While the iconic theme song by @The_Rembrandts (yup they're on twitter) is now an earworm, NBC had considered REM's "Shiny Happy People" as a potential alternative.
Check out what could've been:
The show was originally called "Insomnia Cafe" (hello to all late night putting people!).
David Crane and Martha Kauffman wrote a 7 page pitch with the main couple as Joey and Monica. NBC purchased the pilot, renamed it to "Friends Like Us" then "Six of Us".
The iconic opening sequence wasn't shot in New York, it was shot at a Warner Bros ranch in Burbank, California.
(Note to self - stop saying "iconic" for every aspect of the show)
It could've been @jonfavs as Chandler, had @MatthewPerry opted to work on a show called LAX 2194 about an Alien-baggage claim show. Jon Favreau played Pete Becker, one of Monica's boyfriends.
Watch -
The six of them negotiated as a group and increased salary from $20,000 to $100,00 and eventually to 1M per episode by season 10.
@mskelseymiller in her must-read book, "I'll be there for you" shares lovely stories about how they were always united in negotiations with NBC.
Since @LisaKudrow was playing Ursula on Mad About You, Kauffman - Crane liked the show and decided to write Ursula into their own show.
So much fun to unleash such playful creativity :-)
Everyone's favourite, Gunther was cast based on the fact that James Michael Tyler was the only one around who knew how to operate a coffee machine.
He was a Barista IRL at that time.
Poor Marcel was written out of the show because as it was difficult and time consuming to film with animals.
The whole show did a @FarahKhanAli-esque end-credit tribute in "The One After Vegas" since Courteney Cox and David Arquette got married.
Bruce Willis appeared for free on the show after losing a bet to Matthew Perry. They both were shooting for "The Whole Nine Yards".
Yup, those were some facts from the show that we could find. What fun facts do you have?
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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."
This song is very familiar to Indians, but it strikes a chord with people in Pakistan too.
The Pakistani film Bedari (1956) was a remake of the Hindi blockbuster Jagriti (1954).
Bedari lifted the plot, songs, & lead child actor too - Makki ka Makki!
A Thread 🧵 (1/14)
The lead role in both Jagriti and Bedari is played by Nazir Rizvi (better known by his screen name Rattan Kumar).
Nazir migrated to Pakistan in the 1950s and went on to act in many Lollywood movies thereafter.
(2/14)
Actor Ratan Kumar was already very famous before the release of Jagriti, thanks to his important roles in classics such as Do Bigha Zameen, and Boot Polish.