Movie Review: Paheli (2005)

Paheli (2005) a.k.a The Dilemma
Red Chillies Entertainment, India, 2005.

Based on Vijayadan Detha's novel and 1973 movie "Duvidha."

Beautiful Lachchi (Rani Mukerji) is getting married in ancient India. In the first song there is both playful anticipation of the wedding night and sadness of leaving behind family and childhood's friends. The wedding procession has to stop at a place that is said to be haunted. There a shapeshifting ghost falls in love with Lachchi. Husband Kishanlal (Shah Rukh Khan) is a trader and only interested in business. He is leaving for a business trip for five years (!) and has no time for even a wedding night, so Lachchi feels lonely and sad. The women in the family seem to be have unhappy fates as also Kishanlal's brother Sunderlal (Sunil Shetty) left his family and wife Gajrobai (Juhi Chawla) after losing a bet in camel races. 

Lachchi

Kishanlal

Gajrobai

The Ghost disguises as Kishanlal and returns home. He tells Kishanlal's father Bhanwarlal (Anupam Kher) that he is now blessed and earns five magic coins per day.  Lachchi is happy but the Ghost reveals that he is not the real husband. Sneaky Uncle Kanwarlal (Dilip Prabhavalkar) wants to know where the gold comes from, however this subplot never comes to any conclusion. 

Supernatural romance!

Bhanwarlal

Kanwarlal

Confusing situation arises when servant Bhoja (Rajpal Yadav) comes to bring letter from Kishanlal - only to be greeted by Kishanlal. The Ghost is generally a nice guy and a benefactor of his society - however the real Kishanlal still has fondness for his wife. And to make it clear, he is not a bad guy, just a man pressed by the expectations of his father. Later when the real Kishanpal returns, wiseman The Shepherd (Amitabh Bachchan) arranges a group of tests to decide who is the real Kishanpal. How will the Dilemma be solved and will Lachchi be united with her ghost lover or her work-obsessed husband?

The Shepherd

The musical numbers alternate between playful teasing and longing passion. The gigantic turban worn by Kishanlal in the DVD cover gives a comical impression, but this is mainly an exotic romantic fantasy. However there are some amusing side characters and the story is narrated by two puppets. Supernatural identity theft contrasts the reality vs Lachichis dream man where Kishanlal is the sense and Ghost Kishanlal is the sensitivity. It is beautifully filmed and colourful with nicely choreographed music numbers. Although it was generally pleasant, the acting and chemistry of the charismatic main stars, who are two megastars in India, was great and the film praised by Western critics, I didn't find it the best Bollywood can offer.

Puppets

Dance now!

Then the bad. The simple story feels overlong (the film's duration is 134 minutes) making poor use of the subplots. For me the handling of real Kishanlal's story felt clumsy and the solution to the awkward situation felt forced, making shortcuts to arrive at the happy ending. And indeed, what I found out from teh Internets is that the original 1973 film had a sad ending with the romantic ghost being trapped forever and the true feelings of Lachchi ignored. This modernization seems to water down the original 1973 version's critique of the Indian social traditions and the point about woman's position in Indian society (i.e what the woman wants vs what is socially acceptable). Having a more audience pleasing happy end, the new version cuts away the stronger points that the 1973 had. Maybe I have to find the original 1973 film for comparison if I can buy it somewhere. Despite all the good things, for me "Paheli" didn't leave an Oomph-effect that the best Asian films make. But then again I'm an old crank so what do I know.  

Rating: Average

Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Anupam Kher, Rani Mukerji, Amitabh Bachchan, Naseeruddin Shah, Sunil Shetty, Juhi Chawla, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Nina Kulkarni, Padma Rani, Sharvari Jamenis, Aditi Govitrikar, Advait Trivedi, Palak Jain, Ratna Pathak, Rajpal Yadav, Somesh Agarwal, Mohan Bhandari, Rishi Deshpande, A.K. Hangal, Vijay Mishra, Surendra Rajan, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi, Aashif Sheikh, Lekh Tandon, Anita Wahi 

Director: Amol Palekar

Movie Review: Sholay

Sholay a.k.a Flames of the Sun a.k.a Embers a.k.a Flames
United Producers, Sippy Films, Sholay Media & Entertainment, India, 1975.

Retired police inspector Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) needs help from two thieves Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan). Two years ago Thakur arrested them and found out that they were brave men. As bandits attacked the train Thakur freed the duo so that the train could be saved. Now Thakur sends jailer (Vikas Anand) to find Veeru and Jai.

Thakur Baldev Singh

Veeru and Jai

Meanwhile the rogues are having fun with their stolen sidecar motorcycle. Then they go meet greedy lumber mill owner Soorma Bhopali (Jagdeep). There is a 2000 rupee reward on them so they need Soorma to get them arrested and collect the reward money that they will share when they get out of jail. The new Jailor (Asrani) is a little Hitler (the character was a tribute to Chaplin's "The Great Dictator") whose informer Hariram (Keshto Mukherjee) the boys must fool to escape. 

Soorma Bhopali

Jailor

Thakur wants to hire the boys to catch notorious bandit Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan). Veeru and Jai travel with chatty cart driver Basanti (Hema Malini) to Thakur's mansion. After "job interview" (i.e. fighting Thakur's men) and attempt to rob Thakur's safe the boys meet Radha (Jaya Bhaduri), Thakur's widowed daughter-in-law. Veeru becomes attracted to Basanti and Jai to Radha. 

Basanti and Veeru

Radha

First Thakur and the boys scare away Gabbar's henchmen who come to demand tribute from villagers. The henchmen pay dearly for their cowardice. Then the bandits return to the village and disturb the festival of colours. After a fierce gun fight the surviving bandits escape. 

Gabbar

Festival of colours

Thakur tells his story. Gabbar swore revenge when Thakur arrested him. Gabbar escaped prison and murdered Thakur's family. He also tortured Thakur and cut off his arms. After hearing the story Veery and Jai decide to defend the village for free. But sacrifices must be made...

"Sholay" is one of the best loved movies in India. When published in 1975 it ran for more than five years at Mumbai's movie theatres. In 1999 it was declared "Film of the Millennium" by BBC India. Many Indians know quotes from the movie. There are also numerous horses in India named after Basanti's horse Dhanno.

Sholay was heavily inspired by Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns and Kurosawa's samurai films. In the mix are thrown Indian traditions and some slight critique against strict rules about social norms (Veeru with criminal past is not given acceptance to marry Basanti before he threatens to kill himself). Also the film suggests a liberal view of remarriage of widows. In the India of the 1970s Basanti as a self-employed cart driver was also surprisingly strong and career-oriented female character.

The curry western is much like spaghetti westerns but with more comedy, romance and Bollywood musical numbers, having something for everybody. Especially the dramatic scene where Thakur returns home and finds his family murdered is much like the corresponding scene in "Once upon a time in the West." Amjad Khan's sadistic villain is like Indian version of Gian Maria Volontè's villains. Also the length is on par with Leone's epics as the director's cut is 204 minutes (there are two DVD editions of this film, the original aspect ratio is 4:3 but there is a shorter wide-screen cut running 198 minutes). The story culminates in epic duel between Thakur and Gabbar that is slightly different in the cut version. The main actors were all legendary Bollywood stars or future legends. The characters are all given their story arcs, making them interesting. The dialogue is great although some jokes must have been lost in translation. Also the songs were untranslated.

Cover of Sholay director's cut DVD

This is essential piece of As an Indian cinema and also must see for fans of Western movies and Asian movies.

Part of The 2016 Movie Watching Challenge (#43. Movie that is over 3 hours long)

Rating: Very good

Starring: Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri, Amjad Khan, A.K. Hangal, Satyendra Kapoor, Iftekhar, Leela Mishra, Vikas Anand, Mac Mohan, Keshto Mukherjee, Sachin, Alankar Joshi, Viju Khote, Major Anand, Bihari, Bhagwan Sinha, Arvind Joshi, Baby Bhanumati, Mushtaq Merchant, Mansaram, Mamaji, Jerry, Birbal, Raj Kishore, Habib, Rajan Kapoor, Darshan, Maula, Kedar, Saigal, D. Jyothi, Rajeshwari, Krishna , Vinni, Girija, Surendra, Rajesh, Asrani, Gita Siddharth, Helen, P. Jairaj, Jagdeep, Jalal Agha, Om Shivpuri, Sharad Kumar, Jullian

Director: Ramesh Sippy

Movie Review (Eros Int. Box set, Part 2): One Two Three (2008)

 One Two Three
Director: Ashwani Dhir
Starring: Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Tushar Kapoor, Sameera Reddy, Esha Deol, Upen Patel
Big Screen Entertainment. 2008

The hitman, the businessman and the lingerie salesman

Laxminarayan 1 (Tushar Kapoor) is a poor boy whose mother wants him to become a successful gangster. After a valuable diamond is stolen, he gets an assignment to kill a rival mob boss 'Papa' (Mukesh Tiwari). The second Laxminarayan (Suniel Shetty) is a clumsy executive who is always very concerned about getting directions right. He gets assignment from his boss to buy a vintage car from Laila (Sameera Reddy). Laxminarayan 3 (Paresh Rawal) sells lingerie and is trying to do business with underwear designer (Esha Deol). The three Laxminarayans get mixed and hilarity ensues.

Anyone understood the plot?

The characters are comic book-like, the gangsters wear rimmed hats and pinstripe suits. There are plenty of one-liner jokes. One of Papa's henchmen, the bomberman, is even named Pinto. The music usage is quite different from usual bollywood-films, and title song is often repeated. There are only a few "music video" songs.

Mexican stand-off, Bollywood style

Overall the movie is silly fun, with lots of slapstick jokes. Certainly not a classic but goofy fun in the style of Police Academy films.

Rating:  Good

Movie Review (Eros Int. Box set, Part 1): Haal-e-Dil (2008)

Haal-e-Dil
Director: Anil Devgan
Starring:Amita Pathak, Nakuul Mehta, Adhyayan Suman
Eros International, Big Screen Entertainment, India, 2008.

I found a copy of this movie as part of a three movie budget set published by Eros International and will review the other two movies later (Money Hai Toh Honey Hai and One Two Three). 

Haal-e-Dil tells a story about Sanjana (Amita Pathak) who has lost her boyfriend Rohit (Adhyayan Suman). After visiting her family, she finds herself traveling with a happy-go-lucky magician Shekhar (Nakuul Mehta) who falls in love with her. Sanjana shows cold shoulder to him, but when she loses her train ticket they are forced to travel by taxi. Shekhar uses every trick to attract Sanjana, but fails. Finally he decides to prove his love by fasting seven days in front of her home.

The movie starts as a romantic comedy, but the second half of the film turns into melodrama and begins to drag heavily. The movie flopped badly at the box office. However the film is not without its merits. There are lots of beautiful sceneries and the songs are mostly nice. Nakuul Mehta is great as a funny guy, who later becomes a more serious person. Also some supporting characters are funny, such as perky auntie traveling in the train (Bharati Achrekar).

Here's a happy song "Oye Hoye" where Shekhar sings about being a crazy love worshiper. 

Rating: Average