Kassy On Celebs - Shiney Ahuja

Shiney Ahuja



I have a feeling this post won't be very well received if you're familiar with Shiney and the legal issues surrounding him, but that's exactly why I'm doing it. So let's get started:

He has gorgeous eyes and a smile that could knock any girl over. He also has a lot of talent and has the power to make any character that he plays believable. Who is he? He's Shiney Ahuja and all these great qualities he has go right out the window when someone hears that he was recently convicted of raping his maid.

Now, normally this would make me fall right out of love with him... only the evidence is in his favor. The maid who originally accused Shiney of raping her later retracted her statement and told the courts that she only accused Shiney because a friend bribed her into doing. The courts still continued to prosecute Shiney and he was convicted and sentenced to 7 years in prison. Not long after that however, he was bailed out and is now free as the higher courts in India discuss his case. I feel terrible for Shiney since so many people assume that he is still guilty even when the woman who accused him came out and say that he never did.

But putting his personal issues aside, his acting skills are great and getting even better as time goes on. My first Shiney movie was Gangster - which is one of my very favorite movies ever. In this movie, he doesn't have as many speaking parts as his costars Kangana Ranaut and Emraan Hashmi have, but he still is able to deliver every thought and emotion through his body language, eyes and facial expressions. I was completely taken away with him and this love only grew when I moved on to watch Woh Lahme. Again paired with Kangana, he played a different role in which he is a movie director who wants to make it big and will do almost anything to get there. His feelings for Kangana's character seemed very realistic and very heartfelt. He seemed to truly get into his character and love Kangana's. But what I think is his best role is Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi which in the end he ends up mentally handicapped. He was good all throughout, but it was the last few moments that took my breath away. He did very well and even won the Filmfare award for best male debut - an award well deserved.

Despite the setback that Shiney has unfortunately suffered, I have no doubt that he will be able to make his way back into the Bollywood film industry and get back on the fast track to the top he'd been getting closer and closer to until his image was scarred.

Star Rating: 8/10

Review: Gangster: A Love Story *Spoilers*

Gangster: A Love Story
Stars: Shiney Ahuja, Kangana Ranaut, Emraan Hashmi
Directed By: Anurag Basu
Released: 2006

Gangster: A Love Story is a unique tale about Simran (Ranaut), a girl who has no care for her life, Daya (Ahuja), the much feared gangster that she is in love with, and Akash (Hashmi), a sweet young singer that is in love with her and wants to make her forget about her troubled past. At the beginning of the film, one probably falls in love with Akash and believes that he is the big hero there to rescue to sweet, curly haired heroine. I promise you, that will change.

As the two get closer, Simran confides in Akash about her past in which she fell in love with, lived with, and ran with a powerful, wanted gangster named Daya. It provides some very interesting and fun flashbacks into Simran's life with Daya and what tore them apart (My favorite part of the movie). It is then that one begins to understand why this girl is so heartbroken and sad. Once Simi is able to open up to Akash, they begin to have a real relationship. However, their happiness is cut short when Mr. Gangster shows up and is not very happy to see Akash warming his girlfriend's bed. Simran is conflicted. The man she's been in love with for so long has finally returned to her and is vowing to change his ways, but she loves Akash as well. Then, when prompted by the police, she leaves with Daya. They find a place to hide out and he begins to work, finding that he actually quite enjoys doing an honest job. However, Simran still is not very happy as she misses Akash and then discovers that she has yet another problem to worry about. She calls her sweet singer and tells him what is going on, and he prompts her to turn Daya in. She does, and realizes much too late that her darling Akash had a very dark secret that shifts the hero label from him to the sexy, dangerous Daya. Want to know what that is? Watch and find out! ;)

Let me first say that this movie was amazing, mainly because of the story. I'd never heard of a tale like this before, and was very satisfied with it in the end. At the end of the movie, Daya and Simran both end up dead but until I watched this movie for the third time, I didn't even think of it in a sad way. They were finally together and able to be happy, which was something they weren't allowed to have when they were alive. At a first glance, that makes you happy, but when you look at the cracks you do begin to feel sad and wish that Daya hadn't been executed (Okay, maybe I'm a little biased..) and that the dirty dodgy Akash had gone in his place.

The acting was somewhat iffy, in my opinion. Kangana gained much praise for her role as Simran and even won the Filmfare award for Best Debut. Although she was impressive, especially since this was her very first role, there were several times when I thought she overacted and then there were times when she showed me nothing. As for Shiney, he was a bit better. He still overacted in some parts, but I always, always felt his emotions, whether it was anger, sadness and in rare moments, happiness. I find this especially impressive since he didn't have as many lines as his costars. It was all in his eyes and body language. He too won an award - the Stardust Superstar of Tomorrow (Male). Emraan? He was impressive, not amazing, but impressive. For what it's worth, until Daya came along (oh you know.. at 30 minutes..) I was falling for him (didn't last long, obviously..) He was very sweet and I now think that he is one of the better looking actors in Bollywood.

One more high point of the film was the music. Ya Ali, Mujhe Mat Roko, Bheegi Bheegi, and Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai were especially entertaining. I felt that the music went very well with the scenes it was paired with, and that came sometimes be an issue (We Are Family, anyone?) Altogether I found that this movie was quite enjoyable. I think it had a great story, but in some areas failed to deliver. However, being the huge huge huge Shiney, Kangana and Emraan fan that I am, I can watch it over and over and over again. I would especially recommend it for those who love those tragic romances that's a little rough around the edges. Who to watch it with? A sweetheart mainly. Maybe a friend. Not children though. It got violent at times (Hello, GANGSTER) and had some rough and vulgar dialogue. I hope you enjoy it :)

Rating: 8/10