2 White Girls Talk Bollywood

Friends, this isn't the end, it's a new beginning! And we're not just talking about our podcast, but about our movie for this week. We're revisiting the absolute masterpiece that is Om Shanti Om, which in many ways for us is where it all began. Each time we watch this movie, we recognize more cameos, catch more references, and have a greater appreciation for the Hindi film industry (even as we cri...

Before saying goodbye (for now), we had to take one more journey south to Kerala. So this week we're watching Charlie, a 2015 Malayalam film that gets us every time. Just like the film's protagonist, you can't help but get lost in the setting, the story, and the sweet sweet eyes of our titular character. Is DQ the most attractive any person has ever been in this movie? Quite possibly! Is that just...

We've got a real bargain for you this week: two Dons for the price of one! Farhan Akhtar's 2006 remake of Don pays homage to the original while also adding wild twists and wilder costumes. And then Don 2 is a straight-up heist movie, which you know we love! These last two episodes have been a great foray into the type of action movie that we're sorely missing these days: ones that deliver ucomplic...

Friends, we've been waiting for this day for years: the day where we'd finally watch the original Don! And boy, did we have a blast. How could you not? There's intrigue, melodrama, revenge galore, and way more tight-rope walking than we expected. Not to mention Amitabh Bachchan in one of his most iconic roles! The film also stars Zeenat Aman and Iftekhar. It was directed by Chandra Barot and, of c...

We're revisiting one of our old faves today, and boy are we glad we did! Barfi! is the "delightful" tale of a hearing and speech impaired man as he falls in and out of love and mistakenly kidnaps his soulmate. We both got more out of the movie than we had in past viewings: the importace of validation in any relationship, the need for someone who matches your whimsy, and that if your partner's ex c...

After three months of movies about death, violence, and emotional turmoil, this week's flick was a breath of fresh air. Or should we say, a leaf-laden autumnal breeze! Mohabbatein may not be perfect, but it reminded us of what we love about Yash Raj Bollywood: the music, the colors, the charismatic characters, and the exaggerated drama that still reveals a deep truth about the human condition. In...

You guys, no. This movie was not it. It needs to be said right out the gate: we do not endorse or condone any part of it, except for Kriti's adorable sweaters. If you haven't watched it yet, don't. And if you have, please accept our condolences, and join us in this thorough evisceration. Tere Ishk Mein was directed Aanand L. Rai and stars Dhanush and Kriti Sanon. Like what you're hearing? Remember...

The Maddock Horror-Comedy Cinematic Universe is back, and not exactly better than ever. Maybe the complete opposite. Thamma was touted as the franchise's first all-out love story, but there's hardly any heart here. And we don't just mean because half the characters don't have a pulse. That lifelessness extends to their lack of growth, development, or relatability on any level. And the story is......

Friends, it's hard to come up with anything clever or quippy to say about this one. Homebound is an honest, heartfelt depiction of friendship and love in the face of adversity and oppression. It leverages a nearly universal experience-- the COVID pandemic and lockdown-- as an opportunity to insist that its audience grapple with its privilege, the systems that tear down marginalized communities, an...

We love a movie about movies. A story about telling stories that really asks... why do we tell stories in the first place? This week's film artfully presents this question: do we tell stories for acclaim, or to reveal a truth about the world? Two (fictional) powerhouses of the 1950s Tamil Cinema world duke it out to see whose motivation will triumph, with disasterous consequences for just about ev...

We're back after our Holiday Hiatus, and we think there's something to the idea of starting the year with a really, really bad movie. Nowhere to go but up! Enter: Baaghi 4, the latest installment in a franchise built around Tiger Shroff's charm, dance ability, and martial arts excellence. Of course, this movie has... almost none of any of those things. Lucky for us the ridiculousness veers into hi...

It's that time of year again, when we celebrate the passing of one year into another. And what better way than with a truly wonderful, sort of terrible movie? That's right, it's our third annual re-watch of the Shah Rukh Khan, Farah Khan classic, Happy New Year. Dance competition? Hacked. Diamonds? Theived. Our hearts? Full. Laugh with us, cry with us, and raise a glass to 2025 ending and 2026 bei...

It's time once again for us to look back on our year and discuss the highs and lows. And luckily, unlike most other aspects of 2025, this year for our podcats was almost exclusively highs! Join us as we talk about our fave and least fave watches this year, as well as crown our Bollywood Being of 2025. There's also a short and sweet blooper reel to round things out. Note: this episode has an "expli...

We're taking another vacation from Bollywood this week and venturing back into Malayalam Language Cinema. And you can bet this will not be our last trip to Mollywood, because we will at the very least need to watch the rest of this series as it comes out! Chandra's story is the first installment of the Lokah franchise, and we're hooked. This movie is heartfelt, action-packed, funny, and sets up a...

We've been waiting 5 years for the sequel to 2019's War! And... we're not as disappointed as we thought we might be! The Yash Raj Films Spy Cinematic Universe is finally bringing us back to super spy Kabir and his roguish yet heroic adventures. There are explosions and impossible feats of strength galore in this action packed flick that also tries to pull at your heart strings. Whether or not it's...

This week we're covering the second half of the Netflix series Ba***ds of Bollywood. And even though we know now, we won't be revealing the letters behind those asterisks, because the twist is the best part of the season! We have to be real with you, dear listeners-- this one wasn't for us. And for the first time in a long time, maybe ever, we seem to totally disagree with most of the audience and...

We've been talking for months about the directorial debut of SRK's son, Aryan Khan (and, frankly, so have many others). But we have to admit, we were a bit underwhelmed by the first four episode of Ba***ds of Bollywood. Here's hoping the second half of the series gets into the irreverant satire and sharp criticism we were expecting! But in the meantime, we're loving Lakshya and Manoj Pahwa, and no...

After several weeks looking to the past, we're settling back into 2025 with Metro... In Dino. The film follows several interwoven stories of couples at various life stages as they grapple with... infidelity. That's... pretty much it. Everyone is cheating in some way, shape, or form in this one. And yet the film isn't a thorough exploration of infidelity? We're not really sure what it is, but we ce...

We're continuing our study of the Angry Young Man trope for one more week, this time with the 1975 classic, Deewaar! Unlike Sholay, this movie is rooted heavily in emotion, though we'd expect nothing less with Yash Chopra at the helm. Deewaar explores complex family dynamics while also sprinkling in some solid fight sequences and charming dance numbers. It stars Amitabh Bachchan (of course), Shash...

After watching our first 1970s Hindi flick last week, we needed to know more about the writers who defined that era. Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar created the Angry Young Man, and established tropes that still resonate in the industry today. This documentary, Angry Young Men, left us with almost many questions as answers. But we still enjoyed learning more about this formative chapter in Bollywood h...

If we had a dollar for every time we've heard today's movie referenced in other South Asian films, and for every time it's come up in our research, we could probably quit our day jobs! We're finally delving into Sholay, just in time for its 50 year anniversary. The heart of the film is the friendship between Jai and Veeru, two criminals with hearts of gold. But there's revenge, romance, and LOTS o...

We thought it was time for a break from the bigger film industries in India to focus on one of the smaller ones: Mollywood! Specifically, Malegaon films. Superboys of Malegaon is a true story about a group of friends trying to make their film dreams a reality in their own backyard. You may laugh, you may cry, but you will definitely be inspired, because everyone deserves a chance to fly. Superboys...

We're back this week to discuss Part 2 of Baahubali. And yes, we're spelling it differently this time. Correctly? Who can say. Anyway, we certainly enjoyed the "conclusion" (maybe) of this one-of-a-kind cinematic experience, but we're not without questions. Why is Sivagami so mean in this movie? Who are these bandits who keep showing up at inconvenient times? Where do we get our own flying swan bo...

We're finally watching a contemporary classic-- Bahubali: The Begining! It's a movie that sweeps you away like a rushing waterfall, or like an avalanche you can ride on a makeshift-sled. To celebrate the 10th birthday of this Telugu epic, we dove deep into not just all the things to praise, but some of the more problematic elements of the storytelling. Love it or hate it, you have to respect that...

It's two for the price of one this week as we dive into two different Bollywood adaptations from Jane Austen's classic novels: Bride & Prejudice, which is Pride & Prejudice; and Aisha, which is Emma! Turns out we had a lot to say about both movies and how successfully they situate familiar Western literary characters in modern Indian culture. Full disclosure: if you're not an Austen fan, t...