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A Yank at Shamli

I was watching Aaja Nachle the other day and wondered for the n-th time why the movie did not fare well at the box office. It has Madhuri in top form, gazillion watt smile and all, Akshaye Khanna radiating smugness from every pore of his being, a wonderful supporting cast (Irrfan Khan, Divya Dutta, Raghubir Yadav, Ranvir Shorey, Vinay Pathak et al), a nice little confection of a plot… what the heck else do people want? Don’t tell me they want a story — this one has less story than Vivaah and far more zing per unit time, and that movie made money. I just don’t get it.

Then I remembered that I didn ‘t go watch it in a movie theatre either — I waited for it to come on TV. <Insert sheepish grin here.>

ps: I find myself renaming movies all the time these days. Return of the Jedi became Revenge of the Killer Mutant Teddy Bears, Maine Pyaar Kiya became Revenge of the Killer Mutant Piegeon, Wanted became Bullet Bhoopathi… and now this one has become A Yank at Shamli, which is a rather more obscure reference than the rest.

So let’s make it a contest: if you can tell me why I came up with that name, I’ll buy you a cup of coffee if and when we meet next. If you not only got it but agreed with the assessment, I’ll throw in a blueberry muffin.

Ramsu
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9 responses to “A Yank at Shamli”

  1. complicateur Avatar
    complicateur

    Interesting method to avoid 3 straight posts with no comments 🙂 .

    Initially I thoughtit was a reference to I-now-have-my-own-baby Shalini’s sister until I remembered Shamli’s the town in the movie. So Twain – A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s court?

    Reply
  2. Ramsu Avatar
    Ramsu

    Not quite there, I’m afraid. Nice try, though. If I make it to Santa Monica or if you make it to Mumbai in the foreseeable future, one coffee on me for the attempt 🙂

    ~r

    Reply
  3. theBollywoodFan Avatar
    theBollywoodFan

    Hi Ramsu: My shot at the answer is that maybe it’s as simple as being a wakeup call for the people of Shamli? I know, it’s too easy to be that, but I didn’t want to not try :o)

    Agree with your thoughts on Aaja Nachle. I really liked it too. Like you, though, I didn’t see it in theaters. When Race and Singh is Kinng are doing tremendously well, one cannot help but look at the selves (as in, the audience) without skepticism. Oh well.

    Oh, and if you’re ever in Santa Monica, you *must* let me know! 🙂

    Reply
  4. shweta Avatar
    shweta

    Yank= Yankee= Madhuri

    Shamli= the village

    ?
    😀

    Reply
  5. Ramsu Avatar
    Ramsu

    Since people in other time zones have had time to respond, here goes: The Yank is Madhuri and the village is Shamli.

    But the reason why I named it that was that the plot reminded me of those old Mickey Rooney movies where he and his friends decide to get together, rent the old barn and put up a show. There was a whole boatload of them made back in the 1930s and 40s. They used to be called backyard musicals, since many of them used to be made on shoestring budgets on the back lot of MGM studios.

    And the first Rooney movie title that came to mind was A Yank at Eton — although the plot didn’t involve putting up a show, it seemed appropriate for paraphrasing. Thus endeth the obscure movie lesson of the day 🙂

    ~r

    Reply
  6. Ramsu Avatar
    Ramsu

    ps: Please tell me I’m not the only one who watches this stuff!

    pps: theBollywoodFan>> Will do 🙂
    shweta>> You got the paraphrasing right.
    both of you>> Coffee assured.

    ~r

    Reply
  7. bollyviewer Avatar
    bollyviewer

    OMG that was such an obscure reference! And no, you arent alone in watching yank movies – I’ve seen A Yank At Oxford. I’d never connect it to a A Yank at Shamli, though! lol

    Reply
  8. Ramsu Avatar
    Ramsu

    bollyviewer>> Apparently, A Yank at Eton was the sequel to A Yank at Oxford. Not with the same cast, but in the same format, more or less.

    Most people don’t make those connections. Which is why they’re described as normal or sane 🙂

    ~r

    Reply
  9. shweta Avatar
    shweta

    You are not alone my friend- and yay for the coffee! :B

    Reply

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