The first film I saw him in - "Rowdy Rathore" - is perhaps the most violent Bollywood film I have ever seen. It colored my desire to watch Kumar's films for quite a while after that.
I haven't seen that one but I suspect he splits his time between socially-conscious films and ones that pay the bills.
Here's a shout out for "Little Things", which is Indian-made series streaming on Netflix. The first season was made on the cheap (before Netflix financing arrived) - episodes of about 15 minutes, often limited to the Mumbai apartment of the two leads (a twenty-something upper middle class couple). I'm halfway through the second season in which the episodes expanded to around 30 minutes. It's pretty light fare but it's often touching and makes some sharp observation on the, well, little things, in life, a la Seinfeld.
I went through the second season of Amazon's "Inside Edge", a big-time cricket drama, and I'm sad to report that if they make a third season, I'm out. Season 2 is more of the same of season 1, except game-fixing and game-throwing are now common, widespread practices making the drama of the actual contests (the best part of the series) essentially meaningless. Some of the board room scenes in which personnel decisions are made are laughably oversimplified - team executives are bidding millions of rupees for players they seem to be discussing for the first time in their lives. Yeah, I'm sure that's how it happens. Other recent views (most based on recommendations here, all available on Netflix): "Ugly" was definitely different and interesting, despite suffering from some holes in logic and the lack of a relatable, likeable character to anchor the film. Certainly not a Bollywood (or Hollywood, for that matter) ending! "Dev D." is also not typical Bollywood. It takes getting past a self-destructive lead character who you'd like to smack in most every scene. "Lagaan", with Aamir Khan (who I rarely dislike in a film), is appropriately epic (clear your schedule for the night, it's 3 and 1/2 hours). "Upstarts" is really promising for the first half, but it devolves into ridiculous melodrama in the second portion. The "Three Idiots Start Their Own Tech Company" was such a good idea ... that simply gets lost in melodrama.
That was the film that got Vickie and me started on Bollywood. You probably enjoy it more because you're much more familiar with cricket.
I think it's the first film I've ever seen in which the typical "We've just fallen in love, let's run through some fields and stuff like that" musical number has THREE people in it instead of two! Could the Indian hero actually choose the British woman over the Indian woman?
Just saw Good Newws in the theater. It's about fairly well-off couple - he sells luxury cars, she's a journalist - and her biological clock is ticking. They finally try IVF, and the clinic confuses two male samples with the same last name. An enjoyable romantic comedy with almost no cringey moments.
I saw the trailer for this one the last time I went to see a Bollywood film. I'd see it if it miraculously made its way near me.
Saturday night I went to see "Chhapaak", which is Deepika Padukone's film about an acid attack victim who turned into an advocate for changes to India's laws regarding these heinous crimes. It was definitely moving and surprisingly upbeat at times. Sadly, I was one of four people in the theater, and my ticket came with a spoken caveat that the film is not in English (lest I demand my money back as an uniformed consumer I guess). The film had both American length (under 2 hours) and American pacing.
I should say Vickie hated it. She has less tolerance than I do for couples that obviously shouldn't be together thinking that a baby will fix their problems.
Ayushmann Khurrana is making some very good movie different from the normal stuff. Two of his good ones are Badhaii Ho (2018). Quite hilarious at times. Vicky Donor (2012). Also very funny.
Saw two really good Bollywood films this afternoon: Malang - a drama about police corruption. Didn't know where it was going it threw me for a loop several times. Recommended if you can handle the violence. Jawaani Janneman - The rare Bollywood comedy that should be funny to every audience, and would be a good introduction for the uninitiated. A middle-aged real estate agent living a playboy life and bedding a different party girl every night shocked to discover he has a 21 year old daughter.
I'm referring to car chases scenes that have real cars undergoing the real physics of flying around on the road. Not CGI car chase scenes. Here's a quick list of ones that I've enjoyed: Getaway in Stockholm (YouTube) Two Lane Blacktop Snaptube Telegram Web Vidmate
Nice topic though I do not consider Satyajit Ray Bollywood in any sense. He's a filmmaker from India. That's the only common denominator I see. And if that's the only qualifier then the films of someone like Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, Kama Sutra, Salaam Bombay) would apply as well - and she would vehemently disagree with such a claim. I've yet to read through all the posts but what else would a film by Ray or Nair have in common with a typical Bollywood release - other than being "Indian"?
Yes, I addressed that already. I went for a very broad term to try to attract people beyond foreign film aficionados. I'm just trying to drum up an audience, I'm not trying to write my dissertation.
I've been fascinated with Indian superstar Rekha for a long time... Now I have a good excuse to see more of her movies. The first time I saw her was in Mira Nair's Kama Sutra, where she played an elder courtesan, having long established a reputation in the film industry. Thousands of people apparently waited for hours just to get a glimpse of her on set. This film is from 1989, about mid-career, when she was still playing "young girl" roles. It's a good print in Hindi with English subs. Not one of her better films, apparently, but it's one of the better looking prints on The Tube.
