PS: One of our female regulars, Cynthia, was shocked at the amount of kissing and sex in the movie! (A few of our friends like "Bollywood Movies" for their cultural conservatism as much as for the singing&dancing.) Has that been a controversy in India as well, or are we just behind the times...?
Meeta, we just got around to watching this tonight - and I have to say, it was a smart mix of comedy, drama, and Liberal Moralizing.
Two of our regular group agreed with your calling parts of it a "sermon", but really liked it anyway - my wife Tammy, OTOH, really disliked Kareena Kapoor's Kia, saying she bullied Kabir whenever she was made uncomfortable or got scared about something.
I'll admit I felt Kia was a bit too quick to flip out for somebody climbing the business ladder, but up until [The Misunderstanding That Drives Our Couple Apart Briefly Until the Happy Ending], her neuroses and insecurities felt wholly believable. Arjun Kapoor's Kabir felt almost too perfect to this sometimes Househusband - but the bits of him shopping (which is part of why you grumbled about product placement?) for healthier alternatives and discovering they cost double what the regular products made me laugh out loud in solidarity! (The writers just missed the bit where he finds out that lower in calories usually means MUCH higher in sodium!) I also really liked how he dealt with societal criticism of him being a homemaker in the early going, though I would have thought at least a few of the women in their building would have found him loathsome for not conforming - the way their landlord apparently couldn't, which results in Kabir starting to build a career outside the home! (I read [That Thing He Did] as retaliatory behavior for their unconventional marriage.)
Speaking of which? His father was despicable pretty much all the way through - if he's a Typical Successful Indian Man, I don't blame Kabir for preferring homemaking!
In the end, I think we agreed with you take on the movie but felt the story was a bit stronger than you did, and felt the message was about both Gender Equality (i.e., Kabir gets major props for the substance of a public appearance, while the only positive comment about Kia's accepting a telecast Marketing Award is "I loved what you were wearing!"), and showing homemakers some genuine respect for the work they do to keep the home fires burning.
PS: One of our female regulars, Cynthia, was shocked at the amount of kissing and sex in the movie! (A few of our friends like "Bollywood Movies" for their cultural conservatism as much as for the singing&dancing.) Has that been a controversy in India as well, or are we just behind the times...?
Meeta, we just got around to watching this tonight - and I have to say, it was a smart mix of comedy, drama, and Liberal Moralizing.
Two of our regular group agreed with your calling parts of it a "sermon", but really liked it anyway - my wife Tammy, OTOH, really disliked Kareena Kapoor's Kia, saying she bullied Kabir whenever she was made uncomfortable or got scared about something.
I'll admit I felt Kia was a bit too quick to flip out for somebody climbing the business ladder, but up until [The Misunderstanding That Drives Our Couple Apart Briefly Until the Happy Ending], her neuroses and insecurities felt wholly believable. Arjun Kapoor's Kabir felt almost too perfect to this sometimes Househusband - but the bits of him shopping (which is part of why you grumbled about product placement?) for healthier alternatives and discovering they cost double what the regular products made me laugh out loud in solidarity! (The writers just missed the bit where he finds out that lower in calories usually means MUCH higher in sodium!) I also really liked how he dealt with societal criticism of him being a homemaker in the early going, though I would have thought at least a few of the women in their building would have found him loathsome for not conforming - the way their landlord apparently couldn't, which results in Kabir starting to build a career outside the home! (I read [That Thing He Did] as retaliatory behavior for their unconventional marriage.)
Speaking of which? His father was despicable pretty much all the way through - if he's a Typical Successful Indian Man, I don't blame Kabir for preferring homemaking!
In the end, I think we agreed with you take on the movie but felt the story was a bit stronger than you did, and felt the message was about both Gender Equality (i.e., Kabir gets major props for the substance of a public appearance, while the only positive comment about Kia's accepting a telecast Marketing Award is "I loved what you were wearing!"), and showing homemakers some genuine respect for the work they do to keep the home fires burning.