Review : Shakti

Posted on April 7, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.5/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2002
Running time : 3 hrs
Director : Krishna Vamsi
Cast : Karisma Kapoor, Nana Patekar, Sanjay Kapoor, Deepti Naval, Vijay Raaz

SHAKTI : Intense and violent drama

Loosely inspired by the English film “Not wthout my daughter” and a remake of a south-Indian film, Shakti is the story of one woman’s strength. The film is unusual in that the protagoinist is a woman, fighting her personal battle against patriarchial society. It is also unusually violent, to the point of goriness, and brings home to the viewer the sheer animal-like violence in the village where the action ensues.Karisma Kapoor is Nandini, an orphan living in Canadian with her restaurant-owning uncles (Jaspal Bhatti and Tiku Talsania). The uncles provide the comic relief, while the orphan niece romances her living-in-Canada friend Shekhar (Sanjay Kapoor), and marries him. Nandini and Shekhar later also have a son, Raja (Jai Gidwani). Their idyllic life is soon to be shattered however, and the bad news comes via that king of the media-waves, the television.

On TV, Shekhar sees the news of riots and bloody fighting in parts of Rajasthan, and appears extremely worried and tense. Apparently he has family there and is very worried about them (especially his mother). When he and his family finally visit India, Nandini is shocked by the violent and regressive atmosphere she is introduced into.

Shekhar’s parents live in a village, in a feudal like atmosphere, where his father Narasimha (Nana Patekar) is uncrowned king. Narasimha is invoved in violent guerilla war-fare with his rival Beecha (Vijay Raaz). The men of his (Narasimha’s) family and their cronies have apparently perfected patriarchy, violence, and the abuse of women to a fine art, and regard Shekhar a sissy when he refuses to partake of the same imbecility. While Shekhar’s father taunts Shekhar for his “unmanly” aversion to violence, and Karisma on her “modern” attire, Shekhar’s mother (Deepti Naval) tries to welcome them with love and kindness. Highly uncomfortable in her feudal surroundngs, Karisma pushes for a return to Canada, but is beseeched again and again by Shekhar’s mother to stay, just a little while longer.

It seems they have stayed a little too long, when Shekhar is killed by his father’s enemies. Nandini, grief-stricken, resolves to return immediately, but her plans are foiled by Narasimha, who is unwilling to let go his only heir, her son. Free to go without her son, Nandini stays rooted and wages a heroic battle against Narasimha’s starkly brutal ways to get back her child. Does she succeed ? …..

This in an engrossing, fast-paced, film. Shahrukh Khan plays a small-role of a good-hearted drunkard, who helps Karisma, and he and Aishwarya dance to the requisite “item” number “Ishq Kamina”. Karisma, Nana Patekar and Deepti Naval deliver excellent performances. Sanjay Kapoor is adequate, and so is the direction.

This is a watch-it-and-flinch film, not just because of the violence and the language, but also because you sense it depicts reality or something very close to it. The character of Deepti Naval, a sane-thinking woman kept in near bondage to a deranged maniac (Patekar), rings true. Which is why I was surprised to read other reviews on the Web, calling the film unfit for public consumption, “because of all that violence/foul language”. Come now, are we that faint-hearted? When we see women getting beaten up , or screamed at in vile language on-screen, we get queasy and declare the material unfit. However, semi-clad women on-screen seem to suit us just fine. Thinly covered heaving bosoms, and boldly bared derrierres apparently present no threat to the ogling eyes of our malleable youth. We applaud women who within a blink of an eye go from mini-skirted vamps to sari-clad pativrata naris, with oodles of sindoor in their hair. Ooh, yeah, thunderous applause for the ideal Indian woman; that barefoot and pregnant, subservient, domesticated nymph!

Agreed that the film does not bring closure. Narasimha’s activities are not curtailed, not does punishment loom in sight. That in itself, does not preclude the need for such a film. In thinking that such films inspire men to go out and be vile, we are actually “wagging the dog”. The film is a product of society; it reflects reality, and society’s attitudes towards women. We might wish to keep those attitudes private, and appear “civil” and construe every such depiction as “unfit”, but that cannot wish away the current second-class status of women.

Posted in bollywood, drama, watchable | Comments Off

Review : Black

Posted on April 5, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Good (4/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2005
Running time : 125 minutes
Director : Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Cast : Rani Mukherjee, Amitabh Bachhan, Shernaz Patel, Ayesha Kapur, Nandana Sen, Dhritiman Chaterjee

BLACK : That haunting melody of sadness !

Black is like its film-maker : different. A very off-beat topic for one; the story of a deaf-blind girl and her teacher. And no ordinary girl either – a wilful, spirited child this one. Her teacher; eccentric, strong-willed and persistent.A pair to match ,you’d say. The child Michelle McNally (played by child actor Ayesha Kapur) is deaf and blind as a baby. You see the sadness engulfing the parents as they get this news. As the child grows, she does not learn communication and as such remains in her own dark world, suffocating, we are told. Although her parents are rich, she grows up animal-like, caught alone.Unless supervised, her actions cause accidents, whereupon her father Paul (Dhritiman Chaterjee) decides to send her to an asylum. Catherine (Shernaz), her mother, protests and persuades Paul to try home tutoring first. Clutching at straws, she invites an eccentric teacher from Dehradun, Balraj Sahai (Bachhan) to teach Michelle. Sahai when he lands up, has firm and particular ideas on how Michelle is to be taught, which leads to a confrontation with the family, particularly Paul.

Mercifully, when Paul leaves for a few days, Sahai is able to commence his lessons, and for the first time Michelle understands what it is to communicate, leading to great joy in the home. Sahai stays to tutor Michelle (now played by Rani) for many years, and is instrumental in Michelle attempting to pass exams at a regular college. Michelle is independent and can look after herself, when Sahai leaves, after a regrettable encounter with Michelle.

When she meets him again, he needs her help….

This is a good film, carrying with it an aura of sadness. Bhansali shoots the entire film, in dark, muted tones. No splashes of sunlight, no vividness of colors here ! Rani delivers a sterling performance as Michelle, and Bachhan is good as Sahai. Shernaz Patel returns to the screen after Janam, and does well. The director wields his camera well, telling the tale with consummate ease, and the emotional charge required for such a moving story. Certain scenes, like the scene when Michelle understands what it is to communicate, are shot especially well, impressing upon the viewer all the pain underneath.

There are no songs, only a just about average background score to accompany theviewer through Michelle’s triumphs and tribulations. My only problem with the movie, is that the director overdoes it, i.e; he milks it for all its worth, to the point where sympathy is lost rather than gained. Other than that, a good watch.

Posted in bollywood, drama, rating-PG, watchable | 3 Comments

Review : Karam

Posted on April 4, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Poor (2/5)
Genre : Action
Year : 2005
Running time : 116 minutes
Director : Sanjay F. Gupta
Cast : Priyanka Chopra, John Abraham, Bharat Dabholkar, Shiney Ahuja, Vishwajeest Pradhan
Music : Vishal-Shekhar

KARAM : All hype and no matter

Karam is the directorial debut of cinematographer Sanjay F. Gupta. That’s probably why the film unfolds like a slickly made music video. Good technique if it was meant to be a one-song video, not so good for a feature film. The pace is slow, and doesn’t build up to the climax scenes.John (Abraham) and Shalini (Chopra) are husband-wife, she a nightclub singer, he a contract killer. He works for the “Captain” (Dabholkar), a mafia boss. On a killing mission, a child accidentally gets killed along with her parents. Aghast and repentant at having engineered a child’s death, John decides to give up killing. Meanwhile the Captain has been attacked by another rival Yunus (Vishwajeet Pradhan), and decides to retaliate using John’s marksmanship. When John demurs, the Captain kidnaps Shalini, in order to make John do his bidding.

Now John must kill 5 targets in 36 hours to save Shalini’s life, all the while dodging the persistent police Inspector Wagh (Shiney Ahuja), who is on his tail. Does he succeed ?

The film fails becuase it relies more on its presentation, than plotline or execution. Neither the acting, nor dialogues are on par with the visual imagery on screen. The stylish and overdone visual treatment of the film, also brings glaringly into focus the other underdone facets of the film. Acting is poor, with John wooden, and Priyanka displaying her extremely limited acting skills. The supporting cast isn’t, except maybe Shiney Ahuja. The film fails to hold the viewer engrossed, etching out characters unconvincingly. Like other industry thrillers, this one takes a break from reality and the laws of gravity in the action scenes.

What is beautifully done are the frame compositions. Some shots are done in sepia, and some in the begining, are done in what can be best described as B & W rendering animation (if you’ve seen “Kill Bill” or the old A-ha “Take on me” music video, you know what I mean). The director beautifully mixes B & W with color in some shots. However, just presentation does not a good film make. Gupta attempts to learn this the hard way.

Music is good, with “Tinka tinka” and “Tera hi karam” hauntingly melodious. With the sudden spate of “gangsta” films in Bollywood, this is one more, and not a good one at that.

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Review : Bride and Prejudice

Posted on April 4, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Good (4/5)
Genre : All-in-one
Year : 2005
Running time : 111 minutes
Director : Gurinder Chaddha
Cast : Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, Naveen Andrews, Namrata Shirodkar, Nadira Babbar, Anupam Kher, Sonali Kulkarni, Pia Rai Chaudhary, Indira Varma, Meghna Kothari, Nitin Ganatra, Daniel Gillies
Music : Anu Mallik

Bride and Prejudice : Straight-thinking Bollywood meets Hollywood

B&P is a typical, feel-good Bollywood entertainer with a mind of its own. Inspired by the Jane Austen novel, Chaddha adapts the age-old storyline of the hunt for a suitable boy, to a family in lush Punjab, in modern-day India. The Bakshi parivar is composed of the father (Kher), the mother (Babbar) and the four daughters : Jaya (Shirodkar), Lalitha (Aishwarya), Lakhi (Pia RC), and Maya (Kothari). Jaya is the shy “good” girl, while Lalitha is the outspoken fire-ball who helps her father with his business, and appreciates having a mind.

We first see the lead pair together when the family goes to a wedding, and meets Balraj Bingley (Andrews), who is in India on business. He is accompanied by his sister, the statuesque Krishna (Varma) and American friend William Darcy (Henderson). Mrs. Bakshi is keen to make a matrimonial match between Jaya and Balraj, and is delighted when the pair take a liking to each other. Lalitha and Will eye each other, but a mutual dislike is apparent when Will rejects friendly overtures by the Bakshi family.

Later the same evening, when Balraj asks Mr.Bakshi if Jaya can accompany them (Balraj and Co.) to Goa for a few days, Mr. Bakshi demurs. Matters are resolved satisfactorily however, on Mrs. Bakshi’s insistence, with Lalitha being volunteered as a chaperone to accompany Jaya. The Goa trip, while bringing Jaya and Balraj closer only heightens the differences between Darcy and Lalitha. In Goa, Lalitha also meets Johnny Wickham , Darcy’s old adversary, finds herself drawn to his honesty and straightforwardness, and invites him to Amritsar.

When they return from the trip, Jaya and Lalitha find the Bakshi household awash in preparations for the arrival of NRI Mr. Kohli (Ganatra). Mrs. Bakshi has set her sights on Kohli-saab (caricaturised as a typical Californian NRI) ,as a prospective son-in-law. Wickham too arrives in Amritsar, having accepted Lalitha’s invitation, and is welcomed into the Bakshi household as Lalitha’s friend. Does Balraj indeed woo Jaya ? Does Mrs. Bakshi snag Kohli as a son-in-law or do Lalitha and Wickham get more involved ? The rest of the movie follows along the novel’s plot, and resolves misunderstandings/squabbles and does the “bad” men in.

Acting is adequate all around. Nadira Babbar plays the exaggerated, raving and ranting Punjabi Mom to the hilt, while Kher turns in a sterling performance as the long-suffering, cringing husband. Peeya Rai C. delivers a peppy performance as the younger sister Lakhi, while Ganatra delivers the laughs in his potraiture of the materialistic Kohli-saab. The romantic pairs add pizzazz. Direction is good, and the film is colorful, and peppered with songs, dances and the sights and smells of India.

On the philosophical front, it makes one reflect a bit, when you think that an 1813 Victorian-ish novel fits so well into modern day Indian society. And it jars you a bit, when see the four sisters so baldly “marketed” in the marriage market, by their well-meaning mom.

Music is poor, with many songs awkward-sounding in English, and the compositions not very catchy. The only enjoyable songs are “No Life without wife”, a peppy number picturised on the four sisters, and the initial Hindi wedding song. Although Chaddha takes liberties with the original storyline, as well as with Indian inhibitions, she does it well. The film in parts has some incongruities, but overall is a crowd-pleasing entertainer.

Posted in bollywood, english, recommended | 2 Comments

Review : Chasm-e-buddoor

Posted on April 4, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Very Good (4.5/5)
Genre : Comedy
Year : 1982
Running time : 2 hrs 25 minutes
Director : Sai Paranjpe
Cast : Saeed Jaffrey, Deepti Naval, Farookh Shaikh, Ravi Baswani, Rakesh Bedi

CHASHM-E-BUDDOOR : Good, clean comedy

This is the story of 3 friends Sidhharta (Farooq Shaikh), Jomo (Ravi Baswani) and Omi (Rakesh Bedi), sharing a flat in Delhi. The three are students, still recieving financial aid from their parents, and are trying to get jobs. Sidhharta is the “serious” one of the lot, the other two being good-natured, girl-watching idlers. Neha (Deepti Naval) is the pretty girl in the neighborhood, whom Omi and Jomo try to woo. Their adventures with Neha end badly for them, since Neha lives with her well-built and handy-with-his-fists brother.

Sidhharta, who hasn’t met Neha yet, meets her when she comes selling a detergent powder “Chamko” door-to-door. Their meeting leads to other meetings and finally to romance. When Omi and Jomo get a whiff of Sidhharta’s romance, they are stung by pangs of jealousy, and try to break it up by manufacturing amorous love stories of their own. They paint Neha’s character as that of a moral-less, flighty girl, and offer Sidhharta proof in the forms of various “landmarks” inside Neha’s home. What Sidhharta does not know is that both Jomo and Omi have entered Neha’s home only to be beaten up, by her family members.

Upon actually seeing his friends’ “proof” in Neha’s home, Sidhharta is hurt, and breaks up with Neha. Meanwhile Omi and Jomo are repentant of their jealous behavior, and try to unite the lovers again. Do they succeed ? …

Besides consummate actors, this film features a simple, yet comic-in-its-everydayness storyline. Direction is good and songs are hum-mable. A clean family film.

Posted in bollywood, comedy, family-friendly, humor, outstanding, rating-G, recommended | 1 Comment

Review : Taal

Posted on March 31, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Average (3/5)
Genre : All-in-one
Year : 1999
Running time : 2 hrs and 59 minutes
Director : Subhash Ghai
Cast : Aishwarya Rai, Akshaye Khanna, Anil Kapoor, Alok Nath

TAAL : Awkward musical

This film proves it. Subhash Ghai’s direction is going down the drain. Senility or old-age or both ? I mean, I used to like Ghai films (Pardes was interesting), but the showman is losing his shine. This is a film full of improbabilities, one improbability slathered upon another, until you are choked by this thick miasma of foolishness. Yes, I understand that in Hindi films, dancers are expected to materialise out of thin air, music and the sounds of the tabla reverberate out of the valley the hero is dancing in, and entire neighborhoods are at leisure to gossip over the tiniest detail of the heroine’s day-to-day life. But, let’s do this in moderation please. In Taal, an overt break from reality hits me smack dab in the eye.Manasi (Aishwarya), a gorgeous dancing damsel, spends her leisure time (and she apparently has lots of it) dancing in the beautiful valleys and plains of her village Chamba, in Himachal Pradesh, where she lives with her folk-singer father Tarabhai (Alok Nath). During one of her impromptu dances, she is secretly watched by Manav (Akshaye), who is visiting the hill-station with his rich family. Manav and Manasi fall in love of course, but then are forced into separation by Manav’s decision to leave Chamba sans Manasi. They promise each other ever lasting love and marriage, and then separate.

After some time, Manasi reaches Manav’s house in the big city, where she and her father are ill-treated because she is poor, and Manav’s foreign-returned aunt doesn’t like that. More trouble brews, and Manasi and Manav break-up. Now Manasi meets Vikrant Kapur (Anil Kapoor), music director and music stealer extraordinaire. He also has a music company. Eyeing Manasi, Vikrant promises her the stars and makes her one too -a dancing and singing star that is. He also proceeds to fall in love with her. Does Manasi love him too ? Or does she secretly pine for Manav ? ….

The film is about 3 hours long, with 12 songs; that averages to about a song every 15 minutes. And these are l-o-n-g songs, so you approximately have 10 minutes of inane dialogue, before a 5 minute long song pops up. All these songs in a plot so thin, a child could snap it in two. Added to that, all dances in this film , (and there are lots of them too) have awkward choreography, not smooth and definitely not graceful. Pretty painful to watch. Also, both Aish and Akshaye need hair care, she needs some anti-friz treatment, and he needs to grow some hair !

Just about average is the highest rating I can give this film. I found an amusing review of this film by Roger Ebert. Taal is being screened at his “Overlooked films festival”. Overlooked, indeed! Me, I looked too much.

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Best Hindi movies by year

Posted on March 29, 2005 by amodini

! THIS POST IS NO LONGER BEING UPDATED !

TO GET THE LATEST TOP 10 LISTS, GO TO:

Best Hindi Movies by Year

You can also browse around by using the menu at the top.

Here are the top ten movies of each year in descending order (#1 is best). You can also see a list of best hindi movies by genre, or browse all reviews alphabetically.

Watchable films of 2010 (not in any particular order)

– Ishqiya (Podcast Review)
– My name is Khan
– Karthik calling Karthik

2009

1. Delhi 6
2. Kaminey
3. Love Aaj Kal
4. Sankat City
5. Rocket Singh : Salesman of the year
6. Luck by chance
7. Wake up Sid !
8. 3 Idiots
9. 99
10. Chintuji

2008
1. Mithya
2. Welcome to Sajjanpur
3. Jodhaa Akbar
4. Jaane tu ya jaane na
5. Sorry Bhai
6. A Wednesday
7. Ghajini
8. Superstar
9. Rab ne bana di jodi
10. Ramchand Pakistani

2007

1. Chak de India
2. Johnny Gaddar
3. Manorama six feet under
4. Jab we met
5. Cheeni Kum
6. Life in a metro
7. Bheja Fry
8. Jhoom barabar jhoom
9. Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.
10. Taare zameen par

2006
1. Omkara
2. Rang de basanti
3. Khosla ka ghosla
4. Kabhi alvida naa kehna
5. Pyar ke side effects
6. Dor
7. Maalamal Weekly
8. Baabul
9. Lage raho Munna bhai
10.Taxi No. 9211

2005

1. Sehar
2. Paheli
3. Page 3
4. Parineeta
5. My brother Nikhil
6. Main meri patni aur woh
7. Sarkar
8. Hazaron khwaishen aisi
9. Iqbal
10.Socha na tha

2004

1. Swades
2. Ek hasina thi
3. Maqbool
4. Yuva
5. Lakshya
6. Dev
7. Ab tak Chappan
8. Veer Zaara
9. Main hoon na
10. Masti

2003

1. Rules
2. Mai Madhuri Dixit banna chahti hoon
3. Haasil
4. Pinjar
5. Darna mana hai
6. Mr. & Mrs. Iyer
7. Dum
8. Gangajal
9. Koi mil gaya
10. Munnabhai MBBS

2002

1. Company
2. Saathiya
3. Road
4. Devdas
5. The legend of Bhagat Singh
6. Shakti – the power (starring Karisma Kapoor)
7. Humraaz
8. Aankhen
9. Agnivarsha
10. Makdee

2001
1. Dil Chahta Hai
2. Lagaan
3. Pyar tune kya kiya
4. Chandni Bar
5. Yeh tera ghar, yeh mera ghar
6. Zubeida
7. Kabhi khushi kabhi gam
8. Love ke liye kuch be karega
9. Gadar
10. Tera mera saath rahe

2000

1. Astitva
2. Dil pe mat le yaar
3. Hera pheri
4. Kya kehna
5. Pukar
6. Bawandar
7. Hey Ram
8. Ghaat
9. Mohabbatein
10. Mission Kashmir

1999

1. Shool
2. 1947 Earth
3. Hum dil de chuke sanam
4. Sarfarosh
5. Vaastav
6. Jungle
7. Mast
8. Takshak
9. Godmother
10. Hu-tu-tu

Posted in Best hindi movies, bollywood, recommended, Top 10 | 19 Comments

Review : Socha na tha

Posted on March 25, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Above average(3.5/5)
Genre : Romantic Drama
Year : 2005
Running Time : 2 hours 37 minutes
Cast : Abhay Deol, Ayesha Takia, Rati Agnihotri, Apoorva Jha, Ayesha Jhulka, Raj Zutshi, Sandhya Mridul, Suresh Oberoi
Running Time : 2 hours, 25 minutes
Director : Imtiaz ali
Music : Sandesh Shandilya

Socha na tha is a cutesy, tenderly told love story, which is above average primarily because of its heroine Ayesha Takia. Some of you may remember her from the music video of D.J.Aqeel’s hit song “Nahin nahin” from the remix album “The Daddy Mix” – she’s the girl in the 2 pigtails riding around in the elevator. She’s also had a couple of films previous to this one. Abhay Deol, scion of the Deol clan, is a non-looker, but does a decent job of acting. What is off-putting about his character in the movie, is that it resembles that of a loser; the kind of guy a girl would normally not “touch”, except maybe with a bargepole.

The story is a little convoluted for a love-story – none of the boy-meets-girl-and-they-face-opposition kind of a thing. Viren Oberoi (Deol) is a rich wastrel, who on coming back from education in America, shows no inclination of joining the family business, but is content spending time with his girlfriend Karen (Karen Jha). His family is unaware about Karen’s presence in Viren’s life, because she is Catholic, and Viren doesn’t have the nerve to tell his strongly Punjabi family that he has been dating a Christian the past three years. The family finally decides that Viren must “settle down” and chooses a girl, Aditi Sahani (Takia) for him. Aditi is the niece of the household, since her aunt and uncle have taken her in after her parents expired.

On the arranged “girl viewing” when Viren meets Aditi, he explains to her (in private) that he is in love with his girlfriend Karen, and has no intention of marrying her (Aditi). They chat and become friends in a short meeting. When Viren conveys his rejection of the girl, there is bad blood between the two families, with insults being traded freely, thus stemmng the public display of Viren and Aditi’s friendship. They do continue meeting by chance however, and the friendship grows secretly.

Meanwhile, Viren proposes to Karen, she accepts, and on persuasion, so does her family. Viren is thinking of ways to persuade his family (by enlisting his bhabhi’s (Ayesha Jhulka) help), when suddenly Karen’s parents come to meet Viren’s. Viren’s dad (Suresh Oberoi) refuses the match basing his decision on the religion factor. Viren, during this time starts to doubt his feelings for Karen, and realises he has stronger feelings for Aditi. He then sneaks into Aditi’s home, and declares his love to her. She apparently loves him too. When he returns home, with plans of breaking it off with Karen, he finds Karen and family at his home amid celebrations – his parents have agreed to the match because of his bhabhi’s persuasion ! Is Viren able to get out of the mess he’s created ? And do he and Aditi find romantic bliss despite stiff opposition from both families ? Watch the movie to find out.

All the actors in ths movie have done a decent job. Direction is proficient. The script although reasonable, does have some improbable scenarios in which the hero acts totally out of character; rather boorishly actually, hence robbing him of some of the audience’s sympathy. This takes away from the charm of the film. Plus, the film is rife with the “boys will be boys” outlook, where rudeness, and weakness of character in the hero, still make him a “nice” boy. A similar weakness on the heroine’s part, had it existed, would have earned her severe retribution in the film.

What actually garners interest however, is the innocence exuded by the romantic pair, earning well-needed brownie points. Ayesha Takia does well in her depiction of an innocent and diffident girl, indebted to her aunt and uncle. She isn’t beautiful, but is pretty in a girl-next-door-kind of a way. Deol supports her ably, although he could definitely work on his diction, and on increasing his visual appeal. Ayesha Jhulka as the bhabhi is good, and so is Rati Agnihotri. Sandhya Mridul has a tiny role as Rati’s daughter. Apoorva Jha as Karen does adequately.

The film scores bigtime on the music. Shandilya proves his mettle yet again, although the quality isn’t as good as of the film “Rules”. Two melodious songs deserve special mention : “Seedhe saadhe dhang se” – sung by K.K., and “Mera tumhara” sung by Shandilya himself.

Posted in bollywood, family-friendly, rating-PG, recommended, romance | 4 Comments

Review : Shool

Posted on March 25, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Excellent(5/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 1999
Running Time : 2 hours 10 minutes
Cast : Manoj Bajpai, Raveena Tandon, Sayaji Shinde
Running Time : 2 hours, 20 minutes
Director : E. Nivas
Music : Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy

SHOOL : Hard-hitting drama in the common man’s life

Folks, this film is as good as they get. I consider none better (in the drama genre) except “Company” – and that explains my going into raptures over this film. E.Nivas gives us this absolutely amazing movie, complete with drama, awesome acting, and an item number to boot. Here’s the spoiler-free gist :

Samar Pratap Singh (Manoj Bajpai) is an honest police officer, and Manjari (Raveena Tandon) his supportive wife. They have a little daughter Sonu. Samar, because of his honesty is frequently being transferred, and has now finally reached the little town of Motihari in Bihar. We see him and his family at the railway station, and subsequently also see Samar upbraiding a high-handed constable for his insensitiveness to ordinary citizens.

Motihari’s lord and master, so to speak, is slimy MLA Bachu Yadav (Sayaji Shinde). The police and most of Samar’s colleagues kow-tow to Yadav . The epitome of corruption, Yadav has been the MLA for 15 years, but loses his ticket as his party opts for someone else. On hearing this ,Yadav makes short shrift of the unfortunate man, and avails himself of the party ticket. Samar, an honest cop, has frequent run-ins with Yadav, to the point where he (Samar) begins to fear for his family. Does Samar manage to take on Yadav and win ? The rest of the movie says it all.

This is an engrossing film, and is pretty violent in content. Bajpai is truly the best hindi film actor in the industry, and Raveena matches him in a low-key, plain, house-wifey role. Sayaji Shinde shines as the absolutely corrupt and moralless Yadav. The only flaw that I could see, in this seemingly perfect film, was that Raveena was too glamorous for the role of Manjari. A docile looking plain-Jane would have been better suited.

Posted in bollywood, drama, outstanding, rating-PG13, recommended, thriller | Tagged outstanding | 9 Comments

Review : Rules – pyar ka superhit formula

Posted on March 25, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Excellent(5/5)
Genre : Romance
Year : 2004
Running Time : 2 hours 10 minutes
Cast : Milind Soman, Meera Vasudevan, Tanuja, Namrata Barua
Director : Parvati Balagopalan
Music : Sandesh Shandilya

RULES:Pyar ka superhit formula – This one rocks !

This is a new director debut, and Parvati Balagopalan makes the most of it. Very nicely crafted, this modern-day love story, doesn’t really adhere to the wait-n-watch approach of slow-paced love, but still is a treat. Adding to the charm and general bonhomie, are debut actress Meera Vasudevan as the perky Radha and model Milind Soman as what else – model Vikram Verma.

OK, so we have assistant photographer Radha, silently salivating over model Vikram Verma. Of course Vikram, who already has a girlfriend (Namrata Barua as the perpetually pouting Maggie) is totally unaware of her presence. Hence, Radha is sad and distracted, and silently sighs, and sighs, and sighs… until her sprightly grandmother (Tanuja in an endearing role) notices, and offers her a solution for the problem.

Her solution consists of Radha’s application of 5 rules, with Nirvana i.e.; Vikram’s undying love as the ultimate goal. Radha agrees, of course (duh !). Begin application. End application. Goal achieved ? Watch and find out.

Direction is slick. I particularly liked the “involve the viewer” technique Ms.Balagopalan uses. It consists of little snippets where one of the characters in the film, sort of speaks to the audience – almost like an aside, giving viewers some inside knowledge. For example, Radha’s Nani cooking food (naiappam ??) and talking to the viewer about Radha’s obsession with Vikram. Also, Meera acts well , and comes across as a “real” girl with a natural figure, not one of the unnaturally thin heroines of current hindi cinema.

Tanuja of course takes the cake for her performance as Radha’s loving, young-at-heart Nani. The icing on the cake – Milind Soman looks gorgeous (as usual) and acts pretty adequately actually. There are a few minor characters played by some familiar people – like Pari of “Jassi Jaisi Koi nahin” fame.

And music by Shandilya is fabulous; melodious, with great bits of instrumental music (the veena ?). He’s done a great job of creating a sort of fusion, earthy tradional sounds mixed with modern pop. “Chodo na mujhe” sung by Kunal Ganjawala is a catchy tune. Singer Sanjeevani (her of the soft, sweet, little girl voice) makes a mini-comeback with the song “Uljhano ko de diya hai”, an absolutely beautiful, catch-my-breath number.

Definitely a must-see film.