As a child with a tendency to suffer mild anxiety attacks, I found solace in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, where uncomfortable situations were treated with levity.
There was a phase in Indian cinema when our beefy leading men were both, the poster and the song – the hero and the wit. But the sun is setting on the ripped male form. For a cross section of audiences, the sculpted male body is now an object of ridicule.
Almost 14 years ago, writer-director-producer, Karan Johar did the unthinkable: He brought our favourite Bollywood stars from the big screen, straight into our living rooms. Rarely have our stars been as relatable as they have been on Koffee With Karan.
On the basis of skill, Salman Khan’s dance repertoire has been limited at best. Yet, in an industry rife with Hrithiks and Shahids, the effortless swag of Bhai’s timeless moves remains the most imitable. Bhai, then, is the undisputed patron saint of all terrible dancers.
Only if Street Dancer 3D, starring Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, and Prabhudeva, focussed more on the dancing and less on trying to solve the refugee crisis, we would’ve had ourselves an entertaining movie.
What comes in the way of Radhe being both a competent action movie and a perfect Eidi for the ardent Bhai fan? It suffers from being subservient to Salman Khan’s persona, the extent of whose mouldy and moth-eaten condition in 2021 is palpable from the makers’ efforts to drive home his eternal virility and machismo in every awkward scene he appears in with his 28-year-old heroine Disha Patani.
Tinder Select is a secret, invitation-only version of the app for the attractive and the powerful – yet another reminder to regular people of their supposed place in the world.
Thanks to Vivek Oberoi and his distasteful meme, plebeians like me know what it feels like to be Aishwarya Rai, if only for a few brief seconds. You know, the ex who lurks around your Facebook and Instagram profiles, passive-aggressively liking your photos from 10 years ago at 3 am? Vivek O reminds me of that guy.
We love Andaz Apna Apna for the same reason we enjoy a good prank. Sometimes and in small doses, being a fool can be exhilarating. Andaz Apna Apna is what life would look like if we stopped taking ourselves so damned seriously all the time and embraced our inner idiot.