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Reviews
Bunty Aur Babli (2005)
Abhishek Aur Rani (aur Big B) con our hearts once more...
The charisma of Shri Amitabh Bachchan's vocal entrance to the movie sets the tone for the memorable interaction between dad and son that any Bollywood fan has anticipated with bated breath. Certainly Abhishek has come to his own over the last few years since Refugee, but once the viewer watches the simple yet well scripted comic and dramatic interaction between the Bachchan's, one feels tangible shivers with pride as you hang on to their every word of dialog.
Bunty Aur Babli is certainly a brilliant vehicle to debut the screen legend and his lineage to act in parallel. Abhishek and Rani play creative and resourceful dreamers who are let down by circumstance and greed, yet decide to set off together on an adventure of their lifetime, to make a name for their individual selves, yet their compatible talents and stability in their reliance of each other in any situation makes love inevitable.
Rajesh and Vimmi hail from UP, and in typical Robin Hood - Indian style - they outwit their targets into yielding profit and goods, returning large proportions of their gains to the common people, making them respected as much as their respect their roots and give selfishly as per our tradition and culture. They respect their parents, their friends and most importantly, each other. This is what makes them succeed together, two parts of a perfect match.
Abhishek Bachchan acting ability is a tribute to the legends his parents are, and he is succeeding in dramatic roles with comic variation that makes him nearly match-up to greats like SRK. Rani Mukerjee is getting more and more reliable in her brilliant and diverse performances rather than cameos since KKHH, and the IIFA awards she earned in 2005 are a tribute to peer and international recognition of her as a brilliant actor.
Shri Amitabh is the cop with a mission, his career is to culminate in the capture of the two con-artists who have made it big yet remain elusive to the long arm of the law. What makes Amitabh different is just that, he is unconventional in his approach, somewhat rough yet caring, with purpose in his actions.
If not for the great comedy that ties in well, watch out for the brilliant soundtrack including Dhadhak Dhadak, the train song Chup Chup Ke, the leather song Nach Baliye and the item number with the father-son duo discussing love, Kajra Re (how proud Jaya must have been to see the picturisation as with the entire film). The title track is immortal in its lyrics and delivery, and Amitabh's rap during the end-credits are special. The man is versatile, and a powerful force in all the roles he takes on.
In summary, the acting is brilliant, the soundtrack is good and the film is unique in its delivery of a great storyline.
Main Aisa Hi Hoon (2005)
Ajay and Rucha's Commendable Performance in a Mediocre Movie
Admittedly, this movie bears very striking resemblance to the 2001 film "I am Sam". However, Bollywood maintains the innocence of the storyline with typical twists to conform to a critical Indo-audience now accustomed with modern dramatisations of human behaviour while still expecting good over evil victories at the end of every story.
Ajay Devgan and Baby Rucha Vaidya complement each other beautifully, with the latter debut artist performing with just the correct amount of cuteness while demonstrating mature drama portrayal within a multi-star environment. This is typical in the dramatisation of the sentimental song "Papa Mere Papa" in which Gungun, her character, plays tribute to her dad to force Sushmita Sen's character, Niti, "the best lawyer" to realise he dad deserves to maintain custody of Gungun from her maternal grandfather.
Devgan's role as a autistic gentlemen Indraneel Thakur, loved by all while maintaining responsible, honest and forgiving qualities is typically brilliant when one considers the diaspora of roles he is considered for. He convinces Sen that she needs to show her son more respect and overcome her workaholic attributes to prevent herself from losing her son as she has her husband. Neel's relative charm is apparent as his associations with the clients at the café at which he works seven days-a-week are shown as they urge him to share his musical talent with them, as in the song "Just Walk into my Life" Anupham Kher plays irresponsible and business tycoon father to Maya Tridevi (Esha Deol), who is Gungun's mother. Maya is forced to leave UK from her non-responsive father and return to India where she becomes a nomad and drug-addict before she is inspired that life can be positively lived with Neel, his friends and carer, Ritu, played by Lillete Dubey. She is overwhelmed with the power of love, and becomes scared of this emotion, therefore leaving the family once she gives birth to their daughter.
The storyline culminates with Tridevi senior returning to India to legally claim back his daughter from Thakur, hereby breaking the fragile Neel's personality. There are challenges in the life of Gungun and Neel, with the former trying very hard not to outsmart her dad, but eventually learning that to love him, she must become the strong and intellectual member of their small family.
The performances are sterling, however, one feels that the film-makers took the Bollywood license to generate a happy-ending a bit too cloistral. This film has a strong storyline, yet the producers do not balance time spent at specific plot points, such as Esha's exit or at the climax.
This said, however, we must admit that the music is beautiful from Himesh Reshammiya and lyricist Sameer, and the overall effort is great from the actors, young, old and young-minded. Understand the nature of Bollywood cinema, and home it becomes more bold in future en devours, but do not judge these efforts without value to the social upliftment producers seek. The audience of Bollywood is certainly intelligent and understand the critique of performance and have ability to share commentary on world matters and contribute significantly to global advancement.