This is in vain. Thanks, Adam. Cheers. We're
going to get fucked up. Alcohol -free beer. Yeah.
Alcohol -free. So, okay. The reason I like the
Asahi is because it's 0 % calories. It's 48.
Right. This is the thing. I don't normally drink
non -alcoholic beer because it's empty calories.
Like, why the fuck would I drink this? beverage
if i don't get drunk and i get the calories because
i got really fat from beer not really but i got
a belly from beer so i didn't want to recreate
that but in japan if they have zero percent alcohol
zero sugar and zero calories i okay then good
for me i can drink as much as i can the budweiser
is not zero calories but it's low it's low pretty
low a beer is like 100 up at least right and
it's good it tastes really good but that's what
i like as well i love budweiser yeah oh Great
idea. Yeah, man. I know. And they're hard to
find. I bought the remaining amount of that person.
They don't get more until November. I bought
it all out from them instantly. I feel like you've
reached some kind of peak in life, honestly.
Oh, I have. Where you're like excited about alcohol
free beer. Dude, when you cannot drink anything.
Like, you know, you cling on to like whatever
small joys you have. You know, I'm so tired of
Coke Zero, even though they sponsor this show.
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. And right now
I'm drinking some non -alcoholic beer, which
are very tasty and feels good. Hi, I'm Nikki.
I'm a family man. I also drink non -alcoholic
beer right now. I'm Adam. I'm the American that
introduced the non -alcoholic beer to everyone
here. Very un -American. It's super un -American,
but we do have, I have Asahi. from my recent
japanese trip but you guys have budweiser zero
i got i was in a japan trip and i discovered
the japanese have tons of non -alcoholic beer
and like i can't really drink i have gout so
i can't drink alcohol and i was very excited
to see this asahi because it's zero percent calories
which was my big fear of drinking non -alcoholic
before i didn't want empty calories and not to
get drunk but It basically has zero bad effects
and only positive ones. There's no sugar, no
alcohol, no calories, and tastes enough like
Asahi that I get a little memory buzz on of what
it used to feel like to be drunk. And this, kids,
is your mid -30s. This is what it looks like,
guys. And trust me, kids, I went hard, and I'm
still a huge loser at the end. It doesn't matter.
I have no tolerance. I had a glass of wine two
nights ago, and I was hungover. Cheap wine will
do that, though. Yeah, it was white. You gotta
stick to whiskey. Or beer. Are white wines usually
worse? I always got hungover from white wine.
My first alcohol poisoning was from white wine.
Alcohol poisoning? Yeah, I was like 19. What,
Nicky? Nothing. Are you still pointing at the
chips? I was eyeing the chips. It's like sitting
there waiting to be eaten. Okay. So... Can we
talk about the movie then? Yeah. You guys want
half of my... Have one bite before you... I'm
good, bro. I'm good. No, no, thanks. Let's get
this over so we can eat. We call this gags in
the podcast. Anyway... The chips are real salty.
I like really salty tortilla chips. And Adam's
girlfriend makes really good salsa. She learned
how to make homemade American salsa with Thai
chili, and it's pretty bomb. And we also have
turtles here. Princess. Wait, she's no longer
inside their home. Is that true? Yeah. Oh my
god, the princess is gone. Oh, Princess is near
the trash can. So you might not see this, our
fans, but like... Not might, you will not see
this. But they're like the turtles, Princess,
the turtle is walking. Okay, you need more context.
I have a turtle. I have a pet turtle while I
was also in Japan. Not by choice. I just want
to add, Adam's girlfriend wanted a turtle. She
got a turtle while he was in Japan. While I was
in Japan, I received photos that I have a new
pet turtle. at home and she went ahead and made
a huge Thai mansion for it out of popsicle sticks
and it has a little like slide and it's free
-ranging it's not a cage so it just kind of wanders
around the house and it has little corners so
it goes behind the fridge sometimes behind the
TV Everyone's seen videos of it. I mean, we don't
usually see turtles in this household. Yeah,
no, I know. She's very speedy. So we don't know
if it's a boy or a girl. I don't care. She's
very cute. So I named her Princess. And she's
very, very quick. Like, look how fast she is.
She just kind of runs around. And then she tires
out and falls asleep again for a while. I just
want to say, Adam, I think Princess is a pretty
gendered name. No, it absolutely is. It's for
sure. It's just a cute name. But even if it's
a guy, then I'm going to say they transitioned
or something. LGBTQ friendly turtle. Yeah, it
does. Turtles don't know. And then Anne has also
been making really cute crochet covers for it.
So she makes little like the Captain America
shield and like a little yellow cat face and
stuff for it. It's very sweet. And Princess snores
really loudly at night. No, I'm kidding. It makes
no noise. Turtles make really good pets because
they're really quiet. It's kind of basically
potty trained. It has its little place where
it goes. It doesn't make any noise. It's very
clean. Also, they don't need friends. They don't
get lonely? They don't get lonely. They're not
social creatures. It doesn't need friends. It
doesn't have to worry about You know, human interaction
too much. Yeah, our video subscribers are looking
at the turtle. Yeah, everyone paying on our OnlyFans
livestream is watching this exclusive turtle
cam. If you pay for the higher tier, you too
can get the Fear of Stairs turtle cam and watch
Princess sleep for 16 hours out of the day and
then run around outside a frame for the rest.
What other rewards do you think we should get?
Like maybe an orgy? Yeah, my neighbor thinks
I host orgies here. Just podcasts. Just audio
orgies. Okay. So what movie are we doing? Also,
I'll just kind of just bring up, Nikki's all
freaked out about Princess because Nikki like
had a pet turtle too and had a bad experience
with it. So, you know, I don't want to, you know,
I know it's weird that it's all wandering around
the house, but it's fine. All right, quick story
time. Yeah, I did have a pet turtle and what
happened was that I stepped on it. And then it
never wanted to be my friend ever again. Turtles
never forget. And then a week later, I sent him
to the river to be free. In revenge? Not for
revenge. Turtle won't talk to me, so now... Fuck
you, Turtle. Go back to the sea. That's it. He'll
turn into a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. For
all we know. Winnie has turtles at the park.
Oh, yeah. I had two pet turtles growing up. And
we thought... we thought it used to be fun to
just put them on their shelves and watch them
like you know kind of wiggle to kind of get back
on land i don't know what i told adam that he
made it sound like that was animal torture turtle
torture she the first thing she says when she
comes is like oh have you ever like put it on
its back and watch it struggle i'm like what
no no that seems really fucked up yeah but they
were in the water tank mostly and they started
getting too big so we went to benchesiri park
near emporium and put them in the pond over there
and then an eagle swooped in and immediately
grabbed it Yeah, so that's a lot of a family
of turtles, so that's a hint. Family of turtles.
Oh, wow, good. Okay, so, Winnie, why don't you
introduce the film that you picked for us to
watch? You did pick the film. Yeah, after Keeley's...
Wait, the name is Kosla Kagosla? Yeah. I think,
yeah. Oh, God. Yeah, so 2006... We watched Keeley's
film, and then Winnie was like, I have a film
for us, and we're like, sweet. So yeah, why did
you pick it? Or what is it? No, so this film
is Kogosla. 2006 film. It's a crime comedy. It
was recommended by a friend. And I googled it.
And I like crime comedy as a genre in general
in movies. And it had pretty good reviews. Low
budget film, but amassed almost like a cult classic
backing. Kili says we have to use the term cult
classic very loosely in this context. I think
you just mean it's well liked. yeah i mean it
was just well like it took two years for the
film to actually get picked up you know they
had the script and everything so it didn't seem
like it was gonna amount to much and then it
just kind of became a sleeper hit so they re
-released it in theaters last year oh um because
it was it just had a small release back in 2006
or whatever year the movie was released yeah
and then it kind of gained a bit of a following
and so they re -released it around delhi especially
last year and yeah the movie follows a middle
-class family in delhi so there's a lot of that
dynamics playing out and i just wanted a movie
that would not give us ptsd again so hopefully
that was successful big gamble on your part because
you hadn't seen it so funny story rolling the
dice there we all thought winnie watched it well
i mean i don't think it's weird to think that
when someone recommends the film with such confidence
But also watching the film, I was like, this
makes so much sense for Winnie. Like, I get why
she likes this. This is so from her world. We
all thought that. We all thought that. I was
like watching it. I'm like, I can see why Winnie
likes this. Wait, what aspect? The family aspect.
You tell us, Winnie. Why do you think we all
watch this? We're like, of course, Winnie recommended
this. I don't know. I'm quite intrigued. I mean,
it followed a kid who was kind of tied to his
family and wanted to go abroad to America. And
you see that play out, his struggle. His dad
doesn't want him to leave. He thinks he'll be
better for his career and his future. And there's
just a bunch, a few like NRI jokes throughout
the movie. It's also a Punjabi film, right? Is
it? I don't know. Yeah, yeah. We talked about
the beard. Oh, yeah. Adam was really intrigued
by the Sikh man's beard. Oh, the tie -down. The
tie -down. I didn't realize they have like a
net. Oh, yeah. They often use that. Yeah, just
to keep it from being too long. Because they
never trim because they're Sikh. But yeah, I
don't know what made you guys think that this
was a movie I like. Winnie, did you just hear
the words out loud? That literally matches your
life story. What are you talking about? No, but
I did go to the States for like seven years or
so. Right, but that's what this whole movie is
like struggling with is like NRIs. which you
are and like the indian diaspora and traveling
abroad and your cultural ties back home and what
it means to be indian and what it means to be
indian outside of the country is like all this
movie deals with in 2006 like as you were growing
up no i know but they talk about it like it's
a constant theme throughout like when they have
the actor playing the guy from dubai they constantly
mention nris like it's a huge overarching theme
which i have notes on later we can talk about
but um Yeah, scream like, wow, if Winnie was
watching this in 2006, I'd totally scream like,
yeah, I'm struggling on the inside too. What
should I do? Should I go abroad? Should I go
back home? Like, what is home? I don't know.
It's just the wholesomeness just reminds me of
Winnie. Oh, that's really nice. Yeah, there's
no sex in it. Nobody touches. There's no love
romance. This guy's my love life. So, yeah, before
we get in the plot, what do you guys think? Kili,
you like this director. Yeah, Devakar Banerjee.
Yeah, I love this. I like this director. I have
watched this film, then a bunch of other films.
There was one called, there's like a detective
story adaptation, Detective Bomkesh Bokshi. That's
the one I like. I like Love, Sex, and Dhoka.
I think I'm forgetting a bunch of films. But,
I mean, yeah, he came up as a very... prolific.
This is a directorial debut for him, right? He
directed commercials before and this was his
first feature film. I liked this film when I
watched this before. I just forgot when he suggested
the film, I really forgot that I watched this
film. And then when the plot points of the story
comes out, which is a plot, I remember, oh, I
watched that. Watched this film. What do you
think? Yeah, I actually liked it. I think it's
as good as Pataga. Almost, almost as good. Yeah,
like I said, I just liked how, to me, it reminds
me of a heist movie. I mean, it is essentially
a heist movie. It's like an Ocean's Eleven, but
more low budget and no casinos. People are trying
to trump this powerful figure. who owns a lot
of land and our main characters are pretending
to be other characters. It reminds me of a heist
movie. It's just that. I liked it. Like Whitney
said, she likes crime comedies and I guess I
can say that too. I love heist movies. Yeah,
it was fun. It's kind of a weird bridge. I feel
like it's a slightly modern film just because
they have some songs but there's not these big
Bollywood dance numbers. It is lower budget.
Like it is a shorter movie, like two hours. It's
not like so they were taking some like Western
influences. You could kind of see that. And yeah,
like it's I think it's an interesting look at
middle class. Indian families at that time. Yeah,
I think that's an interesting aspect because
of Bollywood movies we watch tend to go in one
extreme or the other where you're watching like
very wealthy families or kind of more, you know,
status backgrounds, impoverished. And this is
just a regular middle class family. Yeah, they're
like striving upwards. Like they're not rich.
The whole thing is about like his whole life
savings is kind of on the line. So like they're
not rich, but they're aspiring and they have
kids that are probably going to have a better
life. They're on that whole track. And it's interesting
to see that segment represented. Probably a lot
more relatable as well. I don't know if this
was a common thing that happened in India with
people getting forged documents or getting squatters.
But like if land rights were an issue, then.
I could see how this movie might have been more
relatable. I think it's just, like, land scammers,
land smugglers and scammers. Yeah. I mean, I
think I've read, I might have read these kind
of news stories in newspaper, you know. But I
like the part where it's about, like, you know,
this, yeah, the dad and he's, like, how annoying
he is being to, like, to a point that no one,
like, everyone kind of tiptoes around him. and
he's like yeah yeah buying the buying the land
for apparently for his family but no one likes
him because how annoying he is really that was
it i don't know i found him a problematic character
but still like lovable likable in a way yeah
of course but he was literally uh pushing the
son away and he was he was going for i saw it
like the uh son kind of went away because like
he couldn't stand like didn't like it being there
anymore yeah i do think the dad's the main character
oh for sure like it's not the son i mean his
name is featured in the movie yeah movie title
yeah it's just like i think if it was a different
i think that's why the perspective is interesting
i think if it was like a different director we'd
probably see the kids point of view like you
know the young adult's point of view like he's
going to america that would be more in the focus
but no it's like this dad dealing with you know
coming closer to retirement and dealing with
his adult children and they want different things
in life and there's like a western influence
he's trying to deal with and like yeah like land
stuff that he's not accustomed to and like it's
just like what middle -aged men are dealing with
this at the time and it was kind of interesting
you know yeah the movie does a good job taking
a balanced approach showing like both perspectives
you don't really side with one or the other character
you kind of just understand them both and Like
the dad's also trying to buy the plot of land
because it's near his son's office and he takes
off pride in his son who is more successful than
like his first son, who is just a laid back guy.
So you kind of empathize with both characters.
Yes. And you got to appreciate what it doesn't
do, which is have an annoying mom or like an
annoying like aunt character. It doesn't have
that. And the dad doesn't do anything weird or
creepy or have his own romance. Like the American
version of this is American Beauty. of like that's
such an extreme it's a slice of the middle class
life of the respective country no it is and so
like this is how America would look at it is
like through the Kevin Spacey character and being
kind of creepy and wanting to have sex with the
high school girl but for the Indian movie focused
on like the middle aged middle class dad This
is how they focus on it. And it's interesting
to see those two perspectives. Those are very
similar movies. All I'm thinking is Khosla is
Kevin Spacey. It was such a wholesome movie and
you took that spin on it. Because America's not
wholesome is my point. Okay. When you say the
dad's name is featured in the film, it's just
a family name. K .K. Khosla. No, Khosla Ka Khosla,
right? Khosla is the surname. So everyone has
that surname. Okay. What is the title, by the
way? What does it mean? Khosla is the family
name. Yeah. And Khosla is like slang for a home.
Okay. The home of these people. Yeah. Okay. So
let's get into it because the name stuff comes
up early and I have a lot of questions for you,
Kelly, about this. Well, where do I begin? Let's
start with the characters, right? It starts with...
I'll just talk about the opening scene. It starts
with our titular dad dead. He's dead, basically.
And then we're quickly introduced to the family
members. So we already talked about the dad,
Kamau, Khosla. And then, as we mentioned, there's
a mom. And she's a very kind... kind mom she's
like very nice very sweet she acts in fact like
you know as we mentioned there you know there's
a lot of tension between the son and and the
father and the mom sometimes tries to like help
the son like talk talk it out you know like she
tried she tried she tries to tell her husband
like hey you know you gotta listen to your son
and everything i think it's nice right so there's
no drama from her yeah no drama and okay and
then there's the children there's three characters
right The first son, his name is Bunty. He's
basically the hot -headed one. The hot -headed
one. I wouldn't say he's street smart. Maybe
street smart. He's just not as smart as the brother.
I wouldn't say he's street smart. He's just more
outspoken. He's the unmarried older brother that
every household has. I just think of Godfather.
Sonny, was it? Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. Okay,
that dynamic. Loser fails son. Yeah, loser fails
son. And then there's like the second son, which
is like, okay, Keeley, you're gonna have to explain
it because like throughout the movie, in the
beginning of the movie, they make fun of his
name. It's like Chiranji Lal. Yeah, it sounds
very old. It sounds like someone's from like
two generations back. So that's what they say
at one point that his grandmother. named him
so when he wants to change his name his dad says
like but nana it's like your grandmom give you
that name and she's not with us anymore do you
want to change your name and he's like he's like
your name he's like yeah so he's so he's just
embarrassed that his name sounds very old -fashioned
yeah i think so yeah that he's like i i see we
see that like the the visa agent guy boo like
kind of teases him for his name and his expression
definitely show that he has been bullied for
his name for like in his life is there a short
for that name like a short term is it just true
they call him cherry so is that standard just
cherry i mean yeah which is also a strange name
in itself i had a nickname cherry like not not
your nickname was cherry like by one one one
aunt of mine why oh let's all call him cherry
you never want to introduce that to anyone it's
a common thing like there are like specific names
some people give them and they use it and later
drops it at one point but they use it in their
childhood i've seen like that happening with
people people thanks cherry so whatever you say
cherry so this this cherry he he's basically
like wait no sorry sorry i just to get back to
name things so like a lot of the plot is about
him changing his name. Is it a big deal? Like,
is his name that embarrassing? I just did not
understand it. I think he's feel, he feel, I
mean, okay, people change their name. That's
not that uncommon. Yeah. Yeah, no, that does
happen here. Yeah. And different reason, there
are different reasons. And then I think it's
a big point because of the, it's not like this
matter of factness of it. It's just because like
the father is like, so. like offended that he's
gonna change his name right to bring that angle
of the dynamics between the father and son i
think they use the element of changing the name
yeah i mean it fits with the theme of like separating
from your heritage and your roots and stuff like
that yeah okay don't say that much it's just
like I think to portray the father as a very
attached, controlling figure. Yeah, attached
and conservative dude. And then doesn't want
to let go. It's so sad that his son is going
to leave. So this son, Cherry, he's basically
the breadwinner. He's a software engineer. They
call him Bill Gates. He's very smart, very attached
to his work. And what the family doesn't know
is that he's planning to move to America. and
that is like the first drama of the movie and
then you have the sister the youngest the youngest
one she's like a tomboy she's gay right i like
how adam's looking at me why do you think she's
gay she i mean i see the diff not most probably
a gay because like she's a fan of one of the
like uh the film actor like the boy actor and
he's like she's like very talks about him like
yo like like refer him that's a handsome person
and like does these gestures of like like she's
a fangirl of that dude i wouldn't go that far
that she's gay she's just the top bisexual the
movie never even explored this theme it never
explored this theme i like that that's like the
first thing you guys are asking just because
she had like a short boy haircut like a pixie
haircut she has my name her name's nikki so she's
gay as hell i'm gay as hell like anyone with
nikki has is super gay um no i just think because
you know they can't say she's gay but they can
say you know yeah she's got short hair she's
a tomboy that's all they're gonna say but we
all know she's not getting married she's not
having kids jesus So I say boo to this movie
for this representation. I don't like it. So
yeah, that's the cream of the crop characters.
I don't know why I thought of that. The best
of the best. I was thinking of the corn. That's
like the Khosla family. The titular Khosla family.
It sounds like Khosla. Yeah, we start with a
scene where he's like dead and like all the family
members are just kind of like walking over his
corpse. Or his funeral. Walking all over his
corpse. Isn't that amazing? You're not walking
all over his dead body. I think figuratively.
Yeah. No, figuratively, yeah. Like over the coffin.
Over the coffin. He's not walking on his fucking
corpse. But like his corpse is there. Yeah. His
dead body. It represents his dead body. His dead
body, yeah. At first you think like, oh, you
know, I actually thought it was going to be like
a murder mystery kind of movie. one family member
killed the dad it's like a knives out situation
but no it's actually a nightmare that the dad
was having like oh you know what if you know
it's just his insecurity i guess but like it's
just to show that like the the point of the whole
thing is that like the the family members are
all kind of like fed up with with the dad because
the dad is kind of like he's like very like uh
doting i don't know strict He's a conservative
old man. He's just very annoying to the point
that he will make sure that what he wants happens.
annoying way i think he's just a very traditional
dad doesn't listen to his kids yeah like that
makes they make that all very clear that he doesn't
listen he's very stubborn and wants things his
way and doesn't really consider other people
but at the same time he's not really portrayed
as like a strong character like a strong -willed
character you see a lot of signs of weaknesses
in him and him just kind of looking around not
knowing what to do yeah he's not cool he's not
doesn't have that alpha character yeah not an
alpha vibe exactly not avita bachchan yeah so
he's like just annoying I'll say this, though.
Like, Cherry is an asshole, too. Yeah. Like,
that was my first impression of everyone. It
was like, they all suck. All these people suck.
His sister's good because... Yeah, because she's
gay. and the mother is also good they're good
because they don't have much they don't have
much role in the film yeah so that's why they're
good oh but there is one scene where the dad
and is drinking whiskey with his son right and
then the daughter comes out and asks why can't
i have whiskey he's pretty much like go back
to the kitchen yeah and help your mom so that
tells you something about the she burns another
brush like i'll fucking show him one day Sorry
cherries an asshole because as Nikki says he
didn't tell his family he's going abroad But
he also didn't tell his fucking girlfriend. So
yeah, yeah, I was gonna get into like the side
characters There's more they all play a part
I guess I don't think that's his girlfriend Until
the ending when they When they introduce her
they were singing like oh, this is my girlfriend
like that So they were a couple the whole time?
I thought they were just friends with, like,
unconfessed feelings. From what I gathered is
that, like, she believes that they're together,
but, like, he keeps dismissing her that, like,
we're not... I'm not... He did even say... He
said it in, like, when they were on the scooter.
Yeah, exactly. I'm not anybody's boyfriend. He
was saying something like that. So, like, I think,
you know, it's, like, unrequited feelings and
all that. Probably, like, childhood friends.
Yeah. She's cool. She's very cool. Anyway, go
on. Yeah, so she's, like... She's hot. Her name's
Megna, right? And then she's basically, like,
a theater kid or something. Like, she's very,
like, free spirit. This is our second movie with
a theater troupe involved. Oh, yeah. And basically,
she, you know, she also has, like, a theater
mentor, like, a professor of sorts named Bapu,
who will play a very important role later. Oh,
I thought it was her dad. Okay. And then... You
also have, like, this neighbor that, like, gives
advice to the dad called, like, he was, like,
that seat guy, Amar or whatever. Oh, and I thought
that was the uncle. I'm so confused. Okay, all
right. Wow. But, yeah, like, he, yeah, he didn't
tell. So we have this girlfriend who's, like,
I guess, like, she's always playful with, with,
with, I forgot his name, Cherry. cherry but like
cherry is so serious about wanting to go to america
and then you know when he when she discovers
indirectly that he's going to america you know
her feelings are hurt right cherry's funny because
they show him being so busy but he's on like
those t9 nokia phones so like him being busy
is like texting on a tiny keyboard like doing
sms like i gotta go to the office i could yeah
i could not stop looking at the phones all the
phones in the movie Everyone has, like, T9, Nokia's.
Like, free iPhones. And they're like, get off
your phone. And back in those days, they're not
doing anything on that phone. Like, they're just
reading, you know, tiny messages. Or playing
Snake. Snake was pretty cool. That's true. He
was playing Snake a lot. Busy dad. Bill Gates
is always on his phone. But anyway, the crux
of the whole thing is that the dad basically
has, like, a pension fund. like his entire life
savings. And he wants to use his entire life
saving to buy land and build a new home for the
family. And he expects that the family will all
stay with him. You know, it's just to secure
the family's future, you know, to give them a
bigger home. And I think he did say like one
room for each. One floor. One floor for each
kid. But like the son, you know, Cherry, he doesn't
want any part in this. He just wants to go to
America. He thinks that it's such a waste of
money and time to get them a new home, right?
One floor for the one brother, one floor for
the other brother, one floor for him. Where is
the floor for his daughter? It's called the kitchen,
Killy. Thanks. That was a quick response, eh?
Why would you ask that? okay yeah uh and you
know i think that i think he he like goes to
this guy this broker dude who's like our first
villain of the movie i guess like he's this broker
guy that like takes the money from the dad uh
i think it was okay i'm looking it up it's like
the land costed like 30 locks Yes. Which is how
much? 30 million. 3 million, I guess. 3 million.
Oh, yeah, we did the math. Adam has been doing
a lot of math. We did the math. It's about 30
,000 US dollars. Yeah. For the plot of land.
Yeah. Which is about a million baht. And, yeah.
And, basically, like, there's, like, he also
asked for, like, commission or whatever. And
then, basically, like, so, while that was happening,
right, you know, he won the dad. Seeing how Cherry
is not too thrilled about it, he goes to this
Sikh guy, the neighbor, and they had this talk
about how you should really listen to your son,
including wanting to change his name, as we mentioned.
And then we get this scene where they're like...
like having whiskey on the rocks well yeah so
the the dad thinks like okay i need to communicate
with my son how do i do it but this it's actually
a good scene about like why he struggles with
it is because he is like i'll get some alcohol
and it shows him going to like the government
alcohol store which is really fun oh yeah yeah
but then they get the alcohol and he's drinking
with the older son and then cherry walks in and
cherry's like i don't drink and it shows like
the dad does not pay attention like it doesn't
listen like the dad is in the wrong here and
you know cherry's like no i don't drink this
and the dad's like i'll get beer instead he's
like i don't drink alcohol like listen to me
and like adjust it but the dad can't do it like
he's a very stubborn man and so the dad freaks
out and gets mad but he's he's in the wrong he's
the inflexible one he shouts that like well i'm
drinking am i stupid well he shouts at his son
that i'm drinking am i stupid some some sir so
sounds like someone he respects drinks is he
stupid and then but all the time like when when
he was bringing the alcohol to the home that
walk was like such full of shame like walk of
shame like he's like hiding the alcohol like
doing this very weird gestures and like you know
yeah he doesn't know how to drink it like he's
talking with the son like how do we pour it what's
the right way like they don't know what they're
doing just to be right against his son he has
to say those words that's what like right his
behavior him and his son actually have more connection
because they both don't drink yeah but he is
putting up this barrier of the expectation and
the son's like if you just listen to me we could
connect better and the dad has the blockage there
do you guys think this was like an a whiskey
ad or like a tutorial on how to drink whiskey
because they spent quite a bit of time and it
was pretty nice camera work there was a good
shot of the coca -cola bottle yeah so at first
they pour the the whiskey first and then put
the ice in and it just spills everywhere so then
i think the son is teaching the dad how to like
put the ice first and then they would do the
pour and i was just all of a sudden i was like
wow i'm craving some jameson and i feel like
that was like well intentioned opposite opposite
happened his dad read somewhere that you first
put the ice and then the alcohol and then the
water so that it that's why it's called whiskey
on the rocks but his son is like do you know
more than me? I drink. That behavior. He did
the other wrong one. He's like the other dynamics.
The dad was trying to talk down to the younger
kid and the brother was talking down to the dad
because he knows that he doesn't drink and he's
a drunkard. He's like, do you know more than
me? What the hell? He's a drunkard who doesn't
know how to pour whiskey. Yeah. So I looked it
up because I bartended in some. And so here's
the general rule. If you have it on the rocks.
Yes, you can put ice first and then the alcohol.
But usually if you're doing cocktails, you're
not supposed to put ice first. You're supposed
to put the alcohol first because usually if you
put ice first and then you start adding stuff,
the ice melts. You want the ice to melt the least
amount by the time you serve it. So you're supposed
to put all the ingredients in first and then
you shake it around and pour it over ice or whatever.
But if it's on the rocks, you can put the ice
first because it's easier to measure. That's
the thing is with measurement, usually it's easier
without ice. So you measure first and you put
the ice in. You know how much you pour in. Yeah.
That's true. Yeah. So anyways, they don't, they,
dad tries to get drunk to connect with his son,
even though the son. Kind of would love to just
talk to his own dad. You get this really like
tense scene, right? Actually, it worked on me.
I thought it was quite like a very emotional
scene where they're clashing. And then that's
when Cherry drops the truth bomb that he's like
flying to America. In a month. In a month. And
that upset his dad. And, you know, throughout
for the next few scenes in the movie, the dad
is like very dismissive, very like cold towards
Cherry. As we'll soon find out, when they're
trying to resolve the land that they bought,
he would always dismiss Cherry. Like, go to America.
Let me handle this. And all that. So what happened
is that they went to check out the land that
the dad bought. And it turns out that it's already
occupied by this man named Karana. Karana. Yeah,
he's named after a friend of mine that I know.
Anyway, it's, like, it's, like, occupied by some,
like, goons, and they were, like, telling them
to, like, basically fuck off and just, like,
hey, you know, this is Karana's land. It's already
been bought, and they start to realize that,
hey, this must have been a mistake, right? Yeah,
there's a big fence. Yeah. It's like a brick
wall, like... An offense. Yeah, it's a gate.
Yeah. It's like a gate. And then there's, like,
a goon. And they tell him to, like, go away because
this land is already occupied. And then they
argue back and forth. And then they realize that,
you know, there must have been a mistake. And
then they go back to the broker where the dad
bought the land from. And he basically, like,
scammed them out, right? Like, he just kind of
said that, oh, you know, I... I took the money,
and now it's your problem, basically. Yeah, I
mean, he legally sold them the plot of land.
The issue is there's these other guys that came
and claimed it, and he's like, it's not my problem.
You own the land. According to the paper, you
go deal with these squatters. Also, the dad in
this scene is unable to handle this. He doesn't
know how to argue. He doesn't know how to fight
back. He's a very weak man. Yeah, my life savings,
you know, it's all gone, but it goes to this
guy named Karana. He's like this He's like this
really greedy Man that you know loves to own
land Yeah, that is his one character trait. He
says it often. But I do want to point out that
it's played by Bowman Irani, which the only role
I can remember was that he was M from Dostana.
He was like the magazine editor. Yeah, I think
he told me that and I was like, whoa. Did you
forget Happy New Year? I forgot. Oh, he was in
the movie too. Happy New Year. He was one of
the main characters, right? He was the... Was
he the uncle? He was the IT guy. Oh. IT guy or
uncle? He was the uncle. He was like the bumbling
uncle. Yeah. Wow. The guy's got range, man. Yeah,
for sure. Yeah. He's good. He plays good gay
guy, good bad guy, good gay bad guy, all those.
There's a lot of gay. You're throwing a lot of
gay jokes. It's not my fault he was in it. You're
throwing like gay jokes today. What's a good
gay world together? I like how his work table
has a lighting that lights their face up from
the bottom and make them look sinister. Yeah.
In his office. Usually people have like lampshade,
right? Yeah. But his table floor is like the
light. source so everyone feel like when someone
talks their face like lights up from the bottom
and give this sinister look in his office he
also has like the coolest phone he has the one
that like flips up and has a little keyboard
inside that he's always oh yeah right that was
very cool so so the the broker tells them you
know hey what you know if you want to resolve
this why why don't you meet karana himself in
his mansion and they go there and it's like he's
like this he looks like this powerful like drug
baron like crime lord except he's not really
i don't i don't think he's like a small time
crook yeah or like a small time like land guy
yeah he says that much later kind of he's like
i'm a small town i'm a small town kind of you
know land baron in this small area but he's not
a hot shot yeah yeah he definitely has like the
police in his pocket yeah i guess so he's like
me me yeah yeah he's got a local scam going on
yeah but that's it yeah but then basically like
what what entails is that they they are led to
they have been called they have been uh how do
i say their the negotiation is that if you want
your land back you gotta pay half of what you
already play pay to reclaim it it's a it's a
protection racket they're like we will keep this
fence here and you won't be able to do anything
unless you pay us half of what this plot was
worth so now they have to he already gave his
life savings and now he has to pay another half
of that which is $15 ,000. Basically, of course,
the father is like, I'm not going to do this.
They have to turn to the lawyers, but then it
turns out that none of the lawyers were helpful
either. Every lawyer that they visited, they
were like, you got to pay us commission. yeah
everyone was asking for money for money police
first police asked for money and then they went
to the lawyers they asked for like oh just do
out of court settlement i will i'll arrange for
this much money basically everyone was willing
to negotiate with kurana to get it down from
15 lakhs to like 12 10 or 12 lakhs that was their
offer nobody was like we're gonna report this
this is illegal it was just like it's just like
he's a scammer and also part of the system itself
so the system is there to like Support this kind
of scammers because I think he has everyone in
him in their pocket that fly right in real life
with that That's lies right now. They do Happens
I mean he's he's just he's a big Maybe like he
doesn't scam everyone. He does scam like few
of them few of the people so that like he can
continue his racket and stuff like that it's
an easy racket you just make up fake papers you
install a goon and then they pay you and then
you dole out the money to the police and you're
good to go next time and then you know do it
again and so i guess that you know because and
because they couldn't do anything about it the
father has like a like a breakdown basically
like what am i gonna do and you know the the
sons are the children are really sad to see their
father in like in ruin like with no money and
i guess like uh bunty has this plan Where I'm
going to go contact some local wrestlers. This
was my favorite part of the movie, by the way.
I love this shit. Here's a bunch of wrestlers.
Eat up. And then, like, they go to the plot of
Land, and then they all have these, like... Wait,
you know, we got... There's the old guy that
runs all these wrestlers who's so cool. There's,
like, a tiny little old man who, like, controls
all these, like, 20 -year -old fat wrestlers
and makes sure that they're all fed, and he just
goes around, like, demolishing things for people
and has a photo book. of all the places they've
demolished. Yeah. And it's so fucking cool. The
scene when they're all crammed in a car with
all the wrestlers and that little old guy in
the front and stuff, I loved it. What a great
racket they have. We need to have friends like
that. This is the cottage industry that props
up when you have these land barons. Then you
have a whole little... business of wrestlers
to destroy walls and stuff yeah so they they
gather up all these wrestlers and go to the plot
of land and the way to the way they take it back
is basically they they got all these hammers
and break down the gate that's it they just destroyed
the wall i don't know why you needed wrestlers
it's our land now but of course they think that
like you know we got the land back but then the
next day The police goes up to the dad and you're
like, you're going to jail. Yeah. And he ends
up in prison, basically. And then it shows that,
like, Kurana, the land villain, I don't know
what to call it. The land villain. The land villain
basically has a lot of power. Like, you know,
the police are in his pockets, basically. And
I think he gets bailed out by, like, this other
bad guy, like, the assistant to Kurana. He's
like... He's another major character, right?
Where... What did he do again? He was like...
You just see assistant. Sidekick assistant, yeah.
He turns pages for Karana. But he was basically
ordered by Karana to get him out, right? He tells
the guy, Kamal, that Karana has a soft spot for
him. Yeah. And it's just to show him how much
power he has, right? Yeah, I think so. And then
to sweeten it, like a... Giving us sweet before,
sweet before you give me the money. I got you
out of jail. Give me my reward. But did you guys
not think that Kurana would have like met him
with more brute force? You know, he pretty much
went and like demolished the entire wall. I thought
this was when we'd see Kurana turn a bit more
dangerous. But instead, he sends his henchmen
to get him out of jail and then offers a reduction
from 15 lakhs to 12 lakhs. I was confused by
that. This is what me and Nikki talk about where
everything they do just works out for them magically.
I think I kind of felt it's more realistic because
like he's like a old dude in like a way who has
like no power and he's like a land baron mafia.
And then like. He's, like, a small target for
him. He's not gonna dirty his hand, like, killing
him or something. But some people would have
gone pretty crazy, like, you destroyed my entire
property. I think he's, like, a cool -headed
villain guy. Like, he's, like, he can keep his
cool because he knows, like, he can just, I mean,
whatever. I think there is, like, a window of
negotiation of the amount of the land because
it's totally extra money, extortion money they
are getting. they're okay with because it's not
a loan or something like that right it's like
it's free money it's free money so there there
is a wiggle room for them and they are like doing
this all these things like seeing like how far
they can go and stuff like that and also he's
saying like if i got you out of jail i could
put you back in yeah like i control the police
so let's just be nice and give me the money and
let's stop this nonsense still a much nicer villain
than i would have expected the movie the whole
movie is just kind of wholesome even the bad
men are pleasant bad guys uh and then yeah so
so when they offered to you know now that they
bailed the dad out they offered like the new
the new price like 12 locks and then basically
he's like you know what fuck this i give up i
don't want to do anything cherry go go to america
go go to your go go to your new do your software
engineer job and that's when cherry has this
realization that oh no i gotta save my dad and
then you know realizes that he has to help him
out basically so he seeks he goes to his girlfriend
and then they said you know we need to we need
to seek out a plan and another character that
we haven't mentioned is that like when when cherry
was planning to go to america he's been talking
to this uh visa agent basically the guy that
makes fun of his name And then it turns out,
I don't know how things work out, but the visa
agent reveals that, oh, yeah, I was a former
accomplice of Karana. And he fucked me over,
too. And I will help you fuck him over. He doctored
papers or something for this guy. But also, so,
like, he thinks that the name is going to make
the guy get a visa denied. I forgot. That is
the plot, right? He wants to change his name
so his visa is approved. They're going to make
fun of your name in the U .S., in America. Do
you know what happens to people with your name?
I thought it was about the visa, about they were
not getting approved. No, he's just going to
get bullied. But it would have no implication
on his visa. He was pretty close to getting it
anyway. Yeah, I think he got the visa. He got
the visa in the movie, yeah. You can't have anyone
make fun of my name. I love American businesses
being like, haha, cherry. They don't know what...
old old indian names are like if i don't know
then how would anyone know like i want to make
fun of him i would have no clue but i think a
guy going as cherry in america would also be
a little bit more strange no cherry cherry why
just change it to jerry oh yeah he would just
probably end up changing it to jerry they do
they do recommend a few names throughout the
movie one of which is what's that he did whatever
he recommends that are also older oldest Ricky
Martin. Oh, Ricky Martin. Oh, yeah. That's when
the girl is like talking about the taking the
name of one of the Bollywood actor, Vivek Oberoi.
And then she has a poster of that guy in her
room. So that's why I was like, maybe not. And
then like, I kind of see this like her short
hair and everything. He's like her behaving more
boyish because like he grew up with the brothers
and he's also like, kind of fighting to take
the place and the respect that her brothers get
which he doesn't get which she doesn't get as
a girl so it has like and she's young right so
she's kind of uh making this um yeah thing yeah
yeah that's a very good read killy i saw him
with two brothers yeah yeah that's probably very
accurate is that why you have short hair winning
for all the listeners oh yeah super short So
the Visa Asian, I think his name is like Asif,
basically. Asif Iqbal, yeah. He's played by Vinay
Pathak. I don't know who that is. I really like
this actor as well. I like his other films. I
told Nikki he reminds me of Nedry from Jurassic
Park. You know, the hacker guy that steals all
the dinosaur eggs and stuff. He's ultra max fat.
right no yeah okay yeah so as if yeah as if concocts
a plan where it's like you know we don't we steal
the money from uh from karana and then buy back
the land without his knowledge that the money
has been stolen right and how do they do that
so remember the theater professor that uh cherry's
girlfriend has basically they enlist his help
Because he's such a great actor. He's a great,
great imitator. Great impersonator. Not imitator.
Impersonator. And we also need, like, an assistant
for this guy. So, they got one of his, like,
one of the theater people. Yeah. Like, this nerdy
looking dude. He's the theater group. Yeah, yeah.
There are a lot of, like, these independent theater
groups. So, what we get for the next duration
of the next parts of the next few scenes of the
movie is basically them trying to... essentially
figure out the the heist right so the first thing
first things first they they try to so this guy
uh well sorry really quick yeah i want to mention
because this is part of the theme they they need
this guy to act like an nri and they keep bringing
up nris which is non -resident indians yeah dubai
from dubai it's yeah i mean but they were like
figuring out which countries to do initially
no matter what he had to be nri and i want to
point it out just because it's thematic and we'll
get to it later but like To impress this guy,
then he needs to look like an Indian that isn't
in India. Yeah. Yeah, and also he said you have
to be very respectable, sophisticated. Which
means if you're Indian, you're not. I just want
to touch on that before we continue. I don't
think so. I think it's like NRI because cannot...
trace back his address like it's so impressive
and make him rich it's a prestige and also like
you have like more money like it's more prestige
like you have more money and land and stuff like
that yeah so it will it will evoke a certain
respect from the even the yeah the land mafia
his name is bapu the i was trying to figure his
name the the theater guy the theater the theater
master so yeah they figured out that like he
should be from dubai he's supposed to be this
businessman bunty the genius i want to point
out we get like this scene where they're like
trying to think of where should this character
come from and they were like america or whatever
and then bunty within all his wisdom wisdom you
know his wisdom is like dubai and then they all
stop And they're like, holy shit, you're a genius.
Which I thought was really strange because there's
a lot of like Indian migrant workers as well
in Dubai. Right. Whereas if you go to like America,
I mean, not necessarily, but most likely you're
there from education visa that turns into like
a white collar job. Yeah. And so in Dubai, it's
a little bit more varied with like blue collar.
It's just they're trying to like make Bunty seem
have some character trait and it's like to seem
smart. they're not giving him smart things to
say he's just listing a middle middle east country
and they're like holy shit out of nowhere we
could have never thought of that thank you bunty
for contributing yo but it's like what hey man
he was the one who thought of let's get some
wrestlers right i mean like he's not smart and
they keep trying to give him moments where they're
like bunty thank you so much we couldn't have
done that without you and it's like he just came
up with dubai guy i don't know rich dubai businessman
has been like a trope Maybe stereotypically.
There are rich Indians. I think that's some kind
of business. They're not going to assume it's
a migrant worker selling landed shit. When I
think of Dubai, I think of real estate. Yeah,
exactly. I think Dubai and real estate goes well
in a cinema team. I guess that's why they went
with Dubai. That's why Bunty's a genius, though.
Thanks, Bunty. That makes perfect sense now that
Bunty says that. So basically, Bapu, our theater
master, has to play this Dubai businessman. And
then the other theater associate has to play
his assistant. And they actually hit it right
off. They make a deal with the broker. And Bapu
does play the menacing, serious businessman role
very well. That the broker was like, okay. I'll
set up a deal with Karana. And then you get this
scene where they were trying to set up a meeting
at a five -star hotel. At a five -star hotel,
and then... I think there's a scene that Adam
likes, right? When the dad was trying to figure
out why is he getting pizza for dinner? Oh, yeah.
He was getting pizza for dinner because the kids
were trying to negotiate, set up this meeting
point with Karana and the Dubai businessman.
I thought it was a very telling scene because
in America, if the woman brings you pizza, that's
just normal. like you're like oh cool pizza thanks
but in this scene she brings in pizza and to
him it's the total collapse of like his family
because like what is this foreign food what is
this globalization happening there's no one at
home to cook food what happened to like my family
that's here like and it's shown with this like
alien food that he does not like that's like
represents you know western like, ideology and
culture and stuff like that. And it's just very
funny for him to react like that to a pizza.
Like, he's not happy. It's not cool. It's a total
collapse of Indian society for him and, like,
his household. And it's a very veggie pizza.
And then, like, the punchline of that, he was,
like, talking, complaining about how, like, oh,
yeah, where's the family and everything, right?
And, like, he was struggling to take that first
bite. And then there's, like, a punchline where
he's like, can you get some chutney? Yeah, he
can't even eat this. It's, like, it's crap to
him. It's, like, serving him just shit because
there's no one at home. And now he has to, like,
eat this dumb Western food. I thought it was
interesting. So, yeah, they set up this, like,
meeting point, like, at a five -star hotel. And
that's when Kurana sees Bapu and his assistant.
And he, basically, he's interested in the deal.
And he wants, but before he gives the money.
He asked them if he could see the land, the plot
of land that they're selling. So the deal is
basically, like, Bapu, he's this Dubai guy, and
he's selling a huge plot of land. Like, a really
huge plot of land. And that's why he's interested,
right? And you get, like, people, like, I think
it was, like, the theater troupe, right? They,
like, basically pitch in to, like... pretend
to be workers at the the plot of land and this
plot of land is owned by originally owned by
the fisheries department yeah the fisheries department
but basically it's like a huge huge ploy to like
to convince qurana that this is their own land
and then you get like this funny scene where
like qurana is just like walking through this
plot of land and he's like looking at all the
workers who are actually not workers but they're
like the theater troupe even even they the family
was there even the family and his two sons were
there as worker like who are like saying from
far distance yes like we're right we're all okay
and then like they were actually the family the
the family yeah come on i mean hey right sorry
i'm sorry my bad it's okay yeah yeah uh yeah
so so he's convinced that yeah this land is legit
right and he said like let's go back and let's
go back to my place and renegotiate how much
we're getting paid And then basically, like,
the next scene is, like, they get into this...
They get into Kurana's mansion where Kurana offers,
like, I think it was, like, 1 crore. It was 1
crore. They want to sell it for 1 .5 crore. 1
.5 crore. And they get it down to 1 .3. 1 .3
crore. But, like, as soon as they show the money
with the briefcase, Bapu all of a sudden, like...
freezes up and then just like he literally stands
up and leaves without saying a word like he shit
his pants he shit his pants and like basically
they they all fit like the assistant is thinking
like oh shit we screwed up you know we're not
gonna we're not gonna we're not gonna get the
the money now and then they go back to the they
go back home like the deal is just canceled And
basically, like, Bapu was just saying, like,
you know, he can't go through with it because
it's, like, we're deceiving people. And then
you have, like, this scene. I don't know. I can't
get over it. But, like, it's this scene where,
like, the dad comes in and says, like, you know.
It's not your fault for not going through with
the deal because you're all trying to deceive
people. This is all like ridiculous. Like you're
just pretending to be people. The land is fraudulent.
It's not real. This is a crime. It's like, it's
a crime. But then like suddenly the phone rings
and they're like, the phone rings. And then basically
Karana's like, all right, let's. You know, you
walked away and I get it. Maybe I'm not giving
you enough money. So I'll give you like 1 .40.
So it worked in their favor. And everyone's like,
yeah, cool. Great. And everyone's like clapping
and stuff like you did it, Bupa. And he's like,
sweet. And it's like, wait, what? And then the
dad was like. okay yeah after all the speech
about how it's so it's so bad now they decide
to do it i think the theater theater guy what
wanted to mean like that he never he never seen
that much of money he barely sees like a little
bit of money in his pocket and he's like a poor
person and looking at like all those money like
he he couldn't deal with that the shock value
of looking at that much of cash in one box and
he had like a nervous attack and he left. But
then he explains it to them like it's a moral
crisis. Yeah, he did. Yeah, he's like, oh, like,
you know, this is, you guys don't know what you're
doing and this is a crime and then they're like,
hey, it's 1 .4 and they're like, let's go home
and celebrate. We did it, guys. Good job, boys.
He's like virtue signaling to deal with his weakness.
One time I was at MBK, this kind of mall in Bangkok
and there was this bag that I wanted and The
price was like $2 ,300, right? And I said, okay,
I'll buy it for $2 ,000. And then she said, $1
,500. The store lady. I was like, yeah, sure.
That's lower than what I said. I'll take that.
You're really bad at bargaining, idiot. Take
my $2 ,000 I was giving you. And this kind of
reminded me of that. Very poor negotiating skills.
Was it English? No, it's just Thai. Did you say
in English? Yes. Well, yeah, but I was like $2
,000 and she's like $1 ,500. So she had a price
that the bag was already and I was like, okay,
fine. Sure, you could have had more. So they
offered the new increased price, right? On one
condition is that they need to show them the
land again. And that was when things get very
hectic because the theater troupe is away in
Bangalore or something and then they have to...
So the family suddenly have to pretend to be
in the land deal, basically. And then, what else
happens? So, yeah, he goes back to the land,
and that's kind of, and then, again, there's
zero problems. Yeah, there was zero problems.
He's like, okay, let's go back to my mansion
and have a drink, right? And then, you have this
comedic scene where it's like, Kurana's just
drunk, and he's like, I didn't think you were
the man that you think you are, or something.
It was like, you think that he's onto something.
But then, like, we've been saying this whole
time, it works out in their favor because, like,
they still got the money. Like, they got the
money. And I don't know. I guess when they got
the money, they managed to pay him back and they
get the land back. Right. So he does the land
deal and they give him the fake documents. And
the money that he gives them, it's so much that
they're able to pay him the bribe money that
he's asking for and then dish out. more money
to everyone that was partaking in this. Did Corona
pay the whole money or the advance? It was the
advance. It's a lot of money. Yeah, the advance
was $35 and then they just had to pay $12 and
then they just split the rest amongst each other.
What year did this film come out? 2006. Oh my
god, was the land price that cheap at that point?
Yeah, but it's in the middle of nowhere too.
yeah but like it's already getting out now it's
like it would be three four times yeah okay like
so so they got the land back right but like the
thing that the the next scene that really like
ticked me off was that it's like uh cherry seeing
the value of family is like you know what i'm
gonna stay i'm not gonna go to america and then
he confesses his love for for Manic Pixie Girl.
Manic Pixie Girl. And I'm like, what the hell?
Like, that just defeats the whole purpose. Like,
I thought, like, we would have a scene where
the dad is, like, very understanding. No, you're
right. You're right. And say, like, you know
what, son? Go to America. You know, bring us
home the bacon, you know? But, like, no. It's
like, she just decides, like, all right, family's
important. I'll just stay. I'll just stay, and
I love you. I love you, Megan. The dad learns
nothing. The dad doesn't learn to listen or accept
his kids. The kid learns to give up on his dreams
and go live in the house. that the dad built
for him. It was such a cop out. The dad doesn't
learn anything, right? Doesn't need to. Everything
works out. The kids kind of fix everything for
him and he stays a stubborn asshole and nobody
listens to each other. But the movie doesn't
frame it that way, right? The movie frames it
as the kid is happy to stay because he gets to
stay with this girl that he's in love with. And
then that's how you can tell that the movie was
made by a middle -aged man because this is every
middle -aged man's dream. Right. My son just
kind of realizing it's better to stay here in
India. I'm not going to leave. and it's seen
as a happy ending the happy ending i just thought
it was such a left field like i mean like if
it was me i'd be like i'd go i'd fucking go to
america yeah i kind of thought like he the father
i mean he was like kind of flying i mean uh running
away from this shithole of family And then the
father changed. But if the father doesn't change,
then why didn't he go? The father did not change.
Father did. But I think this time he has another
floor to himself. So that's why I don't need
to step into my father's room. Fuck New York.
I have a floor in the middle of nowhere. It's
just part of the happy ending that this movie
had to package, I feel like. So, okay. So, I
mean, we talked about how the main character
is this middle -aged man. And the director probably
is too. What they're talking about here is so
unique or specific, I want to say, to that time
period. I started doing some math here. The middle
-aged man is 56 years old, he said. He's near
retirement. This movie takes place in 2006. 56
years ago was around 1949, which is two or three
years after the Indian independence. And I was
wondering, like, why are they all discussing
all these like land plots now and stuff? This
seems to be like very it's very heavy on like
the NRI stuff and like land deals. And I was
like, why? So then I was doing more timelines
backwards. And exactly 15 years ago was the 1991
land reforms. Right. So to give some context,
because then I researched this. So and Kelly,
please, if I'm wrong, don't correct me and just
tell me I'm correct. So when it. india got into
no please correct me uh if when india got independence
in 47 right um for like around three decades
they were trying to do in some areas some land
reforms to try to get rid of the landowners or
get rid of like the rentier class and you know
help peasants or like non -landowning people
like get some land and stuff like that um doesn't
really work out in most places some places it
does but then 1991 ussr collapses India loses
major sources of funding. Oil prices are spiking
and India's kind of screwed. That's when they
have to completely change their economic structure.
That's when they go, you know, very neoliberal
and they have to start privatizing everything.
Right. The parallels here are really interesting
because if you look at the dad, not just as a
middle aged man who is born into an independent
India. right so you're supposed to you you are
like the brand new batch of like people that
are finally free from this and and this land
is yours but they're coming into retirement and
you know non -resident indians are more popular
or prestigious your kids all want to leave and
you thought you had a retirement that's gone
now like you you thought you were investing money
into something and all of a sudden it's taken
away i think not only does he represent middle
-aged dads but he represents india in its independence
right and when he goes when he's saving up to
buy this plot of land and all of a sudden he
sees this wall up in there um that is like the
1991 economic crisis they like uh what's his
name karanu karana karana is the imf and world
bank and stuff they show up on land that you
already own And they say, look, you need to pay
us more money to even keep this, to even enjoy
the land that we promised you back then, that
you thought you had coming to you. It's gone.
You need to pay me now. And so that's what happened.
In 1991, when India lost all the money, IMF and
World Bank show up. They give them all these
loans on the condition that they privatize everything
and enact all these neoliberal economic reforms.
And all of a sudden, land does become important.
And people are buying and selling land all of
a sudden. And people are collecting. this so
that's why he's the big villain now 15 years
later after these land reforms are enacted right
the the dad represents india at this stage where
you have these people put like showing up and
saying you need to give us money for stuff that
you already thought you had also not just his
kids are leaving but indians are like leaving
and the fact that like you've had 30 years of
independence and it's somehow better to be outside
the country or more prestigious is not great
like that's bad and it's like shocking to the
dad too of like i made all this and everyone
wants to leave me you know this is the most telling
part so the only way when when they show up and
they realize that their plot of land has been
stolen the only way and they've tried other methods
but the only way that they can pay him back is
to recreate the methods that were used on them
so that land was stolen from them and they had
to get money to pay it back The only way they
could pay it back was to steal other land and
commit other crimes. Like you have to perpetuate
the crimes of these oppressors to pay them back.
And that's what the World Bank and stuff does
is like, here's the money. Now you have to do
the evil stuff that we're telling you to do the
same way we did it in order to even, you know,
pay your debt back. And so I think that's all
recreated in this movie pretty well. Like they
have to commit crimes to pay for this guy that's
committing crimes to them. and and and that's
what like india had to do was just to committed
some land crimes to pay it back did you look
into these land crimes where they use professional
wrestlers that is a very so that you know in
i think in old school india that probably would
be the method right before you have like international
financialization where you can't really do that
anymore You know, like you do have local thugs
beat up the local landlord and stuff. But when
things become so financialized and you're dealing
with, you know, Dubai and money from all over
and police enforcing these private land laws
now, like you can't do the old school methods
anymore. Like small town stuff doesn't work.
You have to now go perpetuate the crimes that
were enacted on you. Yes, it's kind of definitely
a reminder of like a feudal versus neo -capitalism
kind of. Yeah. characteristics going on and the
film also danks on uh thanks is the right term
right thanks yeah the film also danks on uh indian
traditions like some religious angle and stuff
like that they make fun of the goddess like and
he's gonna make the goddess temple and apparently
he does only deals on friday to appease the goddess
that because they didn't know what to say and
then like it's like kind of a tongue -in -cheek
humor so yeah it's like and also like how um
like the dad is like about the kid's name or
like everything and everything and it's kind
of quite vocally critical about indian traditions
and makes fun of it in a solid like view of the
scenes and all these quirks people have yeah
it's it sucks when you like put all this effort
into like wanting your own identity and securing
it and then people are Trying to change their
names or go abroad or something like that. You
know what I mean? It's an interesting thing to
look at in the movie how they explore that. I
think the dad deserved that. Well, he's stubborn,
you know? He's an asshole. I think to tie up
the loose ends of the movie is that Karana finds
out that he's been bested. He's been swindled.
And but I don't know why, you know, I think I
feel like logically for crime lord, he would
actually like find the perpetrators who screwed
me over. But no, he's like, he's so ashamed of
it that he tells his goons that let's never speak
of this again. So then they'll never chase after
the people that swindled him. I mean, he's right.
If anyone found out how easy it was to lie to
this guy. Yeah. He's a loser. He doesn't know
they scammed him, right? He thinks like someone
scammed as like a Dubai impersonator and he's
not even looking into it. Can you imagine later
on, like in the future, like... uh he just walks
into town and sees bapu like yeah yeah right
right right it's like hey wait a minute he's
gonna kill who's dead next sequel is like they're
torturing bapu like in a basement uh okay so
that's it sphere stair scale over here was there
this movie was very pleasant was there a staircase
moment Not at all. This has been the most relaxed,
laid back, happy ending, no twist Bollywood movie
we've watched. For me, I was like, wait, the
dad's not dead in the beginning? He was dead
in the beginning. I thought it was going to be
a murder mystery. I mean, that would have been
fun. Maybe it's the lack of staircase moments
that was surprising in this movie. Nothing happens,
it's bad. Maybe it's the lack of staircases.
The staircase was inside of us the whole time.
plot point device and then yeah there's no shock
value i think i i just got the the thing like
when i actually i i know first time when i'm
watching this i didn't expect it to turn to us
i thought it would be a family drama of like
people just like you know fighting like usual
like no people's dynamics and serious film and
then suddenly the like not serious but like something
related to the father and i never expected the
land aspect or like a crime aspect of the film
so when I realized after starting watching the
film that it's a crime film and that I that was
the kind of shocking for me I actually yeah I
was like after after the if it's not a murder
mystery I actually thought it was going to be
just about the dad and cherry yes exactly i'm
not gonna let you go to america i thought that
was going to be the plot but no it's a crime
it's a crime comedy i thought it was gonna be
a romance plot with cherry and the girl about
like him leading to america and like the struggle
with that and that was like barely touched on
so we all have a hysterical moment inside us
you're right so the staircase one was that it
wasn't a normal film that's so funny Uh, was
there a dance floor clause? I mean, there was
a lot of music that describes the scenes, right?
There was, like, the girlfriend -boyfriend song.
I did like that the girlfriend -boyfriend song
was like, she's weird, I'm not. Like, that's
why I love her. It was so literal. Like, it was
just describing the dynamic of their relationship.
Cherry's also a bad person. I don't like this
guy. Cherry sucks. I don't like any of those
family, apart from the daughter and the mother.
Because they barely talked. Dude, Bunchy's an
idiot. The dad's stubborn and Cherry doesn't
communicate. He doesn't tell his girlfriend or
his family he's moving to New York a month before
he does. He's not cool. And for Adam's case,
Nikki is gay. And Nikki's gay, so she's my favorite
character. Family feud factor. Oh, okay. Yeah,
it's pretty hard. I mean, the father. Yeah, it's
a family story. So it's feud. It's entirely about
the nuclear family in India at this time. Yeah.
If you, Kelly, if a guy marries a woman, does
the woman move in with the guy or the other way
around? The woman moves with the guy. That's
the norm. So that's why Nikki doesn't have a
floor. She's going to. Yeah, I know that. But
that's how it's been treated always. I mean,
even before independence, the Hindu women didn't
even have property rights. So they got property
rights after independence. That's nice. The change
in the constitution. Yeah. So, yeah. So they
don't make floors for... I mean, it's very...
I mean, I don't think my grandfather, when he
built our house, thought of his daughters. But...
So here's also one thing, like here the father
is kind of more bad dated than the average father
would be at that point of time. And he's like
also bad dated amongst his folks. That's why
his friends tells him like what to do. And he's
like left behind. He's super bold. Yeah. Regional
heat check. Was it accurate? I mean, has anyone
lived in undeveloped suburbs in India? No, this
is strictly middle class. family in Delhi, I'd
say. Yeah, Delhi point, I don't know. That's
why I said like, but it kind of looks authentic.
I mean, yeah, but middle class, small town vibe,
land mafia, that's kind of false in the places.
What was the dad's job again? I don't know. He
better reveal that, right? Yeah. He just has
a pension fund. Yeah, we don't know, huh? I'm
curious. Also, what does Cherry end up changing
his name to? Oh, yeah, they did mention, yeah,
it's Chirag. i think it was ricky martin and
how is that supposed to like what's that supposed
to do guys like not have him be made fun of is
a name that is from the dinner since you're outside
of this culture you don't know like how it would
be like to have an older name and be fun. For
you, both are foreign names, right? So you don't
understand the difference of the era between
them. But that's my point, though, is if you're
worried about Americans making fun, Americans
have no clue. No, and so that wasn't the purpose
because he kept an Indian name, right? He didn't
go for something like John or Kevin. Then it
would be changing for Americans. But the fact
that he retained an Indian name just shows that...
He just didn't like that name. It's not his...
It wasn't a rejection of his culture. It was
a rejection of the name that his father chose
for him. Yeah, there we go. No, father's mother.
Yeah, father's mother and him wanting to have
that independence. That's good. Yeah. And I know
a guy named Chirac. Also, I think, like, when
they say, like, you're gonna be a big fan of
him in America, I think the... that the agent
is just talking out of his ass like he's not
he doesn't know how america is like why are we
spending time on this in the movie about changing
your name i think he's just pulling his leg that's
why i think that can definitely happen like a
lot of people change their names or they'll go
by something more westernized a westernized version
of their name but chirag is not a western name
it's just a new generation indian name yeah yeah
i have a classmate named chirag yeah yeah i know
it's a common name it's a common name yeah yeah
What's the moral of the movie? Don't leave? Yeah,
stay with your family forever and ever and ever.
I mean, right? Isn't that basically like India
telling people, hey, don't leave, stay here?
Throw away your future. Choose love and family
over your career and potential richness in a
different land. don't chase the american dream
chase the indian dream which is question mark
he's like he's an it professional he's gonna
from 2006 who's like already looks like a senior
person He's going to have a lot of money in India
anyway. They call him Bill Gates. He would have
more if he moved to New York. Of course. He could
buy the whole plot of land, no problem. Stop
the brain drain. Stay in India. Attribute to
your economy. Stay with your family. Just with
the visa stuff. A lot of people have to come
back. All right. Great talk. Winnie, don't die.
Are you okay? I am okay. I've caught a fever
while watching the movie on 2X. I hope that means
that you never do that again. I hope there's
muscle memory now. I guess it's punishment for
not finishing the film. Watching a movie at 1
.2 speed is bad for your health. Please don't
do it. Who's shooting the next movie? I am. We're
doing the Guru Dad film. Can we say that? Is
that cool? The oldest film. Mr. and Mrs. 55.
Giving out the name. I think that's fun. I want
to watch Guru Dutt. That was the first Indian
movie I've ever seen was a Guru Dutt film. Not
this one. I haven't seen this one. Guru Dutt
means a lot. Nice. Thank you listeners who are
still here. Thank you for listening to the full
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