Review: Hameshaa

Hameshaa
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Kajol, Aditya Pancholi
Directed by: Sanjay Gupta
Released: September 12, 1997

Childhood friends Raja (Ali Kha) and Yash (Pancholi) come from two very different back grounds. Yash is very wealthy, and Raja is poor. This, however, does not stop them from growing up thick as thieves and close as brothers. Hameshaa opens with them racing each other in what seems like a very dangerous setting. The friends, however, simply laugh it off and begin talking about who they would choose if they had to – each other, or the girl of their dreams. Enter Rani Sharma (Kajol), a beautiful young woman in a neela dupatta peela suit (arguably the best, most upbeat song from the movie despite the laughable choreography. But, hey, it was 90s Bollywood). Soon after, Yash too encounters Rani and is also completely in love with her beauty and charms and finds it impossible not to fall in love with her.

Both men are quick to find each other and express their hearts’ desires, neither of them realizing that they are in fact speaking about the same woman. When Yash, however, finds out that the woman he so desperately wants has given her heart to his best friend, he becomes… a tad bit unhinged. He poses to Raja the same question they discussed when we first saw them – friends or the perfect girl? Much to Rani’s horror, Yash pushes Raja over the edge of a cliff and she joins him despite earnest efforts from Yash.

Years later Yash is an older and bitter man living with his Dai Ma and as fate would have it, he stumbles upon Raju and Reshma – both bearing an uncanny resemblance to Raja and Rani respectively. Not about to lose what he considers to be the love of his life a second time, he begins working hard to keep the two of them apart. Does true love always prevail? Well, you’ll just have to find out!

I truly love how Kajol can look great with any – and I mean any – Khan. She and Shahrukh are one of if not the most popular and charismatic couple in the history of Indian cinema, their jodi bringing many fans young and old to the cinema to watch their magic unfold on screen. Then she acted with Salman Khan and proved to have chemistry with him as well in their small parts of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and the cute movie Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya. And of course who could possibly forget the tangible love that she and Aamir Khan portrayed during Fanaa. That covers the three major Khans, right? Well this film proves that she and Saif are pure pyaar, even more than her and Shahrukh in the majority of their films together, in my opinion.

            

As far as their acting goes, Kajol does what she is famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) for and takes the emotion to the next level. Her expressions during songs are equally adorable and hilarious. The song Aisa Milan Kal Ho Na gives her a chance to prove just how sensual she can be. This film is nothing difficult and doesn’t require top notch acting and therefore natural talents such as Kajol and Saif Ali Khan pull it off with little effort on their parts. Aditya Pancholi is able to deliver a good performance as Yash, making you truly hate him and his villainous self increasingly throughout the film, while still making you feel somewhat bad for him as he too loved Rani and had her taken away from him. But in the end, I found it hard to root for anyone other than Raja and Rani, which of course is only right.

            

I would classify this film under my guilty pleasure category. It is not a perfect film, but it is decent. Classic 90s romance film and a good one time watch for most people. But because of the combination of beautiful settings, wonderful chemistry and a beautiful struggle for love, I enjoy this film much more than I probably should. Objectively, however, the rating really must be a simple:

Rating: 5/10

Song Of The Week: Tum Ho

Tum Ho
Rockstar

To say that 2011's Rockstar had great music is a sad understatement. It's been a long long time since a film has produced so many quality tracks. From Sadda Haq to Jo Bhi Mein, they all have their meaningful words and different effects on the soul. The most beautiful and moving, however, is Tum Ho. This song I adore with all my being, yet I have to avoid at certain times because it never fails to bring tears to my eyes. This song gives me romantic dreams and makes me wish I was in the most romantic of Bollywood films. It brings many emotions and is a song not to be missed.

Review: Barfi!

Barfi!
Stars: Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ileana D'Cruz
Directed by: Anurag Basu
Released: September 13, 2012

Let's get down to business: Murphy, or Barfi (Kapoor) as he calls himself, is a deaf and mute man living in Darjeeling, India. His mother died shortly after his birth and so he depended heavily on his father throughout his life. He is street smart and cunning, but also has a habit of getting into some trouble. When he meets Shruti (D'Cruz) he falls head over heels in love with her beauty and her own charm. She, however, is already engaged (because it wouldn't be an Indian film if that wasn't the case, right?). Despite this fact, they become fast friends and spend their days getting into silly antics. Shruti enjoys being alive and carefree and Barfi enjoys making her happy and having her around. However, her engagement does not go away and therefore causes some issues for the two. In the middle of all this, we meet the young, sweet Autistic Jhilmil (Chopra). She is ostracized by most of her family, but have friends in her teachers, her nanny and her grandfather. Unfortunate events in both her and Barfi's lives cause them to cross paths, and create yet another eye-opening friendship.

Barfi was perhaps the most loved film of the year. It has comedy, romance, mystery and sadness. All enough to keep you happy and interested. The acting is top notch. Ileana - who has this credited as being her debut even though it is far from it - is gorgeous and holds her own next to Chopra and Kapoor. Priyanka impresses with her ability to play the Autistic but still lovable Jhilmil and Ranbir - of course - steals the show from the both of them. I often argue whether or not his contemporary Imran Khan is better and while Imran wins in most aspects in my opinion, Ranbir takes the cake in the acting arena. He cannot be beat when it comes to these roles. He amazed me when I watched Rockstar earlier this year and reinforced it with Barfi.

The music is another win with this film, Ala Barfi and Aashiyan being my two personal favorites although Main Kya Karoon is also a pure and epic win. However, like all good things, there is a fatal flaw and in Barfi, this flaw is their borrowed scenes. One that stuck out to me the most was when Shruti's mother drives her out to see her first love - the man she turned down to marry Shruti's father. It was taken right out of the Hollywood blockbuster The Notebook. Because of that and other stolen scenes, my rating was lessened. However, one cannot take away the mark this film leaves on your heart.

The biggest proof of this is what I just witnessed. I rented the film and had my brothers and sister watch it without subtitles. They are no strangers to Indian films as they have seen My Name Is Khan and parts of Devdas, but both of those were with subtitles to help them along. Even without this help, they were able to see the purity and sweetness that is Barfi and were even able to understand it. All four of them said that they loved the film when it was over and begged to watch it a second time. This was amazing to me as they often make fun of me for my interest in Indian films and music. "Why would you watch something or listen to something that you don't understand?" And now they see why.

I highly recommend this film. It's somewhat artsy and unconventional as far as Bollywood films go, but I think  it is one of the best I have ever seen. It's a shame the Academy Awards didn't see that as well.

Rating: 9/10