Must Watch: Masoom (1983).

The Indian film industry has been bestowed with such talented and adept actors and directors, it becomes obvious after you watch the year 1983 movie Masoom, which was adaption of the novel Man, Woman and Child (1980) written by Erich Segal.

The movie has been directed by the internationally renowned director Shekhar Kapur. The other renowned names that add to its glory are Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi. So, obviously, this movie has to have something special. Well, my reason for watching this movie is neither of them but the song Tujhse naraaz nahi zindagi (which has the mesmerized voice of Lataji and similar track in the voice of Anup Ghosal).

Playing the role of kids, Urmila Mantodkar and Jugal Hansraaj have made the team of the movie very strong and emphatic. 

In my own words, successful movie is like a chair that has the pillars of a good direction, good acting, good story and good melody. This movie doesn't lack in any of them.

Must Watch: Matrubhoomi: A Nation Without Women

Whether hit or flop, the movies like Matruboomi (2003) are remembered and acclaimed because of various reasons. This movie depicts the reality of the Indian society and exposes its path of progress in future. 

Discussing the subject matter of the movie, it can be said that this movie deserves imminent attention as the declining sex ratio is the cause of concern for country like ours. Apart from a dedicated team of real actors like Pankaj Jha, Sudhir Paney, Piyush Mishra and Shushant Singh, this movie deserves accolades because of direction by Manish Jha, which involves imaginative skill.

I am impressed with his focus on change of the attitude of the society regarding dowry system (as this time bride's family is being paid to get her married), which is similar to the pattern of sale of a girl.

In a nutshell, this movie is must watch for social cause and awareness as these movies mirror the Indian patriarchal society.

Must Watch: Apaharan

If any one can focus on social issues surrounding the Indian common people, specially hailing from the BIMARU states like UP and Bihar, it is none other than Prakash Jha. Here I present before you my review about the year 2005 movie Apaharan, starring Nana Patekar, Ajay Devgan, Yashpal Sharma and Chetan Pandit. 

After the much hype of social issue- based movies after the success of his Gangajal (2003), Mr. Jha has successfully delivered this movie on the theme of corruption that compels an innocent person to get involved in the whole systematic network of kidnapping mafia, prevailing in Bihar.

If talk about the performances of the actors, this time, unlike in Gangajal, the majority share for the success of this movie has to be credited to Nana Patekar. Apart from it, Ajay Devgan has given his best in presenting the youth who gets trapped in the whole network of kidnapping mafia, which is headed by Gaya Singh (Yashpal) and nurtured by Tabrez Aalam (Nana).

Also, I will not lag behind in appreciating the performance of Mukesh Tiwari, who has played the role of an honest IPS officer.

Must Watch: Children of War

Even if the Indian audience loves the movies of heroes with six-pack abs or hot divas and thumbs down the real and intense historical movies like Madras Cafe, I admire the courage of the director Mritunjay Devrat for throwing focus on the genocide during Bangladesh liberation war of 1971. One should admire the effort of the director to present the intense violent scenes depicting rape of many Bangladeshi women. 

Also, the performance of Pawan Malhotra in negative role of a Pakistani Amy personnel, deserves applauds. Apart from him the late Farooq Shekh has also left his impact on cinema industry by his humble role in the movie.

In a nutshell, if you courage to swallow the reality behind the liberation movement of 1971, the movie Children of War will make you cry and compel you to applause the efforts of Mr. Devrat.

Must Watch: Bhootnath Returns.

After watching his social awakening movie Main Aazad Hoon (1989) few years back on Set Max, I became fan of Big B in such roles. His latest recent with Bhootnath Returns proves that his aura and suitability for such roles has not faded. 

Opposed to the popular presumption, this movie is not only meant to be a comedy flick or kids' catgory movie. Rather it can be said to be a movie that explains us a lesson in our own way. Also, the theme picked by the producer, i.e. general elections, is the burning one, whose heat has set the Indian democracy on fire. 

Parth Bhalerao (the child named Akhrot) has complemented Big B in every manner in performance of the character of a ghost electoral candidate. 
also, we can't undermine the negative role of Boman Irani. In his role as Bhau, he seems to emulate and imbibe a true character of a local mafia. With some comic scenes and with awesome performances, this movie delivers a strong message on election and importance of voting in Indian democracy.

In a nutshell, when Bhootnath returns, our hope in democracy returns too.

Black Friday: Opening the true files of 1993 blasts.

I have already mentioned, India has history of low grade movies. But few producers like Anurag Kashyap have given a new motivation and a new ray of hope to us. With his movies like Gulaal, Gangs of Wasseypur (I and II), Girl in Yellow Boots, Shaitaan, he told us what a good movie is all about.

This movie- Black Friday (2004)- is not just a movie but a documentary, which explains the causes, consequences and inquiry of the 1993 Mumbai blasts that ripped apart the financial capital of our country.

This movie is equipped with true artists like KK Menon, Pawan Malhotra, Aaditya Srivastav and Nawazud din Siddiqui. They have time and again proved that Indians are also good at acting and still there are some emerging talents that need the focus of good movie-makers.

It won the Grand Jury Prize at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and was a nominee for the Best Film (Golden Leopard) award at the Locarno International Film Festival. The film was so controversial that the Indian Censor Board did not allow it to be released in India for two years. 

It has given a good opportunity to the band Indian Ocean to contribute its musical magic in this movie. I love the song Arre Ruk Ja Re Bande.

Behind the Screen Facts:    

• The film was banned in India and was released theatrically only 2 years after it's actual planned release date.  
• The film is based on true facts regarding the Mumbai Blasts in 1993.  
• Anurag Kashayap cast Aditya Shrivastav and KayKay again after the banned Paanch and Gulaal.

Queen: If SRK is King Khan, Kangana Ranaut is Queen Ranaut.

We must admire the trend of Bollywood that it is delivering such hat-ke (different) movies for fast few years. Lat year it showed us the hopes in the wraps of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Madras Cafe, D-day, Lootera. This year too it has kept our hopes pristine and all-time high. This hype is evident after we come across the movies like Queen.

Watching the dedicated performance of Kangana Ranaut, it can be said that our film industry has no more restricted entry for the male dominant stars. If there can be a King Khan, there can be a Queen Ranaut.

No other actress can emulate her performance in the movie. Her performance suits the theme of women empowerment through this movie. No doubt, she deserves a National Award for what she did to her role.

Lastly, the music by Amit Trivedi is in sync with the situation of the scenes of the movie and best suited to it. If Bollywood can open the doors for the cheaters like Anu Malik and Pritam, Trivedi is going to be last nail of their coffins.

Sarfarosh (1999): tells how a dedicated police force should operate.

Though Aamir Khan had performed the role of an IPS offices before this movie in Baazi, this movie paints a good, inspirational and true picture of the crime branch police of Maharashtra. 

The early part of this movie entails the struggle of an honest officer behind his becoming an IPS officer. All civil services aspirants, particularly, those aspiring to become an IPS officer must watch this movie and learn how a good cop reacts to various problems regarding the heinous crimes like illegal drug and arms trafficking. 

Coming to the performances, no doubt, Aamir has played a very balanced and perfect role of an IPS officer. This role is better than what he did in Baazi. Mukesh Rishi (in the character of inspector Salim) has proved that he is suitable not only for negative roles but also for positive roles that too of an honest cop. Nasiruddin Shah (in the character of Gulfaam Hasan) is again a gem of the Indian cinema industry that performs for movies of classes and movies of masses. In this movie, which belongs to classes and masses, he proves to be villain of classes. Same can be said about Govind Namdev (in the character of Veeran). 

Believe me, this movie has everything- a good plot, all good actors and good music (specially song Zindagi Maut Na Ban Jaaye). It is a must watch for all bollywood fans

Must Watch (Today's special): Rang De Basanti

Corruption is like a virus in the entire system of a nation, that needs a strong anti-virus to deal with it. This movie, though not an anti-virus, but was a means to produce anti virus for the system of a nation affected by the virus of corruption. If any Indian movie that could ignite the spark of revolution or revamping the corruption-infected nation, it was RDB. Embracing the mechanism of peaceful non- violent protest (candle march) and later switching to the desired mode of violence, this movie proved to be a blend of ideals that could change the Indian system or rather the system of any corruption infected nation.

Just like others, I also support the killing of the corrupt official (and it will not be called murder or Hatya rather it becomes Vadh) on the ground that such practice sounds correct on the lines of the Benthamite principle of maximum pleasure of maximum people with minimum pain for least number of people.

Also, this movie is best suited for the Martyr's Day (23rd march, 1931) as it not only shows the sacrifices of our revolutionary heroes but also how it can be imbibed in the actions of the youth.

I like dialogue of the movie:

"Jeene ke do hi tareeke hote hain. Ya fir jo chal raha hai use chalne do. Ya use badal ke dikhaao" (there are two courses of living a life- either let the things go their way or change the course of happenings). 

Lastly, the music of Rahmaan Saab  has never been such enthusiastic before. If the movie is a portrait, his music adds colour to it.

Behind Reel Facts (from iMDB):

• A.R Rehman worked on the music of this film for three years.
• India's official entry to the Oscars for the Best Foreign Language Film category in 2007.
• Shah Rukh Khan was the original pick to play DJ, but the shooting for the film was in Delhi, and Khan was forced to decline because he was shooting Paheli (2005) at the time, and did not want to conflict schedules.
• The film was to be made both in Hindi and English versions. The English version was to be titled "Paint It Yellow". The plans for the English version were dropped subsequently.
• The role played by Siddharth was also initially offered to Farhan Akhtar. But Farhan was not ready to act.
• Aamir Khan was initially uncertain about taking on the role of DJ, as he was in his 40s and DJ was 25 years old Punjabi in the film. He eventually accepted, though, and hired a tutor to aid him in Punjabi speech and accents.
• Rang De Basanti is based on a poem written by Dushyant Kumar.
• Arjun Rampal was signed to do the film, but was irritated with director, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's indecisiveness about what he wanted to do with the characters and the script. He called him "very confused" and "unprofessional" and dropped out. Arjun Rampal also stated his regret in even agreeing to do the film in that he lost a lot of good work in the three months he spent committed to it.
• In India, the color of saffron represents sacrifice. When someone says, "Main rang de basanti", ("paint me saffron") it means that person is ready to be sacrificed for a great cause. saffron is also a predominant color in the movie.
• Shah Rukh Khan was the original choice for Flight Lieutenant Ajay Rathod's character, but he couldn't do it owing to his busy schedule. This cameo turned out to be the best bet of Madhavan in his career in Bollywood.
• Hrithik Roshan turned down the role of Karan (Siddharth).

Agneepath (2012): Sanjay Dutt is back.

This movie was in news since Hritik accepted the role played by Big B in the earlier Agneepath (1990). Though the names are same and plot of the movie is also, significant remake of the old Agnipath, there is a huge gap in both these.

While the old Agnipath was full of bold and emphatic performance of Amitab Bachchan (playing the role of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan) and was also known for his dialogue delivery, the 2012 Agnipath promises a new ray of hope to emulate the performance of the legendary Joker (obviously, the negative role Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight). This movie has kept the audience glued with the performance and style of Kaancha (role played by none other than Sanjay Dutt). 

In my opinion, India is close to getting a substitute of the Joker. His performance weights much more than that of the hero of the movie (the equation matches that of The Dark Knight in this sense). Though the dialogues of Hritik are not that bold as of Big B, his performance is well fitted to the role.

Apart from it, you can't ignore the role of Rauf Lala (played by Rishi Kapoor). This time, Rishi Kapoor has made a punching come-back to complement this movie. Even, sometimes the people might become confuse to choose the best villain between Kaancha and Rauf.

Music of the movie also deserves applauds, specially the song Abhi Mujhme Kahin.

The hidden facts.

• In Sanjay Dutt's 30 years career, this is the first time he appeared bald in a film.
• Sanjay Dutt and Rishi Kapoor last worked together in Sahibaan (1993) where both were lead heroes.
• The film was an official remake of the original Agneepath but several things were changed, like the backdrop of drugs was introduced, the reason for the death of Vijay's father was changed, Mithun's character was done away with, and Rishi Kapoor's new character was introduced.
• Hrithik Roshan sports a number of colorful vests in the film, actually those were white vests which his designers colored using dye.
• Hrithik told in an interview that while fighting with Sanjay Dutt he was really injured and his acting in the end was real.
• The scenes depicting Mandwa was shot in Diu in freezing temperatures. For the song Cheekni Chameli the set was created in Mumbai.

Raanjhanaa: Dhanush has left his mark on Bollywood.

It was the noon of a day of March last year, when I opened Youtube to watch some upcoming movies of Bollywood. Suddenly, I came across the trailer of the movie Raanjhanaa, presenting Dhanush in lead role. It was then the scorching summer of June in the same year, when I went to watch this movie.

Guess what? All the sacrifices I made to watch this movie was refunded in the terms of entertainment. I, just could not imagine that Dhanush, who hails from Southern part of India, will be able to perform the role of a Desi Launda of Banaras. Hardly, anyone dn emulate his performance in this movie. Talking about the other actors, the role of his friend Murari played by Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub and his one sided lover Swara Bhaskar should be appreciated. 

The whole movie is divided into two parts: the romantic and comedy part pre-intermission and serious and emotional part post-intermission. Apart from it, the dialogues of the movie and its climax both have given a good shape to the whole flow of movie. 

As always, the Music of Rahmaan saahab is always a memorial part of a movie, which is true in this case as well.

Facts undisclosed yet.

1. This was the first film of Dhanush in Hindi. For this film , he took special Hindi coaching classes.
2. Earlier , actor Shahid Kapoor was roped in to play the lead role , but later Dhanushreplaced his role (thank God he accepted, otherwise... everyone knows).

Yeh Saali Zindagi: has everything that a good movie should have.

What will you expect, when you have best spices for the dishes to be served at the dinner? You will get applauds for your preparation and your guests will again persist you to invite them. 

Same holds true for this movie. Here, although we have best spices like Irrfan, Saurabh Shukla, Yashpal Sharma (as Bade), Prashant Narayan (as Chhote) and Shushant Singh, the whole recipe would have been not so tasty, had there been no good quality of salt and vegetables like Arunoday Singh, Chitrangada Singh, Aditi Rao Hydari and Vipin Sharma. With some desi gaalis (specially the dialogue Udta Hua Teer...), this movie has tried to expose the interaction between various classes of persons of the society. 

This movie shows some overlapping between three lives, which give birth to a tragedy, for which everyone keeps on guessing the solution. To put it in simple words, Hero A loves Heroine A, but she loves a Dude. This Dude is the target of Hero B, who was abducted along with his fiance. The object of Hero B is to get money to buy happiness for Heroine B, along with the other object of getting his boss out of jail. How all this becomes possible and how the main Villain creates a mess and how the dude gets flying arrow as reward (Udta Teer) is best understood and enjoyable after watching the movie itself.

Just no need to guess Hero A/B or Heroine A/B. Watch the movie and you will understand it. 

Concluding the review, I can say that Sudhir Mishra is a good chef and the guests will expect similar dishes again and again from him.

Haasil: kudos to Irrfan and Tigmanshu.

If there is any movie of the Bollywood that probably marks the identity of Allahabad and the college life of that city, it is Haasil. Entire movie is like a sweet dish (soaked in the sugar of Eastern U.P. dialect). 
Even the fans of Ranvijay Singh (character played by Irrfan Khan, for which he bagged Filmfare award for Best actor in negative role), have adopted the style of conversation in his way of dialoguebaazi. 

Credit goes to Tigmanshu Dhulia for the beautiful and real depiction of student politics and life. As we have already seen, he is both a good actor and a good director (except the crap Bullet Raja). Jimmy Shergil and other characters of the movie have also performed well in their characters, but they will always be way behind Irrfan.
Though I haven't watched this movie in a cinema hall, I can imagine that had I been in the hall, I would have witnessed taaliyon pe taali (applauses for his dialogues) for every dialogue of Irrfan Khan.

Had this movie not been produced, Bollywood wouldn't have witnessed a gem like Ranvijay Bhayya (oops... I meant Irrfan Khan).

D-Day: Nikhil Advani's mission becomes possible.

If Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner have gained fame for the Mission: Impossible series, this time Nikhil Advani has became their Indian counterpart. 

This movie, another genuine movie on the working of the Indian intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) has proved to be at par with Madras Cafe. Looking into the performance of the actors, the role of Rishi Kapoor as Goldman (who seem to have been based on the personality of the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim) has been appreciated much. Among all the actors that have played the character of Dawood (though, bollywood movies, except Black Friday, have done away from controversy and risk involved in using name of the don), Rishi Kapoor has performed the best according to his appearance and personality and, of course, his style.

Obviously, Irrfan Khan has given his best to the role of a RAW agent. But other members of the team played by Arjun Rampal, Huma Quraishi and Aakash Dahiya (as Aslam) have not lagged behind in giving their due share of performances.

Action scenes and stunts are awesome, which can lure the lovers of action movies. This movie, though not based on true happenings -as no one has even dared to touch the underworld don- it provides a hint for the Indian policies to nab the culprits who pose threat to the security of India. 

Gulaal: right presentation of lust of power

In my opinion, this movie has raised respect for Mr. Kashyap more than what he earned for his 2012 works like Gangs of Wasseypur (both I and II). Watching this movie is like enjoying the ride of a super-bike like Hayabusa or enjoying the luxury of luxury SUVs, as in both cases you are bound to appreciate every part of the engine and along with the exterior and interiors of it.

The artists on the stage and behind the curtains have shown their talent in a very interesting way that you can't ignore. If you are not a fan of Hindi movies, this movie is all set to stir your thoughts.

This movie, starring Kay Kay Menon, Raj Singh Chaudhary, Abhimanyu Singh, Deepak Dobriyal, Ayesha Mohan, Jesse Randhawa, Piyush Mishra and Aditya Srivastava. The film explores themes such as pursuit of power, quest for legitimacy, perceived injustices and hypocrisy of the powerful. The film is set in present day Rajasthan, a state in western India. The plot is provided by student politics of the university and a fictitious secessionist movement consisting of former Rajput leaders who have become present day elite.

Production on Gulaal began in 2001, when Anurag Kashyap was listening to songs from Pyaasa and his film Paanch was struggling with censors. Inspired by Mohammad Rafi songs from Pyaasa ("Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai") and Zeenat, ("Haye re duniya") the film is a dedication to Sahir Ludhianvi, the lyricist of the song and all other poets who had a vision of India. The film was also partially based on a story idea by Raj Singh Chaudhary who eventually played the role of Dilip Singh in the film.

Apart from it, you have music given by Piyush Mishra to enjoy in this movie.

Award	Category	Nominee	Result
Stardust Awards	Best Breakthrough Performance – Male	Abhimanyu Singh	Won
	Standout Performance by a Music Director	Piyush Mishra	Won
IIFA Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Abhimanyu Singh	Nominated
	Best Performance in Negative Role	Kay Kay Menon	Nominated

Gangs of Wasseypur: Masterpiece by Mr. Kashyap

The year 2012 proved that Indian artists also do not lag behind in showing the world that we are also among the quality producers of movies across the globe. In fact, Hollywood would not have been jealous this much earlier than after watching a masterpiece of Indian cinema produced by Mr. Anurag Kashyap. Gangs of Wasseypur, unlike what the title suggests, is totally Indian movie. 

Among various movies finding shelter in  my laptop, this movie is one. Also, after the movies like Sholey, every character of this movie is worth appreciation and worth being imitated. Be it Ramadhir Singh, Sardar Khan, Sultan Kureshi or J. P. Singh. If you have come across these names first time through this post, I am sorry to say that you have missed a major part of Bollywood. 

I would suggest you to get the best print of this movie to enjoy it. Also, you would not lag behind appreciating the role of Ramadhir Singh (played by the famous director-producer of Bollywood Mr. Tigmanshu dhulia). He has proved his versatility in Bollywood through this role.  

Don 2: Touching International Benchmarks

People may not like me praising the 1st sequel of the 2006 remake of Don because they expect stunts and story in the movie suits only to the Hollywood hunks like Silvestor, Vin Diesel or Tom Cruise.

But wait guys. Why don't you check out the reviews of Don 2 on iMDB ? Barring the scene, wherein SRK appears at the party in the guise of Hritik, the whole movie is devoid of any other crap. Even his entry through the yacht was the best scene of the movie. 

However, there was one dialogue similar to that used in Mission: Impossible (when Don says to Samir in his first meeting at the stadium "kya ye wahi Sameer Ali hai jisne Tokyo Stock Exchange se dedh (1.5) million dollar chura ke benaami tareeke se Save Me Foundation to donate kiye the". The dialogue used in M:I when Ethan meets Luthar and other partner says "this does'nt sound like the Luthar Stickel I have heard of..."). Some viewers say that this movie is at the standard of the Hollywood action flicks. Songs were not so good as compared to its prequel. But, if you get a good print of this movie, you should go though it and appreciate the hard work of Farhan Akhtar.

Pan Singh Tomar: Realities from the life of dedicated athlete screened.

The movie of the year 2012, dedicated to the life of a true and dedicated Indian soldier and athlete turned rebel, named Pan Singh Tomar, shows that Indian cinema is not devoid of artists who know the art of direction and the artists who know how to be indulged in the character role. 

After his debut in direction through Haasil, Mr. Tigmanshu Dhulia showed his talent behind the camera, which was equally reflected by the performance of Irrfan Khan as Pan Singh Tomar.

Truly, this movie deserved the nomination for Oscars instead of Barfi! in 2012. But what can we do about the decisions taken by the members of the jury influenced by the banners like YRF. 

Bollywood Gem 2013: Lootera

Based on O. Henry's short story The Last Leaf, the movie Lootera is another masterpiece of the Indian cinema. The movie depicts the era of 1950s, the era of Zamindari abolition in India, wherein, an archaeologist, visiting a village of W. Bengal, deceives the Zamindar of that village. He robs him but he gets his heart robbed by the only daughter of the Zamindar. Due to certain compulsions he is bound to leave that girl with the only hope of marriage. But, he never returns and unfortunately the girl looses everything at her stake her hope and her father.

He meets that girl when he plans his next robbery of the archaeological heritages. The police is tracing him; his love is holding him. Now what should he do? Should he run away?

This is all about the movie Lootera.

I loved this movie and I love to watch it again. The songs like Ankahee deserve a consistent heed for a true lover of Hindi songs to understand its meaning. Also, everyone should appreciate the direction and performance of the actors like Ranveer and Sonakshi. Probably, their performances give them a drastic edge over the other new-comers like Shahid and Imran.
Again, a commendable job by Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap.

Bold Attempts: Bawandar

Those criticising the government and the police administration of India, might be well aware of what happened with Bhavri Devi of Rajasthan in 1992. The culprits behind the gang-rape of Bhavri Devi are either dead or under the scanner of CBI. 

The whole story of this wrong was given shape of a movie in 2001, named Bawandar. This movie, produced by the famous film producers Gaurang Joshi and Jag Mundhra. Though, this movie landed in the controversy, it won several international accolades like:

1. Audience Choice Award , Bermuda International Film Festival (2001)
2. Political Film Society, USA (PFS) Award - Peace Category (2004)
3. Best Actress (Nandita Das), Santa Monica Film Festival
4. 2001: Zanzibar International Film Festival: Golden Dhow

I salute such filmmakers, who raise the voice for justice through such Bold Attempts.