The delicious dreamgirl (Seeta aur Geeta)

This is perhaps one of the few films which has been rehashed prolifically. Identical twins getting separated at birth. One grows up being tortured brutally by evil guardians, the other is rambunctious owing to an indulgent upbringing. The mal-handled one is shy, apprehensive and thinks twice even before breathing. A freak accident makes them change places and mayhem ensues due to mistaken identities. The extrovert teaches the evil ones a lesson or two, the shy one gets her due love at last. There's fun and loads of laughter before the kingpin of the villains find out the truth and quickly there is more action towards the denouement before everything becomes crystal clear and all go home happy. A film like this can only be awesomely entertaining, with great performances, frothy comedy and sweet romance. Not to forget the great songs. Yes, in totality, films like Seeta aur Geeta are absolute winners.

Read more »

The original HAHK (Nadiya ke Paar)

The first thing that hit me in Govind Moonis's Nadiya ke Paar is how real everything looks. The village setting, the costumes, the rustic characters, the incidents and most importantly, the dialect. This original of the Madhuri Dixit-Salman Khan starrer Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, is absolutely fascinating in its simplicity and narration. Its characters are real, they talk as if they are the characters and whatever happens in the film seem so true to life. Sometimes, this 1982 film turns out to be so enjoyable that you think the remake is a tad OTT and unnecessarily long...

Read more »