence about the adolescent love story.
The middle section is the strongest in the Malayalam film, and the weakest in the Telugu. And that’s not Chaitanya’s fault. He is fantastic as the college rowdy. Since it’s a Telugu film, and they probably had a higher budget than the Malayalam, they take the initial explosion prank in the first college scene up a notch. It’s a huge fireball explosion of a transformer instead of a little firecracker to disrupt the festival performance of their rivals. And then the fight is not just a simple mud fight, but a big slow mo fight sequence in a construction sight with big sprays of sand, and bricks flying and what have you. There is also a typically Telugu cameo of star Daggubati Venkatesh as Vicky’s uncle.
The issue with this middle section is that Shruti Haasan is no Sai Palavi. The filmmakers have basically admitted that including Shruti in the remake was for financial reasons to have a name star. She just does not have an ounce of the charm and for lack of a better word, gravitas, of Pallavi. The romance doesn’t seem as deep. I remember Malar and Vicky talking marriage in the original, but it doesn’t seem to go that far in the Telugu. Since the romance isn’t as deep, the tragedy isn’t as deeply felt either by the audience. Chaitanya doesn’t handle that overcome with grief scene as well, but granted, it’s probably one of the best Nivin Pauly acting scenes of his career.
In the Malayalam, part of what made this college romance section so special was that the rogue Vicky falls, and falls hard for a young woman with acne, and not just a little facial acne. His friends mock him and don’t understand what he sees in her, but we the audience see how beautiful she is through Vicky’s eyes. Shruti Haasan with her flawless porcelain skin? Who wouldn’t fall for your teacher when she looks like that?
They used the same melody in both films for this beautiful love song (Malare becomes Evare), and the scenery in this Telugu version is just jaw droppingly gorgeous:
One nice addition to the Telugu remake is that Vicky wins over Sithara (Shtuti) by making her a (Marathi??) traditional sweet for a holiday. So that when we get to the final section of the film, and Vicky has become a prominent chef with his own restaurant, you see that he has taken his love of cooking from his college romance. In the Malayalam the final section, where Vicky finds his bride was the the shortest and an underdeveloped romance, and the fact that he owned a bakery/sweet shop seemed to come out of nowhere. This is supposed to be the love of his life and his bride, and maybe they ran out of money or Madonna Sebastian didn’t have longer dates for filming in the Malayalam version. I had always wanted a bit more, and the Telugu gives it to me.
We get a love song in the Telugu! It shows their developing relationship in the film, and when she reveals that her parents have arranged an engagement, the betrayal hits that much harder for Vicky. I think Chaitanya really came into his own in this final part of the film. Nivin Pauly played the older Vikram as reserved and lonely. Here, Chaitanya’s Vikram is a busy chef who doesn’t care about the marriage arrangements his sister is trying to make in a phone call. I really liked that they beefed up this section a bit more.
The wedding scene however, doesn’t have quite the same punch. Shruti sees that same dessert on the buffet (that Vicky had made for her) and that spurs her memory, and she just looks back a little wistfully. Again, she’s no Sai Pallavi.
So, not spoiling it, if you’ve never seen the Malayalam original ( and you should because it’s fantastic!), but this is a worthy remake. The plot is nearly identical, with a few nice additions. I really enjoyed it. It’s no hardship watching Chaitanya for a few hours! His father Naga Nagarjuna has a nice little cameo at the end as well.
Also, one of the things that had me laughing so hard out loud happened when a certain character is tied up and being beaten up. His tormentor yells, “Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?! Tell me!!” LOL Gotta love Telugu films.
Margaret of Don’t Call It Bollywood raved to me before she posted her review that I had to watch Manam [Us], especially when I told her the other movie I was taking on my flights was Aligarh. I’m so glad I did. It was so wonderful! The perfect cozy family film – like drinking a big mug of hot chocolate.
I didn’t realize until I looked up the movie when I got home from my trip that the actors in this film are all in the same family. And the family company, Anapurma Studios, produced the film. This was the final film of ANR, who died of colon cancer during post-production. His son Nagarjuna wanted to work together on one last film, and it’s a worthy tribute to his father. Nagarjuna’s son Chaitanya is one of the leads, and there’s a cameo with his other son Akhil == and a special appearance by Amitabh Bachchan!
The only other film I’ve seen with Nagarjuna is King. I liked him, but the action comedy movie wasn’t the best. I loved him in Manam. Manam is a reincarnation movie. Nagarjuna loses his parents the day after his 6th birthday, and in their honor has become one of the wealthiest businessmen in India. He happens to sit next to the reincarnation of his father on an airplane. His father is played by Nagarjuna’s son Chaitanya (who is adorable!).
Nagarjuna then searches out his mother, and finds her reincarnation, too, played by Samantha Ruth Prabhu. He has an instant connection to his mother, but has to work a little harder to connect with his father. He plots how to get his parents reunited again. They had been about to divorce when they died, and there are unresolved issues.
But my favorite part of the film is when we discover that Nagarjuna has been reincarnated, too! His son is played by Nagarjuna’s father, ANR. The flashback scenes of the romance back in the past with Nagarjuna and Shriya Saran are just magical. Nagarjuna is wealthy in the past, too, and chooses a poor woman to marry because he likes her picture. He is puzzled why she wants to wait 6 months to marry and seeks her out. He discovers that she needs 6 months to earn enough money to purchase his traditional groom gift of clothes. She doesn’t know who he is and lets him stay and be her worker on her farm to earn the money faster.
The reveal scene at the wedding when she the curtain drops and she just leaps on him because of course she had fallen in love — the best! Oh, my goodness, how I loved this scene:
None of the issues and problems in the film are horrible, and even though people die — they come back and work it out in the next life.
This movie is like a big ole family group hug. I loved every minute. Highly recommend!
Margaret was right. This was the perfect feel good movie to follow the darkness in Aligarh.
When I realized Naga Chaitanya has the Nivin Pauly role in the Telugu Premam, I went out to see that film next. Review coming soon!
I knew Aligarh had played the festival circuit, premiering last February at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea to a standing ovation. It finally recently played in Chicago at the South Asian Film Festival but by then it was streaming on Eros Now. I took advantage of ErosNow’s new offline feature, and downloaded Aligarh to play on a flight this past weekend.
I have always loved Manoj Bajpayee in just about any movie he’s been in. He’s typically the villain, as he was in Tevar. This role was something completely different. I did not know that he was playing a real person until I looked up the film after I got home. He is Professor Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, a slightly eccentric, quiet professor of Marathi, head of the modern languages department at the University in Aligarh.
Siras was suspended from his job and kicked out of his university housing because men burst into his apartment and filmed him with a rickshaw driver. He was let go because he was gay, but this happened in 2010, when Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code had been overturned a few months previously.
Rajkummar Rao plays a young journalist who reads the wire story, and helps him connect with an activist lawyer to take on his case. They become friends over the course of the film.
Manoj is just exceptionally good in this film. He shows how Siras just wanted to live his own quiet life and not bother anyone else, but he also shows the loneliness he felt. He gets beaten down by one indignity after another, people he thought were his friends not standing by him, and yet perfect strangers coming to his aid. The real life Siras loved to listen to old film songs, and this scene is so moving and devastating. I wish this clip had subtitles, but the lyrics were very meaningful — Lata singing is her love acceptable…
Siras isn’t shown to be perfect or a saint. One of my favorite scenes is in the courtroom when his advocate is making his most forceful point, and Siras is dozing in the back of the room missing it all.
This is a landmark film in India. I can’t pretend that I really know anything about the state of gay rights in India, but this film reminded me of the moment in the US when Philadelphia came out and Tom Hanks won the Oscar for playing a gay man who loses his job because he has AIDS. It was a watershed moment.
Aligarh recently played on TV in India, and it has been prominently promoted on the Eros Now site. I hope it is widely seen, because it’s about an important subject. There still seems to be a long way to go, with Section 377 reinstated, and headlines like this one about Manoj daring to play a gay man on film:
One thing about the movie really bothered me, and I guess this headline shows why the filmmaker felt he had to include this scene. Rajkummar Rao becomes quite close to Prof. Siras, taking a selfie with him, and hugging him when Siras gives him a translation of his book of poetry.
It just felt so gratuitous and unnecessary that this seduction scene of Rajkummar by his female editor had to be included. It had nothing at all to do with the story, other than, sure he hugged a gay man, but don’t worry, he’s not gay now! Ugh.
The film is based on real events but director Hansal Mehta keeps a tension throughout this quiet film. The ending came as a surprise to me as I did not know the true life story of Prof. Siras. It ends in somewhat of a mystery as it does in real life.
Highly recommend this film. Manoj Bajpayee gives one of the best performances of his entire career.
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