While discussing Laapataa Ladies:
Rajyasree: It was a sweet film. I cried at the end.
Abhinandan: Which is so rare. You cry in every film, even in Ram Ratan Dhan Payo.
Rajyasree: It’s Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. In fact, you almost cried upon realising what a shit film it was. I cried in Chennai Express.
This and a whole lot of awful and awesome as Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri discuss Scoop, Laapataa Ladies, and Amar Singh Chamkila. Abhinandan also shares some entertaining pop culture headlines he came across.
This episode is outside the paywall. Watch it, enjoy it, and subscribe to Newslaundry, so you can tune in every week.
Have something to say? Write to us at newslaundry.com/podcast-letters.
Producer’s note: The films and series reviewed in this episode were reviewed earlier, but Rajyasree and Abhinandan have new perspectives to offer.
Timecodes
00:00 - Introductions
3:04 - Pop culture headlines by Abhinandan
9:05 - Letters and an apology by Rajyasree
14:25 - Laapataa Ladies
28:15 - Amar Singh Chamkila
35:45 - Scoop
41:40 - Some more political ads and songs
References
Shiv Sena UBT Hindi Advertisement
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Produced, recorded by Shubang Gautam and edited by Umrav Singh.
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Abhinandan: [00:00:00] This is a News Laundry podcast, and you're listening to The Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap.
Rajyasree: Hello, hello. This is The Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap, episode 351. This is Rajat Sheth. And this is
Abhinandan: Abhinandan Sekhri. Hello, hello. Tu floor pe jab hai aayi, tab se is show ko dete sabhe duhaayi. Hello. Hello.
Rajyasree: You really are like Anumal Nikhil Kirli. He used to have curly hair at one point. He used to have hair?
He used
Abhinandan: to have a lot of hair. But, no, you shouldn't make fun of people. But, I am back on a, of an awesome popular demand after a long time. And as usual, I haven't watched too many things, but I've watched some. I've watched Shamkeela.
Rajyasree: And?
Abhinandan: I have watched half of La Pata Ladies. And Scoop? And Scoop I haven't watched.
I've watched ads, I've watched many ads. You
Rajyasree: can't watch things which are [00:01:00] not on the list.
Abhinandan: I have lots to say about, uh, Nick Jonas, Priyanka Chopra and Raj
Rajyasree: Komala. He's not Punjabi. Jonas.
Abhinandan: It's
Rajyasree: Jonas. There's a number of things which will be reviewed today, which have been reviewed before. But we bring a fresh, uh, and different perspective to it.
Abhinandan: So before we talk about everything else, I also want to say that I hope you have seen our new show because I've been very busy. You know, I think basically politics has fucked my life.
Politics has fucked all our lives. I cannot
watch a full film now. I watch half, then after three days I'll watch half. I think the last full film I watched was Oppenheimer when you enter the hall.
And that's because I couldn't get up and walk away.
Rajyasree: That also, there was no politics that you could switch to suddenly.
Abhinandan: I just cannot. Anyway, so we'll talk about all these things, but I hope you've seen our new show Mandate 2024 with Srinivasan Jain. Now, fun fact, I hope you have seen all our election shows.
One with us, we are doing a mini series with Karma Paljor, [00:02:00] uh, who's One of the most promising journalists out there who used to have a prime time show. Uh, then he started a website dedicated to the only the Northeast. Manisha, Dhanya, et cetera, I've been traveling everywhere. This is all non sponsored and ad free.
It's all been funded by people like you, by subscribers, who believe that journalism should be funded by the public and not depend on these big sir careers. I don't know whether you guys have seen the new, uh, Uh, interview of Network 18. That's what interviews look like. Of Sir. Of Sir. The question is, Sir, Itne mushkil hain.
How do you take such tough decisions? You know, like fucking lockdown where laborers die, it doesn't make me. How do you take that decision? Because it doesn't bother you at all. So I hope you've been enjoying all our coverage. I hope you've been, uh, sharing it with others. Also just want to remind you to subscribe and power journalism.
Keep it ad free and non sponsored. So that was my. Uh, consequential [00:03:00] input to this show. Now for my inconsequential input on the show. Rajshri Sen, if you'll allow me. Yes, I will. Before we start reviewing things because you are so diligent. Madam, madam,
Rajyasree: I have done all my homework. Nikku has not watched anything.
Well, it's true. Last time I had not watched because I had been busy. I'd been preoccupied, but I said I did that only so that people don't miss you too much. Someone else should also not watch.
Abhinandan: Someone else should also be there. So Rajshri said I saw this very hot bit of reporting journalism the other day on the paper and I shared it with Rajshri.
Yes. The headline is had to learn a lot Priyanka on cultural gaps with Nick Jonas. Delving into the cultural contrast between her and husband Nick Jonas. Priyanka Chopra has opened up on the changes she had to navigate post their marriage in 2018. During the interaction on the Read the Room podcast, the actress shared, Nick and I embraced each other's cultures in a big way, but it was the cultural [00:04:00] things that were different.
So for Nick, he had to learn to do
Rajyasree: Peri Pona.
Abhinandan: So for Nick, he had to learn to To cut people off, speak over everyone. I had to learn how to wait, let somebody finish their sentence. So Rajshri said, I sent Rajshri and quickly marry him in American. Yeah. Because that is the only way you learn manners.
Otherwise she'll keep cutting people off.
Rajyasree: How much you interrupt me when I talk, people have told you also, let Raju talk because you'll get so angry people don't tell you.
Abhinandan: Like they give a shit about my anger. They couldn't give a rat's ass.
Rajyasree: But Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra share a lot. They are very social media friendly also.
So you'll, lots of, and he's embraced Indian culture, I have to say, quite, quite well. Good boy he is.
Abhinandan: And the second bit of consequential thing is Raj Kumar Rao's chin. Now I saw it had made news because when I [00:05:00] because you know what happens is all these because news Instagram is people share most. Yeah. So if there is any viral video of A woman died while dancing at her sister's wedding.
Everyone is showing. Viral video, woman dies while dancing. Then one guy punching his father for property. Everyone is showing that video. Where were these?
Rajyasree: On Twitter you say? On Insta.
Abhinandan: Everyone shows the same bit because anything goes viral, all the news platforms show the same bit. Yeah,
Rajyasree: everyone shares it.
There was
Abhinandan: something about Rajkumar Rao's chin, which I wasn't aware of. So then I was made aware because that is how, you know, news gets around. It's become longer. So apparently he's had some work done. The Times of India six days ago reported Rajkumar Rao plastic surgery rumors. I've got fillers on my chin and I'm glad I did it.
Uh, because it made me feel confident. Exclusive. It's an exclusive report. Here is the
report.
So it is by Jigar Shah. Uh, Raj Kumar Rao is one of the finest actors in the business and thanks to his film like [00:06:00] Shahid City Lights and blah blah blah. So basically his chin has become apparently more this thing.
And uh. I didn't
Rajyasree: know you could get fillers in your chin. I thought you can only get fillers here. Like on your cheekbones, cheek, I don't, you won't get fillers on your, uh, forehead and all that. So on his chin, what he's saying is not sounding logical because a filler is like on your, in your lips, you'll get fillers done.
Abhinandan: You've got it done.
Rajyasree: No, yeah.
Abhinandan: Again, this is the problem with you Indians.
Rajyasree: What is the problem with us Indians? The person who has got
Abhinandan: it done knows. If someone comes to, an electrician comes here, you'll start telling the electrician how to fix the switch. That's true,
Rajyasree: of course, I'll say I'm Bengali. When a plumber comes, you'll start
Abhinandan: telling the plumber how to fix the pot.
When someone is writing a report, you'll tell the person how to write the report. That
Rajyasree: I have no horn. When you
Abhinandan: talk to a CA, you'll tell him how to run the company. No,
Rajyasree: that I won't.
Abhinandan: Everything.
Rajyasree: I know my limitations. He has the
Abhinandan: fillers,
Rajyasree: he knows. I'm saying what he's saying is not accurate. That though, I can say anything.
No, you do tomorrow. [00:07:00] If I come with like, uh, five times the amount of hair I have and you say, Roger, you've got hair weaving done. I tell you, no, no. I took coconut oil. I put it twice last week and now my hair has become, it's fiction. No, I believe
Abhinandan: you. I don't expect an adult to lie for no reason. Then you're, then you're pathological.
Rajyasree: Then
Abhinandan: you're Vivek Arminhotri. Then you're just lying for the fuck of it. You just say anything.
Rajyasree: I like Vivek. I feel he's had a troubled childhood.
Abhinandan: Apparently, he got a lot of hate and he says, I don't care. So now media is coming to his defense. That he should ignore the haters. People are writing columns on it.
After the
Rajyasree: media has written first of all about him.
Abhinandan: I want to know, like, I don't even know what the question is, but I know there's a question out there somewhere that if someone gets some work done, there's hate, then there's love, then he doesn't care for the trolls. What is the question, Rajshri sir?
Like, is there a question at all? The
Rajyasree: [00:08:00] question is that Why do you care enough to even comment on it, as a, see if I'm a celebrity, which I'm not, but I could be, and I got work done. I will not give a clarification. Now my chin is looking longer. What can I do with the chin is looking longer? Maybe your angle is, the angle is that you should not care.
He should never have explained it.
Abhinandan: We are discussing it here. So, two, two things about what you said. One is you said why. It's why.
Rajyasree: Again, don't make fun of me. I guess.
Abhinandan: You said work. It's work. Okay, please get your W's right. It is, it is because when I'm sitting opposite you,
and
you're saying, why work? Then I'm like, dude, at least when you're presenting with me.
Do
Rajyasree: I speak like this? No.
Abhinandan: Your finger is obstructing the lens that is taking my face. I'll also do like this. You're ruining my frame. Ruining
Rajyasree: my frame? Who do you think you are?
Abhinandan: Do people watch this show for this nonsense? Is this why you watch this show? [00:09:00] Let's get to the point. Let's get to the
Rajyasree: meat of
Abhinandan: it.
Yeah, let's get to the point. Uh, which is the emails because our feedback is very important from our audience.
Rajyasree: First, I would like to apologize wholeheartedly and, uh, like it's an abject professing of an apology that I'm so sorry that I said Schumacher hadn't, this is true, I should not have got it wrong, that he had an accident as an F1 It's shocking, you know, I'm just shocked because I've never got anything wrong.
And, uh, he didn't. He had a skiing accident. So that is the apology. But now we'll read a mail and then I will respond to that. That F1 mail that someone has written. Subscriber. Why has he not given his name? T 800.
Abhinandan: You have missed the joke. T 800 has written several emails to us. This shows you should eat badam and not just put badam ka oil in your hair.
I don't want to eat it. T 800 [00:10:00] is a. It is a joke on On
Rajyasree: Amitji. Oh!
Abhinandan: On Ani's film Terminator. Oh,
Rajyasree: not on Amit Singh, not Amitabh Singh. My Twitter, like, post. He does that, na? Post number 1, 2, 8, 3. Maybe
Abhinandan: he's doing doubles. Doubles
Rajyasree: he's doing, yaar. Neku. Okay, I am deeply disappointed by unnecessary sledging of Formula 1.
F1 race is more than just who finishes first. It is a pure mastery of a mechanical engineering process that can create the fastest car under level playing regulation. The term formula stands for the amount of regulation that are, that is necessitated to create a level playing field. Even after having a fast car, the driver is a determining factor that can push the car to its limit.
Additionally, these drivers are underrated athletes. They face a temperature of 50 degrees and the amount of g force leads them to kgs at a single race of two hours. This is what I should do.
Abhinandan: You should start doing farming, you'll lose weight. [00:11:00] I've just become
Rajyasree: 30 kgs, 35. Then the most attractive part is the drama.
Relationship, betrayals, job contracts, and currently a sexual allocation from a pickpocket. This is
Abhinandan: a lot of yoga. If you want this kind of excitement, then watch Karnataka's politics. You just see, you have no way to go. India politics only. Request
Rajyasree: you to watch F1 show like Drive to Survive to get a good understanding.
You can check out one formula r slash formula dank subreddit. It's the top most shit posting reddit in motorsport to check it out. Okay, T800. No, subscriber. I don't know. What is it? T800. I still think it's a really boring sport, if you call it a sport, and it's good for people. Some people like badminton.
Some people like F1. There's something for everyone. Everyone doesn't need to like everything. And I feel people who go to watch the F1, I can't, unless I own, oh, the ads, I said, unless I own an F1 team. Or make those [00:12:00] cars. I don't see, or I'm a driver in the car. I don't see why I would go and watch this because the cars zip by like that at the arena.
And to me, it's a waste of time. That's all. Then
Abhinandan: Karan says in episode 350, Rashid and Abbas agreed that racing is horrible because Schumacher is in coma, but that's because he was skiing accident after he retired. So you got so many things wrong.
Rajyasree: One thing only.
Abhinandan: A, he had already retired and B, it was in a skiing accident.
So I thought, because. I bring in the factual accuracy to the show. Of course. Uh, I figured which are the most dangerous sports statistically.
Rajyasree: Badminton. So,
Abhinandan: depending on which source you choose, skydiving is the most dangerous.
Rajyasree: Because you'll go like splat.
Abhinandan: 15 to 20 fatalities per 100, 000 jumps.
Rajyasree: That's not bad.
Abhinandan: Snowboarding is the second.
Rajyasree: Okay. Skiing.
Abhinandan: Rugby is [00:13:00] the third. And then comes motocross. Okay. And then is boxing. Then is cycling. Cycling is so good for you but it has very high brain trauma and stuff and if you go to another source.
Rajyasree: Testicular cancer from cycling. Don't drink
Abhinandan: it, man.
Rajyasree: Lance Armstrong got testicular cancer from cycling.
Then he just doped himself up. He's like, fuck it, I don't care. How does cycling cause testicular cancer? Because I'm on that bike and it's putting pressure. Are you
Abhinandan: sitting on your knees?
Rajyasree: I
Abhinandan: don't. Please do not use this language in front of a legend. And hang on. Then the other source
Rajyasree: is
Abhinandan: base jumping. Base jumping is what?
When you jump off a base. No, shut
up.
What is it? If you're a tiny person. Base jumping is basically, it's not a moving object like a helicopter aircraft. It's like a building or a cliff. And you're still
Rajyasree: getting hurt. Then you're stupid
Abhinandan: also. Large wave surfing, bull riding. [00:14:00] Cave diving, high lining, then motorcycle racing, then motor car racing, then street luge, then wingsuit flying.
Rajyasree: These are all things we don't know. In third world country, we don't have this. So then,
Abhinandan: hockey has very So, you should not just pelo Rajshri. No. You should always check data first. I
Rajyasree: didn't say it's the most dangerous. I said when something goes wrong, you'll just, like, die.
Abhinandan: Okay. Okay. So, now we will get to La Pata Ladies.
Yes.
Rajyasree: Laapata Ladies. So we both watched it in the comfort of our separate homes. So Laapata Ladies was directed, is Kiran Rao's second film. And it's produced by her, Aamir Khan and Jyoti Deshpande. It, the only recognizable person, two people, one is Ravi Kishan who plays the cop. And the second is the, uh, that guy's mother.
Yashoda, I think her name is. Geeta Agrawal Sharma, who is the, uh, [00:15:00] boy's mother, who's very sweet. And we've seen her in other stuff also. Anyway, this film was touted as to be a fabulous film. It's very, films like these are not made nowadays. And also I had very high hopes from this film. But the
Abhinandan: protagonists are Nitanshi Goyal, Sparsh Srivastava, Pratibha Ratna, Abhay Dubey, Chhaya Kadam and like you said Ravi Kishan.
Rajyasree: And the, uh, just story music
Abhinandan: by Ram Sampath. And there's a lot of music. So it's important. Yeah. We give that credit.
Rajyasree: And, uh, the story is by Biplob Ghoshwami. Bengali. So
Abhinandan: then it must be a very good film, right?
Rajyasree: So if I'd seen this,
Abhinandan: now you have to quickly change. I have
Rajyasree: to change. My full review has now changed in one second.
No. So age is, uh, set in 2001, in a unidentified part of India, middle India. [00:16:00]
Abhinandan: It is called, uh, Al prs Al prs because it's very unfortunate every film starts with that. We don't want to hurt anyone's feeling of fiction. Thank you. Judaism of Madre. Thank you, chief Minister. Tha I mean, it is, was is so tragic.
You know, when, if and when I make a film Mm-Hmm. , my opening slate just like a nuisance. It is. This is a film. It may offend some people because people have also been offended by Jaane Bido Yaaro. It is a film. If you don't like it, don't watch it. It is a film. It may offend some of you. It is a fucking film, fucking idiots.
And if it's offending you, piss off. Every film starts with, oh, we are so sorry, before and only.
Rajyasree: It, and it continues, like, it's very long, that message that they're, and they keep it on for a while also. And they thank so many ministers. But that's not the thing. Nirmal na Biplab Goswami. Don't make up names.
Keep
Abhinandan: quiet.
Rajyasree: So this is set in [00:17:00] Nirmal Pradesh. It's in 2001. So there are no smartphones over here in this world that they've set it in. And it's about a farmer gets married to a young girl, young woman called Phool. They seem quite happy. Like it's not like she's seeming unhappy to be married to him. Yes, sir.
Abhinandan: I'm just curious. You said. A farmer gets married to a young girl. Now, I didn't understand the description. Either you say a farmer got married to a plumber.
Rajyasree: I think she has no profession. Or
Abhinandan: a farmer, or you say a young man got married to a young girl. A farmer got married to a young girl suggests that the farmer is old and the girl is young.
I don't understand. A farmer gets married to a young girl.
Rajyasree: He's a farmer. She has no job.
Abhinandan: He's also a young man. He's like a boy. He's a
Rajyasree: young farmer.
Abhinandan: And she's a young farmer as well, just because she's not registered. Did you know, P Sainath had, the amount of women. My
Rajyasree: professor, P Sainath. The amount of
Abhinandan: women who are farmers in this [00:18:00] country, but are not designated as farmers because when they die, you don't get compensation, although they are doing more farm labor.
Rajyasree: I agree, but Phool is not that, that's the other second wife is, the other couple. So
Abhinandan: Phool has a pati, so they have Phool pati. This is
Rajyasree: the key inside this. That brings
Abhinandan: so many punchlines. Pairing will
Rajyasree: get you. So anyway, they get married. What's
Abhinandan: Phoolpati's name? What? Is
Rajyasree: it a joke? I'm asking you, what's
Abhinandan: Phoolpati's name?
Rajyasree: I don't know.
Abhinandan: Deepak.
Rajyasree: Deepak. And, uh, anyway, they are traveling from where they get married, from the girl's house. They are traveling to his house now and they have to take many modes of transport, but they clearly have a sweet relationship because he, They, they look very happy with each other. Now on this train that they are to take, there are three other or two other couples.
All these women are in Junger wearing the same red gold, similar kind of, uh, [00:19:00] outfits. And there are these husbands, you're seeing these youngish husbands that are our C
Abhinandan: study. Because they may think they're wearing all of a sudden a red, like, fancy suit. Oh, they're wearing a Hillary suit. They're all wearing red bridal saris.
Rajyasree: Yeah, but with ghoongats. No one's face is showing and they are holding that. certain things you have to carry with you when you're newly married. And when they reach, they're two couples sitting in the same birth area. And when they reach one station, the wives get interchanged with each other. And then the story after that is what happens and do these wives finally get back with their husbands?
How do they get back? What happens in the village? Because they go to the village and, uh, to their homes.
Abhinandan: It's quite funny. It's
Rajyasree: quite, there are parts which are very funny. I thought, and Ravi Kishan is the cop in the, uh, police station, [00:20:00] at the police station, who's not a very nice cop. He's a cop in the police station? Don't ask, man. He could be a cop somewhere else. Shut up. He could be a cop in the kennel also, if that's your posting.
But, uh, And there are two, uh, types of, uh, wives. Poole is the sweet one. And then there's Pushpa, is the one who's got an interchange. Pushpa seems more educated, worldly wise. And there's something which is, you feel she's being a little And Pushpa's husband
Abhinandan: is a dick.
Rajyasree: Pushpa's husband is a dick. This is his second marriage.
His first wife died, uh, like she caught fire, but as everyone's saying, no one knows whether she caught fire or she was set on fire. And his, he couldn't care less that his wife has gone missing. He's like, okay, come let's go drink. He has some chick he's going to meet. Dolly.
Abhinandan: He
Rajyasree: says motorcycle toh
Abhinandan: mil gayi, so now it doesn't matter if the wife is lost.
Rajyasree: Yeah. So, uh, he's going to meet Dolly also. So [00:21:00] it's but the entire thing is about the interactions with the families of these two boys And what pool who's staying in the station? She says i'll stay at the over here because they'll come back to look for me And neither At least Poole doesn't know her phone number.
She doesn't know her address. She doesn't know her village name. She knows her village name
Abhinandan: but she doesn't know exactly which is the closest railway station. No,
Rajyasree: she doesn't know the village name. She says it's a Poole. It's the name of a flower. That's why they aren't able to So that was the
Abhinandan: name of the Flower is the name of the railway station.
She knows the name of the village. Oh, the
Rajyasree: village she
Abhinandan: knew. Gangapur or whatever it is.
Rajyasree: And Pushpa is, has gone home with this Deepak and she's meeting his family. And she's
Abhinandan: more than happy to not be with her husband.
Rajyasree: Yeah, she's quite happy and she stays busy doing something or the other. And then you just see these interactions and what happens.
Now I [00:22:00] thought it was quite sweet. I thought there were. Bits and parts, which were very funny. What I did not like was they explain, uh, If there's this woman who Poole is with, who's helping Poole, she explains to her how women are downtrodden, you know, this is why women don't, uh, aren't encouraged to study.
So we would have got the point without it being explained.
Abhinandan: Yeah, but, but give me three more instances because I didn't understand when you said that they explained too much and then you gave me two instances. I didn't understand. Can you give me two more? Because you need to explain, you get the meta
Rajyasree: dramatic, do you see
Abhinandan: what you, what you're doing?
It's okay. So what you're saying is they take way more words to communicate something that could be communicated in lesser.
Rajyasree: No, that's not what I'm saying at all. They basically speak to the audience like we are, like we are dumb [00:23:00] and I never do something like that. As you well know.
Abhinandan: Do they now?
Rajyasree: Yes. Oh
Abhinandan: dear me.
So,
Rajyasree: that, but I felt it was a sweet film, I cried at the end.
Abhinandan: Which is so rare.
Rajyasree: Yeah.
Abhinandan: You fucking cry in every film. No. You're ashamed of yourself.
Rajyasree: No, I felt like, you know, when she's finding her husband and then that, the woman who's helping her. She cried in Ram
Abhinandan: Ratan Dhan
Rajyasree: Payo. No, I didn't. Ram Ratan nahi hai.
Prem Ratan cried when you realized what a shit film it was.
Abhinandan: I cried in Chennai Express. Dude, you cried in two films and I wanted to just throw you off. You have never. There were no balconies in these days. Otherwise, I was so irritated. You could
Rajyasree: have just rolled me down the aisle. It's bad enough I've been
Abhinandan: fucking dragged to watch this shit film.
On top of that, there's a woman sitting there crying. Fuck. What shitty evenings.
Rajyasree: But, what did you think of the film?
Abhinandan: So, I'll consult my notes. Yes,
Rajyasree: please do.
Abhinandan: Serious [00:24:00] critics always come prepared. We don't change our view just because we suddenly realize that the writer is of our own ethnic background. So, speaking of background, the background music was overused.
Every punchline was a You know, there was too much of the tabla comes in when something funny happens. Each time they cut to a close of Ravi Kishan. I get it. So, and I just, that's something that I, I'm not fond of. I even found that in open Heim. I think I'm mixing up films. Yeah. Yeah. It was, you mentioned, so I just find this background music overdone doesn't work for me, but I think it's a trend these days.
I think all round, decent performances, they weren't bad, uh, except revocation, there was way more too much overacting. It's like, it is.
Hmm. Hmm. Don't know. No one fucking talks like that. So I just thought there's a bit of overacting. [00:25:00] I thought all, all around decent performances. Uh, they were very endearing characters in the cast. Each, even the slightly shady wife is very endearing. Uh, but, but they were just not rustic enough. You know what I'm saying?
Uh, if you've seen peoply life or if you've seen Bhor, Which Bhor was, Kamakhya, my former colleague, he gave me credit as creative producer. I had no, no creative input in that film. I just did a cameo. But his villagers were authentic. They were not villagers in a Mumbai set.
Rajyasree: Also, they interacted in a very real way.
Yeah, so
Abhinandan: I just said, Thought, but I'm not saying this has to be people are bored, but that authenticity wasn't there, which is also fine. Maybe it's, I, I think the, the strongest thing in this film was the concept and, uh, I think it was the, the technical aspect of, you know, just the sets, the [00:26:00] art design, all that stuff.
So it was very competently, you know, technically, I think the direction, et cetera, was good. I think it had a lot of fun moments, laugh out loud moments. I just thought some of the shots were, they were just out of, I mean, I don't know why it was made in a hurry. For example, the first shot where his grandfather was always saying, jagate raho.
It was a village with, you know, dim lighting and suddenly there was like a spotlight on him.
Rajyasree: Oh, that really. And that
Abhinandan: shot, I was like, dude, who's doing the lighting? Like, you can tell that the spotlight on this guy, like in a village, everything else is dim. This guy's got this. So I think there was a bit of detailing that didn't work there, but otherwise I think had I watched it in the hall, I would have really loved it.
Rajyasree: It had, it was a good film. I just didn't think that my only reservation would be that, that I felt it was a little, they explain everything to you.
Abhinandan: Right. But in that also, there's a lot of people are riding cycles. Do they all get testicular cancer?
Rajyasree: No. You have to [00:27:00] be riding like Lance Armstrong for 12 hours.
Then you'll get testicular cancer. Do
Abhinandan: you think everybody here has cars? Like, I'll tell you, when I used to play basketball when I was young in Siri Fort, the caretaker of that used to come from, uh, what do you call, uh, Faridabad or something on a cycle every day. Go back every day. He's still fine.
Rajyasree: He might be.
Now. It's not a secure cancer cycling. You're Googling caused by cycling.
Abhinandan: It's caused by cycling. .
Rajyasree: No it not. This is the news. News, not his
Abhinandan: news. What kind of shit will be sued for medical malpractice? No, the cycling. Dr. Ri talks shit. Don't listen to her. What is it? Does cycling cause? Increased
Rajyasree: risk for testicular or prostate cancer.
What does it say? I don't want to read out the answer now. It says
Abhinandan: no. No. They say this is a rumor started by clueless podcast hosts. No. Who then do not have the humility to say Sorry.
Rajyasree: No, the answer has been written by one of the cycling. It's a cycling mafia, which is saying that no, [00:28:00] you're not going to get it.
BMW cycles has written this. No, it's wonderful. It can't be good for your testicles. Lance Armstrong got testicular cancer.
Abhinandan: So we move on to something else, which is Chamkeela, uh, directed by M. T. Azali. Uh, yes,
Rajyasree: which I saw one and a half hours of. Because I felt that someone should be like you also. I didn't watch too much.
Abhinandan: So I believe it's been reviewed here already. I just wanted to weigh in because of my love for Punjabi music.
Rajyasree: Yes.
Abhinandan: Uh, I had to watch it. Of course. Uh, I think Really Imtiaz Ali is a really gifted filmmaker. I've watched, uh, the one with Ranbir, the only film where Ranbir is a rockstar, which is so well made.
Rajyasree: What else has he made? Oh, Highway. Highway. Was
Abhinandan: very good. Very good. I haven't seen that Shahid and Kareena Kapoor film because I've
Rajyasree: Oh, Jab We Met. Excellent.
Abhinandan: I don't think I would have liked it because it [00:29:00] has Two people who, in any case, it's hard for me to watch on top of that. At least the promos I've seen, Oh, I, we love each other.
Oh, I can't watch this kind of film. Please
hit
someone. So I'm glad I haven't watched that, but he made something else
Rajyasree: also. So
Abhinandan: he's, I think. I, so I don't know why he made that film, but the rest of Chamkeela, for those of you who don't know, he was a rock star, like Elvis of Punjab, all that, et cetera, et cetera.
He was a superstar and it was also extremely unusual. Because he came from a community which is, you know, a marginalized community and in Punjab, casteism is rife, you know, which is goes against every teaching of Guru Nanak Ji Maharaj. But it is shocking that how casteism has stayed That's so key. Uh, and this was even shown in that other film that they had to cut it, cut off the, uh, they had to cut off that bit, [00:30:00] that really good series on Netflix, which we really enjoyed.
Uh, not Quora. There was another where they cut off this guy's woman and then they rape his mother because he's
Patal.
So, so he was of a community, which, you know, And in fact, you see, Chamkeela made it so big back then. Today, all the Punjabi songs you hear, Oye jatt di taar, jatt di jatt, you know, it's like, it's very jatt.
And then there was the Akha Putt Chamara de, that pop, you know, album that came.
Yeah.
So, which we reviewed. We reviewed for him to have made it so big back then. Although that was not such an important part of the film. He didn't like, I mean, I, I don't know if I was too
Rajyasree: subtly mentioned after you said it, then I watched the film after that, that guy just mentioned it.
Abhinandan: You wouldn't have noticed that bit.
Rajyasree: I would have noticed but it was just that one line.
Abhinandan: Yeah, I think there were many bits where that subtext could have come in. But maybe it was the one I read [00:31:00] a few reviews where they said that the woman who made Shamkeela famous has been only given 10 15 minutes of time.
That first singer. Yeah, which I thought was a very bizarre kind of criticism because it's Chamkeela's story.
Rajyasree: Yeah.
Abhinandan: So, I mean, you know.
Rajyasree: And she's there for a bit, like it shows. Tomorrow
Abhinandan: if they make a film on you, the person who gave you a platform to spread misinformation, I should just be given five minutes of blame.
You are basically my source of information.
Rajyasree: For the
Abhinandan: rest of the film, like if they make a film on Smriti Rani, Ekta Kapoor will get 5 minutes. That is her fault that she unleashed her on the world. Similarly, I am Ekta Kapoor to Smriti Rani. But the film can't be about me, no?
Rajyasree: So
Abhinandan: I don't think that's a malcrism.
Thought the stylized element of this film was very cool. It was really the styl that the painting effects, it was so well done that breaking [00:32:00] the fourth wall, whatever it's called, was also really well done.
Rajyasree: I thought he acted well, so that I have to disagree with Yeshi. When we did, she said he, I thought he acted well.
Very well. He acted, acted, I really thought, thought
Abhinandan: he acted brilliantly.
Rajyasree: And Parini Pariti also acted well, which was shocking. She fit the,
Abhinandan: she fit the role well. Uh, so I really enjoyed the film. Again, it was unfortunate. I had to watch it in three.
Oh, installments.
Installments. So, I have to figure out a way to get back to watching cinema.
I'm, I'm, I'm slowly dying. I'm losing, I'm losing my love for cinema.
Rajyasree: We'll go to a hall in a hall. But it's in a
Abhinandan: fucking mall.
Rajyasree: So we go to a standalone. Where is there
Abhinandan: a standalone hall? In
Rajyasree: uh, CP we'll have to travel to. That hall is there, I've gone, it's so nice, the one, not Regal, something else it's called.
PVR took it over and they've kept it as a single screen hall. Very nice hall it is.
Abhinandan: But God knows what
Rajyasree: films they show there, but I, so, I, one, [00:33:00] don't like Punjabi music, but I like interesting stories. I felt that unless you are into Punjabi music, There's not much to hook you or into Diljit Dosanjh or into Parineeti Chopra.
There's not for me and I can watch a lot of shit. One and a half hours, you know, I was like, yeah. So I felt a large part of this film was just like a music video. So it was too much. Music, they're dancing, like, it's done like a very nicely stylized music video. See,
Abhinandan: when you say Punjabi, you don't say they're dancing, they say dancing, okay?
I can't have Bengali. If you're saying Bengali, then say
Rajyasree: they're dancing. No, we don't
Abhinandan: do that. They're dancing. So, he
Rajyasree: has made two shitty films. Which ones? Love Aaj Kal, which I did not like. I don't Kal
Abhinandan: as you really liked it. No,
Rajyasree: Jab Harry Met, uh, Jab, Jab We Met, I like. Oh, there's another film which I like.
Jab
Abhinandan: what?
Rajyasree: Yeah, we [00:34:00] may
Abhinandan: we.
Rajyasree: I can't say. Right? It's a don't make fun off.
Abhinandan: Okay.
Rajyasree: I fell as a child or something. Jab we met was good. Quila, I'm saying, okay, rockstar. Now the ones which are not good. I love Arch Girl Tam. I hated Thea. I watched Love Star. I love Arch You. I can't remember what this is. Wait one second.
But I watched it.
Abhinandan: I don't think I watched the Marsha either.
Rajyasree: Oh, he made the remake of Lavaachkar, which had, uh, this guy, I watched the original Saif and, uh, Deepika. He made it with Sara Ali Khan and one guy. I'm
Abhinandan: glad I didn't watch either of them.
Rajyasree: And Highway was very good. Then he's also made quite strange films, Socha Na Tha with that.
You know that actress?
Abhinandan: Anyway, it doesn't matter. Ayesha
Rajyasree: Takia. Ayesha
Abhinandan: Takia. That must have been ages ago, man. Yeah, Ayesha Takia.
Rajyasree: So, I felt this film was, like it [00:35:00] wasn't for me.
Abhinandan: Alright. So, on that note, just want to remind everybody. Go to newsrally. com. Subscribe, power our journalism. We are so proud of the News Minute News Laundry teams that have covered, I think, already about 11 states.
We have got more ground reports than, I'd probably say, several legacy broadcast players. And we want to continue to do this. Non sponsored ad free journalism. Other than the occasional show like this where we spread misinformation, our journalism is very accurate. Where we have medical misinformation that is spread by Dr.
Sen.
Rajyasree: This is also accurate, huh? Don't listen. Don't listen to this ad. So please go to
Abhinandan: Nishanand. com and subscribe. So now, Rachi Sen, the other thing that I had to watch but I didn't watch was Scoop. Which you should have watched. Why I didn't watch it? Because I thought I'd already watched it.
Rajyasree: No, you read the book.
I gave you a book called Scoop by Evelyn Waugh.
Abhinandan: Yeah.
Rajyasree: So how, when you were reading, he's a very good writer. You imagined it like a film. No, no. I didn't
Abhinandan: know. I didn't put [00:36:00] two and two together. Isn't there another Scoop about an Indian newsroom?
Rajyasree: Yeah.
Abhinandan: I watched that.
Rajyasree: Who was in that? It was
Abhinandan: about the Hansel.
So that scoop I've watched. That's
Rajyasree: different. So there are lots of scoops, but not this scoop you have. The scoop you were to watch, you did not watch.
Abhinandan: See, I thought I had, so I didn't bother. Now you tell me it's the wrong scoop. Yes. Not my fault. No, shut up. I'm being a Rajshri Sen. You should. I'm not responsible for my actions.
Others are.
Rajyasree: You should watch this because it has to do with journalism and speaking truth to power. So basically in 2020, if I'm not mistaken, yeah, 2020, uh, there was a
Abhinandan: pandemic and many people started spreading misinformation of medical things.
Rajyasree: Not me. I was the only one who didn't indulge in this part at least, but this film is based on a book by, uh, The woman who was the producer of BBC Newsnight and, uh, [00:37:00] Sam, her name is, uh, played by Billy Piper.
And, uh, it is about the scoop. It wasn't really a scoop that had happened, but Newsnight landed the only interview with Prince Andrew on his association with Jeffrey Epstein. And it was a big deal because no one thought Andrew would give an an interview. Give an interview on. About this. And he
Abhinandan: completely dug himself into it.
Because he's
Rajyasree: an ass. So the book that it's based on is Sam McAllister's book, Scoops, behind the scenes of BBC's most shocking interviews. And Emily Maitlis, who is played by Gillian Anderson, fabulously.
Abhinandan: X Files.
Rajyasree: Yeah. And who's a fabulous actress. Everything I've seen her in now, she's like really good.
Emily Maitlis is one, was one of BBC's most, uh, renowned interviewers and very, uh, no holds barred that kind of, uh, interview [00:38:00] she used to do. So she landed the, she was given the job of interviewing him. And this interview came across Sam McAllister was known for getting very high profile, people to be interviewed by BBC.
But she always used to get flack by the serious people at BBC because they used to say you, like, you make it all into pop culture and you'll get us whatever Britney Spears, Celine Dion or something like that. So that she managed to get this purely by hounding them. And, uh, Keeley Hawes plays, uh, Prince Andrew's assistant.
So the interview happens because Prince Andrew basically felt that he, like, what was the big deal about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein? And he, of course, claims that he did not sleep with that woman, uh, Guffreys, her name is Vanessa, uh, Guffreys, although a payment has been made now, some 15 million of settlement has been done.[00:39:00]
pictures of him with her. Right. So he said, I'll do the interview. And you get all those aspects of his mother's like undying faith, because he's supposed, he was supposed to be her favorite child. So the queen tells him, you do what you want to, I have full faith in you. This assistant clearly believes he's innocent also.
And how BBC works because BBC is the government is very infamous for calling up the BBC and saying you have to pull an interview, you can't run this and BBC is always running scared of pissing off Downing Street and pissing off the monarchy. They do have that reputation. So how they managed to keep it under wraps that we are going to do this interview.
How she managed to get away with asking the question. It wasn't the greatest interview. I'd seen the interview when it had come out. But he is excellent, this Rufus Sewell, who is a very good looking man. They make him look like Andrew. And that whole thing [00:40:00] that he says that, uh, I went to Pizza Hut on that day.
And that's why. So she says, you went to Pizza Hut. So invoking. So he says, Yeah, because it's so out of the ordinary for me to go on the day I was supposed to be sleeping with this woman. And that Vanessa also says that he was sweating a lot when I met him. So he says, That's not possible. You see, I have a disorder, which doesn't allow me to use to not allow now again, I started sweating.
So it was Like it was a bizarre interview and ultimately led to him, uh, losing his, uh, royal duties, all that. He was no longer part of that royal family outings that they do, whatever responsibilities they have. But the way BBC went about doing this interview. It's a series or a film? It's a film. And it's one and a half hours.
And it's worth watching because it was also the fact that they went up against the government and against the royalty. Very well [00:41:00] done, I would say.
Abhinandan: So good. I'll, I may just, but the thing that I'm excited about, maybe this will get back to me watching stuff on. Interrupted is Severance season two,
which
appears, uh, shortly.
The director says filming is pretty much over. So, so I'm dying to watch Severance people to, uh, season two
Rajyasree: and succession. You'll be watching eight seasons
Abhinandan: that I have to start yet. So yeah, one good news is that, uh, season two should be here, but, uh, other than that, uh, I don't think there's anything else that we are reviewing, but I just want to talk about these.
Political ads that have come up. I just think the political ads have become so clever. Or like there's one in, sh has done.
Rajyasree: Oh, I haven't you Oh, no.
Abhinandan: It's, it's really clever. It's, it's the best. Here's the, here's the one.[00:42:00]
Speaker 6: Mehngai ko nahi rog paare, berozgaari ko nahi rog paare. Lekin
Rajyasree: war toh rukwaadi na, papa.
Speaker 6: Desh ki vaat laga di papa. Aisa bolo, beta.
Speaker 5: Vote toh aapne diya na, papa.
Abhinandan: He says, uff, look at the mehngai, papa.
Speaker 5: Hmm.
Abhinandan: He
says, yeh dekho, yeh dhi hora, war rukwaadi papa. See, that was really good and there were a couple of other political ads.
So, I think there is some kind of Thinking that's going behind political ads. I mean, although the Election Commission has banned banned up song because it is casting aspersions on the ruling party, which you should not do, but you can always say that the Delhi government is corrupt and has taken kickbacks and all.
But anything else you can do, you can. But BJP
Rajyasree: song is allowed that hideous rap number that they released. Have you seen it?
Speaker 7: Jeffrey Beat.[00:43:00]
Abhinandan: I don't think they ban it for good taste. They horrible place. So bad . But, uh, but yeah, but it's a pretty low key, an exciting election, but an important one,
Rajyasree: yes.
Abhinandan: So on that note, Rajesh and anything else, uh, I was just saying that, you know, we should, uh, we'd be recording an episode of Abish Matthew, the very famous startup comic.
Uh, I also wanted to do an episode of revisit old films from the seventies. I was just seeing Amar Akbar Anthony. While it was very progressive in one sense, that you can't have a film like Amar Kerala story. Everyone hates each other. But in Amar Akbar Antony, don't want to trash a film, like this is the thing, which Zoom has a problem with, they'll find a reason to trash it.
You know, uh, Antony will only marry Jessie.
Akbar will
marry Fatima. Amar will marry [00:44:00] Pushpa or something, you know, Hindu to Hindu, Muslim to Muslim. Like, oh, why isn't it progressive? Why didn't Anthony fall in love with, you know, uh, Shabana Azmi? And why did not Akbar marry, uh, you know, Parveen Babi? You can always, but I was just thinking there's, uh, and of course the science, three people's bloods is going straight.
Rajyasree: So
Abhinandan: I just think, uh, it would be make an interesting, uh, The
Rajyasree: film, which I started watching again yesterday, because I usually, when I'm eating lunch, And, uh, there was nothing to watch. So I started watching Khosla Ka Ghosla. And it is such a good film still, because some of these films, like they age badly.
Yeah,
Abhinandan: this one doesn't. And Ranveer Shrori is such a good actor. He's
Rajyasree: really, and he's like, you feel like slapping him. Every
Abhinandan: film he does, he's such a gifted actor. It's so sad. He and Baman, Baman Irani
Rajyasree: also. He's mad.
Abhinandan: On Twitter, just. People just go off in the head. It's so sad, but he's [00:45:00] tremendously gifted.
So, uh, we'll wind up this episode with apologies for spreading misinformation about motorsport, about cycling
Rajyasree: and
Abhinandan: about nonsense. We are Pothoras and about.
Rajyasree: I want everyone to watch all of Lance Armstrong's interviews, there are some where he's lying and spreading misinformation about why he can cycle for so long.
No one knew that he was shooting himself up with drugs and all. So ignore that part, but he'll talk about how he got testicular cancer and his friends also got that. Maybe he doesn't say, but he could be saying this is a proven fact. And theory. I'm telling you.
Abhinandan: On that note, uh, write into us with your feedback, suggestions, critique, and complaints.
And there's gonna be a lot of those. You can write to us at podcasts at newslearning. podcasts. At news.com or click on the link in the show notes below. But more important, there's [00:46:00] another link in the show notes below which is to our subscriptions, so please ensure we remain non-sponsored ad free public interest journalism with a little bit of RA sponsored misinformation thrown in, but the rest is accurate.
Thank you, Ms. San.
Rajyasree: Thank you, Mr. Secret.
Abhinandan: And it's a wrap.
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