Eating Muffins in an Agitated Manner

Advent Calendar Dec. 2. 2020: Tanu Weds Manu, 2011

Posted by Sari

Manu, an NRI doctor from London comes back to India to meet girls his family have selected as potential mates. He falls for the first girl, Tanu, but the college-educated girl tells Manu he already has a boyfriend and does not want to get married. Manu bows out from the arrangement without blowing Tanu’s secret affair but meets her later in a wedding in Punjab and things get complicated.

From at least Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (1994) onwards romantic comedy and drama were the blockbuster genres of hindi cinema. Nowdays top of the charts have much more varied movies, and even the romantic comedies have more range than before. Tanu Weds Manu does not have much of a plot, and it has familiar tropes from Punjabi wedding to a race to a train station a la Dilwale Dulhania. But Tanu Weds Manu feels less candyflossy than older romcoms. Manu is more sensitive modern protagonist than many, Tanu’s rebellion against tradition and her parents’ wishes seems very understandable, and the young people have their own contemporary lives apart from the glittery traditions.  Even the obligatory wedding feast song looks more like ordinary people having fun than hihgly coreographed affair. The ending gets rather melodramatic – but it would not be Bollywood if it didn’t. I do have to say that it was a bit annoying that after Tanu had created all the problems surrounding her marriage, it was her parents, Manu, and his parents that had to try to straighten everything up, she could just hide in her room. Because arranged marriages.

Clipper Wild Berry. Again, a berry infusion, not a tea. And surprisingly tart. It reminds me of Karkade which is not surprising because one of the ingredients is hibiscus. There are hints of liquorice and maybe rose hip, but I really can't taste pineapple, nettles, or billberry. Also a bit misleading name as so many ingredients are not berries.

Advent Calendar Dec. 1. 2020. Baahubali 1 & 2 (2015, 2017)

Posted by Sari

This year, the Advent Calendar is about Bollywood: 24 short reviews of Bollywood  (or rather Indian) films I have lately watched and which have been made during the last about ten years.  Also classically, a tea/infusion calendar. I have Clipper's Advent Calendar of organic Tea which seems to have 12 flavours, and I try to find another one so I don't have to do same flavours twice. So, Let's go: 

Baahubali is pretty much like Avengers Infinity War and Endgame: really one movie divided into two. It is a sweeping epic set in semi-mythical kingdom of Mahishmati. It is full of family drama, superhero-like heroes, epic battles and CGI elephants. It begins with Baby Baahubali being spirited away from his palace after a coup and brought up by villagers. When he grows up, he climbs a huge-ass waterfall, finds a cool warrior-girl who is fighting a guerrilla war against the Mahishmati tyrant. Then he meets the faithful old retainer who recognises him as the son of the lawful heir and tells the story how Baahubali senior met a sorry fate. It is all about sibling rivalry, palace intrigue, honour and jealousy. This story takes at least two thirds of the movies. When the old retainer has finished his story, Baahubali junior wants revenge and they go and attack the castle. With a stratagem which took twitter in a storm.

Baahubali-movies were the most expensive movies made in India at the time, and Baahubali 2 is the most popular Indian movie of all time. They are also interesting in that they were shot in tamili and telugu and dubbed to other Indian languages. Latest film from the same distributor was shot in tamili, telugu and hindi. Instead of local cinema remade in hindi as has been the habit for years, it seems there is capital enough for big films in other language areas, and just dubbing or shooting them in multiple languages gives them exposure in all Indian markets.

Baahubali films are somewhat different from modern hindi cinema even historical dramas of, for example, Sanjay Leela Bhansali. They are even more melodramatic, gaudy, long and full of slow motion and bullet time stunts. Three years and probably a bigger budget have made difference in the quality of the movies, the later one is sharper and has better CGI. I also liked that all three women: Baahubali’s mother, his fiancé and his father’s aunt-mother were all pretty kick-ass characters. But as a whole it was just too long and just so grand with its emotions and plot that it went just too big for me to really work.

Here is Baahubali senior being both heroic warrior and a good son

 

Clipper Happy Mondays. This is a ginger and lemon infusion which has also black pepper and lemon grass. It is a bit bland but that might be because I don't have the patience to let tea bags infuse the 3-5 minutes instructions dictate. It does have an interesting peppery after taste, though. I am still making my mind up if I like it or not.