Kabhi Kabhie (1976)

I'm mentally prepared to be trolled, derided and umm... maybe ostracized even. But I need to say what I need to say. Kabhi Kabhie is Yash Chopra's most overrated film ever. Period. 

Brickbats... bring it on...

The other morning I got into an interesting conversation with a

neighbour. After the sundry exchanges about child tantrums, daily chores and the usual agonies of life in Modi's India, I quickly asked her whether she loves romances of the Yash Chopra kind. She started with a gushing take on Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and how it was her go-to film even a few years back. On correcting that the film was actually not Yash but his son's Aditya's directorial debut and perhaps his only watchable film, she revealed that it might not be as appealing today as it was earlier. Why? Because, as she put it, "Times were different then. We were different. I cannot relate to it anymore." This was my chance, my ticket to launch a tirade against a film over which I wasted three hours the previous night. Now why I did not abandon it midway? You see. I don't give up that easily. I'm a movie freak. 

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Brides for sale (Bazaar)

Bazaar is a much celebrated film, they say. And why not? It's got a stellar cast, a fabulously hard-hitting script, a setting that reminds one of the Hyderabad that is on the cusp of old times and modernity and seven hauntingly beautiful songs. Sagar Sarhadi's social commentary on the sad plight of girls from poor families in Hyderabad who get entwined in the commercial storm of lust and circumstances truly is the making of a brilliant film. But then, Sarhadi I believe is no Shyam Benegal. What is so marvellous about Mandi is its sharp tongue-lashing treatment of the sordid subject. 1982's Bazaar is honest, but in its many labyrinths there is a slight maze that is difficult to gauge. The film starts of with several questions. Though gradually the knots are loosened, it is too late to hold on to the interest. Perhaps, I'm the only one not absolutely impressed with the film. But then, I have reasons galore.

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Only for Amiran (Umrao Jaan)

The last time I met Meera Ali, and that would be about fours years ago, I kept singing praises about her husband's landmark film. The elegant personality that she is, Meera took my childish prattle rather sportingly and invited me to her house in Mumbai where I could meet Muzaffar Ali. Elated at the offer, I hardly gave enough attention to her new collection of weaves and clothes, which she was showcasing in Kolkata for the first time. Mind you, I was yet to see Umrao Jaan then.

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Hail Khairoo (Noorie)

Even as the camera pans across the verdant valleys of Kashmir with the beautiful Noorie and attractive Yusuf serenading to Aaja rey o mere dilbur aaja, there is a sense of foreboding that all shall not be well. Blame it on the opening scene of the old storyteller giving out that the innocent Noorie is missing for a long time or the dejected face of Yusuf pining for his lost love, the entire mood of Manmohan Krishna's Noorie is one of sorrow and dejection. The halcyon setting, generally associated with a Yash Chopra production, is conspicuous by its absence.

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