Talkie Tuesday: Mardaani 3

 

"Whenever a monster is born, a goddess must be born as well." 

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome back to the blog.

 

I know it's been a while, and I'm sorry for that. Unfortunately, I'm not the kind of rockstar superhuman who can deal with no vacation, but I can honestly say my vacation was PRETTY good, all things considered.

 

Some would even call it AMAZING.

 

And now I'm back home!

 

Catching up on different things and shows and whatnot, because of course I've fallen slightly behind on everything, naturally.

 

But I also managed to watch some pretty decent movies down there while I was at it, and one of them is tonight's movie of choice.

 

We're going back to India, baby, in Mardaani 3.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Mardaani 2

 

"Every woman goes through the test of fire every day."

 

Hello everyone!

 

I have a treat for you tonight.

 

It's quite a potentially disturbing one, however, so please read with caution.

 

Because apparently, I stumbled upon cinematic masterpieces that STILL somehow manage to describe situations that should be brought to light much more often.

 

I'm truly a fan of those types of things.

 

Which means that, tonight, we're headed back to India and its Bollywood industry.

 

I promise that's definitely not all I watch (I'm currently obsessed with Pursuit of Jade, for example), but it's certainly a massive portion of what I DO watch for entertainment sake.

 

And when I find a niche I like, I tend to stick to it, because it usually has a lot to give me.

 

Which is why we're continuing with a movie series, and heading into Mardaani 2.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Padmaavat

 

"War in the name of beauty."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Back to Bollywood tonight.

 

Honestly, I'm pretty pleased with myself.

 

A while ago I made a list of movies I really want to watch, and I've so far managed to trim it down to only a few left!

 

Of course I also keep adding new ones as Netflix adds them to their movie library, but that's obviously a problem for another day LOL.

 

Still, when the streamer gave me advance warning that THIS particular movie was about to launch on their service, I was stoked.

 

It was definitely on my list! And now I could watch it with subtitles and not have to worry about sync and whatnot.

 

So hold on to all you hold dear, lest someone take it: it's time to head back to historical India in tonight's epic, Padmaavat.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

 

"Love is friendship." 

 

Hello everyone!

 

Yes, I'm still in my Bollywood era.

 

No, I don't particularly care if this bothers anyone.

 

I'm finding it hard to get back into any other movie because these ones are just so entertaining for the most part, and also visually stunning! To say nothing of the acting chops on these stars, DUH.

 

So I'm slowly working my way through the list I've accumulated on Netflix so that I can confidently say I've seen everything that needs seeing.

 

Which does of course mean I VERY often run into none others than Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, who seem to have been everywhere in an era of Hindi cinema that people look back on with fondness and nostalgia.

 

I mean, they even got a statue in the UK not too long ago! Talk about history.

 

Without further ado, let's hop right into tonight's installment, then, titled Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Mardaani

 

"This is India!"

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome back to another one of those moments where you probably look at the blog and go 'oh heck, she's doing it again'.

 

Because yes, yes I am!

 

I can never stay away from Bollywood for long.

 

I mean, I'm still not quite over the last movie I watched, but that's beside the point, as right now, tonight, I'm picking one of the newer ones.

 

And one of the ones with a female lead I absolutely ADORE.

 

Rani Mukerji is just -chef's kiss- I have to watch more of her work. She's amazing.

 

So without further ado, let's hop right into the drama of tonight's movie of choice.

 

Because that's what we're getting with Mardaani.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Sikandar

 

"No one is above the law."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome to this week's movie of choice.

 

And boy, is it a GOOD one.

 

Of course, if you look at IMDB or any of the movie critics' sites, you'll probably think this stinks to high hell and won't ever touch it.

 

I've learned not to trust those evaluations, because more often than not my personal taste will diverge WILDLY from what the world says you should or shouldn't like. It always comes down to what YOU personally want.

 

And this one is beautiful, with a soulful story that made me cry at least three times (but who's counting?!?).

 

Buckle up, then, grab some tissues, and of course your favourite snacks, because we'll be running into Bollywood at full-speed.

 

It's time for Sikandar.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Ek Tha Tiger

 

"The day you follow your heart, consider yourself dead."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Have you missed my forays into Bollywood?

 

Well, say no more!

 

Tonight, we're going back to where it ALL started.

 

Okay, maybe not everything, but we're definitely going back to where the YRF spyverse actually began, although doing some digging it turns out that the first three movies were actually considered standalones until Pathaan came along and tied them all together.

 

I guess you just need SRK to make it a family party, right?

 

Anyway, the movie we'll be talking about tonight is a respectable age old at this point in time, going toward the 15 year marker, so it's been a bit, and honestly it occasionally shows its age in that there are plenty of the 2010s tropes in there you can recognize.

 

But it's also a neat action movie, so let's jump into Ek Tha Tiger!

 

Talkie Tuesday: WAR 2

 

"Death before dishonour. Service before self. India First. Jai Hind!"

 

Hello everyone!

 

As promised, welcome to the second week of our Bollywood action extravaganza.

 

Like I said in last Tuesday's post, I definitely took the time to sit down and watch the sequel to WAR, because, well, when Netflix decides to upload it to their streaming services, there's just no saying no.

 

... I do have a bone to pick, however.

 

They didn't have WAR up there when I was looking for it to watch the first time!

 

Now, they released the sequel first, THEN uploaded the first one?!?

 

I swear, make it make sense!

 

I suppose, if the sequel generated enough views and garnered enough momentum, they'd consider putting the first one up as well to see how it does, which is kind of funny, as the second wasn't as much of a success as the first. 

 

But without further ado: it's time to fight another war, with lots of class, and lots of sass, because our favourite rogue agent Kabir is back, in WAR 2.

 

Talkie Tuesday: WAR

 

"Your country comes first, second, and last."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome to a two-week Bollywood action extravaganza that's about to happen on this blog in terms of movie reviews.

 

Because Netflix just put the sequel to tonight's movie choice up on its streaming services, and you KNOW I'm going to be watching!

 

Mostly because of it's male lead.

 

Listen ... this isn't me, this is just how it goes. If Hrithik Roshan releases a new movie, you generally run along to watch it, if only to see whether or not the opening sequence has somehow changed from all the others he's done in the past thirty or so years.

 

But we're also headed back to the spyverse tonight, the one YRF has been building slowly but surely since the early 2010s, so it goes back a bit.

 

And there's also a female-led movie that's coming at the end of this year, so buckle up!

 

Because for now, we're headed into WAR.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Agneepath

 

"To gain something, you have to give up something to the path of fire."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome to yet another Hrithik Roshan movie, back from what I consider to be his golden days of cinema when he was practically booking roles left, right and center, and mostly all of them shot him further into stardom.

 

Not that I blame anyone.

 

I mean just LOOK at the man!

 

Ahem.

 

Tonight's movie of choice is one I'd had on my list to watch for a very long time, but somehow never really sat down to it until I had a few days off at the start of autumn here and could muster both time AND energy to sit this through.

 

These ole Bollywood movies ... three hours! My body just can't anymore lol. 

 

Without further ado, we're going to walk right down the path of fire with the goat, Roshan, in Agneepath.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

 

"Love is sacrifice."

 

Hello everyone!

 

I'm finally back, after pretty much living like a vampire for the past ten-ish days or so.

 

I generally have no problems getting up in the middle of the night and heading into work, but truth be told it IS nice to be back on afternoon shifts for a little while. I have to admit as much!

 

That said, with afternoon shifts and my schedule evening out a bit (for now ...), it's back to the drawing board, baby, and with it, my review posts.

 

Tonight's movie of choice is a return to old school Bollywood and, yes, you should have seen it coming, that I'll be going back that is.

 

Because I love Bollywood movies. I tend to enjoy some of their campiness and silliness, and their stories usually bring a lot of laughter, general happy feelings, and a sense of amusement as well as contentment in the end.

 

So buckle up, because we're headed back to the start of the 2000s, and that includes layered tops, velvet denim, and Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

 

Talkie Tuesday: Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham

 

"Sometimes, the youngsters in the house show the right path to the elders in the family."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome back ... again.

 

I'm not even going to apologize anymore.

 

At this point, it's safe to say that I'm in my Bollywood era, which means that I'm trying to cram as many of these into my psyche as I possibly can, within reason of being able to watch that is, since binge-watching anything is out of the question for me.

 

My eyes and head need breaks!

 

But this movie caught me right in the feels, and while I PROMISED myself I'd hit pause at the intermission (a regular, sure thing in these old Bollywood classics), I knew I didn't have work the next day so I kinda just ... kept watching. LOL.

 

I've since watched it two times already, and will probably do so again very soon. There's a reason this thing is called a classic! 

 

Let's have a look at Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Asoka

 

"Whose journey can be greater than that of an emperor?" 

Hello everyone!

And we are back with yet another Bollywood extravaganza.

I won't even apologize anymore, at this point I've come to resign myself to the fact that about half my blog posts will be about some Hindi movie or other, haha!

Tonight's choice is a historical, epic drama, however, something which I hope will appeal to a lot of the readers who click on these links.

How did I end up watching it? Well, considering the main actor isn't my personal favourite (he's alright, but nah), I kind of landed in it mostly by accident because I was bored, had nothing to do, and it popped up on Netflix (speaking of, Kalki just released on the same platform ...).

So there I was, liking the main actress, and deciding, sure, why not?

Which means we're headed back into the past tonight, everyone, to discuss a movie titled Asoka.

Talkie Tuesday: Brahmastra Shiva

 

"When life gets a bit dark ... find the light."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome to this week's movie of choice, and let me tell you, I had a handful to pick from.

 

I've somehow managed to accumulate a backlog of what I've watched, but haven't reviewed yet, and what I haven't watched but plan to review in future.

 

Listen, I have issues, okay? Moving on.

 

Tonight's choice comes from my spontaneous decision to watch a movie this Sunday afternoon, despite the fact I was busy reading book ARCs and trying to hustle getting THOSE reviews out of the way, as well.

 

I'm a busy bee, what can I say.

 

In any event, I picked this movie because I saw the trailer on accident - it looked like something I'd watch if it were of Hollywood make, and I was right - and ended up really enjoying it! It's a bit cliché, of course, but then superhero movies usually are.

 

So warm up those chakras, we're headed into the Astraverse with Shiva.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Mohenjo Daro

 

"To fight injustice is justice itself."

 

Hello everyone!

 

We continue - or we return, depending on how you look at it - to the Bollywood obsession that's currently happening with me.

 

And I know it's probably unbearable. I'm sorry!

 

But here we are, and here we'll stay for the foreseeable future.

 

... or at least, until I run out of good movies to watch, I suppose.

 

Right now, for tonight, we're taking a look at a movie which features a young man, a farmer, dreaming and yearning for something beyond his narrow horizon, but his uncle won't let him spread his wings to fly further than what he knows.

 

If you think this is Star Wars, you'd be wrong, although the premise is wildly similar - almost identical.

 

In fact, this is a 2016 BC kind of story, with no Death Star or Darth Vader in sight. This is Mohenjo Daro.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Jodhaa Akbar

 

"The goal was clear, but the path was unknown."

 

Hello everyone!

 

I know, I know, you're probably getting sick of me by now with these.

 

I wish I'd be capable of apologizing but, I'm honestly REALLY enjoying my foray into Indian cinema, so why would I stop?

 

Although I'll admit it takes some serious stamina. This thing I'm reviewing tonight is over three and a half hours long! That's like ... a lot, compared to most movies nowadays haha.

 

But that said, I actually didn't have that much trouble sitting and watching it through in one go, because apparently, my attention span can and will adapt to what it needs, once I'm interested enough for that to happen that is.

 

So let's not waste too many introductory words, then. We have a lot of ground to cover.

 

Instead, let's travel back in time to roughly 16th century India, in a time when religious upheaval seemed to be rather prevalent. Let's go back and see Jodhaa Akbar.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Pathaan

 

"Once a bullet is fired, it won't go back into the gun."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Oh yeah, we're at it again.

 

So I had a thought while picking my next movie to watch, and I figured I could probably do a compare-and-contrast between Om Shanti Om, which is on record as the first (of many) collaborations between SRK and Deepika Padukone, and their latest (or one of their latest) movies.

 

Turns out they released a second one towards the end of 2023, Jawan, but I haven't gotten to it yet and I'll probably take a mini SRK break before I do, but the point still stands.

 

Starting off in 2007, these two have definitely starred next to one another a couple of times since, and I found it fascinating to see the differences that almost two decades can bring.

 

Also, I'd wanted to watch this movie since forever, but just never got to it, so finally sitting down and DOING it feels like an accomplishment!

 

Ergo, we're diving into the spy world, and doing it with style, as our main character would say, because of course he would, in Pathaan.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Om Shanti Om

 

"Life's like a film, it always has a happy ending; if it's not happy then it's not yet the end."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome back to ... well, another Bollywood extravaganza, really.

 

I'm starting to slowly accumulate these as I make my way through various different movie careers for actors I genuinely enjoy watching on screen (either because of talent or because - welp, we shallow like that - they're just drop-dead-gorgeous).

 

I've had this one on the list for QUITE some time, wanting to start with it because it's the Hindi introduction of probably my favourite Bollywood actress thus far, so of course I was going to watch it.

 

Then I got sidetracked.

 

Then things happened.

 

And then finally, this weekend, I sat down and powered through it!

 

So get out those bell-bottoms, because we're time-traveling back to when they were first popular in Om Shanti Om.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Fighter

 

"Jai Hind!"

 

Hello everyone!

 

And welcome to another Bollywood extravaganza.

 

I mean it, too.

 

Because while I might have tentatively dipped my toe into the waters of India-based movies initially, this one threw me right into the middle of the ocean and forced me to swim, sans life-jacket.

 

It was either that, or sink right to the bottom, so swimming it was!

 

Man, I loved it too. Tonight's choice is probably going to be one of my top spring movies to watch (I say spring, because that's when it was released on Netflix, despite the fact that it premiered back in January, so mid-winter). Very few will be able to top the sense of loyalty and love for your country mixed with just the right amount of absurd that seem to make up a lot of the Bollywood niche.

 

So without further ado, let's buckle our seatbelts - it's time to fly high in the sky with Fighter.

 

Saturday Snippet: Balam Pichkari

 

Current tune!

 

xx

*video not mine