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. 

Read more »

Triangle A (Amar Akbar Anthony)

I am not too fond of Manmohan Desai films. Neither do I like Amitabh Bachchan in them. Oh yes! I really don't. The films are loud, hardly have good music, except for a feet-tapping song or two in passing and Amitabh was so in-your-face in them. The other day, I got rebuked by a dear friend for ridiculing the 'Mirror scene' in Amar Akbar Anthony which I'm told that no one else but Amitabh could have pulled off. May be. But I did not find it funny at all! And, I don't like him in these 'dhishoom dhishoom' films. I'd much rather watch him as the egoistic husband in Abhimaan, a scheming jaggery-seller in Saudagar, or the revenging husband in Ajnabi. Those are my kind of films. And I certainly like Amitabh in them.

Read more »

Songs that have stayed (Zamaane Ko Dikhana Hai)

Yes, yes, yes. My sincere apologies for keeping you all waiting. Those of you who thought I've abandoned this space, well, think again! For, I'm too much a movie-lover to give up this blog of mine. It's taken me time, a lot of time indeed, to come back to it, but here I am, once again. Yes, Malhar's fine. He's now turning three, is as hyperactive as an Energizer Bunny, and extremely (that's an understatement) naughty. And work is very hectic as well! But again, here I am...

Padmini Kolhapuri is a powerhouse of talent. Her energy was palpable in all the films starring her as a child actress so when you see a film where she makes her debut as the heroine, the expectations are obviously huge. Mine were too. I must say I am extremely fond of this bubbly, photogenic actor who has an effortless charm about her. No role is too tough for her. Being in the industry from a very young age, she makes the characters look like a cakewalk. So, when I saw her in Nasir Husain's 1981 romance Zamaane Ko Dikhana Hai, I was waiting for some real fire-cracking in the scenes she set foot with yummylicious Rishi Kapoor. But I was left waiting for more...

Read more »

Hidden identities (Bade Dil Wala)

I'm often forced to watch a film because I'm smitten by some of its songs. The tracks play on in my mind and Kahin na jaa, a lovely track composed by RD Burman and rendered fabulously by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar is a prime instance of this. The melodious track shows a stylishly clad Tina Munim (with a French chignon) beckoning to a dapper Rishi Kapoor on not to leave her and go. They are at a party and soon the good-looking pair serenade to the song that is so infectious. In the background are Sarika clad in a stunning saree and a suspicious Amjad Khan keeping track of what's happening. If that was not enough, Pran, replete in a well cut suit, looks on happily. He is old but looks so handsome. I thought these are enough reasons for seeing Bade Dil Wala, a Bhappi Soni film.

Read more »

Marrying a widow (Prem Rog)

There is something that makes Raj Kapoor films immensely enjoyable. Even if you do not like some aspects of the films--say the melodrama, the OTT quotient or the excessive stretching of the plot, his films do rev up my interest in the happening. What mostly attracts me is the believable social thread that he ties his characters with. His characters are part of a community that suffers from some social malady or the other and through his story-telling method, he strives to drive home a point about this evil custom and how the protagonist struggles and succeeds to overthrow this societal sickness. This process is presented by Raj Kapoor extremely well through his films. They start off as family dramas, but in the folds of the plot, he sheds light on some social custom that needs to be demolished. His films become social commentaries without resorting to pontification. And that is the best part about the RK films. Look at Shree 420, Awara, Jagte Raho, Ram Teri Ganga Maili and the like. If you watch them carefully, you'll know what I'm hinting at.

Read more »

Till death do us part (Yeh Vaada Raha)

As a teenager, I suddenly got gripped by Danielle Steel romances. It was then that her Promise impressed me. Fate construing against two lovers, only to have the tables turned back against it by the sheer power of their love-- this theme really touched my heart. Then one day, I saw a film called Yeh Vaada Raha, Kapil Kapoor's adaptation of this romance, and I realised how perfectly the story turned out in reel life. Here the love between the young souls appears even more sweeter, the mishap is much more unfortunate than it looks in the book and the incidents that count up to the halcyon ending is so well stitched together. Yes, this 1982 romance is one film I'd recommend to any hard-core mush lover.

Read more »

Mind full of Monty (Karz)

There was a friend in college who always made fun of Rishi Kapoor. She said he was too plump, too pink and too goofy to be a hero. This was the time when he was making a fool of himself in films like Prem Granth. I'm sure there must have been other duds like that. No matter how much I convinced her that Rishi Kapoor was once a seriously good-looking fellow and a very smart one at that, she just brushed my claims away. Till of course one day when she chanced upon Subhash Ghai's Karz. Next day all I could hear from her was how luscious his lips were in the film, how dapper he dressed and how crazily romantic his eyes were. The 28-year-old Rishi Kapoor had scored big time and I kept saying, "Didn't I tell you!"

Read more »

Duplicity (Some Like it Hot)

Okay, pop quiz. What do Rishi Kapoor and Tony Curtis have in common? Apart from great looks, rivetting performances and sexy voices. Well, here goes. Kapoor's Dev was a duplication of Curtis' Joe in the 1975 film Rafoo Chakkar. Inspired by the 1959 classic, Some Like it Hot, this film was a typical Bollywood masala flick. Only, where the Hollywood comedy trumped, the Hindi cousin bungled...it lacked a soul.
Both films did well but collections don't always mirror good art, or do they? Here's why I vote for the Curtis-Monroe roller-coaster rather than its Hindi cousin.
First things first.

Read more »