Monday, February 23, 2015

Saheb aur Biwi ROCK

Off work today, so after I went to the doctor's to learn of my second blood test results (still way bad, but at least 50% better than the first time) and have my pulse taken yet again (still too fast), I headed to Little India.

Spent hours browsing the selection at Mustafa, I only bought Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster at the same shop I got Wake Up Sid and Tanu Weds Manu. I'm 90% sure the copy I bought is an original this time and I'm glad, because they have older titles I've never been able to find at Mustafa's (like, A Wednesday!, Break Ke Baad, Straight, etc.).

I feel like such a model of restraint. One DVD only!

Watched Saheb as soon as I got home. IT WAS GOOD (and so was the music). And kinda sexy too because like most women I'm a sucker for a man in power like the Saheb.

Has the back story to the first wife's suicide ever been told, or why he and Madhavi are married at all? I thought Madhavi would be less unhinged in this first story, but no ... she's already in her downward spiral here.

Is it weird that I like these two movies because they made me slightly anxious the whole time I was watching them? Anxious because I know something bad would happen, but I don't know when or how it will happen.

I was so tightly wound up at the scene where Madhavi thought it was the Saheb at the door and confessed her affair with Babloo when it was in fact Babloo at the door. I paused it so many times before I could actually watch Madhavi get to the door, never mind her confession.

Maybe my liking for the Saheb movies is like how people get attracted to the person they are with during times of high stress and anxiety. Never thought I'd feel this way, but the anxiety I had while watching the movie is kinda addictive. As soon as the movie ended, I was desperate to either rewatch it or follow it up with Saheb ... Returns.

But no, I didn't. Instead, I watched I Am (yes! Finally found a copy at Mustafa!) and Mithya. I like both films, I think.

I Am is less 'heavy' than I'd expected, but the 'Omar' story made me sad. Fuck that Penal Code 377; I wish they'd get rid of 377A here too. Again, just because something is made legal doesn't mean you have to do it, but that also means just because you don't want to do it you have to make sure everybody else not does it. THAT'S JUST SELFISH.

The 'Megha' story is a little educational for me too since I really had zero clue about the forced exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. Why can't we be happy with what we have and all just try to fucking get along? =(

Mithya is fairly entertaining. I'm just sad that VK and Sonam didn't get a happy ending (it was a little funny that VK died because the Sahay family needed a complete corpse for closure — but I'd rather have a happy ending).

It seems to me like these 'indie' flicks (yeah, I know they're not really independent but I don't know what they're called) seem to star a lot of the same faces — or is it just the ones I've seen? Actors(-writers/directors) like Ranvir Shorey, Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor, Sanjay Mishra, Saurabh Shukla, Gul Panag, Arjun Mathur, etc. seem to work together on many projects. Are they all in the same theater troupe or something?

In any case, the movies they do are a breath of fresh air to the glitzy gaudiness of 'Bollywood' and thankfully not as dark and heavy as the Anurag Kashyap and (previously) RGV, etc. flicks.

Anyway, not a bad way to spend a Monday at all!

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