Does anyone want anything while he's out there?
Killy, do your job as Sita. Don't be a Gita.
Don't be a fucking Gita right now. Oh my gosh,
and then we have to talk about the ending because
what the fuck was that? That was a shitty...
That wasn't even funny. Oh, can I have a can?
Welcome to Fear of Stairs, Desi Films Decoded,
the podcast where four friends from different
backgrounds unlock the world of Desi cinema.
I'm Winnie, the Desi who's never been to India.
Hey, I'm Kili. I'm from India. I don't have a
twin. My name is Nikki. I also don't have a twin.
I'm Adam. I have three twins. And this movie,
I learned that women will give up their entire
lives for one dude if they like how he looks.
What? That's your takeaway? Yeah. Okay, that
could not be further from my takeaway. Well,
I didn't think the men in this movie were good
looking. Both of them completely give up their
entire lives instantly and don't even report
back home because they fall in love with a dude.
Adam could not be any further away from the point
of the movie. Well, one of them does. Both of
them, technically. After the reveal, both of
them does. So this is the kind of movie that
makes you want to have twins. Yeah, I know. It's
a choice. I usually try to get twins, yeah. Who's
gonna save your ass when you're in... So what's
the movie we watched? Sita or Gita? Sita and
Gita. At the recommendation of our Russian friend
who said it was really big back in USSR, back
in the day he grew up watching this. I can see
why. Yeah, so I'd say this is the second biggest
movie in Russia after Disco Dancer. Yeah. Yeah,
but I loved it. It reminded me a lot of Disco
Dancer. And they are physically just punching
upper class people near the end. And that was
really fun too. So I can see why it was led in
the USSR. The action scene at the end was pretty
good. I liked it. Very Tarantino style. There
was a lot of... I think I'm giving too much praise.
But there are some things I didn't really like
about the movie. But we'll get into it. I mean,
it's just your typical... I mean, the first thing
that came to mind when I watched the movie was
that it's like a Prince and the Pauper style
kind of film. Prince and the Pauper mixed with
Parent Trap, but also voluntary Parent Trap,
kind of. What is Prince and the Pauper? And Parent
Trap? Yeah, so explain. Prince and the Pauper
was this like... Was it a fairy tale? Yeah. It
was like a fairy tale where there's a rich guy
and a poor dude. They look alike and they didn't
like the lives they were living so they switched
roles and then lived throughout. And then Parent
Trap was like a Disney movie. There's one in
the 70s and one with Lindsay Lohan where it's
two twins that are born but then the parents
split them up and don't tell them that they have
a twin and then raise them separately and then
the kids figure out that they have a... identical
twin yeah wow it's pretty much that movie was
also actually inspired from an earlier bollywood
movie right from the 1960s maybe keely can tell
us about that i don't know tell us tell us i
don't know the name okay hold on i was gonna
just i mean bollywood the tween trope is like
a very popular one a very famous one ram or sham
grandma yeah yeah okay i have never watched that
film yeah talk about the director a bit though
Yes. He was 25 when he made this. And this was
his second film. Wow. And I just got to know
from you, Adam, that he made Sholay as well.
I watched both of his films as a kid. I knew
Sholay was made by Ramesh Shippy. And written
by Salim Javed Duo. Salim is actually Salman
Khan's father. And Javed Akhtar is pretty famous
now. He's Farhan Akhtar's father and, like, he's
pretty popular now. Like, we're writing films
and songs and stuff. And, yeah. So, I didn't
know that this film is also made by the same
trio. Like, Ramesh Shippy as a director and Salim
Javed as writer of the film. So, yeah. Yeah.
And also, Steraz, all these three actors in this
movie also reappear in Sholay a few years later.
So, Hema, Sanjeev Kumar and... yeah the other
doctor guy sanjeev kumar just ages a lot there
he's an old man there yeah well sanjeev kumar
like passes away a bit younger in life i'd say
he had a heart attack he's the guy that plays
a doctor yeah i want to talk about the opening
doctor as well that remember you know that guy
he's like laughing like non -stop oh but he had
cough syrup right they kind of weave that in
where he said that thanks for the cough syrup
from my cold and he's obviously just high off
his marbles Yeah, let's kick that off, I guess.
Do you guys feel like the movie just starts?
It goes so fast. I thought we missed a scene
or something. It just went straight into how
this woman was giving birth. So basically, there's
a rich couple. the the woman was going into labor
and then they decided to like quickly stop by
this like poor poor community and then this like
poor home where there's like also another couple
living there they offered like you know shelter
for the woman and then like the the both both
men went to see this doctor and like straight
off he's such a peculiar it's such a weird character
character i thought he was gonna serve like a
higher purpose in the story but no he he was
just there for that that one scene he has like
a weird mustache she's completely useless and
just kind of like nods his head and smiles and
laughs and does nothing and then the poor family
delivers the baby And then the doctor just takes
money and leaves. And yeah, he's like high drinking
cough syrup the whole time. This guy plays a
Hitler knockoff in Sholay. Oh, really? As a comic
relief as well. Is this guy like a famous comedian
or something? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Okay, so
it's like a cameo, right? Because I was like,
who is this guy? Why is he playing such a big
role who does nothing? He's a big comedian and
like comic actor. And then, yeah, he has done
like this kind of comic relief a lot. He shows
up and they're like, oh, the baby's done. He's
like, great, glad I could help. And there's like,
here's some money. And then he laughs and leaves
and it's a huge scene. But yeah, the movie like
goes bang right into it. I noticed how quick
it was. And then at the end too, it speeds by
really quick too. So you just get this long middle
and then very, very quick act one and act threes.
Gotta have enough time to showcase all the abuse
and beatings and slashings that go on. So they
have babies. So, like, the woman gives birth
to a baby. The rich couple thanks the poor couple.
Like, hey, you know, thank you so much. You know,
how can we... Like, they said something like,
how can we repay you? And then the poor father,
the poor man, he says that, well, we wanted a
child of our own. You know, so it would be nice
if you could give us our blessings. And then
according to the subtitles, I don't know if they
translated very well, but, like, the rich dad
says... Well, if we had twins, we would give
away one of our daughters to you. That's what
he says. That's exactly what he says. That's
such a weird thing to say, man. It's like, you
helped us so much in dire need. If we had like
two kids, we would give one to you. Yeah. Something
like that. But then they decided, like, you know,
the rich couple, they, you know, with the baby
in hand, they were like, you know, we'll be on
our way. And then they leave. And then it turns
out that the poor woman, she actually... tells
her husband that actually they did give birth
to twins, but she hid the other twin so that
they could keep it for themselves. It's crazy.
And now, one technicality. I don't know. I've
never had kids, so I can't speak, but I assume
that the pain is severe enough that you know
you're going through contractions and giving
labor twice, right? There's no epidural. She's
giving birth in a house like this. this other
woman is just acting like a midwife kind of thing
right so there's no drugs you're gonna feel you're
pushing out two babies how can you miss that
like how can the woman not realize there were
two two babies coming out from the baby she probably
passed out i guess that's the logic they make
it seem like she was asleep you pass out after
you can't be asleep you have to push right it's
like you're playing you know you close your eyes
and you open them and you have a baby none of
the writers probably because it's all male writers
I guess that's how that works right she like
doesn't feel anything or knows how it goes all
those scenes of women screaming they're just
being dramatic they're laughing they're laughing
in there she thought like one is the kid and
the next one was a part it's like those MTV shows
where they take a shit and they had a baby on
accident and didn't know they were pregnant I
didn't know I was pregnant yeah I love that show
yeah but then you know she kidnaps this child
and says well you know we can give the love that
rich people cannot give or something like that
flash cut to slash cut to the to the present
they're both grown up but i'll start off with
the the rich the rich side first so so the the
rich family conveniently the parents are dead
they're dead no reason did they even tell you
they're just like boom dead right but basically
like the they're dead and they own this like
huge mansion and the mansion is supposed to go
to their daughter, whose name is Sita. And then
she's basically, like, basically, like, it will
only go to her if she's, like, married to somebody,
right? But instead, but for now, like, she's
being taken care of by this, like, this aunt
and uncle. But, like, this aunt is, like, your
typical evil, big, auntie character. Yeah. It's
like Cinderella. It's literally Cinderella, yeah.
And then the uncle is, like, this really weak,
submissive, useless of a like shell of a man
basically I was so angry at the uncle I was like
you should die you shouldn't exist he seems good
intention but he's just useless he doesn't seem
to agree with all the abuse and the way that
they treat Sita but yeah he's such a weak character
I hate him more what is the relationship between
Sita and the aunt is that her real aunt that's
the real aunt so then I think she's related to
the uncle and aunt is His wife. I don't think
they ever. You have to. Because. They ever like.
The aunt's brother. Is the uncle. Tries to rape
Sita. Yeah. So. I think. That's not. He's not
trying to rape his. Family member. Yeah. I think
aunt is the in -law. Here. Right. Did they ever
confirm that? Because I don't think, yeah. You'd
have to be because he's not going to like rape
his own niece. What makes you say that? Maybe
he will. But there are plenty of cases. I feel
like he could. I think, I think, I think because
whenever these kind of stories happen in Indian
cinema, like the compassionate one is kind of
blood related and the more vile person is like
in laws. Like, I mean, related by And it's not
really clear as well how old Sita is supposed
to be in this movie, right? Because she gets
allowances, but of course her aunt just takes
it away from her. And at some point, you would
think that she no longer is a minor, so she would
have legal rights to all of her inheritance.
But it seems to be from the movie that she has
to get married in order to claim that inheritance.
Because until then, she's technically legally
adopted by the aunt and uncle. Absurd. They're
also physically abusing her. So they want to
give her the money, but the aunt keeps just taking
it for herself. They physically punish her. They
force her to do all the laundry, do all the cooking.
They're mean to all of their servant staff. There's
another little old servant that they shit on
all the time. And I think even if she's... Who's
the grandmother? Yeah, I was gonna... What do
you mean, who? And then there's a grandmother.
There's a grandmother. Yeah, I mean, she's...
I think she's blood -related. So let's say uncle
is blood related. So it's either the mother's
brother or a father's brother. Something like
that. Did you say anything? Again, that doesn't
become clear. But just seeing that there's no
real relationship between the aunt and uncle
and the grandma, you would think that they don't
really care about her, right? They also put her
in a room. She's really sick. They don't let
her come and eat dinner with them at the table
or anything like that. So that means that this
uncle, his mom and his... his wife is abusing
both of them. And he's just watching his wife
abuse his mother and his niece, his brother's
daughter. Yeah. That's why I hate him the most.
Yeah, he is the worst. The fat auntie. What's
her name? Just auntie, right? Yeah. Kashalia
or something. There was like the name Kashalia.
Oh, wow. Kashalia. She's incredibly evil. She's
one of the most evil people I've ever seen where
she's just incredibly mean. She has... large
coats of makeup on so she looks like a like a
mean clown and she's doing all these faces for
the camera and mugging and stuff and it's super
funny she's a very funny villain and she's just
incredibly like a very physical actor and she
just yeah is an incredible bitch to this woman
and you instantly hate the and and you feel very
bad for cita yeah they also have like the this
aunt and uncle they have their own child like
this bratty bratty daughter So basically, yeah,
everyone is mean to Sita. Like Adam said, it's
like a Cinderella situation. You know, when all
that is happening, she was giving a lot of chores.
She accidentally burns the dress of the bratty
daughter. And she pretty much gets punished through
all these dramatic slaps. And then they lock
her up in a room and, you know, like the others
have mentioned, there's also like the pervy,
the aunt's pervy brother who's like always lusting
after Sita and always saying that, you know,
he would like marry her and like get her out
of the situation. And basically it culminates
in like a scene where they're like, she's about
to get raped. And when he doesn't get to have
his way, he frames her for stealing a wallet.
And also, like everyone said, the only way that
she can own the mansion is if she gets married.
And there's a lot of suitors that come to offer
their proposals, but then the aunt and uncle,
they would do everything they can to prevent
that from happening. For one example, they dress
Sita up to be this like provocative disco dancer
disco dancer they said like oh the west has surely
is more progressive than us or whatever i thought
it was a little weird i mean there's nothing
provocative to me there was nothing provocative
with what she was wearing but again again you
know i guess it's like a culture she had a short
skirt she had heels she had Like fishnet stockings,
kind of. And you can see she's very uncomfortably
unable to walk in the heels. And the aunt orders
her to carry a cup of tea, a tray of tea to them
in those heels. And then she just slips and falls,
splashes it everywhere. But the guy reveals later
that he saw the daughter of the aunt. like kind
of kicking her kicking her so that like she trips
i mean it was not shown on the visual but like
later okay we'll come that come to that later
scene but yeah i i don't understand like i mean
i i understand well but it is very much like
you know all western women bad indian women good
kind of it plays in that dynamic and it's very
eyesore and like it sounds so bad to me i kind
of cringed yeah i cringed a bit like i was like
it was super cringy yeah but that's because the
doctor the suitor was looking for a traditional
nice indian woman that will cook you know so
basically the aunt just tried to present him
of the exact opposite so that he would not be
interested in marrying yeah i i like how the
good character in this film has these regressive
values and that plays out i love that part like
it's it actually brings out that what people
think was right because from filmmakers point
of view that these are right things to say in
a film from a good person's point of view and
that comes out as those dialogues and those point
of view of good characters quote -unquote so
yeah so that was like pretty cringe and pretty
funny to see like oh Like, yeah, I come from
the West. I come from there. The women have everything.
They're pretty good, but they don't have values.
Yeah, it's like that. It's very class -coded.
I mean, the whole movie is about class and passing
and being born in different places and then having
different class codes, but they're interchangeable,
right? So it makes sense that they're just constantly
showing you scenes of people pretending to be
in different classes and stuff. Yeah, the suitor
is, like, a doctor who's played by... What's
his name? Sanjeev Kumar. Sanjeev Kumar. Yeah,
and then that's the rich part, right? And then
you have the poor side of things where the other
person, played by the same actress, Hima Malini,
she... This is Gita. She's basically, like, this,
like, gypsy street performer. She performs...
Like, she, like, does, like, tightrope walking
with this other dude. That's played by Dharmendra.
This guy is the father of Sunny and Bobby Deol.
So he's also like an elite Bollywood family.
But yeah, like this Gita, she's like, you know,
she's the complete opposite of Sita. She's like
very boisterous. She's very like headstrong,
like does a lot of like unfeminine. She has a
lot of unfeminine qualities. Like she like steals
some money, can fight back and stands up for
herself. But she's also... The most attractive.
Yeah. So, for me, like, the Gita parts in the
whole movie were the most entertaining. Yeah.
But, like, the Sita parts were just so aggravating
to get through. Because, like, this woman, when
she's playing as Sita, she's, like, so submissive,
never stands up for herself, is always, like,
weak. And it was just so hard to see everyone,
like, abuse the shit out of her. Yeah, they definitely
paint it as, like, as opposite ends of the extreme.
It can be really frustrating to see Sita, you
know, like, yeah, she cannot speak up for herself
at all. And I wish maybe the producers tried
a bit more to show, like, some character development
or some voice, but I think because they also
painted Gita at quite an extreme of being such
a independent, dignified, like, fiery, fierce
woman, they wanted to show kind of those polar
opposites. But it does feel like the Gita parts
were more fleshed out. Then the seats apart.
Does anyone get that vibe? Well, you have to
have two extremes. And if it's the same actor,
you can't have them too similar. And that makes
the Sita character just suck as a character.
But over the period, there should have been some
character arc where she learns how to... like
you know speak back or something like talk back
that is lacking that is super lacking like till
the end like she's like the same person like
there's no change but it's also interesting that
they paint like adam was talking about class
dynamics and usually you would expect the alternative
right you would expect someone from an upper
class to kind of be more empowered but it's really
interesting that this movie painted Sita as coming
from a rich, wealthy family and having no voice,
no power at all. Whereas Gita, like her mom said
that we'll just give her love and she'll grow
to be fine. And that did seem to work. Like she
did not need that wealth in that background.
She did end up, you know, in a pretty good self
independent position. I think there's a very
interesting dynamic that 20 years later, you
wouldn't see in Bollywood films. Maybe I think
after Keijo and stuff, it becomes a lot more
aspirational for rich people. I think during
this time, again, same time as Disco Dancer and
stuff, there isn't the universal idea that, yeah,
rich people are super nice and lovely. And it's
like a Vanity Fair magazine ad, you know, like
the Keijo films. And so this was a cool time
when they admitted that the landowners sucked
and were really mean and not nice. And it's not
a good position to be in. you know, love is perhaps
more important. Exactly. It's a good message
to have. I think if you did this 20 years later,
you wouldn't have had that. I think it would
have been more of a Prince and a Pauper scenario
where, oh, or even Parent Trap with Lindsay Lohan,
where she's just with rich parents and it's really
cool. And you don't see anyone being rude or
mean based off their position of power, which
changes the whole movie. It's not as fun. Yeah.
So now we're in the next part where they like
switch sides, right? Oh, sorry. Wait. The scene
with Gita when they're doing the big performance
for the first one reminded me a lot of Disco
Dancer 2 because it's traveling gypsies. They
did the same thing, right? They're just playing
in front of crowds. They go around from crowds
to crowds playing music, doing tricks for the
people and stuff. It's the exact same dynamic
and I thought that was pretty interesting. I've
seen those people as a kid. They're everywhere.
What did you perform when you were doing it for
crowds? Were you jumping on the pole or what?
I was climbing the pole and slipping the pole
for like climbing four centimeter and slipping
down three centimeter. Wow, that's really cool.
I would have paid money to see that. Half Gita,
half Sita. I like that they don't talk about
the name choices and they just name their daughters
the exact same rhyming name. Perhaps it was destiny.
Perhaps. Perhaps it was fate. Yeah. The gypsy
characterizations and then their customs and
things, it kind of very much... uh if we like
shape like nitpick about this thing it's it's
not that well made it's kind of written from
a very like you know elite point of view but
i'll give it a pass in this film because it's
it's yeah i mean it is what it is but they're
nice to the gypsies and again gita is the hottest
one yeah like i just want to know but i want
to say they don't look down on gypsies or her
and I just want to say, Hima's a great actor
for portraying two people, and one seems very
cool and attractive, and one doesn't. Just based
off her performance, I want to point that out.
Good job, Hima. They don't look down upon the
gypsies, for sure, yeah. Anyway. Oh, yeah, anyway,
the switch up. So, yeah, Sita is getting abused,
so she decides that life is not worth living
anymore, so she decides to off herself. And how
does she do that? She jumps off. Like this bridge.
Into the river. Where the. Raka. He's the street
performer. He thought that was Gita jumping.
But then he realizes. It must be Gita offing
herself. Because what we find out is like. On
Gita's end. She was caught like slacking off.
And then Raka kind of like. Calls her out for
like not. Being at home or something. And he
thought that like you know. His. Okay, so Raka
and Gita's, like, dynamic is, like, they have,
like, a very, like, love -hate relationship where
they, like, always, like, quarrel with each other.
But they're lovers? No, no, no, not lovers. But
Gita's mom wants her to marry Raka. And to her,
that's an absurd idea. It almost seems more like
a brotherly friend relationship, right? And I
think that's also one of the reasons why she
decided to run away. You see that kind of clash
with her mom. And she stands up and answers back.
She's not going to give in to any of these demands
or anything. But from Raka's point of view, it
was very absurd. So why he falls for Sita and
not Gita? Because he wanted like a sushi lurkey.
Like, you know, he wanted a calm version of Gita.
Like, who would not bully him or something like
that. Both guys want Sita. Yeah. No, he doesn't
want. He didn't like, he wants the, no, Sita
is the rich one. No, you're right. He just wanted
her to dress like. Yeah, he wants, like, a hotter
version, like, who is, like, outspoken and, like,
I mean, he falls for that. Which is kind of ironic
as well, because initially he says that he wants
a traditional woman who will cook and everything,
but then he meets Gita and he ends up falling
for her. So, yeah, like, Sita, who's running
away from the aunt and uncle, she jumps into
the river, Raka decides to save her, and... He
brings her to the poor family, and the entire
community thinks that that's Gita. And the mother
goes to Sita and says, like, hey, you know, everything's
gonna be alright. I'm gonna give you all the
care you need. And I guess that's what makes
Sita stay, because she's surrounded by people
who love her. Yeah, this is the moment where
you have to really suspend this belief, because...
all it takes is her to say what the fuck are
you talking about no i'm not all you can say
yeah she just has to say that but no she just
gives in to like all the love i'm this person
she was offing herself okay now this seems like
this feels like uh like heaven to her like you
know everyone loving for loving her taking care
of her doesn't matter the money or anything like
treating her like a human being so this is heaven
for her so she's like okay i'm gonna just buy
into like If I was hanging out with any one of
you and someone that looked like you but acted
different and didn't know who they were came
in, I wouldn't assume it was still you. I would
ask more questions. This is also funny, right?
Because they're obviously so different and Sita
cannot do any of the tightrope moves and the
circus moves that Gita used to do. And the only
person who knows what's happened here is the
mom, like Gita's mom, who is now... sita's mom
also and so she should have been able to connect
the dots when her daughter comes back acting
so drastically different but it never dawns on
her until much later in the movie they just keep
making up the excuse like oh she must have jumped
in the river and knocked her head and she just
changed and has like a different viewpoint or
whatever she has no idea who we are what's going
on perfect she should have clocked it out like
yeah you're absolutely right like yeah that's
the suspension of disbelief that no one clocked
her not that she stayed back so while that was
happening right the the aunt and uncle from from
the from the mansion they were so worried that
they could get in trouble so they they put out
like a missing persons report to the police they
will not get the money so they will not they
won't get the money that's like the main point
yes and then they put out a missing person report
to quickly get her back so uh and also like auntie's
brother suddenly flies to Delhi after trying
to like attempt attempt to rape her how convenient
and then like well that was happening Gita was
basically like Gita the gypsy was basically I
have to clarify that in case anyone listening
gets confused because it's a little hard to follow
but Gita the gypsy she decides to like sort out
this like like issue with this kid where like
his money was stolen by some gambler yeah and
then like stolen like she he gambled and he lost
the money and this gita rightfully was like why
are you taking money from kids like kids shouldn't
you shouldn't allow kids to gamble so she takes
the gambler to the to the to the to the police
station and then the police inspector notices
hey wait a minute gita is that's the missing
person that's sita she has a framed photo of
sita's face because that's what they gave to
the police Find this woman, and he just pulls
open his drawer and just sees a framed photo,
and he's like, that's the exact same person.
And, like, photograph technology back in the
day? I don't know, you think it was that accurate?
Yeah, so he was like, you must be the missing
person. And, like, I don't know, like, Gita kind
of, like, you get, like, this scene where she
fights off the police, the policemen, like, in
a very comical way, yeah. That's a beautiful
scene. She's like Bugs Bunny. And just is very
anti -authority and is pranking them the whole
time and then does different. comic pranks and
then she like ends up sitting on a fan at the
top yeah they called in the uncle and aunt and
then right away they didn't notice the change
in the fact that gita is like always talking
back to the aunt and uncle she's always having
like these quick retorts like these comebacks
gita basically starts calling the aunt fat you
fat woman is that what she's saying yeah just
to show like how how much of a different character
she is from Sita, but whatever, like, the aunt
and uncle, they didn't notice anything different,
they decided to take Gita back, only, like, for
a while, and then, like... I think Gita like
jumps on a tree branch and then we get this scene
where the aunt and uncle tells like a team of
female hockey players. So random. Was that weird?
It was a young team too. They were like young
girls. They were wearing like short shorts. I'm
like, where is this coming from? Is this normal
back home? They were like cricket players or
something. They're hockey players. They're just
returning home from some camp or something and
they're like, oh, she's mental. Can you help
me get her? They're like, okay, let's help this.
The girls immediately spring into action. They're
like, go team, go. Rescue service. Yeah. And
then like, so Gita runs away from that hockey
team and then she bumps into the doctor who previously
was trying to like do the proposal with Sita.
But like the doc. Another thing that I noticed
is that all the cars in this movie, they never
lock their doors. They never lock the trunks
or doors. This is the 70s. Yeah, explain how
she ends up with it. She, like, goes to the back
of the car. His car is broken down. Yeah. Oh,
and she's getting chased by police. The hockey
team. Oh, the hockey team's chasing her. Yes.
She sees the car broken down. She sinks into
the car. And then just surprises him by, like,
peering up the back seat. He freaks out. And
then, like, he, like, puts on the brakes. And
then, like, it pushes them to hold together.
Like, hug each other. And they get this, like,
lovely, like, typical, like, stare in the face,
fall in love moment. They look at each other
for three seconds. She decides she's going to
give up her entire previous life. And not mention
anything about it. And not go back to her family
or tell her mom. She says, I will stick with
this guy forever because his eyes are pretty.
And then they have to deal with the guy that
hit the back of their car. And he's rich. None
of this is accurate, by the way. That's completely
accurate. None of this is accurate. I don't know.
What happens that's different? It's a coincidence
on her part, right? So she doesn't know that
this is a suitor. He obviously recognizes her.
He thinks that she's Sita. But she knows the
other alternative is that she's going to end
up in that aunt's house. And so she just rides
along with him. She kind of asks him, like, where
are you going? He tells her his destination.
She's just like, OK, then that's where I'm going
as well. You know, so she's right now her priority
is to escape that aunt and figure out what the
hell is going on. I don't think she fell in love
with him. There is no romance initially besides
that they lock eyes. it happens later yeah it
happens it kind of progresses over time but he
stays with him and then never goes back home
she does wait wait wait i'll explain that i'll
explain that in a bit but like they he brings
her home and then he's he gets like all these
it gets very pervy right like oh you're wearing
these gypsy clothes look at you i don't know
yeah because his parents are gonna come and his
parents are obviously very traditional so he's
just kind of like look you understand my parents
are here please go put on a sari he doesn't do
it in a kind of forceful way i'd say just kind
of like okay yeah you know just just to show
a good image because the last time they met you
you were wearing like western fishnets and so
he just wanted to give them a good image right
and she's still playing along with that yeah
she's not like what are you talking about this
isn't me but at this point she's assumed the
role of sita she understands that she understands
there's a sita who looks like her i'd say because
the aunt comes after her and also i think she
understands that There's something else going
on here. I think we gotta, like, suspend our
disbelief a little bit more. I think she's playing
along. I think she's, like, she's an adventurous
person and she's just playing along. Like, let's
see what happens. Like, we have a mood. But suspense
is being disbelieving for a bigger... Okay, alright.
The meter of suspension is broken. So, yeah,
like, so, yeah, basically, like, they end up
in his place. He tells her to, like, dress more
appropriately because the parents are coming
over. Parents come over and then, like, They
were saying, like, oh, now you look very appropriate.
I thought there was some charade, like, some
shady shit going on back in the mansion. And
that's when, like, Gita revealed all, like, the
evil aunt who, like, pretends to be nice in front
of other people but is, like, very, such a mean
bitch when they're just alone. But also, just
to note that, like, so Gita experienced the aunt
and uncle for about five or ten minutes in the
car, right? And that was enough for her to kind
of... connect the dots on what's happening and
reveal that to the in -laws yeah and then very
quickly very quickly figures out what's happening
to an abused person and you know the parents
warm up to gita who thinks it's sita right and
then we have this like the next scene i remember
now the next scene is basically the doctor and
gita trying to roller skate Right, which is their
big love sex song. Yeah, this is now when they
fall in love. Also because the moment he sees
her in a sari, he kind of falls in love with
her. That's so funny. With the blue outfit. And
she likes him. Yeah, she just likes him. She
just falls for him. But that does not take center
stage in the movie. I think you're trying to
claim Adam. Everything she does is for him. No,
you see that? I disagree with that completely.
Okay, anyway, the rollerblading scene. The rollerblading
scene is very ridiculous because like... like
they you get like this musical uh montage right
of which is a plus it's been so long since we've
seen songs in a bollywood movie i was so happy
to see this it's like they're just falling in
love and everything and then it ends with this
like comedy scene where it's like she just cannot
stop rollerblading and then starts bumping into
people Like, there was a monkey and there was,
like, an old man in a bike. And, like, you could
literally just stop. Stop, you know? But, like,
she just keeps on rolling. I have a lot of qualms
with this scene because this woman can single
-handedly take down the whole police station.
She can walk on a tightrope. She can do all these
cool circus tricks, right? But rollerblading...
is where her knowledge ends she's a street performer
first he has to teach her how to skate and then
when she finally does get the hang of it she
doesn't know how to fucking stop herself yeah
i know when she's learned so quickly i was like
yeah bang on because like she's like a she does
that for a job like tricky like uh like no like
those kind of gymnastic things so she picked
up rollers because learning roller blading is
not that easy right and those streets those indian
streets those rocky streets are very difficult
hey they start like off off road first right
not even on the like a beach asphalt street yeah
like which in the mountains is nicer i can understand
but like they start off road like off -road roller
skating so but when she picked up pretty quickly
i was like yeah that's that's where her skill
is like to learning but then somehow she cannot
stop herself that was like oh what the yeah initially
i thought she was pretending like she knows how
to rollerblade she was just trying to make him
feel useful as a man cita wouldn't know how to
stop cita would eat shit for five minutes it's
a really long live action cartoon segment it
is a straight up looney tunes like bugs bunny
thing where she's rolling down there's two guys
carrying a big stick and then she grabs the stick
and then she has to spin around so she doesn't
hit people it's a very very long looney tunes
scene yeah but in the end she gets captured she
gets captured she bumps into all these people
and the police manage to just like capture all
the the commotion so they sent her back to the
mansion where she meets like the entire evil
family and it's at that point that she realizes
like there's something messed up going on right
she meets the grandmother and basically she can
tell that right from the get -go that the grandmother
is like being abused she's like a prisoner of
war prisoner of war like they the servants tell
her like Oh, because they still think that Gita
is Sita, right? They say that ever since Sita
ran away from home, the aunt has been taking
it out on the grandmother. And that's when Gita
realizes, you know what? I'm going to assume
the position of Sita and fight this injustice
and stand up for the grandmother, stand up to
this aunt. Are we going to suspend our disbelief?
Let's just take up this role right now. Think
about if you're in that position. and you wanted
to help the grandma, what would you do? Would
it be assuming the role of Sita? Or would you
report it to someone? That was my favorite part
as a kid. And even now, so like when I was a
kid, like I used to watch this film, but never
watched the film in its entirety. Like, you know,
like... classic killy maneuver i mean i used
to watch like you know whenever it used to be
on tv a lot and then like you know depends on
like what i'm doing and what time of the day
i'm starting to watch i would watch like part
of the film but if when i watched this film uh
this time i realized that i have to watch the
whole thing at some point and then i so so this
was the part that was like most enticing to me
when gita takes up the role of sita in in the
house and then like bullies back every single
one of them and then i i love that part of the
film and this is your wet dream you're like i
want to treat my family members like this yeah
there we go so yeah like uh gita assumes the
position of sita and straight off like you know
she she gets abused by the aunt the aunt slaps
her a lot but you know she's not sita right gita
wouldn't take that shit so what does gita do
she like actually fights back and you get like
this really like i would say uh satisfying scene
where she slaps the the aunt back and basically
like bosses her around and orders her to like
cook food you know make some dinner she even
tells the bratty daughter to like you know clean
the house taking over the situation basically
yes i love the way that this was framed in the
movie because usually even if a woman is going
to try to fight back against like these oppressive
family obligations they would try to portray
it in a more noble way you do it in a dignified
way maybe you don't use violence right you kind
of find another route She doesn't go on a hunger
strike or anything. Right, right. But this movie
very much just kind of shows like, yeah, if people
are physically bullying you, you just got to
fucking like beat the shit out of them back,
you know? And that was effective in the movie.
And I think that was quite radical for that time.
Super satisfying. Yeah. I agree. It's not win
them over. She's not clever. She just physically
hurts them. Like they physically hurt her. And
the leverage instantly changes. Yeah. And then
like, you know. they suddenly like the dynamic
suddenly changed the aunt is finally like being
afraid of her and then she was saying like oh
wait till my brother gets back and then he'll
teach her a lesson and then he did come back
right he did the the the pervy uncle did come
back where he's just like oh you forgot your
place and he started like taking off his belt
and she also fights back like she manages to
like uh restrain him and then get the belt from
him and then start whipping him oh that was such
a satisfying scene and it went on for a while
yeah it went on for a while he was like pastor
of the christ at this point gita becomes like
unbeatable hero trope of bollywood films like
yeah like the hero cannot be touched gita is
the hero here like yeah yeah like like unbeatable
person like no one can take over her if you had
a fighting game it would be the disco dancer
guy with his guitar slashing her and then she
would have a belt doing range attacks against
him very whip like yeah Uh, alright, I'm just
gonna stop there for the Gita section, right?
And then go back to the Sita. I think, like,
all her parts are just so boring, like, I don't
think she really develops in any meaningful way.
She just, like, turns to the temple. And, like,
starts praying. Raka basically, like, doesn't
like this change, right? And when they went to,
like, this street show to perform, Sita couldn't
perform. She didn't even know she was performing.
Yeah, she didn't even know. Because it's not
Gita. And they still can't figure that out. She's
sitting there being like, what? I'm supposed
to do what? And he's like, damn you. You're spoiled
now. Yeah. Raka actually likes the change. That
was a big problem for me. Like, Raka actually
starts liking her because of the change. But
he doesn't like the fact that he's not earning
money for him anymore. Yeah, so, like, they get
beaten up for not being able to perform by the
mob, right? And then, like, you have this scene
where, like, Raka's clothes are, like, torn apart.
And then Sita's just like, here, let me fix it
for you. And then she starts, like, sewing up
his shirt. And then you get, like, you know,
Raka's friend who's just, like, this boy. He
says, like, once the woman does, uh, learns tailoring,
she no longer has... unfeminine qualities. So
true. Men do not make clothes. Actually, it was
like, once she starts sewing, she stops walking
on the rope. So that translation was unfeminine
quality. Yeah, that was strange. So when I read
that, I took it as like, oh, now she's a woman.
I'm finally in love. That's the sense. I never
wanted to fuck this woman until she acted like
my mom. But Raka and the boy, in one line, they
say that she's lost a fire in her. So they're
kind of aware that she's no longer the same.
So I feel like he misses that fire of Gita. But
at the same time, there's this now feminine woman
who's showing him love. And he's also a bit of
an alcoholic. And she, like, kind of gives him
that care. And, of course, then I think that's
what makes him fall for her. It's a whole alcoholic
song. Yeah. I was just going to get to that.
Like, there's this weird, like, quick subplot
where, like... Raka is, like, some alcoholic,
and, like, he only turns to alcohol because he
has - he's got no - no family, he's poor, and
you get the scene, like, you get, like, this
musical scene where he sings his sorrow out,
and then he ends up - he ends up back at home
where, like, Sita tells him, you gotta quit alcohol.
because it will make a difference. You get this
shot where, like, she's looking at him, and he
looks at her loving face, and it convinces him
to, like, quit alcohol the next day. Addiction
is cured. He goes to the temple early in the
morning and he's like, I'm never going to drink
again. And she overhears the entire thing. I
keep telling people, if more women learn how
to sew, less men would be alcoholics. And I wish
more people would listen to me about this. I
mean, I don't even know why AA exists, you know?
No, just get more women into sewing mills. Yeah,
that's it. So that's happened. So we go back.
Okay, now I'm going back to the Gita part. You
get this scene where, like, the uncle was abusing
the elderly servant. And then, like, I call this
scene the ping pong apology scene. Because you
have, like, Gita playing ping pong. She, like,
has this ping pong paddle. And she, like, I should,
you know, the camera work is so cool. She's just,
like, dribbling the ball. She's a great actor.
She is so intimidating with a ping pong paddle.
Yeah. She's just super scary. And even when she's
boring as Sita, it's because she's... playing
that role you know this actor is really good
yeah i would really hope that if when men come
to watch the ping pong show in thailand they
just see someone like sagita whipping them with
a belt and threatening them the only different
ping pong show i'll go i would pay for that one
i'll go yeah pretty good so basically like she
kicks she kicks the guy down and then tells him
to like hey apologize to the elderly servant
and you know what why don't you go down to the
market and get me some you know get us some food
some dinner and that's when like the guy goes
to the market and then he does he notices one
thing sita is actually in the market too and
that's when he gets like really suspicious like
hey something's something's something's weird
something's going on here right the market's
so funny though because he's in there like a
bumbling idiot he's never been to a market before
and he's like what vegetables are these he like
doesn't know what anything is he doesn't know
what prices are the merchants are all making
fun of him I love that. Because, yeah, they're
super useless people. Yeah. He can't do shit.
But, yeah, he sees Sita. He sees Sita and then,
like, Sita runs away, you know, going to Raka
for some comfort. And that's when Raka decides,
you know what? I'm going to marry you. Right?
That's what happens, right? He's like, he actually
proposes to Sita. Like, yeah, I'm going to marry
you. Meanwhile, though, that's happening. Like,
the doctor also proposed to the, you know, he
said, I've decided that I want to marry. Sita,
who's Gita. Who still hasn't gone back to her
family. This is just my one thing. She's living
in this house. She's assuming the role as Sita.
She's living with this family. She's falling
in love with this guy. They've already had the
sex song. And she just doesn't, you know, check
in with her mom or Raka. Hey, I'm still alive.
Hey, you might be wondering where I am. I've
been gone for weeks now or something. She's definitely
a woman on a mission at this point, right? Yeah,
yeah. And she explicitly says that several times
in the movie that she's like dedicated to fighting
injustice. She's a little too committed to the
bit. I would maybe send a messenger over just
say, hey guys, just so you know, I'm liberating
this twin I have or something. I would just tell
them maybe. I don't know. No empathy. Just your
mom. You disappear and your mom and your... Your
coworker who can't do anything without you is
just stranded. Oh, this is Gita and she's on
a mission. I will defend her. You keep saying
that like that changes her behavior. You can
do both. Well, Nikki has already said you need
to suspend some level of disbelief here. It's
a movie, right? They're just both in their roles
at this point. That's for the plot. That bit
is totally for the plot. For everyone to realize
later if she says that they had to write in a
more intelligent way, I guess. It's also the
1970s. There's no such thing as sending an Instagram
message or WhatsApp. Like, Ma, I'm here. I'll
be back in a week. They're literally in the same
city, I guess. Dude, in terms of logic, 1970s,
we have the godfather, man. They share the same
market. They're not that far. They share the
same market. Yeah, they went to the same market.
She doesn't have brain damage. She knows where
her house is. She never fell. She never went
into a river. Her house is like there. She has...
Complete memory of everything going on. Okay,
I'm deducting points from Geeta. But that bit.
It's kind of weird. She's hot, but come on. She's
not saying, okay, I'm deducting points. This
is her one off side. She doesn't care about her
mother. She's setting up to abuse her is great,
but she's not checking in with her mom. Terrible
woman. Be nice to your mom. That's the one bad
side. Okay, so both of them are getting their
hand in marriage. their their hand in marriage
right and then like meanwhile the pervy uncle
i don't know what he does for a living but apparently
he has a lot of henchmen that's the point he's
like a monster he's a rich parasite and the movie
does a very good job showing how useless and
rapey they are yeah yeah so basically he doesn't
realize that there's something going on and then
he he puts the two and two together that the
sita living in the mansion is not sita so he
tells the his henchmen to kidnap the real sita
Okay, and that's what - that's what happened,
that's exactly what happened, like, Sita was,
like, at a temple, and then she was helping to
this elderly dude who turns out to be a kidnapper,
and they basically, like, threaten her with a
knife and then put her in a car. So while that's
happening, right, Gita gets all depressed that,
you know, she's getting - she's about to get
married, but she's not who the doctor thinks
she is. and so you can like quit just sort of
harp on this oh my goodness no no no but what
is the plan i get suspicious disbelief but what
like what is the plan she's gonna help the grandmother
by marrying this dude like let's be she does
like him and she's just gonna marry him yeah
No, Gita. Gita. Gita. Oh, yeah. The doctor. That's
the plan. I don't know what the end game is here.
Yeah, Gita is just going with the flow, I guess.
Not really in a huge way. I think it's so funny
because she doesn't just say, I am not the woman
you're about to marry. She's also in love with
the doctor. That's what I'm saying. She comes
down. The way she expresses it is like, She comes
down in this really cool 70s outfit. She's so
pretty. With alcohol. And then, like, sings a
song about, like, being drunk. Basically. The
second drunk song of the movie. Okay, okay, okay.
She's drunk because the doctor is an abusive
piece of shit. Here, we have to talk about that.
Yeah, that was, like, the one red flag in the
movie for me. I love the movie besides that.
Not one. Like, he has done many things. At first,
he's like, Western women are bad. They don't
have value system. First red flag. That is red
flag. And this is like pure violence. Yeah. He
just slaps. And he says... that do you think
like i will marry someone like you who doesn't
have like you know like who comes from this low
-class family and they're street performer and
do you really think that i'll marry someone like
you and slaps her that was a dream sequence it
was a dream sequence she was actually imagining
what how he would react wait so he didn't really
slap her no no no there is okay look okay you
guys are getting it all mixed up i remember this
okay so basically they she she she imagines his
reaction when she reveals that she's gonna be
a gypsy and the when when the scene where he
says do you think i'm going to marry a gypsy
woman like you she he slaps her and then you
see the next shot she wakes up and says oh But
in the real scene, he also slaps her. Yeah, that
doesn't cancel anything that he's done, right?
So when she comes down and acts all drunk and
sings her song, when she's done singing the song,
he slaps her again. He doesn't say anything,
but he just slaps her and then she ends up on
her grandma's knee or something like that. But
the point is, she didn't break off the marriage
when he slapped her initially because that was
a dream. Yes, yes. My point is that he did slap
her in reality. And then they still end up together.
Spoiler alert. But she did the classic woman
thing of being mad to a guy in a dream and taking
it out on him in real life. But when did she
take it out on him in real life? By being drunk
and ruining the marriage. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She
did do that. I think she was not able to go through
the wedding without him knowing that she's really
Gita. She's not Sita, right? So she put on this
performance. The plan was stupid. She has to
call this off. Right. I just don't know why she
didn't just straight up said, hey, I'm not who
you think I am. Or we get married. Everyone gathers
for the marriage and she just gets hammered and
sings about being drunk the whole time. Okay,
being all powerful and like non -unbeatable comes
with some downside. One, number one. you don't
check up on your mother. Number two, you're terrible
at conversation. But you can fight. I mean, yeah,
everyone has pros and cons. Yeah, but that slap
from the guy I think was handled a bit too lightly
from the movie. Yeah, I think so too. And also
for Geeta's character, she's supposed to be such
a brave, fiery character that takes no shit from
anyone. And to think that she would let that
go is a bit unbelievable. I don't think... the
slapping is okay but i do think what they're
trying to show is how reprehensible her drunk
song was because they're trying to expand that
she was just being a hot mess and that's why
she wasn't mad that he hit her even though it's
bad she it's an admission of guilt that she crashed
this whole party you know and then so yeah after
he slaps her The doctor is asking her, what is
going on? Why are you doing this? And then why?
We all want to know. Before she answers, for
whatever reason, the poor family comes in. And
then you get Raka coming in. He said, wait a
minute. Aren't you supposed to marry me? And
before they can get any answers, the police comes
in and then tells Gita that, okay, so you're
not the real Sita. So we're going to arrest you
for being a fraud. Yes. And then they bring her
to jail. And once they drag her ass back to jail,
Gita's mom sees, like... Because everyone is
in this mansion now. Gita's mom sees, like, the
family portrait of the real parents. And then
she gets, like, all this flashback about how,
like, oh, I... Kidnapped a kid? I kidnapped a
kid. And basically, like, she faints. Typical
Bollywood style. She faints in the typical Bollywood
style. And then she tells... When she comes to,
she tells Raka that, hey, yeah, this is the truth.
Gita is... I kidnap Gita, basically. And then,
like, she tells Raka how, like, you know, about
the switch up. Sita is Gita, Gita is Sita, and
all that. And then Raka vows to, like, go and
save the both of them. Meanwhile, while that's
happening, I don't know what the end goal is
here, but the pervy uncle manages to kidnap Sita,
and then he's going to take her hand in marriage
instead. Which I don't know what the end goal
is. How would that have worked out? I think because
how patriarchal Sita Gita's father was, they
gave the norms of the transfer of properties.
The uncles and aunts take care of her until she's
married to someone. And when she's married to
someone, I think the... what is the term like
right of inheritance not inheritance the estate
or something yeah like they would be the caretaker
of raka i sorry caretaker of uh sita and so eventually
they will have actually the control of the money
so she he wants to marry um sita on whom like
he always had this lusty you know eyes and then
he just wants the money as he's gonna get the
the wealth as well so yeah they show mary they
show the aunt and the uncle is physically and
financially just exploiting the shit out of sita
yeah poor girl okay so we're in the jail we're
in the prison scene where like raka is trying
to rescue the both of them and You know, basically,
like, they... I guess, like, the pervy uncle's
going to, like, marry Sita in prison. I don't
know. Okay, just go figure. I was fine with that
part. Go figure. But basically, it culminates
in a scene where both men, the doctor and Raka...
They come in to rescue both of their women. And
you get, like, suddenly the movie just turns
into, like, this bombastic action movie. Like,
the actions, they go all out with the action
scene. They, like, they really go all out. Like,
you have people jumping around, crashing into,
like, objects. And they're, like, doing all these
acrobatics and doing all these, like, the, like,
Gita is, like, doing all the swinging move, kicking
people around. I thought that whole segment is
amazing. Yeah, yeah. It was beautifully shot.
It was amazing. And I think it's, like, a taste
of things to come for Shoulei, maybe? The way
I see it, that's how I think. Good action. Yeah,
so, basically, like, you have this, like, ultimate
fight scene that ends up with Gita... doing a
sword fight with the uncle and she basically
like wins and the police comes in and arrests
everyone i'm just wrapping this up really quickly
because that's just how the movie is like like
the police come in they they arrest everybody
and then you get like this weird i don't know
what is it whether they run out of money or like
they didn't have time to film it or whatever
but you get like this marriage scene but it's
like done in like screenshot like the slideshow
it was weird it's a powerpoint presentation of
their marriage you're like what what the fuck
it was what's going on and then like you see
the auntie smiling and like everybody's happy
with each other now like we don't know that right
like they just it's so weird to have a almost
three hour movie where they're just quickly going
through the marriage which is usually the most
important part yeah like what did you feel you
needed to focus on more yeah it was all it was
done in two minutes the final wrap -up like quite
literally and we see that gita marries Gita marries
the doctor, right? They didn't go back to their
respective circles. They just married. Gita marries
the doctor, Sita marries Raka. It just reminds
me of when you're writing a letter to someone
and then you get near the end of the card and
then you have to kind of shrink the end of birthday
so it fits within the card. This is what the
ending felt like. They just hit three hours and
they're just cramming it in. And then the end
scene is like, you have this... god damn it it's
not even funny winnie it's like it's like basically
it's like both men are walking to the bedrooms
where their brides their new the newlywed brides
are waiting in bed and then while they're doing
that they're talking about what is the expectation
for the first night do they have to consummate
the marriage or some shit and then like they
were like you get like this i know it's a cop
it's done for laughs it's a comedy bit you can
tell from the musical cues but basically it's
like the men basically get confused which twin
they're with and then like they end up in the
wrong room multiple times multiple times and
I don't even know what the point of that whole
scene is like if they made that mistake once
okay I get it but they made the mistake of switching
up like twice or so I think the twins were also
just having a laugh I think the twins are playing
them the twins are playing them like you know
pretending like To be each other. So that's the
change. Maybe that's the only character arc Sita
is showing that she can pretend like Geeta and
fool her husband or brother -in -law. They have
sex and get pregnant. They're like, just kidding.
I was Geeta. He's like, damn it. And yeah, that's
the end of the movie. They live happily ever
after. yeah the end of the movie is yeah these
two guys that weren't attracted to these women
initially then were because they changed personalities
at the end of the day when it came to having
sex with them could not tell them apart i don't
know what that said i had nothing to take away
from that i mean if their parents their whole
their own family couldn't tell them apart i think
it's lost hope i was just really disappointed
how quickly they wrapped things up because like
they didn't resolve anything with the aunt Which
I would have loved some closure. I'm going to
guess this is just a fairy tale reversal, right?
Where now the aunt is the one making tea and
being the slave. Yeah, the aunt came to the right
path or something like that. You don't even have
a scene where Gita's mom is telling Sita, Hey!
I took your sister away from you at birth. We
don't even have anything like that. There's no
reconciliation. Nobody's upset. Nothing like
that. I was a little disappointed that they wrapped
up everything with a slideshow. You get to the
end part where one of the dudes has sex with
the fat aunt. Wait, what? I'm kidding. He goes
in the third door. It's like the deleted scene.
He turns on the light. It's the fat aunt just
smiling. No brother is in jail. You don't even
get a quick... He had sex with the brother. That's
gross. Okay, homophobe. Yeah, that's Zeta and
Gita. I have a question. What was so appealing
to the Russians about this movie? It's the class
conflict. It's because it was a bunch of lower
class people fighting the upper class people.
It was putting gypsies on the same plane and
also showing because they're twins, it does break
apart the kind of framework of class, hereditary
class. If you have two people born from the same
parents, grow up in different classes and have
different coded behavior and stuff, that does
go a long way in dispelling kind of caste myths.
So I can see why it did really well in Russia.
It makes sense. But I'd say this movie is like
the first... It's the proper Bollywood movie
that we've watched in a long time. We haven't
gotten this mixture of Bollywood where there's
action, romance, comedy, family drama, songs
all in one. It definitely fits the trope. I loved
it. I missed it. I want more normal Bollywood
films. I love this. I need more songs. I'm the
opposite, guys. I love the more creative films.
The more gritty, realistic kind of movie. I'm
not into the whole... i'm not like this i'm not
i wouldn't lean towards this this mainstream
style i don't know i want to call it mainstream
we'll balance it out as we go along the way yeah
i mean the past few episodes we've just chosen
short movies which was like full -on bollywood
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was like song, music, drama.
This is also the oldest Bollywood movie we've
watched ever, like 1972. Is it older than even
Disco Dancer? Disco Dancer is 80s. 80s, that's
true. This is before Sholay, pre -Sholay, right?
It looks better made than Disco Dancer somehow.
Well... It was quite well made, I'm surprised.
Disco Dancer had like no budget. Yeah, yeah,
true, true. It's just budget issues. This film
was made, the director was 25, his second film.
And then after this, he made Sholay. So really
strong. I think the acting was really, really
good. I thought Hima was fantastic. Like I said,
playing both roles. was super compelling and
they felt like very distinct characters i never
confused i was better than their mom i didn't
confuse them like it was very clear who was who
i was attracted to one i was not attracted to
the other purely based on personality performance
and gypsy clothing so good job with that and
i thought the guys were really fun too was very
compelling i thought yeah i think this is like
i was surprised by how female centered this movie
was especially for 1972 like i wouldn't have
expected to see a woman being the hero like she
was literally the hero of the movie all the male
actors were just kind of like supporting characters
playing their love interest and so you kind of
see them breaking stereotypes you see them like
questioning female obedience like sita the character
i think is done that way almost to show the audience
that being this ideal submissive woman that fits
the stereotype of a good woman in india is actually
going to breed exploitation you're not going
to find any way out being someone loud and aggressive
and bold like Like Gita is actually the solution.
So I was surprised to kind of see these messages
being promoted in Bollywood like 50 years ago.
I found it a very empowering film. And I think
that resonated with the audience. You kind of
see, we all love Gita. The audience at the time
loved Gita as well. So I think that you also
see this craving from Bollywood audiences for
a more female hero, like a strong, empowered
female lead. And this movie gives that. And not
just that, it is an inversion of... you know
a dickens type tale because usually the person
born into the rich family is the lucky one exactly
and they're not yeah like this one is hey you
were lucky being born in the traveling gypsy
family because love is more important and that's
number one very good to kind of quiet the masses
who maybe want are agitating to like become upper
class and telling them hey it's not that great
but it's also a much better message of you know,
the importance of, like, loving family relationships
above all else, you know, and how money can kind
of destroy those relationships. It's good. Yeah.
Let's talk about the love triangle. Oh, yeah,
yeah. Okay, so there is a funny backstory to
this movie, I'd say, that kind of relates to
the plot of the movie a little bit. Well, of
course, there's only one Hima. There's no Gita
and Sita, right? It's just her. But behind the
scenes, there was also apparently a love triangle
between her, the doctor, who was played by Sanjeev
Kumar and the other one. Raka? Raka. Raka, right.
Dharmendra. Okay, Dharmendra. So Sanjeev Kumar
actually proposed to Hema one year after this
movie was filmed in 1973, but she declined it.
And a few years later, she married Dharmendra.
Whoa. And they were all in Sholay together too?
Yeah, so this actually made casting for Sholay
more difficult because he wanted all three of
them there. But then he decided that maybe he
cannot cast Sanjeev Kumar. Maybe he'll just cast
only Hema and Darminder together. But then he
went back to Sanjeev and was like, we really
need you for this role. But it almost affected
production where it was difficult to have all
three of them together because of this love triangle.
But then they all still come back and play together
in the movie. But obviously in the movie, Hema
plays the love interest of Darminder, who she
ends up marrying in 1980. So they actually got
married also. That's real love. Yeah, and they're
still together till today. But what makes it,
the real love part is funny because Darminder
already has a wife. He was already married to
another woman. They have their sons together,
Bobby Dio, Sunny Dio, big Bollywood actors also,
like massive. And he did not want to get divorced
to his first wife in order to marry Hema. And
so there's a whole, there's a lot of allegations
that they converted to Islam. so that they could
get married so that he could have a second wife
because under the hindu act of marriage hindu
men cannot have two wives but that's allowed
in islam oh my god and so this theory has prevailed
for quite a while now they're both politically
active hema and their minder they're both like
bjp activists but their religion comes into question
quite often because apparently they change their
names as well when they convert it to islam to
marry each other they're in bjp but they're islamic
because they're yeah they're technically hindus
i think they were just trying to look for a loophole
but this has never been confirmed they will not
confirm anything but this theory has been going
on for i'd say decades now is she still the second
wife technically yes to the knowledge of public
yeah that is so wild what a crazy onset story
that's nuts yeah in fast and furious 2 There
was a stunt woman who was having sex with Paul
Walker. Who's the other guy? The black guy in
that? Tyrese Gibson? She was having sex with
Paul Walker and Tyrese Gibson at the same time.
I don't know. Pretty baller of her. She didn't
marry anyone, but everyone was cool with it.
They were just both fucking the same stunt woman.
Seems good for her. Seems like it was fun. This
just makes me wonder what it was like shooting
that scene in the end where they're like... confused
between the two twins and they both love her
at the same time that's that's pretty that's
pretty awesome like given the plot of the film
yeah wow i didn't i had no idea of this uh it's
this story that's so spicy page three material
that movie must have been so messy you know because
she's playing the love interest for both yeah
and that's that's intense yeah i wonder what
made her choose their minder not over sanjeev
kumar Well, one's an alcoholic and one's a nice
doctor. Well, she chose alcoholic. No. Oh, Darmendra
was the alcoholic. Oh, okay. He's more handsome.
He is more handsome. She used to work with him
on the same trade. That's true. Like, you know,
yeah. Oh, yeah. They walk tightropes together.
The moment you walk in a tightrope with someone.
Their case moment. The doctor. The laughing doctor?
I don't know. The first five minutes. Nikki's
like, what the fuck is this twist? For me, staircase
moments is outside of the film. Realizing that
the slap scene is actually a dream sequence,
not a real scene. That's not outside the film.
That's in the film. But the moment is outside
of the film. For you, your personal staircase
moment. Personal staircase. A film staircase
moment. I think I had a staircase moment when
he was literally on the staircase. I think Geeta
starts slashing the uncle who has tried to rape
her. And he starts rolling down the stairs. And
I was just like, whoa, is he about to die? It's
just gonna happen. He was not a pregnant woman.
That's why he didn't die. Mine was just when
she looks at him in the car, when Gita looks
at him in the car and is immediately, yep, I'm
gonna imprint myself on him and just commit my
life to him. That was surprising, which is what
happened. It's fact. Dance floor clause, musical
number. Finally. There was a lot. And all pretty
good. Very well choreographed. I really like
them. The love song with... Gita? Is it with
Gita and the doctor where they're singing and
they're whistling with each other in the car?
That one? I like that song a lot. I like the
one when she's drunk and performing at her wedding.
The whole time she's dancing and moving around
quite a lot and she's holding to this glass of
wine or something of alcohol and it never spills.
It was the outfit that she was wearing. I thought
she was very hot. That's why I like the song
too. Family feud. All of it. Maybe it's the guy
trying to rape his niece -in -law and then marry
her later is perhaps one of the strongest ones.
And the aunt just being a complete bitch. Giving
someone baby and raising that as their own. Yes,
full of them. Being an aunt that's just pure
evil and just kind of hating everyone. I found
out that the aunt is actually half Irish. half
Indian. Is that why she was drunk the whole movie?
I don't know. But it was just nice to know that
she was half white. She acted the most cartoonishly
Indian. Very theatrical. The makeup, the eyeliner
was so bold and winged that you can tell she's
supposed to look like a villain. But it's great.
I couldn't stop looking at her. She makes facial
expressions the entire time. Popeye cartoon faces
the whole time. It's super fun to watch. Yeah.
Her looks like this, not street theater, like
those exagerated village theater makeup. I was
thinking that too. Yeah, like exagerated evilness
on her face. A street clown. Yeah. Spice level?
Regional heat check. Where was it even? Do you
know? I think it's Mumbai. I guess it's Mumbai
because everyone is speaking Hindi and the other
city that he flies to is Delhi. Yeah. So maybe
it's Mumbai. I don't know. And people get separated
at birth very often there? I have no idea. Have
you found your birth parents yet, Kelly? I didn't
grow up there. Maybe my parents were traveling
long farther away. What a clean pregnancy, by
the way. To pull over in a car, kind of pass
out, not remember what you did, and then some
villagers deliver your baby to you. Really clean.
Not even noticing it was twins. You don't even
need an alcoholic doctor to help you. Who was
that doctor? He was laughing non -stop. That
was a weird -ass cameo. I just feel weird that
it began, like, the movie just begins, like,
in media range. There's no opening sequence,
nothing. It just jumps right into it. I love
that. I was like, right on, let's go. I was like,
where could the three hours take us? And it's
pretty much nowhere. It's like a week of events,
and then it crams in the end. why do you think
like he's a big actor right okay it's like adam
sandler coming in as the doctor cameo or it's
like ben stiller and happy gilmore is like the
nurse resident i think if you watch bollywood
you'd probably clock it and kind of get on with
it and be like oh this is a good introduction
to the movie it's like those three tight guy
comic actors that are in everything yeah so so
his his name is arsani like he's a very popular
comic actor so i why do i think like the he has
had this studio deal to have been like certain
number of films and then like this is the way
they found out and then they told the writer
and i know like you have to put his character
somehow and they didn't find any other avenue
so they just put like in a cameo role at the
beginning yo first five minutes you get the audience
on board yeah it works you know it's the hook
yeah yeah it works what's the moral stand up
for yourself exactly like that's basically it
i think this movie has a lot of good messages
going for it you know like don't yeah don't silence
yourself beat up people who beat you fight for
injustice money is not everything sometimes love
does conquer Yeah, there's a lot you can take
from this. Also, steal twins at birth. Don't
ask. They probably were going to give you the
other one anyway. What about don't check up on
your mother when you were on a mission? What
about get married to any guy with a broken car?
She still married someone who slapped her, which
kind of takes away from the power of the Gita
character, in my opinion. But it gives me relief
knowing that she can slap him back. Oh, I think
she could probably kill him in one second. I
do think that's nice, too. They don't try to
quiet her at the end. He likes her because she's
like that. Everyone likes Gita. She's not a problem.
Even if you watch Sound of Music, they all kind
of admonish. the main nun because she's too uppity
or whatever. But this one, they always encourage
her, which is pretty cool. I think this movie
is basically like, be like Gita, don't be like
Sita. You'll get fucked. You'll get walked over.
But if you fight for yourself, you have a voice,
you'll be able to... Because she changed around
her whole life, the whole situation of Sita in
one day just by talking and hitting them. There
was nothing radical about it, right? It's just
a change in attitude. Not circumstantial at all.
So, yeah. Very empowering. I don't know how realistic
that would be. You know, like watching the movie,
because again, it's not like Sita probably didn't
try early on and that was extinguished from her.
It takes an outsider to kind of come in without
that baggage to boss everyone around. She doesn't
know who the fat aunt is. She doesn't have any
PTSD trauma. Yeah. I do think it's easier. For
sure. For sure. So, yeah, stick up for yourself.
Yell at your aunt. Tell her she's fat. Don't
take any shit from your family. People will love
you. and to bali would make more movies like
this was obviously a big hit it resonated with
the audience probably both men and women so obviously
there's a craving for this but i think in 1972
too woke stop putting with feminine heroes in
my but i do wonder if that's why it was a bigger
hit in russia like they actually sold more movie
tickets in russia as opposed to india so like
over 50 million in russia and 30 million it generated
more money through russia than india I mean,
Disco Dancer was also a hit. I mean, yeah, I
can see the commonality between these two. Yeah.
But there are films in Bollywood, I remember,
like, seeing a little bit of it where women are,
like, the central character and very powerful
and taking the lead of defeating the evil. When
did it end? I think so. I think in the 70s, it
was like Sholay, Amitabh Bachchan, kind of the
rise of him. So there were a lot of movies about
like angry men fighting the system, right? Fighting
corruption, the police, like these outsiders.
And I think this was like also... the same act
of rebellion that was going on in the 70s, but
from a woman's perspective. And so it comes more
like fighting domestic pressures, not systemic
pressures, right? So you see that public sphere,
private sphere. Exactly. That is different in
the battles. Yeah, she's not a submissive person,
but she's the idol in this movie. She's who you're
supposed to look up to. I would love if like
my daughter saw this and had this as a role model.
Exactly, exactly. Yeah, so five out of five for
me. Yeah, loved it. I'm excited for Sholay. I
like old Bollywood films. Even though it's three
hours long? No, I give it a three, guys. Oh,
gosh. It didn't resolve very well. I just didn't
like how it wrapped up so easily. I'll give it
five forever. When you said five, I was like,
wait a minute. I think it depends on how much
you hate your aunt. Thank you, guys. If you are
till here, till the end. Thank you for listening
and please subscribe to our channel. Go to our
website. We have like a bunch of other episodes
there and maybe give suggestions like what movie
we should watch. Fearofstairs .com or Instagram
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Thank you. Bye. Bye -bye. Bye -bye.