Spoilers ahead…
Shah Rukh Khan carries forward both the “Yash Raj Spy Universe” and his own career in a rooted action movie.
It’s probably too early to say this, but on the basis of War and now Pathaan, writer Shridhar Raghavan, dialogue-writer Abbas Tyrewala, and director Siddharth Anand have revitalised the Indian action movie. I use the word “Indian” deliberately, because the stunts are from Hollywood, but the heart that makes these “Yash Raj Spy Universe” films tick is as desi as desi can be. In the Dhoom franchise or in the Salman Khan-starring Tiger films, Yash Raj have been trying to marry our masala sensibilities to Bond/Mission-Impossible action spectacles, with middling results. War is where it all finally came together. Scratch the Hollywood-inspired action set pieces, and you had the emotional connect of a Muslim patriot attempting to atone for the sins of his father and thus fulfil the wishes of his mother.
Pathaan is all about the mother: Mother India. In a Manmohan Desai-esque masterstroke, the story is about a hero named Pathaan (Shah Rukh Khan) and a villain named Jim (John Abraham), and their representational mother is a Hindu named Nandini (Dimple Kapadia). Jim’s villainy is created by the fact that his “father” abandoned him, the way the Amitabh Bachchan character’s villainy in Shakti was created when his father abandoned him during a hostage negotiation. So there’s a lot of Salim-Javed in here, too: like in Deewar, the mother faces one good son, and one son gone bad. I chuckled when a pissed-off Pakistani officer hears about Article 370 being annulled, and calls for war: “elaan-e-jung” is the term he uses. That’s the name of an Anil Sharma masala hit from 1989. And that officer does speak like he is in an Anil Sharma movie. Sample line: Shaitan se dosti karne ka waqt aa gaya hai.
You can read the rest of the review here:
https://www.galatta.com/hindi/movie/review/pathaan/
And you can watch the video review here:
Copyright ©2023 GALATTA.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Sri Prabhuram
January 27, 2023
I booked the tickets for this afternoon (in USA). So far I liked Siddharth Anand’s new direction towards action like in Bang Bang and War. Let’s hope Pathaan continues the streak.
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sanjay
January 27, 2023
Irrespective of the content, the frenzied reception of the Pathaan and its super success with all sorts of records being shattered will come as a relief to moderate voices in Hindi cinema. Boycott gangs cannot harm a film collection or it’s verdict. Further the poster boys of the establishment are not the only ones who can weaponize popular opinion and govt sponsored propaganda and manipulation can be restricted with a different take.
The noticeable proliferation in Bollywood with stories where civil conflict is climaxing with cries for the extermination of a section of society in dim theaters and rapid descent into darkness is what the films are aiming to fuel, rather than a sincere tackling of the complex stories.
Moderate voices and faces can now hold their own !!
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Aman Basha
January 27, 2023
The only reason I am not commenting is I am simply lost for words, I really can’t seem to articulate, I just can’t believe that the SRK for whom I went to empty theatres for Jab Harry Met Sejal and Zero and ruined a date, who was written off as a has been and a relic of the past, is now not just back to take his throne as the King, but is the savior of his entire film industry. The hoots, the whistles, the screams, I’m still pinching myself.
And as Sanjay said, this movie actually is a showcase for liberal inclusive patriotism. Jai Hind! And one last thing,
Hindustan ki Shaan Shah Rukh Khan!! Apni kursi ki peti bandh lo, mausam(aur sensex 😉 bigadne wala hai.
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hari prasad
January 27, 2023
I watched Pathaan yesterday at the housefull IMAX screen at Phoenix Mall in Chennai…
It was surprising for me to see a large number of people watch a SRK movie in Chennai, while a Vijay and Ajith movie were running at the same theatre with much lesser occupancy.
Now coming to the movie , it was decent and Shahrukh finally gets a proper movie to showcase his capabilities as a bonafide mass star…
The hand to hand combat sequences were a joy to watch…
John Ab’s role was short but interesting , I wish they should have explored his character more , like how did a man who was presumed dead and is considered a martyr became this big , bad multi millionaire who organise terrorist attacks on countries just for money..
And please someone make a kickass action movie with Deepika Padukone in the lead role!!
The major downs were the music and the chase sequences which had some really tacky green matte visuals that kills the exhilaration..
Overall , Pathaan could have been better but this is a much needed resurgence for SRK and Bollywood in general…
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Madan
January 28, 2023
Watching now and halfway through (don’t ask how, hehe). A more slavish imitation of James Bond you could not find. Which isn’t a completely bad thing. This is like No Time To Die if it had a Pierce-y light-n-sexy touch rather than Mr Furrowed Brows and a bigger role for Ana De Armas.
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Rahul
January 28, 2023
I haven’t seen the film, but it appears to be channeling some of SRK’s real-life charming, quick-witted persona, as well as his mythical persona as the Baadshah of Bollywood, to create the character of Pathaan.
Pathaan seems to be to SRK what Dabangg was to Salman.
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Satya
January 28, 2023
Felt more like Desi “Skyfall on a date with No Time To Die” without the (unnecessary) seriousness. SRK was so good and John was so worse, it created a great balance. And for god sake, what went wrong with the VFX!!!
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Madan
January 28, 2023
Rahul: I would agree. There is some sort of backstory (which sort of connects to SRK’s lineage deriving from Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan if you stretch it a bit) but this is essentially SRK appearing unabashedly as himself, and as himself the Bollywood superstar. They tried this before in Don but it was maybe a bit too polished. This time they went full r****d. And yes, SRK is one star who is entertaining appearing as himself because of the quick witted, mischievous and flirty side of his personality, all also perfect fits for a desi Bond franchise. The movie by itself is just the same tone as Dhoom. That it’s working like nobody’s business is another reminder of how potent nostalgia is proving to be in the post covid scenario.
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hari prasad
January 28, 2023
Is DDLJ still running at Maratha Mandir?!?
I thought they stopped it after 2015..
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An Jo
January 28, 2023
@hari prasad; DDLJ might still be running; but only for the prostitution business and couples who don’t find a seat on Marine Drive or elsewhere for cootchie-cooin.
While I understand SRK fans going orgasmic on this derivative, which is made to please the entire gamut of so-called ‘Sanghis’ to ‘Sar Tan Se Judaa’ folks, it uses the same trope of nationalism, or, as the ‘liberals’ would call it, ‘hyper-nationalism’ to rake in the box-office moolah, it is worthwhile to ponder over this.
SRK has shrewdly beaten his opponents by laying to bed the very same principles that the current establishment espouses. NO waking up of ‘Indian’ populace at all.
https://satyamshot.wordpress.com/2023/01/11/an-jo-on-pathaan-trailer/
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Madan
January 28, 2023
An Jo: Nationalism has always been a plank of the Congress, contrary to what BJP supporters like to tout. Maybe it was more muted and even enfeebled in the MMS days but the 1984 election slogan went, “Chunauti nayi ek sandesh/majboot hai haath akand hai desh”. So it is hardly remarkable if Pathan somewhat treads that line. I don’t know if you have watched the film but unless you believe there is absolutely no one, not a soul, capable of exhibiting humanity in all of Pak and Afg, there was no pandering to sar tan se juda crowd. OTOH while the film shows comity between Pathan and Rubia and also the Afghan village, there is no reprise of the aman ki asha line. So to that extent, it was more mature and realistic than earlier Bolly ventures. They have realized the Indian public no longer has even a significant fraction of population that wants to see India and Pak get together again. A less acrimonious adversarial relationship is the best that can be hoped for now.
I also hope you are not suggesting it is sar tan se juda to show a Muslim working for RAW and expressing patriotism. My current manager is ex army and a Modi supporter and he proudly flaunts the participation of Muslims in the Indian army.
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Aman Basha
January 28, 2023
An Jo: As you know, I’m not entirely wise with age but more flush with the arrogance of youth but I do remember this song called “Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani” from an old SRK movie, which was incidentally his debut production? And of course, I might be displaying my lack of film knowledge but weren’t Swades and Chak De India some of the most patriotic movies ever made? I’m a bit of an emotional fool so every time I hear Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera or see SRK’s tears of shock at the end of Chak De, I do hear Jai Hind mentally.
If you think India got its independence after 2014, then I understand your contention of course. 🙂
Plus, this is Pathaan ki party. Let’s keep politics from derailing a celebration of the greatest comeback and reinvention of any Bombay superstar. Of course, that won’t stop me from talking about politics to defend SRK when I find it convenient 🙂 Baniye ka dimaag, Miyanbhai ki daring after all.
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Nik
January 28, 2023
This is not about revitalization of Bollywood, it is about good marketing and PR which is worse. Movies with good script have done well this year and the past year like drishyam2 however it’s the whole attitude of milking the public sentiments which will fall flat on its face and therefore i feel pathan is just an aberration. Just look at the ticket prices. I’m not going to spend 700 bucks to watch this drivel in IMAX screen I’d rather wait for it at OTT. What Bollywood has got wrong and the South side industries have got right is the ticket pricing which has the middle class choosing going to the theatres as a half day break.
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Nik
January 28, 2023
This is not about revitalization of Bollywood, it is about good marketing and PR which is worse. Movies with good script have done well this year and the past year like drishyam2 however it’s the whole attitude of milking the public sentiments which will fall flat on its face and therefore i feel pathan is just an aberration. Just look at the ticket prices. I’m not going to spend 700 bucks to watch this drivel in IMAX screen I’d rather wait for it at OTT. What Bollywood has got wrong and the South side industries have got right is the ticket pricing which has the middle class choosing going to the theatres as a half day break.
Also SRK enjoys a positive following on account of being self made (vs the nepo gang) so he just needed a decent script to bounce back. However him reviving Bollywood is going too far that’ll happen when they work hard on the script and make movies affordable. (indirectly saying it’ll not happen anytime soon)
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Krish
January 28, 2023
Why is not BR posting his review? Am so keen to see what he says
As a big time SRK fan i thought it was like a 3 to 3.5 star movie for me but the crowd reaction was quite crazy almost like Vijay or Ajith FDFS movies which is not typically seen in Bollywood.
The numbers being thrown are crazy. No one thought 60crs was possible and this movie is doing 70crs and will be doing 4 days over 50crs in its first 5 days which is remarkable.
Coming to the movie, John was excellent I thought, every time he comes on screen the movie crackles with anticipation and energy. Deepika was very good and does some very good action. Salman cameo was excellent and bought the house down. Dimple had a very good role and one excellent scene (the lab leak) which was the best scene of the movie. SRK had an excellent entry scene and a fantastic climax but i thought he could have had more powerful dialogues or punchlines and some more massy scenes (I expect Atlee to take care of this).
There is derivative feel about the movie and it could have done with more hand to hand combat scenes rather than all the flying scenes. VFX was terrible in some scenes very good in others. But the movie is not jingoistic, and the stakes are high to keep the audience entertained.
I loved some of the understated and subtle scenes a lot like the one where Dimple refers to SRK as a kintsugi who can save the nation, seems like a meta moment where SRK is being referred as a glue for the nation as he is one person who is not seen from a religious prism. Even the scene when Deepika asks if he is a musalman and he replies he does not know what he is saying the nation has nurtured me and i am just giving back to it – seems to be very SRK as he has said many times he is as much a Christian as much as a Hindu as much a Muslim in many of his interviews. These meta scenes worked well better than some of those tacky VFX scenes.
Nevertheless it was great to see him back on screen and he was sorely sorely missed. Its a comeback of epic proportions, infusing life into the industry and the single screens and also showing that Bahubali and KGFs can be beaten. It has beaten their weekend collections even with 2 non holidays but If it crosses both these movies final total it will be an important moment for BW.
And he has 2 more biggies coming and this is shaping to be a special year for SRK starved fans like me. Feels almost a personal triumph this rather than just a movie and i have no qualms in admitting this. I am sure Aman understands this 🙂
Pathaan to sirf Jhaanki hai, Jawan aur Dunki baaki hai 🙂
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Krish
January 28, 2023
Sorry forgot to say Spoiler. The above post has some spoilers but nothing too important
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madhusudhan194
January 28, 2023
Watched the film today and found it to be entertaining. But is it just me or anyone else felt that many action set pieces were blatantly stolen from Mission impossible 3, 4, 5 and 6. With all those crores couldn’t they find even one person who could think of original action set pieces? I’m not even talking about plot similarities but shots / scenes / concepts directly stolen from the Mission impossible films. The second half is when some amount of originality showed. SRK is great and Pathan might turn out to be a big blockbuster but it is yet another piece of evidence that there are very few original minds in Hindi cinema.
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An Jo
January 28, 2023
“I also hope you are not suggesting it is sar tan se juda to show a Muslim working for RAW and expressing patriotism. My current manager is ex army and a Modi supporter and he proudly flaunts the participation of Muslims in the Indian army.”
Madan: I have provided you a trajectory of SRK since when he started out and his inklings. All I am saying is, it is his business acumen of playing the religious card where it matters, and avoiding it where it doesn’t matter, is the success of a businessman, not an actor. As a pure actor, he is not a patch on AB as far as the HFI is concerned. Why is it that the other 2 Khans do not warrant as much attention/wrong -mentions as SRK? [Kindly forget the Kiran Rao debate..]. Any other mention of Aamir? Remember, how the ignorant Aamir went and sat his ass with Medha at the NBA, and how that boosted the sales of a thoroughly insignificant, bad film like FANAA?
What’s happened with PATHAAN is the same. SRK’s constant utterings regarding him being a PATHAAN, his family belonging to Pak is utilized to the hilt here: This movie is a total summation of SRK’s entry and his identity politics from 1989 till date.
Hats off to SRK as I mentioned. He has played the GREATEST game ever with this movie….AND won big time!!
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Madan
January 28, 2023
An Jo: So at first you say this film panders to sar tan se juda and then you say it’s about SRK’s career trajectory. So in essence you insist on reading something that is not in there in the film. That is your prerogative but absent any evidence in the most important source material – ie the film itself – I cannot agree that Pathan caters to sar tan se juda. And as for your double triple emphasis on the name Pathan, two cricketers with that last name played until not so long ago for the Indian team. I rest my case.
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Madan
January 28, 2023
madusudhan: Plus, the whole raktbeej concept is like No Time To Die and the action choreography for the first scene where Deepika saves SRK was similar to the one where Ana saves Craig.
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Rahul
January 29, 2023
“All I am saying is, it is his business acumen of playing the religious card where it matters, and avoiding it where it doesn’t matter, is the success of a businessman, not an actor. ”
Circular reasoning is used here. I find it difficult to imagine that SRK came up with the solution on his own, even though everyone and their uncles were trying to figure out why Bollywood was a disaster. We would all criticize him for the same reasons if this movie had been a failure.
I also don’t understand the comparison to AB. A very small number of people have praised SRK’s acting abilities ever since he first appeared on TV. But everyone can agree that he has a charming demeanor.
A comparison to Rajesh Khanna, in my opinion, is more apt.
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musical v
January 29, 2023
Anyone watched Annihilation on nf? I found it fascinating. Understandably it was a boxoffice dud.
As for Pathaan, its success is a pleasant surprise for bollywood.
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Red chillies VFX supremacy
January 29, 2023
I hope Pathan is not an aberration and is a course correction. Bollywood is an industry at the end of the day and a lot of people depend on it for their livelihood not just the stars or the so called nepo gang. It is only big hits that help people across the board everyone from the stars, the production, to the guy who works at the snacks counter. The big hits also infuse more money into the industry, more movies get made, while some of them might turn out to be flops and average grossers, eventually everyone ends up benefitting somehow, however little.
Saw in the credits that VFX was done by Yashraj VFX. I just felt bad for SRK – the guy owns one of the groundbreaking VFX firms of the country and the biggest sore point in one of his biggest movies turns out to be VFX thanks to Yashraj trying to do everything in house.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
January 29, 2023
@Nik excellent and crisp analysis. Hats off!
I see quite a bit of anxiety in some of the comments here about reviving Bollywood. Why this High Anxiety? I now for sure no one is getting paid here by Bollywood and Bollywood has largely been peddling crap for decades. So why nto give it a decent burial and hail the arrival of the INDIAN film industry.
And why this injection of ‘political dispensation’ here? Only a boycott is (IMHO legitimately) being called for – Not a BAN. A boycott is a legitimate democratic right unlike Sar Tan se Juda for quoting a Hadith verbatim.
Its okay to talk about ‘political dispensation’ buit why not also talk about Red Giant forcing their way into every film which sells in Tamilnadu. The First Family of tamilnadu also control who does the catering for the film crews and which film gets pirated. In the US its called the MAFIA. Let us for argument’s sake conclude that a small time SM influencer like ‘Gems of bollywood’ is poilitically backed and Bolywood with its hundreds of crores cant fight him – at this stage we should be rejoicing that we have a Ralph Nader in India also but put that aside. But is that worse than showing Bharat Mata being stripped and dancing with a bra in previous T series movies or entire Bollywood paying obeisance to Dawood Ibrahim on his birthday religiously every year?
And what about the political angle where the ex-Indian army man is the villain ? what about the political angle when shelling is stopped by Pakistani artillery so that India can win the cup in ’83? I suppose the Pakistani market for Bollywood films is non-existent (sarcasm).
Why is there no political dispensation when Surya refused to say ‘Jai Hind’ in rocketry?
Too many unanswered questions.
But pray…continue…I dont want to spoil the Pathaan party.. in the preceding 5 decades no producer has lost money by underestimating the taste of Bollywod fans.
Pan Indian films are an aberration. We’ll go back to junk food from millet rich health food
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Ashwin Kumar
January 29, 2023
Watched this morning at PVR. Was pretty engaging until the interval with SRK shining through like a Desi Ethan hawk. Good to see him back in a new avatar. Then it became like a series of thumbs up commercials and I zoned out 🙂
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Ashwin Kumar
January 29, 2023
*Ethan Hunt
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
January 29, 2023
@Krish – BR has not yet posted his review because he is still grappling between the tweezer grip of Thaayaa ? Thaaramaa?
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karzzexped
January 29, 2023
This was a pretty terrible outing for me.
A mishmash of Hollywood spy and action tropes, unoriginal stunts failing hard and trying to ape the Mission Impossible, Fast & Furious and Bond franchises, and finally, ludicrous CGI/VFX frames topped off with a screeching background score.
I’m still not able to come to terms that this is the same team that gave us War (2019). I’m not trying to say War is a masterpiece, but I remember enjoying the action sequences, the cheesy twists and the songs.
The only saving grace was SRK’s terrific screen presence and a fun little pre-interval sequence.
As other commenters have been pointing out, YRF should have outsourced the VFX to Red Chillies or at least to Outfit X. I’m sure either of them would’ve done a better job than YRF.
I actually liked the close-combat fight sequences. It is only when the action shifts to a set piece, the glaring shortcomings of the VFX department come to the fore.
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Kaushik Bhattacharya
January 29, 2023
For once I caught this in the theatre early enough, and I must say I was surprised at how crowded even a suburban theatre in London was for a desi film, can’t remember the last time that was the case in 18 years of living here, maybe for Om Shanti Om, which is interesting given it was this lead pair’s first film together.
The film itself was a derivative genre piece as many have noted but it was entertaining enough and SRK got the balance of his screen presence as the titular character and his self referential jokes reasonably correct imo. Siddharth Anand continues his reinvention of himself as an action director who mounts his films nicely but as a couple of others mentioned here, I think the masala writing in War was better than in this film. Partly maybe because there isn’t a fan base as wide (for Hrithik Roshan) to cater to.
Looking forward to BR’s review.
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Madan
January 29, 2023
Be interesting to see what Peter Bradshaw or Mark Kermode have to say but this Guardian review also taking the line of ‘Bond but more fun’. I would have added a parenthesis more fun than Craig Bond because the Connery and Brosnan movies had this light touch too.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jan/26/pathaan-review-daft-shah-rukh-khan-spy-caper-is-more-fun-than-bond
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kaizokukeshav
January 30, 2023
It’s hard to follow the forced comments especially how Bollywood got the big break from suppressive forces blah blah.. and not accepting the fact that there was a decade long dearth of quality movie making. Can’t say what’s more pitiful, an audience base that’s ready to pin failures on some random blabbering twitter analyst or giving high regards to ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ level story lines just because there’s some swag added to it. The merits and demerits are not even discussed anymore, almost as if the movie is the least important part and it exists only to create a bait-and-switch to satisfy the social media narrative.
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Anu Warrier
January 30, 2023
@An Jo – SRK has never flaunted his religious identity. Yes, he’s Muslim, and there are certain gestures/practices that he follows but he’s never ever been anything other than a pure Indian in that sense – and he has always said so.
You don’t have to like him but the vituperation against him is uncalled for, IMO. (And no, he’s no AB, but he has an on-screen charisma that makes him one of the most beloved stars of the past three decades. Nothing you say will take that away from him.)
But is that worse than showing Bharat Mata being stripped and dancing with a bra in previous T series movies or entire Bollywood paying obeisance to Dawood Ibrahim on his birthday religiously every year?
Huh? Did that happen (re: T-series films)?
Re: Dawood Ibrahim – yes, when you’re unsure whether saying ‘no’ will cost you your life/career/honour, I guess, yes, obeisance is a small price to pay. Unless you walk in their shoes… etc., etc., etc.
I wonder how many of us would have the guts to say ‘no’.
Which, by the way, SRK did, way back when. (He informed the police.) Though only Preity Zinta had the guts to say that in court.
General comment:
Haven’t watched Pathan yet because action films are not really my cup of tea, and the Besharam rang choreography made me want to dig my eyeballs out with a blunt fork!
But I want to watch it in the theatre, purely as my contribution against the anti-Bollywood/anti-Khan nonsense that has gone on unchecked for far too long. (Again, purely a subjective viewpoint, given that I would be considered one of the tukde tukde gang, because apparently, criticising anything that the present government and its thugs does makes me anti-national.)
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brangan
January 30, 2023
“Bollywood has largely been peddling crap for decades”… “a decade long dearth of content”….
Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, of course. But the way I see it, (in the last decade) we have seen the rise of “the Ayushman Khurana light social drama”, the rise of Kangana Ranaut as India’s finest actress, the rise of the likes of Juhi Chaturvedi as ‘brand-name’ screenwriters, ultra-experimental mainstream films like JAGGA JASOOS and ZERO, alongside (in the more mainstream space) the Bhansali megahits, the re-emergence of Hrithik Roshan as a fine star-actor, the rise of Alia Bhatt as 100-crore box-office star…. Plus in the offbeat space, there’s Devashish Makhija and Prateek Vats and so forth.
Every industry “peddles crap” for the most part. The four Pongal / Sankranthi releases are what… masterpieces of mass filmmaking? 🙂 Only Malayalam cinema has escaped this because of their low budgets (though lots of crap movies even there). But the three big mainstream industries — Hindi, Tamil, Telugu — will always “pander” to a large extent, depending on the current tastes of people.
Yes, Bollywood has had a “relatively” underwhelming couple of years, but the oh man… the desire to declare the death of an industry and jump on to quick narratives never ceases to surprise me.
Now again, the success of PATHAAN will make people say “oh, Bollywood is back” and if the rest of the year is underwhelming, it will be “oh, Bollywood is down in the dumps again”.
I would say, recall the Malayalam cinema of the 90s. Every industry shakes itself off and finds a way to survive.
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hari prasad
January 30, 2023
Happy 20 years of BR-ism guys and gals!!!
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Pathaan = 10 Aan Men ar work
January 30, 2023
The previous decade also saw the emergence of Vidya Balan as a bankable star
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Anuja Chandramouli
January 30, 2023
I watched Pathaan despite reservations (I felt exactly like the Warrior did on viewing Besharam Rang) and that was a mistake. Happy for SRK since Pathaan has proved to be a behemoth at the box office but the fact remains that the film itself is pretty damn awful.
There are glimpses of the charisma that makes SRK, the beloved superstar he is but the man is ill suited for action. The long hair is clearly for the benefit of his body double and the fight sequences are supremely unconvincing. I never thought I’ll see the day when John A (in his element in a role that plays to his limited skillsets) is more effective than SRK but there you have it. And don’t even get me started on Deepi, the mediocre writing and the uninspired action blocks. The only good thing about the film was Dimple Kapadia.
As for the hysterical narrative and excessive hype for what is honestly a mediocre film, I just don’t get it. Or the people who seem convinced that a middling Bollywood film heralds the beginning of a new world order (nope, it doesn’t) where love and acceptance has overpowered hate and intolerance. Why in the entire wide world of f**kdom do we attach so much significance to beautiful, famous and powerful people’s deeds when their so – called struggles are so far removed from the common people’s? I simply don’t get it. And I really miss SRK from his Baazigar days. This 6 pack wielding abomination is just not working for me.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
January 30, 2023
@anu warrier
Here’s a sample. View from 20th second. Ive seen the whole clip but couldnt locate it right now – its quite cringeworthy I assure you. Agree with your views on paying obeisance to Bolly-Da-wood Ibrahim. Who wants to get shot like a dg in broad daylight like Gulshan Kumar? This only buttresses Bollywood’s questionable sources of financing and the entire Hinduphobic approach (my views but very strong ones)
Ihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apchiI_ktws
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
January 30, 2023
Great to see you weigh in on this BR. Yes other industries including Hollywood generate crap too but Bollywood excels in condescension towards anyone who isnt Punjabi or Muslim. South Indians have particularly borne the brunt of their Characterizations (???).
Urdu is placed na pedestal but Shuddh Hindi is made fun of.
Yes – brahmins have borne the brunt here in Tamil cinema and also dark sinned women and Malayalai women but where Bollywood excels is in condescension towards races living in other parts of India. On the other hand one may cogently argue that this is only a reflection of life. I’ve lived 8 years in the North and can attest to this.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
January 30, 2023
Anuja – Way to go!
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Sriram
January 30, 2023
Even I’m surprised to see articles like this:
https://theprint.in/opinion/to-the-point/pathaan-is-not-just-any-other-hindi-movie-its-a-battle-for-india/1335177/
And several posts like ” Love has won”, “India has spoken”, etc.
Just another above average movie and people are going ga ga over it?
Regarding people writing off Bollywood, there is a perverse happiness in seeing rich & might fall (another recent example: Adani Enterprises).
Lot of people have stopped watching Bollywood content completely (like my wife) and have moved on to something else (web series, stand-up comedy, etc.)
People have started hating Bollywood for lot of reasons like anti-Hindu stance, pro-Muslim, pro-Pakistan, promoting drugs, nepotism, promoting harmful products, beauty products, etc. etc. And I think Bollywood’s market in general has reduced (whether by 10/20/30/40% is debatable).
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Srinivas R
January 30, 2023
So the view that Bollywood is “anti-Hindu” is mainstream now, eh? Nice to know. This view was not very prevalent when KJo and YRF were making Karva Chauth movies in late 90s to mid 00’s? What changed and when? That aside, the reason why people are reading a lot into a (maybe) mediocre movie are:
The boycott bollywood has been relentless, not just on social media – LSC had one guy in Mumbai, make public announcements about not watching the movie in a threatening tone
Pre release vandalism in malls to stop Pathan screening. People chanting Hanuman Chalisa while threatening audience not to watch Pathan ( I am sure all Hindus are proud of this)
SRK’s son being arrested and put through trial by media but eventually proven wrong with no basis ( this inessence vindicating Amair Khan’s fear about being Muslim in India)
I can go on abt what’s happenin apart from Bollywood as well, but what’s the point…
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Rahul
January 30, 2023
Ironic that people who were supporting a boycott of Pathan because of the colour of Deepika’s bikini now want to talk about the quality of Bollywood films. My advice would be to avoid discussions of Pathaan because people will discuss its collections, which may be offensive for obvious reasons. Try to prepare an excuse to boycott the next movie or get another hobby—whatever works.
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kaizokukeshav
January 30, 2023
“criticising anything that the present government and its thugs does makes me anti-national.”
So is criticizing any bollywood makes them Boycott Gang and anti-bollywood. I mean it’s not like saints are talking with satan here.
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Rahul
January 30, 2023
“So is criticizing any bollywood makes them Boycott Gang and anti-bollywood.”
Almost everyone here criticizes Bollywood(and films from other industries) for different reasons – including nepotism, unoriginal filmmaking, and so on. But if you wanted to boycott Pathan because of the color of Deepika’s bikini then boycott gang is a good term to describe your lot right? What would you prefer to be known by?
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An Jo
January 31, 2023
@Anuja and @Madan Sir:
Wearing the religious sleeve is NOT a crime per me, but if the normal public or courts decide else-wise, I will go with it. So, I hold SRK not at all at fault when — and not if–he did so. I know this comment of mine will be highly reviled, but here it is: There was a time during 2007 to 2012 where SRK was wielding an AADAB when compared to his earlier appearances where he used to wield a NAMASTE. Every individual, through his or her life-time, goes through changes and experiences a higher sense of spirituality, and that’s no exception for SRK. But to use that and convert it to a money-making machine, should surely be questionable? Not just of SRK, but of any actor per se?
I have presented his chronology of utterances/writings in my post but if you don’t see any trajectory or a careful-build to the ‘PATHAAN’ image, I have no words. The fundamental difference is, I am NEVER questioning his patriotism or his love for the country — I for one, being a NRI for 20 years have no right to question ANYONE, and even if I were not in the US, I wouldn’t have dared to question –; it is only a question of ‘marketing’ and SRK is adept at that. WAR didn’t have any ISI agent helping RAW, why does PATHAAN have it then? It is required? Name Pakistan, abrogation at one end, and at the other end, have an ISI helping a RAW, a la-EK THA DRIVER actor who swears allegiance to the current establishment, irrespective of his driving escapades?
I would request you to kindly go through his interviews with Simi, or his writings in OUTLOOK, or his BBC interviews, and then make up your mind: All I am saying is, this is not communal; this is use of communal feeling…
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Madan
January 31, 2023
” but if you don’t see any trajectory or a careful-build to the ‘PATHAAN’ image, I have no words” – No, because contrary to the notion of a careful build up, his last few releases have been absolutely all over the place, ranging from Fan to JHMS to Zero. I am sorry man, but you’re simply seeing what you want to see here. Acha, are you even aware that in this film, it is Jim’s character who is helping Pakistan seek revenge for abrogation? At this point, I am not even sure you get that…or that you care. After all, why let facts get in the way of opinions? Let’s flip it this way. You’re saying even if SRK plays someone who fights on the side of India against Pak’s mission to avenge abrogation, you will still point fingers at that. Because…should I spell the quiet part out loud now?
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Anu Warrier
January 31, 2023
No. Criticizing Bollywood films does not make anyone part of the Boycott Gang. Asking for films to be boycotted on the flimsiest of reasons does.
Whereas, all I have to do is to ask for some nuance while discussing the Muslim situation in India or say anything against the Supreme Leader for me to not only be tagged ‘anti-national’ but to also have ridiculous cases filed against me in India. (For one of the most ridiculous, I refer you to the case filed against a teenage girl for retweeting Greta Thunberg’s post on how to make petitions.) It would be laughable if it weren’t so dystopian.
Where were all of you when bigots wanted to cut of Deepika’s head /nose for daring to act as Rani Padmini? Or when they vandalized Bhansali’s sets for some imaginary dream sequence that they dreamed up? And when films like those – from our myths and history – get made, the right-wing find something else to get offended by!
And Bollywood is Hindu-phobic /pro-Pakistan? So, if a film makes the slightest attempt at nuance, instead of blatant jingoism, then it is ‘pro-Pak’ and ‘anti-India’? Good to know.
Again, when people like us – ‘leftists’, if you want a label, ask for boycotts, we are asking on a personal level – asking like-minded people not to watch another ‘stalking-as-romance’ movie, for instance. In other words, vote with your feet/wallet.
We are not asking for a ban on a film, or for government intervention to stop the film being screened. We are not vandalising theatres that screen these films or shops which display its posters. We are not making threats against the makers or the actors.
Whereas, with the ‘Boycott Bollywood’ lot, they are aided and abetted by state and local governments that insist on censorship. (At least until the Supreme Leader woke up and asked them not to talk against films.)
@An Jo – Kangana can say ‘Jai Shri Ram’; Akshay can say, ‘ Namaste’ but SRK is to be condemned for saying ‘Adaab’? Despite everything that the present government want to do, Urdu is – and will remain – an Indian language. I challenge you to speak shudh Hindustani – do not use a single Urdu word in your speech. No ‘aurat’, use ‘stree’; no ‘aadmi’, use ‘manushy’; no ‘aam’ (as in ‘ordinary’), use ‘saadharan’… etc. See how far you get with it!
Ugh! Language, religion, region, caste, creed… let’ s play a game to see how many divisions we can make amongst us!
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Rocky
January 31, 2023
Notice how West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra ( MVA era) intolerance is ALWAYS glossed over by the “left”
Lalu , Kejriwal, TRS, Stalin are admired for packing their enemies to Jail.
Kya Yaar !!
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Rocky
January 31, 2023
Political Murders in West Bengal during and after elections, where even a Supreme Court Judge rescued herself. RSS workers getting killed dally in Kerala .
Arrey these are Chota mota incidents .
We are only concerned about your supreme leader coz. Pappy can’t dance saala !!
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tamil thanos
January 31, 2023
“Its okay to talk about ‘political dispensation’ but why not also talk about Red Giant forcing their way into every film which sells in Tamilnadu.”
sravishanker1401gmailcom – This has been commented upon multiple times in different threads and also there are enough memes on Instagram criticizing this. But I guess accepting this won’t fit your narrative.
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Heisenberg
January 31, 2023
Until the release, look at Deepika’s bikini! ohh the color is hurting us. After release, Pathaan saves India but has some help from one Pak guy and it’s hurting us.
It’s fun to see that mere existence of SRK hurts the khaki chaddi walas.
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Anu Warrier
January 31, 2023
RSS workers getting killed daily in Kerala? You must be kidding.
In any case, you won’t hear any of us saying that the non-BJP states are ideal/perfect/heaven. At least, not from me, you won’t.
But the ‘what about-ism’ is getting old. Other states having political problems does not negate the sheer scope and volume of the right-wing government’s bigoted/hypernationalistic policies that are actively harming anyone who doesn’t agree with them.
Anyway, I’ll bow out here. Because this ‘discussion’ is going nowhere. Any attempt at saying anything anti-right will just result in everything including the kitchen sink thrown back, in the hope that something will stick.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
January 31, 2023
tamil_thanos L You can have 1000 memes but does it make it any less true? I get the low down on this because I have friends in the film industry incuding one who acts in a cameo i pretty much every Mani film. He had to change his name so as not to disclose his brahmin origin. Nuff said.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
January 31, 2023
Heisenberg : Lets go easy on the references to “khaki chaddiwalas” . They do more social service ina day than you do in a decade. We can also start referring to Dravidian Stockists or Dravidiya pasanga and then this will spiral out of control. Lets maintain some respect here.
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Heisenberg
January 31, 2023
sravishanker1401gmailcom
Lol you can call whatever you want. Great deduction by the way Sherlock. If one criticizes Modi, they must be dravidiya pasanga.
If manufacturing modern day Nazis is a social service, yes I do not do that.
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Sriram
January 31, 2023
“No. Criticizing Bollywood films does not make anyone part of the Boycott Gang. Asking for films to be boycotted on the flimsiest of reasons does.” – Flimsiest of reasons depends on each individual.
“In other words, vote with your feet/wallet” – exactly this is what a boycott is intended to do right?
Why does hate against Modi translate to love for Bollywood?
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Madan
January 31, 2023
It IS the flimsiest of reasons to ask for a boycott merely because one of many hued bikinis worn by DP in a song happened to be saffron. If you don’t think it is flimsy, you should apply for Afghan citizenship ASAP. Don’t dodge, don’t prevaricate. And sadly for you, you can’t even use the “this is what people want” excuse to support censorship because the people have spoken and made a pretty unremarkable film a monstrous hit. Which possibly wouldn’t have happened without the calls for boycotting it in the first place. Ah, now you want to say the boycott was a manufactured controversy of YRF to create buzz? Well, if so, why do you support such a hollow boycott anyway?
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Voldemort
January 31, 2023
I saw Pathaan. I agree with Anuja mostly, War was a better film, this felt stretched at times, SRK’s abs looked very fake, everyone simply taking Pathan’s name was annoying, the VFX was terrible, several dialogues were cringey, flashbacks were lazy, the action sequences did not once have the edge-of-seat tension that Hollywood action flicks do so well. The bar for action films is so low in India, they should’ve worked much more on all the action scenes (except the hand combat which seemed nice.)
Loved the meta references, DP was gorgeous, and John was surprisingly decent.
Not quite the SRK comeback that I would’ve wanted, but good for him.
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Heisenberg
January 31, 2023
//If you don’t think it is flimsy, you should apply for Afghan citizenship ASAP.//
@Madan
Actually I don’t think its a filmsy reason to ask for boycott. You are probably saying this because you are not able to connect the dots and see the propaganda in it. Let me try to explain.
Firstly Deepika Padukone is not just any actress. She stood with JNU gang and married an actor who played Khilji. Her hate for hindus should be obvious already. If you are still not convinced, let me explain further.
The song could have been named Halal rang because she also wears green bikini. But if you look carefully, when she is wearing green bikini pathaan only exchanges salaam from a distance. Meaning he would treat muslim women respectfully.
But when she wears saffron bikini, he lifts her and swings her around. That’s an explicit call for Love Jihad.
These kind of propaganda are subtly injected in mainstream movies and you should understand why ban/boycott calls for these movies are legitimate
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Rgere
January 31, 2023
@Heisenberg “Firstly Deepika Padukone is not just any actress. She stood with JNU gang and married an actor who played Khilji. Her hate for hindus should be obvious already”. So by this u mean one needs to marry based on the characters one plays on screen. DP has a mind of her own, why cant she express her opinion, we can accept or reject her views, but why do we have boycott her and label as “anti India “
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shahrajesh
January 31, 2023
@Heisenberg: Haha … I thought this was a serious discussion going on. After that comment, I don’t know if this is a parody or not. If not a parody, atleast you proved one idiom right: Stupidity has no limits!
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Madan
January 31, 2023
shahrajesh: He is parodying the typical IT cell forwards on this topic (or Pratik Borade, if you will). See his other comments in the thread, he is clearly ridiculing the boycott campaign against this film.
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Heisenberg
January 31, 2023
We’ve reached a point where we are not sure what’s parody or what’s really said by the minions. 🙂
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Heisenberg
January 31, 2023
//DP has a mind of her own, why cant she express her opinion, we can accept or reject her views, but why do we have boycott her and label as “anti India “//
Having a mind on own is an aberration in new India. That’s a reason enough to label her as anti Indian
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Anand Raghavan
January 31, 2023
While i understand the stereotyping happens about a particular section all the time 8n movies, at different times and in different geographies it varies. While a Panditji is always a conscience keeper in rich business families in Hindi movies, in south particularly Tamil, a Brahmin priest is almost always cunning, evil guy or someone who could be ridiculed. Hope this too changes.
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Rgere
January 31, 2023
@Heisenberg- It is very difficult to know if some one is making a parody with a way things are . 😂
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Satya
January 31, 2023
“It is very difficult to know if some one is making a parody with a way things are.”
You know what scares me more than my future imminent death? This.
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MANK
January 31, 2023
I’m really happy to see SRK pull himself out of the rut he had fallen into (he was struggling to match even the numbers put up by Ayushman Khurana at the BO; the joke was that he is such a visionary that he managed post-COVID collections in the pre-pandemic era itself 🙂 )- god knows the man (and his fans) deserves a break.
But I wish all this mass hysteria\BO resurgence had come at the expense of a good\well-made product in which he had a decent character to play. Alas! Pathaan is such a lazy film on all fronts- pathetic writing, non-existent characterization and direction and tacky VFX – that this kind of success really scares me. Imagine having to sit through 10 more pathaan like films in next 2/3 years, with SRK himself starring in most of them. For a film that is designed specifically as SRK’s comeback, its downright criminal that he is a given no role to play. The title role so devoid of any character, color or even fun – all the witty lines are right there in the trailer. And it’s not exactly his fault, but he does not fit naturally into this hyperbolic action\adventure space. He appears too diminutive, intense and, let’s say too emotional an actor for it. That’s why he is so easily overpowered by someone like John Abraham- who looks a perfect fit in this world, and who doesn’t even do anything more that his customary standing erect\move and deliver his lines robotically routine. The film is a case of Bollywood learning all the wrong lessons from the recent South Indian blockbusters. They picked up the throw-them-a-new-thrill-every-five-minute kind of narrative style all right (though the KGF-inspired editing makes it hard to make out whether we are in a flashback or present, but that’s not important here as long as the thrills keep coming), but they forgot that there is always a strong filmmaking hand guiding that narrative in those films; at least the ones that became very popular in the north. I Came out from RRR and Vikram beaten into submission, but I could still see and admire the care and the work that has gone into both the physical and literary aspects of the scene building. I didn’t like the KGF films, but even there, the choices regarding photography, editing and action choreography are driven by a strong directorial vision. Pathaan looks like a film made by a committee, or it got made all by itself. Sidharth Anand had done a great job on “War.” that film managed some solid masala hooks into a MI style spy thriller, with a great character for Hrithik to play. This one is pretty much devoid of any masala flavor and comes across a poor copy of MI-JB-FF movies. Some effort has gone into conceiving some flavorful action sequences (one on train, one on the streets, one one ice etc) , but they are let down by poor VFX. In the end what we have is a bland, but fast-paced action flick powered mainly by the charisma and nostalgia generated by the lead superstar.
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Rocky
January 31, 2023
Re. RSS workers getting killed daily in Kerala? You must be kidding.
No, I am not kidding, but who cares about RSS workers right?
Re. But the ‘what about-ism’ is getting old.
May be, but at times it becomes important to show context, hypocrisy, reference and truth.
yeah, I am bowing out too, because you say anything contrary to the established Left Li world view you are labeled as Andh bhakt with Gaumutra, Gobar jibes laced in.
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karzzexped
January 31, 2023
@MANK – A perfect summation of what I felt coming out of the theatre. Felt happy for the frenzy surrounding the film, and SRK. But there wasn’t a single original moment or even an inventive action set-piece for that matter.
The film instantly reminded me of what Anurag Kashyap had to say about Shamsheera, a while ago in BR’s interview, that the B-wood bigwigs are trying to flip Hollywood tentpoles with a desi twist. The central plot was blatantly lifted from Skyfall, the action sequences trying so hard to ape the F&F, MI films but with a tenth of their humungous VFX and SFX budgets.
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An Jo
February 1, 2023
@Anu: With due respect, you are completely conflating things. I have not made a comment on SRK just after 2014. I have had issues with him and his schizophrenic attitudes right from 1990 as I mentioned in my post. PATHAAN, is just a reflection of that, or, a continuation.
I have no one-sided-love for the current establishment: That SRK chose to use the very same vehicle of nationalism to pump blood into the Hindi film Industry that Abraham Sir and Akki have been doing day in and day out shouldn’t be missed. [To have John Abraham, the ‘Paramanu’ guy as the so-called ‘X’ villain is a master-stroke by any parameters of analysis!]. Outside of the dark halls of cinema, how can one ever question Mr. Abraham?
Now there are series in the west like ‘THE AMERICANS.’ Forget that, for every RAMBO part, there were Russian counterparts that failed miserably because the Americans were adept at presenting stuff technically better. Our movies, our series, are over-riding on emotions: unlike ‘THE AMERICANS’ where a couple sleeps with their Russian counter-parts and don’t hesitate to cut their arms and legs and shove them in a suitcase. Our emotions are ours, theirs, are Theirs .
Anything that leads with Pakistan, comes loaded with emotions, rather than weapons, with Indians. It’s a completely different mind-set. So one cannot show things like an ISI agent being sympathetic to Indian causes or whatever and just get away with it, without some questions.
And kindly, do not extrapolate SRK’s ADAAB shenanigans with what I am trying to say. You and I love Urdu shaayari as much as anyone else, doesn’t? URDU is an Indian language and I really don’t have to defend this thing. I mentioned that a person goes through changes in his or her life where he/she questions things. I have questioned GOD and the existence for many years; but then found peace with the truth of existence. Maybe SRK felt that by forcefully projecting AADAB, he was doing some justice and helping the Islam cause. That’s all I meant to say. He might continue with it, or not, depending on ‘opportunism’, but that’s his cause.
I, too, rest my case; lest I being labeled an Islamophobe or SRK-hater as I have been on the other blog…
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nik
February 1, 2023
@sravishanker1401gmailcom thanks for your appreciation!
As i can see comments have been taken over by religion which i find fascinating as a concept like AI which self learns basis people’s reactions. Will be interesting to read
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Sam
February 1, 2023
Will the review ever come up?
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RK
February 1, 2023
BR sir, why are you maintaining the suspense over review 🙂
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Anu Warrier
February 1, 2023
@ Rocky, I do care about senseless killings, whatever political stripe they belong to. But I also care about facts. You said – twice – that RSS workers were being killed ‘daily’ in Kerala. I did some research (because I hadn’t heard that before – and it’s my state; I do keep in touch with current events.)
Police records between 2006 and 2017 do show a spate of political killings in the state. Police records also show the breakdown of killings in that period – 85 CPM workers, 64 RSS/BJP workers, 11 Congress and 11 IUML. It is not daily or only the RSS workers being targeted – but, it’s shameful nevertheless. But this is a problem across the political spectrum.
But it serves the centre to focus on one part of the killings and to publicise them.
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Anu Warrier
February 1, 2023
So one cannot show things like an ISI agent being sympathetic to Indian causes or whatever and just get away with it, without some questions.
Huh? Why not?
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Rahul
February 1, 2023
“I, too, rest my case; lest I being labeled an Islamophobe or SRK-hater as I have been on the other blog…”
Have you been able to garner any non-sanghi supporters for your theory on any blog or in real life? I do appreciate your bravery in coming up with this theory and posting it on many blogs.
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Mankfan
February 1, 2023
@Anjo, SRK has always been an opportunist and a large part of the Bollywood dispensation has been bereft of any ideology except for being shamelessly capitalistic. Having said all that, I was surprised that the lead character/hero here is a Muslim, ISI/Pakistan is shown in a positive light and from what I’ve heard the bad guy is a RAW agent gone rogue. To that end, they have gone against the popular or jingoistic nationalism of the recent Akshay Kumar films where PAK/ISI is portrayed to be the sworn enemy, that would definitely be an easier sell at the box office.
Perhaps you are right about SRK’s religious leanings, which led him to stick to his convictions.
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Rocky
February 2, 2023
FYI: Advait Kala has done a lot of research regarding violence in Kerala.
Also, Kerala is where a Congressi Worker committed a PUBLIC -“Certain sey Juda” of our sacred cow mata, just to spite Hindus. That guy got a prominent place in the Bharat Todo Yatra .
Statistics need context , the total number of RSS workers in Kerala vs CPM would be a start.
https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/9194-blood-runs-saffron-cpm-s-killing-fields-kannur
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Rocky
February 2, 2023
BTW, Advait Kala wrote the screenplay for “Khahani”. Her weekly YouTube program The Sunday Club is really interesting, entertaining watch.
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sachita
February 2, 2023
I never believed that boycott trend was the reason behind hindi film box office downtrend that happened earlier this year. but dont have an explanation for it either. I havent even watched war and I am not the target audience for these films anyway.
Anu Warrier: Couple of things I found amiss in your comment. IT wings of you know who might have fueled the boycott trend but there was no official ban on these films anyway.
Also, I have only visited Kerala couple of times on my vacation in the recent past. Both of them marred with BJP CPI killing each other. BJP worker was murdered and people know a subsequent Bandh. I was stuck on my vacay inside a hotel room. This happened 5-6 years ago. Based on the discussion with people then this was quite a common knowledge.
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Rahul
February 2, 2023
Rocky , ye BJP ke log tujhe bewakoof bana ke malai khaate rahenge aur tu aise hee banta rahega
Advaita Kala is writing a book on Adityanath’s life with Kanchan Gupta. Tu zaroor opindia ka article padh padh ke bhi apni neend kharab karta hoga.
Ek taraf police records hain toh thodi aur mehnat kar. Get some reliable data. Lekin victimhood ka abhi ek apna nasha hai . Wo lag gaya hai tujhe. So keep at it if it is working out for you.
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Anu Warrier
February 2, 2023
@Rahul, I was just about to say that Advaita Kala is not a person I would go to, if I want facts (and not ‘alternate facts’), but you beat me to it. Thanks.
Anyway, this discussion has veered off the precipice – and not even tangentially, as is usual. Hopefully, BR will post his review of Pathan soon (and I might actually see it by then!) and we can bring the discussion back to the movie and its pros and cons.
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Rocky
February 2, 2023
Sun bey Rahulwa , lagta hai teri saari malai – Saket Gokhley, Zoobear, Rana , Wire the liar and Dadhiyal Abhinandan choos rahe hain. Tabhee itna bitter sound karta hai.
Main kya bolta hoon, thoda ilaaj kara apna, teri language sey lagta hai Khapshyap gang ka 10th level ka chamcha hai tu. Ussko yeh dikhayega toh shayad terey ko do=chaar lines kee gaali likhney ko dey dega aglee flop film mein .
Chal phoot ab.
Man what a loser !!
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Rocky
February 2, 2023
Leftist are experts in trying to take the high road .
Typical. message ignore , messenger kee maaro.
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Jailer Vikram
February 2, 2023
Many comparisons with War, inevitably. War had an emotional hook – which I found very similar to the Yennai Arindhal backstory with Trisha. Then realised, Shridhar Raghavan was part of both these films. Probably GVM’s flair for writing such emotional content inspired him (or it was his idea developed by GVM, I dont know)
Pathan, too had an emotional hook, though on a personal level with its hero. It was sad to see SRK go from a supremely confident person to someone dishing out platitudes on Koffee with Karan to avoid controversies to not saying even that when things became too murky.
As a fan of Kamal and Shahrukh, it was a similar arc the two went through. Im happy things worked out for them and how! I had decided to love Pathan even before its release, so no questions asked. Like how my eyes became misty when Kamal said “Im known by my failures”, here too I became emotional for the last scene.
There’s something about the old set – the Kamal, Rajini, Chiru, Mammooka, Ettan, Bachchan Saab, SRK-AK-Bhai brigade that transcends everything. For the rest, including the mighty Hrithik or Dhanush or Vijay/Ajith their movies are the tentpoles not their personalities. Atleast to me
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hari prasad
February 2, 2023
Just to cool you guys a bit..
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MANK
February 2, 2023
Brangan, we definitely so two different movies 🙂
Having said all that, I was surprised that the lead character/hero here is a Muslim, ISI/Pakistan is shown in a positive light and from what I’ve heard the bad guy is a RAW agent gone rogue.
Nope, it’s not explicitly mentioned that lead character is a Muslim (just like it’s not mentioned that Hrithik’s character is a Hindu in “War”). The hero is an orphan and there is a backstory as to why the title character is called Pathaan. There’s also a good ISI and bad ISI here, and good ISI is played by Deepika. The good Pakistani trope is thrown in as a bone to SRK’s Pakistani fans who make up for a sizeable section of his overseas audience. The rouge RAW agent conveniently goes by the name of Jim (or is it Jhim?). These are minor hiccups in a film where almost every scene is bookended by some version of Jai Hind, bharat mata ki Jai, or Vande Mataram (maybe not as loudly as in a Akshay Kumar film but u get the gist and the main theme is that of Pathaan and his gang fending off India’s enemies in post-Article 370 abolition phase).
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karzzexped
February 2, 2023
@BR – Not going into the specifics of why this movie didn’t work for me, reading your review, and your dialog callbacks, I couldn’t help but wonder if my Hindi language depth could’ve enhanced my understanding of the nuances better. Particularly the dialogs and the meta/nostalgia references.
My Hindi speaking and understanding ability is pretty basic and I saw the film akin to subtitle-audience in TN.
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vijay
February 2, 2023
Reg.”hollywood style action”..any lavishly mounted VFX-laden action set piece these days can be labelled hollywood-inspired. I wonder if there is something like a ‘desi’ action set piece and if yes, which films in recent times have had them
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Madan
February 2, 2023
@karzzexped: I don’t think there is very much depth in the film to begin with that would be elevated by a better understanding of Hindi and of Hindi cinema. But what could have happened is the witty repartee that was entertaining for me (and thus made the film a breeze to watch, even if I too don’t rate it fine anything) would be lost in translation for you or others who don’t speak any or very much Hindi. I do agree with BR that actually the callbacks to the dialogue baazi era of Salim Javed make up whatever is interesting about the film. Because, yes, without that, you just have a very generic film that takes the assistance of several plot contrivances to race to its preordained end.
I find it fascinating though that MANK liked ToH but not this. I didn’t completely mind ToH but I think Pathan was easily more entertaining. In large part due to SRK but nobody let down in the acting dept. It could be about expectations colliding with reality too. When you have a film running like nobody’s business, you naturally have a “is it really that good” skeptical attitude. Whereas ToH was brutally panned and turned out to be not so bad as compared to the reception it got.
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Vijay Shivaay
February 2, 2023
Salman first and now SRK with passing age can possibly not get it right entirely without appeasing to their muslim fanbase (since his fangirls like Basha do not need an incentive anyway) even if it means committing blasphamy like showing an ISI agent in good light. So the Negi’s become Kabir Khans and the Bajrangi becomes a Bhaijaan while they go about dating ISI damsels (funny Kabir doesn’t get one since the likes of HR and Akshay hardly have a muslim fanbase for obvious reasons) in their spy avatar to pacify a certain diaspora that expertises in terror exports and forms their core fanbase, all this while waving the tiranga to make sure their films do not get censored. Well played YRF!
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Aman Basha
February 2, 2023
To all the people going on and on about everything under the sun that is completely unrelated to Pathaan just because the haters are desperately trying to deflect from the amazing, epic, historic success of Pathaan:
“Baat karte hai Hazaaron
Hai Tajurba hume yaaron
Aisi hai ada..Bandh loon hawa
Mujhpe jo…khuda dil se dua barsaye
Jhoome Jo Pathaan meri jaan
Mehfil aur box office loot jayein
Dede jo zubaan…Shah Rukh Khan
Record naye ban jaye”
Fantastic review, BR. About the action sequences, I was amazed to see SRK carry around so much swagger. I’m not sure whether it’s that Sid Anand of all people brought out the action star in him or whether earlier directors didn’t do anything to cool down his natural hyperactivity which made the fights look weird (like his exaggerated falls) and age has just made him relaxed. He overshadowed Salman in the fight scenes easily (not so hard given Bhai was smiling for a photoshoot while throwing a punch).
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Aman Basha
February 2, 2023
@Madan: MANK sir is a great movie connoisseur and easily the best person to write and talk about movies after BR on this blog, but no one is above their fan boys. So he’s just upset that his favorite Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha got crushed in literally a day by Pathaan, given that he made theories ranging from the audience being more right wing than the movie makers to the end of the Khan era to explain the absolutely disastrous opening of LSC which exposed the fact that Aamir Khan doesn’t have a fanbase that’ll open even a disaster like Zero to the same range as a Rohit Shetty Ranveer Singh blockbuster like Simmba.
Then his other big favorite is Ranveer Singh, who he championed as the future superstar whose last 5 movies lifetime Pathaan collected in its domestic first 5 days.
When a movie does so well that it challenges your favorites in such a severe way, the compliments are going to be backhanded. Like the dig about SRK doing post pandemic collections in 2017-18 which only diehard SRK haters say. And is also a lie, both Dabangg 3 and Zero as well as Simmba opened around 20 crore. Please also tell me which Hindi flop did 80 crore in 2022?
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Vijay Shivaay
February 2, 2023
So like everywhere else, SRK fangirls here too behaving on expected lines like they’ve just hit puberty. All this for an awful pretentious action film with substandard VFX & cheesy dialogues that cannot even get the basics right at a scripting level and cannot distinguish between a terror organization like the ISI and India’s premier agency R&AW. Despite the corny script, at least War shot the action sequences with pinpoint accuracy (ably performed by the 2 leading men) and avoided the unnecessary VFX. Pathaan can sure compete with ETT (while the muslim fanboys and organismic fangirls of both the Khan’s slug it out) for the cheesiest action blockbuster in the so called “spy universe”.
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sanjay
February 2, 2023
“It’s all Karma,”: SRK’s son AbRam reaction after watching ‘Pathaan’
“I don’t know how but he said papa it’s all Karma. So, I believe it. – Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) January 28, 2023 # asksrk”
I am presuming srk did not want to sound cheesy hence credited his son to explain this box office juggernaut worldwide in Pathaan. He probably realized the content doesn’t warrant such a response and Karma may be at play for all those years of dignified silence in adversity both on personal and professional front. When most of his contemporaries were clocking 300cr+ with ease he was the only one left behind among the top echelons struggling to even breach 200cr mark. With Pathaan there must be a sigh of relief as he has set new benchmarks and in much quicker time at the box office and whenever numbers are discussed his reach will be at the forefront here onwards.
Personally, never a fan of such Hollywoodized version of Hindi movies but surely success here will give boast to the actor in him with Dunki which was until now riding only on Hirani’s name but ‘now ‘ srk name will prop up the magnitude. Tapsee is hot and happening so the combo may be deadly in terms of cerebral offerings. Hirani is going for a Christmas release so I am presuming it will have something for the masses too. The other one Jawaan having southern sensibilities can be a Ghajini moment for srk if Atlee is what Murugdoss in terms of masala elements. Thanks to cable and Netlifx Vijay sethupathi is revered in Hindi cinema and his movies are awaited so hope it may turn out explosive there too. Things may be settling down for srk for another go before he graduates to senior citizen roles.
There wasn’t any need to bring Amitabh Bachchan’s name and someone rightly objected. Big B lost his box office magic early unlike the current Khan trio, Akshay & Ajay who are hitting box office out of the park for more than 3 decades and going strong while approaching their 60s. To be fair that was a different era and none of the above mentioned stack up to the ‘peak’ of Bachchan while it lasted. Amitabh’s skill sets are now in a very different zone where longevity, hard work and perseverance is revered more than the outing itself. What enhances his legacy and statesman like stature is when he decides to take a stand for his colleagues (in this instance srk at Kolkatta ) and sheds his robotic self and speak on things affecting his fellow human beings, when civil liberties have come under increasing attack and questions are being raised on basic freedom. His comments quote/unquote – “current historical are couched in fictionalized jingoism” is very gutsy and will show mainstream actors and filmmakers riding this wave, this new culture of dogmatism and fanaticism isn’t going unnoticed. He went further and somewhat laid out a blueprint to filmmakers on how to stand up to the establishment and sited names of the movies where Indian film directors found ways to talk about the ongoing struggle against the power corridors without mentioning them directly – “You must remember the famous song Door Hato Ae Duniya Waalon, the hit musical number from the 1943 feature film called Kismat. It was ostensibly made as a warning to the Germans and the Japanese, but the actual target was clearly the British. Historical films like Umaji Naik in 1926, that replaced the British with other invading forces, and social films like Apna Ghar in 1942, which spoke in a kind of code to Indian viewers, started several agitations all over the country. It wasn’t just a case of official paranoia over feature films and news sheets”.
Pathaan’s success is good for Hindi films and will open doors to flip floppers and fair-weather Karan Johar types who are struggling at box office to stop swinging and make movies with their own conviction. This bootlicking Delhi corridors and flying in private jets to sit with their master’s to plan and connive and come up with fictitious garbage on screen totally unrelated to common man’s cause will degenerate movies if not India itself. They must understand these political scoundrels will sell their own motherland if their existence is threatened amply proven and documented in the past freedom struggle. This Hindenburg Research on these thug groups somehow summarized these scamsters very timely on how they have – quote /unquote – “draped themselves in the Indian flag while systematically looting the nation”.
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Vijay Shivaay
February 2, 2023
“There wasn’t any need to bring Amitabh Bachchan’s name and someone rightly objected. Big B lost his box office magic early unlike the current Khan trio, Akshay & Ajay who are hitting box office out of the park for more than 3 decades and going strong while approaching their 60s. To be fair that was a different era and none of the above mentioned stack up to the ‘peak’ of Bachchan while it lasted. Amitabh’s skill sets are now in a very different zone where longevity, hard work and perseverance is revered more than the outing itself. ” –
So did Dilip Kumar, Dharmendra, Dev Anand etc etc.. that was not the era of botox & CGI where 55 year old’s could pass off as 35. Even leading actresses like Madhuri, Hema and Sridevi were pretty much done by 30 while the likes of Kiara and Kriti Sanon are barely in the peak at 32! To his credit, Bachchan did reinvent himself in his 60s in statesmen roles and even gave successful films as the leading man in films like Aankhen, Khakee, Black and Sarkar. All this at an age when all his contemporaries and seniors were either retired or into B grade cinema. Either ways, giving films like Piku, Wazir, Pink, Badla, Unchai etc. as a leading man in his mid to late 70s is something even the current crop might not manage despite all the focus on fitness, CGI and visuals.
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Rishikesh
February 2, 2023
The virus element is kinda foreshadowed with Jim’s kidnapping of scientist, but certain things are implausible even in the context of a Desi spy actioner- Pathaan trusting Rubina blindly, Quickly patching up with her and then yet again trusting her. How much seriously can u take a film in which the so-called patriot places Deepika’s curves ahead of the nation. How does this film even remotely give Shah Rukh to explore his acting skills as he did in Chak De and My name is khan which you were too damn harsh on.
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Rishikesh
February 2, 2023
Seems as if the Pulp was oozing out of the fiction all through. The patchy and largely unfunny Russia sequence that breaks the momentum of the film seems to have been shoehorned in with SRK’s image as romantic image in mind. While the surprises in War though a tad implausible managed to hit us like bolt from the blue, the plot twists in the film seemed to belong more to Race 2, plus can be spotted from a mile away. And the dialogues. Some of it seemed so overwritten, Did you like all of what Jim was given to mouth. His dialogues at least should have been a lot snappier and sharper. John kind of struggled mouthing some old fashioned lines at the most inopportune junctures. Why does War seem superior in all aspects? Coz with Hrithik, there was enough freedom for Siddharth. He could take up the entire first half to con us into believing that Hrithik is the villain of the piece before slowly puling the rug from beneath our feet. But he doesn’t seem to be willing to take such chances with SRK; probably since this film was a do or die matter for him. Will Jawan be brave enough to play around with the formula? Oh no, the fans perhaps won’t allow it. All hail Hrithik, the star who doesn’t bother to embrace the grey shades. And no thanks to YRF and Sid for dishing out this dead film where we are never in doubt on what is about to happen , so unlike War. And Rangan sir, you will probably one day in life, you might actually regret panning Khan’s largely watchable and well performed MNIK ( The Georgia portion was only a minor deterrent) and praising a generic affair like this. Hell, SRK has been trying to open the vault since Don 2 in 2011 and he still is trying to ace it. Heck, any meaning in that Dilwale inspired sequence in the first face off between Pathaan and Jim, where Pathaan has an upside down view of Jim. Also why does an ‘I’appear predictable to you, it atleast was a star vehicle that was brave enough to show the drastic fall of the hero and this one not? Any reasons?
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Madan
February 2, 2023
Aman Basha: Oh, I won’t go down that fan war rabbit hole. I remember MANK was among the few here who gave me company in expressing bafflement over the Vikram hype. Our readings usually align and this is a rare instance where they don’t. I myself don’t think Pathan is beyond reproach to put it mildly and box office success hardly negates that argument in a country where Ajith is a superstar capable of giving a mega opening no matter the dreck mounted on the screen.
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Spandana Vaidyula
February 2, 2023
Yet to watch Pathaan. I’m seeing a lot of fondness for the film from most reviewers. There seems plenty to appreciate in spite of the overall quality and somewhat unevenness.
Most blockbusters of the previous years (RRR, KGF, Vikram, Pushpa) were testosterone heavy. But the minute a star appeals to female audience (while kicking ass, not unlike aforementioned action blockbusters), we’re all ‘organismic’ (it’s orgasmic BTW) teenagers incapable of thinking outside our underpants. Sure!
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Sam
February 3, 2023
Sorry for going off-topic.
BR : “I would say, recall the Malayalam cinema of the 90s. Every industry shakes itself off and finds a way to survive.”
Did you mean malayalam cinema industry was in a phase of rot in the 90s ?? If so, absolutely not and in that case, i guess, you might have meant the 2000s.
Speaking of malayalam cinema in 90s, till about 1995 it was still in its golden phase with brilliant cinema aplenty with of a lot of variety.
From 1996-99, it was in a declining phase with each passing year, but still overall the status/quality of films were pretty good.
Only from the beginning of 2000s it fell into a steep trench of gutter cinema (though looking at it money wise, there were still lots of big blockbusters every now and then) which recovered only by the early 2010s.
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kaizokukeshav
February 3, 2023
“But hey, a film that shows a Pakistani as masala cinema’s “good Muslim” and clad in saffron… not bad, huh! ”
An absolute win-win sixer for everyone. Even the writers couldn’t have conceived this notion. Nailed the coffin
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B
February 3, 2023
These days comments are longer than the reviews. Lol.
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Aman Basha
February 3, 2023
@Madan: Isn’t a fan war rabbit hole the most normal thing for a big star movie? Now that we have You-Know-Who back, we might well bring back the glory days 🙂 I only picked a bone with MANK sir, because I wanted to show off about Pathaan’s records, no Aamir fan would call SRK more gifted than the former. Otherwise, I have to thank him for writing so much about a movie in the most deranged thread I’ve seen on this blog for a long time. I’m still not sure where the discussion went to Kerala’s political killings.
These Adani share holding fake patriots find more offense in a popcorn entertainer than Adani comparing a short sale to Jallianwala Bagh. Also, I’m very annoyed at Aditya Chopra hater Anu ji who, for some reason, debates with such unreasonable topics. Or maybe the Aamir fan in her doesn’t want SRK’s record breaking, stupendous success to get too much limelight 😉
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Vijay Shivaay
February 3, 2023
These fake secularist left wingers do love making everything political. No doubt these imbeciles would love wham bamming an ISI honey trapper as long as they get their knock offs just like their on screen wet fantasies (national security be damned). I wonder what these sycophants would do once their 3 favorite Khan boys are out of the industry or in their coffins.
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brangan
February 4, 2023
vijay: I guess the “action film” is just not an “Indian thing”. Even the sword-fights from earlier cinema were inspired by Errol Flynn films and so on.
I think Hitchcock set the template for the spy-thriller in “North by Northwest”, and that template morphed into Bond and Mission:Impossible and so on — with each franchise having its own USPs, helped by giant leaps in CGI technology. But in India, even today, many of the Tamil/Telugu films action sequences are largely just dishoom-dishoom (hero punches bad guy who goes flying through the air).
We don’t have an action tradition as such, and spy-thriller with action is certainly an import from Hollywood.
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Rahul
February 5, 2023
Rocky, when you say things like. – “Leftists log gloss kar diya sala!!!!”
“khapshap gang message ignore kar diya sala!!!!” sounds somewhat childish. However, if you really are in the 14-15 yr old age group, then you should be proud that you are taking an interest in politics at such a young age. I am sure you will become a responsible blogger when you grow up and learn to examine your sources.
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Anu Warrier
February 5, 2023
Really, Aman? Seriously?
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Aman Basha
February 5, 2023
@Anu Warrier: Well, you do deeply dislike Aditya Chopra and DDLJ, so 🙂 …I thought the emoji was obvious that I was pulling your leg. Despite my best efforts, the political debate continues and the fan war hasn’t begun. SAD 😦
Also in other news for people thinking Bollywood bach gaya, apparently Aamir has offered Salman the lead role in the Campeones remake he quit and Salman is seriously considering it 🙂 Imagine Bhai playing an alcoholic coach to a differently abled team, tauba tauba.
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vijay
February 5, 2023
“We don’t have an action tradition as such, and spy-thriller with action is certainly an import from Hollywood.”
that was sort of my point. so “hollywood-style’ action becomes a redundant description. We dont have an evolved style of our own. And our Lokesh Kanagaraj’s and Vinodhs are’nt changing that..
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Madan
February 5, 2023
Aman: I appreciate your efforts at levity but you are in danger of merely starting a friendly fire here on top of the political fire that shows no signs of running out of oxygen.
What may be happening here is though you are wise beyond your years, there is a generation gap and those like self, Anu Warrier or MANK just don’t have the enthusiasm for fan wars anymore. Especially not Bollywood. I might get my daggers out if something particularly obtuse and nasty is said about Ilayaraja but I am done with Raja VERSUS Rahman wars as well. I mean, THEY publicly put it to bed so it’s high time the ‘fans’ did as well.
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Madan
February 5, 2023
By the way, I too dislike DDLJ heartily but then I disliked Vikram too which is sort of a 21st century DDLJ commercially for Kamal. And I am a much, much bigger fan of Kamal than SRK and will always hold the former in much higher regard. I don’t get why fans get upset over people criticizing one specific film. It doesn’t mean anything, it’s not like I am going to run a mile away from Kamal’s next (well, actually, if it’s again from the LKU, I might think twice but other ventures including Lokesh trying something totally different are going to get a more open minded reception from me). The flipside of this is I don’t like Anirudh’s music as such but somebody suggested Megham Karukkadha the other day to me and I loved it. To borrow the most oft-used and irritating phrase in Tennis Warehouse, it’s just got to be in my wheelhouse, that’s the only condition.
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Aman Basha
February 5, 2023
@Madan: “don’t have the enthusiasm for fan wars anymore”-So those days where people were throwing insults over each other for Hrithik, Aamir, Salman and the Baadshah are long gone, huh 😦
Also, I think people should in general argue over things of substance and not frivolous items like the politics of a Yashraj popcorn entertainer. It is hilarious to see the Right go after Vajpayee’s favorite and the Left adopt the same neoliberal symbol they scorned for years. If people can’t be civil, I don’t understand why people like Warrier ji still feel like replying to them.
Talking about Anirudh, I’m guessing you’re not going to enjoy it when Jawan comes out. But personally, I don’t understand the scorn for Anirudh here at all. My favorite album is Agnyathavasi (easily the best album for the worst movie, what an atrocity). Listen to Gaali Vaaluga and I think you’ll like him more:
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Madan
February 5, 2023
“I think people should in general argue over things of substance and not frivolous items like the politics of a Yashraj popcorn entertainer. ” – I agree but the Right insists this is not frivolous. So, I can’t speak for Anu but the reason I get into these debates knowing their futility is simply because I lose patience with this spectacle of working up a lather for the sake of it over and over again. Being a 90s kid in suburban Mumbai, I know about the tentacles of underworld in the film industry and even much later, I had doubts about the disproportionate presence of Bangladeshi players in the KKR team. So it’s not as if I think SRK is a lilywhite model citizen. It’s just that I am not as easily persuaded as the Right seems to be that this is more important than, variously, the renewed outbreak of terrorism in Kashmir including even Jammu, the continued hostilities on the China border or, yes, the big fat elephant in the room called Adani. If people are sanguine about possibly losing their LIC retirement parachute but get so passionately worked up about the ‘hidden agendas’ in Pathan, I can’t even!
Re Anirudh, that song was ok. Didn’t move the needle but was at least pleasant enough. Which is more than I can say about either the Katthi or Vethalam soundtracks, which I had to endure in theater. I think part of it is the popularity of hyper-compressed wannabe ‘grunge’ sound in Tamil (the fact that grunge died some 20 years ago seems to be lost on those who use this term) and maybe Anirudh is simply playing to the market. But it’s also the market he created in the early 2010s so he has to carry the cross as far as I am concerned.
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Aman Basha
February 5, 2023
@Madan: About the underworld, this was in the 90s not today. If it was, films like Raees and the recent An Action Hero would not have been made. Their depiction of Dawood Bhai is not flattering, to say the least. Nor would even OUATIM been made, where Haji Mastan (who was a popular figure in his time) is deified and Dawood Ibrahim is shown as the villain.
About IPL, I hope you know Bangladesh and India have good relations and also since KKR is based out of a Bengali state, there would be more Bengali players. I also finally got to what An Jo was so awkwardly trying to say now, about the whole Pakistani players in IPL furor.
SRK never said he wants Pakistani players to play in the IPL, he simply said that it was humiliating to call Pakistani players for the auction and leave them unsold instead of simply not calling them.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ipls-pak-boycott-humiliating-shah-rukh-khan/articleshow/5500579.cms
He even says it’s foolish to say there is no issue between the countries. And as for buying Pakistani players, seems like other teams were planning too and no one calls them anti-national because they’re not Muslim.
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Madan
February 5, 2023
“About IPL, I hope you know Bangladesh and India have good relations and also since KKR is based out of a Bengali state, there would be more Bengali players” – That I am aware but I am also aware that Harinder Singh of Percept was arrested by Customs on a visit back from Dubai. The entertainment world is incredibly murky, so the thought had occurred at the time to me that the Bangladeshi players were used also in conduits in smuggling, hawala etc. That I do not rule out. Now I am not calling SRK an anti national for that reason because if hawala and smuggling made someone anti national, then the tycoon who claims Hindenburg is attacking India would be the biggest anti national (and of course, you still won’t get a peep from the righties about him because saath khoon maaf for whoever funds Modi’s election campaigns). But I do say Shah Rukh is not lilywhite either. I don’t think anyone who dipped their hands in IPL at that time is clean. IPL itself was and possibly still is a giant money laundering machine.
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Anu Warrier
February 6, 2023
@Aman – whatever Madan said. 🙂
And an addendum – to me, the right-wing demagoguery should be called out, pushed back against, criticized when and where it appears. Far too often, we keep quiet saying ‘it’s frivolous’ and reap the harvest where the consequences of keeping silent as not quite ‘frivolous’. It is of far more importance to me to counter than to get into an Aamir vs. SRK fan-war.
I don’t know where you got the idea that I don’t like SRK. I don’t like DDLJ. That’s an understatement – I hate DDLJ with a passion but SRK himself was the only good thing about the film. And that made the underlying very regressive message more palatable to a whole generation of men and women. I find that a huge problem.
But. I like SRK on screen – he has a charming presence, and mostly, his films keep me entertained. Most of the time, that’s all I ask. That does not however mean that I am going to genuflect at the feet of his magnificence. (I don’t do that for Aamir either, by the way.)
Look, I am not interested in comparisons. The last time I defended my ‘idol’ vehemently against any and all criticism (valid or not) was when I was 16 or 17. Then, I grew up. 🙂
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MANK
February 6, 2023
Aman’s pretty much like my younger brother. He worships me for my (perceived extensive) knowledge of cinema and distracts me no end while watching films together to explain to him the subtext and context of the filmmaking choices made in the case of every scene. But the moment I criticize his favorite stars and their films he violently turns against me and starts accusing me of having hidden agendas. My natural response to that is to rub it in by doubling down on my criticism, which usually gets him off my back for some days and I can watch films in peace. Now, I think I have outgrown my phase of picking fights with my younger siblings, so I let you go scot-free Aman :). enjoy SRK’s success that has come after a long time and jo bolna hai bol le , nikaal le apni badhaas, who knows shayad ye mauka phir kabhi na aaye 🙂
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Jayram
February 6, 2023
MANK Chetta, I didn’t know you have a younger brother. Seems like he is a hero/star worshipper rather than a movie watcher, no offense to him. What movies does he watch and who are his favorite stars?
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Rocky
February 6, 2023
Re.Rocky, when you say things like. – “Leftists log gloss kar diya sala!!!!”
“khapshap gang message ignore kar diya sala!!!!” sounds somewhat childish.
aley, aley , bachchey ko hurt ho gaya , Khapshap ko kuch bol diya toh.
Don’t worry, lage raho, he will give you some lines to write eventually.
P.S. – addendum to addendum – Will call out only one side blatant right wing bashing by certain section of people. Far too often we keep quiet with disastrous consequences.
For example – 1. Complete Silence on West Bengal mein a professor was acquitted after 11 years for sharing “Didi’s” cartoon. 2. CPM leaders garlanded who were out on bail from charges of Netai massacre in Bengal.
Shoonya bata Sannnatta !
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MANK
February 6, 2023
Jayarm, LOL, Like me, he does watch films from multiple languages (he used to insist on coming with me to the theater or sitting down with me every time i start watching a film at home, no matter what the film is, even the old classics) and he claims to like everything that I like, but I’m nor sure about that :). He is a big fan of SRK, Hrithik, Ranbir, Di Caprio and their films.
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hari prasad
February 6, 2023
Speaking of IPL and money laundering , the recent Ajith starrer Thunivu had the villain mouth dialogues where he mocked the Chennai Super Kings team and the people’s support for them.
It went like this…
” When a famous cricket club team got banned for 2 years for match fixing , the media vigorously attacked that team with debates and made people turn against them but when they came back and won the cup , the same media and people appreciated that team and forgot all those accusations as if nothing had happened”.
It’s a surprise that this dialogue didn’t spark any controversy , given the large fanbase the team has.
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Satya
February 6, 2023
Love your sarcasm MANK, but you and Aman are giving me major SVSC vibes. And THAT is not sarcasm.
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Apu
February 7, 2023
Vijay Shivaay: Why this Kolaveri Di?
BR: your last line had me clapping :). I believe crowd pleasing super/mega stars never lose their charisma, if that is what their popularity was based on – and the two Khans on screen in this movie have plenty.
However, Pathaan is one such movie which I enjoyed while I watched it, and then started questioning once i left the hall.
Pathaan, as in the character, seems to be someone heavy on brawn and low on brain. He makes many many mistakes in decision.
Spoilers ahead
(1) To start with, he has n idea of building a new organization whose acronym can be pronounced as Joker.
(2) He does not think that the villain is not after the President
(3) He goes to apprehend a supposed operative of Operation X outfit as a casual high-on-libido tourist with no backup
(4) (This is the biggest baffling one) He agrees to steal something valuable from a very high security vault so that the villain does not get it. I mean, seriously, he thinks that his organization can protect it better than the Russians.
He does NOT think that he ideally should find out what that “valuable” thing is in the vault
(5) He repeatedly trusts an ISI/ex-ISI agent
Anyhoo….a good time spent by all, and maybe that is what matters?
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Anu Warrier
February 7, 2023
@Rocky – so I didn’t know about that. And that is shameful too. Why would I say otherwise? The fact that it took 11 years to acquit him of the charges only reflects on the sad state of our judiciary system.
As I have consistently said, I am not a mouthpiece of any party. If someone had commented on that issue here as something to rejoice in (as you do with everything the BJP does), I would have called that out too.
Re: CPM leaders garlanding the Netai Massacre accused. Shameful! Extremely so.
Can I ‘what about?’ too? Remember the BJP leaders garlanding the Bilkis Bano rape accused? Would you decry that? Or is your sense of being offended restricted to the ‘others’?
There is no concerted effort to remain silent when ‘my’ party does something. I am not affiliated to any of them and have precious little patience with goons and thug-affiliated politics, no matter what stripe. But over the past few years, I have seen the deliberate spread of misinformation, the increasing tide of othering, the rise in bigotry, hatred and divisiveness – all this, sponsored by a well-funded IT cell of one party.
But like Rahul said, try to get your news from various sources instead of depending on whatever is being spoonfed to you. And I say this kindly as a former journalist.
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Rocky
February 7, 2023
Anu jee: First off, you advise me get my news from different sources but despite being a former journalist you yourself admitted you were not aware of neither RSS members killings in Kerala nor above two news stories, which tells me you are consuming news only from TNM or Hindu. Spot the Irony ?ab kya kahoon mein ?
As for the unfortunate Bilkis episode – the entire MSM covered it non stop ( rightfully so ). Barkha did several episodes, NDTV was 24X7 on it., paid youtubers were toh obviously doing 24X7 shows. ( see I do keep track of alternate sources , and finally haan. I decry that unequivocally.
BJP like any other party is out to win elections. It is not doodh kee dhuli , and I don’t agree with it, or its leaders on many issues.
yeh IT cell wala toolkit has gotten old now. No one takes it seriously. Every party has IT cells and are well funded, so saying “one party” shows your bias. It’s OK but then please Khuda key vaastey DO NOT try and take the high road.
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Rocky
February 7, 2023
Re. – But like Rahul said, try to get your news from various sources instead of depending on whatever is being spoonfed to you. And I say this kindly as a former journalist.
You know “Assume” makes an A$$ out U and Me.
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Anu Warrier
February 7, 2023
So when I don’t know, I research and point out that your ‘facts’ were in fact, wrong. Unlike you, I don’t ‘assume’ that whatever I read somewhere is right.
Anyway, we are beating a dead equine here. You do you.
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brangan
February 7, 2023
Why has this thread turned so political? I can understand if the Anurag film review thread had turned this way. But… PATHAAN?
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Jeeva Pitchaimani
February 7, 2023
@brangan
I think you might be aware that Deepika forgot to obtain written formal approval from the custodians of Hinduism on what color of bikini she should have worn for that Besharam song.
She wore a saffron bikini and the custodians duly apprehended her for insulting the religion. Since then, lauding or criticising Pathaan has become the touchstone for determining the patriotism or loyalty of an Indian to his country.
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musical v
February 7, 2023
Politics and Pathaan both start with P! To add fuel to the fire I will add another P here. Politics, Pathaan, Pakistan.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/feb/03/bollywood-pakistan-muslims-narendra-modi-india
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abishekspeare
February 7, 2023
BR: Welcome to India XD
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Madan
February 7, 2023
Does Hindu not report on things like the saffron bikini flare up? Because even if you only read the Times and didn’t watch any TV or Youtube News, you would still know about this controversy. And that therefore its success ensured our rightie friends on this blog would vent their grievance politics here.
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musical v
February 7, 2023
Akshay or bhai should have been the Paithaan, not Pathaan. And Srk should have been Rehan instead of Jim JA. DP is not necessary to the plot. They could have opted for Nora Fatehi for the bikini scenes. Red instead of orange, a china connection. Would have broken more records.
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musical v
February 7, 2023
I can see a new spy film coming up with spy balloons floating allover. Will bollywood beat hollywood by making the first balloon film?
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theeversriram
February 7, 2023
@Brangan, when so many articles are written about how Pathaan is integral to “Idea of India”, “Spirit of India”, “Soul of India’, parotta of India, etc. there is bound to be some reaction.
And these are not cinema writers but reasonably reputed journos in mainstream newspapers, magazines.
Personally I believe all of these articles/news debates are paid and part of marketing budget of any movie.
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Aman Basha
February 7, 2023
I’m surprised with BR, he himself mentioned the “Pakistani as the good Muslim and wearing saffron”. Everyone knows about how an insane controversy was raked up, pushed by the MP Home Minister who threatened the film’s release and the Bhopal MP who threatened to slit people’s throats and rowdy groups cloaking themselves in saffron while attacking theatres, damaging private property and tearing off posters to threaten people. Of course, of all these, funniest was the Assam CM who pretended not to know SRK, then sent a tweet addressed to him, got caught and further doubled down to make himself look like a fool.
As for why Pathaan, well now in India, it’s a crime to name a movie after a Muslim and an even bigger crime to show a Muslim as a hero. If Deepika’s character was a Hindu, then these people would scream about Love Jihad.
I’ve been pleading people not to rake up politics though it was the right wingers who lifted the issue on this thread in the first place and derailed it with their deranged, unrelated rants. I thought they’d stop after the shade they got from BR about the pakistani angle, they’d stop but I hope too much.
I’ve been reading about Victory City and there’s this passage from a review that I think encapsulates this whole controversy. A man is in the middle of the city distributing pamphlets to everyone he finds and the enraged authorities have him arrested. To their surprise, they discover he was giving out empty sheets. When asked why he distributed papers with no message, he says “There’s no need. Everything is clear.”
That’ll be all I’ll say about Pathaan’s politics or about politics on this thread.
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Aman Basha
February 7, 2023
@MANK sir, your brother seems to be a man of good taste. Incidentally I’ve moved to Ranbir from Ranveer after realizing that I can never watch another performance from the latter without remembering him lying on a carpet nude. It’s amusing how Ranveer destroyed his stardom with one photoshoot and even funnier is the fact that his PR lets this out and suppresses all the videos of him at a Europe rave fest 🙂
Also Leo was my favorite in Hollywood along with RDJ and Cruise till OUATIH and I became a big Brad Pitt fan. He’s got a certain edge and dangerous charisma that is very attractive. His performances are also very underrated, though an asshole spoiled the ending of Fight Club for me.
Yeh aap ka soch hai Baadshah ne phir jung jeet li, par baat yeh hai ke Baadshah ne phir zamane pe raj karna shuru ki.
Pathaan’s content is irrelevant, it will be remembered as the blockbuster that saved Bollywood and just the goodwill of this film (along with the inevitable sequels) will keep him going for a while.
Let’s make peace. How awesome was Mammootty’s cooling glasses scene in Bheeshma Parvam?
I would love to see Amal Neerad work with SRK, though Ashiq Abu offered him a project. Amal really knows how to make the most generic plot look cool and more importantly, how to present stars.
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Rohit Sathish Nair
February 7, 2023
Aman Basha: Not sure if the photoshoot ruined Ranveer’s career, but it’s when one can’t find an actor surprising anymore, that one’s suspicions about over-exposure get stronger. I’m still confused about why he largely chose to underplay in ‘Cirkus’ of all films (As someone who has only watched ‘Gully Boy’ from his list of ‘subtle’ performances, I’m not a fan of that vein of his acting yet)
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KS
February 7, 2023
@brangan:
Because noone cares or watches Anurag Kashyap movies, how much ever he tries to bait with politics. Overtly political messages kill themselves into obscurity. But the covert messaging in mainstream entertainers is more influential and needs to be called out. Because they succeed for other reasons, with the subtle politics piggybacking on the entertainment and slowly getting normalized.
By now I think its common knowledge that Bollywood, whether because of underworld ISI money laundering, or bogus secularism or whatever, has always taken potshots at Hinduism that it wouldn’t take with other religions. Worse, it has actively whitewashed and romanticized Islam while trivializing Hinduism. If its once or twice, it can be dismissed as innocuous. But its been a pattern for too long now.
I mean, lets see Bollywood make one, just one, movie criticizing Islam, the prophet, the Quran. To make up for the decades of mocking idols, our beliefs as superstition, our gurus as frauds/perverts, etc. while praising sufis, dargahs and inavders. And then we can agree on all the high falootin principles and freedoms.
So the backlash now may not be over the color of a bikini, thats just a lousy pretext that catches attention. Its just a campaign, like any other campaign, and needs a catchy motif like a bikini. And why is a backlash being demonized this way? If it slips into violence (which it hardly has), then its worth criticizing. But its mostly just been an awareness campaign reminding people of the shadiness of Bollywood. There are no attempts to “ban” anything.
Somehow when its a mostly peaceful campaign it gets taken for granted and mocked. When Viswaroopam was beseiged by angry Muslims with riots and stones, what did the brave Kamal do? Stand up to principles? No, he groveled before his Muslim “brothers” pleading with them to let him release the film. The da Vinci Code was straight up banned in many states because it supposedly offended Christians.
The unfortunate lesson here is that only street thug power works in India. If you raise the issue and just talk about it, you’ll be smugly drowned out and made a villain just for objecting. But the actual villains here get away because noone is brave enough to provoke them in the first place. It conveniently becomes all about “respecting beliefs”, “why provoke and destroy harmony”.
All principles, freedoms, vayi kizhiya vetti pechu all work only at Hinduism. With other religions, all the medhavis suruttify their vaalu. Which is why its hard to take seriously.
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KS
February 7, 2023
Our movies make a joke of Shiva, make our goddesses sexy, vulgarize our devotion etc. in the name of artistic freedom. But remember a college professor named Joseph from Kerala? In an internal exam, he had framed a question with a mad character named Mohammad. And how did he pay for this “insult to Islam”? He had his hands chopped off! Worse, it wasn’t even referring to the prophet but to a Malayalam poet named KunjuMohammad.
This is the playing field we are in, and just one illustration (out of many many) of the standards of freedom of expression and artistic liberties when it comes to different religions. You insult Hinduism, be ready for angry comments, maybe some loose talk from politicians, and hanuman chalisa protests (lol). Mildly criticize Islam? Get a gun license, watch your back for the rest of your life in fear of your head being chopped off. And pray that noone else loses their head for even supporting your right to speech.
It is easy to rebel and mock and give sermons on ideals and principles when you know that your head would stay intact, and the worst you will face is some vituperative online backlash (which you can then use to play courageous victim). Instead, it might be more constructive to at least use the opportunity to engage and understand the grievances instead of trivializing them.
So when @AnuWarrier or @Aman talk about how Muslim superstars are victimized for their religion, its not even funny, but obscene. A millionaire star’s wayward son gets interrogated for a few days on drug charges, all because he’s a poor Muslim victim, and we’re collectively supposed to feel ashamed over this grave injustice? Boohoo cry me a river.
P.S. None of this has anything much to do with Pathaan. But then as @theveersriram pointed out, a b-grade masala movie like Pathaan is supposed to represent the “idea of India”, has dealt a blow to the hateful sanghis and their boycott, and impart lessons on diplomacy with Pakistan (lmao!). So nothing makes sense anymore anyway.
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theeversriram
February 7, 2023
“But the actual villains here get away because noone is brave enough to provoke them in the first place. It conveniently becomes all about “respecting beliefs”, “why provoke and destroy harmony”.”
Agree 100%. Lot of people are just scared of telling anything against Muslims (and quite practical too).
The Bangalore riots of 2020 didn’t even have half the media attention that hijab issue generated. And the so called liberals were again saying the usual “respecting beliefs”, “harmony, brotherhood, etc.
Even in recent “The Hindu” articles on Salman Rushdie’s new book, there is only mentions of “disturbing times that we live in”, but nothing about the actual reason for his attack: inherent intolerance & barbarism in Islam.
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Apu
February 9, 2023
KS:
“Our movies make a joke of Shiva, make our goddesses sexy, vulgarize our devotion etc. in the name of artistic freedom.”
– That is because Hinduism does not tell you to look at these gods as so venerated that no one can make fun of them. Hinduism makes gods accessible – like a friend, a brother/sister, a mother or a father. Shiva is often called Bhole baba – someone who forgets, who smokes chillum, who decks himself with ashes and can dance to destroy everything and yet is powerful enough to change destiny. There are some old comedy movies in Bengal (during the black and white era) which are based off books and show gods doing all sorts of funny things. That is because, again, Hinduism does not restrict gods to a temple, and the multiple gods represented in different forms underline the Hindu concept that “there is god in every being”.
I do not know Islam or Christianity as well, but I studied in a Convent school where we were told that God (in capital letters) is considered to be only one and does not have multiple forms, and has a son called Jesus. To be born and then to live is akin to have committed multiple sins which one needs to ask forgiveness for in prayers throughout life.
So, we are talking about two different mentalities and two very different religions. Hinduism is a religion which has been interpreted many different ways, there is no documentation of who started it because actually no one did, it was a part of life and no one really has the right to say “this is the only way to live as a Hindu”
Oh and about this:
“So when @AnuWarrier or @Aman talk about how Muslim superstars are victimized for their religion, its not even funny, but obscene. A millionaire star’s wayward son gets interrogated for a few days on drug charges, all because he’s a poor Muslim victim, and we’re collectively supposed to feel ashamed over this grave injustice? Boohoo cry me a river.”
– For one, he was caught by setting a trap. There were officials especially planted on the ship with taxpayers’ money to catch him doing drugs in the middle of the sea, which falls beyond the jurisdiction of India. Why?
– How many Hindu rich guys’ sons have been penalized the same way for bigger charges like murder?
– Why are Muslims jailed for simple things like writing an article – and labelled Naxalites?
I understand that you have suddenly, about 10 years back, woken up to the fact that “Hindu Khatre me hain” and your hatred does not let you see beyond that and you revel in people being killed for simply having beef in their fridge. This is your idea of “Achchhe din” and Vikas.
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Aman Basha
February 9, 2023
@Apu: I am still confused over two things: one, when did anyone including me who’s studiously keeping away from politics or Anuji talk about SRK’s son’s case?
And even if I did, it would only be because I hate jail and love Mary Jane 🙂 Don’t report me to the cops, BR.
Secondly and more importantly, KKR itself is worth $1.1 billion according to Forbes (not surprising since IPL rights were sold for nearly 8 billion). So how is SRK just a ‘millionaire’? Sounds like a Amitabh Bachchan fan who’s jealous over SRK being a better businessman than Big B 😉
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Aman Basha
February 9, 2023
To the people talking about boycott here, I have to profess my admiration to their dedication for a cause. Folks like me get bored and go to bars for shouting ‘Jai Balayya’, while people like them have a greater mission to exhort the unwashed masses of this nation.
Your zeal and dedication, ranging from the MP home minister to the Bajrangi goon attacking theatres is exemplary, the boycott campaign against Pathaan extraordinary, it’s your efforts that has helped Pathaan make history. My best wishes and encouragement for you to make BoycottJawan and BoycottDunki a similar success story.
I pray everyday that Atlee makes Nayanthara too comes out of a pool wearing a saffron bikini.
Thanks for inspiring me to come up with such poetry. 🙂
Inshallah, I hope what the enlightened masses have done due to the efforts of the RSS, Swarajya, OpIndia and taklu, they do again for Jawan and Dunki.
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Apu
February 9, 2023
Aman Basha: I was quoting KS. I am not sure where he/she got that from.
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Vijay Shivaay
February 13, 2023
@Apu : You just answered your own question. I hope the R&AW does not leave the country’s fate in hands of imbeciles and noobs like Pathaan. An Ethan Hunt or a Bond or even a Tiger or Kabir might be popcorn larger than life spies but dumb is something they definitely aren’t.
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Ramit
February 28, 2023
I watched it yesterday i.e. Monday afternoon, and the hall was still at 50% capacity. What an appeal!
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