Filmi Ladies

For the third episode of our Bollywood for Beginners series, we bring you two comedies - one featuring a couple that cons people for a living, and another that marries people off. Bunty aur Babli (2005) is fun on the run that stars Rani Mukherjee and Abhishek Bachchan, and Band Baja Baraat (2010) is about the business of being partners - in business and romance. Let us know what you think and shar...

This is a fully spoiler-y discussion of the latest installment in the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe, which frankly feels a little...de-fanged. SORRY NOT SORRY. Subscribe to Filmi Ladies on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/7Ib9C1X5ObvN18u9WR0TK9 or Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/filmi-ladies/id1642425062 @filmiladies on Instagram Pitu is @pitusultan on Instagram Beth is...

This episode is straight out of the pind! Yes, it is time to appreciate the very garam Dharam! We discuss Dharmendra's long and prolific career, his versatility, his softer gentler earlier roles as well as his action movie shouty phase. Movies discussed are Shikar (1968), Satyakam (1969), and Aatank (1996) We also discuss our favorite Dharam performances. Tell us what you think of his filmography!...

Welcome to the second episode of our Bollywood for Beginners series. We take you back in time to the 70s with two iconic films - Sholay (1975) and Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) Sholay is a curry western that brings you revenge, bandits, action and a beloved cinematic bromance starring megastars Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra. While Amar Akbar Anthony features a wholesome message of unity in diversity...

Here's episode 1 of 5 in a series where we discuss our Intro To Bollywood Films. Beth picks Paheli (The Riddle) from 2005 and Pitu picks Jab We Met from 2007. Both are romances with author-backed female leads, a feminist message, beautiful scenery and wonderful chemistry between the lead stars, all set to some gorgeous music. Watch Jab We Met: https://youtu.be/jf2gOSORoqU?si=yPQ-gq8WdSOlIwQ1 W...

Many people loooooooove this movie. Do we? This episode also includes discussions of toxic heroes, hating things other people love, "it's not for me," and other formulaic romances. Read "If Harrison Ford Were Your Boyfriend" on this Internet Archive grab from The Toast. https://web.archive.org/web/20160515004844/http://the-toast.net/2015/06/24/if-harrison-ford-were-your-boy...

Hellos, cheers and welcomes to the Filmi Ladies podcasts! We'd love for you to join us on a cruise with some very questionable people - some good, mostly bad, and every single one of them dysfunctional. We discuss Dil Dhadakne Do on its tenth anniversary and there is so much to unpack and discuss and obsess over - from the writing and characters to the themes of social status, keeping up appearanc...

Hot, passionate, angry, dangerous: red is so full of meaning! We discuss Kahaani (2012) and Chandni Bar (2001), which evoke a variety of these aspects of the vital color of red. What are your favorite examples of cinema making great use of red? Subscribe to Filmi Ladies on Spotifyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/7Ib9C1X5ObvN18u9WR0TK9 or Apple Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/filmi-ladie...

Clueless, a cinematic treasure, just turned 30 years old this year. Could we let its anniversary pass by without talking about it? AS IF! We discuss this 1995 movie's Gen X icon status, the deeply funny satire, other Jane Austen adaptations, Cher and Dionne's group of friends, social hierarchies and mobility and of course, THE FASHION! Have you seen Clueless? If you haven't, wear your...

In part 1 of this 2-part series, we covered • Parineeta (Hindi, 1953) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ENviesKdxs • Parineeta (Bengali, 1969) https://youtu.be/hj2DYy9BMAM?si=q7tJBfbkb3D5M8CV Watch it here if you missed it. https://youtu.be/TNop2Hiu1ic This week, it's time for 2 more Hindi versions: • Sankoch (Hindi, 1976) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OWzLLjjw70 • Parineeta (Hindi, 2005) We end...

How many Parineetas are too many Parineetas? Apparently 4! In these two consecutive episodes, we explore film adaptations of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1914 novel, and end with a little mock awards night! Films discussed in this episode: • Parineeta (Hindi, 1953) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ENviesKdxs • Parineeta (Bengali, 1969) https://youtu.be/hj2DYy9BMAM?si=q7tJBfbkb3D5M8CV Next wee...

Happy 3rd Anniversary to the Filmi Ladies podcast! To celebrate, we invited Vikas from Let's Talk Melbourne podcast to discuss trio films in Hindi cinema. https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/vikas-raheja/ We picked three masala films from different eras - Beth chose Kala Pathhar (1979), Pitu chose Trimurti (1995), and Vikas chose Yuva (2004). What are your favorite trio movies? Thank you...

We LOOOOOOOVE Sridevi but have seen very few of her films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, or Kannada - and it's time to fix that! Today we celebrate this most super of superstars by looking at Sigappu Rojakkal (1978), Neela Malargal (1979), Kshana Kshanam (1991), and Puli (2015, her last Tamil film). What others should we watch? Let us know in the comments. Our first Sri-focused episode also feat...

She's the fun, flirty girl next door but also spunky, defiant and strong. Preity Zinta is almost as well known for her real life heroism as she is for her roles. In a relatively short career of a decade, she starred in something like 30 films, many of which are massive blockbusters. We love her dimples, we love her dancing, and we are planning to bump into her at a Southern California farmer's mar...

Here's a catch-up episode because its been a while since we did those. Pitu attended the second NAFA Marathi film festival in San Jose, California and got to meet filmmaker and actor Amol Palekar, actor Dr Mohan Agashe, actress Ashvini Bhave and filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar. She mentions highlights from their discussions and Q and A sections. Beth and Pitu also discuss the movies they've be...

Dear friend Vikas Raheja from the Let's Talk, Melbourne podcast is back to discuss SNAKE FILMS! We describe what we think makes snake films so great, including how they center powerful women who take revenge, and look at three in depth: Nagin (1976), Nagamandala (1997), and Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani (2002). Check out Vikas's podcast on Spotify and all the usual places. https://creators.spoti...

Take a trip with us along some travel films in Hindi cinema. We discuss Karwaan (2018) with the great Irrfan Khan and other people Pitu also liked very much and Suhana Safar (1970) with the great Shashi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore and other people Beth also liked very much. What pleasant films we chose! As it should be - nobody wants to be taxed or vexed on the road. Highlights from Suhana Safar: C...

Dazzling, devotional, dangerous orange guides our choices today! Beth was bamboozled by the marigolds in Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding, and Pitu saw spiritually-inspired sacrifice in Aditya Chopra's Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Love—or loves plural, really—are at the center of these films, which is not unusual on this channel, of course, but these feel a little different. We also discuss some of the...

We talk about her films a LOT, so you knew this was coming: superstar Aishwarya Rai! We both like her acting in general, so we dig into why we think she's good, why other people think she's bad, and what kind of burden it must be to know that no matter what you do or say, someone will hate it. How can one woman manage the burden of being TMBWITW, getting abused by a mega-star, being a face...

To close out Pride month, we look at 3 Indian films that feature LGBTQIA+ characters: Fire (1996), Nil Nirjane (2003), and Arekti Premer Golpo (2010). Previously, we've discussed Maja Maa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdhvj0tN5ww and Badhaai Do https://youtu.be/iolSwAuT7IU?si=qp6wt9cMluLUCRZ_ And of COURSE we did a whole episode on queer icon REKHA. https://youtu.be/UPgobOdmKHs?si=dvvduK7zu_...

We would be remiss if we only talked about MAAs in Bollywood and ignored the PITAJIS. We bring two very different movies that depict different aspects of fatherhood - father as a human being first, and father who must grapple with passing the torch to his son. Beth discusses Ray's Apur Sansar (1959) and Pitu discusses Boman Irani's The Mehta Boys (2025). [We know Apur Sansar is not exactly...

Meena Kumari is famously known as the tragedy queen of Hindi cinema, and she's an actress whose filmography we've mostly avoided so far. Inspired by a subscriber's comment, we decide to give Meena's light-hearted movies a shot, and discuss Miss Mary (1957) and Kohinoor (1960). Pitu has seen the error of her ways and is no longer calling her Moaning Myrtle. She is now Merry Meena. If you haven't se...

We've discussed Indians making films set elsewhere, and now it's time to flip the script: foreigners making films set in India! Don't worry, we steered very, very clear of the Eat Pray Love trap 🤢. We joined a Wes Anderson dysfunctional family in Darjeeling Limited (2007) and studied a fictionalized take on real-life drama in The Bengali Night (1988). Their characters may be lost and...

Yellow is so many things - it's cheery, happy, positive, optimistic, and literally sunny as in the color of the sun! But it's also a color associated with fear, unease, cowardice, and the oppressive heat and dangerous conditions of the desert. We discuss the positive aspects of yellow through the 2014 movie Khoobsurat and the more seedy aspects of yellow in the 2007 noir film Manorama Six...

Beth has been waiting for this episode for years: it's finally time to talk about her very favorite star. And the thing is, Rani is so, so much more than a star - she's an ACTOR. We discuss some of our favorite films - many of which have featured on this podcast already - and a few that we've never seen before. Not surprisingly, we both love her comedic chops and went for Aiyyaa (2012), Chori Chor...