Simla Special

When Nobody Likes Your Movie

What if your favourite film is not a favourite of those who made it?

It’s not even a favourite, it’s probably even disregarded by all the actors in the film.

So much so that the film is considered a flop by its lead actor.
The writer of the movie does not want to talk about it.

It is very likely that the second lead misremembers the film.

Yes, Simla Special is my favourite movie and in many ways this is a pleasant tragedy.

All these thoughts came rushing into my head because of a video by actor-dramatist Sve Sekar on his youtube channel about Simla Special. 

Writing about Sve Sekar’s youtube channel would be an episode by itself, it started off as a political commentary channel – when controversy followed the channel took a spiritual turn. It again became political for a while before Sve decided to run through his own filmography. It was the practical thing to do.

And then he spoke about Simla Special.

If you are here and have just read a whole paragraph about Sves50TV, then probably Simla Special is special for you too. 

If not, these words won’t go anywhere- it is best you see the film first. 

There are going to be spoilers and you’ve had 42 years to catch up.

To put it simply, Simla Special is about the fictional Gopu – Babu Amateur Drama Company duo who strike a deal with Simla Tamil Sangam to stage 6 Tamil dramas over a week in Simla for a sum of Rs 35,000.

Gopu and Babu are played by possibly the best comedy pair assembled at the time, Kamal Haasan and Sve Sekar

This 35,000, Gopu & Babu believe can be used to fund Babu’s sister’s wedding. But things take multiple dramatic turns (pun intended) when the troupe lands in Simla. 

Amma va? Drama va?

Conflicts reach the pinnacle when Gopu’s mother becomes seriously ill in Chennai (then Madras) – a friend calls to get Gopu back to Chennai, but only reaches Babu, who under tremendous stress chooses to withhold this information from Gopu. He fears Gopu leaving Simla will only affect his sister’s wedding.

As fate would have it, the friend gets through to Gopu and how Gopu handles Babu’s betrayal forms the last part of this 1982 film.

1982 is a long time ago

It is only understandable that Sve Sekar misremembers Simla Special, he probably wouldn’t have watched it in a while.

A case of bad memory #1

In his video, Sve states that when news of Gopu’s mom reaches him he takes money from the drama deal and sends it to Chennai for Babu’s mother’s treatment!

Anyone who has seen the movie knows this is not the case. There was not even a hint that Gopu needed money for his mother’s treatment and it was only Babu who badly needed money.

The first half of the film sets Gopu and Babu’s relationship as one can best be described in proper Chennai (then Madras) terms as a Mylapore-Mambalam friendship.

Babu probably being from a slightly economically backward part and even though naturally funny, he runs the troupe in the hope of getting some extra income.

Mambalam people, really practical, who also do side hustle.

Gopu, of course is here for passion, art, humor, friendship- that kind of thing.

Clearly Mylapore.

And there is clearly not even a hint of this money transfer.


A case of bad memory #2

Sve goes on to say that the movie makers somehow wanted to make him the villain of the film towards the end, he also says that there were more scenes of Kamal bashing him during the climactic song Unakkenna Mele Nindrai which were then edited out when Sivaji Ganesan (in a consultative capacity) intervened and said Babu is really not the villain of the film.

Again, Babu was never the villain of the film- he doesn’t become one because of that one decision in Simla, his ‘selfishness’ is what drives the whole movie and it is established right from the start.

Simla Special is a film that does not need a villain and it was written by Visu who had excelled in writing movies in which the only villain available was the situation.

And Gopu does not thrash Babu during the climactic song, but in the drama scenes just before that.

Which is why I’m sure Sve has not seen the film in a long time.

I, on the other hand, jobless that I am, see Simla Special every other month.

There is no need for Sve Sekar or Babu to feel like a victim because Babu is really the better written character in the film and Sve brings out the thin line between being practical and being selfish brilliantly. It’s probably his best role.

Which is why I feel that Sve’s need to self-victimize in his Simla Special videos totally misplaced.

And Simla Special really does not need a villain.

It is one of those hang out films which can be watched from anywhere, at anytime. Atleast for me.

Simla Special um Naanum

If you search for Kalapovadhu Kamal on youtube, you will come across a video where Kamal introduces Simla Special as a movie which was so-so but the songs would always be remembered.

SPB (God bless him) then goes on to render one of the most soulful explorations of the song, the type when you don’t really need the lyrics to get the feeling of broken friendship.

The video makes me angsty even now, because Simla Special was not really a flop.

The movie ran for 99 days and the producers known to be extremely cautious on spending removed the movie from theatres just to save on not having a success meet.

Contrast that to now, when a movie running for just one week in the theatre is considered a grand success.

Nevertheless, I do not care much about box office, I just wanted to point out another instance of how people involved in the film really don’t care much about it to even remember if it was a hit.The team did not know they had gold in their hands.

And gold it was, everytime it was on TV and that’s how a movie elongates its lifespan. Now too, the movie enjoys a good following on youtube.

One such golden morning ( Simla Special almost always played in the early morning slots), I delayed going to chemistry tuition just so that I can see Unakena Mele Nindrai once more.

One. Two. Three. Four.

That’s how MSV-SPB-Valee start this song,which while having within itself all the qualities of just another Golden 80s hit number also chooses to bring all the threads together to end the film.

Almost wordless, absolutely brilliant choice for a movie that’s so far rests almost entirely on dialogues.

It’s also this decision which gives some credence to Sve’s theories about earlier drafts but they would have remained as drafts. Once they had this song and how Kamal elevates it with a solo dance that brings out the disappointment and the betrayal, no more words required.

A compact and weighty few minutes in a film full of laughs.

So I carried this weight to chemistry tuition, the guy next to me got talking on why I had been late. Naturally, we talked about Simla Special.

He being ‘musically’ inclined and of a certain generation who thought that every 80s hummable song was like : “wow unakenna mele nindrai, classic Raja le? Raja raja dan!”

I didn’t correct him then, but then I find favor with MSV.

Imagine MSV composing such a song and then being misattributed.

Similarly.

Imagine Kamal choreographing the song and then going on disregarding the film.

Imagine Sve getting one of the best roles in his career only to misremember it.

Imagine Mukta Srinivasan directing and producing a hit film only to pull it out one day before its 100 day run.

There’s something to say about Simla Special and the people who made it.

But this essay probably says more about me than the film, that micro minority who wishes to see one more episode of Gopu Babu’s adventures.

Maybe this time it’s not Simla. But a reunion surely can be special.

Vanakkam

FRS: Ayalaan (2024)

So you all know what an FRS is right? Right? 

+10: For being the first Tamil movie to begin with this Stephen Hawking quote

 “The life we have on Earth must have spontaneously generated itself. It must therefore be possible for life to generate spontaneously elsewhere in the universe”

Profound. Okay, moving on. 

Movie begins with two people getting off a helicopter. 

Everyone who’s ever watched a Tamil movie knows that only corporate villains and his sidekicks use helicopters. 

+50: If the corporate villain in a Tamil movie is from North India, his company will obviously be called Aryan Industries. 

Ayalaan is the realization of director Ravi Kumar’s dream project which started in 2016 and it shows because only during that time the hero being an organic farmer was a Kollywood thing. 

Then NGK and Bhoomi happened. That trend faded away, but Ayalaan was still being made. 

The FRS of NGK and Bhoomi are available on the Lowly Laureate, but that is again a different matter. We do not wish to distract you from this piece by hyperlinking those ones, but we couldn’t find a better place to plug our old work. Cheers. 

+20: Nevertheless, SK is an organic farmer in this film. 

Of course if you are a hero and an organic farmer, you are not just a hero and an organic farmer but also a general do gooder, environmental activist and cheerful son. 

He even saves elephants as other elder farmers watch the spectacle and in the eyes of the young of the village of Poomparai. 

-21: Villagers are not equipped with dealing with elephants running wild in their fields , only hero is, no reason, only hero can. 

Good that the director has coded the message so early on in the movie- the problem that makes Ayalaan a tiring alien movie is that the alien is tired for most of the time and SK does most of the stuff. 

If you really want to make a usual hero saves the day movie, go ahead and make the hero saves the day movie, why make it about the alien? 

+14: For making yet another ‘SK gets super powers somehow and doesn’t know what to do with it’ movie, yes SK suddenly becomes a superhero or say mass hero with alien powers. 

+50: Heroine who is an astronomy hobbyist/ science educator/ science fair organizer (people play multiple roles in this movie) is called Tara, of course. 

+22: SK recreates his Maan-Karate pose in the sky when the heroine wants to show the Orion constellation to the kids in Poombarai village. Good reference there as Orion has been known under the name Mriga as in deer in India for long. 

Star Attraction

+904: Kudos to the villagers of Poombarai who schemed along with SK’s mom to send him away from the village. Usually in mass hero films, the villagers not only tolerate the excessive cuteness and irritating chivalry of mass heroes, they welcome it max. 

But Poomparai folks are enlightened. They send SK so they can farm more quietly. 

But wait, where is the Alien? 

-101: For a film that wants to say all scientific things, relies a lot on coincidence. Hero meets comedian gang- coincidence. Hero meets heroine again- coincidence. Coincidentally also meets another important character along with the heroine. 

Yes yes by now Alien has arrived. 

Yeah it’s me.

But Aliens are not going to like this movie. 

+39: Alien thambi wants to learn the language of the land that he connects to an Indian satellite and downloads all the languages required, except of course….okay we will come to that later. 

+8: Ayalaan really has some inventive ideas about comedy, Karunakaran leads a retinue as a Chief Surprise Officer of a birthday experience company. It’s been a while since a group of comedians came together for a comedy track which is passable. 

-30: At the point where the alien is now firmly part of this comedy gang and there is a montage of the bonding between SK and Alien , this goes on for a while which makes us wonder why the alien did not land in Poombarai and in Chennai. 

An alien among rural TN by itself is a quirky idea come to life with the right amount of comedy, but after this point the movie just takes the usual alien out of water route. 

Why make such films again if there is nothing new to offer? 

00: When YogiBabu speaks to the alien in Hindi, the alien seems unaware of the language but could of course speak all the other south indian languages. 

Maybe the Alien’s planet too had its brief affair with the Hindi Teriyadhu Po Da Gang. 

-40: Villain has constant constipated look, but apparently he too now has some powers etc 

-200: Villain’s pivot plan is so last minute that even his investors say things like, “Wait, we are manufacturing weapons now?” 

Villain goes from corporate energy exploiter to weapons manufacturer in a matter of minutes, no one really knows how this plan will work. 

But apparently they have to drill in Chennai to execute this plan. 

+101: Wait! Isha Koppikar is there in this movie?!!!!

But Isha Koppikar narpani mandrams are not going to like this movie, nor will Rakul Preet Singh narpani folks. 

Copious supply of Koppikar memories

+2.9: Movie does something interesting with an American spaceship nerd character, good fun, but alas fun does not last. 

+96: By the end of the movie, Alien is completely Kollywoodized, believe us when we say that Alien speaks Kollywood humanisau and how humanity is the reasons for all of humanity’s problem (yaawn) 

Actually , according to Alien- SK is the only good guy in TN. 

LOL yeah really. 

Movie becomes close encounters of the absurd kind when SK gets all the alien’s powers. 

-34: Movie chugs along and then comes to an eventual end but not before the alien has made an aadhar card joke and safely returned to his abode. 

Everyone told us how great the graphics were in this movie, but no one really told us that this is yet another SK movie, but instead of Soori we have an alien.

And that’s where we will stop with this FRS.  

Team FRS

FRS: Jailer (2023)

So you all know what an FRS is right? Right? 

Movie begins with a trust problem, Varma, the idol thief is putting three of his associates into boiling acid for betraying him, the catch is that he does not know which of his three associates did it. 

He kills them all, anyway. 

-50: Villain allows ‘churn’ in a business which is difficult to recruit henchmen already. 

But this was probably done to show crazy the villain can be and not really about the state of recruitment in the thieving business. 

+25: The first 25 mins is a telling comment as to how retirement life is difficult for all including superstars. Maybe men must never retire and surely not Superstar. 

But we fear that this point will be exploited by all insta financial advisors to sell their ‘FIRE’ course for 499 INR. 

-10: Grandfather goes all the way to make grandson’s youtube channel work, only for the director to forget that there was this youtube channel element 30 mins into the movie, the director will forget that a grandson existed in the second half of the movie. 

-11: Audience are asked to buy the father son relationship by means of the Rathamaarey song. But what we now see as a montage seem to have been part of a bigger “a family day in the mall” sequence. One of which involves Superstar Rajnikanth buying french fries.

“Just maybe let him eat his fries peacefully” 

Neither do we get the dynamic between Muthuvel Pandian and Viji or any of the characters as they too like the youtube channel is left mid-way. 

This is probably the biggest problem in Jailer as we are asked to buy the story emotionally towards the end. 

-23: Yogi Babu mindvoice being very “dubbing la paathukalam” type is not funny

-40: Hero turning ultra violent is so shocking that makes audience go like this man needs psychiatric help. 

Revenge of the retired.

+50: Bigger twist is that it is the psychiatrist played by VTV Ganesh who needs help, did anyone find this funny while filming is a bigger mystery for us to solve

-221: Movie hypes up villain to a point only to make him beg and lose all effectiveness for the rest of the movie. 

If not for Vinayakan, this character would have died then and there, but movie continues just because it should have a runtime of 2 hours and 30 mins plus. 

-50: Movie needlessly becomes a heist comedy about wig-wearing people in the film industry , again maybe this is part in the screenplay where it says “let’s insert some laughs here” and the assistant forgot to bring the laughs to the set. 

+31: That one inspired decision to make Rajni one of the background dancers is more funny than all the funny bits in the movie (within quotes) 

This leads us to think that someone has wrongly hyped up Nelson’s black comedy bits to himself. 

Because even in Beast, the action and emotion were almost on point and it was the comedy that gave way. 

-20: 40 years professional idol thief cannot differentiate between real and fake item

-10.5: carefully planned and executed action setpiece ends up being a fakeout which the Tamil audience can smell from Andhra itself 

+56: Hero has very powerful friends in each of the neighbouring states , good networking skills when he was a Jailer seems like.

Maybe the movie itself is a comment on how networked you should be in your workplace, you never know when you will need snipers and arms dealers

-79: But hero does not use these friends to solve the issue and defeat the villain but uses them as pickle for a sidequest, even when his friends present him with the solution. 

But then ultimately hero triumphs with appropriate slow motion and whistle moments.

Slow motion to hero but slow caps to the music director who did not understand the assignment and has composed a “Rajni Raisgar Mandram” album, only to be played during events at Raghavendra Hall. Ofc Ani army will come at us for saying that this is not BGM at all, but we persist nevertheless. 

All’s well that ends, well but then ofcourse…

Shall we stop with this?

Behind the hukum is the story of a father who could not impart any of his skills or values to his son and feels bad about it. 

Now that’s a good movie.

Nandri

Team FRS

Nelson and Rajnikanth’s Jailer is now running in theatres and also out on streaming.

FRS:Ponniyin Selvan 2

So you all know what an FRS is right? Right? 

Seems Mani sir did not find time to read the FRS of PS 1, well maybe he was busy (duh obviously) and it reflects in PS2. 

So our writing team was found adapting FRS points from the PS1 post – uh um rephrasing if you could call it that. 

This is of course purely unacceptable behavior in the FRS writers room. 

We fired the entire writers room. 

That is our commitment, even adaptation needs well you know, integrity. 

So here we are with the new FRS writers, at least those we could find. 

-100: Narration, even if it is by Kamal

Kamal basically summarizes Part1 in few seconds, it could have been the same introduction from PS1 because that too was a summary or a situation analysis and nothing much happened except character introductions. 

+50: Wow, finally a temple in a series about Cholas, the great temple builders! 

Guess it’s Melkote, so long live Vijayanagara empire!  

PS2 begins where Surya was left pining in Thalapathy, there’s a similar “kovilil paadum penn” meets “porukku sellum thalapathy” situation. 

With all honesty, this is the sweetest part of both the movies only to be brought to a close by a song that is about separation. 

Sweet becomes bittersweet. 

We rewinded ourselves to the opening of PS1, where there is the fog of war and Karikalan walks in as it clears almost like a theater curtain. 

Nandini’s introduction is more literal – she draws the curtain of her palanquin. 

Mani makes no bones about both the PS movies being about Karikalan and Nandini, the supposed dramatic high points are created to revolve around them. 

But then the movie could have simply been called Nandhiniyum Karikalanum and not an almost incidental Ponniyin Selvan. 

Welcome again to the FRS of Nandhiniyum Karikalanum- based on the characters from Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan. 

–25: Franchise which aims to tell the glory of an ancient dynasty is focussed on how its hot headed soup boy prince almost brought it to its feet just because he could not get over a girl. 

Good call writers! Good call! 

Ok say last time they left us hanging about the lives of PS and VT- will they survive? Of course they do, they break this suspense in the trailer itself. 

So much for another attempt why did Katappa kill Baahubali moment. 

-70: Odd Madurantaka Thevar is odd max.

In the last movie, he beseeched the help of all the small kings in order to make him King, this time he is holding Kasi Tamizh sangamam with a group of Naga Sadhoo types. 

Sivoham and all that, but the small kings plan seemed slightly better. 

Over the course of the movie he would take another turn and that would be the most funnies of all funnies ever attempted. (not spoiling) 

Madurantaka Thevar Vaazhga! 

-101.5: Mani sir interrupts the tense search for Ponniyin Selvan for a Aga Naga poetic love sequence whose setting was probably suggested to the assistant director by ChatGPT when asked to list a few poetic locations. 

Isolated island with one boat. 

Does this serve the story? Umm debateable, but it surely satisfied all the fans. 

Mani-on-the-nose-poetic-aesthetic-is-poetic. 

Kundavi Devi Vaazhga! 

+42: Wherever you are in this universe, you are never far away from Azhwarkadiyan Nambi. He is everything, everywhere, all at once. 

It almost reads like an advertising slogan, but really it is the truth if his eyes are in Pazhayarai , then his ears are in Kadambur and he himself is somewhere camping with Karikalan but also appears in Nagapattinam. 

Does he have a twin brother? 

The FRS writer room when on ground nut and tea break came up with a theory that Cholas silently invented cloning but restricted it to only their spies so they could put one in each key district. 

Thirumalai Azhwarkadiyan Vaazhga!

+21: The Rashtrakootas might like this movie more than the first part. 

-200: Pandians are not going to like this one single bit, it is like for two movies the same plot element of Pandian Abathudhavis try, try and try to kill the Chola Pulis. 

All in vain, there is even a meta statement that Nandini posts but then that too lands as a joke. 

The Pandian Abathudhavis are the startroopers of this universe. 

Meenkodi Velga!

-34: Confusing motivations are confusing. 

Does Nandini want to kill or not? What does she really want? 

The only guys with clear motivations are the Pandians and they are made to look like the terrorists from last year’s Beast. 

Difficult to root for characters without having to clearly know what their motivations are. 

-101: Director wants to convince us that the Pandian assassins will succeed this time, just before the interval. 

Again there seems to have been no thinking involved in these attempts, they just go at the Cholans with whatever they get, shouldn’t there be some planning? 

+102: Jeyam Ravi as Ponniyin Selvan is the only actor in the ensemble who got his character, but sadly he is playing in a different movie only. 

Ponniyin Selvan Vaazhga!

-302: Loool Tanjore folks not able to identify Ponniyin Selvan because he is wearing mask loool what is this like Tamizh Padam spoof level 

+86: Karikalan accepts Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar’s plan to give away the kingdom to Madurantakar. 

If only they had agreed in part one itself this would have saved Lyca and co some millions. 

As the famous saying goes, for this cotton gunny bags could have remained in the godown itself. 

-201: Mani sir introduces props and characters to either forget them or to drop them on the way to Thanjavoor. 

What happened to the horse Semba? It surely mattered to VT till a point? 

What happened to the throne that Nandini was longingly looking at in PS1? 

Why did a crown which suddenly popped up on Sundara Cholan became the main prop in the climax? Where is the throne that is there in all of your movie marketing? 

Not to forget the fish engraved sword, which again comes to no purpose. 

I mean like…there’s a whole story about characters but that would put us in a very bad place, but still better placed than Kandan Maaran. 

All of this screamed that the movie was not well thought through, besides being rushed into production. 

However it is completely possible to be enthralled by some of the visual flair in PS2

+101: Cinematographer Ravivarman Vaazhga (best thing is to name all cinematographers after painters, as they are in effect painters of light) 

But Mani sir is irked by the idea of having to shoot two people talking and hence has to introduce rotating camera tricks every now and then. 

Embrace the drama Mani sir, it is what it is. The need to be seen as a visual filmmaker is coming in the way of telling a good story through characters. 

-80: Something something happens and we are now in the middle of the war and we didn’t know what to scratch our heads for- whether it is to understand what war is this or why Partibendran Pallavan and VT are now on opposing sides?

Oh wait there was this Nandini seducing Pallavan scene. Whatever came off that? 

Spare a thought about Nandini who is in control of the situation almost all through the movie but then ends up being shown as a victim in the hands of many men. 

Anyhow all’s well that ends well.

Cholas are on the way to their golden age and we went home feeling bad for the Pandian Abathudhavis (again).

You can read the FRS of PS 1 here.

The Romantics (2023)

So I watched the new @Netflix documentary #TheRomantics. I am very eager to see cradle-to-grave documentaries on key filmmakers, it gives us a sense of their work and the times they worked in. But #TheRomantics is just a four part corporate video by YRF.

It began quite innocently; in fact E1 is titled The Boy From Jalandhar traces quite quickly the journey from Punjab to Mumbai. Yash Chopra’s first film was in 1959 and his last was in 2012- so yeah that’s a long career. Maybe they are going to go movie by movie, I thought.

Alas! Minutes later we were in Daag-Deewar territory, pauses only mention about Dharmaputra- apparently a film which was a takedown on Hindu fundamentalism (yikes), set during the partition. Brave Yash ji is Brave! That’s when I woke up. Really. Wake up call 1️⃣ ⏰

All well and good but the doc fails to mention that Dharmaputra was a flop and Yashji did not wade into overt political themes for the rest of his career. A sign of people being yawned by filmmakers trying to push head-in- the-clouds secularism? Maybe?

Bhai! Wait, let’s just pause to talk about how he made the films right? Atleast Amitji must have something to add about Deewar right? Hmm Amitji says Yashji was a romantic (roll credits) on D sets too as he found ways to shoot roses even in intense scenes 🤷

Doc also puts Yash ji as one of the main shapers of the angry young man persona along with Salim- Javed. This needs to explained more, but Salim Khan who is in the doc barely gets any time to talk.

Wake up call number 2️⃣

This documentary is not about the filmmakers and the films but more about establishing how YRF is Bollywood and how Bollywood is YRF. Yes, India is Indira and vice versa types.

Why else would they rush from Deewar (73) to Darr (93) within half an hour of the first episode in 4 part documentary? This phase would cover Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Chandni & Lamhe- if this was a serious doc then there would be special episodes for each of these ‘classics’.

But doc is not interested in all that and doc is only interested in showing us an empty chair and hyping about how Adi Chopra has not given an interview in his lifetime. Much like a mob boss? No I mean…

So yeah! In 20 mins you will not be able to cover the nuances of any film, KJo drops in to say how Chandni is among his top five and how he preferred Yash ji over Bimal Roy, Dutt etc But doc doesn’t go beyond that, if at all there is some talk about his films -its about beauty

“Beautiful” “Yash ji heroines were beautiful” “So beautiful” The sarees- just beautiful” Guess someone on the internet can do a supercut of the number of times beautiful is used. Abbey yaar, what is this beautiful?

Wake up call number 3️⃣ was a very sad one. So like even in a four part netflix documentary Bollywood will not take the effort to tell us why a filmmaker is important or in the least tease us about his films to make us watch it?

If this is a feeling that I get, as someone who is familiar with Bollywood how is this going to be make those outside India take Yash ji seriously. That brings me to song and dance.

#TheRomantics as documentary reemphasizes on how the world should view India- land of Bollywood- land of love, song and dance. This is akin to how the west saw India as elephant, cow and snake charmers.

In fact Rishi Kapoor ji brings back these stereotypes about India, as to how we were seen as land of snake charmers and now seen as Bollywood song charmers. Atleast do they go into the effort of making songs? Not even one music director was interviewed for #TheRomantics

I used to think that Bollywood is deliberately surface level in its themes as to cater to a large section of the audience, but now realized these are not deliberate decisions, but the makers themselves are surface level & critics a bunch of yes people

No critic had the question as to why YRFs ‘eternal love’ stories always had an extramarital angle to it? Or why was it about two girls falling for the one man fantasy? Why is it that India’s culture reduced to color, marriage, song and dance and nothing spiritual?

Of course such questions are not possible in in-house productions like #TheRomantics , the credits of which include Uday Chopra. Which was wake up call number 5️⃣ – corporate video indeed.

A big part of the documentary also veers into Uday Chopra territory about how he himself is a standing testimony to how nepotism does not work in Bolly and people have to accept you. Guess this was something Bolly wanted to address , koi baat nahi

From E2 onwards its the Adi Chopra show and a big part of it is about DDLJ and its making. Here they go a little deeper- how everybody had fun on set while Adi worked, clash of the father and son and how DDLJ became the cash cow for YRF

Post creation of YRF it is just feature- benefit type of video we made Dhoom we introduced Ranveer Singh yeh-woh to borrow a common north Indian expression #yehwoh

Shockingly there was angle about how YRF saved India from the onslaught of foreign corporate movie houses – but luckily as with most things they don’t go deep enough.

Maybe that’s all there is to say about YRF and Bollywood, I shouldnt have expected much of a critical or cinematic analysis. should have just been happy with all the actors should have just been happy with the song and dance should have just been happy with Sridevi in chifon

should have been base level satisfied with the ever reticent Adi Chopra talking about how became more desi by throwing away all his rock music cassettes in order to ‘understand India’ Bhai maybe I should just check my expectations

But Bhai please don’t such things like redefined cinema and all and don’t substantiate your claims please 🙏 Thank you for reading. All screenshots are from the trailer of #TheRomantics which is now streaming on Netflix.