On the 100th Year of Indian Cinema. The Changes and Looses..

निन्यानवे निन्यानवे .... बाबु साहब भारतीय सिनेमा को पुरे निन्यानवे साल पुरे हो गए और अमृत वर्ष शुरू हो गया ... कल ५९ वां राष्ट्रीय पुरस्कार वितरित हुवा , विद्या बालन का बोलबाला रहा , क्या सच में भारतीय सिनेमा की नारी सही मायने में उभर कर सामने आ रही है? पहले जहा फिल्मो में अभिनेत्री का स्थान मात्र एक सजावटी सामान के तौर पर होता रहा है (अपवाद हर जगह होते हैं) वही आज के दौर में कई ऐसी फिल्मे बन रही है जिस में अभिनेत्री को मुख्य भूमिका में दिखाया गया है और सब से बड़ी बात ये हैं की वो सारी भूमिकाये सशक्त भूमिकाएं थी ना की दबी हुयी नारी को प्रदर्शित करने वाली. और उस से भी बड़ी बात ये थी की वो सारी फिल्मे चली ही नहीं बल्कि रिकॉर्ड तोड़ कमाई भी की .. कई और फिल्मे आना अभी बाकि हैं ... क्या ये एक नया और अच्छा बदलाव आया है भारतीय सिनेमा में? ... होलीवुड की फिल्मो में अक्सर महिलाओं को सशक्त भूमिकाओं में प्रदर्शित किया जाता है जो दर्शको द्वारा काफी सराहा भी जाता हैं... मगर मुझे लगता है भारतीय सिनेमा को उस स्तर तक पोहोचने के लिए अभी काफी समय लगेगा... 

कृपया अपनी अनमोल राय देना न भूले ..

Agneepath (2012) Movie Review

Storyline

Agneepath is a story of revenge of Vijay Chauhan against an evil and sadistic Kaancha, who hangs Vijay's father to death. Vijay grows up with a single aim of avenging his father's death. The story revolves around Vijay Chauhan, his relationships with his family and above all, his Revenge.

Reviews

Agneepath Rises.

You shouldn't wonder why everyone wants to remake a Big B movie. While the obvious to say is that they are a cult but the truth is we don't have stories, performances and dialogues like that today. A safe trick to pull the audience is to give them a star-studded remake of a movie the continuums of generations swear by.

If you are an ardent moviegoer, you might have felt bad with the fate of Don and Sholay remakes but Agneepath rises. Yash Johar & Mukul Anand will be proud of Karan. They can choose either or both.

First of all, it's not a complete remake. It has its own diversions but it's a wasteful effort not to compare it with the original. Some parts of the remake are a total downer. Not just the parents, I heard the kids say – I think the original was far better.

Sanjay Dutt is the first and the biggest disappointment. Tattoos of Shiva, preachings from Geeta, anecdotes from Mahabharat & Ramayan but not a single original Khalnayak moment till the last 15 minutes. I remember seeing the promo six months back and everyone spoke of Sanjay Dutt taking the entire pie from Hrithik Roshan – only if he would have been a more evil psychopath, psychopath, psychopath.

The next is Chikni Chameli. The choreographer & composer totally spoilt the cake. What a sheer waste of Katrina Kaif. The last but not the least is absence of Krishnan Iyer MA. I want to add the iconic "Sister Abduction" scene to the list but I understand that it's too much of a comparison.

There's not much you could say about the script/story since it's a remake but to talk about the dialogues written by the talented Piyush Mishra – they are mediocre. No special marks to the technicals as well.

Hrithik Roshan is brilliant, probably the best anybody could justify the real VDC. When he cries, feels happy, kills a man, runs, wants revenge, gets bruised – it's all in his eyes, he makes it real enough. He might not have been able to replace Big B's attitude but it was time they used this side of him than just counting on his looks & moves.

The surprise of the movie is Rishi Kapoor. What an actor! With the added touch of the surma, he made a better villain than Baba. He should have had a bigger role.

The score of the movie is suitably Maharashtrian, complimenting the movie. I don't know if you have noticed this but Bollywood seems fascinated with the idea of Ganesh songs or others running parallel with murder and melodrama scenes.

Apart from Kancha, everyone's performance has taken the movie a notch higher and fortunately there are no stupid-yet-intentional-because-audience-loves-it additions. Coming from Karan Johar, romance and slickness gives way to raw.

It's a nice remake and while you watch it try hard not to compare it with the original Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath.

Director: 

Karan Malhotra

Writers: 

Piyush Mishra (dialogue), Karan Malhotra (screenplay)

Cast

	Hrithik Roshan	...	Vijay Dinanath Chauhan
	Sanjay Dutt	...	Kancha
	Rishi Kapoor	...	Rauf Lala
	Madhurjeet Sarghi	...	Lachhi
	Inaamulhaq	...	Shiva
	Rajesh Tandon	...	Mazhar lala
	Kanika Tiwari	...	Shiksha Chauhan
	Om Puri
	Arush Bhiwandiwala
	Deven Bhojani
	Sunil Chauhan
	Priyanka Chopra	...	Kaali
	Ravi Jhankal
	Ayesha Kaduskar
	Katrina Kaif	...	Chikni Chameli

Thodasa Roomani Ho Jaayen (1990) Movie Review

Storyline

The film is a comment on a society that brands people into images they should be, and talks of individual dreams and aspirations. Set in the background of a small town in India, against the harsh weather conditions and lack of rain, the story revolves around a girl who is unconventional in her ways and appearance, in-feminine in the conventional sense of the word, and therefore subjugated to much negative public opinions and advices on what she should be. She is supported by a supportive just father, a younger brother who is about to turn 18 and a realistic, discouraging but loving older brother. And in their lives then enters a man who believes in magic and tells them that he can bring rain! The story unfolds with much poetry and a dreamlike quality that is magical.

Review

Really nice movie,

Strongly recommended for a nice weekend evening. Excellent direction, acting and totally new story line. Especially the first part where the whole movie follows a poetic route of dialogue delivery rather than traditional rout. Though the film drags in second part, it is still watchable for its central character, Nana Patekar

Director: 

Amol Palekar

Cast

	Anita Kanwar	...	Binni Rai (as Aneeta Kanwar)
	Nana Patekar	...	Natwarlal aka Dhrushtadyumna padmanabh Prajapati Neelkant Dhumketu Barish Kar
	Riju Bajaj	...	Bim
	Hemant Desai
	Vikram Gokhale	...	Collector Jaideep Das Gupta
	Gorakshakar
	Madan Gupte
	Arun Joglekar	...	Behraam
	Gautam Joglekar
	Aparajita Krisha	...	Urmila
	Krishnakant
	Dilip Kulkarni	...	Bade Bhaiyya
	Deepa Lagoo	...	Budhiya (as Deepa Shriram)
	Suresh Rege
	Vasant Sabnis

The Chess Players (1977) Movie Review And Watch It Online.

Storyline

Wazed Ali Shah is the ruler of one of the last independent kingdoms of India. The British, intent on controlling this rich country, have sent general Outram on a secret mission to clear the way for an annexation. While pressure is mounting amidst intrigue and political manoeuvres, Ali Shah composes poems and listens to music, secluded in his palace. The court is of no help, as exemplified by nobles Mir and Mirza, who, ignoring the situation of their country and all their duties towards their families, spend their days playing endless parties of chess.

Review

Ray's unique gift, 

This movie is a precious gem. I have not seen anything like it and only a rare amount of movies dare to be as different. One cannot expect any less from Satyajit Ray, one of India's greatest filmmakers. Shatranj ke Khiladi is a satirical comedy that stars the best actors delivering the finest performances. Amjad Khan and Saeed Jaffrey definitely did their best for this movie. Sanjeev Kumar and Shabana Azmi are excellent as always. Richard Attenborough and Victor Banerjee do very well with their small roles. I was also surprised to see Farida Jalal in a negative comic role as an unfaithful wife. Ray also applies his artistic talents in set designs as you'll see some beautiful paintings. Background music is limited but used effectively. The movie was shot brilliantly where it is quite evident that the director has given attention to very little detail. There is one scene where Sanjeev Kumar goes to his room to see his wife. Saeed Jaffrey is waiting for him. We soon see a scene where Jaffrey goes to check on Sanjeev then when he returns...we see a hand changing the position on the chess board. This is just one of the finest example of excellent direction, among the many you'll witness in this classic masterpiece. The events of the 19th century are portrayed very poetically. While some may say that the pace is slow, it did not bore me one bit and there was always something happening. This, indeed, is a fine piece of film-making. I suggest you go and watch it.

WATCH FULL LENGTH MOVIE ONLINE HERE.

Directed by
Satyajit Ray

Writing credits
Munshi Premchand		story (as Premchand)
Satyajit Ray		dialogue
Satyajit Ray		screenplay
Javed Siddiqui		dialogue (as Javed Siddiqi)
Shama Zaidi		dialogue

Produced by
Suresh Jindal	....	producer

Original Music by
Satyajit Ray

Cinematography by
Soumendu Roy

Film Editing by
Dulal Dutta

Art Direction by

Bansi Chandragupta

Cast

	Sanjeev Kumar	...	Mirza Sajjad Ali
	Saeed Jaffrey	...	Mir Roshan Ali
	Shabana Azmi	...	Khurshid, Mirza's wife
	Farida Jalal	...	Nafisa, Mir's wife
	Veena	...	Queen Mother
	David Abraham	...	Munshi
	Victor Banerjee	...	Prime Minister (as Victor Bannerji)
	Farooq Shaikh	...	Aqueel (as Farooque Shaikh)
	Tom Alter	...	Capt. Weston (Outram's aide de camp)
	Leela Mishra	...	Hirya, Khurshid's maid
	Barry John
	Samarth Narain	...	Kallu
	Bhudo Advani	...	Abbajani (as Budho Advani)
	Kamu Mukherjee
	Uttamram Nagar