The best of last decade: Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge!

This film does not actually need any review - because everyone knows about it (kick yourself if you don't!). Imagine, after thirty years, we all will be telling our children (and grandchildren) about this film, about Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. Just as our elders tell us about Shammi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan! I thought of reviewing this film before we go into the next decade (because a two-decade-old film does not appeal to anyone!).

Raj Malhotra (Shah Rukh Khan) falls in love with Simran a.k.a Saniorita (Kajol). Raj meets Simran's family members and realises that Simran's father will not allow them to marry. Now it is at Raj - how will he wed her, will they be each-other's (Do I need to mention the whole story!?).

There are a few great scenes in the film, the Karva-Chauth scene.

There is no need to mention the fun in the film. All the comedy scenes, like when Raj starts playing the piano with his feet; or when Simran's dad (Amrish Puri) is doing 'Aao' to the pigeons and Raj also starts doing 'Aao' :-) Very funny!

I think Aditya Chopra (the director of this film) is very fond of Shah Rukh and Kajol. In Aditya Chopra's latest (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi), Shah Rukh and Kajol were both in the star cast (Kajol was in a guest appearance in the song Phir Milenge Chalte-Chalte). In Dil To Pagal Hai and Mohabattein, Shah Rukh was there! Kuch-Kuch Hota Hai, another example of Shah Rukh and Kajol together (but that was not directed by Aditya Chopra). According to this news-report, Shah Rukh and Hritik will be co-stars in Aditya Chopra's next!

The soundtrack to the film is absolutely amazing. The music is given by Jatin-Lalit. Even today, the song Tujhe Dekha To Ye is as popular as it was when the film was released. Here are all the songs:

1. Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko To.

2. Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna.

3. Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main.

4. Ruk Jaa O Dil Deewane.

5. Tujhe Dekha To Yeh.

Many people debate on the thing that who is the best - Shah Rukh or Aamir. Well, I don't know the answer. Both actors have their own standards. People say Shah Rukh always does romantic films, but Aamir always tries hand on a different subject. That's not really true. Shah Rukh, too, has done films on other subjects - like Chak De India.

Another point to be noted is that the singer Abhijeet is the voice of Shah Rukh. He had sung Zara Sa Jhoom Loon in this film. And he has sung many other songs for Shah Rukh in other films like Chalte-Chalte, Rab Ne and DDLJ itself. But I would call Sonu Niigaam the voice of SRK. Sonu has sung more songs for SRK than Abhijeet has. But many singers call theirselves the voice of Shah Rukh. I would like to know your opinion instead.

Movie Rating: 4.5/5 (Excellent!). If you are a true filmy-flirt (the defination is available here), you are not supposed to miss this one!

Music Rating: 4.7/5 (Awesome).

Well, finally, here are some best scenes from the movie:

Garam Masala (2006): Truly a 'masala' film

Good comedy films are the sure-shot guarentee of success at the box-office. The first truly entertaining masala (spicy) film I saw was Andaz Apna-Apna (I was in 1st grade then!) and that film had entertained me so much whilst making me a fan of humor films. And one of these masala humor films is Garam Masala (which means 'hot spice', a word used to denote the women in the film!).

The film starred Akshay Kumar, John Abrahim and Paresh Rawal in the lead. Mac and Sam (Akshay and John respectively) are two scoundrel photographers, who take pictures for the magazine Garam Masala. Both of them do not know photography, but still they manage to take some fine photographs.

Then Sam steals a photograph of some great photographer and presents it to his company's boss. The company's boss declares Sam as the boss of Mac. The company sends him to a trip to America.

Meanwhile, Mac engages with three girls. He gets a home to live in and some cars from his friend Babban (Rajpal Yadav). He arranges a servant, Mambo (Paresh Rawal), to help him in the setting he has made with the three girls.

When Sam returns to India after the trip, he goes to Mac's house and tries to break up his settings. But he fails many a time.

Now it's between Mac and Sam, they fight with each-other; they want to kill each-other; they try to manage their settings with the girls. But because they are air-hostesses, their flight schedules keep changing, so it's very difficult both for Mac and Sam to manage their setting. What follows is a dish full of spices and fun!

On the music: The soundtrack to the film is brilliant! My favorate song is Falak Dekhoon by Sonu Niigaam. Of course, I'd like the song as a Sonu fan! The title song by Adnan Sami is good too, with Ada being another great number. Here's a video of Sonu singing Falak Dekhoon live!

Movie Rating: 3.5/5 (Very Good!)

Music Rating: 3.8/5 (Excellent)

Here is the most enjoyable part of the movie:

Welcome: Stop being only commercial, Akshay!

Welcome (2007) is the first Akshay Kumar movie I saw (yeah, really)! And after watching it, I watched some other movies of Akshay like Namastey London and Singh Is Kinng. But the thing is he just selects commercial movies to be done. He never selects a better or different scrypt. That's why I will call him 'commercial hero' from now on!

The movie starrs Feroz Khan, Nana Pathekar, Anil Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Paresh Rawal and Mallika Sherawat. It's a story of a gangster who has a beatiful sister, Sanjana. The Dons of the gangster are Uday Shetty and Majnu. Rajiv (the 'commercial hero') falls in love with Sanjana but Rajiv's family doesn't want to marry Rajiv in a gangster's family. At this, both Rajiv and Sanjana become sad.

Then Rajiv promises to change both Uday Shetty and Majnu. Uday had love for films, and he always wanted to act in some film. Rajiv makes a fake film-set and starts shooting there. Rajiv wanted to keep Uday busy in films so that he don't get time for murders. But Majnu used to interupt between the shooting and took Uday back to his old business. So then Rajiv sends a beautiful lady, Ishika (Mallika Sherawat) to Majnu and Majnu becomes busy with her.

At the end, when both the bhais are changed, Rajiv and Sanjana marry and live a happy life!

Well, it's, of course, not a great story. And the commercial hero never did a serious film after this one. I wish Akshay chooses better films; he's always involved in such stories.

Overall, the movie is good and promises entertainment at least for one-watch. But having watched it five times, I now find nothing extra-ordinary stuff in this movie. The music is a way better than the movies itself. Ek Ucha Lamba Kad, Tera Sarafa and Hoonth Rasiley are great songs which have been ignored these days.

Movie Rating - 3.3/5 (Very Good). Here's a good comedy masala scene:

Music Rating - 4/5 (Excellent).

Here's a picture from the sets:

Delhi 6: Good but below my expectations

To start with, I really expected a lot from this movie as it starrs Abhishek Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor in the lead roles, but overall it didn't fulfill my expectations. Now that doesn't mean that I am disappointed by the movie. It was a good movie and I really liked the characters in the film. Having said that, the weak thing I feel about the movie is its story. If you've also watched the movie, you can understand what I meant (yup, that 'Kala Bandar' thing!).

Excepting the story, I really enjoyed this movie overall. And I got a chance to see my favorate old actor once again -- Rishi Kapoor in a fabulous role. **The line he said, "Pyaar karte ho to izhaar karo, varna meri tarha khali makaan khareedte reh jaogey" is great** I liked his performance the most. At that age, he has done a superb acting. I should watch the films he did when he was young :) Amitabh Bachchan was in a guest appearence.

The cinematography was a little weak at the starting and the end. But in the middle the director showed his talent, right? The background score is fitted at right places making the film more fun. And I saw Om Puri after a long time. Where was he?!

A.R. Rahman's music always takes time to grow on me. Finally, now it has grown over me and I like the soundtrack. It was fabulous. Again I say fabulous. The song Rehna Tu steels the show with Masakalli being at number two. All the other songs were also refreshing. Perhaps, Rahman should have gotten an Oscar for this film. Wasn't its music better than that of Slumdog's?


Don't know why, but I am falling in love with all the newcomer heroines. Like I falled in love with Genelia D'Souza after seeing Jaane Tu... And now after seeing Delhi 6, I love Sonam. Hmm... which newcomer will be my love now: keep guessing! :)

Movie Rating - 3.5/5 (Very Good)

Music Rating - 4.2/5 (Excellent!)

Its one of those movies you can watch with your family (except a few little scenes!) ;-)

Here's a trailer:

Ghajini: Aamir Khan rules!

You must have heard much about Ghajini, and now you are going to hear more (from me)! This Aamir Khan starer is certainly one of the best films of 2008, and people are appreciating it more than Shah Rukh Khan's Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (will review it soon). It is a complete comedy and action mixture, which everyone has enjoyed. And another great thing is its story -- that is too good, every Aamir film contains a good story, perhaps that's why he is a perfectionist.

The film is a remake of the Tamil film with the same name, and in the lead role of actress, Asin Thottumkal is starred. Asin is a very cute actress, and she isn't a newcomer in the Film Industry because she has done many Tamil films, and this time she was accepted for a national (and international) audience by the film's director A.R. Murugadoss. The cinematography is great, and I really enjoyed it in the theatre.

The story begins with Sanjay Singhania, who owns a company named Air Voice. He is suffering from short-term memory loss, in which he cannot remember a thing up to 15 minutes. He leads a very difficult life. On the other side, there is Sunita (Jiah Khan), a medical student who tries to help Sanjay with her medical knowledge.

Sanjay was a normal guy earlier, and he was not suffering from any disease. He had a love, Kalpana, whom he was to marry but a person named Ghajini killed her (that's why the film's named 'Ghajini') and he hit a rod on the head of Sanjay, because of which he suffered from the memory-loss disease. He has notes about Ghajini, and he takes his photograph is a party. He just wants to kill Ghajini, because he killed his love.

And Sunita is the only helper of Sanjay in the whole process. Though, her role gets a little negative in the middle of the film. But 'every good thing comes to a good end' :) and that's how the story comes at a good end. Sanjay takes revenge from Ghajini and the film is finished with the song Kaise Mujhe, a perfect fit in the situation.

Do you feel the story is short? Well, the story is, but the film isn't. It is a 3 hour long film, which is a rare thing nowadays. The films releasing these days, are not more than 2 hours. But Ghajini isn't any boring in the three hours. It is a complete masala-entertainer.

To get the six-pack abs, Aamir had to work-out for three to four hours at gym everyday. This type of body needs much care about diet and excercise.

The music is given by A.R. Rahman (who is always the best, no need to tell) and the best song in the film is Guzaarish with vocals by Javed Ali and Sonu Niigaam. In the following interview, Sonu told that he sang the whole song in 2006. But the lyrics of the song had completely been changed and it had to be re-recorder. Sonu was in New Jersey then, and he couldn't make it. So Javed Ali came in.


Imagine if Sonu had sung that song, it'd have been 10 times better (not saying Javed Ali was bad). But only his humming gave the song a refreshing feel, and that's more important, right? From an interview on Sonu's site:

How come you did the "guest alaap" appearance on Guzaarish in Ghajini?
You blame Aamir Khan for that yaar! I had sung the whole song in 2007. Then, I was away in US with my wife because she was about to deliver then. Meanwhile, the song's brief changed. It was re-written. The composition was retained but they were running out of the time for the re-recording. I couldn't make it, so Javed Ali cam in. I must thank A R Rahman for retaining my alaap.. he really pushed for me there. I love the way Javed Ali has sung the track though.

The film, when released, had earnt more than 2 Crores in just two weeks. And this is the proof of people liking it. It was promoted very well on TV, Internet and at Aamir Khan's blog as well. Here is an excerpt from his post about the release of Ghajini:

Just before any of my films release I go into pendulum mode. One sec I feel very optimistic about the film and the next I’m sure no one’s going to like it. I lose my smile my appetite, my sleep. On the whole I am listless and walk around like a zombie. VVC (Vidhu Vinod Chopra), who was talking to me yesterday, accurately described it as Prenatal Depression. The film is about to be delivered and will be out of our systems so to speak. Then it will have a life of its own which we have absolutely no control over. Sigh. It too tough, making films. All the 2 years of planning, preparation, creative discussions, the struggle to shoot the film and the sleepless nights of post production ultimately culminate in a 3 hour experience in the darkness of a cinema.

Here's an interview with Aamir and Asin:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Movie Rating: 4/5 (Excellent) ****

Music Rating: 4.10/5 (Excellent)

Of course, there are a few violent scenes which might scare people (especially children), but after all this, Ghajini has a lot of things to enjoy - including the comedy, action, romance and beautiful songs by Rahman. It's a film that will never disappoint anyone, at least those who are true Bollywood fans!

Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionare is not *that* great movie that people are saying it. Of course, it is a very good story with good dialogues. But overall the film is just OK-OK. I am saying this for those who haven't watched the movie. You must have heard much about it - from your friends, at the TV and on the Oscars (for which Rahman won an award). And after hearing much about it, I am sure you have too many expectations for the movie. Don't expect that much from it; it promises entertainment, if expectations are not very high.

Having said that, the movie is just good, nothing more. The story is at Jamal Malik, who is playing Who Wants To Be A Millionare (Kaun Banega Crorepati) with Anil Kapoor. Anil asks Jamal to introduce himself. Jamal says he's an assistant at a call centre. Now Anil asks what's an assistant. Jamal tells he serves tea to all. Anil laughs and says, "A chai wala!"; and he thinks how will a chai-wala win the big mind-game.

So Anil starts asking him questions. Jamal gives correct answers to the first few questions and Anil gets surprised on Jamal knowing the answers. Jamal gives all the correct answers ('how' will be answered later!). And on the last question, Anil had told Jamal privately that the answer is option no. D, but still Jamal says the answer is option no. B, which is correct and Jamal wins a million dollars.

At this, Anil gets surprised. He thinks how Jamal knew the correct answer; after all, Anil had told him the wrong option. So police catches Jamal and asks him how he knew all the answers. Jamal tells them that all the questions were related to his life. For example, the first question was, "Who was the lead actor in Deewaar?" (it was Amitabh Bachchan). When Jamal was a child, Amitabh came to his place for shooting that film. Jamal had taken his autograph also. That's why he knew the answers.

Cops ask more to Jamal. He tells also about his girlfriend, Latika (see the photo below).

Now the police asks Jamal that why he wanted to be a millionaire, was he not happy with his earlier life of a chai-wala. Jamal tells that his brother (Salim) had kidnapped Latika, and he couldn't find her. He went to the show because he thought Latika would see him on TV and will talk to him.

So at the end, after he becomes a millionaire, he gets his love back and leads a happy life!

From an interview with its director, Danny Boyle, here's a question you might find interesting (well, I found interesting):

The Amitabh Bachchan character, is that a real Indian movie star?

Oh, he’s massive. He’s the most, apart from Gandhi, he’s probably the most famous name in India. And he’s a magnificent actor. He has starred in hundreds of films, hundreds. So, when you mention his name it is like mentioning… It’s very difficult to find an equivalent in the West. There isn’t one. You’d have to put together Michael Jackson, Tom Cruise and Michael Phelps. You’d have to put them together and say it’s that level of royalty. Absolute royalty. He’s a God to people. Outside his house in Bombay, people wait for days and days and days to catch a glimpse of him as he leaves.

Well, Amitabh (ji) is a great actor, and he has been seen in hundreds of films, but I don't agree on what he said about Gandhi. Gandhi gave us freedom, that's why we were able to watch movies of Amitabh. If there was no freedom, how could there be Amitabh? I am tired of every outsider disobeying M.K. Gandhi.

And from another interview, here's a controversial question:

And speaking of that kiss -- that must have been a little controversial for them, right? Aren't they really not allowed to do that in public?

Danny Boyle: That's right. It's very tough for actresses, especially in public because we were shooting in a public place and there's no control there. There's always hundreds and hundreds of people watching, so I had to ask Freida about it very carefully and she was very gracious; she agreed to do it. Because not all their actresses would have agreed to do it -- I think it's sort of like nudity here; how some people will do it and some people won't. It's quite a big thing there, but she understood it was necessary for the story and I tried to convince her that it would be seen in a very gracious and beautiful way. It wouldn't look cheap or tawdry or anything like that. And I felt like it was done in the best taste possible.

(Do I need to say anything, huh? :D).

I have heard in news that people (especially slums) got angry with the word 'Slumdog'. Is it true? I don't know much about it.

The best scenes in this film are by Anil Kapoor, he has given life to this movie. Otherwise, it would have been nothing more than another flop! And the best songs are by A.R. Rahman, who needs no introduction. His music is always new, refreshing and stylish. At the Oscars, he grabbed the award for Jai Ho, on which I wrote here. Irrfaan Khan is seen in a new character this time. He is usually doing comedy roles, but with this film, he has proved that he can do serious roles too.

Now because the film has gotten many awards, I think people expect much from it. That's why I said "don't expect too much from it" in the first para. The movie is just good, and if you don't wear your thinking cap while watching movies, you'll certainly enjoy this. I can't give it more than three stars.

Movie Rating - 3/5 (Good) ***

Music Rating - 4/5 (Excellent!)

Finally, if you're a die-hard Anil Kapoor fan, you'll love this movie. It's one of the best of Anil. He promises you complete entertainment. Hope you like it!

Ghulam: A servant's life is worse than hell

I am doing my first review on this blog. And I've chosen Aamir Khan's Ghulam (1998) to review. Ghulam (means 'servant' or 'slave') conveys the message that a servant's life is worse than hell. Siddharth Marathe a.k.a Siddhu is a boxer, and his brother, Jai works for Raunaq Singh a.k.a Ronny.

Siddhu also works for Ronny. One day, when he's returning after doing Ronny's work, some bikers go ahead of him. Now Siddhu pulls his bike's race, and gets ahead of all of them except one -- Alisha (Rani Mukherjee). Now Siddhu sees Alisha and falls in love with her (which is called 'love at first sight' :D).

After that, Charlie, one of the boys of Alisha's group, fights with Siddhu. But cops interupt them. Then Charlie says Siddhu to come to a railway station at 9:30 and they'll play Dus-Dus Ki Daud (The Race of 10-10 (because it was played at 10 PM)). You can watch the race in this video:

We get to see a few masala (spicy) scenes like this and then the film takes a serious turn. Siddhu had a very good friend but Ronny kills him. The friend whom Ronny killed was the brother of Alisha. Alisha got angry with Siddhu on this. And Siddhu couldn't do anything about Ronny because his brother was Ronny's worker.

Then Siddhu had to lose a boxing match because Ronny told him to do so. So Siddhu felt he is living a life of servant (that's why the film's name is 'Ghulam').

Siddhu complaints his brother, Jai, about Ronny. But as Jai was a worker of Ronny, he couldn't do anything. Siddhu was alone after that. One day, he decided to meet Fatima Madam, who had always helped him in difficulties. Fatima was a Loire and Siddhu told to her everything about Ronny.

Helping Siddhu, she took Ronny into the court. The judge said that the case's result will be declared some days later. And then Ronny and Siddhu come out. Ronny started fighting with Siddhu, very badly (which you can see in the photo below).

At the end, it is Siddhu who wins and gets his love back.

There were so many famous things in this film. Especially the 10-10 Ki Daud; I know when the film was released, everyone was talking, "Oh, did you see Ghulam's race?". Another thing which became popular after this film is Rani Mukherjee. Every child, after this film, spoke just one name - Rani! The best song in this film is Ab Naam Mohobat Ke (but Aati Kya Khandala was the most famous).

Movie Rating - 3.75/5 (Very Good!). Ghulam contains a lot of things to be appreciated. And I am sure everyone who watches it will like it.

Music Rating - 3.50/5 (Very Good). Music is as good as the film. Aati Kya Khandala was sung by Aamir Khan himself. So the song is more popular. But for me, Ab Naam Mohobat Ke is the best song as it is in the honey-sweet voice of Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik.

Best Scene in the movie - The Best Scene in the movie is when Siddhu's father says the dialogue, "Chalti huye lehron ke saath to koi bhi tair leta hai, magar insaan wohi hai jo lehron ko cheer kar apna rasta banaye,"