kya_bakwaas Reviews

Jab We Met (2007)

A good enjoyable Rom-com

[8/10 · 21 January 2008]

Ah well. This is definitely one of the better Bollywood attempts at Romantic Comedy. This film is essentially old wine in a new bottle - a very new bottle. Take a bit of "It happened One Night", toss it with a pinch of "Jetlag" and add parts of "French Kiss" for fluffiness. You get the idea. But the point here is that this heady mixture does seem to work! Aditya Kashyap (Shahid) is the scion of a grand business empire and has recently taken over as the head of the group after the death of his father. But currently work is the last thing on his mind as his girlfriend ditches him. In a very melancholy mood, Aditya just walks into a Delhi-bound train where he meets Geet (Kareena). Geet is a complete day-dreamer of a girl and is in high spirits as she plans to elope with her old boyfriend. Only she hasn't planned it out.

Aditya and Geet don't along well at all but as fate could have it they both miss the train at an nondescript station. Out of obligation, Aditya helps Geet to get to her parents' place, Bhatinda. But the story doesn't end there.

Geet wants to run off to Manali to her boyfriend before her folks marry her off to some old family friend. And for the lack of a better person, she drags Aditya into the mess as well. At the end of it, Aditya goes home completely inspired by Geet's optimism and the positive attitude and applies the same to mend his broken personal life and business.

Then there are some plot twists here and there. But the screenplay is excellent and engages the viewer. It is quite light hearted film and avoids clichéd or raunchy humour. The comedy and the relationship between the lead pair is handled superbly.

Kareena has never been among my favourites but she has always given some good performance and she doesn't disappoint this time either. However, I was quite pleasantly surprised at Shahid Kapoor's performance. He has underplayed his role in the first half beautifully. I was quite impressed really - I was hoping that this will turn out to be one of his SRK-aping ham marathons. Good work. And, if I use this overused term, the "chemistry" between the 2 Kapoors is brilliant. The cinematography doesn't let the film down either. Plus it has been mostly shot on location (Shimla, Manali, etc.) so it is refreshing to watch. The first half especially has all the shades of a road movie - a genre I love. Good script and spunky music adds to the effect. On the whole, nothing is out of note. Good movie.

The Burning Train (1980)

Now, this is what I call good Bollywood action!

[7/10 · 17 March 2007]

This 1980 star-studded box office disaster is a real old favorite of mine. A very slick, very action-oriented movie with a non-standard theme that promised to change Bollywood movie-making standards of the early 80s (Ramesh Sippy's "Shaan" was another one in the same genre). Never mind why people spurned this movie when it was released - it was probably released in the wrong decade! In many ways, this was a landmark movie. It was one of the few movies made on the Railways. Quite surprising that Bollywood took so long to pay a fitting tribute to the Railways because (at least during those days) a humongous percentage of working Indian populace were directly or indirectly dependent on the railways for their livelihood. Why, the Indian Railways were one of the largest employers in those days! And the best part is the tribute doesn't go over the board. The Railways depiction is more or less realistic (note to critics: the song-and-dance parts before the Super Express is launched is just plain old Bollywood masala – nothing to do with the Railways).

The train has been the ubiquitous, yet highly sidelined prop in dozens of Bollywood movies. Who can forget the passenger train that brings the jailer to Ramgarh in "Sholay" or the endless shots of Victoria Terminus in any movie based in Bombay. Even now, trains have been very much around in the Bollywood landscape. "Bunty aur Babli" recently effectively used Indian Railways throughout the movie to enhance the small-town feel. The economy of many Indian towns (especially those in UP, where the Railways network is densest) is highly dependent on the Railways. The trains in India have been much more than just a mode of transport – they are a part of our very fabric.

Anyway, back to the movie – it about the launch of a new super fast express train that runs between Delhi and Bombay in a record time of 14 hours (clearly a tribute to the swanky Rajdhani Express trains that was the hottest thing on the tracks those days). The movie starts in Varanasi rail factory (Diesel Locomotive Works), where a group of capable engineers (Khanna, Dharam "paaji", Mehra, etc) toil away to design the new engine. After years of effort, their efforts finally pay off and the new express (er, aptly named "Super Express") is launched. However, engineers are humans too. During all this, the lead characters go through heartbreaks (Dharam-Hema), family crisis (Khanna-Babi) and professional showdowns (Danny-Khanna). Just when Khanna and co. are rejoicing over the success of the project, things go wrong.

The smitten Danny makes sure that he does what he can to ruin what would have been his pet project. To avenge his humiliation, he plants a bomb in the engine and renders the brakes useless. Meanwhile the train is full of standard stock characters – a kind-hearted petty thief (Jeetendra), a runaway bride (Singh), a school teacher (Simi Gerewal) with an army of school kids, a diamond smuggler (Ranjeet) who has an undercover cop (Sujit Kumar) chasing him, the heartbroken hero (Dharmendra) and his ex-flame (Hema) with her new doctor beau (Nischol) a pompous army man, the Hindu pandit sitting next to the staunch Muslim, the paan-chewing seductress in red sari (Asha Sachdev), the Sardarji, the Parsi, the Marwari – you name it! So the brakes have failed, the engine drivers are dead and the runaway train is speeding away on the tracks while the unsuspecting passengers have a ball singing qawwalis in the train. There is no way to contact them (remember – this was early 80s – no mobile phones – ah! Blissful days) Luckily, we have Dharamendra who jumps back into the train to save lives. Things go from bad to worse as the pantry catches fire and the fire spreads rapidly. Our heroes on the train take the onus to do something to save their own lives while the heroes outside are trying their best to get things out of the train's way! Trust me: stagecoach-sagas cannot get better than this.

As I mentioned, it was one of the slickest action movies of its time – use of miniatures, complex action sequences, chase scenes, explosions, aerial shots – it has a bit of everything. Excellent cinematography and a plausible screenplay add to the effect. The all-star cast is excellent, especially Khanna who delivers a powerful performance as the engineer trying to set things right. It is probably "inspired" by some Hollywood flick, but the thing is it has been very well done. The songs by R.D. Burman are excellent. I especially love the qawwali "Pal do pal ka saath hamara". "Vaada" and "Meri Nazar" are also quite good. This was a very, very good effort by Ravi Chopra (who later moved on to make movies like "Baghban" and now "Babul") and, once the express leaves Delhi station, is a non-stop action thriller. Pure Bollywood vintage action flick, very slickly made and served with loads of quintessential Bollywood masala.

Dor (2006)

Simple and entertaining

[6/10 · 17 March 2007]

Right from his debut, Hyderabad Blues, Kukunoor has been bringing something extra on the table as a director. None of his movies have been grand hits or exceptional in style of content or even unduly realist "artsy" type. But I bet watching any of his movies will not make you think you have wasted your time. "Dor" is another example that cements this theory of mine.

The story is simplicity itself. There is Zeenat (Panag), a Himachali woman very strong of character and very independent. And there is Meera, a docile young Rajasthani housewife who has been brought up in a very traditional household. The husbands of these 2 ladies who have little in common leave for Saudi Arabia in search of prospects. After a few months of bliss, the ladies receive the news that Meera's husband is dead and Zeenat's husband is held responsible for it. The Foreign Affairs dude tells Zeenat that the Saudi law has a rider: her husband may be pardoned if she can get a mercy petition signed by the dead man's widow. The problem is the dead man's real address is not known, except the fact the he is from Rajasthan.

Zeenat decides to go on the search herself with a very few leads to help her. Unfortunately, it turns out that it is tougher than she thinks it is. Rajasthan is a huge state, there are thousands of villages and she is running out of time. Enter Bahrupia (Talpade), a small time con-man who makes his living fooling people and is a clever impostor. Bahrupia sympathizes with Zeenat and helps her track down Meera.

However, finding Meera was the easier part of the mission. Will Zeenat be able to convince Meera to sign on the mercy petition before it is too late? The second half of the movie is precisely about this. It is a really simple storyline and I liked it for that. It is one of the better "female-bonding" movies and it is served just right – not too mushy. The screenplay is quite OK though may look a tad stretched. There are minor holes in the script – but tolerable. The dialogs tend to become a little stereotyped at times, but script recovers quickly. It would have been an out and out weepie but Kukunoor juggles it right.

The entire cast has done a wonderful job. The 2 female leads, especially Panag, have given commendable performances for their non-glam roles. Karnad, as Meera's slightly pompous and over-proud father-in-law and Kukunoor (in a cameo as an investor) have small but good roles, with ample shades of gray. Shreyas Talpade delivers a delightful performance as Bahrupia. He mimics old Bollywood stars, but that's not all to it. Check out the part where he professes his puppy love for Zeenat or when he meets an old "acquaintance" he had thugged. Talpade certainly brings a lot of light-hearted moments to the movie – it would have been very drab otherwise.

Musafir (2004)

Trippy stuff, if you watch it with the right(?) perspective

[6/10 · 6 September 2005]

Caveat Lector: May contain spoilers. The 2 Sanjays – Dutt and Gupta collaborate again. Even after a truckload of flops since Aatish, the 2 seem to seek for that one movie which will establish their supremacy. Well, most people may call Musafir the worst movie ever made. I will be kind. I would say – stop comparing Gupta with Orson Welles. Condition yourself to Gupta's movies. Be prepared to find rip-offs of other well known movies and/or scenes thereof. Be prepared to see unabashed corny plots and dialogs and vulgar dialogs. On the plus side, Gupta always manages to get the best technicians to work on his movies – cinematography, sound effects, the works – all world class. Is it Gupta's fault that he doesn't have enough money left to hire a decent scriptwriter after hiring all the technicians? Come on, give him a break.

Nuff said. Back to the review… The characters:- Lucky (Anil Kapoor) is a street-smart crook who always has a soft spot for sexy ladies romping around in negligees. During a con operation (after which he is supposed to quit), Lucky manages to run away with a bag load of cash only to be duped by his "girlfriend" (Koena Mitra) who runs away with the money. Soon, Lucky comes to know that the dough belongs to Billa(The Dutt) – the wackiest gangster in town. Lucky promises to make it up for the losses and after Lucky passes a "Zindagi ka Highway" (Highway of Life) test (which involves running across a busy freeway blindfolded), Billa dispatches him to Goa. Lucky's assignment is to drop a conspicuous looking leather bag at (LOL!) Wacko Jacko's (Shakti Kapoor, after a long gap) place and collect a similar bag full of dough on the way back.

Lucky barely enters Goa and his problems start. He meets the sadist Goan cop Tiger (Aditya Panscholi), who wastes one of Billa's men and worse – he holds a grudge against Lucky because Lucky refused a lift. At Wacko Jacko's Tattoo parlor in Anjuna, Lucky sees the ravishingly sun tanned Sam (Sameera Reddy) who is getting a tattoo done. Smitten by Sam, horny Lucky finally lands up at her place only to discover that she is married to a club owner, Luka (Mahesh Manjrekar). And surprise, Luka wants Sam dead (for whatever reasons). Luka offers to pay Lucky for the assassination. Meanwhile, Lucky finds himself being bugged by Tiger and the rest of Goa police force and ends up losing the dough he was supposed to take back home. So what does he do – he takes up Luka's offer, of course! Or does he? While Lucky is fooling around, Billa rides down to Goa on his Harley and all the hell breaks loose.

Did you just say this is the review of Oliver Stone's "U-Turn"? Well, Sanjay Gupta is a glutton for inspiration, you know. And he owns a DVD Player too. What did you expect – another Sholay? All said and done this is a helluva movie for those who this genre of spaced out corny movies. In fact, there are points in the movie where one is forced to think that the corny lines were written first and the situation was added later to script! LOL!

Now for the performances. To my surprise, the movie had fairly decent performances (sparing the 2 ladies, both were atrocious). Anil Kapoor, with his new rugged getup and crazy hair looks quite the vagabond. Shakti Kapoor is wasted and is limited to a few corny lines. Panscholi, who excels in these angry guy roles (Mahasangram, Aatish) does all the shouting in the movie and is quite OK, IMHO. The guys who take the cake are Sanjay Dutt and Mahesh Manjrekar! Manjrekar is excellent as wife beating sex fiend who had allegedly raped his wife's young sister and does a wonderful job with his facial expressions and his set of corny, risqué lines. Watch him when Sam narrates her story of how he watched her swimming in the pool and also the scene in the van when Lucky drops Sam and Luka back to the place where Sam's car broke down. This guy was born to do such roles. And as for Dutt, IMHO this was one of his best performances ever. His Billa is one of the most spaced-out screen characters in recent Bollywood history. Imagine, a knife-wielding, cigar-smoking mafia don who is obsessed with Bollywood movies and with a great sense of humor – that's Billa for you. He is the chief anchor for this movie. Another plus point of the movie is the cinematography which is brilliant with a music video like look and feel. Fast track background music by Chowta and Vishal-Shekhar is quite effective. Bottom line:- Sanjay Gupta's latest attempt at making a film noir and establish himself as the Quentin Tarantino of Bollywood would have failed miserably BUT there are elements in the movie that one can enjoy just for the "trip value".

Angaar (1992)

Good performances, good characterization

[8/10 · 7 January 2005]

Released at a time when Mumbai (then Bombay) was making the transition into the cosmopolitan city it is now, this movie captured the angst of the educated but unemployed youth striving to survive in the big bad city. The movie also made bold statements against the nexus between the city developers, the mafia and the corrupt politicos. What makes Angaar different from most other bash-the-mafia movies is the strong characterization. Almost every significant character has dimensions.

There is no pure hearted "hero" or mean-as-a-mule "villian" and the casting is perfect. Each actor fits the role perfectly. The story revolves around the House of Khans. The patriarch, Jehangir Khan (Kader Khan) is toughest Underworld don in the city and is now enjoying his retirement by solving issues of the poor folks in his "Durbar" (court).

His younger son, Farid (Mazhar Khan) handles the daily affairs of the underworld empire. However, there is a lot of tension between Jehangir and his elder son, Majid (Nana Patekar, superb as always), who is an architect and runs a construction agency. Even as Jehangir tries to reform himself by helping the poor, the ruthless and stubborn Majid wants to raze down as many slums as possible and build skyscrapers.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to Jaikishen aka Jaggu, who is a hot headed unemployed graduate and the leader of the brats in his small "Chawl" - Asha colony. One day, Majid happens to see Asha colony and immediately realizes that it is prime land. Majid politely asks Jaggu to clear the colony and promises to compensate for the relocation. However, Jaggu declines and then Majid decides to use his father's muscle power to grab the land. Matters complicate as Farid gets in a fight with Jaggu and dies of wounds. Jaggu is arrested and is declared mentally deranged because of his insane anger. Majid bribes the warden of the asylum and asks to torture Jaggu to such an extent that Jaggu becomes totally inert to respond. Meanwhile, Jaggu's friends - Hussain(Om Puri) and Mili (Dimple Kapadia) continue to expose Majid's and Jahangir's misdeeds through their newspaper. Jahangir repents and helps Jaggu escape from the asylum. Jaggu's friends help him recuperate. This causes panic in the Khan clan as now Jaggu can testify against them.

Majid's machinations finally succeed and he razes Asha Colony to the ground. Jaggu and his friends avenge their colony by bringing down Majid's high rises and the movie culminates in an over-the-top, fantastic climax where the State assembly is blown away as a part of Jaggu's "cleaning up the system" plan. This movie has excellent performances by the entire top cast, notably, Nana Patekar, Jackie Shroff and Kader Khan. However, it is the finer touches which make this movie so different - Jaggu's nagging dad (Achyut Potdar, brilliant), Jehangir Khan's faithful bodyguard Anwar (Kiran Kumar, executes the role with great restraint, he doesn't even speak throughout the movie!!!), the honest-but-helpless Police Commissioner, the tense family dramas in the Khan household, Majid's retarded son and his self-pitying wife (Neena Gupta), Jaggu helping Mili to cross a busy traffic intersection - there are many more things to remember in the film. The film also has some good art direction with huge sets and some decent miniature work, which for a 1992 Hindi movie, was path-breaking. Today, after 12 years, the movie doesn't look slick - but the performances are top-notch, so is the script. Some may find the climax too fantastic, but hey, that's Bollywood for you!

Lakshya (2004)

Good work, Farhan Akhtar!

[28 June 2004]

Farhan Akthar has to live upto his debut 'Dil Chahta Hain' - a feat which will be difficult to match. FA will carry the DCH label forever, much like Ramesh Sippy was labeled with the Sholay tag. Comparing Lakshya with DCH is inevitable. And FA does score in many places. The story is quite simple. The setting is in late 1990s - just prior to the infamous Kargil. Roshan is Karan Shergill, the younger sibling in a well to do Delhi business family. Karan is a happy-go-lucky naive kid who has nothing to worry about in his life. His lady love, Romila Gutta aka Romy (Zinta), on the other hand, is a career minded young lady who has a clear idea what to do with her life. When placed at crossroads when all his friends are deciding about their future career prospects, Karan is influenced by one of his friends' decision and plans to join the Army. And to his own surprise finds himself in the Army training school. However, this sudden transition from his Bohemian lifestyle to army life proves to be more than he can handle and he quits the course. However, Karan realises that things will never be the same again with Romy, who clearly sees him as a quitter, a loser with no ambitions, no goals(That's Lakshya in Hindi) in life. Hurt and dejected, Karan joins the Army training again and comes out as a hard-boiled Lieutenent.

Karan is posted in the volatile Dras sector, Kashmir. Here meets the stiff, focused Col. Damle (Mr. Bachchan) and his troops who make Karan realize that his Lakshya is to serve the country. Before long, there is a war brewing in the mountains, with Pakistani insurgents blocking out the supplies to various army bases high up in the mountains. Karan suddenly finds himself responsible for his country's safety and plays a key role in winning the battle against the intruders. His Lakshya is met. Technically, the film is brilliant. One of the first army movies made in Bollywood without an overdose of jingoism. German cinematographer Christopher Popp captures the night war sequences beautifully. The natural beauty of the rugged Ladakh has been brought to the screen in its whole. FA is a fine eye for the minor details, e.g., the name plates on the vehicles are in white letters written on black boards, like they were prior to 2001-2. The tense screens between Roshan and his father (played by the inimitable Boman Irani) are excellent. The film was conceived very very well. However, since nothing is perfect, no review is complete without some criticism. Lakshya has its faults - and most of these are because we had expected otherwise from the director of DCH. For one, there is not much of a script, so people watching for killing time will be bored. Unlike most war/army movies, this is more of a drama. Unlike DCH, we hardly have a light-hearted moment in the movie. Javed Akthar has returned to script writing after a long gap BUT I had expected more. Second, there are too many characters. Many actors in "special appearances" prove to be more distractions than integral elements of the story. Amitabh has his moments, but Om Puri, Lillette Dubey and Shushant have been wasted. At points, we feel that FA had a hard time to decide whether to keep pop-patriotism away from the movie. Songs distract and do not fit in the script, unlike DCH. My rating - 6.5/10 - for the sincerity with which the movie was made, for FA's dedication to his work, and for Hritik Roshan's performance.