General Bollywood Thread

It kinda deserves its own trope page, just for that.

Btw, I'm putting the images of some Bollywood Movies and Bollywood Actors on the right, since it allows for an easier reading. Hope it's allright.

Sure. Something I probably should've done, but I'm always in college when I think of it and by the time I'm home I'm too exhausted to do it.

I miss pulpy masala. Anil-Madhuri generally did the best ones post-80s. Would love to see them pair up again, even if its only on Twenty Four India.

Ehh, I like new stuff too. Stuff like Gangs of Wasseypur or Queen.

Shinra, have you seen Gunda, by any chance?

No, not yet.

And you'll have to forgive me, most of the new stuff bugs the hell out of me for one reason or another. B-wood tries way too much to be like Hollywood with certain directors. That isn't to say Go W or Queen is an example of them (haven't seen so I can't say), but when I come across a Mission Istaanbul or anything Ajay Devgn makes these days, I groan.

I did like D-Day though. But then, Rishi Kapoor as villain/stern authority figure is ALWAYS worthwhile. If he plays his cards right, he could become another Amrish Puri or Pran.

I see what you mean, though I haven't seen D-Day. But stuff like Dhoom 3 is just horrific; Hollywood production values, not even Hollywood levels of common sense. I swear to God I was laughing throughout.

Anyway, major releases tomorrow:

• Debutant directors Sajid-Farhad's Entertainment (yes, that is the actual name). Starring Akshay Kumar and Tamannah Bhatia. (For Bollywood followers, don't worry, not that Sajid). A rich man dies and passes on his entire inheritance to his dog, instead of his illegitimate son (Kumar). Kumar, disappointed, plots to take the inheritance, no matter what. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen! But there are other relatives who are Eviler than Thou, and the hero apparently becomes more heroic.
  • Could be worth one watch, maybe. More likely though, it is a sign that poor Tamannah cannot get a decent Hindi film. Akshay Kumar, though, will probably be the best thing about it.

edited 7th Aug '14 11:14:07 AM by arcanephoenix

I may be stupid in asking this, but: Are there dogs' weddings in India?

I dunno, there may well be.

Just like wacky Hollywood romantic comedy hijinks are not normal behaviour in America, in the same way we do not really have mainstream weddings for dogs.

Ah ok, good.

Yeah, I suppose it's an ok premise for a comedy.

edited 7th Aug '14 10:48:39 AM by Quag15

Oh, gods alive, I just read the first review and the premise is completely different. Updating the above accordingly. Also, it is apparently crap, but ehh.

edited 7th Aug '14 11:14:28 AM by arcanephoenix

Akshay Kumar has just been cranking it out lately. I honestly don't remember a single movie he's done after Rowdy Rathore...including the Khiladi sequel.

Speaking of dogs and weddings and suddenly I'm reminding of the soda stealing dog from Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...

I remember the Khiladi sequel mainly because of the atrociously hilarious (or hilariously atrocious?) soundtrack, and the simple fact that it also starred the great Himesh Reshammiya, clearly god's gift to [[strikethrough]]Bollywood[[/strikethrough]] world cinema.

The Xposé was absolutely hilarious too.

Y'know, except for the Khans, all the 90s era heroes are really starting to become kinda sad. And even among the Khans, I'd say SRK needs to stop playing the manchild and Salman needs to stop making the same movie over and over. Aamir seems to be the only one still bringing his A-game.

Hmm... Perhaps you're right, though it think it is more Money, Dear Boy than anything.

Anyway, it's Independence Day today! Happy 68th Birthday, India!

To celebrate, there is, again, one release this week:

• Rohit Shetty's Singham Returns, a sequel to his 2011 Singham. Stars Ajay Devgn and Kareena Kapoor-Khan. Continuing the tale of Marty Stu super Cowboy Cop Bajirao Singham, not much story detail has been provided, but expect highly quotable dialogue and physics-defying fight scenes. The soundtrack is pretty So Bad, It's Good too.

Actually, I really liked Akshay's Special 26 (quirky heist film period piece) from last year, and Taken-gone-masala thingie Holiday (earlier this year). The dog movie is a goofy kids' movie, supposedly amusing if you like that kind of thing and the cast. He has some interesting films coming up in the next couple of years, including a remake of Tom Hardy's Warrior (he'd be playing the Joel Edgerton role), a movie about a college professor turned vigilante/terrorist that to me (having seen the Tamil film it's based on) feels a bit Count of Monte Cristo, and a movie apiece with the Special 26 director and the Rowdy Rathore director. But I have a big soft spot for him.

There are urban legends (dunno how true) of women in India whose horoscopes supposedly predict that their husband will die or have catastrophically bad luck, and so their family puts them through a symbolic marriage with a dog, tree, etc to get rid of the bad luck before they get married to their real husband. I think that's partly what they're playing with in the dog movie.

As for the other leading men of that generation, Aamir bores me, Ajay, Salman and Saif are people I like to watch occasionally but don't feel strongly about, and Shahrukh is someone I enjoy but whose fanbase I have a love/hate relationship with. Those guys+Hrithik+Shahid are still an improvement on the younger guys, who I mostly find to be an annoying bunch of smarmy, entitled-seeming little gits. (In terms of screen persona, no opinion on them as human beings).

edited 18th Aug '14 6:03:15 AM by odadune

So which current leading lady (perhaps ten actresses qualify, but I mostly mean Kareena, Katrina, and Vidya) has the potential to rise above the rest?

My own feeling is that the three actresses you name are on a bit of a downward slide that they could potentially reverse.

Kareena's doing a film with Salman Khan and the Ek Tha Tiger director, who I thought tried to do some interesting things with Katrina's character in ETT and would probably make good use of Kareena's acting skills. If she doesn't make a positive impression in that, she'll probably be out of the industry by 2016.

Vidya's choice of projects post-marriage has just been lame. If she turns that around somewhere, she'll be fine. I'd say she probably has until 2017 to manage that-she's not really in competition with the other actresses her age.

Katrina's primarily an eye candy performer; the audiences aren't quite tired of her "exoticness" yet but she has a lot more competition than she used to. Her best shot at transitioning into more prestigious, performance-driven films is Fitoor, an adaptation of Great Expectations where she would be playing Estella. Pretty sure we will see her career in decline by 2017, if she hasn't married and settled down by then.

I expect Priyanka and Deepika to do pretty well over the next year and a half as well, but most of the others are great big question marks.

edited 22nd Aug '14 12:00:16 PM by odadune

I respectfully disagree, at least on some points.

Kareena has made positive impressions in films for the last few years. She's not in a desperate position to have her career determined just by Kabir Khan's next. That said, I clump her with Katrina and Vidya because those are the only two she hasn't managed to eclipse. Though that might change soon with Vidya...

Katrina's an odd duck. She's already started making the transition to better/more meaningful roles (starting with New York, but moving on in ETT and Jab Tak Hai Jaan (even if SRK was atrocious in that film, she did well playing a role that usually would go to a Madhuri or Rekha) but she still keeps one foot in the exotic eye-candy role like you say. I don't think it's a given she'll fade by 2017, but it will be due to competition if she keeps banking on item numbers and arm-candy movie roles. In other words, I agree, but not as an inevitability. She'll have to make a choice.

I'm completely with you about Vidya though.

I think whichever one of them can beat the other first will take the crown, so to speak.

As for other actresses, while those three I think are at the top, the rest of the top ten would include (in no particular order): Deepika, Parineeti, Sonakshi, Anushka, Alia, Rani, and Priyanka.

Rani is on the decline. She had her chance a decade ago to dominate back when she only really had to worry about Aishwarya and maaaaaybe Preity. Now that isn't to say she won't have a successful career, since her most recent release says to the contrary. She'll be a notable actress, but she'll never get the limelight her talent deserves simply because of poor timing.

Alia...I dunno. I don't get the hype about her. She's pretty enough but she just comes off as either airheaded or bitchy.

Anushka has lot of potential, but might not have the emotional wherewithall to hold it together in the dog eat dog world of tinsel town. I don't mean to say she's not tough or she's weak or anything, more that she has a chip on her shoulder. She takes fairly good roles, but she hasn't found her niche the way Deepika has. And that seems to bother her but that won't change until she can figure things out. So if she doesn't prove herself in the next couple of years, she's done. If she does, she'll be a competitor into the next decade possibly.

Speaking of Deepika, I agree with you that she's doing well, rising quickly in the ranks, and I suspect she'll overtake Vidya in a year or so, especially if she takes juicier roles (and stays far away from Saif Ali Khan starrers, which she no longer needs). I look forward to her career with great interest.

Sonakshi is doing very well, but she's been given a bad time of it whenever she tries to grow as an actress. I only hope that doesn't permanently discourage her. That said, she has a few years before she has to worry (but the sooner she expands her horizons, the better) and she's probably the main pressure on Katrina on the arm-candy hero's girlfriend roles. She has potential. I hope she uses it.

Priyanka is another point where I have to disagree. I think she's not only on the decline, but has been on the decline for a few years now. SRK won't work with her because its bad PR, she's had a falling out with Salman, and she's frankly too old for the current crop of chocolate heroes. She had her part in the Agneepath remake cut down. She's doing a biopic of Mary Kom, whom she doesn't even look like (and as such is taking away from the biopic because she's making the woman look glamourous when she really really isn't). I expect either she or Rani will be pushed out of the top ten when the next big starlet comes along.

But that's okay, because her cousin Parineeti has a lot going for her. Started off in juicy vivacious roles, thats an advantage the other contenders either didn't have or didn't execute as well. I can see her taking the mantle from the top 3 in five or ten years.

The trouble with Kareena IMO is that she doesn't seem to give a cr*p any more; she's too lazy in terms of number of hours she's willing to work to take a female-centric film (she also got burned by Heroine's failure), and she's too lazy in terms of punctuality to compete effectively with Katrina and Sonakshi for the armcandy roles, which limits her to a handful of hero-centric movies where the director or producer sees a need for a more skilled than average or a more grownup than average actress. Or is just plain fond of her.

Rani will work as long as she wants to, just because of who her husband is, and I think may end up seeing some more offbeat roles in low-ish budget films (like her current Mardaani) just because the husband doesn't want his studio to lose too much money on her. If she can keep Aditya Chopra's homogenizing mitts off her pet projects they may actually turn out to be borderline good movies instead of the usual YRF mediocrities.

I don't expect to like Mary Kom, and your objections are all perfectly valid, but I expect it to do quite well at the box office, just because it's the kind of feel-good, quasi-patriotic sports movie that tends to do well in its home country, as with last year's Bhag Milka Bhag (or the Rocky movies, to pick an American example). As you say, Priyanka's in a bad place in terms of arm candy roles, but she strikes me as so stubborn that she might just manage to pull a Rekha and turn into that kooky unmarried woman who makes movies on her own terms, and I think Mary Kom could be the first step towards that.

I agree with you on Anushka but I'm less optimistic about Parineeti: to me she comes off as a shorter, louder edition of Anushka's girl-next-door image and emotional insecurities, and IMHO Yash Raj Films will chew her up and spit her out just as it did Anushka. At one time I had some respect for her ability to choose film projects but this recent of obsession of hers about working with Saif will likely end badly. Alia lucked into a couple of hits and has Karan Johar backing her, but her career will stand or fall on whether she can pick good projects down the road (or have daddy pick them for her; I don't like Mahesh Bhatt but in terms of raw IQ points and understanding of the business he's head and shoulders above most producers).

Sonakshi's career is coming to kind of a fork: if her movie with Arjun Kapoor (Tevar) does well it will hopefully convince the other young punks that this is someone they can work with, thus extending her ability to play arm candy roles long enough for her to get some kind of shot at respectability. If her Tamil film with Rajnikanth does well, it will open up a different world of arm-candy roles down South for her. If neither of them work, she's in trouble. As for her action-heroine film with A. R. Murgadoss (Ghajini, Holiday), I believe that's the only halfway challenging role she has in the pipeline right now. I'm about 80% sure I will enjoy it, but only about 60% sure it will do well financially.

edited 22nd Aug '14 4:11:47 PM by odadune

Oh I don't doubt that Rani will always have work (in fact, I see HER as the next Rekha, though for different reasons than what had worked for Rekha *cough* marrying a Chopra *cough*), but there is a difference between consistantly working and being top dog, which is what I'm trying to determine, and I think she lost her chance once the younger actresses came onto the scene. Though to her credit, she did outlast Aishwarya...

On Kareena, she's never been been too good at the arm candy roles (seriously used to hate her during her pre-Jab We Met days) and in anycase she's too old for it now. But if what you say is true about her laziness/difficulty, she's snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, because right now she's perfectly positioned to be another queen of the screen.

On Priyanka, I guess we'll just have to see.

Agreed with you about Sonakshi.

On Parineeti and how she handles tinseltown, she hasn't yet started making complaints the way Anushka has, so I wouldn't make it a given. But...she wants to work with Saif? Ugh. I may be inclined to agree with you about her then...

Oh I get that Alia is backed by powerful people, but does she have anything in terms of talent or charisma?

Alia is cute. Really, really cute. Plus, she has no problem being Ms. Fanservice, which counts for a lot. Plus plus, she's actually a decent actress, who, I think, wouldn't mind an Anurag Kashyap or Vishal Bharadwaj film just to play against type.

Parineeti... I think Parineeti is today what Anushka Sharma was two, three years ago - pretty, extremely vibrant, with attitude to match. It works, but who knows. What's with the hate for Saif? I don't mind the guy, on screen at least.

Sonakshi's real issue is that she hasn't taken one role of significance in her entire career, such as it is. All of them have been as love interest - plot-irrelevant love interest, at that. 'Looks-like-a-man' jokes apart, she may get work, even high-paying, but nobody really likes her.

Deepika, as of now, is queen. Seriously. Kareena, Katrina and maybe Vidya have peaked, and though they could make good films, they may not make hits. DP, on the other hand, has her star rising. Crap like 'Happy New Year' aside, almost every one of her films have made serious money, and she's been pretty acclaimed too.

Priyanka... could do well. Mary Kom is the kind of sports film that'll do well if decently directed - Chak De! India is perhaps the prime example here. She can act - I've seen it in Kaminey and 7 Khoon Maaf - but her 'star power' isn't as much.

Kareena... hasn't done much much since Heroine - Singham Returns doesn't count - and perhaps she has gotten lazy, as someone mentioned; but I still think it's premature to call her 'over'. God knows I called her 'over' after Refugee.

Rani's career may be boosted by Adi Chopra, but I still think she's a good actress - I really do - and she could do good work even today.

Katrina's star seems to never fade. She's 31, and as breathtaking at ever. That she can act when required is a bonus.

A names everyone seems to have forgotten: Shraddha Kapoor. Aashiqui 2 made money, and provided a tremendous boost after a... lackluster first two films. Ek Villain did pretty well for itself, too. Think of an Indian Carey Mulligan (closest analogy), on-screen, anyway.

By the way, a trailer from one of my favourite directors, Vishal Bharadwaj:

EDIT: Is there a way to get subs? Because I dunno how many of you guys know Hindi.

edited 23rd Aug '14 1:53:49 PM by arcanephoenix

Alia is cute, no doubt, but I think she needs more good films under her belt to match the amount of hype she's getting thanks to all the power players behind her. If she can pull it off, I'll give her another review, but for now I just don't understand. Still, she's got enough word to be worth a top ten spot.

Agreed with you about Parineeti. As for my Saif hate, I used to enjoy his films, back when he tried, but the films he churns out now are so very lackluster. The actresses are completely interchangeable and forgetable in the roles opposite him (unlike back in the day when you had your Parineeta, now you have Cocktail, which Deepika killed inspite of the role or more to the point, Agent Vinod, where Kareena couldn't be more forgetable if she wanted to).

As for Sonakshi, I agree, but I'd also point out its not for the lack of trying. If those roles can become successful, we might see further growth. Not yet willing to oust her from possible greatness just yet since she still has some time, but she does need to get a move on. But looks like a man? I...can't disagree more.

I don't think Deepika is queen just yet (still at least a three woman race so I don't think anyone is), but she's definately on her way. Certainly I'd agree she may already have ousted Vidya.

Priyanka can act, but she proved that as far back as Fashion. That SHOULD have been her big break, but she either ran into bad luck or, if one is less charitable, she squandered the momentum on less successful projects. There is only so long she can be considered bankable as a major star and there are other actresses in the running doing better and more work than she (Deepika comes to mind). If the Kom biopic succeeds, she can win another chance, but she'd have to follow it up quickish in the mainstream. If it fails, I think she'll have to start putting more focus on that singing career.

Rani can act. Never contested that point (indeed, she's one of my favorites) but I'm only addressing her ability to be queen, and I think in that sense she's done. She'll always have a place on the screen, much the way Madhuri will, but thats not what I'm talking about at the moment.

With you on Kareena and Katrina.

I didn't forget Shraddha, I just ran out of places in the top ten. Aashiqui 2 is all she really has thats memorable, so it's too early to call. But give it another year, she'll probably be there. She's just #11 right now.

So which of this glut of actors will replace the three khans? We have Ranbir and Ranveer, but do any of the others have a chance to rule the screen or will they find a niche or will they just quietly retire from the screen?

Apart from the aforementioned two, we have Ayushmann Khurana, Arjun Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput, and a few others I'm forgetting (which speaks volumes as to what I think of their chances I'm sure). We also still seem to have Imran Khan mucking about, though I dunno why. Guy doesn't seem to have it in him...

Honestly, the major thing against Fashion was that everyone was beginning to get sick of the Madhur Bhandarkar formula - Naïve Newcomer (a girl, always a girl) enters a sphere (that sphere being business, socialite following, the fashion industry, the film industry), where everyone is cynical and pragmatically evil, she rises within the hierarchy of that sphere by ruthlessness and (sometimes) seduction, gains great success, partially loses her soul and then quits when she realizes how much her job has affected her humanity. By the time of Heroine, people were truly sick of it. Priyanka and Kareena were collateral damage.

Honestly, I doubt anyone is replacing any of the Khans anytime soon.

Quite frankly, everyone in Bollywood has a niche; it's just a question of what that niche is, and how profitable it is. SRK, Aamir, Hrithik to some extent and Ranbir are the only three I've seen who have range when it comes to roles. It's not necessarily a bad thing; Emraan Hashmi has done quite well for himself as a genuinely skilled actor, somewhat typecast as a womanizing Anti-Hero or Anti-Villain protagonist, probably because audiences will not accept him as a straight hero with his (relatively, perceived) looser sexual morals.

Ranbir Kapoor, perhaps, is most likely. He's young, charming, genuinely talented, has ludicrous range and has a higher percentage of hits than most of his contemporaries.

Ranveer Singh strikes me as a sort of male, more overtly macho version of Anushka Sharma - fitting, since both were Yash Raj graduates. He works best as a Lovable Rogue type character, and all of his characters have had that in common.

Ayushmann Khurrana, it's too early to tell. He's two films old, and though Vicky Donor will perhaps live on in pop culture forever as a sperm donation reference (much as Dostana lives as a gay reference), type casting aside, it'll not make his whole career.

Arjun Kapoor seems pretty similar to Ranveer Singh, and the actors themselves are fast friends. He's shown more range than his compatriot, though, with turns as a double role in the The Departed-inspired (and I do really mean inspired, not in the copied sense) Aurangzeb and an romantic comedy hero in 2 States.

Sushant Singh Rajput, same deal as Ayushmann. He's only two films old, and he's been good in both, but Shuddh Desi Romance was kinda So Okay, It's Average. Whether he's a star? Who knows.

Mind you, just because I mention their names, doesn't mean I think they're star material. Just that they got the hype machine working full time and I'm wondering who makes it through to the other side and who gets chewed up.

As for Fashion, no doubt. But that's also irrelevant to my point that that was the film where Priyanka had proven herself as an actress. Before that she was arm candy.

I think the Khans are numbered. They'll never lose their legendary status a la Amitabh Bachchan or Dilip Kumar, but like those two, they have a limited shelf life as leading men in the classic sense. SRK in particular needs to start doing more off beat or art or something other than what he has been, because I can no longer buy him as anything younger than 40. He's tried before, and when he does, it's amazing. He just doesn't do it enough. Aamir has already positioned himself so that the moment that particular gravy train ends, he'll make a killing in either art or juicy side and/or character roles. As for Salman, I haven't a clue. He himself seems to be getting sick of his current schtick, but no idea where he can go from there...

By niche, I mean anything other than mainstream hero. Obviously within that there are niches, but thats not what I'm talking about.

Meh, Ranbir and Ranveer have both made it at this point. It's everyone else that interests me.

Interesting about Arjun Kapoor. I've not had much exposure to him (haven't had the chance to see anything else of his apart his debut in Ishaqzaade) so it's good to know he's showing range. That said, Aurangzeb was inspired by the Departed? I kept hearing about it being similar to The Devils Double...

edited 24th Aug '14 7:17:13 AM by FFShinra