Starting from 1978:
The song 'Khaike Paan Banaras Wala' from Don starts with @SrBachchan drinking "Shivji ka prasad".
*giggle*
In fact, the song begins with "bhang ka rang jama ho chakachak phir lo paan chabaaye..."
1992: Tarantino wrote the script for Pulp Fiction in Amsterdam(!). His fondness for marijuana is failry well known (lexichronic.com/brad-pitt-quen… ).
In fact, there was a rumor for a long time that in Pulp Fiction all the clocks point to the time 4:20.
2003:
Boom the absolutely mental but unpopular movie is actually named after a common #420culture practice - 'Boom Shiva'.
Before a bank robbery, Katrina Kaif, Padma Lakshmi and Madhu Sapre smoke up and do the Boom Shiva routine, and that’s why the movie was called Boom.
2004:
The movie with the greatest ever tagline: “Charas: A JOINT Effort”
2007: @Kailashkher’s song Bam Lahiri makes no effort to conceal what the song is about: Parvati's love for Shiva, and what she is willing to do for him.
Including "Din bhar teri mein bhang ragdoongi. Bhang ragdoon, tera ragdoon dhatura"
2013:
Naseeruddin Shah starred in a documentary about legalizing cannabis!
2013:
Go Goa Gone's opening scene features Kunal Khemu and @thevirdas smoking up and watching the infamous Goli Maar song of Chiranjeevi.
(for more on this, you can also check out the first episode of IWTK).
The other obvious reference in the movie :
Babaji ki booty:
"Jo bhari chilam bane hum hero
Life lage film, samasya zero"
2013:
In @prateikbabbar's Issaq, there is a clever take on the “Smoking is injurious to health” disclaimer usually seen in Indian films. When a person is seen smoking pot in the background, the disclaimer says “Character is smoking herbs, not tobacco".
Another great song about smoking pot.
Oopar oopar renne de by Tanishk-Vayu
"ghaas phoos pe loat raha hoon
roll roll kar jalna."
2016:
The Blueberry Hunt is a little known movie, starring Naseeruddin Shah (!) and set in the beautiful state of Kerala.
Shah plays a retired Colonel, who runs a marijuana plantation of a variant called 'Blueberry Skunk'.
In "Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana", the movie revolves around this famous "chicken khurana" dish which has this one secret ingredient, that made the Khurana dhaba famous across Punjab.
Spoiler alert: the secret sauce turns out to be marijuana.
2020-4-20
The 1992 Dr.Dre album "Chronic" was released today on streaming services, as a reference to the date 4/20.
In fact, the album cover is a tribute to the rolling paper brand Zig-Zag's iconic packaging, and the name "Chronic" refers to a slang for high-grade cannabis.
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Back in 1971 when the nation was formed, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, considered the leader of the freedom movement, was not in the country - he was in jail in Pakistan.
And it was a former lover of Bhutto who was able to secure his release.
A love story 🧵
In 1971 Pakistan's armed forces laid down their arms at a ceremony in Dhaka before the joint command of the Indian armed forces and Bangladesh's Mukti Bahini.
As the two armed forces were celebrating their victory, Mrs Indira Gandhi had other things to worry about.
1. The enormous cost of the war 2. The cost of dealing with over 10M refugees 3. The un-budgeted responsibility of having to look after the 93,000 Pakistani soldiers taken as POWs.
India wanted to keep the POW's in conditions that went above and beyond Geneva norms.
A school-going kid once visited the Congress party office, where Tamil lyricist Kavirajar Kannadasan asked, "Would you like to work in films, child?" The kid said, "Ask my father."
This child was destined to become one of India's greatest superstars!
A thread on Sridevi! 🧵
It is said that when Sridevi was born, there was a bright red mark on her forehead, and hence people started that a devi had born in the house.
Thus she was named Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan.
Before ruling the box office as a leading star, Sridevi was a phenomenally accomplished child artist.
Here she is, sharing the screen with MG Ramachandran, playing his nephew in a film that also starred J. Jayalalitha!
This film, starring Supriya Pathak & Hugh Grant, is based on a novel by Mircea Eliade.
Its the story of a 23-year-old Mircea who came to Calcutta to study under philosopher Surendranath Dasgupta.
There, he fell in love with Maitreyi - teacher's daughter.
Sounds familiar? A 🧵
In this novel, Mircea fictionalizes how his love story was cut short because Surendranath Dasgupta was unhappy about the relationship. The relationship was "exposed" by Maitreyi Devi's sister.
The novel was published in 1933, a couple of years after Mircea's time in Calcutta.
For some additional context, Maitreyi was a savant! Maitreyi was mentored by Rabindranath Tagore, and she even wrote a book Mongpute Rabindranath (Tagore by The Fire Side) about the time spent with the great poet.
20 years ago, we were reminded that good films need not make money, & films that make good money need not be great!
On June 18, 2004, Lakshya was released, telling the story of an aimless rich youngster who joins the Indian Army & discovers his true goal.
A thread🧵
Lakshya was written by @Javedakhtarjadu: He was told by senior army officers about the declining enrollments to the Indian army each year, prompting him to promise to write a film addressing the issue!
The script marked Akthar's comeback as a scriptwriter after ages!
Lakshya was a departure from the kinds of war movies made at the time like Border, LOC Kargil etc.
In fact, director @FarOutAkhtar's goal was to tell a story about a boy who finds himself in the backdrop of Kargil War.
On June 15, 2001, the world saw the release of a monumental film in scale & vision, with its main plot revolving around a cricket match between India & the British Empire!
A thread 🧵on Lagaan, the film that convinced Aamir Khan to pursue the kind of films he believed in.
After two failed attempts at films, @AshGowariker's confidence was low.
He then conceived a story where a key battle is resolved by a cricket match. He pitched this to Aamir in 4 lines, who told him not to waste time on this.
Lagaan was @AshGowariker’s third foray into direction after his earlier two movies – Pehla Nasha and Baazi.
Baazi is famous for the “Item number” by Aamir Khan. Pehla Nasha had Aamir and SRK in the same movie with some cringe worthy puns
This is freedom fighter Raj Narain, who achieved the greatest electoral upset in India's history.
In the 1977 elections held after the lifting of the Emergency, Raj Narain defeated Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
A thread 🧵
The story begins with the 1971 election.
Originally scheduled for 1972, Indira Gandhi called for early elections, catching opposition by surprise.
The opposition quickly recovered and nominated Raj Narain to contest against Mrs. Gandhi in Rae Bareli.
📸 @htTweets
Indira Gandhi was probably displeased with the nomination.
At a campaign rally she said, "Mr. Narain had been chosen by the opposition parties to contest from Rae Bareli because he was a well-known Nehru hater and baiter."