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Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

Monday, January 4th, 2010 by admin

Dhoondte Reh Jaoge (2009)

Just when we begin to praise Bollywood for making alternative films, it throws a film like Dhoondte Reh Jaoge in our path making one feel either nervous for having cast an ill omen on the industry, or worse, feeling like a dimwit to have spoken too soon. For all the Farhan Akhtars and Anurag Basus, ...

. . . . . . . . . Comedy

Monday, January 4th, 2010 by admin

New York (2009)

New York, directed by Kabir Khan of Kabul Express fame, has all the makings of a successful film if one just disregards the miniscule fact that the plot is at least five years stale. An endearing story of three friends whose lives meet a tragic fate, New York has it all: romance, humor, drama, heart ...

. . . . Action

Monday, January 4th, 2010 by admin

Luck By Chance (2009)

Luck by Chance, which launches the career of Zoya Akhtar as a director, is one of the most decent films to release in a long time. 2008 has been a comedy of errors for Bollywood with one magnum opus disaster after another. The over-hyped Ghajini and star-studded Yuvvraaj being two prime examples. But if Luck ...

. . . . . . . . . . Drama

Friday, January 1st, 2010 by admin

Mughal-e-Azam (1960)

Mughal-e Azam tells the story of the Great Mughal, Akbar (r. 1556-1605). The film’s making was itself something of an epic, as it took over fifteen years to shoot, and involved a complete change of cast (the original included Chandramohan, who played Jehangir in Pukar [1939], Nargis and Sapru), several writers and so on. It ...

. . . . . . . . . Historical

Sunday, December 27th, 2009 by admin

Ganga Jamna (1961)

Ganga Jamna is one of the finest examples of a popular theme of Indian cinema, namely that of the good and bad brother. Gunga (Dilip Kumar), framed for a crime by a landowner, becomes an outlaw, while his younger brother, Jamna (Nasir Khan, Dilip Kumar’s real-life brother), whom he has educated, becomes a police officer. ...

. . . Crime

Sunday, December 27th, 2009 by admin

Madhumati (1958)

Madhumati was the biggest hit of director Bimal Roy. His hallmark neo­realist images and social concern are evident in this unusual reincarnation/ghost story scripted by Ritwik Ghatak, later acclaimed as one of India’s greatest directors. Two of the top stars of Hindi cinema, Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala, take multiple roles in this complex narrative. Devendra ...

. . . Mystery

Saturday, December 26th, 2009 by admin

Naya Daur (1957)

Akhtar Mirza (father of the directors Saeed and Aziz Mirza) wrote the story for Naya daur (‘New Era’). In a village, whose main economy depends on a sawmill, many workers face unemployment when the ruthless Kundan (Jeevan) modernises his mill with the introduction of electricity. Two drivers of tongas (horse-drawn taxis), Shankar (Dilip Kumar) and ...

. . . . Drama

Saturday, December 26th, 2009 by admin

Ram Aur Shyam (1967)

The theme of identical twins has been present in many cinemas (this being one of the most basic ‘tricks’ available to cinema that was not available to live performances such as plays). Common to melodramas, it is taken to extremes in Hindi cinema, with not just identical twins (Afsana [1951], Anhonee [1952], Gol maal, Hum ...

. . . . . Drama

Saturday, December 26th, 2009 by admin

Shakti (1982)

This film is always remembered as the one time that Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan played father and son. While both stars had played the role of the person who becomes a criminal but remains honest and decent, here the father is the police officer while the son is the outlaw with whom he comes ...

. . . . Crime

Saturday, December 26th, 2009 by admin

Andaz (1949)

Mehboob Khan’s Andaz opened the prestigious new Liberty cinema in Bombay. Nargis plays the role of Neeta, a modern woman who mixes freely with men, rides horses and wears western clothes. She seems to be falling in love with her father’s manager, Dilip Kumar, while we ignore all the signs that become so apparent on ...

. . . . . . Drama

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