Happy New Year! I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with a ton of surprise additions to the catalog from late last month — most of them older Hindi theatrical releases from Alt Balaji and Salman Khan Films. I wrote about them in detail for my December Indian roundup for What’s on Netflix. Here’s what was added:
We’re in a quiet period for streaming right now, with few theatrical releases waiting to debut online and only a handful of Original series set to launch on Netflix and Hulu in the coming weeks. In the meantime, check out director Dibakar Banerjee’s new short film Badminton — starring Jim Sarbh and Sayani Gupta — which you can stream on YouTube or watch below:
The writers of 2018’s terrific buddy comedy Veere Di Wedding reunite with their ace Kareena Kapoor Khan for a new flick about a trio of women in need of cash. The high-concept heist comedy Crew soars thanks to great performances.
Kapoor Khan plays Jasmine, a flight attendant with a taste for luxury goods she can’t afford. Her coworker Geeta (Tabu) pays her family’s bills while her husband Arun (Kapil Sharma) tries to start his own food company. And Divya (Kriti Sanon) graduated from flight school with a pilot’s license but limited job opportunities, and she’s too ashamed to tell her parents that she’s paying off her student loans by working as a flight attendant.
Their employer, Kohinoor Airlines, hasn’t paid their salaries in months, and the cash per diem the crew gets on trips to the fictitious Middle Eastern country of Al Burj is shrinking as well. Rumors of bankruptcy circulate, but crusty old head attendant Rajvanshi (Ramakant Dayma) isn’t concerned. The ladies learn why when Rajvanshi dies mid-flight and they find a dozen gold bars strapped to his chest under his uniform.
Thanks to Jasmine’s quick thinking, they use Rajvanshi’s phone to contact his co-conspirator: the company’s head of Human Resources, Mr. Mittal (Rajesh Sharma). The three women take over Rajvanshi’s role in the gold smuggling operation, and their money troubles vanish.
Soon enough, the ladies find themselves under investigation from the airport customs authorities, right as their smuggling scheme is brought to an abrupt halt. The trio can either wallow in poverty or take back what they feel they’ve earned.
The screenplay for Crew — written by Nidhi Mehra and Mehul Suri — hooks viewers immediately and quickly gets into the action. This is only director Rajesh A Krishnan’s second feature film after 2020’s crime comedy Lootcase, but he shows a real flair for the genre. That said, the pace slows a bit as the story enters its overly-complicated third act, and the resolution feels unintentionally morally ambiguous.
Yet the film is ultimately a success thanks to its leading trio. Kapoor Khan is outstanding and doesn’t waste a single second of screentime. Even when Jasmine isn’t the center of attention, Kapoor Khan reacts in a way that elevates every scene. Her off-the-ball game is perfect. Tabu is a stabilizing force as the most mature of the three women. Sanon gets to do some fun physical comedy, as her character was a former collegiate athlete.
The supporting cast is solid as well, including Diljit Dosanjh in an extended cameo as a customs officer with a crush on Divya.
Crew knows what kind of movie it is and what it needs to do, and it delivers on that promise. What a delightful film.
In 2018, it feels like most of the Hindi films I reviewed fell into the “okay” category — not horrible but not necessarily outstanding either. Only five movies merited a star-rating of 3.5 or higher, and just five earned a star-rating of 1.5 or lower. (Obligatory critic’s disclaimer that star-ratings are convenient shorthand lacking context, so please read the reviews!) As a result, I’m only doing a Top 5 and Bottom 5 for 2018.
That said, I think the movies at the top of the list are fantastic for different reasons, and I’d love to revisit all of them someday. Let’s see what made the list!
[Note: I didn’t get to review Tumbbad until after I’d written this post. I’d rank it in second place for the year.]
One of the year’s most delightful surprises was the horror comedy Stree. I wasn’t even sure it was going to open in the United States, given that movies starring Stree‘s lead pair — Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor — aren’t locks for international release. Thank goodness it did, because Stree was a ton of fun, weaving hilarious moments with a progressive message discouraging male objectification of women.
While Stree was about how men view women, Veere Di Wedding was as woman-centric as can be. The female buddy comedy gave wider latitude to its characters than most women are allowed onscreen in Bollywood, and it did so while being positive and uplifting. I have a soft spot for movies about nice people behaving nicely, and Veere Di Wedding was just that.
A buddy film of a different sort, Bhavesh Joshi Superhero follows a trio of vigilantes and what happens when two of them abandon their revolutionary ideals in exchange for middle-class comfort. It’s a timely story of the importance of organized resistance and a rejection of complacency among financially secure citizens, in India and abroad.
In the runner-up spot for 2018 is the top-notch spy thriller Raazi, about a young woman forced to leave her homeland in order to save it. Raazi was another win for women in Hindi cinema–not just because of Alia Bhatt’s riveting performance in the lead role, but because of the two talented women behind the camera: screenwriter Bhavani Iyer and writer-director Meghna Gulzar.
Another thriller was my favorite Bollywood movie of 2018, and the only one to which I awarded 4 stars: director Sriram Raghavan’s fiendishly clever Andhadhun. Ayushmann Khurrana’s first $1 million movie of the year featured him as a blind pianist drawn into danger by a calculating trophy wife, played by a devilish Tabu. Radhika Apte plays Khurrana’s love interest, adding to the talent level of a cast directed by a filmmaker who’s cemented his position as Bollywood’s neo-noir master. Andhadhun is currently on Netflix in the United States, which is great for first-time watchers and those of us who can’t wait to watch it again.
It appears North American fans would rather watch movies about Sanjay Dutt than movies starring him. From July 27-29, 2018, Dutt’s latest film — Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 — earned $22,695 from 41 theaters* ($554 average), according to Bollywood Hungama. That per-screen average is second worst for the year. Releasing the movie overseas seems like a last-minute attempt to capitalize on the phenomenal success of Sanju, because I don’t recall much publicity or buzz in the run-up to its release. The original Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster did so poorly in North America — with lifetime earnings of $14,231 — that they didn’t bother to release the sequel here in 2013, so opening Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 here was always going to be a gamble.
Speaking of Sanju, the biopic earned $69,508 from 44 theaters* ($1,580 average) in its fifth weekend of release, bringing its total to $7,777,222.
Dhadak held up reasonably well in its second weekend, holding over about 34% of its opening weekend business with earnings of $107,635 from 44 theaters* ($2,446 average). It has total earnings of $719,382 so far.
Other Hindi movies still showing in North American theaters:
Soorma: Week 3; $14,871 from 17 theaters; $875 average; $374,028 total
Veere Di Wedding: Week 9; $692 from one theater; $2,712,314 total
*Bollywood Hungama routinely counts Canadian theaters twice in its weekly reporting, at least for a movie’s first few weekends of release. When possible, I try to verify the correct theater count with other sources. The above figures represent what I believe to be the actual theater counts. Bollywood Hungama’s reporting technically puts Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 in 49 theaters (making for a $436 per-theater average), Sanju in 59 theaters ($1,178 average), and Dhadak in 58 theaters ($1,856 average).
All the pre-release hype for Janhvi Kapoor’s debut Dhadak resulted in a solid opening weekend in North America. From July 20-22, 2018, Dhadak earned $318,204 from 99 theaters ($3,214 average), according to Bollywood Hungama. The true total is undoubtedly higher, since Bollywood Hungama only posted earnings info for two of the sixteen Canadian theaters carrying the film. Also, 143 Cinema reportsDhadak as having earned $282,728 as of Saturday, and there’s no way the movie only took in another $35,000 on Sunday. Something closer to $400,000 would make more sense.
In its second weekend of release, Soorma earned $78,483 from 50 theaters ($1,570 average), bringing its total to $329,930, according to Box Office Mojo. Sanju earned another $223,338 from 112 theaters ($1,994 average), raising its phenomenal total to $7,634,206 after four weekends of release.
Other Bollywood movies still showing in North American theaters:
Veere Di Wedding: Week 8; $1,730 from two theaters; $865 average; $2,712,314 total
Race 3: Week 6; $877 from two theaters; $439 average; $2,752,789 total
Sanju had another seven-figure weekend in North America. From July 6-8, 2018, the biopic earned $1,281,466 from 359 theaters in the United States and Canada ($3,570 average), according to Box Office Mojo — good enough for eleventh place in the overall box office. Sanju‘s total after ten days of release stands at $5,995,791, with North America’s contributions accounting for about 10% of the film’s global haul.
Not surprisingly, Sanju‘s massive total is good news for Sanjay Dutt himself. Bollywood Hungama reports that Dutt gets a portion of the box office returns as part of his compensation for letting his life be turned into a movie, in addition to an upfront payment just shy of $1.5 million.
Bollywood Hungama is still having issues with its box office reporting, from theater miscounts last week to fluctuating overall totals this week. (Canadian theater info for Veere Di Wedding remains MIA, sadly.) Here are the weekend theater earnings reported by Bollywood Hungama:
Race 3: Week 4; $9,250 from eleven theaters; $841 average
Veere Di Wedding: Week 6; $2,000 from two theaters; $1,000 average
June saw three Bollywood movies earn more than $1 million in their opening weekends in North America, with Sanju saving the best for last. From June 29-July 1, 2018, Sanju earned an astonishing $2,723,349 from 356 theaters ($7,650 average) — good enough for eighth place in the overall weekend box office, according to Box Office Mojo. That theater count sets a new record high for a Hindi film in North America.
Race 3 slowed to a crawl, taking in $41,566 from 56 theaters, reports Bollywood Hungama (although that theater count may be too low, since Hungama appears to have under-counted Canadian theaters for the last few weeks). That per-theater average of just $742 is shockingly small total for a Salman Khan film in its third weekend of release. Its total stands at $2,278,352, temporarily slotting it in fourth place for the year so far.
The film ahead of Race 3 on the total earnings list — Veere Di Wedding — made $18,698 from 12 theaters ($1,582 average), bringing its total to $2,712,314. The movie ahead of Veere Di Wedding on list — Raazi — earned $6,267 from seven theaters ($895 average) to bring its total to $3,013,530.
One US theater earned $902 from Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran in its sixth weekend of release. Its total earnings stand at $448,256 — 15th best for the year, if you’re curious.
Veere Di Wedding (“Friend’s Wedding“) released to higher expectations than usually precede Bollywood buddy comedies, yet its four female leads rose to the challenge, turning out a warm, relatable, and very funny movie.
Well, relatable if you overlook how obscenely rich the characters are, driving around in cars that cost as much as a house (at least here in the Midwest). The only speaking character who isn’t wealthy is a maid who appears in one scene, crying after being beaten by her abusive husband. Her wounds are addressed in a couple of lines before she’s forced to participate in the excitement of one of the rich friends’ upcoming nuptials. It’s one of the film’s few off moments.
The friend getting married is Kalindi (Kareena Kapoor Khan), one of a quartet of lifelong buds that includes stuffy lawyer Avni (Sonam Kapoor Ahuja), stay-at-home mom Meera (Shikha Talsania), and drunkard Sakshi (Swara Bhaskar). Reuniting in Delhi for the wedding gives the women a chance to cut loose, but also resurfaces buried conflicts, primarily between the adult children and their parents.
There isn’t really a villain in Veere Di Wedding. The conflict is driven by complicated family dynamics, a boundless well that keeps the plot moving and gives everyone in the audience something to identify with. Kalindi became estranged from her father (Anjum Rajabali) following her mother’s death. Avni’s mom (Neena Gupta) is desperate for her daughter to wed. Meera married a white man named John (Edward Sonnenblick) against her dad’s wishes. There’s tension in Sakshi’s household over demise of her short-lived marriage.
The family of Kalindi’s fiance, Rishabh Malhotra (Sumeet Vyas), is the most colorful source of drama, often literally so. Eager to fill the void left by Kalindi’s mother, Rishabh’s dad (Manoj Pahwa), mom (Ayesha Raza), and aunt (Alka Kaushal) take over the wedding planning, their tacky, kaleidoscopic taste in decor and attire sending Kalindi into a daze. Kapoor Khan’s glazed expressions as they parade garish garment choices in front of her are hilarious.
Yet Veere Di Wedding is careful not to make too much fun of the Malhotra family. Kalindi herself says that she knows how important the pomp and circumstance are to Rishabh’s family, rejecting Rishabh’s offer to tell his family to back off.
That’s what’s amazing about this movie: the characters are so nice. The four friends will do anything for one another. Rishabh and Meera’s husband John are loyal and supportive partners, as are Kalindi’s uncle Cookie (Vivek Mushran) and his boyfriend Keshav (Sukesh Arora). Conflict is borne from hurt feelings and stubborn grudges, not from any inherent malice. The resolution to a subplot involving Kalindi’s well-intentioned stepmother Paromita (Ekavali Khanna) is especially touching.
That good nature makes Veere Di Wedding a joy to watch. Hype over the film’s bawdy language and (tame) masturbation scene is overblown. It’s important that female movie characters be given as wide a range to inhabit as male characters, and Veere Di Wedding does so in an uplifting, unthreatening way. It’s a welcome change to see topics such as sexual compatibility and the changes that happen to a woman’s body following childbirth discussed from a female perspective in a mainstream Bollywood film. Farah Khan’s choreography of the song “Tareefan” — in which white men are treated as eye candy instead of white women — is noteworthy, too.
What gives Veere Di Wedding lasting appeal beyond its present cultural significance is that it really is charming, thanks to the performances by the lead quartet. Kalindi’s bewilderment in the face of her in-laws stands in contrast to Avni’s stuffiness, which is at odds with Sakshi’s constant insobriety. Even maternal Meera goes wild on the dance floor. Kapoor Khan, Kapoor Ahuja, Bhaskar, and Talsania each bring something different to the table, and their efforts combine to make a movie that’s a real treat.
Rajinikanth’s multilingual release Kaala dominated the North American box office in its opening weekend. (Well, just the US box office, really, since it only opened in one theater in Canada.) From June 8-10, 2018, it earned $802,041 from 286 theaters ($2,804 average), according to Bollywood Hungama. That’s in addition to the $1,031,649 it earned on Wednesday and Thursday. 143 Cinema’s daily breakdown shows the film’s earnings heavily weighted toward opening day, due to a combination of peak interested and inflated ticket prices. We don’t know exactly how much of Kaala’s earnings are attributable to each version, but the bulk is from fans watching in Tamil. Not only is that version showing in the most theaters — assuming that the Chicago region reflects the rest of the nation — but it commands higher ticket prices than either the Telugu or Hindi version (which didn’t even release until Thursday).
Veere Di Wedding continued its strong showing for a second weekend, taking in another $507,919 from 120 theaters ($4,233 average). Its first-to-second weekend holdover wasn’t as good as some of the year’s other blockbusters — just 44%, versus 62% for Raazi and 52% for Padmaavat. We’ll see how it holds up this coming weekend against Race 3 and Incredibles 2. Veere Di Wedding‘s impressive total stands at $2,183,412.
Raazi is inching its way toward $3 million, though the above mentioned new releases will make that goal more challenging as the spy thriller heads toward its sixth weekend in theaters. In its fifth weekend of release, Raazi earned $77,931 from 44 theaters ($1,771 average). It has total earnings so far of $2,898,173.
Other Hindi movies still in North American theaters:
Parmanu — The Story of Pokhran: Week 3; $37,908 from 20 theaters; $1,895 average; $411,740 total
Rajinikanth storms into Chicago area theaters on June 6, 2018, with Kaala.
Kaala is releasing in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi — all with English subtitles — on a staggered schedule, with the Tamil and Telugu versions releasing on Wednesday and the Hindi version on Thursday. The multiple releases are throwing Fandango for a loop, as they have separate title listings for each version, plus a fourth title option that aggregates all versions showing at some theaters. It’s whack. Here’s where to find Kaala in the Chicago area, and in which format:
Hindi (opening Thursday): SMG Chatham, MovieMax, Rosemont 18, South Barrington 24, Marcus Addison, Stratford Square, Tinseltown USA, Cantera 17, and Seven Bridges
The South Barrington 24 also carries over Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran and Raazi, which holds on at the Woodridge 18 as well.
Stratford Square has the Punjabi film (with English subtitles) Carry on Jatta 2.
Starting Friday, the AMC Loews Streets of Woodfield 20 in Schaumburg is showing the independent English-language drama The Valley, from writer-director Saila Kariat and starring Dil Chahta Hai‘s Suchitra Pillai and Northern Exposure‘s Barry Corbin (in a casting mashup I’d never have expected to happen). It’s rated R and has a runtime of 1 hr. 35 min.
