Club for Bollywood movies on Netflix?

June 18, 2015 10:20 PM

Would anyone be interested in a club for subtitled Bollywood movies that are available on Netflix? They've got some real gems (DDLJ!) and I think it would be a lot of fun to go back and re-watch some with The Internet.
posted by Itaxpica (15 comments total)

I support this. I don't know if it is possible, but I would also like to get into some Tamil cinema (Kollywood?). A caveat, I got a bunch of kids and it makes it hard to sit down and watch a 3 hour movie, so I don't know how active I will be.
posted by Literaryhero at 2:44 AM on June 20, 2015

Only if there's a meetup where we can learn the routines. ;-)
posted by sammyo at 7:16 AM on June 20, 2015

I'd be interested. It's hard to get myself to start a subtitled movie sometimes, since it means I can't putter around on the computer/phone while watching, a club would be a good motivator. (Definitely want to include Tamil -- Kandukondain Kandukondain is one of my favorite musicals of any language.)
posted by oh yeah! at 6:37 PM on June 20, 2015

Up with this sort of thing!
posted by filthy light thief at 7:41 PM on June 21, 2015

I'm definitely up for Tamil, Telugu, and Bengali cinema as well - I haven't seen much but I'd love to see more!

Ok, so this seems like a quorum enough to make this happen. Let's start throwing out some movie ideas, and we can pick a few to start with. A short list of good Bollywood movies that I know for a fact are on Netflix:

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ): a sweet movie about a romance between two Indians living abroad, one of who is already engaged in an arranged marriage. One of the most famous Bollywood movies of all time, and (I believe) the second longest continuously-running film in the world after Rocky Horror, now pushing 20 years. DDLJ basically invented the modern Bollywood romance genre; kick-started megastar Shah Rukh Khan's career, and was famously quoted by Barack Obama on a visit to India India

Dhoom 2/Dhoom 3: fun action heist movies, in the car-chase-and-explosions The Fast And The Furious school of goofy cinema. Dhoom 1 is also on Netflix, but it's... pretty bad.

Daawat-E-Ishq: a bubbly romantic comedy about an elaborate con centered around entrapping and blackmailing scummy men in a dowry extortion case. Yes, seriously. It's both an interesting example of a movie that's so deeply rooted in a non-Western culture that it would basically be impossible to remake in the US, and a brilliantly funny film with one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard.

Gunday: a crime thriller about two brothers who become bandit-kings by robbing coal trains, set in 1970s/80s Kolkata. This was also recorded and released in Bengali.

Anyone else have any suggestions? I'd love to check out Kandukondain Kandukondain - it doesn't seem to be on Netflix, but if it's available to stream anywhere else it sounds like a good candidate.
posted by Itaxpica at 8:35 PM on June 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yes, a thousand times yes.
posted by drezdn at 1:20 PM on June 22, 2015

Is Jab We Met still on Netflix? I'd recommend that one too.
posted by yasaman at 2:01 PM on June 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'll watch anything with music by A.R. Rahman.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:44 AM on June 23, 2015

Yes! It's a genre that I don't feel super-confident about exploring independently, but I always love the results of friends' recommendations.
posted by tchemgrrl at 8:56 AM on June 24, 2015

Yes, yes, this would be delightful and I would relish any cultural insight because I often feel like I'm missing out on things.
posted by Mizu at 5:55 PM on June 25, 2015

I would LOVE some new Netflix Streaming Bollywood recommendations, as Mrs. Mason and I are super finicky consumers of Bollywood.
Our favorite is Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
We also enjoyed the heck out of of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.
We tried DDLJ (mentioned above) because, well, SRK, but to no avail.

I'm in.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 11:31 AM on July 5, 2015

Arg, I totally let this slide but it definitely seems like there's enough critical mass to make this happen.

Any thoughts for a first movie? My inclination would be DDLJ just cause it's such a big deal in the history of Bollywood, but it sounds like people may be lukewarm on that. Other ideas? Maybe Sholay?
posted by Itaxpica at 9:43 PM on July 27, 2015

I really enjoyed Jab We Met (Shahid Kapur, so pretty) and have thought about watching it again. Netflix is informing me that I would rate Hasee Toh Phasee nearly 4 stars, which is a pretty big deal for me, so even if it's not part of this I'll probably watch it soon.
posted by Mizu at 10:53 PM on July 27, 2015

I don't think anyone ended up starting a Club, but user DirtyOldTown has been making FanFare posts for several Indian movies recently and tagging them indiancinema and/or bollywood, and got some interesting answers from this "Around the World via Streaming" Ask question.
posted by brainwane at 9:20 AM on March 10, 2019 [1 favorite]

DirtyOldTown... got some interesting answers from this "Around the World via Streaming" Ask question.

Ehhhhhhhhhh, did I, though? Some nice people replied, but I don't know that I got much in the way of specific film recs a person wouldn't have known about.

I have been enjoying Indian films tremendously lately. It turns out I'm a huge fan of Aamir Khan. Who knew?

So I'd be down for a club, sure.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:40 PM on March 12, 2019