Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan
2020-Mar-01, Sunday 03:41 pmI went today on a spur-of-the-moment decision to see the first (I think?) gay Bollywood film, (English translation) "Extra Careful Of Marriage". It's showing at just a single theater here, in the far southwest corner of the Twin Cities metro.
I learned about it here on Dreamwidth from![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
pink_halen. This 2.5-minute trailer made it look okay, so I wanted to see for myself.
It's pretty much a gay version of any other Bollywood film you've seen. Lots of singing and dancing, and it was well performed (but not the best of Bollywood). Lots of overly scripted drama; it was well acted, though in that familiar Bollywood style, sort of the Asian version of Telemundo telenovelas. And socially rather accurate, apparently. At least, some of the Indian-seeming audience laughed at the family dynamics as if they were familiar. Supposedly both of the gay characters are played by straight actors, but they did a nice job of it.
The film has been showing here for a full week already, so I didn't expect many viewers today. There were almost a dozen people when I saw it, and I think I was the only pale one in the group, so I expect this film won't have much cross-culture appeal. That's disappointing. I don't expect it to remain at the theater much longer. It was already relegated to theater 15 of 18 in the big mall theater. It was quite a hike from the entrance to my seat.
It was worth the long drive to see it while it's here. I rather like the Bollywood style of storytelling, although I admit it's probably an acquired taste for general American audiences. I learned it from a sprint of watching Netflix a few years ago. I like them so much better than our historical equivalent of flash and drama, the Hollywood musical with orchestras and mass dance, which I've often found a bit dull. Especially in comparison to Bollywood. Theirs are just so lively.
I liked it. There was a weak plot point or two, but it's certainly worth a viewing if you live anywhere that offers it. The story ending coincides with India's Supreme Court ruling in 2018 against the 1861 law (acquired from colonial England) prohibiting gay sex. The movie ending is a happy one, although a character acquires bruises to get us there.
I learned about it here on Dreamwidth from
pink_halen. This 2.5-minute trailer made it look okay, so I wanted to see for myself.
It's pretty much a gay version of any other Bollywood film you've seen. Lots of singing and dancing, and it was well performed (but not the best of Bollywood). Lots of overly scripted drama; it was well acted, though in that familiar Bollywood style, sort of the Asian version of Telemundo telenovelas. And socially rather accurate, apparently. At least, some of the Indian-seeming audience laughed at the family dynamics as if they were familiar. Supposedly both of the gay characters are played by straight actors, but they did a nice job of it.The film has been showing here for a full week already, so I didn't expect many viewers today. There were almost a dozen people when I saw it, and I think I was the only pale one in the group, so I expect this film won't have much cross-culture appeal. That's disappointing. I don't expect it to remain at the theater much longer. It was already relegated to theater 15 of 18 in the big mall theater. It was quite a hike from the entrance to my seat.
It was worth the long drive to see it while it's here. I rather like the Bollywood style of storytelling, although I admit it's probably an acquired taste for general American audiences. I learned it from a sprint of watching Netflix a few years ago. I like them so much better than our historical equivalent of flash and drama, the Hollywood musical with orchestras and mass dance, which I've often found a bit dull. Especially in comparison to Bollywood. Theirs are just so lively.
I liked it. There was a weak plot point or two, but it's certainly worth a viewing if you live anywhere that offers it. The story ending coincides with India's Supreme Court ruling in 2018 against the 1861 law (acquired from colonial England) prohibiting gay sex. The movie ending is a happy one, although a character acquires bruises to get us there.