The Bollywood bros (Aniket and Pranav Mutatkar) talk about their favorite "beginner" Bollywood movies.

Aniket's Picks

3 Idiots

Quick summary: 3 friends take on engineering school together and get into all sorts of hijinks

Link to Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/3-idiots/

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

Quick summary: Three friends go on a three week long bachelor road trip in Spain.

Link to Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/zindagi-na-milegi-dobara/

Dhoom 2

Quick summary: The cheesy Bollywood version of Heat. 2 cops pursue a master criminal.

Link to Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/dhoom-2/

Honorable Mention: RRR

Quick summary: Two badass fictional revolutionaries become friends in pre-revolutionary India.

Link to Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/rrr/

Pranav's Picks

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ)

Quick summary: Romeo and Juliet bollywood style (sort of).

Link to Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/dilwale-dulhania-le-jayenge/

Delhi Belly

Quick summary: Three random guys randomly find themselves in possession of a rare, coveted diamonds.

Link to Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/delhi-belly/

Andhadhun

Quick summary: A pianist, a crime, and a series of mysterious twists and turns.

Link to Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/andhadhun/

Honorable Mention: Lunchbox

Quick summary: A mistaken delivery in Mumbai’s famously efficient lunchbox delivery system connects a young housewife to a stranger. They start exchanging letters.

Link to Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/the-lunchbox/

---

The whole list is here: https://letterboxd.com/pranavmutatkar/list/bollywood-for-beginners/

---

Email us at brownbrosbinge@gmail.com or tweet at https://twitter.com/brownbrosbinge.

Episode link: https://www.brownbrosbinge.com/episode/bollywood-for-beginners

Podcast link: Brown Bros Binge Bollywood website

Thanks for listening, see you at the next movie Bollywood boys and girls.

Yo what's up everyone.

We wanna do a special pod for all the people in the house that aren't

diehard Bollywood fans, , which is actually a bunch of you.

So a lot of you guys have been saying, Hey, what movies should I start with?

Like, what are good Bollywood movies for beginner?

Cause some of the movies we talk about are just like very Bollywood E so

we wanted to give our top threes for what are the movies you start with?

What are the Bollywood movies for beginners?

honey, good.

What is your number?

So My number one is three idiots.

I think it's a movie that a lot of people who don't typically

watch Bollywood have already seen.

Um, so I think it's a good one for people who've never seen a Bollywood movie.

Uh, it kind of touches on a lot of the different tropes of

Bollywood, whether it be drama, comedy, family relations, romance.

Um, so I think it's a great place to start to get kind of introduced

to what Bollywood is like.

And it's a great watch.

That's true.

Yeah, it's a real, , Messala movie, basically.

It's like a jumbalaya of like all sorts of genres.

So if you really want the true Bollywood experience, which that's kind of what

it's like, there's everything in there.

That's a good one.

So mine's kind of like that two, was debating between two movies

between coach, coach and DDL J , I.

DDL J which is an acronym for di Del is the better movie to start with.

It's the longest running movie in the Guinness world records, which is kind of.

It's one theater in Mumbai, which is later for the longest.

and it's just pro typical Bollywood.

I mean, it is the romantic story.

There's a little bit of action in there.

there's a lot of, kind of like general ideas and themes that may not be super

available if you're not Indian, but I think it's like a good introduction to

what a typical Bollywood romance is.

And it set the.

For every movie coming . after.

So

it's funny that you say that because I've never seen DLJ.

yeah, that's wild and you're doing a podcast about

Bollywood, so that's kind of insane.

don't be like me.

Watch it first.

Uh, I think a cool thing about DLJ too is every, almost every RO romantic

movie that came after it pulls.

On

the thread of DDJ.

it's kind of like

Basically every movie

copied that

It's like the hairy meant Sally of Bollywood movies.

that that's so good.

Yeah.

That's exactly where

my second one For beginners is a Zoya ter movie.

And we talk about this a lot in our podcast.

When we talk about her, but Zoya ter is an incredible director and she's slowly

shaping a new industry of Bollywood.

Um, so my movie is Zin GUI I'm, Liga Delbar.

And the reason I, I put this one is it's not a typical Bollywood

movie, like DDL, J three idiots.

Um, it's I think a little easier for non Bollywood people to watch cuz they're.

They're not used to the Messala and the, the craziness that is Bollywood, whether

that be the drama or the crazy action scenes, this is a little bit more grounded

so I think this is a great place for people who want to ease into the Bollywood

aspect or the Bollywood industry.

this is a good introduction.

My second pick is a movie called deli belly, which is like the

best way I can describe it is it's like a guy Richie movie with Indian elements.

It's a caper, it's a comedy.

It, it's just like a really fun watch And I've shown, a couple friends,

American, Mexican, those movies, and, um, of many different like ethnicities

and like they've all enjoyed it.

Like it's, it's pretty accessible.

So I feel like that that would be, um, a good pick as well.

If you like . Kind of those caper, heist fun, hijinks things go

wrong, mistaken identity type

Yeah, and this movie is also just a great time.

So whether you end up watching this and saying, I wanna watch Bollywood or

not like, you know, you're gonna have a good time going into this movie.

And I will say this isn't.

A big reason as to why to watch this movie, but this movie's

only an hour and 45 minutes long.

So for those of you who know about Bollywood, they can

drone on for a while.

I mean, DD LJ might even be a three hour movie.

still recommend you watch it, but it is long.

but

three idiots is super long too.

Deli belly is only an hour and 45 minutes.

So it's, it's honestly shorter than like all of the Nolan movies.

It's shorter than a lot of, American movies

Every single Marvel movie.

And you're gonna love it.

Like it's, it's just every little scene in this movie.

There's something happening and there's something funny happening

and you'll come out of it thinking it's an incredibly hilarious movie.

So it's, it's a great choice, um,

Yeah, we gotta do that one soon though.

That's

really fun.

Fun.

One.

My last, movie is whom two.

And I was talking to someone, , and they asked me, do I need to

watch whom one to watch whom two?

And the answer is a hundred percent.

No, do not watch whom one first watch whom two.

Um, the reason I say that is because doom two is one of those movies that

even now all my friends will remember as one of their favorite action mystery.

Crime movies with a Bollywood twist.

It's literally about a cop trying to catch a robber and the robber is super

smart and the cop is just one step behind the robber the whole time.

And it's always fun.

I mean, I love crime movies.

I love mystery movies.

Like how did he, I mean, how did he steal the Juul?

How did he do this?

And the cops are slightly behind,

I feel like calling a crime is like maybe an exaggeration.

Um, but yeah, this is a great movie.

You know what it is.

It's like if you guys know heat, which is like a pretty famous movie, it's like

a really cheesy version of heat, but the difference is Robert DERO doesn't

dress like an old man and fly off water jets and then skate away from Pacino.

Pacino and Robert DRO don't have a whole item scene where they

dance and sing for four minutes.

So it's, uh, it's basically like a cheesy Bollywood version of heat.

So if you like those sorts of movies, , and you, uh, ditch all the

realism that heat is well known for.

I think, uh, I think, I think you'll love it.

Yeah.

Think of it,

as think of it, of right.

In between the spectrum of heat and Johnny English.

So if you, I dunno if

yeah, that's actually very accurate.

incredibly cheesy.

A PTU is not as cheesy.

It's probably right in the middle between the seriousness of heat and

the, the cheesy of Johnny English.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

So for my third movie, it's actually also a crime movie, a little bit

more, , serious and grounded.

, and the hard thing about this movie, which is called UNE is that.

I almost don't want to say anything about the movie because saying anything

about the movie kind of gives it away.

So all I'll say is it's about this pianist.

And you know, Something bad happens.

And there's a whole crime situation that happens through it.

And it's a big mystery and thriller, and it kind of loses the thread

a little in the ending, but it's just a really fun time throughout.

So I would definitely recommend that movie.

Try not to read any synopsis.

Um, just take me on my word if you like crime movies.

if you like kind of mysteries, thrillers, uh, that sort of thing.

It's not that cheesy.

It's not that comedic.

It's just, it's just really well made and has a lot of twists and turns that.

Yeah, there's an, and I can't stress the comment

that, my brother just made.

Don't look at.

Or plot summary or anything of this movie, there's a lot of right.

Turns in this movie, where it's going one way and it switches.

and you don't want that ruined.

I think this is an incredibly good watch.

The first time I watched it, I was floored that Bollywood came

up with something so interesting.

, so it's definitely worth the watch.

For all these top threes, we'll put them in the show notes

because if you're new to Bollywood, if you don't know Hindi, it's

probably hard to understand how to spell any of the things we just said.

So just look in the show notes and, um, I'll probably link to like letter box

or something like that, and you can kind of click on it and see for yourself.

Yeah.

And then one also comment I wanna say is, me and my brother don't know Hindi.

so don't let the fact that it's a foreign

film freak you out.

I don't know.

Hi, I watch it with subtitles and I still love this industry so much.

so hopefully you guys check these, these movies out and and I do want to.

An honorable mention.

And my brother has his own honorable mention that he'll,

he'll talk about, but I do wanna drop an honorable mention of R R.

Um, and many people have probably heard of this movie.

It was incredibly huge in America, incredibly huge in India.

Uh, it's not a Bollywood movie, so it's actually a algo movie, directed by

moley.

but it's such an incredible time.

I watched it in theaters twice.

When I went to, I mean, what my brother can even talk a little bit more about

this when he went to watch it in theaters, he, him, my mom and her dad were the

only Indian people in the theaters.

and everyone else was not Indian, probably had never seen a Bollywood

or Hollywood movie before.

So I definitely wanna put that down as an honorable mention,

uh, because it's getting

so.

much traction right now.

And it's an it's think of it like the end game of India.

It's so incredibly hype and you don't need to really know anything going into it.

It's just a good.

We'll do a pod about it, but, um, if you watch the movie, Patrick H

Willow made a great movie, a great video, I say about it and just look up stuff

on Twitter, because like, people were like wilding out in the theaters, man.

Like people were dancing and shit.

And even the theater I went to, like people were like, like

yelling, like, yeah, let's go.

And like, it was just a dope time.

Like, it felt like a real, real experience.

So for mine, which is I don't for our honorable mentions, we, you know, in

this podcast, we're gonna talk about some movies that aren't, don't fit

neatly into the Bollywood spectrum.

So we might talk about some Hollywood movies, some Moala movies, all sorts of.

Movies.

Um, there's a movie called lunchbox, which I think is technically Bollywood.

don't know what to classify it as it in has actors who are Bollywood actors.

It's just an lunchbox is an incredible movie.

It's very kind of artsy and about moan moments and poetic.

And I wanted to include kind of one of those kind of indie

artsy movies in here too.

And I wanna reiterate, like Anique had said for all these movies, , you know,

don't let the subtitles get in your way.

I remember when parasite won the Oscar Bo ho the director para I

had this great quote where he says.

, if you overcome the one inch barrier of subtitles, you'll be introduced to many

more amazing films, something like that.

I'm paraphrasing, but,, did you have any other thoughts on the, on any of

these top threes are honorable mention?

Yeah.

I mean, I think I've, I've hit most of the points I wanna talk about, but

I, I hope you guys watch these movies.

If you don't watch these specific movies, don't, don't put yourself

in a box and think these are the movies you have to watch.

Um, definitely go out and explore if you guys want, uh, different

suggestions, reach out to both of us.

Uh, if you watch the, if you

watch all of these eight movies and you're like, dope, I want

more, I don't know where to.

Reach out to us

cuz we've

you you can reach out to us by the way.

At, uh, brown bros, binge gmail.com.

All one

Yeah, we we've watched, I don't wanna say maybe probably over a hundred

Bollywood movies, like collectively between the two of us, if not more.

we love Bollywood.

We love this industry and we want this industry to grow amongst not just Indian

people, but everyone around this world.

And that's kind of why we have this podcast.

It's partly because we wanna share our thoughts.

It's partly because we love talking about Bollywood between the two of us and we

thought it would be cool outlet to do it, but a big reason we do this is we want

share this incredible industry to others and to our friends and to people that

maybe didn't think they would want to get into Bollywood or watch Indian movies.

Um, and we hope that this is a good jumping off point for you guys to, to,

join into the world of Indian cinema and Bollywood and Hollywood, whatever it may.

Absolutely.

Yeah, he's very well said.

So guys let us, uh, guys and gals, let us, uh, know what you think and

we'll see you in the next podcast.