Yeah, I know. It’s a strange comparison, but hear me out.
The Ranbir Kapoor-Katrina Kaif starrer Jagga Jasoos is set to hit theatres on July 14.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Disney India
The film is a Indian musical adventure, directed by Anurag Basu, that chronicles a young detective's quest to find his missing father.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Disney India
And while the film sets itself apart from other Bollywood films, blogger Sagran Jos found some very striking parallels to a timeless classic – The Adventures Of Tintin.
Despite not seeming amused by being talked over by her male colleague, in a later interview, Katrina defended Ranbir, probably in an attempt to spin the bad PR.
The actor spilled the revelation during a podcast with All India Bakchod.
Koffee With Karan is probably one of India's most watched talk shows.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Hotstar
It's a coveted couch for the A-list stars of Bollywood to discuss their lives and their upcoming films. And the most juicy part for the audience is when they divulge secrets.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Hotstar
Now, it's pretty clear that the biggest stars of that year are invited to appear that season, but in a recent AIB podcast, Ranbir Kapoor shed a little more light on how actors are made to appear on the show.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
AIB
The episode Ranbir is talking about was from earlier this year, where he appeared on KwK alongside Ranveer Singh.
Last week, a besharam Bollywood boi hailed as the choco-romantic lead of his times, had too much whiskey and tweeted at privilege posterboy Rahul Gandhi about his own family's merit.
(His merit is clearly depicted in the phrase “Indian cinema of India”.)
Setting aside grammatical mistakes, of which we’re all guilty, he came across as a khandaani chauvinist, taking strange pride in the “Kapoor” surname and merit. It was typical of cis hetero savarna uncles who get off on only two things – whiskey and merit-mongering.
This narrative of getting ahead on "merit" reminds me of the snooty savarnas who merit-shamed a young Dalit girl called Anitha, until she took her own life. She, too, was let down by a system that claimed to reward merit even while favouring certain people and excluding others.
Unlike the Kapoors, I am a well-read person and yet zaalim zamana has informed me that my identity is not as likely to succeed as theirs. Close-knit fields, from cricket to the corporate sector, are dominated by hetero savarna males. The Hindi film industry is no exception.
As a savvy person well-versed in Rishi Kapoor's khandaan’s mediocrity, I chose to do a Twitter thread on his family, repeating the phrase “eff yo merit”.
Meanwhile, he couldn’t control his urges to merit-monger. He tweeted again:
“God’s grace”: a standard elite-hetero-savarana-male’s method of denying caste, class and gender privilege.
Hard work is minimal when caste, class, and gender play in your favour at every doorstep you knock at. Superstars often downplay the first chance they got because of their dad’s surname. But don’t ask them about the importance of that first chance. Ask Bombay’s millions of struggling actors.
Success in Bollywood isn’t by god’s grace or by hard work. It’s by caste grace or by class grace. Although according to the khandaan’s jamai raja, it was by eugenics. How many fascists can one khandaan have, I wonder?
To call out Rishi Kapoor's merit narrative, I made a meme using an image from “Besharam,” a film which clearly showcased the Kapoors’ merit in burning their audience’s brain cells.
"Nawaz ka badla le liya" refers to a diss he took at Nawazuddin Siddiqui while the latter was struggling. He said Nawaz didn’t have the looks or “image” to be a hero. It was because so many chances were given, “by god’s grace”, to people like Rishi Kapoor’s son and Amitabh Bachchan’s son, that it took 15 years for Nawaz to make it. Next time a Ranbir Kapoor film flops, remember what merit is: his privilege to flop and still get more chances, while talented actors like Nawaz sell vegetables and work as security guards.
A few days after my tweets and memes calling Rishi Kapoor out for misstating privilege as merit, I received this direct message from him:
After that DM, I was blocked, unable to reply. His technique was like a coward’s, who slyly looks for a chance to attack a girl then runs away on a motorbike.
Savarna male comics have joked frequently about how bad Besharam was. Savarna critics reviewed it brutally. Audiences went “thoo thoo”. Ranbir Kapoor has joked about that disastrous film a couple of times, and Rishi Kapoor himself has said he regrets doing it. I am far from the first person to joke about the film Besharam.
Rather, what stung him was my attack on their idea of khandaani merit, which the very mediocre but over-privileged family can’t stop yapping about.
Why this personal threat in DM for a meme mocking khandaani privilege?
What gives him the audacity to fire those words at me?
Is it because my display picture was Dalit rights activist and pop sensation Ginni Mahi? Or that my cover photo is of my idol, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, which clearly points at my social location?
Kapoor’s touchiness and caste-pride is easily explained. He is deeply Brahminical, as pointed out by Shashi Tharoor in this anecdote he recounts in his HuffPost piece, “Why Caste Won’t Disappear From India”:
I was a ten-year-old representing the 6th Standard in an inter-class theatrical event at which the 8th Standard’s sketch featured “Chintu” (Rishi) Kapoor, younger son of the matinee idol and producer Raj Kapoor, later to become a successful screen heartthrob in his own right. I had acted, elocuted a humorous poem and MCed my class’s efforts to generous applause, and the younger Kapoor was either intrigued or disconcerted, for he sought me out the next morning at school.
“Tharoor,” he asked me at the head of the steps near the toilet, “what caste are you?”
I blinked my nervousness at the Great Man. “I - - I don’t know,” I stammered. My father, who never mentioned anyone’s religion, let alone caste, had not bothered to enlighten me on such matters.
“You don’t know?” the actor’s son demanded in astonishment. “What do you mean, you don’t know? Everybody knows their own caste.”
I shamefacedly confessed I didn’t.
“You mean you’re not a Brahmin or something?”
I couldn’t even avow I was a something. Chintu Kapoor never spoke to me again in school.
After reading that piece, I’m not just suspicious of Rishi Kapoor’s caste supremacy, I’m certain of it.
Khandaani privilege is everything to him. It has given extraordinary wealth and public adoration to him and his extended family.
Khandaani privilege allows him to be rude, tasteless, and short-tempered, and still maintain his stardom.
The same privilege allows him to be misogynistic and still be revered. Remember when he fat-shamed Huma Qureshi? And remember his own domestic violence allegations? He also wanted to change the heroine in Wake Up Sid to someone younger, Ranbir Kapoor once said in an interview.
Khandaani privilege allows him to blame directors (and call them "monkeys") for his son's flop movies, because his own son, of course, couldn't be the flopping factor. Eugenics!
Rishi Kapoor couldn’t stand me, a girl with “fighting against caste” in her bio and Ambedkar in her cover photo, pointing out how unmeritorious him and his khandaan have actually been.
Because his khandaani privilege, held up by the false and fragile narrative of merit that he keeps pushing in his tweets, is what made him an erstwhile king of the orthodox village called Bollywood.
The author's name has been changed. She is a Dalit meme maker, poet and writer, who tweets at @DardEdiscourse and posts poetry at @shivani.channan. If you are pro-caste and anti-LGBT, you might feature in her next meme.
Why you should be excited: Ranbir's look from this Sanjay Dutt biopic bears an uncanny resemblance to the real man. Not just that, it is also Rajkumar Hirani's first film since PK in 2014.
Why you should be excited: This was the first Indian web series announced for Netflix and it boasts Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte, and Saif Ali Khan in its cast. To top it all, the show will be directed by Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane (Udaan, Lootera).
Why you should be excited: As if Kangana hadn't cemented her queen status with her previous work, this is going to be a great chance for us to see her play a real one. It's also the first time she's doing a period drama, so that's something to look forward to.
Why you should be excited: Have you seen the stills from this movie? They look scary, and while there are no real details to go by, the movie comes across as a psychological thriller that won't be for the faint-hearted.
Why you should be excited: We've got a fun girl-run film on our hands here (AT LONG LAST), and Kareena's first post the birth of her baby Taimur. With the way the film has been cast and the promos so far, it looks like something you'd want to take your best girlfriends to.
Why you should be excited: A movie that tackles caste in north India, has boxing in it, and a foxy AF Jimmy Shergill, all with Divine rapping in the background? SIGN ME UP.
Phantom Films
Lucifer
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Why you should be excited: This is Prithviraj's directorial debut and honestly, what could go wrong when you've got Mohanlal in the lead?
Why you should be excited: The Balaji-produced web series was supposed to drop in 2017 but got stalled due to production issues. Now that it's complete, we will finally be able to watch Nimrat Kaur play an army soldier and my beating feminist heart needs to chill.
Why you should be excited: This movie about south Indian actress Savitri has a dream cast of Samantha Akkineni, Dulquer Salmaan (as Gemini Ganesan, no less), Keerthy Suresh, Prakash Raj, and Vijay Sethupathi. BE STILL, MY HEART.
Vyjayanthi Movies
Love Per Square Foot
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Why you should be excited: A new Netflix movie from India and the first after Brahman Naman. It has an illustrious cast of Ratna Pathak Shah, Supriya Pathak, and Raghubir Yadav. It also has relative newcomers Vicky Kaushal (Masaan) and Angira Dhar (Bang Baaja Baaraat).
Why you should be excited: This is going to be Prabhas's first movie since the Baahubali series. He didn't take on any other projects during his time as the lead of the series and watching him shed the Baahubali vibe is definitely something everyone is dying to watch.
UV Creations
Kaalakandi
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Why you should be excited: We see Saif playing a man with stomach cancer in a mostly English film (his first after Being Cyrus) and if the trailer is anything to go by, then we've got an eccentric ride ahead.
Why you should be excited: Of all the comedy series that Amazon announced last year, this is the only one that will be helmed by a woman. And to have that woman be Sumukhi Suresh is the delight of all alive and well, tbh.
Why you should be excited: Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan are doing a movie together for the first time. UM. And also bb fave Fatima Sana Sheikh is looking like a total sword-yielding badass. So, I'm queuing up for this.
Why you should be excited: After their stellar chemistry in Ennu Ninte Moideen, Parvathy and Prithviraj will be seen together in the lead again for this film and that's honestly enough to make my ovaries burst.
Why you should be excited: AIB has been known to make stellar fictional content with their sketches and some even better stuff with Irrfan Khan. To watch the two forces combine to make a political satire show IS something to be more than excited for.
Why you should be excited: Shah Rukh Khan is playing a dwarf with Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif in the leads. If this CGI and story is anything more effective than Fan (RIP sweet child), then we might have a new era of SRK right here.
Why you should be excited: UM WHERE DO I BEGIN? We have internet darling Mithila Palkar playing a lead role for the first time in a Hindi film. This is Dulquer's Bollywood debut. And Irrfan Khan is going to be there to bless us with his brilliance. TAKE MY MONEY.
Why you should be excited: Mired by controversy, the movie is going to rake in the moolah regardless of the quality (if it does happen). That said, it would be interesting to see what Ranveer Singh does with his first negative role or if SLB can make a film that isn't a rehash of Ram Leela.
SLB Films
Raazi
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Why you should be excited: This period drama about the 1971 Indo-Pak war is being helmed by a powerhouse of talent: Vicky Kaushal, Alia Bhatt in the leads and Meghna Gulzar handling direction. This is also the director's first film since 2015's critically acclaimed Talvar.
Why you should be excited: Based on the book of the same name, it will be a look into Manmohan Singh's life in the PMO, and he will be played by Anupam Kher. At a time when the ex-PM has been vocal about the current regime, it would make for interesting viewing to know more about his infamous silence during his tenure.
Why you should be excited: This biopic about the Indian space programme is not just going to see the uber-talented Sushant Singh Rajput in the lead as an astronaut, but also the return of R. Madhavan to Bollywood after Tanu Weds Manu Returns.
Why you should be excited: The film is Saif Ali Khan's daughter Sara's debut, and she has been cast opposite the illustrious Sushant Singh Rajput. The movie will also be directed by Abhishek Kapoor of Rock On! and Kai Po Che fame.
Anjali Menon's next with Nazriya, Parvathy, and Prithviraj
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Why you should be excited: This is Anjali Menon's first film after the megahit Bangalore Days. It is Nazriya's first film since the same. AND they're bringing Parvathy to back them up. Prithviraj is here too. Oh, and Raghu Dixit is going to be composing some music for the film. I MEAN...
Why you should be excited: The trailer that dropped earlier this year boasts of a show that will combine math, science, and the underworld. If that could mean having our own Breaking Bad, I'm all up for it. Plus, Shashank Arora has been a name to watch out for since his big break in Titli.
Why you should be excited: Anil Kapoor, at age 60, playing a struggling singer while looking foxy as hell, with Aishwarya Rai in the lead and Rajkummar Rao (who will continue his streak of straight up KILLING IT next year too).
It goes without saying that this has been the year women reclaimed themselves, our spaces, and our stories in more ways than one. While #MeToo has been a massive movement that highlighted how oppressed women have been, here are some examples of those who destroyed the patriarchy this year.
When Mona Varonica Campbell defied conventional beauty standards to become the first trans plus-size model to walk at Lakmé Fashion Week.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Lakmé Fashion Week
When women used #AintNoCinderella to shut down a BJP member who said "roaming alone at night" causes stalking.
When law student Raya Sarkar collected anecdotes of sexual harassment from students across India and the south Asian diaspora to expose academicians for their alleged misconduct.
When actresses from Kerala came together to fight sexism and misogynistic practices in their film industry after another actress was kidnapped and abused earlier this year.
When AIB's writers and Kangana Ranaut joined forces to create "Bollywood Diva Song", calling out every sexist and ageist claim actresses are subject to...
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
AIB
And then inspired women from across the internet to highlight everyday sexism.
When Indian women across the internet showed the world how to "dress like an Indian women" when a college in Mumbai asked their female students not to "dress like men".
