Shabana Azmi: Mark my words Suhana Khan is going to be a good actor - Page 3

Originally posted by: VimalPanMasala

Madhuri chose safe roles compared to her contemporaries, even Rekha and Meenakshi did challenging roles. Forget others, Rekha was awful at the beginning (whereas other actresses generally were decent at debut) but miraculously improved and showed that consistency.

Madhuri's issue is that she did well at her peak (and acted better than many of her male stars at the time - really), but did not bother to hone her acting skill besides copying/imitating Sucharita Sen, and so regressed post-Devdas.

Devdas was her strength ie silent performance focused on her features. The others showed some growth.

But Sonam's comment rings true because most people consider her like a mediocre level actress when that is not the case. The Khans did the same thing as Madhuri, neither Salman, nor Shah Rukh, nor Aamir experimented when they hit their peak with their skill and relied on themselves. (Swades as a film is good but SRK did not try any new acting techniques consistently). Eventually that collapses.

Madhuri's roles were less daring in the 90s but she was also still establishing herself then. In contrast, Sridevi and especially Rekha had been around much longer and were thus able to take the challenging roles they wanted at that point since they had done all the generic roles already. Madhuri started taking more experimental roles by the early 2000s with Devdas and Lajja and we probably would have seen more of that had she not retired then.

I haven't seen Rekha's early films but I've seen pics of her and it wasn't just her lack of acting and bad diction but also her looks. She had to really pull herself together to improve her looks onscreen. I remember Jaya in an old interview said that Rekha was lazy and did not try to act in those early days hence why Jaya would mentor her to improve her.

And I'll say this about Sonam that I am not a huge fan of hers but as I said in the Sonam thread I started, I have seen performances of hers that have wowed me and left me emotionally moved. I think in her case it's not just the looks but also the personality she has which has some arrogance and attitude (like calling Aishwarya an aunty) which can be off-putting and take away sympathy for her. I think her issue is also that based on the security of her family name, she doesn't always try her maximum best but when she does, she glows in comparison to the "actresses" we have now.

Originally posted by: RaniPreityAish

Madhuri's roles were less daring in the 90s but she was also still establishing herself then. In contrast, Sridevi and especially Rekha had been around much longer and were thus able to take the challenging roles they wanted at that point since they had done all the generic roles already. Madhuri started taking more experimental roles by the early 2000s with Devdas and Lajja and we probably would have seen more of that had she not retired then.

I haven't seen Rekha's early films but I've seen pics of her and it wasn't just her lack of acting and bad diction but also her looks. She had to really pull herself together to improve her looks onscreen. I remember Jaya in an old interview said that Rekha was lazy and did not try to act in those early days hence why Jaya would mentor her to improve her.

And I'll say this about Sonam that I am not a huge fan of hers but as I said in the Sonam thread I started, I have seen performances of hers that have wowed me and left me emotionally moved. I think in her case it's not just the looks but also the personality she has which has some arrogance and attitude (like calling Aishwarya an aunty) which can be off-putting and take away sympathy for her. I think her issue is also that based on the security of her family name, she doesn't always try her maximum best but when she does, she glows in comparison to the "actresses" we have now.

Devdas was not experimental imo. It was a very safe portrayal with a safe movie that catered to her 'adaa'. Her unique films are Lajja and Mrityudand, and for both her performance was not very popular. She did not want to do Lajja and only did it out of respect for the senior actresses (although I think she did well). The makers of Mrityudand were happy with her performance but the producers initially wanted her to give more (it was a huge fallout because they felt MD had wasted months of prep) So similar to Shah Rukh Khan with 2-4 archiveable films.

Rekha is very impressive imo. Her looks were not awful, a lot of her earlier pictures are taken out of context but her dialogue delivery went from ?? to one of the best ever.

Sonam only glows because she's conventionally very attractive. Anil Kapoor had planned for her to be the next big thing, just like Deepika is now, and that is why he willingly went to supporting roles in films. In terms of the effort she puts, it's the same amount as Arjun.

The thing was that all her best performances were in films her dad not only had the money to finance but also cast everyone around so she looked good - Abhay Deol in Aisha was cut so she could look better, Dhanush/Dulqueer even complained years later.

Nowadays if any nepo does that they will be called out. SRK is trying with his daughter but the Archies did not work out, her next is a Sujoy Ghosh movie many of his fans do not want.

Sonam has tried only a few times in her life - once in her debut, once while modelling at Cannes, and once for Neerja and that too, inconsistently.

Originally posted by: VimalPanMasala

Devdas was not experimental imo. It was a very safe portrayal with a safe movie that catered to her 'adaa'. Her unique films are Lajja and Mrityudand, and for both her performance was not very popular. She did not want to do Lajja and only did it out of respect for the senior actresses (although I think she did well). The makers of Mrityudand were happy with her performance but the producers initially wanted her to give more (it was a huge fallout because they felt MD had wasted months of prep) So similar to Shah Rukh Khan with 2-4 archiveable films.

Rekha is very impressive imo. Her looks were not awful, a lot of her earlier pictures are taken out of context but her dialogue delivery went from ?? to one of the best ever.

Sonam only glows because she's conventionally very attractive. Anil Kapoor had planned for her to be the next big thing, just like Deepika is now, and that is why he willingly went to supporting roles in films. In terms of the effort she puts, it's the same amount as Arjun.

The thing was that all her best performances were in films her dad not only had the money to finance but also cast everyone around so she looked good - Abhay Deol in Aisha was cut so she could look better, Dhanush/Dulqueer even complained years later.

Nowadays if any nepo does that they will be called out. SRK is trying with his daughter but the Archies did not work out, her next is a Sujoy Ghosh movie many of his fans do not want.

Sonam has tried only a few times in her life - once in her debut, once while modelling at Cannes, and once for Neerja and that too, inconsistently.

Devdas was not an experimental film. It was an experimental role because Madhuri was playing a supporting role. In the 90s, she always played the lead and other actresses were afraid of playing the side heroine to her like when Juhi rejected Nisha's role in Dil To Pagal Hai. By the early 2000s, there were many younger actresses at the top and Madhuri was aging out of the main roles so her taking a supporting role to Aish, the new hit queen of Bollywood, was definitely daring. I've never seen Mrityudand but I've heard it was rejected by audiences because it was not the role they expected her to do.

Rekha's looks were regularly dissed in the industry when she debuted. Just look at this article below and how it's headlined.

https://www.indiatoday.in/entertainment/photo/rekha-the-ultimate-divas-journey-to-beauty-368405-2012-10-10

Sonam is pretty but I never found her that drop dead gorgeous. I don't know why Anil Kapoor never thought of working with his daughter in films like SRK plans to do with Suhana. Similarly it always seemed a missed opportunity for Karishma/Kareena or Priyanka/Parineeti to not act together onscreen. I'm not a fan of Arjun outside of Ishaqzaade so I think Sonam is better than him. She's had more hits and more of a fan following for sure.

I didn't like Aisha and I remember Abhay Deol complained about that. Yet, even after his feud with Anil and Sonam, he still agreed to work with her again in Raanjhanaa so clearly he didn't harbor too many bad feelings. I didn't know Dhanush was frustrated with how his role was cut in comparison to Sonam's but watching Raanjhanaa again, the movie is very much his and from his POV. If it was edited to not favor him, it's certainly not apparent onscreen especially since most viewers found Sonam's character unlikable. Was Neerja produced by her father as well? That was her best role and the one that impressed me most.

Originally posted by: RaniPreityAish

Devdas was not an experimental film. It was an experimental role because Madhuri was playing a supporting role. In the 90s, she always played the lead and other actresses were afraid of playing the side heroine to her like when Juhi rejected Nisha's role in Dil To Pagal Hai. By the early 2000s, there were many younger actresses at the top and Madhuri was aging out of the main roles so her taking a supporting role to Aish, the new hit queen of Bollywood, was definitely daring. I've never seen Mrityudand but I've heard it was rejected by audiences because it was not the role they expected her to do.

Rekha's looks were regularly dissed in the industry when she debuted. Just look at this article below and how it's headlined.

https://www.indiatoday.in/entertainment/photo/rekha-the-ultimate-divas-journey-to-beauty-368405-2012-10-10

Sonam is pretty but I never found her that drop dead gorgeous. I don't know why Anil Kapoor never thought of working with his daughter in films like SRK plans to do with Suhana. Similarly it always seemed a missed opportunity for Karishma/Kareena or Priyanka/Parineeti to not act together onscreen. I'm not a fan of Arjun outside of Ishaqzaade so I think Sonam is better than him. She's had more hits and more of a fan following for sure.

I didn't like Aisha and I remember Abhay Deol complained about that. Yet, even after his feud with Anil and Sonam, he still agreed to work with her again in Raanjhanaa so clearly he didn't harbor too many bad feelings. I didn't know Dhanush was frustrated with how his role was cut in comparison to Sonam's but watching Raanjhanaa again, the movie is very much his and from his POV. If it was edited to not favor him, it's certainly not apparent onscreen especially since most viewers found Sonam's character unlikable. Was Neerja produced by her father as well? That was her best role and the one that impressed me most.

Rekha was dissed [in] the industry though, where most of the industry was very anti-South Indian, and barely were okay with Hema Malini, who is the classic Indian beauty. Audiences did not care too much. Back then there was no such major concept.

Neerja was made by friends of her mother, not father. But yes she has worked with safe people all her life. Abhay worked again with Sonam because his family was angered he had cut relations, I do not think it has anything to do with him getting over Aisha.

Originally posted by: VimalPanMasala

Rekha was dissed [in] the industry though, where most of the industry was very anti-South Indian, and barely were okay with Hema Malini, who is the classic Indian beauty. Audiences did not care too much. Back then there was no such major concept.

Neerja was made by friends of her mother, not father. But yes she has worked with safe people all her life. Abhay worked again with Sonam because his family was angered he had cut relations, I do not think it has anything to do with him getting over Aisha.

I've often heard comments that back then South Indian actresses were looked down own as cheap and homewreckers. Which is ironic, because the most famous ones like Hema Malini, Rekha, and Sridevi all lived up to that reputation. Rekha not being considered a good actress, whether it was looks, diction, or talent, is what Jaya also said about her in public about not bothering to try in her early films.

Oh I see, I know little to nothing about Sonam's mother. Did not know that about Abhay either but it makes since that the Deols would want to be on good terms with the Kapoors.

Originally posted by: VimalPanMasala

Rekha was dissed [in] the industry though, where most of the industry was very anti-South Indian, and barely were okay with Hema Malini, who is the classic Indian beauty. Audiences did not care too much. Back then there was no such major concept.

Neerja was made by friends of her mother, not father. But yes she has worked with safe people all her life. Abhay worked again with Sonam because his family was angered he had cut relations, I do not think it has anything to do with him getting over Aisha.

Sonam and Abhay were such a weird pairing

Originally posted by: RaniPreityAish

I know Sonam got a lot of flack for that but I think that's true more often than not. More beautiful actresses (and this applies to actors too) are often dismissed as only having relevance for how they look onscreen and not for their talent. Some critics seem to go out of their way to target more aesthetically beautiful actors by dismissing them as non-actresses or just as stars.

This is true for Aishwarya based on the reactions in this forum. This was true for Joan Crawford in classic Hollywood as well.

Bold - Hema Malini used to be celebrated for her looks, she was the one and onlty dream girl of Indian Cinema, and the critics always said she was not much of an actress which was very unfair imo

Didn't know Joan Crawford was dissed as well, had no idea she was considered a great beauty in the first place (she lost it pretty quickly though)

In Aishu's case, some people think she has neither 🤷‍♀️

Shakti Kapoor ( Shraddas dad and RKs co star from animal) said if Rishi was alive he would’ve loved ranbir in animal.

Is that also paid PR ?

Originally posted by: TotalBetty

Bold - Hema Malini used to be celebrated for her looks, she was the one and onlty dream girl of Indian Cinema, and the critics always said she was not much of an actress which was very unfair imo

Didn't know Joan Crawford was dissed as well, had no idea she was considered a great beauty in the first place (she lost it pretty quickly though)

In Aishu's case, some people think she has neither 🤷‍♀️

Yes, I've heard some of the same stuff about Hema.

Joan was considered the most beautiful woman in the 1930s. Keep in mind she was much older than actresses like Marilyn Monroe or Elizabeth Taylor so when these women debuted in the 1950s in their 20s, Joan as already in her 50s herself. So people assume she looked horrible because they only see older pictures of her and not the movie goddess she was in the 30s since she'd been acting since 1925 to 1970.

I have never heard anyone with a straight face claim Aish is not beautiful.

Originally posted by: RaniPreityAish

Yes, I've heard some of the same stuff about Hema.

Joan was considered the most beautiful woman in the 1930s. Keep in mind she was much older than actresses like Marilyn Monroe or Elizabeth Taylor so when these women debuted in the 1950s in their 20s, Joan as already in her 50s herself. So people assume she looked horrible because they only see older pictures of her and not the movie goddess she was in the 30s since she'd been acting since 1925 to 1970.

I have never heard anyone with a straight face claim Aish is not beautiful.

Joan was unpopular because she mean-girled Mary Pickford, America's biggest movie star ever, in her way to fame. So she was considered a "nasty" beauty. Her actions, especially towards someone like Pickford who created America's movie industry caused her trouble.

The thing is that female actresses are expected to be good people and good actresses, where we do not have that moral compass for men. The older South actresses had such terrible lives because their parents controlled every stage of their being, knowing that if their "good" image was spoiled, they would be destroyed. Inadvertently, they fell into bad company on their own.

Back to the OG topic, Suhana is stuck between a hard place because people don't like gross displays of privilege by a woman, especially a non-stunner woman (in their eyes).