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

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

No One Killed Jessica

No One Killed Jessica

Stars: Rani Mukherjee, Vidya Balan

Directed by: Rajkumar Gupta

Released: January 7, 2011

No One Killed Jessica was a film that I was greatly anticipating. I had heard of Jessica Lal’s murder long before I sat down to watch the film and was touched – and of course saddened – by her story. The trailer was top notch and promised meaningful quotes, powerful scenes and tears. Well, that isn’t exactly what happened.

On a late night in 1999, bar maid and aspiring model and actress Jessica Lal refuses to give a rowdy man a drink after she and her fellow bar tender have quite serving alcohol for the night. She swears that she will not give it to him, not even for 1000 rupees. Angry, the man pulls out a gun and shoots her dead on the spot. Jessica’s older sister Sabrina (Balan) is heartbroken, but is assured that there will be justice for her bubbly baby sis. There were over 300 people at the party, many of them witnesses to the crime itself. It seems like it would be an easy, open and shut case right? Wrong.

The key witness, Jessica’s bar tender friend, saw what happened first hand but eventually proves not to be very helpful in the prosecutions’ case. Sabrina is outraged when she finds out that the killer is the son of a powerful man in India, and that her sister’s murderer is getting away from justice because of the power of bribing. She does her best to fight for her sister – she talks to witnesses, spreads the word, but none of them prove to be fruitful. She and her family begin to fall apart under the pressure of their grief and their mission for justice.

Meera (Mukherjee), is a news reporter full of attitude. Don’t cross her, don’t make her angry – or you’ll pay. When she first hears of the story, she doesn’t think twice. As everyone else assumed, she thought it would be an open and shut murder case, hardly worth her time. But when she catches wind of how the trial was a bust, she becomes more interested in this case. With her help, she is able to shine light on the error of the courts and give Sabrina the relief and peace she had wanted for so long.

Despite the amazing trailer that I mentioned earlier, the film really lacked luster. It wasn’t as fast passed and meaningful as I had imagined and I soon found myself sticking with it for the entire time for Jessica’s memory and Rani’s performance. Rani, despite being shown to be second banana to Vidya, was the heart and soul of this film. She was playing a character that was different from any other avatar I’ve seen of hers before, and she was perfect at it. I now want her to be a brash bitch in more movies. Perhaps because this mirrors my personality in some ways, or at least the person I wish I could be, but for me, she was the true hero of the story. Vidya was a grey mouse, through and through. I went to this movie wanting to see how she was as an actress because at this time I was not her fan. This movie proved to me that I hated her (thankfully that would change when I watched Parineeta). She had nothing to do and when she did, it was awkward and boring.

No One Killed Jessica was easy enough to get through, but I think I would have liked it better had I not had such high expectations for a ground shaking, mind changing film. If you decide to skip the film, please at least take a look at Dilli, the fantastic song that was really responsible for the heart racing excitement of the trailer and promotions.

Rating: 6/10

Films I Didn't Finish: Dil To Pagal Hai

Dil To Pagal Hai

Stars: Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Karisma Kapoor, Akshay Kumar

Directed by: Yash Chopra

Released: October 31, 1997

Dil To Pagal Hai is one of those films that I've been told to watch ever since I first started my journey in Bollywood. The person that urged me the most was my best friend and soul sister Ally (Bollywood-ish) who is Madhuri Dixit's biggest fan as well as the Madhuri/SRK jodi love slave. So when I sat down to watch this film I expected it to be fabulous. The visuals always seemed stunning and in fact - they were. However, I could not get past how dull it was. It moved too slow! I also was not at all enamored by Karisma who was awkward and strange in her role. Madhuri was past the point of having any chance of being bad by the time she made this film, but she looked far too mature for SRK and also, in my opinion, too mature to be playing the girl who skipped around trees and dreamed of teenage love. Which is my interpretation of it anyway. I may someday go back to this film and give it another try, but I wouldn't count on that happening anytime soon.

Time wasted: 52 minutes

Review: Guzaarish

Guzaarish
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai
Directed By: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Released: 2010

Sanjay Leela Bhansali does it again! This time with his magical drama, Guzaarish.

Guzaarish tells the tale of a once great magician named Ethan (Roshan) who became paralyzed from the neck down in a terrible and mysterious accident during one of his most popular acts. He's lived in a large run-down mansion with his nurse Sofia (Rai) for twelve years - but now he's had enough. He summons his lawyer Devyani Dutta to help him with 'Ethanasia' a project in which he hoped would not only help him get the right to die, but would also help him make peace with his decision.

He travels along his journey with the ever-faithful Sofia, and the budding magician Omar who hopes to learn all of Ethan's secrets. It is a bumpy road full of set backs, second thoughts and revealing secrets that makes everyoen in this story question where they stand on this issue.

The reason I love Guzaarish so much is because of how it surprises you. It seems very straightforward, you think you know all the facts about the characters, stories and such but then SLB throws you for a spin and you discover that there's more to each and every character that you never would have suspected before. And what makes it even better is that each and every twist and turn helps weave the story and makes the characters more real to the viewer.

As for the acting - Hrithik was great as Ethan, but Aishwarya was undoubtedly the heart and soul of this entire film. She shone throughout the entire 109 minutes, in each and every scene she was in. She simply changed the entire atmosphere of the film to fit what hse was doing and what Sofia was feeling. For example, the movie was sad and gloomy... until Sofia danced to Udi (which, by the way is a favorite of mine) on stage. At that point, the entire movie lit up and was more alive than it had been previously.

Guzaarish means favor, so do me a guzaarish and watch this film! Just be warned - if you cry easily, you will quickly cry your weight in tears!

Rating: 9/10

Review: Devdas

Devdas
Stars: Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit, Jackie Shroff, Kirron Kher
Directed By: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Released: 2002

When a film weaves magic, when a film defines a movie industry, when a film touches every inch of your heart and soul, it's name is Devdas. This is the first Bollywood movie that I sat down to watch and I was captured by it immediately. It is a timeless story about love, loss and tragedy that is told in the proper Bollywood way: With Madhuri Dixit, fantastic sets and timeless music.

Devdas Mukherjee (Khan) is a young man returning from studying in England. He has been there for ten years, having reluctantly left his home and his best friend Parvati (Rai) in order to study law. His mother, Kaushalya is over joyed when she hears that her son is returning home to her. This happiness is stolen from her, however, when Devdas is more interested in meeting up with Paro than he is his own family. Paro and Devdas' friendship is stronger than ever and a romance erupts between the two. Paro's mother Sumitra (Kher) is very excited about this, as she believes that Devdas will be the perfect husband for her Paro. When she goes to Kaushalya's house for a party and to propose marriage, Kaushalya turns her down and insults her in the most terrible of ways. Sumitra swears to Devdas' mother that her daughter will marry someone richer and of higher status that the Mukherjees - and she succeeds. Devdas is heartbroken over his family's betrayal and his loss of Paro, and he goes to a brothel with his friend from London, Chunnilal (Shroff), or Chunni Babu. It is there that he meets the courtesan Chandramukhi (Dixit) - the woman who is as beautiful as the moon. With the urging of Chunni Babu, Devdas decides to take his first sip of alcohol - an action that sends him on the downward spiral towards his self-destruction.

Devdas is often Shahrukh Khan's most praised performance - and for good reason. He and Madhuri Dixit prove just how versatile they are all in this one film, which is a very rare thing to find. They both are able to pull off the different shades of their characters, be it happy, sad or angry - they were completely convincing throughout.

Yet another thing that makes Devdas so special is that it has two heroines. Many will try to tell you that Chandramukhi is nothing but a supporting character, but that is simply not true. She had just as much influence on Devdas and the movie as Paro and she is the true heart of the movie. Aishwarya Rai was fantastic as Parvati, but I could still think of better actresses. Madhuri was the true gem of the film. She gave life to my favorite character in all of Bollywood. She is the only role that I could not recast, no matter how hard I tried.

As fantastic as the story itself is, one cannot talk only about the story. They cannot talk about Devdas and not mention the amazing music. Personal favorites are Maar Daala, Dola Re Dola and Kahe Chhed Mohe - all of which, Madhuri Dixit shows off her top notch dancing skills in.

I could not have picked a better film to watch for my first Bollywood film. To me, it represents all the qualities that every single Bollywood film should have. And of course, part of what makes it so special is the fact that not every Bollywood movie is up to the standards of Devdas. I recommend this sensational film for first-time Bollywood watchers and anyone else who loves romance, music and beauty.

Rating: 10/10

Review: Kurbaan

Kurbaan
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi
Released: 2009
Directed by: Rensil D'Silva

So we start out with Avantika Ahuja (Kapoor), a young professor working in Indian while simultaneously taking care of her father who has had medical issues. On her way to work one morning, she comes upon Ehsaan Khan (Khan) who is able to trick her into giving him her cab and therefore starts things off on a not so good note. When Avantika finally arrives at work she realizes that Ehsaan is also a professor there. He is intrigued by her and asks her out for a coffee. She initially rejects his advances but ends up being charmed by him all the same. After a short time of courting, they go to Avantika's father and ask permission to marry each other. Although her father is reluctant because he wants Avantika to marry another Hindu, he agrees and gives them his blessing.

Avantika and Ehsaan move to New York to work in the same university that Avantika worked in before she had to move to India to care for her father. Ehsaan is able to get a job teaching a course about Islam and the western world that many people take interest in. When Avantika and Ehsaan find their perfect home in an Indian neighborhood, Avantika is happy and content - that is until she meets the neighbors. She and Ehsaan are invited over to a dinner gathering and Avantika begins to see just how oppressed the women are by their husbands.

She doesn't think too much of it, however, until one of the women, Salma comes to her in a very distressed state. Avantika finds out that Salma is under house arrest by her husband and now fears for her life. Salma asks Avantika to contact her friend, a news reporter, for help. Avantika does this and learns that the reporter, Rihana - who is involved with Riyaz (Oberoi) will be traveling to the Middle East to deal with business but says that she will go to see Salma when she returns.

After the meeting with Rihana, Avantika goes to the doctor and discovers that she is pregnant. Happy, she goes home to wait for Ehsaan to come home so that she can tell him the happy news. While waiting, she hears noises from the neighbors house and when she goes to check it out, discovers not only Salma's dead body but also the neighbor's plan to bomb the flight Rihana is supposed to get on. Avantika runs but is heard and chased by the neighbors. She reaches her home and is convinced that she will be safe once she sees that Ehsaan is home, but little does she know... he is very much aware of what is going on and is more involved in it that she could have ever imagined.

When I sat down to watch Kurbaan, I thought it was going to be something like Gangster. In a way, it was, but it was also a lot different. I knew from the start that Ehsaan was going to end up being involved in the terrorist organization, but I thought he would be forced into it, not in it willingly. There were several parts in the movie that were terribly predictable, but there were also many times where I didn't see it coming. But sadly, as an altogether story, it wasn't all that amazing.

The one thing that is definitely worth seeing is the scene where Riyaz goes to visit Ehsaan's class and gives his speech about American's being terrorists as well. It sums up my feelings about the entire situation completely and thought that it was very well done.

And thank god for the acting. Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Vivek Oberoi were all above average. I was mostly impressed with Kareena. Not even a half hour into the movie, I was no longer seeing Kareena playing Avantika, I just saw Avantika. One thing that turned me off, however, was that she and Saif didn't have very good chemistry, especially in the beginning. He seemed to be more of a father figure to her than anything else and it was a total turn off to me. They didn't even look like they were married, on screen or off screen.

All in all, I would recommend this movie if you wanted a good, somewhat action filled time pass, but don't sit down to watch it expecting much.

Rating: 6/10

Review: I Hate Luv Storys *Spoilers*

I Hate Luv Storys
Stars: Imran Khan, Sonam Kapoor
Directed by: Punit Malhotra
Released: 2010

For a month or two now, I've been perusing the Bollywood section of Netflix Instant Watch and noticing I Hate Luv Storys. I'd heard about it a few times outside of that, and knew that I thought Imran Khan was the hottest thing since a summer in the desert. However, I'd heard that Sonam's acting was terrible and Imran reminds me of someone I'd much rather forget, so I was hesitant. Finally, after sucking it up, I decided to watch it. At first, like with most Bollywood movies I turn on, I was alarmed by the length of the film - 2 and a half hours - and I was sure that I would quickly get bored with it - I. Was. Wrong.

I was instantly captured by the beauty of a certain hero, humor, cliches and mentions of other films that I'd seen. I got a kick out of hearing mentions of Devdas and going "I understand that!" - But that's mainly because I'm just a spaz. There was a point where I began to wonder if perhaps it was going to get boring when Simran and Jay were doing their "I HATE YOU" act, but the movie quickly moved onto more interesting scenes and began to develop their friendship and then romance.

But like all romances in Bollywood, the hero and heroine can't just be together and be happy - noooo, Simran has to be with a man named Raj (Ha. Ha. Ha) since childhood and be completely dedicated to her Mr. Right, who doesn't even realize that she hates the color white although that's the only type of flowers he ever gets her. (Needless to say, Jay gets her red, which she loves). However, after a while, Simran realizes that she loves Mr. Wrong as well but when she confessed it to Jay, he is befuddled and turns her down - not understanding where her feelings had come from. But, again, as we often see in BW, he soon realizes (about half way through the film and too late of course) that he loves her as well and begins his quest to win her heart.

The acting was so/so. As much as I love Imran Khan, he does have a long way to go with his acting. He delivers comedy very well and made me laugh numerous times throughout the movie, but there were several times when I just got annoyed with him - such as when he was upset over his relationship with Simran and had the same look on his face in every. single. scene. However, my annoyance with him can't be at all compared with the large annoyance I had with Sonam Kapoor. She's a pretty face and had her moments, but she can hardly be called an actress. She needs to take lessons from Kareena. Funnily enough, I actually got a kick out of Bruna Abdullah. In the beginning of the movie, she is just a dumb girl with an annoying voice that Jay picks up at a night club, but later she comes back into the movie to help with his plan to get Simran and, although still annoying, she delivered some nice comedy. I just wish she didn't sound so out of place speaking Hindi..

The music was FABULOUS I think. I adored I Hate Luv Storys, Jab Mila Tu, and Sadka Kiya (Sonam and Imran's little number was super cute!) See for yourself:






Overall, a good movie I think. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and for the first time in a long time - was not bored with it at all! Check it out!

Rating:7/10