Bollywood is For Lovers

With everyone working from home these days, we’re all struggling a little with work life/balance, just like Manoj Bajpayee in his counter-terrorism show The Family Man! Show Notes: We mourn the loss of Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor Never Have I Ever “ Never Have I Ever…Seen a Show So Casteist and Racist ” by Monica M The John McEnroe film is Borg vs McEnroe ; 7 Days in Hell is the tennis mockumenta...

We get swept up in a sea of emotions with two epic melodramas about adultery.  Show Notes: Adultery happens everywhere! Silsila Art imitating life? Melodrama and Douglas Sirk Songs: “ Sar Se Sarke ,” “ Dekha Ek Khwab ,” “ Yeh Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum ,” and “ Rang Barse ” (INTERVAL (“ Ladki Hai Ya Shola ” from Silsila ) Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna Who is the Black Beast? When will the early/mid-2000s no long...

With so much bingeable content available, we watch the pilots of six Indian streaming shows and discuss which ones we’re interested in seeing more of.  Show Notes: Our Netflix and Dil playlist Streaming With Suchin (thank you Suchin ) Little Things Pushpavalli Four More Shots Please! The Family Man Bard of Blood Taj Mahal 1989 NEXT TIME: Silsila and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna Bollywood is For Lovers i...

Put on your dancing shoes Lovers, we’re going to party the night away! Come back to 1982 with us as we revel in the heyday of Bollywood’s disco days.  Show Notes: What is disco? Vox’s “ Why disco made pop songs longer ” and and “ The ingredients of a classic house track " Trash, Art, and The Movies  on  Saturday Night Fever  and  The Last Days of Disco “ Disco Deewane ” Bappi Lahiri Disco movies N...

As promised, we catch up with the work of one of Hindi cinema’s most interesting and inventive auteurs, Dibakar Banerjee.  Show Notes: There’s a pandemic going on Welcome Felix! Dibakar Banerjee Khosla Ka Ghosla and Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! Episode 18 - Bollywood as Cannes: Masaan, Titli, and Miss Lovely Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar Comparisons to Steven Soderbergh Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! Devinder Sin...

In honour of Parasite sweeping the Academy Awards, we discuss three Hindi remakes of South Korean thrillers.  Show Notes: Hallyu Wave Indian remakes of Korean films Split Screen Podcast: Episode 12 - John Abraham Tries To Be ‘The Man From Nowhere’ My Sassy Girl Oldboy and Zinda Ek Villain I Saw The Devil Instax mini Comparisons to Badlapur (INTERVAL (“ Aaj Raat Ka Scene ” from Jazbaa ) Jazbaa Seve...

We return to our long abandoned series on Amitabh Bachchan series and discuss two of his earliest films, before he made it big.  Show Notes: Thank you sohaz ! Our previous Bachchan episodes It’s been two years The 65th Filmfare Awards Saat Hindustani Bhuvan Shome and Bombay Talkie (INTERVAL (“ O Maheki Maheki Thandi Hawa ” from Bombay to Goa ) Anand Not enough book fair? Rajesh Khanna Patch Adams...

Three movies, four directors, twelve stories. We dive into three anthology films that each explore a different theme: cinema, sex, and horror.  Show Notes: Thank you cj12947$$ ! Shorts and anthology films X: Past Is Present Coen Brothers’ “ World Cinema ” from Chacun son cinema Trevor Anderson and Matthew Rankin Guy Maddin’s “ The Heart Of The World ” Bombay Talkies Ekstra “ Apna Bombay Talkies ”...

Buckle up, it’s going to be a long one as we discuss the most notable Bollywood films of the back half of 2019, from July to December. Show Notes: Article 15 , again, Photograph , Super 30 , Judgementall Hai Kya , Khandaani Shafakhana , Jabariya Jodi , Batla House , Mission Mangal , Chhichhore , Dream Girl , Section 375 , The Zoya Factor , Prassthanam , War (INTERVAL (“ Ghungroo ” from War ) The S...

Chulbul Pandey is back, and this time he’s out for revenge...like he always is. With Dabangg 3 now playing in theatres, we discuss all three films in Salman Khan’s problematic action-comedy series.  Show Notes: “ India: Intimations of an Ending ” by Arundhati Roy Dabangg Yakuza Erin’s ongoing issues with cop movies, police violence, and the long walk to fascism Songs: “ Hudd Hudd Dabangg ,”“ Tere...

Fire up the PS4, in this episode we’re joined by game developer Ben Gelinas to discuss a pair of films about video games intruding on the real world.  Show Notes: Welcome Ben Gelinas ! Speed Dating For Ghosts Ra. One Pour one out for Akashi But is this an accurate portrayal of game development? The Japanese Enthiran / Robot trailer  Did Shah Rukh Khan invent twerking: “ Criminal ” (INTERVAL (“ Cha...

In an effort to engage more with 20th Century Indian history, we play a board game about the Indian Independence movement and discuss Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s 2006 film Rang De Basanti . Show Notes: Welcome Torrey Dance! If you’d like to skip the board game talk, jump to 48:21 What we were taught about the decolonization of India Gandhi: The Decolonization of British India, 1917-1947 COIN Series...

As the days grow shorter, we plunge ourselves into darkness and celebrate our favourite movie watching month, Noirvember, with two moody thrillers.  Show Notes: Our Noirvember playlist What exactly is film noir ? hint: it’s not a genre Mr. & Mrs. 55: Defining Bollywood Film Noir Madhumati Our first Bimal Roy and our first Vyjayanthimala “ Aaja Re Pardesi Main ,” “ Zulmi Sang Aankh Ladi ,” “ Di...

It’s time for our fifth annual Hindi Horror Halloween episode, hosted by a not-so-spooky Erin and an actual vampire. This year we’re crossing over with our Netflix and Dil series to discuss Sujoy Ghosh’s supernatural ghost hunting series Typewriter .  Show Notes: Welcome home Matt! Our past Hindi Horror Halloween episodes, Netflix and Dil episodes, and that one on Anushka Sharma Do horror films ne...

We discuss the dance theatre production Taj Express , which kicked off the 53rd season of Alberta Ballet and is currently touring North America.  Show Notes: Thank you ronil_u ! Alberta Ballet The Merchants of Bollywood : Shruti Merchant , Vaibhavi Merchant , and B. Hiralal Merchant “ The Disco Song ” from Student of The Year and “ Dholi Taaro Dhole Baaje ” from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Taj Express...

Taj Express has just kicked off their Canada and US tour in Calgary, ahead of their Edmonton dates Matt sat down with the stars to welcome them to Canada and discuss the exciting and unique Bollywood-inspired show.   Show Notes: Taj Express and Alberta Ballet Ninad Samaddar and Tanvi Patil Calgary White Hat NEXT TIME: Taj Express Bollywood is For Lovers is a member of the Alberta Podcast Network p...

In honour of Siddharth Anand’s War coming out in a week, we thought we’d treat ourselves to a pair of sexy, globetrotting action movies. Show Notes: Are we even looking forward to War ? Knight and Day ( Split Screen Podcast Episode 3 - The Tom Cruise of Bollywood ) Bang Bang! Songs: “ Tu Meri ,” “ UFF ,” and “ Meherbaan ” Katrina Kaif is all of us Access Bollywood scribe Kathy Gibson spoke with th...

Our favourite streaming show, Sacred Games , is back for its second and potentially last season! We catch up with Gaitonde and Inspector Sartaj as they continue to try and stop the nuking of Mumbai.  Show Notes: Our Netflix and Dil playlist Thank you lalaland4905 !  Sacred Games Neeraj Ghaywan NEXT TIME: a pair of fun and sexy action movies Bollywood is For Lovers is a member of the Alberta Podcas...

We love our listeners, we love them so much that when they suggest great episode ideas we turn them into a series! Join us for our first episode covering the films of Anil Kapoor, starting off with three features from the 1980s.  Show Notes: Thank you Mandy K R ! Thank you for suggesting this episode Bollylitsa and everyone who recommended films! Anil Kapoor was born on a lucky day Split Screen Po...

You’ve heard of the Angry Young Man, but what do men really have to be angry about anyways? In this episode we discuss three films where women get angry and then get even. Show Notes: Thank you lilianmeere ! Women have a lot to be upset about Gulaab Gang Sampat Pal Devi Girl on girl conflict Songs: “ Dheemi Dheemi Si “ and “ Rang Se Hui ” (INTERVAL (“ Gulaabi ” from Gulaab Gang ) Akira (not Akira...

We’re midway through 2019, so it’s time to look back at the first six months of Hindi film releases.  Show Notes: Uri: The Surgical Strike , Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi , Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga ( Manish’s article ), Gully Boy , Total Dhamaal , Luka Chuppi , Sonchiriya , Badla , Kesari , Hotel Mumbai (INTERVAL (“ Rappan Rappi Rap ” from Mard Ko Dard Nahi ) Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota , Jun...

With his latest film currently in theatres, we turn our attention to the career of the palpably handsome Shahid Kapoor.  Show Notes: Erin has OPINIONS about Kabir Singh Is Shahid Kapoor one of our guys? We’ve already discussed a lot of his best films, like Jab We Met , Haider , & Udta Punjab Ishq Vishk In defence of the teen romcom & comparisons to Archie Comics In Hindi films, college is...

To say that we weren’t looking forward to this show is putting it mildly, but after a couple of tubs of ice cream and a few glasses of bourbon we made it through and discovered that Richie Mehta’s Delhi Crime is an engaging and thoughtful procedural about one of India’s most notorious crimes.  Show Notes: 2012 Delhi gang rape India’s Daughter and Anatomy of Violence Richie Mehta Delhi Crime Our pr...

We welcome back fellow podcaster Manish Mathur to discuss the king of romance.  Show Notes (for full show notes visit our Tumblr page ): Welcome back Manish ! M. Night Frights & It Pod to Be You   When Romance Met Comedy Talk Film Society’s Patreon Manish at Talk Film Society Yash Chopra Our episodes on Kabhi Kabhie & Dil To Pagal Hai (INTERVAL ( Chudiyan Khanak Gayeen from Lamhe ) Lamhe V...

Ahead of the release of Walt Disney’s new live-action Aladdin, we discuss the Bollywood version alongside Disney’s own animated Hindi-language fantasy, Arjun: The Warrior Prince. Show Notes: Thank you Anshita Makwana! 10 BiFL points! Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin Disney loves Alan Tudyk   Comparisons to Bollywood & Naomi Scott in Entertainment Weekly    Fancasting Disney with Matt Will Smith will be i...