Posted by Sari
Happy independence day, Finland!
Drink of the day is Amalias svartvinbärslimonad. It is like black currant juice I was given as a kid when I had a flu except carbonated. The taste is a bit nostalgic but actually very good. Jukka thought It OK, a bit too juice like and he is not a fan of black currants.
Today we are speaking of Bollywood. The most popular movies in India - depending a bit on how you count - in 2016 and 2017 were both Aamir Khan movies, though he did not play lead in either. Instead, they were empowering stories about girls who could. First one, Dangal, is based on a true story and tells of a village man who transferred his dream of winning a medal in wrestling for India to his daughters, both of whom became successful wrestlers. The second is Secret Superstar, a story of a young muslim girl who wants to be a singer. She has a You Tube channel where she sings dressed in niqab, so his abusive father won’t find out what she is doing. Aamir is a composer and producer who discovers her.
Dangal is more of a pure feel-good saga of underdogs overcoming difficulties, but it does stand out as wrestling is something traditionally unfeminine and physical. Secret Superstar has more nuances and its unsung (or actually sung as Insia makes a song about her) hero is Insia’s mother who has the courage finally to stand against an abusive husband and despite being illiterate and without any support network leaves him. Neither of the films have the glitz and glamour of traditional Bollywood productions: Dangal has a number of training montages to songs and the Secret Superstar has basically Insia doing songs with accompanied by her guitar. So no big production numbers. If you want what passes for low key Bollywood, these are both good choices.
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