#Bollywood is so fun

[gunnrblze]

mehndi laga ke rakhna, doli saja ke rakhna

Catchy song!

[theinfinitedivides]

— barso re | guru, 2007, dir. mani ratnam.

[chameli]

― Ilya Kaminsky, Deaf Republic: 'a city like a guillotine shivers on its way to the neck'

idea & concept: @theinfinitedivides

[aadhiskanmani]

Hum zamaane ki nigaahon mein Kabhi gumnaam the Apne charche kar rahi hai Ab shehar ki mehfilein

[pariaritzia]

Queerness in Indian Media

↳Film: DON (1978, Hindi) dir. CHANDRA BAROT

Don follows two characters: Roma (Zeenat Aman), a woman who is out for revenge against the crime boss Don, who killed her brother and sister-in-law, and Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan), a street performer who looks exactly like Don and is recruited to help take down his gang.

In an era where women characters wore long hair and dresses and were often in the narrative simply to be romanced, Roma learns karate and judo, chops off her hair, dons a suit, and infiltrates Don's gang. While she does trade in these more masculine traits for feminine clothes and longer hair at later points in the movie, it is always with the intent of disguise--and in the climactic scene, she is back in her suit, punching and kicking the bad guys right alongside the men.

In contrast, Vijay is far more feminine than the average male action hero. However, he is never ridiculed by the narrative for these qualities--he is comic relief at times, but the joke is never his femininity. Furthermore, he is guardian to two children while their father, Jasjit (Pran), serves a prison sentence. Vijay is a caring substitute father who will do anything to ensure that the children are happy, healthy, safe, and educated--a delightful characterization given society's disinclination to allow gender non conforming people around children. While disguised as Don, Vijay adopts more masculine mannerisms (something he has to learn how to do since, as he says, 'Don shoots at the drop of a hat, while I don't even know how to play marbles!'), but he often reverts to his old style as well.

Most surprising, however, is the end of the movie, when Roma, Vijay, Jasjit, and the children all walk off into the sunset together--a family that would be considered extremely unusual in today's times, much less the 1970s.

[misting-moors]

SRK Birthday Celebration Tag Game!

Tagged by the incredible @loumandivorce thank you mwah mwah!!! im nowhere close to finishing his filmography so apologies for any severe omissions😔

1) SRK movie you've lost track of how many times you've watched it? ive started and stopped and restarted k3g a godless amount of times. the chemistry between srk and kajol is just too good. the film may have some kinda conservative politics but when the main theme hits...i am sitting my ass down and Listening.

2) Favorite entry scene? the helipad entrance of k3g is so good...but it's gotta be phir bhi dil hai hindustani. that film is Definetely problematic lmaooo but the opening is sooo strong. and srk's comedic timing is so good and incredible every time i think of his little head popping over the balcony railing i bust out giggling. thee guy ever.

3) Is there a particular scene or character that lives rent free in your head? oh my god yes. raj maholtra ddlj when i get you raj malhotra ddlj...the scene on the bridge where he tells simran he loves her, and then plays it off as a joke. truly insane work. the expression on srk's face as he delivers it though. god. you can physically feel the yearning radiating through the screen. it is truly all over for raj then and even he knows it.

4) Got a favorite musical number? dhoom taana was where it all started for me. tumse milke dil ka is one of my favorite songs Ever. but tujhe dekha toh...i will never stop thinking about it. the orchestral build. the running embrace. one of the prettiest sequences ever. its a tie between that and dastaan-e. i prefer the imagery of tujhe dekha to, but i am obsessed with the orchestration of dastaan-e.

5) If you could ask SRK one question, what would it be? ohhhhhhh this is hard. its maybe more on the serious side, but id be interested to hear more about his perspective and thoughts on Dil Se.., and how he interepreted the role of amar, and the themes at the core of the film. it's one of of the pieces of his filmography that I myself am so fascinated by. i love the allegorical interpretations of it as a text. and if i remember correctly his grandmother is Kashmiri, so i would be interested how he interpreted the script and the political undertones/overtones of the film.

BONUS ROUND: Attach a favorite pic

i love this image so much. girl who is NOT going to be okay.

[desicinema]

CHOR NIKAL KE BHAGA (2023), dir. Ajay Singh

[supernaturalandpain]

My aesthetic?

My aesthetic is just scattered all over the place...

Just like me fr

[meteorherd]

continuing through my iconic horror watchlist for this year.....gonna check out suspiria (1977 version) tonight 😈

[sodrippy]

they should invent a bollywood club night that only plays songs i know and like

[manaosdeuwu]

I like very few musicals but bollywood movies my beloveds

[theinfinitedivides]

someone tell white people stop reviewing Bollywood by mediocre Western standards i'm f*cking crying rn

[girlivealwaysbean]

heart full of love and yearning after watching one bollywood movie

[maintohthakgayibhaishaab]

My online classes sir explained using these charac. and as i don't watch these shows im so clueless bhaee 😭😭

abb mujhe parhai samajne ke liye, shows dekhne padenge?!!! 😭😭

[maopll]

at a friend's birthday party 🔥🔥🔥

[pariaritzia]

Queerness in Indian Media

↳Film: DIDI TERA DEVAR DEEWANA from HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN (1994, Hindi), dir. SOORAJ BARJATYA

Sooraj Barjatya films are known for their (often unintentionally comedic) portrayals of traditional family values, which is why it was so surprising that a song like Didi Tera Devar Deewana somehow made it into what was, at the time, the biggest Indian blockbuster. The character Rita (Sahila Chaddha), who has no prominent role in the film otherwise, crossdresses to role-play as Prem (Salman Khan). She teases the women, romances Nisha (Madhuri Dixit) and conducts herself with a confident masculinity that was, and still is, virtually unheard of in mainstream Indian cinema across all languages.

Commentary on this song by Professor Gayatri Gopinath, from her book Impossible Desires: Queer Diasporas and South Asian Public Cultures, was posted by Desbian Herstory here.

This song was only the beginning of Madhuri Dixit's involvement in queer media, as she would go on to feature in multiple gay and gay-coded media, both as a supportive character and as the gay character herself. She has also been supportive in real life of the LGBTQ community.