Stay ConnectedA weekly wrap up of consumable and non-consumable entertainment curated, especially for the internet age. Hosted by Abhinandan Sekhri and Rajyasree Sen. Click here to support Newslaundry: http://bit.ly/paytokeepnewsfree
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On this episode of The Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap, Rajyasree and Abhinandan discuss the conversation between Kangana Ranaut and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, a new category in Oscars and more.Abhinandan watched the new Netflix original called Brij Mohan Amar Rahe and wasn't impressed with the quality one expects from Netflix. Rajyasree also talks about a film she watched on Netflix, Tikli and Laxmi Bomb. Then both discuss the new trailers; Anurag Kashyap's Manmarziyaan and Boy Erased. (In the podcast, Boy Erased was referred to as Boy Trapped by mistake).
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On this episode of The Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap, Rajyasree and Abhinandan discuss the Kalyan Jewellers ad, Dove’s new commercial, Mahindra’s #LadkiHaathSeNikalJaayegi and trailers of Helicopter Eela and Lizzie.They begin the podcast by discussing the Kalyan Jewellers ad, which featured Amitabh Bacchan and his daughter Shweta Bacchan. They talk about the outrage surrounding it and how they've acted terribly.The two then go on to discuss the fallacies in the conceptualisation of Dove’s new commercial, and praise Mahindra’s attempt at social change with #LadkiHaathSeNikalJaayeg.In addition to this, Abhinandan caught up with Shubhra Gupta, Meghna Gulzar, Neeraj Ghaywan and Anurag Kashyap at The Media Rumble.Listen up!
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On this episode of The Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap, Rajyasree and Abhinandan discuss the 19th IIFA awards, Kangana’s comments on Modi and laying down her life for the country, Chalo Jeetein Hain, a film on Narendra Modi, the sixth instalment of the Mission Impossible series, Sharp objects and Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Who is America?’.They begin the podcast by discussing the IIFA awards, which was hosted by Karan Johar, again; had ‘Gay’ jokes that are no longer funny and lacked almost all the major celebrities from Bollywood.The two then go on to discuss Chalo Jeetein Hain, a film based on an episode from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Childhood. It was released on Hotstar and all the star properties. Abhinadan, who criticised almost everything about the film, asks Modi supporters to write in and state what they thought of the film and what they think of a person who would approve a film like this about himself.For more on these, Kangna’s comments, Mission Impossible 6 and Baron Cohen’s ‘Who is America?’, listen up!
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This episode opens with a discussion on the 'No Scars cream' advertisement sent in by a listener. Rajyasree describes her experience of watching the advertisement as, “No Scars is a whitening cream, and darkness is like a scar. I just found it bizarre, and it’s so badly written, this ad.”Then, a chat about the government’s new PSA on mosquitoes. “Whoever’s made that ad either loves mosquitoes or hates children," says Abhinandan.Next, a discussion on Netflix’s first original Indian series, Sacred Games. “The production quality, the scripting, the acting, they’ve just nailed it," remarks Rajyasree. “There are very few things that one could say is wrong with this series," Abhinandan adds.On the use of voiceover and file footage as commentary for Indian pop culture of the time, Abhinandan remarks, “I think it works because it had political context, but sometimes, I felt it was a bit forced.”Varun Grover, a co-writer of the show, joins the panel. On the source material, he says, “There are some characters we have removed from the book…because we wanted to focus on the religion and the thriller element, and the war of civilizations in a way.”Then, a glimpse into the writing process: “We started meeting in August 2016, and discussing the ideas, themes, and characters. After 3 months, we started fleshing out the thing into a major season arc. Third stage came in January 2017 when we started writing the episode outlines, putting together all the character arcs, and putting them under the POV of Sartaj or Gaintonde.” This was followed by a year of writing episodes.Grover also discusses working with the source material’s author. “Vikram Chandra has been very generous and open to new ideas. When we shared it with him the first time, he never asked us ‘why did you drop this’….he just accepted it and start giving ideas on how to improve it.”For more on this, RJs giving love advice, and the trailer of Fanney Khan, listen up!
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Abhinandan and Rajyasree discuss the latest biopic in town, Sanju, with Samar Khan from Mumbai. Khan, who is a former journalist, says, “It is a well-made film. It follows Rajkumar Hirani's theory, where he finds good in everything that is bad with the world."Rajyasree is not as much a fan of the film and says, “I thought the film was quite badly made. It is not a fictional film, considering all of Rajkumar’s films have been fictional films. This is a biopic, that has been promoted as a biopic. I understand if you present some facts, especially about a person you have worked with successfully, with a rose-tinted view. This entire thing about hoisting all responsibility of all of Sanjay Dutt’s actions on other people, he took drugs because of someone else who tricked him into it."In response to Rajyasree's comments, Abhinandan says, “In a biopic, you see shades of grey in everybody. However, in this case, he just came across as a caricature villain from a fictional film.” Talking about Anushka Sharma’s character, he says, “I don’t know if there is one such writer who starts crying every time Sanjay Dutt tells a story. It was a completely ridiculous character.”Sen also discusses the criticism of Karan Johar for trying to remake Sairat. “There has been a lot of criticism for Karan Johar because he is making this film called Dhadak, which is starring Sridevi’s daughter and Ishaan Khatar, and I could not understand why he is getting trashed because when I saw the trailer and then the promos and songs, it looks like a Karan Johar film.”Talking about the nature of biopics, Abhinandan says, “After you watch a biopic, it says based on true events, but the next line is that similarities are coincidental. I don’t understand that. If you are making a biopic, then every character and every event should be true in that. Now, there is this new convention that the central character will be real, the rest we’ll make shit up as we go along.”Talking about another film based on a real person, Rajyasree says, “Soorma is the story of this hockey player called Sandeep Singh who made a comeback after he gets shot and he’s put in a wheelchair and how he makes a comeback. I quite liked the trailer, and I quite liked Daljit Dosanjh." In response, Abhinandan says, “Daljit looks the part, but the thing that is of concern to me is the whole ‘based on true events’. That means that probably one event was true, but the rest will be nonsense. These are the kinds of things that piss me off. Either you say that the film is a figment of my imagination and I’ll enjoy it."Rajyasree also discusses Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 by saying, “Tigmanshu Dhulia is directing it for the third time. I felt the trailer was like the first two films. I can’t make out the difference. And Jimmy Shergill has to stop playing a villain. Even he has to be tired of it.” And then there’s the new biopic of Jaggi Vasudev which will be directed by Shashank Ghosh and produced by Rhea Kapoor, and of course, approved by Jaggi Vasudev’s Isha Foundation.Abhinandan closes by talking about an Everest Masala ad with Amitabh Bachchan. “It has this little boy and his mother…I thought that ad was really good.” There’s this and more. Listen up.
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This week’s Awful and Awesome is loaded with reviews from all spheres of entertainment. As a die-hard fan of horror movies, Rajyasree talks about her spooky weekend screening -- Hereditary and Under the Show, which is also available on Netflix. Abhinandan shares his love for animated films and talks about The Incredibles 2. India Today’s “new celebrity interview series” along with Times Network’s campaign are discussed. Netflix special Nanette has got everyone talking about Hannah Gadsby so why should our hosts be left behind?Rajyasree talks about Hereditary for which she had heard grand reviews claiming it to be the “scariest movie of the year”. The Ari Aster-directed movie left Rajyasree very disappointed. She says, “The first 2o minutes held a lot of promise." However, she adds, “There is no way this film can scare you." Abhinandan mentions, “I found Sixth Sense very spooky”.Under the Shadow, a Persian film set during the Iran-Iraq war also claimed to be “one of the scariest films”. Rajyasree confesses, “The film had some moments though, I have to say.” Even though it didn't really live up to its expectations of being a scary-enough horror film, she adds.Abhinandan gushes a little over his love for “animation films and children” and how that prompted him to watch The Incredibles 2. However, he doesn't seem very happy with his decision. He says, “I was disappointed." He mentions, “The plot is that superheroes have been made illegal…and how this family of superheroes does not know what do." He goes onto talk about the importance of political correctness in animation films. He disapprovingly adds, “I really struggled through it.”Netflix original Lust Stories featuring movies directed by four big names in the Bollywood received its share of criticism from Lata Mangeshkar’s family. Rajyasree informs about a scene in the movie which shows “a woman using a vibrator in front of her family” with the backdrop of Lataji’s voice. The ‘inappropriate usage’ of the such a prestigious voice has got Lata Mangeshkar’s family very upset. Rajyasree makes a rational argument while talking about the ownership of the song. Abhinandan talks about the orthodox thinking amongst their family and adds, “I don't think they know we are in 2018.”Rajyasree is thoroughly “surprised” by Senator Ted Cruz’s sense of humour. She talks about the twitter spite between Jimmy Kimmel, a popular talk show host, and Cruz where Kimmel has trashed the Senator for his weight and his unwarranted loyalty to Donald Trump. She adds, “Ted Cruz took it really sportingly." Abhinandan disagrees and says, “I wouldn't be so charitable towards him…he’s such a slimy miserable man." The crux of the matter is well condensed by Rajyasree who uses this example to convey to people to “just be a sport about things” instead of taking every comment personally and offensively.AirBnB’s new commercial starring Rajyasree’s favourite, Saif Ali Khan and Karishma Kapoor, has left Abhinandan disappointed. He says, “It's an ainvayi commercial”. Rajyasree maintains her loyalty to Saif and adds, “I really like Saif so I think most of what he does is wonderful."Times Network launched a new campaign in an ‘attempt’ to promote the importance of female news anchors. Rajyasree expresses her cynicism towards the campaign and mentions, “The copywriter has blown my mind…good job Times Network, as usual." Indian Today TV has started a new series called India Today, India tomorrow. The show is being hosted by Rajdeep Sardesai and has celebrities from two different generations come together. Rajyasree informs “they've said it's a new this thing,” in terms of the concept of the show. She informs the series debuted with Gulzar and Meghna Gulzar (his daughter). Abhinandan feels, “Rajdeep is one of the poorest...as an anchor, he is just the worst." Rajyasree brushes off the topic by adding, “it wasn't bad”.
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On this podcast, Abhinandan and Rajyasree discuss celebrities, controversies, review the promo of Gold starring Akshay Kumar and Netflix's Lust Stories.Rajyasree felt that Atul Kochhar’s reaction to Quantico was extreme, to put it mildly. She also comments, “He’s a bit of a fool also because he’s sitting in Dubai, an Islamic country and you’re trash talking Muslims without thinking that there’ll be some repercussions.” Abhinandan adds, “Not only is he a bigot, he's also an idiot!”Rajyasree recaps the whole episode of Virat Kohli’s video post of his girlfriend Anushka Sharma rebuking a person for littering the road. As an experienced A/V professional, Abhinandan says, “Even when you consume video you must always question when you see a video what happened exactly fifteen seconds before this and what happened fifteen seconds after this.” He proceeds to explain his point by recreating a hypothetical dialogue. He concludes, “In this whole episode, no one comes out looking good. So next time, you have to do a good deed, do it and shut up.”Rajyasree talks about The Graham Norton Show episode in which Rihanna was light-heartedly called a ‘wine glass thief’. The episode quickly became a meal for media houses in India who ran it with horrible headlines, and the duo discusses the merit of the media coverage.Abhinandan describes the promo release of the film Gold. The duo finds the promo utterly bad.They talk about the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in which Robbie Williams who performed, showed his ‘middle-finger’ on air.Expressing dissatisfaction on his short appearance, Rajyasree says, “I thought it was blah...He just sang four songs and he left.”Rajyasree also talks about how Robbie Williams once fit one of the ‘Spice Girls’ - his then-girlfriend in a suitcase to evade media.Speaking of the World Cup anthem, Abhinandan says, “It’s a shit World Cup song.”They discuss the new Netflix film-series, Lust Stories. Abhinandan says, “Either the directors did not get the brief, that this is lust stories or they made four films on whatever the fuck you want and then Netflix said let's club them together and call them Lust Stories.” He adds, “Putting in a random sex scene in an otherwise complicated relationship kind of defining film does not become a lust story. If you’re calling something Lust Stories you should explore lust.” He proceeds to enumerate his observations on the film and delivers a rant on Karan Johar.Rajyasree speaks about the fact that after 32 years of operation, Pixar Animation Productions has finally released a short film directed by a woman.
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This week’s Awful & Awesome has our hosts reviewing Rajnikanth-starrer Kaala and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Rajyasree talks about the Netflix series, The Staircase, which is a documentary on a murder investigation spanning 16 years. Abhinandan has some thoughts to share about the latest World Cup anthem. Rajyasree also discusses, “ABC sticking their neck out” for Priyanka Chopra in the latest Quantico controversy.Abhinandan seems to be a little late to the Veere De Wedding party but can't resist sharing his views on it. He says, “I enjoyed it. I didn’t think it was great and I didn’t get knocked out." He mentions the weakness of the film being that “it's made by a guy, so it is his kind of view” about women. He adds, “While it set out to be Dil Chahta Hai, it ended up being Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara."Getting to the films, Rajyasree states, “This is the first Rajinikanth film I have watched...it was surprisingly understated." Abhinandan sheds light on the plot of the film and says, "There is a character Kaala, who is the head of a slum, Dharavi, the largest slum...and his battle against a powerful politician/ builder." Rajyasree lauds the director for his explicit politics portrayed in the film. Abhinandan agrees that it is a “very brave film to make”.Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is next on the list. Abhinandan is definitely unimpressed. He calls it a “really crappy film” that “sucked like a vacuum cleaner”. Abhinandan talks about the Jurassic Park concept that moulded itself into a movie in 1993 and how the portrayal of the same thing has worn out the content and the audience. He adds, “Now its just a money-making thing."The suicide of chef Anthony Bourdain has left both Rajyasree and Abhinandan stunned. Abhinandan talks about Bourdain's life on the road and the possibilities of that contributing to his depression. He adds, "(It is) lonely being on the road." Rajyasree informs us that “he had referred to his depression” in an interview before. She mentions, “He was a very intense man.”The release of the new World Cup anthem, ‘Live it up’ sung by Nicky Jam, Will Smith and Era Istrefi hasn't impressed Abhinandan much. Rajyasree says, “I only remember Shakira and Ricky Martin had sung one." Abhinandan informs, “World Cup anthems, there is no system for them to be chosen." He also adds, “If your song gets picked, the whole fucking world knows you." Rajyasree fangirls over Will Smith. She also talks about ‘Soccer Aid’ started by Robbie Williams in 2006 through which “they raise money for UNICEF…these players play for free”. Abhinandan says, “Football does so much good in the world”.Netflix series, The Staircase has got Rajyasree raving over how good it is! According to her, the documentary “has been shot over 16 years….first 8 episodes were originally aired in 2004”. Like other murder mysteries, this also doesn't really have a conclusion” but it is “spectacular the way they follow the family and the case, Rajyasree says. Abhinandan talks about the nature of documentaries and what adds to their credibility.
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Abhinandan and Rajyasree are back this week to bring you the latest from the world of pop culture.Rajyasree reviews Veere Di Wedding, starring Kareena Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania. She says, “In the first half of the film, it’s like none of them have bothered to read the script or learn their lines.”On asking why, she says, “Because they’re acting so terribly. It’s just horrible acting.”But what irritated Rajyasree most was the ridiculous product placement.“There’s Amul ice cream! These ‘rail thin’ women other than poor Shikha Talsania are shown as eating lots of Amul ice cream,” she adds.Abhinandan speaks about his experience dealing with clients as a filmmaker. He says that clients keep wanting the product placement to be ‘seamless’.Rajyasree talks about the film Get Out (2017) that won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and is finally available for viewing in India - but only on HBO. And she’s able to convince Abhinandan to watch it.The duo discuss a recent advertisement on menstrual hygiene - “First Period”. Rajyasree informs us that the advertisement was released on World Menstrual Hygiene Day. Abhinandan says, “Acting is terrible…I don’t understand the message.” Rajyasree talks about mansplaining and how the director, Mozez Singh takes the concept to a “different level”. She adds, “I do feel it’s a bit much for a man, who has never had his period…to tell me, a woman, why my mother did not do something.”Abhinandan is clearly amused by the video of the “dancing uncle”. The video features Professor Srivastava, who teaches electronics in Bhopal. Prof Srivastava “may be teaching electronic but his moves are electric”. Rajyasree adds, “his head movement is very good”. Abhinandan and Rajyasree discuss what makes a video go viral in the digital space.The duo also discuss Salman Khan’s Dus Ka Dum, which is back on air after nine years. Rajyasree says, “Such a rubbish concept according to me…very braindead.” She talks about Salman Khan himself issuing a disclaimer and stating, “This is not an intelligent show”. The conversation turns to gym freaks on Instagram. Abhinandan says, “Dus Ka Dum is a shit show and Instagram is a shit concept”. And, Rajyasree definitely does not want to see you all in your gym clothes. Listen up.
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This week’s Awful and Awesome has Abhinandan and Rajyasree finally lavishing some praise on a film. There are a few trailers, an online series and a commercial to wrap up this episode, and Rajyasree talks about the “grandest wedding in town” as well.Deadpool 2 replaces the otherwise promised review of High Jack (sorry listeners!) Directed by David Leitch and starring Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool 2 is a superhero movie “for adults” that hit the cinemas this week.Abhinandan says: “I was curious to see what is a superhero film for adults”. He feels it is “brilliantly written”. Rajyasree, while admiring Reynolds, talks about the quirkiness of Deadpool 2 which comes from the “cracks about superheroes” in the movie itself. Abhinandan adds that the “opening credits were hysterically funny”. Rajyasree “loved the music in Deadpool”, while Abhinandan recommends it and calls it a “most satisfying film”.Next up, the trailer of Race 3 gets hysterical reception from Abhinandan and Rajyasree. Directed by Remo D'Souza, the movie will star Bobby Deol, among others. Rajyasree sounds almost petrified when she says, “Bobby Deol is back and he is bare-chested!” Abhinandan feels it is the “shittiest trailer… I hope they make Rs 20”.Moving on “from the sublime to the ridiculous and back to the normal”, the trailer of Bohemian Rhapsody seems promising. The film is a biography of Queen singer Freddie Mercury and stars Rami Malek. Rajyasree says: “It’s amazing how much they’ve made him look like Freddie Mercury.” Abhinandan mentions, “Growing up, I have loved Queen’s music, but no I've not been a fan of Freddie Mercury… I was underwhelmed by the trailer”.Another trailer that Rajyasree really likes is of Bhavesh Joshi: Superhero starring Anil Kapoor’s son, Harsh Vardhan Kapoor, who made his debut in Mirziya. It is a “vigilante drama” revolving around a group of boys “who keep seeing things happening around them” and finally decide to take the law into their own hands.Abhinandan approves of the trailer and says “definitely makes you want to watch the film”. Rajyasree adds, “it does look like a cool film”. While she seems impressed by Harsh Vardhan, Abhinandan comments, “every time he opens his mouth, he says something so stupid… just pipe down ya”.The trailer of Mowgli by Andy Serkis wins praise from both Abhinandan and Rajaysree. Abhinandan thinks “it was spectacular” while Rajyasree talks about Serkis' intention to make a dark version of The Jungle Book. Rajyasree adds that it's “spectacularly shot”. Abhinandan, however, talks about how The Jungle Book has “worked in every avatar of its making” and that Hollywood remakes on the original story could jeopardise this film. Moving on to what’s new on Netflix, 13 Reasons Why (Season 2) has been aired. The show revolves around Hannah Baker who commits suicide because she is bullied in school. Rajyasree informs us that it is a “very popular show, based on a book by Jay Asher”.The great "Royal Wedding" of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle caught Rajyasree’s attention over the weekend. She says: “More than 29 million Americans tuned in to watch them getting married”. She also joked about the large number of security personnel present at the wedding. “If a terrorist attack had happened, they would have been able to get rid of half of the British entertainment industry and Oprah Winfrey and the others,” she adds.Finally, a “spectacular commercial” called “Who stole the cup” concludes the agenda of the day. Rajaysree says “it’s a UK production” starring the legends of football. The ad is about a betting site, which Rajyasree could not figure out. Abhinandan asks her: “You didn’t know about the product watching the ad, does that mean it’s a good ad or a shit ad?”All this and much more. Listen up.
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