Zombie Monday

Day off! (This was planning ahead — I gave myself a slightly extended weekend because I knew my weekend engagements/human interactions would drain me.)

So I decided the theme for today's flicks: zombies. Or, more specifically: ZOM COM!

I've never liked zombie flicks; movies like 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead give me the willies. I'm a coward and can't stand to watch horror movies. But zom com? That's a whole 'nother thing!

First movie this morning was rewatching Zombieland. Can't remember why I bought this in the first place but it took a couple of years from my purchase of the DVD to my watching it. The first time I watched it was last Thursday — and I like it very much! Lord, I would love to see Bill FUCKING Murray play a real zombie.

Second movie was Go Goa Gone (GGG) (which I'd bought on Saturday, together with Taxi and Fido). I was a little trepidatious about buying "India's first zom com" (the trailer I saw of SAK's terrible Russian accent didn't help either) but since I read that people who like Delhi Belly will like GGG, I picked it up.

MAN was I glad I did! What I wouldn't give to have Hardik meet Nitin — I'm pretty sure these two slackers will get on awesomely and they'll make a fine ass movie I'd watch the hell out of. (Also, Luv is basically Arup, but less mousy and with more hair.)

Imagine: two dudes with shaggy but beautiful curls (hairband optional) spending time on the couch, drinking, belching, farting, smoking (I can see Nitin as a Dude-ish pothead), eating, slacking, arguing about movies, and who should get up to get the door, fetch the remote control, etc. Yeah, I'd watch that.

I didn't really like the bit of moralizing at the end of GGG but it wasn't too terrible. Sure, don't do hard drugs but surely a bit of weed now and then isn't going to be the end of the world, right? Also, wasn't coke used to stop the zombies? Mixed messages, people ...

Anyway, the soundtrack's good too. 'Khoon Choosle Monday' is now my theme song for every Monday I have to be at work.

Rewatching Shaun of the Dead now, trying to figure out whether or not GGG borrowed anything else from Shaun, apart from the let's-pretend-we're-zombies-to-blend-in thing. (To be fair to GGG though, the character who suggested that also did say he got that from a movie.)

After Shaun, I think I'll rewatch either Fido or GGG.

Ah yes. Watching movies in my underwear and drinking cold coffee. This is my kinda Monday.

GIRLY MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

(That GGG opened with this old favorite already makes it winner!)

I Hate Anxiety

So even though I read both 'Burnt Norton', part of 'East Coker', and 'The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock' before turning in, it was a night of restlessness.

I felt like I kept waking up and falling back into the same dream. Not so much a dream but less terrifying than a nightmare, but still completely anxiety-inducing.

There weren't any marker I can remember that pointed to the dream location as Welly but I was certain I was in Welly ... because dream logic.

In the dream, there were infected people who behaved like zombies but I know they weren't out to eat my face and brains. For example, one infected person kept reaching towards me, but all it wanted was to touch noses with me so it can transfer the red dot on its nose to me. But because my dream logic told me that when I got touched by an infected person the infection would pass to me, I was anxious to not be touched.

Basically, until I hear my weekend alarm ('Mr E's Beautiful Blues'), that was my dream. It was very tiring. Anxiety is tiring. Sigh.

Anyway, here's the one thing that saved me from my dream:

Just gotta keep telling myself, "Goddamn right it's a beautiful day."

A Week Of Beginnings

Two things began this week — my beginner Hindi classes and my QUILTBAG reading and discussion group. Quite a coincidence that both keep me very close to my favorite place here, outside of my home and the Studio.

I found the first Hindi class a little boring and weird. A little boring because I learned nothing really new — or, nothing I didn't see in my copy of Snell's Teach Yourself Hindi. It's also a little weird because I can never understand how people learn a new language without first learning about the grammar and syntax of the language; I mean, I'm not a fucking parrot.

It's a good thing I already know a bit of Hindi syntax and grammar (and am practicing my reading of the Devanagari script now — thank you people who tweet using the Devanagari script). Vocabulary I'm not very fussed about because it's really easy to pick up words from all the movies I watch, the songs to which I listen, and the lyrics (and their English translations) I read.

I adore languages and find them fascinating. I don't see myself as a casual learner so repeating set phrases in class isn't exactly how I'd envision a language-learning class would run.

The QUILTBAG reading and discussion group was much better. Listening to everybody's thoughts on sex, gender, and sexuality was wonderful because I remembered the many years I'd pondered over these issues and how I finally just gave up, sick and weary of going around in circles, like the dog chasing its own tail.

I also sorta 'realized' my desperate rejection of certain markers of femininity and what I thought of as "'stereotypical' girly stuff" wasn't entirely inexplicable. Sergio once told me (prolly apropos of nothing, as was his wont) it was okay for me to like 'girly' things like accessories and make-up (etc.) — because those things would not made me ditzy or stupid.

On hindsight, perhaps he was hinting for me to do better on the look-more-like-other-PAs front. Or maybe he was trying to give me the permission to do and like the things he thought I didn't allow myself to do/like. Well, in any case, he was only half right.

Right now, I feel somewhat unsettled and very wrung out. It's prolly just the full moon and my impending period (UGH), and nothing to do with the session.

Can't believe I'm actually playing my hitherto unopened copy of Barfi as a source of comfort now but I guess it makes sense. 'Barfi' has been my go-to happy song (and weekday alarm ringtone) for awhile now.

Also: I guess I need some poetry tonight. Carol Ann Duffy, maybe. Or 'Prufrock'. Or The Four Quartets.

Because I am merely human, and "human kind / Cannot bear very much reality".

Weekend

In addition to watching Om Shanti Om on Saturday, I watched Phas Gaye Re Obama on Sunday. Actually, I started on Sona Spa on Saturday and tried to continue watching it on Sunday but, after the synapse-connection scene (OMG SO FUCKING DUMB), just couldn't sit through the rest of it.

Phas Gaye was smart and funny! I might've watched bits of it before as I got a sense of déjà vu during certain scenes.

My senior librarian also lent me Fido which I watched on Saturday. It's the sweetest and most non-scary movie with zombies. And Billy Connolly as the titular Fido, a zombie! NICE!

Shameless & Cheap

So they finally screened Om Shanti Om on the free-to-view channel today, saving me the mistake of buying the DVD and subsequent regret. (Thank you very muchly, Vasantham.)

Om is shameless and cheap. Actually, mostly just the 'Deewangi Deewangi' bit. I get — perhaps irrationally — fucking pissed off whenever old films are referenced, especially old films that aren't particularly good. Gawd, you drag all those 90s actors out, make them do a bit of a jig —like a trained monkey — all of five fucking seconds of screen time then they're nowhere to be seen.

No, I did get that the song was a post-awards function (aka The Great Circle Jerk) party/celebration thing. I still find that shameless and cheap. Way to draw attention to your not-too-great film.

The time I momentarily forgot that ostentatious gaudiness of stars from a bygone era in Indian cinema (although, to be fair, people like Dharmendra and Mithun Chakraborty are still in films, and Shabana Azmi is and will never be bygone) was when I saw Urmi! And Tabu! Urmi and Tabu in the same screen! Yay! Two of my favorite actors!

I don't know why I seem to have gone off SRK. That's sad ... because he's an actor I now assume will ruin a good film by just appearing in it (like Billu, which I'd put off watching for just that very reason).

Mental note to avoid all SRK, Farah Khan, Sajid Khan, and SRK+Farah Khan movies in the future.

Also, I'mma call Deepika Padukone 'Dimples' from now on. Lord, what adorable ones she has!

Sick Day

So .. joy. My 'pop' in the chest during aerial yoga on Sunday manifested in pain just about dinner last night with circus/pole friends (especially two who just happened to be in town at the same time). It was so bad that I could only breathe very shallowly (which caused breathlessness) and couldn't cough, laugh, sneeze, etc.

Anyway, this gave me a sick day today. (Doc said the pulled pectoral muscle took a couple of days to inflame ... joy.)

Started the day with Dasvidanya which is sweet. Didn't have to cry because I didn't have to watch Amar die. The movie really just drove home the point that I must start living ... who knows how many years I have left?

Followed that with the two masala rom-coms I bought last year — Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Love Aaj Kal. The morals of both these movies are the same: you never leave a girl like Deepika Padukone; you'll always want to be back in her life. And why not? She's smart, talented, compassionate, and pretty.

Can't remember why I bought Jaawani in the first place. I should have liked it more since I like most of the cast and they're mostly very competent actors, but I think it's kinda a dumb movie. But it was fun during the show to go, "Hey, Evelyn Sharma and Nitin (i.e. Kunaal Roy Kapur) were in Nautanki Saala together!" / "Hey, Menaka and Nitin from Delhi Belly (pity they didn't share scenes; I've always thought Menaka and Nitin together would be like a house on fire)!", etc.

Love is a similarly dumb movie. It's not the fault of the scriptwriters; it's prolly the genre's fault. I do like rom-coms, but I guess they can't all be like 10 Things I Hate About You, Clueless, Easy A, or Scott Pilgrim vs The World.

Last movie of the day was The Film Emotional Atyachar (Vinay Pathak+Ranvir Shorey again!). It might've taken me three days (not consecutively) to finish watching this because it wasn't very engaging. I think the fact that Kalki Koechlin was in it made me finish watching. The denouement was a bit ... I dunno, like Raajneeti, I suppose. The body count just kept going up; the ones who didn't die you don't particularly root for either because they aren't sympathetic characters.

So many movies, so little time. Fuck, this is a terrible habit/compulsion I've developed ...

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!

Wow

With all those outlandish costumes, it's almost too much distraction from that lovely set of pipes. In a simple dress and a powerful set of pipes, Lady Gaga totally rocks!

And This Is Why ...

I absolutely ADORE Nargis Fakhri:

Quite frankly, that movie was on the meh side of just okay only, but outside of that movie (and any movie), Nargis is hilarious and adorable. "Ow, my vagina!" indeed!

That last bit when Arunoday Singh asked if she had just wiped her boogers on him and she just nodded (LOL!) — aww, she's just too precious!

And this other clip:

Arunoday is absolutely right. Nobody will even want to win an argument with that cute pout.

SHO SHO SHO CUTE <3<3<3!

(Nargis seems to share better chemistry with Arunoday than with Varun Dhawan. So how about casting opposite each other in a less stupid rom-com soon, eh?)

Lunacy

So the time of lunacy is once again upon us. Well, this year, at least, it came with a four-day weekend but I didn't manage to watch many flicks as I think I should have. What I did watch:

• Boss
  I watched this because it was the only Hindi movie on the free-to-view channel. It a dumb show but then I already expected that. Still, Boss has it highlights — like Akshay Kumar (still one of the most beautiful men in Hindi films; still excellent in action comedies but I do wish he'd choose his films with a little more discrimination), Ronit Roy (yeah, I found the ink ugly ass, but still — swoon!), and the best bit: the fight between these two men. Man, ACP Ayushman Thakur's pants are snug and what a nice ass that man has! That fight scene (with wet shirts and all!) is such a treat. MOAR PLZ! (Can Mr Khiladi do splits? I'd love to see that too!)
• Barah Aana
  Bought this and Sadda Adda on Wed after work since it was a half-day. It's an okay film — can't fault the actors, the main cast is very good — but I feel the script could've been a lot better. I'm not sure if I understood the ending correctly. Did Yadav and Aman get away with the final kidnap because Yadav told the police about the crime, both his accomplices' names, AND ask to be let off? I get that Shukla can't be charged because he is for all legal purposes dead and you can't charge a dead man? I need to rewatch this.
• Sadda Adda
  To be very honest, I bought this because I do like slacker flicks (and yet I still haven't watched Slacker) and thought this would be similar to Delhi Belly but without the shits, farts, and crime. Well, I was wrong. I thought the acting is decent even though not a single face is familiar. Did the Safai character only serve to make a point? It's too easy to say not to give up on your dreams, but to brush away suicide as giving up? Can you be any more insensitive?
• Raajneeti
  I would never have bought this; it just happened to come with the Sadda Adda DVD but I watched it anyway. I've never liked political films (unless Nayak counts?) and this one is quite a pointless watch. Pointless as in the Pyrrhic victory at the end. Why did Brij Gopal let spur Samar on in killing Sooraj even though Brij knew they were half-brothers? Why did the mother not ask Samar to please not shoot Sooraj and where was when the end of the movie was taking place? The problem with Raajneeti (well, one of the problems, at least) is that there are too many characters and every now and then, as I watched the movie, I wondered where the other characters were. And the characters prolly have no fucking idea what "pure heart" means. Stop calling each other that! With the exception of poor old Sarah and Indu, every single fucking one of you have blood on your hands. Plus point: well, at least I don't dislike Katrina Kaif now and her acting doesn't nauseate me. She also looks really great with Arjun Rampal (even though the man looks a bit wan ... like a druggie; but still beautiful). The both of them are as beautiful as each other, and share the same amount of acting abilities. Manoj Bajpayee and Nana Patekar are both terrifying. Honestly, they scare me when they play evil bitches. Hell, Nana Patekar scares me just by his being ...
• Jhootha Hi Sahi
  This I watched today after aerial yoga (thanks, MyStarMovies!). It's a sweet and funny enough movie and I quite like it. The Wiki page says it's the second in a trilogy so I do look forward to the final film, Mango(?). I adore the Aaliya and Sushi characters (yay, it's Aliya from Chak De!!) and am very glad the Amit and Uday characters are neither flamboyant nor swish. The name of the bookshop though — Kaagaz Ke Phool — LOL! It's a fucking awesome name for a bookshop! (Well, as long as its owner doesn't die a tragically unfulfilled death.) I'd watch this over Raajneeti any day.

Tashi Is A Dick

Nowadays I usually watch Delhi Belly starting from the scene in which Nitin delicately adorns with a flower the corpse he's photographing. To be honest, I just watch the bits Nitin is in — I just adore Nitin more and more!

On the other hand, the more I rewatch the movie, the more I think Tashi is a dick to Nitin. Like when Nitin says he has work to do (i.e. photography for blackmail), Tashi just drops the package in Nitin's scooter basket and stuff the scrap on which the address is written into Nitin's pocket.

Also, I just realized during yesterday's rewatch that Nitin actually doesn't smoke at all in the movie (though I could be wrong). In the last bit of the movie wherein the three dudes are hanging out at the flat's balcony, the cigarette between Nitin's fingers never goes anywhere near his lips; all he does is just take swigs from one of the two bottles in his hands.

GOOD. I hope at least he is a non-smoker and not an silent secondhand asshole murderer.

I was reading through the cast list yesterday and found out that the actor playing Mr Maharaj is called Neville. Neville LOL! And Tashi and Nitin share a birthday (Well, the actors playing them do)!

Oh lord, I really hope there's a sequel to Delhi Belly ... I'm beginning to know the dialogues by heart!

Weekend

When I was at Mustafa's on Friday, I'd bought Daawat-e-Ishq, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns, and I Am.

I'd intended to buy and watch Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster before getting its sequel but for so many months now couldn't find a copy at Mustafa's. I've been waiting and waiting but kept getting told, "Out of stock!" I'm tired of waiting; more importantly, I think I'm in a crime movie phase.

Unfortunately, the Universe isn't cooperating nor having any of that. No Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster, no A Wednesday!.

I'm not fond of the Godfather-type sagas, but maybe I should watch the epic of the Gangs of Wasseypur. Thing is, I also want happy endings in crime stories. Is that too much to ask?

Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns I like a lot!

Oh. My. Lord. Mahie Gill. Apparently, I have a hitherto unknown attraction to not only sad women, but also slightly unhinged ones. She played the titular biwi so awesomely. Why haven't I seen her in more movies? (According to her filmography in Wikipedia, she was in an item number in Mirch, which I watched but had — as I am wont — ignored the item number. WTF was she doing in the shitty Dabanggs?!)

I'm building up to a desperation level almost equal to the time I was looking for Delhi Belly. Hope I won't have to head back to the overpriced shop for Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster ...

Also hoping for Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster to be at the very least a trilogy — the third one with Vijay Raaz and/or Nawazuddin Siddiqui. I mean, I believe Ranjhana's love for Aditya is true so I'm dying to find out how the ostensible love triangle will resolve.

But I won't lie: during the 'Idhar Gire' song, Madhavi and Ranjhana looked so good together, I was wishing really hard for them to fall madly in love. Don't they look so good together?

And that slightly bemused and lingering look Ranjhana directed at Madhavi as Madhavi walked away. Sitting on Aditya's lap, she only had eyes for Madhavi ... Yeah, I'd watch the hell out of such a twist in the tale. (Maybe for the third installment? I mean, I'd think Aditya would've been put away for at least a few years, and Madhavi seemed to have stepped into his shoes — politically — at the end of Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns so why would she not take over his role as Ranjhana's spouse?)

Type-e-Ishq Redux: मिल गयी!

Saw Bhumika DVDs in Mustafa's last Friday and I knew for certain that the Daawat-e-Ishq title typeface isn't a custom-designed one ...

So I ran a quick Google search and found Benguiat Caslon:

My god, I think I have a crush on it. It's so sexy and beautiful!

LOL V.D.

Saw a tweet today which pointed out that Valentine's Day has the same initials as the other thing that "V.D." is more known as ...

And Vasantham decided to screen ... Shaadi Ke Side Effects. LOL your programming is hilarious and slyly subversive!

I watched Shaadi but it didn't help me figure out why straight people marry and breed. I actually like Pyaar Ke Side Effects quite a bit, but however much I adore Vidya and think she and Farhan Akhtar look so cute together, I like Shaadi less than I perhaps should. (Pyaar > Shaadi!)

I found the acting and the music both decent and likeable; guess it's just the story that didn't do much for me. I guess its premise is too 'grown up' for me for something.

But, yeah, thanks for scheduling a movie on V.D. that validates and strengthens the commitment-phobes' collective resolve to never marry.

This is truly a great public service for us all!