2023-03-28 14:28
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Beth Loves Bollywood Blog
bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com
thoughts on Hindi (and occasionally other Indian) films
2022-07-23 00:52
HELLO FRIENDS! It's been aaaaaaaages—not just since I wrote anything here* but also since I was so excited for a film in the cinema and it actually played in my town and it did not dis… Read More
2019-04-17 03:11
How to mark the momentous occasion of the 1000th entry in my Indian cinema-watching career? A colleague suggested I watch something with "thousand" in the title. Googling yielded 2001: Do Ha… Read More
2018-12-24 19:30
Thank you to Asim and Amrita for having me on the always excellent Khandaan Podcast to talk about Zero, the trailers of Manikarnika (this could be historical wackadoodle fun but probabl… Read More
2018-09-05 01:16
First of all, has the artist of this poster actually seen Dev Anand's hair? Wither the mighty poof?
Spoiler alert: I'm going to tell you the best parts of this film right away. T… Read More
2018-07-04 21:35
WHAT A FRUSTRATING AND HYPOCRITICAL FILM. Who puts the "any resemblance to real people is coincidental" disclaimer in a biopic? I have never seen a film with more disregard for the audience'… Read More
2018-05-12 15:36
Sometimes Netflix adds a film and you think "Okay sure, why not," especially when you have domestic travel with no in-flight entertainment coming up. And even more especially when it contain… Read More
2018-03-12 22:40
Every time I rewatch Pillow Talk with Rock Hudson, Doris Day, and Tony Randall (1959)—which is at least once a year, because despite its sexism I adore it—I bemoan the loss… Read More
2018-02-25 17:12
My inner 5-year-old is devastated, and I didn't even grow up with her. I don't really know enough to talk about Sridevi's gargantuan careers and stardoms—remarkable plurals—nor a… Read More
2017-11-04 03:03
100 words or so on each of this year's Hindi releases I've seen but not written about elsewhere (Jab Harry Met Sejal, Jagga Jasoos, Meri Pyaari Bindu, Badrinath Ki Dulhania). Chalo!
Ha… Read More
2017-08-06 00:43
I'm so glad I'm not a paid reviewer who has to deal with this film in carefully-constructed argument-building paragraphs.
I am of the opinion that When Harry Met Sally is Hollywoo… Read More
2017-07-27 03:09
Last weekend I happened to watch two recent Bengali-milieu films that provide unconventional finishing points while repeatedly incorporating old film songs: Meri Pyaari Bindu (2017… Read More
2017-07-15 04:11
I want to get something out of the way: once again a major Hindi film bungles its major female role. In fact, in this film, Shruti (Katrina Kaif) is the only female role to have more than a… Read More
2017-04-29 17:49
[I wanted to make this really well researched and carefully thought out, but each time I try, I just fall down a hole of youtube links and sadness. So it's going to be emotional and personal… Read More
2017-03-14 01:03
Things the hero of Badrinath Ki Dulhania does that are beyond even Bollywood's typical sense of "stalking=love" (recording her image without her knowledge or consent and following her to sch… Read More
2017-03-12 04:18
Things the hero of Badrinath Ki Dulhania does that are beyond even Bollywood's typical sense of "stalking=love" (recording her image without her knowledge or consent and following her to sch… Read More
2016-10-30 15:59
"It's one of those Karan Johan films where I leave feeling sorry for Karan Johar," said a friend on twitter (whose account is private, so I can't link you to it). If My Name Is Khan was… Read More
2016-10-27 15:07
Ki & Ka
If you forget about the Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan part—which you immediately should, because it is bloated and self-congratulatory—this is not a bad little exploratio… Read More
2016-08-14 15:38
The last problem Mohenjo Daro should have is being dull. So much is brought up in this movie—political intrigue in two generations, corruption, tragic childhoods, religi… Read More
2016-07-19 04:21
While Brahman Naman is, on paper, very much a film Not For Me, there are several satisfying developments in it. The foremost is that finally a film gives man-children pretty much what they d… Read More
2016-04-16 22:53
[A vague, two-sentence spoiler is marked in situ.]
In Fan, Shahrukh Khan and Hindi cinema make an unsettling modern complement to Satyajit Ray's Nayak, that great investigation of… Read More
2016-03-28 01:53
[Vaguely spoiler-y. Also, if suicide is a trigger topic for you, I can imagine this film may come off as blasé, simplistic, or even offensive.]
I've spent a lot of time trying to und… Read More
2016-03-21 02:28
Kapoor and Sons had a far bigger and more complicated emotional impact on me than I had anticipated while I was watching it. A day later, it's the performances that linger—all of… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
Three Uttam Kumar films I've seen in the last month or so, which, coincidentally, showcase the superstar's special skills at romantic nonchalance and matinee idol-ing and what can… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
As part of the Mysterious Order of the Skeleton Suit's Swap-a-Thon this month, in which each member is doing a guest project on another's site, Carol of The Cultural Gutter vo… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
[Note: Sony Pictures Classics provided me with a screener DVD of this film.]
The Lunchbox has so many strengths and joys that director/writer Ritesh Batra fits together perfectly. The… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
the short version
I don't hate it, but I absolutely would not have seen it in the first place if it weren't for Shahrukh. And it is better—more interesting, less painful, more likely t… Read More
2016-03-19 04:35
Note the ship keeling in front of a cloudy sky in the painting behind them. This is not a subtle film.
Mostly because of Konkona Sen Sharma, but also out of my deep love of films with hist… Read More
2016-03-18 16:05
I'm on a mission to watch all of Manmohan Desai's movies before the end of this academic semester, and unless one of the remainders* turns out to be an absolute dud, Kismat is taki… Read More
2016-03-08 00:57
Carla of Filmi Geek and I watch-along-ed both parts of Gangs of Wasseypur earlier this week and then had a chat. She put a lot of other thoughts at the beginning of her post, whereas I… Read More
2016-03-08 00:57
Watching the the restored Apu Trilogy is simultaneously heart-wrenching and soul-restoring. Like many of Ray's works, they are devoid of villainy and sensationalism and instead give full sco… Read More
2016-03-02 16:45
For every point I want to raise about PK, a counterbalance also presents itself. Maybe that explains the runtime. Anushka Sharma and Sushant Singh Rajput's romance is sickly-sweet, yet in th… Read More
2016-03-02 16:42
(In the order I saw them.)
Kick 2014
Everything about this movie is a giant LOLWUT to me, but I sure had fun watching it. And pleeeeeease make Nawazuddin Siddiqui the next Bond villain.
Jo… Read More
2016-03-02 16:42
Do you ever get the feeling that you may know what is happening in a film but you're not certain you know why it's happening—or if there even is a coherent "why" other… Read More
2016-03-02 16:38
Somewhere in the final third or so, desperate to figure out how to negotiate successfully with the slippery man who simultaneously makes him and restrains him, anti-hero Johnny Balraj seethe… Read More
2016-03-02 16:37
(The above song is NSFW.)
I fully expected to be underwhelmed at best and left cold and irritated at worst by Dil Dhadakne Do, mostly because the further in time I get from Zindagi… Read More
2016-03-02 16:33
#toohotforparagraphs
most adorable, expressive, squooshy-cheeked, heart-tugging moppet since Stanley Ka Dabba
+ a female with plenty of agency despite being very young, a foreig… Read More
2016-03-02 16:32
Baahubali is an incredible, awesome film...except when it isn't.
Its CGI work is varyingly glorious, adequate, and really bad. Its props are lush and evocative except for all the arm… Read More
2016-03-02 16:03
[Vaguely spoiler-y.]
Imtiaz Ali does not create straightforward love stories, and at least from Jab We Met forward he seems just as interested in self-knowledge, identity, and personhood… Read More
Two Bloggers Who Don't Like Violent Movies Manage To Get Through Gangs Of Wasseypur Three Years Late
2016-03-02 16:03
Carla of Filmi Geek and I watch-along-ed both parts of Gangs of Wasseypur earlier this week and then had a chat. She put a lot of other thoughts at the beginning of her post, whereas I… Read More
2016-02-24 00:37
No one is more surprised than I am that I like this film so much. I am on record repeatedly as loathing Sonam Kapoor as an actor and Manic Pixie Dream Girls in general; I'm no fan of the Hou… Read More
2015-11-30 18:00
Chhalia 1960 [Spoilers.]
Oof. If more of Manmohan Desai's early films are like this one, I'm never going to make it through his whole filmography. Chhalia focuses on one little Ram-Sita-y fa… Read More
2015-10-15 01:42
In honor of all the films, friends, and fun—the best decade of my life, actually—here are my ten favorite songs set in villain lairs.
1. "Yamma Yamma" from Shaan (1980)… Read More
2015-10-14 03:05
Watching the the restored Apu Trilogy is simultaneously heart-wrenching and soul-restoring. Like many of Ray's works, they are devoid of villainy and sensationalism and instead give full sco… Read More
2015-08-26 03:05
In yet another attempt to be safety buddies during movies we fear are too violent to watch on our own, last week Filmi Geek and I watched Badlapur. Just like Gangs of Wasseypur, neither of u… Read More
2015-07-24 14:35
Doing some research on Indian remakes of foreign films while also spelunking through the filmography of Uttam Kumar has recently led me to two delightful Bengali films based on American clas… Read More
2015-07-16 14:47
[Spoilers! They will be marked in situ.]
To get it out of the way: I like this movie a whooooooole lot.
It's fun, in addition to being rich, thorough, elaborate, and engaging. I don't… Read More
2015-07-14 01:56
≤100 words each on the weird (even for me) assortment of films I've seen in the last two months. Gotta get the writing motor going again.
Lukochuri 1958
Kishore Kumar has a double role a… Read More
2015-07-14 01:33
Think of this as a very poorly organized survey course in Indian cinema studies.
Bou Thakuranir Haat 1953
A young Uttam Kumar, only a few years into his career, wears a lot of sixteent… Read More
2015-07-13 23:39
Life is very good indeed when coincidence hands you two top-notch prime-vintage spy films. Life is even better when you happen to have an academic paper called "Bodies, Bollywood, and Bond:… Read More
2015-05-01 02:46
What I have to say about pal, colleague, and collaborator Todd Stadtman's new book on my favorite era of Hindi films is not going to be news to anyone: IT IS GREAT AND YOU SHOULD BUY AN… Read More
2015-01-10 20:03
Hello friends. I'm posting a request from a graduate student in Chicago who is doing research on non-Desi fans of Bollywood. If you'd like to participate, keep reading to find a link to her… Read More
2014-12-28 03:50
Great Expectations indeed.
My not-wholly-positive reaction to this film is partly an issue of my own expectation management. I realllllly wanted to like it; as its director-writer Amit… Read More
2014-10-28 14:43
Everyone's talking about Aseem Chhabra's "Is it too much to now expect Shahrukh Khan to do a good film?" Here's what I think.
I wish the title said "to do more roles that chal… Read More
2014-09-28 21:21
Along with Saat Pake Bandha and Pratham Kadam Phool, Teen Bhubaner Pare makes a trilogy of 1960s films with Soumitra Chatterjee about a young couple who should have paid more atten… Read More
2014-09-27 04:59
[Spoilers.]
I wanted this to be a thoughtful comparison of two films made over a dozen years apart, the basic story traveling from one industry to another but taking its leading man and… Read More
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