#viviek kalra

[hughey-cat]

If Dev Patel is being FCed as James Potter, I found Harry.

Viviek Kalra from Blinded By The Light

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Blinded By the Light

Have you ever heard a song that changed your life? I know I have. Songs that helped take me far, far away from the misery I was living in, songs that made me want to be the person I knew I could be. That once-in-a-lifetime feeling is what Blinded By the Light is about - the true story of a young Pakistani boy living in Luton, England during the iron grip of the Thatcher years who learns the great lessons of life, love, living for a dream, and reconciling his past and future, all through the music of Bruce Springsteen. If you’re not a huge fan of The Boss, I understand why you might be asking, “And I should care why?” Well...

I don’t know what it is about these British musical biopics that are so in vogue right now, but this may be my second favorite film this year after Rocketman. Viviek Kalra is a revelation as our protagonist, Javed, and his journey from a sensitive, stifled young man into a force of artistic expression is so moving and heartfelt. 

Some thoughts:

I love the establishment of time and place right from the get-go, with the Margaret Thatcher billboards, the unemployment advertisements, and the “Luton sucks” graffiti. 

Unless I’m misunderstanding English school years, shouldn’t this banner read “Welcome Class of 88″ instead of 87 at the beginning of the school year in September 1987??

Oh hello Hayley Atwell in a much bigger role than I was anticipating, how I have missed you and Agent Carter every day.

I love the homage to Mean Girls in the cafeteria clique breakdown. 

This soundtrack (not just the Bruce parts) is totally banging. 1987 was such an excellent music year. 

Public singing demonstrations to woo a girl always seem so swoonworthy in movies, but I’m thinking IRL this whole scene would be kind of creepy and weird. I suppose Javed’s earnest charm is part of what makes this feel less threatening.

And he saves it because this is an incredibly sweet first date. Is there anything more romantic than sharing headphones? It’s the perfect amount of intimacy with someone you want to be with without it being too invasive or aggressive. 

You know this movie is impressive when they do the big “Born to Run” singalong and manage to get through what are arguably the most terrible lyrics of all time and it’s still a fun and joyful scene. If you can lip sync to “Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims/And strap your hands across my engines” with a straight face, you’re a better actor than most, Aaron Phagura.

That’s a big part of appeal here, honestly, is the sheer exuberance Javed and Roops (Phagura) share alone and together as they become huge Bruce stans. There’s something so pure about their love for this music and this man with whom they have nothing and everything in common. 

I absolutely loved all the costuming and hair choices, especially some of these gravity-defying Flock of Seagulls haircuts. I appreciate that all of the teens at Javed’s school look like actual teens and not 20-something Vogue models or what Instagram influencers imagine the 80s looked like. These kids all look pretty much like dorks, and that’s how high school is supposed to be goddammit.

I so appreciated that Javed’s girlfriend Eliza (Nell Williams) had her own values and hopes and dreams, although disappointingly her story did basically serve to help Javed learn and grow. I wish she had more of an arc on her own from being exposed to Javed’s enthusiasm for life and for Bruce, but she did have a strong sense of self before he came along which never diminished throughout the rest of the film, so at least there’s that. 

Not only is Javed’s experience growing up and finding his artistic voice through his love of Bruce interesting enough, there’s the added element of his relationship with his father (Kulvinder Ghir) and the intersection of their lives as Pakistani immigrants living in a city strangled by unemployment and economic depression from the draconian policies of Margaret Thatcher and the growing threat of the National Front (think the alt-right with chav accents and worse teeth). The film juggles all these growing pressures on Javed masterfully as he tries to support his family and be a good son while also chafing against his father’s insistence that he will never be English, he will only be Pakistani. Javed lives in the possibility of a world made of shades of grey while his father sticks to black and white. Their dynamic is the most interesting, heartbreakingly real of the entire film, and the performances by both Kalra and Ghir are masterful.

Fun fact: this film is based on the writings and life of Sarfraz Manzoor, who has now seen Bruce Springsteen over 500 times!

Did I Cry? Oh god yes. When did I not cry? I cried when Javed listened to Bruce for the first time - just like The Boss himself, the moment feels like it should be cheesy but ends up incredibly powerful and affecting. I cried when the WWII veteran praises Javed’s poem and says, “You need to get your message out” in regards to his anti-fascist poetry. I cried when Matt (Dean-Charles Chapman, aka Tommen from Game of Thrones which I literally just now realized) confronted Javed about being a better friend. I cried during Javed’s big speech at the end and essentially didn’t stop until the credits rolled. 

This is a must see for everyone - especially anyone who has ever felt like the only outlet they had was the music blasting through their speakers and the dream keeping them alive. 

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[weclassybouquetfun]

Recently watched the teen dramedy THREE MONTHS starring Troye Sivan, Brianne Tju (I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER) and Viveik Kalra (BLINDED BY THE LIGHT).

Front and center as a singer, it's been a long times since Sivan was a lead. Not since his SPUD trilogy.

But THREE MONTHS proves that he has the charm and presence to take to be a lead once more. Written and directed by Jared Frieder, (MTV's SWEET/VICIOUS) and set in 2011, THREE MONTHS follows the....well three months in the life of teenager Caleb (Sivan), who ahead of his high school graduation has sex with a stranger in which the condom rips, he's faced with the unknown when the hook up calls to tell Caleb that he has tested positive for HIV. While having to wait out the three months of testing to ensure a clear prognosis, Caleb starts to frequent the kindly doctor's (Javier Muñoz, HAMILTON) support group. There Caleb meets Estha (Kalra), a fellow teen in the same predicament.

As Estha and Kalra blossoms Caleb has to contend with his best friend Dara's (Tju) love matters,

his home life with his grandmother and her boyfriend (Ellen Burstyn and Louis Gossett Jr) and old hurts that he tries to keep tamped down.

It's an MTV film (available on Paramount Plus) so it's not the greatest (though MTV Film's defunct sister shingle CBS Films had great films like AMERICAN ASSASSIN and THE DUFF), but there are real deft comedic moments and it's really heartfelt. Again, Sivan is fantastic as Caleb and his burgeoning relationship with Estha is sweet. Unlike Caleb, Estha is closeted and shy, so they've given Valra an unfortunate haircut

to make him seem like a geek when IRL Viviek Kalra really looks like this.

Sivan has two songs for the film. "Trouble" and "Wait".

Currently Sivan is shooting THE IDOL, the HBO series created by Reza Fahim, Sam Levinson (Euphoria) and Abel Tesfaye/ The Weeknd. The series, starring The Weeknd, Sivan, Lily-Rose Depp and another singer turned actor Tyson Ritter of the All American Rejects, is about cult leader who enters into a relationship with a pop star.