76.Andaz

*Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Nargis.

(1949)Mehboob Khan's

MEHBOOB KHAN'S 'ANDAZ' had many distinctions to its credit.
It remains Hindi cinema's first significant love triangle.
It was the first major Naushad - Lata Mangeshkar collaboration.
It was also the film that brought together two men who were to become titans in the acting field
- Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor.

The Raj Kapoor - Nargis team tasted big success with both this film and 'Barsaat' emerging as major hits in the same year, 1949 and thus went on to do 15 more films.

Neeta (Nargis playing the path-breaking role of a modern, educated lady who wears Western style dresses in neo-independent India) inherits the huge business empire of her tycoon father.
At one point Dilip (Dilip Kumar) had saved her life and in sheer gratitude, she entrusts its management to him. And Dilip mistakes the gesture for her reciprocation as he has fallen in love with her.

Neeta is actually engaged to be married to a spoilt playboy called Rajan (Raj Kapoor) who has a very immature outlook on life. After they are married, the trauma that Dilip suffers sees a rapid decline in his efficiency as a manager. Rajan suspects that his wife and Dilip are having a affair and threatens to beat Dilip with a tennis racquet. Embittered and angry, Neeta shoots Dilip and is jailed for his murder.

Mehboob Khan's tight grip on the narration saw this romantic tragedy achieve huge success, armed as it was with the sheer charisma of its three principal players, each of whom was to grown individually into a legend.
As Neeta, the girl who has to bear the brunt of Fate's blows, Nargis was stunning and looked ethereally beautiful.

The film is replete with passionate romantic scenes as well as the memorable screen confrontation between
Dilip Kumar as the loser Dilip, and Raj Kapoor as the irretrievably spoilt playboy who pays for his stupidity
with his life. Both the actors put in stupendous performances.
**********************************************

77.Purab Aur Paschim

*Ashok Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Pran, Saira Banu, Vinod Khanna, Madan Puri and Om Prakash.

(1971)Manoj Kumar's

Music:Kalyanji Anandji

Once 'Upkar' established Manoj Kumar as Bharat, the symbol of an Indian citizen, the actor-filmmaker was not really keen to break a screen image that gave him respect, love and dignity.
His roots lay in the immense hardships and tribulations of life at refugee camps after the Partition.
And Manoj could never really break off his connection with the comman man in general and the farmer in particular.

Even after he became a top star and a writer-director to watch, Manoj would often go and live on farms and in villages near Delhi and interact with the locals, and the only reading he did was devouring newspapers,
periodicals and other non-fiction. His films thus tended to revolve around the comman man and to present a
possible, even idyllic, solution to one of his problems.

Shortly after 'Upkar', Manoj's wife Shashi narrated how a relative of hers had gone abroad for higher studies
and then shocked the family by settling down there. The writer in Manoj picked up and developed this germ instantly and the story and screenplay of 'Purab Aur Paschim' thus highlighted a national concern of major consequence - brain drain.
That the issue is of even greater relevance today probably explains why 'Purab Aur Paschim' does even more business and gets more appreciation today than it did when first released 30 years ago.

'Purab Aur Paschim' had many unusual firsts to its credit. For the first time ever, a huge set comprising of a temple, streets and houses was constructed at Raj Kapoor's farm Loni.
The film was shot in multiple locations around the country (Mumbai, Kanyakumari, Shimla, Pune, Badrinath, Benares) and abroad (Germany, U.K and Italy).

Always the innovative technician, Manoj conceived the idea of shooting the pre-independence sequences in
black-and-white, just as he had introduced the freeze shot to Indian cinema in 'Shaheed'.
"For the first time," says Manoj, "the title was split by a few reels! The word 'Purab' appeared in the second reel and 'Paschim' in the 4th reel!".
As always, Manoj's keen music sense extracted the best from his good friends, Kalyanji and Anandji.
The perennials from the film include "Hai preet jahaan ki reet sadaa", "Dulhan chali ho pehen chali",
"Koi jab tumhara hriday tod de" and Purvaa suhani aayi re".

A strong ensemble cast led by Ashok Kumar helped in making the film Manoj 's second consecutive directorial triumph. But the backbone of the film and its success was its powerful theme and the incisive dialogues by Manoj himself. In short, the message-oriented story was packaged by a master craftsman as a
superb entertainer whose topicality and appeal will only be enhanced with the passage of the years.
**********************************************

78.Mera Gaon Mera Desh

*Dharmendra, Asha Parekh, Jayant, Vinod Khanna and Laxmi Chhaya.

(1971)Raj Khosla's

The title 'Mera Gaon Mera Desh' immediately evokes the image of Laxmi Chhaya dancing circles around Dharmendra and Asha Parekh, singing the evergreen hit "Maar diya jaaye ya chhod diya jaaye, bol tere saath kya sulook kiya jaye". As the audience holds its collective breath, the sexy vamp cuts the ropes that bind the hero's hands.

Raj Khosla's films are studded with memorable moments like this one. For some inexplicable reason, the director of such great entertainers has not been given his due. Except for some of today's filmmakers like Raj Kanwar and Karan Johar who acknowledge their debt to Khosla - especially in his expertise at song picturisations - his name does not figure among the creme de la creme of filmmakers as it should have.
Some of his films include 'Jaal', 'C.I.D', 'Kala Pani', 'Solva Saal', 'Ek Musafir Ek Hasina', 'Bambai Ka Babu',
'Woh Kaun Thi', 'Do Badan', 'Mera Saaya', 'Anita', 'Do Raasta', and of course the all time favourite dacoit drama, 'Mera Gaon Mera Desh'.

The story of 'Mera Goan Mera Desh' goes like this. The hero is an ex-con who gets drawn into the problems of innocent villagers harassed by bandits. The setting is a Rajasthani village, where people are living in terror of Jabbar (Vinod Khanna) and his band of dacoits.
One day, city guy Ajit (Dharmendra), just released from prison comes to the village at the invitation of a lame old armyman (Jayant), who sees him as an apt foil for Jabbar.
But Ajit turns out to be a layabout who gets drunk and enjoys an idle life.
He meets and falls in love with Anju (Asha Parekh), but doesn't want to get involved with the problems of the villagers. He ridicules them for their cowardice for letting Jabber ride roughshod over them.
When he plans to marry Anju, the dacoits strike and her father is killed.
Provoked by Anju, he swears to stand up against Jabber.
Jabber's moll Munni (Laxmi Chhaya) is attracted to Ajit and offers to help him capture the bandit.
When there is an encounter between cops and dacoits, an enraged Jabber attacks the villagers again.
Ajit goes after the gang and manages to kill several of Jabber's men. In retaliation, the bandits kidnap Anju.
But Ajit comes to the rescue and they escape with Munni's help.
Now, its all out war, in which the villagers also join in to defeat the dacoits.

Apart from its well written script by G.R. Kamat, the film had fabulous songs penned by Anand Bakshi and composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal - "Sona le ja re chandi le ja re", "Aaya aaya atariya pe koi chor",
"Kuch kehta hai yeh sawan", "Hai sharmaoon kis kis ko bataoon" and of course, the sizzling "Maar diya jaaye".
What Raj Khosla always managed to do was take tried-and-tested commercial ciname elements and put a fresh spin on them.
'Mera Gaon Mera Desh' remains as enjoyable today as it was over thirty years ago.
**********************************************

79.Khamoshi

*Waheeda Rehman, Rajesh Khanna, Nazir Hussain, Lalita Pawar, Snehlata and Dharmendra.

(1969)Asit Sen's

WELCOME TO THE UNREAL world of mentally disturbed people.

Here, long before Hollywood's 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' and 'Girl Interrupted', we encounter the
heartbreaking predicament of those who have lost touch with reality.

Produced by composer Hemant Kumar (Mukherjee), (who earlier made two very highly acclaimed suspense thrillers 'Kohraa' and 'Bees Saal Baad') with the wondrous Waheeda Rehman in the lead, 'Khamoshi' cast
Waheeda as Radha, the nurse in a mental asylum who commits the mistake of falling in love with her patient
Dharmendra. When, after being cured, he walks away with a smile of thanks, Radha is shattered.

Enter patient no.2 Rajesh Khanna (doing another psychotic star-turn within months of B.R. Chopra's 'Ittefaq') and history repeats itself. Radha after resisting all temptations, finally succumbs.
This time she breaks down completely.
The closing sequence where the sobbing head nurse (Lalita Pawar) is shown reading out the numbers of the asylum inmates to finally arrive at Radha's number is nerve-shatteringly tragic.

Uncompromised, untainted and unspoiled, 'Khamoshi' is a great film with excellent black and white photography by Kamal Bose, which captures Waheeda's tragic beauty in incandescent shades.

The storytelling possesses a certain psycho-spiritual resonance, still rare in Hindi cinema.
The work dosn't dilute Ashutosh Mukherjee's story. Rather, it heightens the impact of the plot by using the major stars in the cast as characters rather than crowd-pullers.
Dharmendra is never shown with his face to the camera. We only see his back facing us, exuding a faceless, nameless aura that bathes Waheeda's sensitive character in unspoken tenderness.

Most important of all, this is Waheeda Rehman's great moment of glory. Speaking volumes through her silences, she epitomizes the inner strength and indomitable resilience of the Indian woman.
Strong and yet fragile, Waheeda Rahman's Radha was her proudest achievement since Rosy in 'Guide'.
**********************************************

80.Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi

*Ashok Kumar, Madhubala, Anoop Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Sajjan, Veena

(1958)Satyen Bose's

"Ek ladki bheegi bhaagi si". Madhubala looking fashionably helpless drops into 'Mannu'
Kishore Kumar's motor garage to get away from the goons (K.N.Singh, Sajjan and gang).
Mannu's sleep goes for a toss. But there's only one hitch. Bade bhaiyya Ashok Kumar is a
misogynist. That's the gist of director Satyen Bose's second film in two successive years featuring the Ganguly brothers Ashok Kumar, Anup Kumar and Kishore.
The previous year, Bose had made the grim and socially relevant 'Bandi' with the three brothers. This time, he pulled out all stops to fashion, a farce thar's timeless in its humour and mindless in its disregard for rules of time and place.

If we look at 'Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi' we see its zany disregard for chronological order.
The film moves at a breathless zigzag pace of a typical Charlie Chaplin silent film, with
Kishore and Anup whooping it up on screen, eating up screen time as though there was no
tomorrow.
The fun never stops from the minute Bose's film takes off. Portions of the farce are so impromptu that they make the director's job look redundant.
Clearly, Kishore Kumar is the leader of the overgrown bratpack. But hey, middle brother Anup, as the bumbling stumbling rumbling and tumbling Jaggu, is also a laugh riot.

What really makes 'Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi' a sparkling comedy ensemble is the actor's impeccable timing in the comic sequences.
Take for instance the motorcar race in which the Ganguly brothers participate in their jalopy, or take the celebrated "Paanch rupaiya barah aana" sequence - these are hardly related to the main event. And yet, yhey do not stick out like sore thumbs or make us wince
in distraction.
Putting the director in the back seat of the run-down 1928 Chevrolet in which the three brothers loved to move around, the three principal actors simply and stylishly let their hair down. Though Kishore Kumar did a number of exceedingly well-crafted comedies like
'New Delhi' and 'Half Ticket', 'Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi' remains his best known and most popular comic vehicle.

Ashok Kumar, Anup Kumar and Kishore Kumar gave so much to our cinema.
Now that the three brothers are gone, this celebration of sibling togetherness seems more of a picnic than ever before.
**********************************************

Hey Raj (Raj*sid correct?),
Just wanted to drop by some comments. I firstly think your idea for this was great, and your dedication shows.
Your descriptions and mini-reviews are great. Keep up the good work

Hey RNJBOND, nice to hear from you again

and thanks for the appreciation.

..................Raj*sid.

81.Betaab

*Shammi Kapoor, Sunny Deol, Amrita Singh, Prem Chopra, Nirupa Roy, Sunder, Rajiv Anand, Goga Kapoor and Annu Kapoor.

(1983)Rahul Rawail's.

Producer: Dharmendra.

Music: Rahul Dev Burman.

Star sons have always enjoyed spectacular debuts. Sunny Deol was no exception.
Superstar father Dharmendra's earthy business savvy and wide knowledge of the industry convinced him that he needed to mount a star vehicle to establish his eldest son once and for all.
To achieve this, he needed certain key ingredients: A hero-oriented script that would showcase beta Sunny's physical personality while covering up his limitations as a dancer, a fresh new heroine who wouldn't steal the show away, good publicity management and promotion, and a first class director who would see to it that the Deol's interests took priority over any artistic idealism.

The first three, he was confident he could manage through his own resources. And he did.
Shakespeare's famous romantic comedy 'The taming of the shrew', copied and adapted a
dozen times on the big screen and the stage, was a perfect 'subject' to showcase his son's
manly abilities.
The story of a spoilt rich young beauty who had to be tamed like a wild horse by a strong and macho young man was just what he was seeking.

For his heroine, he found another star-child the fresh and vivacious Amrita Singh, daughter
of a well-known politician whose name would help get the film the publicity it needed.
And finally, for a director, he picked another starson, Rahul Rawail, son of H.S. Rawail.
As a classmate of Rishi Kapoor, Rahul Rawail had been given the opportunity to assist
Raj Kapoor for seven years, grounding him firmly in the difficult art of Hindi filmmaking.
In 1981, he had directed yet another star son debut, 'Love Story', which launched Kumar Gaurav so successfully.

Rawail was known as a difficult man to work with - he refused to take credit on 'Love Story'
after it was delayed allegedly due to papa Rajendra Kumar's 'interference'.
But at that point in time, he was hot property. Even his script work on his father's megaflop
'Deedar-e-Yaar' (1982) was appreciated, despite the film's failure.

So papa Dharam chose Rawail, and a star-director partnership was born that would result in at least three enjoyable and reasonably successful action flicks - 'Betaab', 'Arjun' and 'Dacait'.
In a sense, this pairing paved the way for Sunny's much more successful team-up with director Raj kumar Santoshi, another short-statured and short tempered perfectionist who knew how to bring the best out of the Deol scion.

'Betaab' was shot largely on a stud farm, and exploited the same outdoorsy, man-of-action, bare-chested scenes that Dharam himself had become famous for. Sunny had a good body and it was shown at every possible opportunity, starting with a stunning screen 'entrance' that
became a 'highlight' of the film.

Strangely, while audiences accepted Sunny at once, loving his strong-angry-young-lover persona from the very first shot, the critics and media were less appreciative.
Perhaps it was that pehelwan physique that put them off. Or maybe they just didn't have the vision to see beyond the fixed stereotypical hero moulds. Whatever the reason Sunny struggled for years to prove his merits as an actor and it took a National Award for Best Actor for 'Ghayal' to convince them.

Today, Sunny's recent disastrous foray into direction with the incomplete 'London' and the
disastrous 'Dillagi' makes it easy to forget that he remains a true Bollywood original:
A superb physical actor who carries his own chaap-style, a combination of earthy Punjabi
machismo and an intense good-country-boy-in-the-bad-city persona that is uniquely his own.

And it all began with a lasso, a horse, a young spoilt rich brat of a girl, and a film named 'Betaab'
**********************************************

82.Jab Jab Phool Khile

*Shashi Kapoor, Nanda and Agha.

(1965)Suraj Prakash's

Thirty-five years down the line, the magic of 'Jab Jab Phool Khile' hasn't dimmed a whit.
(Shashi Kapoor), a young and poor Kashmiri boatman falls in love with Rita (Nanda), a beautiful heiress from the city. Her nears and dears are obviously against the match and make things difficult for her suitor. But in the end, in a memorable climax, the hero pulls his
beloved into the train that's taking him back home to his shikara on the Dal Lake.
A fairy-tale romance with a fairy-tale ending, the film met with the kind of success producer's dreams are made of.

Looking back, this was probably because the film was paradoxically made up of flesh-and-blood characters, not cardboard ones. 1965 was the year of major hits like 'Kaajal', 'Guide',
'Khandaan', 'Himalay Ki God Mein', 'Gumnaam', 'Shaheed' and 'Waqt'.
But none of these films were the kind of milestone 'Jab Jab Phool Khile' was as a film for its team. It was the career first Golden Jubilee for its producer Hiren Khera, director Suraj Prakash, lead pair Nanda and Shashi Kapoor, lyricist Anand Bakshi and composers
Kalyanji Anandji, though all of them had collaborated earlier on the 1962 success
'Mehndi Lagi Mere Haath'. Much is being made today of 'feel-good' entertainers, but 'JJPK'
was undoubtedly one of the earliest Hindi films in that genre. Its freshness is perennial; its
appeal transcends generations.

"The script by Brij Katyal was turned down by three top producers including N.N. Sippy,"
recalls director Suraj Prakash. "But I instinctively felt that it would be a jubilee film.
It was my first colour film, and to date, no film has exploited the splendour of Kashmir as completely and extensively as 'JJPK'. We worked very hard on the film. Shashi would spend
hours with the locals and the boatmen in particular to study how they interacted. We would even eat food with them after work, in the same shabby cups and saucers".

Recalling the climax of the film, Suraj says, "We shot the sequence at Bombay Central, where shooting was allowed between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. I had given Shashi detailed instructions on how and when to pull Nanda into the train for the last shot.
But when the time came, he so literally followed my instructions that it turned out to be a hair-raising cliffhanger. There were scarcely a few feet left for the platform to end when he pulled her in! I had covered my eyes by then, convinced that Nanda's end had come!"
And incidentally, the climax turned out to be the highlight of the movie.

The music was undoubtedly the other major highlight of 'JJPK'; the songs still live on.
It was with this film that Kalyanji Anandji first outgrew the tag of being the 'poor man's
Shankar-Jaikishan' to evolve their own distinct style.
"Pardesiyon se na ankhiyaan milaana", Na na karte pyar tumhi se kar baithe",
"Ek tha gul aur ek thi bulbul", Yahan mein ajnabi hoon" and
"Yeh samhaa samhaa hain yeh pyar ka" are timeless beauties that established KA as frontrunners. Incidentally, the brilliant arrangements were entirely done by Pyarelal
(of Laxmikant-Pyarelal fame). And Anand Bakshi's career took off on a roller-coaster that
hasn't flagged till today.
**********************************************

83.Chandni

*Waheeda Rehman, Rishi Kapoor, Sridevi, Vinod Khanna, Anupam Kher, s/p Juhi Chawla.

(1989)Yash Chopra's

Music: Shiv-Hari

Yash Chopra returns to his familiar brand of romances (Silsila 1981) in exotic locations with this tale of Chandni (Sridevi).
She is seen - and for a large part of the film, also imagined - only through the eyes of her lover Rohit (Rishi Kapoor), who decorates the walls of his room with the countless snapshots
he takes of her.

Against the will of his parents Rohit decides to marry her.
Later, while showering his beloved with flowers from a helicopter, he falls and is partially paralysed, prompting to break off his relationship.
Because of his inability he wants Chandni to leave him. In this process she leaves that place and comes to Bombay where she meets Lalit (Vinod Khanna) in a dramatic situation...... Lalit falls in love with Chandni and wants to marry her.
However, Rohit's sexually charged fantasies of Chandni eventually rekindle his desire to live.
After an expensive operation in a hospital abroad, he is cured and re-enters Chandni's life just
when she is about to marry her boss, Lalit.

The film and its marketing campaign revolve entirely around Sridevi,
confirming her as India's top female star.
Arguably, the whole film can be seen as an extended advertisement promoting
Sridevi as the Indian film consumer's ideal fantasy of womanhood.

The movie, as is expected from a Yash Chopra film has outstanding songs,
including the popular hit song sung by Lata Mangeshkar,
"Mere haathon main nau nau churiyan."

The highlight of the film is excellent performances by Sridevi, Rishi Kapoor and Vinod Khanna and it is ably supported by Waheeda Rehman and Anupam Kher.
And above all the outstanding music by Shiv-Hari.

The movie won the National Award for the Best Commercial Film of 1989.
**********************************************

84.Ardh Satya

*Om Puri, Smita Patil, Nasseruddin Shah, Amrish Puri, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Shafi Inamdar.

(1983)Govind Nihalani's

IF THE MARK of a contemporary classic is that it infuences films and filmmakers down the years,
then Govind Nihalani's 'Ardh Satya' would surely count as one.
Recent films like 'Shool' and 'Kurukshetra' have been directly influenced by the film and Vijay Tendulkar's masterly screenplay; scores of others have borrowed scenes, characters and lines from the film as well as its grittily realistic style.

The Success of the film turned Om Puri into a star of the parallel cinema movement. It won him several awards and it remains one of his and Nihalani's most memorable works.
It also introduced Sadashiv Amrapurkar to the Hindi screen as a new villain and the character of the south Indian don Rama Shetty that he played has been copied ad nauseum by other filmmakers.

Prior to 'Ardh Satya', Om Puri was regarded as just another good actor, with some decent performances to his credit. But this movie made him a star actor. Om even mentioned in one of his interviews that the industry was forced to take notice of him due to this film.
"I remember driving down with the producer and staring unbelievingly at the 'House-full' sign at the Amber-Oscar-Minor theatre. The film changed my life".

There were many cops-and-criminals films before 'Ardh Satya', but this one took characters from life and brought to the fore things that everyone knew about but did not want to face - like the gangster-politician-police nexus.

Om Puri played Anant Welankar, who is forced by his brutal father (Amrish Puri) to join the police force. Welankar is still idealistic about his work and his duty to society. He soon gets frustrated with the corruption of the system, which his colleague Haider (Shafi Inamdar) excepts with equanimity.
When Welankar arrests three of Rama Shetty's men for attacking a constable, Shetty a mafia don and a rising politician, merely rings up someone in power to get his men released.
Welankar is outraged by this and at his own helplessness.
A lot of many confrontations later, in a starkly realistic climax, a desperate Welankar, realising he has nothing left to lose, kills shetty and surrenders.

Govind Nihalani had made it clear that he wasn't here to please the masses. The protagonist in his film wasn't a hero, who fought the villains single-handedly. He was just an ordinary man fighting the system. And Nihalani managed to convey this so effectively that the film managed to appeal to all segments, thereby turning out to be a major grosser.
Everything about 'Ardh Satya' was real - the people, the situations, the dialogues, the locations.

The performances by the lead players were simply outstanding. Om Puri, with a tailer-made role,
established his credentials as an actor to reckon with.
Smita Patil, playing the part of Welankar's soul mate, gave one of her career-best performances.
Naseeruddin Shah, in a special appearance, was brilliant even in the few scenes he had.
As was Shafi Inamdar, portraying the character of a corrupt cop.
But the scene-stealer was quite obviously Sadashiv Amrapurkar, cast as Rama Shetty, who added in just the right amount of mystery, fear and humour to the role. He brought alive the persona of Rama Shetty so effectively that the character was even looked upon by some as the 80's equivalent to Gabbar Singh. Amrapurkar, despite being an accomplished stage actor himself, was never able to recapture the same magic in any of his future roles.

'Ardh Satya' was a fine example of meaningful entertainment, the success and impact of which not even Nihalani could repeat; though his films remain as socially committed and hard hitting as ever.
**********************************************

85. Tezaab

*Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Anupam Kher, Suresh Oberoi and Chunky Pandey.

(1988)N. Chandra's

IT WAS DESTINED TO HAPPEN - and so it did.

Madhuri Dixit was to emerge as the female superstar, so when a busy Anil Kapoor signed 'Tezaab' he suggested to N. Chandra that the leading lady and supporting cast be comprised
of not-too-busy artistes who could adjust to his dates.

"Anil was an extremely busy artiste," recollects producer-editor-writer-director N. Chandra.
"I was told that getting his dates would be next to impossible, but for me, Munna was Anil Kapoor. I knew him very well from the days when I assisted Southern director Bapu, and had edited his home production 'Woh Saat Din' as well as 'Mohabbat'.
When he heard the script, he was booked for the next 12-15 months, but he wanted to do my film at any cost. So he told me that I would get first priority whenever a schedule got cancelled.
We shot 'Tezaab' in this fashion!"

The fact that the film was shot almost entirely on real locations - and mostly on roads and streets - enabled
Chandra to arrange shoots even after 48 hours notice, a fact that would not have been possible with sets that
had been erected.

N. Chandra had observed and met Madhuri on various occasions and intuitively sensed her star and acting potential. The fact that she and Anil shared a common secretary, Rakeshnath, clinched matters as dates could be juggled at short notice.
Of the character artistes, none were too busy - Anupam Kher (who was then mainly known for 'Saaransh', 'Karma' and 'Kaash') Kiran Kumar (who had just staged a comeback as villain) and Suresh Oberoi led the roster along with Achyut Poddar, Mahavir Shah, Annu Kapoor and Mandakini in a special appearance.
Chunky Pandey too was a newcomer.

'Tezaab' told the story of Munna (Anil Kapoor), a naval cadet who turns against the system due to society's misdeeds. It also narrated the saga of Mohini (Madhuri Dixit) who becomes a nightclub dancer at the behest of her debauched father (Anupam Kher).
The two stories coalesce as Munna and Mohini fall in love. But before they unite, the evildoers have to be vanquished. Violence was there, both in actuality and as a consistant emotional undercurrent, explaining the
popular blurb of the film - 'A Violent Love Story'.

"At two different points, Kher wants to disfigure his wife and daughter's faces with acid to make them toe the line," says N. Chandra. "So, some people took a very shallow interpretation of my title, which means 'Acid'.
Actually, the title had a double dimension - of the acid that has corroded today's social fabric, and of the erosion of Munna's soul."

In 'Tezaab', the director points out, the hero does not turn into a anti-social vendetta machine even after his parents are killed. He still wants to become a naval officer and serve the country. But the later incidents, like his sister's rape, finally make him abandon his noble intentions and become a criminal.
And yet his ex-superior officer (Suresh Oberoi) believes in Munna's innate goodness and leaves no stone unturned to bring his derailed character back on the tracks.

It was Oberoi's role that had been earmarked by Chandra for none other than Dharmendra, then a major star.
Chandra had delivered critically acclaimed hits like 'Ankush' and 'Pratighaat' and Dharmendra had agreed to work with him even without hearing his script. But as the complete screenplay evolved, Chandra felt that the
role would be an injustice to the actor's stature and calibre.
"Distributors were aghast that I was dropping Dharmendra", recalls the filmmaker.
"But I felt that I could not take undue advantage of such a fine actor and human being. He was very sweet about it, though when I went to meet him and explain, my well-wishers thought that Dharam would beat me black and blue!

"Tezaab' emerged as the biggest hit of 1988 and as N. Chandra's third consecutive hit.
It proved that a well-made film with superb visuals and chart-topping music could cock a snook at the then-prevalent video era and magnetically lure the audiences into the theatres to watch it in all its cinemascope glory.
Madhuri Dixit was catapulted to stardom and soon eclipsed the reigning queen Sridevi to settle down for a decade-long reign at the top. Chunky Pandey, then barely three films old, proved he could act as well.
His intense yet casual performance as Anil's street-smart friend made a strong impact.

One of the biggest draws of the film was its music by Laxmikant Pyarelal, and the film once again had a major hand in the success stories of singer Alka Yagnik and lyricist Javed Akhtar.
"Ek do teen char" was how Laxmikant hummed out the tune to Javed as the metre on which to write the song. The lyricist kept those very words all the way to "terah" (thirteen) and worked it out as a romantic song that was to create history as one of Hindi cinema's three all-time biggest hits.

"Keh do ke tum ho meri varna" and "So gaya yeh jahaan" - superbly picturized on the barren streets of Mumbai at night with the keyed-up emotions between Munna and Mohini at flashpoint - were two more musical and visual highlights of an all-hit score.

But like all memorable films, both the success and the strengh of 'Tezaab' lay more in its core than in the packaging. The taut screenplay with the hard-hitting dialogues, the direction that held you in a relentless grip and the brilliant editing formed the three-legged stool on which 'Tezaab' still sits tall among the more purposeful and cinematically-satisfying entertainers of Hindi cinema.
**********************************************

Tezaab..uurgg! ???

86.Shri 420

Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Nadira, Iftekar, Lalita Pawar, Jaikishan.

(1955)Raj Kapoor's

With 'Aag', 'Barsaat' and 'Awara' behind him, the filmmaker Raj Kapoor was ready to explore more avenues.
In 'Shri 420', he further built on his image of the Chaplinesque tramp that he invented in 'Awara'.
As Raju, the country bumpkin, migrating to the big bad city to seek his fortunes, Raj Kapoor paved the way for Shahrukh Khan in Aziz Mirza's 'Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman'. Mirza's film was directly inspired by
'Shri 420' in plot, execution and characterizations.

Khwaja Ahmed Abbas, who wrote a large number of R.K. Films, including 'Awara', 'Mera Naam Joker' and 'Bobby', unfurled the red flag of socialism in 'Shri 420'.
The film's crowded gullis and bazaars, with absent-minded passerbys giving the funny tramp strange looks,
were all recreated on the floors of R.K. Studios.

The film is a marvel of architectural and emotional design. The sets and props suggest a close bond between
a lost Arcadin world of innocence and growing corruption in urban areas.
The two women in the protagonist Raju's life - Maya, the seducer, played by Nadira and Vidya, the nourisher, played by Nargis, represented corruption and purity in the script.
When Maya gets on the dance floor and implores Raju, "Mud-mud ke na dekh mud-mud ke", she's actually
seducing him into a world of illusion and deception.
Briefly, Raju succumbs to a life of corruption and vice. But he finally returns to Vidya and the innocence of the duet "Pyar hua ikraar hua hai" that the two sang in the rain. Incidentally, the three children who pass by in the rain as Nargis sings the lines, "Tum na rahoge, hum na rahenge phir bhi rahengi nishaniyan" were
Raj Kapoor's own children making their screen debut.

The music score by Shankar Jaikishan acquired mythic proportions, with numbers like, "Mera joota hai japani" and "Ichak dana bichak dana" becoming a rage in the USSR.
The long film features some of the most lively song-and-dance sequences of the 1950s like
"Ramaiya vasta vaiyya" and "Dil ka haal sune dilwala". In the latter, Raju joins the street people
(like the banana seller Lalita Pawar), who represents the 'good' souls as opposed to the 'evil' rich who are shown to slumber on a steep mountain above the humble slums.

Other than the intense romanticism of Raj Kapoor and Nargis, the film's main claim to fame is Nadira's intense vamping. The film typed her, once and for all, as the flaming femme fatal - an image that has stayed with her to this day. As she seduces poor innocent Raju away from a life of uncorrupted poverty, Nadira
becomes the voluptuous epitome of materialism.
**********************************************


87.Aradhana

*Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, Sujit Kumar.

(1969)Shakti Samanta's

Music:Sachin Dev Burman

Aparna Sen's loss was Sharmila's gain. Too chicken to play the hero's mom, Aparna sen said no to
Shakti Samanta's path-breaking melodrama about an unwed mother's travails and tribulations to bring up her son with rare care.

Sharmila Tagore, who had earlier played the fabulous floozie in Samanta's 'Kashmir Ki Kali' and 'An Evening In Paris', pulled out all stops to play Vandana, a simple sweet middle-class girl who's wooed by the
suave and irresistibly charming army captain Arun (Rajesh Khanna) with Sachinda's "Mere sapnon ki rani kab aayegi tu".

The nation's heartbeat quickened as Khanna tilted his head and grinned romantically into Aloke Dasgupta's
eloquent camerawork.
For Rajesh Khanna, 'Aradhana' proved fifth-time lucky. His first four starrers 'Aakhri Khat', 'Aurat',
'Baharon Ke Sapne' and 'Raaz' were all flops.

Sharmila was warned against playing mom at the peak of her career. It was family friend and writer Sachin Bhowmick (who wrote the screenplay of 'Aradhana') who convinced Sharmila to take the wizened plunge.
The film gave a new performance oriented fillip to her career. She even won a Best Actress award for her fine portrayal in the movie.

Remarkable in its own right was the fact that Sachin Dev Burman scored such youthful music in his late 60s
Son R.D. Burman gave a helping hand. The seduction song "Roop tera mastana" - filmed in one lengthy
4-feet shot - became a critical point of attraction in this passionate melodrama about the fruits of a socially
unacceptable congress.
**********************************************


88.Junglee

*Shammi Kapoor, Saira Banu, Shashikala, Lalita Pawar, Helen and Anoop Kumar.

(1961)Subodh Mukherjee's

"Yahoo" went Shammi Kapoor as a nation of stuffed shirts and repressed prudes flung off their invisable chastity belts and visable moral fungi to swing to the new 'Yahoo' Hero's zing-thing.

Though Kapoor had done the 'Yahoo' role earlier, no film epitomized his free-spirited rebellious persona as
effectively as 'Junglee'

Belting out Mohammed Rafi's "Chahe koi muhje junglee kahe" and "Ai-yay-ya main kya suku suku" (the opening portions of this number were done by composer Shankar), Shammi Kapoor rocked the nation as Shekhar. the Vilaayat-returned stuffed shirt whose feudal mother (Lalita Pawar) finds singing, dancing and
merrymaking to be vulgar.
What this relic of the Victorian era dosen't know is that her daughter (Shashikala) has been gallivanting all over town with her beau. Son too steps into the sun when he meets the Kashmiri beauty Saira Banu.

'Junglee' introduced Ms. Banu to Hindi cinema with a fanfare that was hitherto unknown.
Pre-empting Hema Malini's launch 8 years later as the "Dream Girl", Saira Banu as the "Beauty Queen" had the nation drooling in delighted anticipation. She was the second heroine after Asha Parekh in 'Dil Deke Dekho' whom 'Yahoo' Kapoor brought screamingly to the screen. A third - Sharmila Tagore in
'Kashmir Ki Kali' - soon followed.

Inspite of Saira's glamour and beauty, 'Junglee' was Shammi Kapoor's show all the way.
He was killingly comic as the killjoy who loosens up when love is in the air.
The film ushered in an era of Eastmancolour photography as the accepted code of visualization for mainstream Hindi cinema.

Remarkable for its use of music, colour, glamour, machismo and beauty, 'Junglee' was released during the
same year that Nasir Husain foisted a similar mooded musical romance 'Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai' on the audience. The swinging 60s had arrived.
**********************************************


89.Guddi

*Jaya Bhaduri, Samit Bhanja, Utpal Dutt, A.K. Hangal, Asrani, Keshto Mukherjee, Vijay Sharma, Sumita Sanyal and Dharmendra.

(1971)Hrishikesh Mukherjee's

HRISHIKESH MUKHERJEE'S 'GUDDI' will go down in movie history as the film that introduced
Jaya Bhaduri.

'Guddi' takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the world of films through the eyes of a movie-mad young girl.
Kusum (Jaya Bhaduri) is convinced she is in love with the film star Dharmendra and much to the annoyance of her family, she won't agree to marriage with any other man.

Navin (Samit Bhanja), the brother of Kusum's sister-in-law, comes visiting, and everyone is convinced he is right for Kusum. But Kusum is appalled when, on their first 'date', Navin takes her to visit historical monuments instead of the cinema. For her, the make-believe world of film is more real than life.

When Kusum goes to Bombay and Navin expresses his wish to marry her, she tells him that like Meera Bhai, she is in love with another man. Since "he" is married with kids, her love must remain secret.
Navin's uncle Professor Gupta (Utpal Dutt) sees that Kusum is just immature, and decides that something must be done to make her see reason.
Professor Gupta meets Dharmendra (playing himself), who sportingly agrees to help in getting Kusum over her obsession with him.
So Kusum is taken to the studios where she is exposed to the ordinariness of stars and the artifice involved in shooting. She realises that the real heroes are not stars but behind-the-scenes people and that ill-paid stuntmen take the falls for pampered stars.
Dharmendra and Professor Gupta stage a few scenes to fool Kusum. The star allows Navin to beat him at a game of tennis, and also arranges for Navin to fight ruffians (he and the uncle in disguise) who tease Kusum.
The scales fall from her eyes and she starts to value the simple Navin, also managing to convince him to forgive her foolishness and marry her, using the 'statue' gimmick that has been copied in so many films after this.

Jaya Bhaduri, fresh out of the Film and Television Institute of India, was perfect as the impressionable young girl, and what a find she turned out to be.
She has always maintained that among all her films, 'Guddi' remains her favourite.
"Apart from that being my first film, it was also one which I could identify with completely.
The entire houshold drawn by Hrishikesh Mukherjee was very tangible for its Indianness. There was no gap
between the audience and the characters on screen. This was a complete film."

Based on a story by Gulzar, the screenplay of 'Guddi' was one of the glorious collaborations between
Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Gulzar, which also produced such unforgettable films like 'Anand' and
'Namak Haram'.

'Guddi' is a rare film that took such a matter-of -fact look at the industry, and also exposed its workings to a nation full of film crazy youngsters like Kusum.
But above all, it is a quintessential Hrishikesh Mukherjee film - wholesome, innocent, funny and meaningful. They don't make directors like Hrishda any more.
**********************************************


90.Ek Duuje ke liye

*Kamal Hassan, Rati Agnihotri, Shuba Khote, Madhavi.

(1981)K. Balachander's

After K. Balachander's inauspicious debut in Hindi cinema with the well-intended 'Aaina' (which he remade from his Tamil hit 'Arangetram'), the doyen of the South Indian cinema bounced back with one of the biggest
musical romances of the Hindi cinema.

The story of a Tamil boy and a Punjabi girl who communicate through Laxmikant-Pyarelal's universal language of love, was so endearingly suffused with moments of romance, it just couldn't have failed.

And it didn't. 'Ek Duuje Ke Liye' was one of the biggest successes of the 1980s, setting a pattern for future 20-somethings lovers as an alternative to the teenybopper togetherness celebrated in Raj Kapoor's 'Bobby' and its innumerable spinoffs.
Kamal Hassan was hugely entertaining as the prankish Tamilian. Spinning tops on the giggly
Rati Agnihotri's jelly belly and shrugging his shoulders to her shuddh Anand Bakshi-penned lines,
"Hum bane tum bane ek duuje ke liye" with the cutely Tamilian-English retort, "I don't know what you say.
But I want to sing and dance." Kamal Sang and danced into Hindi moviegoer's hearts and Rati followed right behind.

'Ek Duuje Ke Liye', with its haunting Gaon locales and Lata Mangeshkar and S.P. Balasubramaniam's raga - driven voices, suggested a depth and feeling beyond the superficial romances of Indian cinema.
Songs like "Tere mere beech mein kaisa hai yeh bandhan anjaana" and "Solah baras ki baali umar ko salaam" made the onscreen lovers look mature, passionate and simply unforgettable.
The tragic doom-laden finale whereby the lovers committed suicide triggered off a chain of self-annihilating
love stories in the South.
Balachander was advised to change his screenplay. But he stuck to the original ending.
The love scenes in the film, such as the one when Balu sings a whole song based on mukhdas of Hindi film songs to Sapna (Rati) in a lift, or when Sapna burns Balu's photograph and defiantly drinks the ashes with her coffee in front of her hysterical mother (Shubha Khote) were symptoms of a passion never before seen in Hindi cinema, except perhaps in Raj Kapoor's 'Awara'.
The very idea of a couple being asked by their respective parents for a trial seperation of one year fired the romantic imagination of the viewers.

Thanks to Laxmikant-Pyarelal's music and Anand Bakshi's poetry, the couple seem to communicate by telepathy.
From 'Laila-Majnu' to Bobby-Raja (in 'Bobby'), we had seen screen lovers do everything conceivable and inconceivable for each other. But we had never seen anyone quite like Balu and Sapna.

'Ek Duuje Ke Liye' competed with two Bachchan biggies. 'Naseeb' and 'Satte Pe Satta', and still emerged as the top money-maker of 1981.


Filmfare Awards:

Best Screenplay K Balachander

Best Lyricist Anand Bakshi

Best Editor K R Kitoo
**********************************************

This is awesome. I never even heard of some of these films.

Just watched Khamoshi,couldn't believe anyone associated with making of this movie had any clue about mental illness,forget about the clue, actors in the movie couldn't even pronounce the words such as schizophrenic or other terms associated with mental illness. I was just blown away how pathetic and clueless this movie was in portrayal of people with mental illness and the people who treat them. Actors in this one walked thru their parts screaming,yelling crying without having any insight about mental illness.

Raj,sorry guy how can you compare this to One Flew over Cuckoos nest?,Khamoshi does not even hold a candle to multi Oscar winner One Flew over cuckoo's nest.

After watching this one told my folks if I ever get crazy while visiting India not to admit me in a psychiatric hospital there but just to shoot me.



Edited By main wohi hoon on Feb. 01 2002 at 04:19

lol..........where have I compared it to
'One Flew over Cuckoos nest'?

91.Kudrat

*Raaj Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Hema Malini, Vinod Khanna, Priya Rajvansh, Aruna Irani and Deven Verma.

(1981)Chetan Anand's

Music:Rahul Dev Burman


Chetan Anand's 'Kudrat' is set in Shimla, and is a story of rebirth and miracles.

Chandramukhi (Hema Malini) visits Shimla with her parents and her life is never the same again.
Here she meets Dr. Narendra (Vinod Khanna) and they soon become good friends.
Soon complications arise when chandramukhi starts to have nightmares and wakes up in a cold sweat shouting 'Maadho', 'Maadho'.
Chandramukhi's parents call on Dr. Narendra when these nightmares happen once too often.

Dr. Narendra hypnotises her to find out what's disturbing her mind and accidently takes her back to her previous life, she mentions that her name is Paro and that she's with Maadho.
Sensing that he's in a dangerous situation the doctor quickly brings back Chandramukhi to the present day and explains to her parents that whats disturbing her is related to a past life.

Chandramukhi soon comes across Mohan (Rajesh Khanna) and this is when the movie goes into flashback mode, and we are shown the love story of Paro, who was deeply in love with Maadho.
But this love story never had a happy ending as Paro was raped and brutally murdered.

But who murdered her and what happened to Maadho are the questions that need answering, and as
Chandramukhi starts to fall in and out of her Paro-Maadho trances more frequently it becomes obvious thats
she's losing her mind.
The only solution being, to bring the murderer to justice in this life and to free the spirit of Paro before its too late.


Songs/Singers

Dukh Sukh Ki----------------Mohd. Rafi.
Toone O Rangeele-----------Lata Mangeshkar.
Hamen Tumse Pyar Kitna-----Kishore Kumar.
Sawan Nahin Bhadon Nahin---Asha Bhosle & Suresh Wadkar.
Chhodo Sanam---------------Kishore Kumar & Annette.
Hamen Tumse Pyar Kitna------Parveen Sultana.
Sajti Hai Yun Hi Mehfil---------Asha Bhosle.
Dukh Sukh Ki-----------------Chandrashekher Gadgil.

Filmfare Awards Won:

Best Cinematographer (Colour):
Jal Mistry

Best Playback Female:
Parveen Sultana

Best Story:
Chetan Anand
**********************************************


92.Shor

*Manoj Kumar, Jaya Bhaduri, Nanda, Premnath and Master Satyajit.

(1972)Manoj Kumar's

Music:Laxmikant Pyarelal

'SHOR', considered by many to be Manoj Kumar's best film ever, had the actor-filmmaker taking a break from his Bharat routine. A moving depiction of love between father and son, it told the story of a mazdoor who moves heaven and earth to make his dumb son regain the power of speech that he has lost in an accident.
He finally succeeds in raising money for an expensive surgical operation, but when his son regains the power of speech, he himself has a mishap at his factory and loses his sense of hearing.

Manoj Kumar's 'Shor' was a perfect example of how a good, well-made film with a powerful story could blur the dividing line between art and mainstream cinema.

'Shor' would have been the first film of the late actress Smita Patil if she had accepted the film. Manoj Kumar offered the T.V newsreader the role that Jaya Bhaduri was to play.
As for Jaya herself, he frankly told her that the film revolved around a father and his son
(Master Satyajit), and she accepted the film on the sets of 'Guddi' during lunch break.

The character of Manoj's wife who dies while saving her son was offered to Sharmila Tagore
then at her 'Aradhana' - 'Safar' - 'Amar Prem' peak. But La Tagore had some reservations about appearing as a photograph in most of the film!
Since it was a special appearance, Manoj hesitated to call up any top heroine.
Finally, his wife Shashi suggested Nanda's name, but Manoj was reluctant to offer a guest role to her. His wife took the initiative and called up the actress, who heard the role and agreed to it on the sole condition that she would not be paid a single paisa for it.

"She stole the show, and to date I am ashamed that I could not repay this debt to her,"
says Manoj.
The crucial role of the Pathan went to Premnath, who staged a magnificent comeback and ruled as a character artiste for a decade, thanks to 'Shor'.
Manoj wanted Pran for the film, but Pran declined because he had already signed for a
Pathan's role in 'Zanjeer'.
Manoj reportedly was upset enough with his 'Anthony Quinn' that he never worked with Pran again as a filmmaker.

'Shor' also marked a change in Manoj Kumar's team. His cinematographer, V.N. Reddy, told him that he found himself too old to cope up with Manoj's style of direction and camera angles. Reddy recommended Nariman Irani, who needed the money to pay for the family of an assistant who was no more.
With 'Shor', Nariman Irani went on to become a fixture with Manoj, and fate linked them together so much that Irani died due to complications following a fall on the sets of
Manoj Kumar's 'Kranti', which the actor-filmmaker then dedicated to Irani.

With 'Shor', Manoj also made his debut as a film editor. His earlier films had helped him in mastering the craft under the redoubtable B.S. Glaad, and with this very first film as editor he picked up the trophy for Best Editor, an award that he specially cherishes because an ace editor like Hrishikesh Mukherjee was on the jury.

An innovative feature of 'Shor', a film technically way ahead of its times, was its mood
-camerawork, that heightened the sombre narrative. In 'Shor' more than any other film, Manoj exhibited how enamoured he was of Guru Dutt's style of filmmaking, where every frame eloquently reflected the atmosphere, unlike the trend in those days.
Flashback as a technique was not new, but few films have woven it so skillfully and masterfully into the narrative as 'Shor' did.

If silence is golden, so was 'Shor', and Manoj Kumar tellingly proved that there was much more to him as a writer-filmmaker than Bharat.
To date, it remains one of the most sensitive Hindi films ever made on the intimate relationship between parent and child.
**********************************************


93.C.I.D.

*Dev Anand, Waheeda Rehman, Shakeela and Johnny walker, KumKum and K.N. Singh.

(1956)Raj Khosla's

Producer:Guru Dutt

Dev Anand did a great service to the industry and his own career when he saw potential in a young post-graduate student named Raj Khosla.

Trained as a classical singer under Pandit Jagannath Prasad, Khosla was 21 and singing at
All India Radio when Dev Anand spotted him and made him an assistant to Guru Dutt.
Several years later, Dev's ability to spot talent was vindicated when that young assistant, now 27 years old, directed the smash hit 'C.I.D', still acknowledged as one of the best crime thrillers of Hindi cinema.

'C.I.D' is a purebred Navketan movie. Steeped in the trademark style of the Anand brothers and a perfect example of their unique style: Stunningly photographed heroines, sensuously picturized song sequences, haunting melodic music, and an intelligent stylish hero who triumphs by flexing his mental muscles rather than the physical ones.

Dev Anand played a C.I.D. inspector investigating the murder of a press editor.
His rakish charm makes investigating look like so much fun!
Producer Guru Dutt made sure that Khosla was armed with an excellant script by veteran Inder Raj Anand who took ideas freely from Hollywood crime films while coalescing them into a wholly original screenplay - an ablity that today's copycat film writers would do well to study and learn from. The result is a plot that actually keeps you guessing whodunit, while thoroughly enjoying the scenery along the way.

And rising tall above that scenery and the film itself is a mysterious young woman played by newcomer Waheeda Rehman. Surprisingly, this beautiful, sensuous young actress made her feature debut in a Telugu film and was already established as a hit-heroine for her excellent dancing. But it was in 'C.I.D.' that she appeared first to Hindi audiences and it remains one of the most seductive and memorable roles of her career.
Waheeda's stunning beauty was never captured so evocatively until this film; cinematographer V.K Murthy's soft-focus close-ups set a trend that became a hallmark of Waheeda's screen picturizations, most unforgettably in producer Guru Dutt's later film 'Pyaasa'.

In 'C.I.D.', the appearance of Waheeda adds a thrill to the entire film experience.
From the moment she appears on screen, she steals the show. At times, even camera-hogging hero Dev Anand seems to actually be giving way to her, as if in tribute to her performance and her beauty. And in that famous climatic song sequence "Kahin pe nigahen" when Waheeda tries to seduce the crime boss to help the hero escape safely, every member of the audience, male and female, are seduced by her pure, flawless sensuality.
It was one of the most stunning debuts by a heroine in Hindi films.

As always in Navketan films, the music score was superb.
O.P. Nayyar's catchy melodies and Majrooh's apt lyrics added glamour to the plot rather than taking away from it. The technique of turning each song into a scene or sequence of scenes integral to the plot was a hallmark of the Navketan style, beautifully realized here.

'C.I.D.' also became a launching pad for director Khosla. After one previous unsuccessful film 'Milap' the previous year, 'C.I.D.' started him off on one of the most legendary careers of
any Hindi film director.
After working in the Navketan stable for several years, making memorable thrillers and films like, 'Kala Pani', Bambai Ka Babu' and 'Woh Kaun Thi', he branched off on his own.

One of the few directors who possessed an original style and creative vision, Khosla's song
picturizations were legendary, as were his alleged ability to script scenes minutes before shooting them! The song picturizations came from his years working with Guru Dutt, the original maestro of song picturization.

Today, techniques may have improved hundred-fold.
Modern budgets allow for lavish crime thrillers like Rajiv Rai's 'Gupt' to be made far more slickly than was possible than in those days.
But even today, watching 'C.I.D.' again proves one thing: Whether in the department of acting, direction, scripting or music, talent always wins out over technique.
This is the evergreen charm of 'C.I.D.'
**********************************************


94.Shaan

*Sunil Dutt, Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Raakhee, Shatrughan Sinha, Parveen Babi, Johnny Walker, Bindiya Goswami, Kulbushan Karbanda, Mazhar Khan, Mac Mohan, Sudhir, Yunus Pervez and Bindu.

(1980)Ramesh Sippy's.

Producer: G.P. Sippy.

Written By: Salim-Javed.

Music: R.D. Burman.

Lyrics: Anand Bakshi.

'Shaan', released in 1980 came from the Sippy family quite close on the heels of Sholay. The only probable reason it did not do too well was because people compared it with 'Sholay'.
'Sholay' is one of the masterpieces of Indian cinema, but 'Shaan' is also an excellent movie from the great era of Indian cinema (1960s - 1980s).

The movie revolves around two brothers Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) and Ravi (Shashi Kapoor) whose eldest brother (Sunil Dutt) is an honest policeman. These two brothers operate as small thieves in the big brawl that is Bombay.
Shiv Kumar (Sunil Dutt) is assigned a special mission of putting an end to the activities of an arch criminal Shakaal (Kulbhushan Kharbanda)
However everything changes when the eldest brother (Sunil Dutt) is held captive by the mafia king Shakaal and finally killed.

The death of Shiv Kumar triggers off a complete change of personality in his brothers
Vijay and Ravi.
In their search for the dreaded Shakaal, they team up with another young man (Shatrughan Sinha), who too has a personal score to settle with Shakaal as his wife was killed by him. All this leads to one of the most thrilling climaxes in Indian cinema full of technical wizardly. The movie has a good combination of action, comedy and music. It has an outstanding musical score by R.D.Burman who is at his peak here.

The action sequences are worth noting. Ramesh Sippy wisely chose to use the same style as in his previous blockbuster, 'Sholay'. This adds a touch of realism to the fights, as opposed to the norm in Indian films, where we get to see the hero beat-up about 20 guys on his own.

Another highlight of the film was the music. Sippy had an original music soundtrack created for this film, as opposed to stealing bits and pieces from other films. This really does help to increase your enjoyment of the movie.

The cast is excellent, with everyone performing well in their roles.A lot of films with all-star casts suffer problems as the director tries to give everyone equal screen-time to the detriment of the plot. However, in this film, the whole cast gels. Shatrughan Sinha's character is wisely introduced half-way through the story, thus avoiding trying to introduce too many lead-characters at the start of the film. Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor play well off each other as always. As usual, the female characters don't have much to do in the film, with the possible exception of Raakhee Gulzar.

The villain is brilliantly played by Kulbushan Kharbanda. It's blatantly obvious that this character (Shakal) is modelled on Blofeld from the James Bond movies, as is much of the film itself. One gets the feeling that the Sippy's were trying to create a villain that would be remembered in Indian Cinematic history in the same way as his earlier creation, 'Gabbar Singh'. Although Shakal is not remembered as fondly as Gabbar Singh by many people, he's still one of Indian Cinema's more memborable villains.

Songs/Singers

Doston Se Pyar Kiya--------Usha Uthup.
Naam Abdul Hai Mera------Mohd. Rafi.
Pyar Karne Wale------------Asha Bhosle.
Dariya Mein Jahaz Chale----Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle, Usha Mangeshkar.
Janu Meri Jaan--------------Mohd. Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle, Usha Mangeshkar.
Mittua-----------------------Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle & Chorus.
Yamma Yamma-------------Mohd. Rafi, R.D. Burman & Chorus.

Filmfare Awards Won:

Best Cinematographer (Colour) S M Anwar
**********************************************


95.Asoka

*Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Danny Denzongpa, Ajit Kumar, Hrishitaa Bhatt, Rahul Dev, Suraj Balaje, Subhashini and Gerson da Cunha.

(2001)Santosh Sivan's

Costume Designer: Anu Vardhan Manish Malhotra (Kareena Kapoor) Naresh Rohira (Shah Rukh Khan)
Action: Sham Kaushal
Art Director: Sabu Cyril
Editor: Sreekar Prasad
Dialogues: Abbas Tyrewala
Background Music: Sandeep Chowta
Lyrics (San Sa Nana): Anand Bakshi
Lyrics: Gulzar
Music: Anu Malik
Screenplay: Saket Chaudhary, Santosh Sivan
Assoc. Executive Producer: Mark Burton
Executive Producer: Sanjiv Chawla
Cinematography & Direction: Santosh Sivan

Asoka is a movie by acclaimed cinematographer and director Santosh Sivan, and it is clearly evident from his latest venture that he is about to change the celluloid world forever.

The film begins with the young Prince Asoka (Shah Rukh Khan) as a boy who watches his father accept Jainism, a peaceful religion that encourages him to toss aside his sword, which has caused much bloodshed. The young boy is intrigued by the weapon and picks up the new toy, masters it and soon learns that with the power of yielding this sword comes a great price. A warrior is born who fights many battles yet it is quickly established that this young man is very much fighting human wars, quenching a thirst for power and balancing this with his love for his family, particularly his mother. His mother renounces her son's violent ways and requests him to undergo the greatest education any person can: a journey.

On his journey as an ordinary traveller, he meets Princess Kaurwaki (Kareena Kapoor), whose eyes mesmerise one moment and warn off invaders in a blink. She is the embodiment of beauty and the prince introduces himself as Pawan to her, only to find there is a price on her head and she, accompanied by General Bheema (Rahul Dev) and young Prince Arya (Suraj Balaji), are on their own journey to make it alive to Kalinga where their destiny awaits them.

The journey of Asoka continues with trials and love, jealousy and betrayal, all making up cornerstones of what Prince Asoka experiences along the way. He falls flawlessly in love with Kaurwaki, and she becomes his soul and purpose of living, but destiny strikes a blow only to begin a mission born in rage and spread by blood.

Asoka is separated from his Kaurwaki. He believes she is dead and she believes he is an ordinary soldier in the Magadh army. He marries a Buddhist, Devi, and ascends the throne of Magadh after shedding the blood of his own brothers. His unquenching thirst for power finally culminates in the bloody battle of Kalinga.

Shah Rukh goes a long way in ensuring that, even though he is rarely challenged as an actor in the first half. The film picks up its pace in the second half, the editing is also a lot less jarring here, and Shah Rukh rises to the occasion as the power-hungry King devastated by the magnitude of suffering after the Kalinga war. Speaking volumes with his melting brown eyes, Shah Rukh manages to shed his endearing mannerisms in the second half and capture the transformation of Asoka to Emperor Asoka, and finally Dharmraj Asoka. The charming lover boy of the first half becomes the devastated lover of the second half, the power-crazed man, who would not hesitate to shed the blood of his own kin for the throne till the battle of Kalinga awakens the human being in him. Shah Rukh gives the role his usual energy and passion. And his charismatic presence does the rest. Kareena Kapoor is well suited to the role of Kaurwaki. She manages to impart the right amount of vulnerability and pride to the role. One of her most outstanding scenes is when she spots Asoka in the battlefield of Kalinga. With the right director and more control of her craft, Kareena is definitely the actress to watch out for.

At the end of the day, what holds your attention is Santosh Sivan's camera, the entire design of the film and Shah Rukh Khan. Sivan's magnum opus has a stunning opening with the child Asoka watching his grandfather King Chandragupta Maurya throwing his sword into the river and taking up the robes of a Jain monk. He runs and retrieves the sword. The film ends with King Asoka throwing his sword into the same river and beginning his journey anew. It's wonderful the manner in which Sivan gives his film a sense of completeness. There are many scenes in the film which move you, stun you into silence, and not just by their visual brilliance but by the fact that the image is powered and imbued with emotions. The film is not just a cinematographer's pride but a director's labour of love.

The war sequence towards the end of the film is both beautiful and intense. The sands of 'Samodh', 50 Kms from Jaipur (Rajashtan) gave the war sequence a harsh, bare, dusty feel. The harshness of the desert sun worked well to portray the physical hardship of the people fighting the 'Kalinga' war.

A team of about 500 fighters under action director, Sham Kaushal traveled to Samodh and the rest of the team comprised of 'Kallari' and 'Paiko' fight groups, a traditional fight form from Southern India.

On the days that required long shots of huge armies on either side of the battlefield, around 5000 villagers were packed into buses and rushed into the shooting area from all the neighboring villages around Samodh.
With only a few hands in the Costume Department and thousands of people to dress, it was a mammoth task accomplished in record time.

During the day Santosh continued shooting the actual war, at around 4:30 in the evening two of the Assistants from the Direction team would demarcate an area facing the setting sun and set up the post-war shots, for Asoka's walk through the bloodied battlefield after the war was over. The sand was a blessing as the dummy arms; legs, heads and bodies could be fixed effectively in the sand in about 15 to 20 minutes. The torn limbs sticking out of the sand gave a gory and a very real feel of the aftermath of the war. Dead bodies of soldiers half covered in sand and with bloodied armor glinting in the sun made the post war sequence intense and gripping.

Camel carts carried all the art direction props required for the evening, 'magic sky' shots. Chariot wheels, pools of blood, torn, tattered flags, broken armor, dummy heads, bodies and hundred's of gallons of blood. All these elements were put together every evening for the post war sequence.

At the end of the war, when there are no more soldiers left to fight and the horses run bare back, it is a touching sight. Almost as if they have gone crazy with rage.
With the Kallari and Paiko fighters in the foreground and the larger war ensuing in the background, the action seems synchronized and choreographed, rather than just action. The charge of fifty elephants and the spectacular Magadha army is beautiful. The indigo blue turbans of the Kalinga army look stark and bright in the harsh desert sun. The inter cuts of the long shots of the war and close ups of 'Chandasoka' killing ruthlessly are very effective.
The grassy patches of the desert sand ('Kaans' plant) with cotton like ends shimmered like glass in the hot sun and looked even more beautiful and soft against the evening sky. Sometimes in the evenings the sun hadn't gone down completely and the moon was already clear in the sky above, these shots of the desert moon were a gift to 'Asoka'. As 'Asoka' stood against the evening sky holding a dead child with the moon behind him, it rendered a soft, calm peaceful disposition to him. As though he had realized, achieved salvation.

The second unit continued shooting in a separate area, shots such as the burning pyres, wailing widows etc. There were six camera's rolling at one time to shoot the war from varied angles. The Jimmy Jib and the Akela crane also took some unforgettable shots of the war (long shots - Akela).
At the end of each shooting the day, there was a lot of creative input on the post war sequence from all members of the crew i.e. the Buddhist monks rushing to help the wounded and dying soldiers, the boy threatening Asoka with the flame, the dying man refusing water from Asoka's hands etc.
Within fifteen days of chilly three o clock mornings and burning afternoons, the war sequence was over but the memories would live on.

Santosh Sivan's camerawork and direction are par excellence, as his unique flash-technique and use of many shots to accentuate a minor detail in a scene all add together to create a cleverly woven story immortalised on film. In some sequences the camera cuts like a sword with flashes of residue left lingering both on screen and in the viewer's mind, yet in others following, he uses less shots and still manages to maintain rhythm. A film such as Asoka cannot be appreciated on a single viewing alone as upon initial contact one is simply bombarded with an onslaught of visual delights, spellbinding sounds and a story that emerges from our past but still reaches into the depths of every man's soul.

Performance wise Shah Rukh Khan is the life of the movie. His acting prowess is detailed to the fullest in emotional gut-wrenching scenes, that portray innocence, rage, peace and longing all through his demeanour and eye-language. Asoka's arrogance and clarity of his every action, coupled with the consistent river of flowing energy is evident through the actor's performance which to his credit leaves one finding the line which ends with the character and turns into actor. Asoka could not only be Shah Rukh's greatest screen incarnation, but also a clear message to international cinema of his screen presence, dedication and mastery of his art.

Kareena Kapoor, as the warrior princess who acts as sister and mother figure to Arya, a cautious then enduring lover to Asoka and emerges as someone on her own personal journey, in search of her identity and sense of belonging while juggling her duties, heart and mind in a three ring circus, Kareena gives what is by far her finest performance to date. After her innocent and natural debut in 'Refugee', she is finally allowed to once more realise her potential and play a character that only she could do justice to. Her look sans make up, except a few lines accentuating her eyes as the window to her soul, is as pure as the princess herself and the image of her going to get milk, fully wrapped except for her eyes is of sheer cinematic delight. Kareena has mastered the art of acting with her whole body in a short span of time and her performance in Asoka proves this. One hopes her potential is continually unlocked and her future holds many more performances and films of this calibre.

A story of a traveller's travels, his education that is the journey, the loves and losses and wars and redemption all encompass this epic, that grips the viewer from the moment the camera pans down onto Asoka, as if indicating it is descending onto a mountain full of riches within, up until the deeply disturbing ending, which leaves the viewer with a ray of hope before the credits flash to announce not the end of the story but the beginning.
**********************************************

96.Don

*Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, Pran, Om Shivpuri, Iftekhar and Helen.

(1978)Chandra Barot's

Writtin By: Salim-Javed
Music By:Kalyanji Anandji

It is not at all surprising that Amitabh Bachchan got the best actor award for this movie, he is tremendously brilliant and rightly deserved this award.

When asked to name Amitabh's best movie the names 'Sholay' & 'Deewar' spring to mind, however after serious thought, you will realise that the movie 'Don' is right up there with the best of Amitabh's most watched films.

Think of 'Don' and the words 'cool' and 'cult-movie' come to mind, a film you can watch again and again because there is not one single scene that you want to fast foreward - in other words it is one of the most entertaining movies ever.

In the 70's it captured the essence of everything which was Bachchan- comedy,suspence,action.... this one has it all.
The backround musical score stands out in memory as a dynamic reminder to that cool era where Amitabh Bachchan reigned supreme.

The plot follows the cat and mouse trails of Don and the continuous pursuit of the police to put him behind bars - but Don is no easy catch.
After a chain of linked events, Don is entrapped and killed by a high-ranking police officer.
As this police officer is the lone witness to the death, he keeps it a secret and hatches a plan to bring down Don's entire gang.
Enter the replacement decoy don, of coarse played by Amitabh Bachchan in a double-role, to infiltrate the gang and find the mastermind behind it.
But the life of the humble and streetwise Don's replacement is further complicated as the only person who knows his true identity is killed, and is stuck in the middle of a battlefield where the gang and the police are all out to get him - not to mention the beautiful and glamorous
Zeenat Aman who too is out to destroy Don!

One great scene mentioning: After Vijay's true identity has been revealed to Don's cronies they are jointly transported to another prison in the back of a police van & Vijay throws a memorable array of insults to Shaakal (Shetty)which results into a tremendous fight ..... from that moment on the film accelerates at such a high octane pace & doesn't look back. An adrenaline blast of the
highest order !

The co-stars of Don also gave memorable performances, Zeenat Aman as the crazed avenger and Pran are instrumental to the story of 'Don'. Technically the film is just short of brilliant,
for its time it displays excellant camera work and superbly filmed stunts and action sequences.

Amitabh Bachchan is at his best; delivering totally different performances as a Don and as the simpleton, the storyline is simple, but the movie is made memorable by great dialogues, great songs ("Yeh mera dil", "Main hoon Don", "Khaike paan banaaraswaala", "ei hai bambai nagaria") great action and above all fantastic acting from all the starcast.

The movie 'Don' like the man himself, Amitabh Bachchan is a legend in Indian cinema-
-its a showpiece for some of the best dialogues written and one of the most gripping tales.

Filmfare Awards Won:

Best Actor Amitabh Bachchan

Best Playback Female Asha Bhosle

Best Playback Male Kishore Kumar
**********************************************


97.Roja

*Arvind Swamy, Madhoo, Pankaj Kapoor.

(1993)Mani Ratnam's.

Music:A.R. Rahman.

Cinematrography:Santosh Sivan

'Roja' is a film that has cast a formidable influence over the Hindi film industry and its trend-setting essence is not to be overlooked.

Most young filmmakers of the day like Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, John Mathew Mathan and even seniors like Subhash Ghai and Vidhu Vinod Chopra have claimed that if there has been one director who has motivated their work, it's the technical wizard, Mani Ratnam.

The talented filmmaker has a vast variety of films to his credit. Though 'Roja' was the film that established his status in the Hindi film industry, it was not his first exemplary effort. He had already churned out some benchmark Tamil films like 'Nayakan', 'Agni Nakshatram', 'Geetanjali', 'Anjali' and 'Dalapathy' before he embarked on 'Roja'.

Mani, in most of his movies, shows a weakness for subjects inspired by real life characters and events.
With 'Roja', the Southern virtuoso decided to tackle the Kashmir issue, which most Hindi film directors had avoided like the plague.
Once again the film was based on a real event - the kidnapping of an employee of the Indian Oil Corporation by Kashmiri militants.
In the film, Rishi Kumar (Arvind Swamy) is abducted by the terrorists while on a assignment in Kashmir.
He is accompanied by his newly-wedded wife, Roja (Madhoo).
The rest of the film focuses on Roja's desperate attempts to get her husband back in a state that dosen't speak her language. The role of the terrorist head was essayed by Pankaj Kapoor.

A simple story, Mani executed it with great technical finesse, making each scene look like a virtual classic.
There was no attempt on the filmmaker's part to paint a disdainful image of the terrorists.
The highlight sequence in the film is the one in which the terrorists attempt to burn the Indian tricolour and Rishi, the protagonist, rushes to salvage the national flag, rolling on it to extinguish the fire.
This memorable scene holds the viewer spellbound even today. The film had a very unpridictable feel to it, right till the end and one could never know what was going to happen next.
Though the film wasn't made on an exorbitant budget, Mani made it look very lavish and extravagant.
With most of the first half shot in the picturesque locales down South, the rest of the film was canned amidst the rich and abundantly beautiful Northern India.

Dubbing the film in Hindi did lose a bit of the impact, because the focal point in the original Tamil version was the fact that Roja did not know a single word of Hindi.
Which is why, after the kidnapping of her husband, her helplessness is very disturbing as she happens to be in a place where no one speaks any language other than Hindi. The Hindi version, obviously, could not convey her plight as effectively.
But except for this solitary point, the film remains a masterpiece by all standards. The film was also a turning point in Mani Ratnam's career. After the stupendous success of 'Roja', he has deliberately pickied up such controversial political issues and woven a script around them. The most notable being 'Bombay'.
Based on the commercial riots that shook the city, 'Bombay' created a major political controversy and was even to be banned from being screened. Mani himself bore the brunt when his house was attacked by a mob and he also became a victum of a bomb-attack.
The third of his trilogy, 'Dil Se' was based on the assassination of a political leader by a human bomb.

One factor that drew the crowds in the theatre initially was the 'simply superb' chartbusting music composed by the supremo A.R Rahman, who 'arrived' with this film, so to speak.
The film also served as a platform to showcase the genius of talented cinematographer Santosh Sivan who beautifully captured the rustic locales of South India and brought to life the radiance of the snow-capped mountains of North India.

Many filmmakers from Bollywood have taken a cue from 'Roja' and made films on similar lines - the most recent one being Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 'Mission Kashmir'.
But none have seen the kind of success and euphoria of Mani Ratnam's classic.
**********************************************


98.Kaun

*Urmila Matondkar, Manoj Bajpai and ? and ? and ? and ? and ? and.....

(1999)Ram Gopal Varma's

Music:Sandeep Chowtha


Nightmarish experience of a girl who suspects of a psychopath entering her house

It's a rainy day and a young woman is all alone in the house. She is shown talking to her family on the phone, anxious for them to come back to the house. Adding to her anxiety is the television, which announces that a killer is on the loose. And then, the doorbell rings. Who could it be?

Hindi suspense movies are a rare commodity. This is probably one of the best. It has very good acting by Urmila Matondkar as the girl alone at home. The movie will keep you at the edge of your seat till the end.

Kaun is a brilliant thriller directed by Ram Gopal Verma, and written by Anurag Kashyap (co- writer of Satya & Shool). The film keeps you on the edge of you seats through out its 1 hour 40 minutes film length. Like M. Night Shamalyan's "The Sixth Sense", Kaun too has a surprising ending. As always, Manoj Bajpai contributes to great acting, Urmila is at her best performance in this film as well. Its definitly one of the best dark "thrillers", even superior to Yash Chopra's "Ittefaq"

To give the movie due credit (and discredit), the director makes the viewer think a little too much to answer the question - Kaun; and think for most of 90-long minutes.
It makes you think a little more than you would like to - and I wonder if people really like to think while watching a whodunit potboiler.

The movie - still remains eminently watchable and close, if not comparable to some of the best whodunits Hindi cinema has seen. It may be a shot at Ittefaq (one of the best in this genre) in many ways, be it songlessness, fewness of characters, similarity in plot (girl home alone) and more. But it would feel like a movie made 35 years before in terms of maturity of the narrative, though it may look and sound like one made 35 years after Yash Chopra crafted that wonderful songless movie.

Kaun does have some huge positivies going for it. Remarkably consistent performances by the few characters who come on screen. Urmila is her usual self - good or bad - as you like it - and has an expression of fear pasted on her face for most of the movie. Manoj Bajpai doesn't quite have a role like Bhiku Mhatre (Satya), but does exceedingly well with the sketchy characterization he has in Kaun. And you also experience the wonderful costume design credited to Manish Malhotra. He averages for the many (un)dresses he gave Urmila in Rangeela and Daud, by going in for one simple white home robe here. Given the brevity of the titles (less than 8-10 screens), I am surprised that designing one little outfit got him a full screen of credit.

It is the visual and sound effects, perhaps the forte of Ramgopal Varma, that really hold the movie together and create any moments of fear that are, and there are quite a few. Mazhar Kamran uses the camera effectively, given that all he can play around with is one house. Thankfully for him, or by his design, the house is quite huge, has stairs that go around, lots of glass, the fish pond, and a whole many of statues, dark alleys, and the like. Visually appealing - Sandeep Chowta makes sure the sounds are right too. And he uses all the wrong sounds to make the movie sound "right" - lightning and thunder, rains lashing, cats mewing, glasses shattering, doorbell ringing, and the wonderful use of the sounds of silence.

The movie, had a lot more potential with the way it started. The first few solo acts by Urmila bring out the fear of being home alone on a rainy day, though a little exaggeratedly. At the same time, these very sequences also convey the humor underlying the fear most brilliantly. The silliness of your own fear - when you look back at it, can bring out a smile if not a laugh. With a girl alone at home, telling mother that she will be careful - comes a stranger (Manoj Bajpai) knocking (rather, ringing the bell) at the door. The TV announcement also talks of a mentally deranged killer in the town who finds an excuse to get into a home and kills the lone inhabitant. The girl also fears that someone else has also broken into the house.

Ramgopal Varma keeps the integrity of the plot exceedingly well - though some situations are quite cliched. He keeps you puzzled if there is a third person, inside or outside the house, and if so, who (the obvious question of Kaun) and why? This is one place where the movie surely succeeds. It also succeeds in bringing out the humor underlying the situations. The performers sure contribute to some humor in the movie (good lines of dialogue), and the humor in the situation itself.

The movie would perhaps have made a classic - if it had tried to be a comedy, with a mysterious backdrop rather than the other way around. Now, you really have to look through the mystery to appreciate any comedy or even realism in the situations. And then, the movie seems to be building up well - when things somehow seem to go awry. The climax in the end, really makes the 90 minute movie feel long and the effort perhaps wasted. But lets not hold the end against the movie - it had its moments, and many of them, until that point. Even the classic Ittefaq had a cliched climax, and atleast this one isn't cliched - though it is a little too far-stretched
**********************************************


99.Khamoshi - The Musical

*Salman Khan, Manisha Koirala, Nana Patekar, Seema Biswas, Helen and Raghuvir Yadav

(1996)Sanjay Leela Bhansali's

Music:Jatin-Lalit

FEW WILL CARE TO remember the beautifully conceptualized-and-shot songs of Vidhu Vinod Chopra's
'1942 - A Love Story', directed by his assistant, the talented Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
That was his first stroke of genius.

His full-fledged offering, which also happened to be his directorial debut, 'Khamoshi - The Musical', was a subject very close to his heart.
Normally, a debutant director will always take on a tried and tested story as a safety measure, but not Sanjay. He chose to make a different film, and went ahead with single-minded dedication to his goal.

With his debut, Sanjay broke many a rules of the game. He cast Nana Patekar in a role of a deaf and mute man, a direct contrast to his then image of a fiery, volatile protagonist. Quite unexpected from a newcomer and also a very risky move when he was aware that people thronged to the theatres to hear Nana deliver his lines in his inimitable style.
Bhansali also gets the credit for bringing back yesteryear's graceful danceuse, Helen, out of retirement.

The film revolved around this Catholic family comprising of a deaf-mute couple, Joseph and Mary
(Nana Patekar and Seema Biswas) for whom their daughter Annie (Manisha Koirala) is the only way of communication with the outside world.
Annie, who is inclined towards music, falls in love with Raj (Salman Khan), a music composer and gets married to him, despite opposition from her father who considers music to be a kind of noise, a disturbance in the coarse of their life.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali made his directorial debut with a sensationaly complex piece of work. The film faired moderately at the box office and one wonders why?? This is undoubtedly one of the finest examples of commercial entertainment merging with what is referred to in India as "Art Cinema." Yes, the film is an out and out musical, but never do the songs hamper the narrative even once. Bhansali's ability to weave the songs in order to progress the narrative was also wonderfully displayed in his film "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam."

One would wonder how it is possible to leave two characters who are both deaf and unable to speak, to develop themselves on their own. But Nana Patekar and Seema Biswas (Bandit Queen) have given their most impressive and sincere performances yet. Manisha as the girl stuck between her love for music and her love for her parents portrays the multiple complexities of the character very effectively. However, the real winner of the film is the script also written by Bhansali himself.

The story is simply wonderful, and as is characteristic of Bhansali, instead of making the story complex, he makes his characters complex. To watch Patekar and Biswas play their roles is simply a lesson in acting.

And alas - the music. Jatin and Lalit who have tended to focus on very Indian sounds in their previous works have somehow managed to fuse in the feel of Portuguese folk sounds into their very Indian tunes - characteristic of the entire feel of Goa. The lyrics are well thought out and simple to progress the narrative. Bhansali's grip over his subject is impeccable and he displays his mastery in the art of mainstream Indian filmmaking to the fullest. This is a man to watch out for in the future.

What sets this film apart from the usual churns is that the film actually has a STORY. It actually has CHARACTERS rather than just STARS and celebrities in it. It packs in a lot of meat. This is how entertainment and art should be blended. It is good to see yet another filmmaker joining the band of contemporary directors like Mani Ratnam, Shekhar Kapur, Ramgopal Varma and Mahesh Bhatt who have succeeded in their quest to erase that line separating commerical and "Art" cinema.

For a debutant, Bhansali's dream was not realised so easily.
He wrote the role of Annie with Madhuri Dixit in mind and approached her, but she turned him down, doubting his directorial abilities.
It was then that he approached Manisha who jumped at the offer instantly.
Getting Nana Patekar to sign on the dotted line too wasn't easy.
After endless apprehensions and discussions, Nana agreed to do the film and gave one of the finest performances of his career.

Seema Biswas, who had earlier worked in Shekhar Kapur's 'Bandit Queen', played the role of Nana's deaf-mute wife with great conviction.
It is to Salman's credit that Helen agreed to essay the role of the loving Mariamma and made a great comeback.
And of coarse, Salman too gave one of the best performances of his career.
Who can forget his moving expressions in the song, "Yeh dil sun raha hai" and the scene in the church where he interprets Nana's sign language to the audience.

There remains no doubt at all about the talent and genius of Sanjay Bhansali after viewing the film. In the "Yeh dil sun raha hai" song, Raghuvir Yadav taps his fingers to the tune on Nana's lap who taps the tune on Seema Biswas's shoulder.
Thus the couple 'listen' to the music and the song where Manisha conveys the meaning to them via sign language. Which other director would have looked into these detailed nuances of the characters?
Also, there's plenty of symbolism in the film. Annie, whose life is dull, is forever wearing black and other dull colours, till she meets Raj, who comes as a breath of fresh air in her life.
She also bigins to wear vibrant colours which reflect her change of outlook towards life.

Though in some parts, the film did get grim and full of despair, it brought back memories of Manoj Kumar's 'Shor'. But despite being a remarkable debut, in terms of quality and technical brilliance, Sanjay failed to draw the audiences into the theatres in large numbers.
The film flopped at the box-office.
The critics panned the film left, right and centre, which irked Bhansali to such an extent that he vowed that his next film would wow the audiences and critics in such a manner that they would worship his genius.
And he kept his word with the stupendous success of 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam', which went on to vindicate his stand as one of the most talented filmmakers in India today.

The music of the film was a surefire chartbuster, what with hits like "Aaj mein upar",
"Gaate the pehle akele", "Aakhon mein kya" and of course "Baahon ke darmiyaan".
Rich poetry penned by the legendary lyricist, the late Majrooh Sultanpuri, and set to the versatile score by Jatin-Lalit, the cassettes and CDs of the film sold like hot cakes.
Anil Mehta's sensitive cinematography, too, deserves a special mention, for bringing out the many moods of the film.It is simply brilliant, effectively creating the carnival like atmosphere of GOA along with a noir-ish feel that compliments the dark complexity of the characters.

Bhansali, a rebel filmmaker, is known to make films with the passion one associated with makers of yesteryear.
After the super-successful 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam', he's now involved in the making of
'Devdas' which no one else would risk to make.
For the aspiring directors of the future, he will remain a role model, an idol, known to make his own roads, not the one to blindly follow the beaten path.
And to those who crave for a different film, 'Khamoshi - The Musical' will always be a cherished masterpiece.
**********************************************


100.Dil Chahta Hai

*Dimple Kapadia, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni, Ayub Khan and Suhasini Mulay.

(2001)Farhan Akhtar's

Produced by:Ritesh Sidhwani

Screenplay and Dialogue: Farhan Akhtar
Production Design: Suzanne Caplan Merwanjee
Sound Design: Nakul Kamte
Editing: Sreekar Prasad
Cinematography: Ravi K. Chandran

Lyrics:Javed Akhtar

Music:Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy

The story of 'Dil Chahta Hai' revolves around three friends: Akash, Sameer and Siddharth.

Akash is a non believer. He thinks the whole concept of love is created to ruin perfectly healthy two week long relationships.
Sameer is a believer. He wants to be in love, and he loves being in love. Unfortunately for him though, he hasn't quite grasped the concept of it yet. Wearing his heart on his sleeve, he is out their persevering, believing that he will find that 'special her', as long as he keeps searching.
Siddharth is mature, sensitive and understanding, Siddharth aka Sid knows the true meaning of the word. He feels it everyday, every hour, every minute.
He has, in a manner of speaking, reached modern day enlightenment.

The film takes a look at the friendship of three graduates Akash (Aamir Khan), Sameer (Saif Ali Khan) and Siddharth (Akshaye Khanna) and their efforts to find love. Farhan gives us a much more warm, witty, poignant and humorous portrayal of young friendship treated in a refreshingly candid manner without bowing to the dictates of loud melodrama and self-sacrifice. The three boys are characters one could have met at any St. Xaviers or Sydenham College - Akash the incorrigible flirt not believing in long term relations, Sameer the one who falls in love with any girl he meets and Sid - the more serious and most mature of the group and also the most creative - an aspiring painter. The film works best when it sticks to the three of them - their scenes together are truly heartwarming and a great representation of what friendship is all about as they laugh and holiday together - All for one and one for all!

The romantic interludes of the three lads even though treated well enough in their own manner actually takes away from the film because whenever the film goes off on the individual tracks you miss the easy rapport that the three obviously shared even off-screen which translates remarkably well on screen.

So Akash falls for Shalini (Preity Zinta), an orphan, who is to be married off to the obnoxious son (Ayub Khan) of the couple who have brought her up as 'gratitude', Sameer for Pooja (Sonali Kulkarni) a girl who has been 'arranged' for him after resisting the whole concept of arranged marriage and Sid falls for an older woman who moves in next door - a divorcee and an interior designer, Tara (Dimple Kapadia). While the tracks of Sameer (the romance is treated in a comic manner culminating in a superb parody song) and Siddharth, the latter tender and poignant, work well enough the most boring and hackneyed track is that of Akash and Shalini like a typical filmi romance with a villainous third party redeemed only to some extent by the expert performances of both Aamir Khan and Preity Zinta.

The film is strictly modern, young and urban in its look. All the characters are from the hip side of society and thus all pretty much moneyed in designer clothes and swanky cars without having to worry about trivial things like careers - they conveniently don't have to think about it if they don't want to.
Only after a fall out with Sid does Akash go to Australia under his father's order to look after the family business.

Full credit must go to the director Farhan Akhtar who has broken many of the Bollywood production norms in order to make a technically perfect and enjoyable film.
The splendid performances of Aamir, Saif and Akshaye carry the film through. Aamir, manages to let go and infuse Akash with a zany sense of fun thus endearing him to audiences while Akshaye scores in the more introspective and intense role of the creative artist. Yet it is Saif Ali Khan who is the surprise packet of the film. Dil Chahta Hai sees the actor's finest performance yet - he is spot on with his sense of comic timing and is equally at ease in the more dramatic moments of the film. It is a remarkable performance coming from totally unexpected quarters.

Coming to the women, it is refreshing to see Dimple Kapadia on the screen after a considerable period and she expertly and effortlessly plays the much misunderstood Tara to perfection. Preity Zinta too rises above the script and has perhaps never looked better.

While the film is aided by its fine, sharp and funny dialogues, picturesque cinematography, fine sound design and a hip and trendy production design the music by Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy is another plus point.

One cannot help but feel pleased after viewing Farhan Akhtar's debut feature - 'Dil Chahta Hai'. The film is refreshingly different from the standard run of the mill fare one is accustomed to in mainstream Hindi Cinema and establishes Farhan Akhtar as a director to look out for.

Screen Awards Won:

Best Supporting Actor Saif Ali Khan
Best Music Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy
Best Lyric Javed Akhtar
Best Male Playback Singer Sonu Nigam
Best Choreography Farah Khan
Best Dialogue Farhan Akhtar
Special Jury Award Farhan Akhtar
Special Jury Award Akshaye Khanna
Best Special Effects Ritesh Sidhwani (Beeps)

Zee-Cine Awards Won:

Best Supporting Actor Saif Ali Khan
**********************************************

Wahahahey - congratulations Raj for finally getting to 100! – it does make a excellent reading and if its ok with you I’ll copy all the text from here put into a article on the main site.

Ali



Edited By ali on Feb. 02 2002 at 22:42

Thanks Ali,

I've just clicked on the first post & noticed that its taken me
exactly one month to get the 100 films posted
Jan 2nd - Feb 2nd.


Regards putting them up on the main site, thats fine with me.

Great Job Raj,Now share the reason behind all those stills of great Pran!

lakeshore

Great work Raj. This must have taken a lot of time and effort, so we all appreciate it. I'll definitely be printing this out for reference. And oh ya, I'm curious about those Pran stills as well.