Yes Boss

Producer: Ratan Jain
Director: Aziz Mirza
*ing : Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Aditya Pancholi & Gulshan Grover
Music : Jatin Lalit

A la Judaai, Yes Boss comes at you as a relatively high-budget movie about greediness and money. Rather than going at it from a more serious fashion, Yes Boss comes with a comic approach. All in all, Y-B isn't the best of movies, but deserves at least one viewing. The winning points of this movie come as in most other recent hits, like Judaai, Border and Virasat, music, direction, cinematography and story, but unlike the others, this comes with some hilarious scenes mixed in with drama.

The story is fairly simple, resembling bits and pieces of Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman and Baazigar, but ends up being nothing like either. Rahul Joshi (Shah Rukh Khan) wants his own Advertising agency more than anything else in his life. Rahul is hoping that his boss, Sidharth Chaudhary (Aditya Pancholi), will buy him this agency so he can be a boss and make money as well as becoming affluent and famous. Therefore Rahul does everything that his "Boss" wants him to do.

Chaudhary is married, yet is known to cheat on his wife as well as his girlfriends after they find out that he is a married man. So Chaudhary lays his eyes on a new model, Seema Bakshi (Juhi Chawla). Rahul then also falls head over heels in love with Seema.

For the first time Rahul has liked a girl and Chaudhary is going to take her away... what will Rahul do? Give away the girl or the agency? Will Rahul give away his desires for his emotions and love or not?

Shah Rukh Khan has played his character excellent. He has displayed all of his talents in a nutshell as Rahul. Serious, Sad and Angry as well as Humorous and Excited are played with delicacy and enthusiasm by Shah Rukh. Only his role in DDLJ has come close to this movie. Juhi Chawla has caught a break with this movie, she stands beautiful and can easily outshine Manisha Koirala and Kajol in a weighing contest. Her acting may not be on par with Manisha or Kajol, yet she is easily on par with Madhuri and who knows when her Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...? may come.

Aditya Pancholi has also done a wonderful job in this film. He has a great screen presence and is easily portrayed as the "Boss". Gushan Grover is starting to look older, yet he still plays his role well. Everybody else is on par with the movie.

Cinematography is outstanding, Photography is excellent and technical effects are okay. The direction of the heavy scenes that merge into the light scenes are the best part of this movie. Never is there a part where something is overdone or overdramtised. Dialogues, done by Sanjay Chhel, are excellent. Costumes in dances are done very well.

The music is fantastic. Songs done by Jatin-Lalit are very memorable, including "Chaand Taare" on the flatbed truck, "Main Koi Aisa Geet Gaaon" where Rahul dresses up in odd outfits and "Ek Din Aap" a la "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...?". Lyrics by Javed Akthar are an added benefit (as usual).

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Border

Producer: J.P. Dutta
Director: J.P. Dutta
*ing : Rakhee, Jackie Shroff, Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty, Akshaye Khanna, Pooja Bhatt, Tabu, Khulbhushan Kharbanda, Sudesh Berry, Puneet Issar, Introducing Rajiv Goswami, Sharbani Mukherjee, Sapna Bedi
Music : Anu Malik

This hi-budget, multi-starrer film started out as a killer, as sixty were killed watching this film in Delhi when something exploded and set off smoke that raided the theater. The smoke was thought to be a special effect, when in real life it wasn't.

The movie also ended up deadly, with hundreds dead on a field and mothers crying as their sons are dead after fighting a vigorous war protecting their Mother, India.

Revolving around the Longewala Post in west Rajhastan during the war of 1971 between India and Pakistan, this movie unusually tied reality to Bollywood and brought through a message that could and should be understood by most people. Not much can be said about the story without revealing the whole plot. No doubt, the story is brilliant. A story writer could not have come up with a better story fitting the characters in mind, the stars who played them and the plot at the same time. Basically, many young men, including Dharmveer (Akshaye Khanna) and a Raja of Rajhastan (Sunil Shetty) come together to fight a war with their battalion leader, Kuldeep Singh (Sunny Deol). They wait patiently as war develops and tell stories about their lives, their family, their children, their girlfriends, fiancees, etc...

Fighting dreams and relationships, they realize that they are putting up their lives up for their Mother, their land. Nothing, not even their children, wives, mothers or any other part of their family are more valuable than their own land. Slowly the whole battalion comes together during their stay at the post. War breaks out at the border, as tanks and soilders surround the post. The battalion must hold on the whole night onto their post until the Air Force (commanded by Jackie Shroff's character) can strike the approaching offensive. Who lives, who dies, who wins, who loses??

Acting is outstanding in this film. Everybody plays their role well. Sunil Shetty is unusually brilliant in his role, while Sunny Deol does a superb job as usual. Akshaye Khanna impresses again in his second performance. His natural talent in acting shows, as does his cute face (girls cheering at the screen every time he shows) and his brilliant personality and voice. Akshaye has the capability to be the next Vinod Khanna. Jackie Shroff, although in an insignificant role, is suited perfectly for it and therefore plays it perfectly. Sudesh Berry does a good job with his role. In fact, his role as well as his acting is much better in this movie than his depicting of his character in Army, which was great anyway!

As for the females, nobody had a significant part in this film. If you remove the male characters from the film, it would be meaningless, but the female characters would only reduce the meaning a bit. As always, Tabu impresses with her 30-second role. Pooja Bhatt has seriously made a turnaround since Tamanna and has done a fantastic job with her role in this film. Rakhee is excellent also. The new females didn't impress too much.

Anu Malik's music and the cinematography of them were on par with the rest of the movie. Of the four songs, "Ke Ghar Kab Aao Ge" and "Hamen Jab Se Mohobaat" are excellent, and "Mere Dushman Mere Bhai" is out of this world. "Mere Dushman Mere Bhai" must be one of the best done songs in the history of Indian cinema, although the lyrics of the other three are perfect for the situations, this song's lyrics are touching as well as perfect. Javed Akhtar has shown that the one lakh rupees that he is paid for lyrics per song are actually worth it and J.P. Dutta put a period at the right time on a nicely made sentence. Anu Malik has finally come out of a slump with Virasat and Border. Malik's next releases, Ishq and Kareeb are fared do well with the box office. Virasat's early reports show that it is bound to be a hit, but as for Border, time could only tell what shall happen.

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Gupt

Producer: Gulshan Rai
Director: Rajiv Rai
*ing: Bobby Deol, Manisha Koirala, Kajol, Om Puri, Paresh Rawal, Priya Tendulkar, Prem Chopra, Ashok Saraf, Sadashiv Amprapurkar and Others
Music : Viju Shah

To-date 1997 has had two major, over-hyped films (i.e. Koyla and Mrityudaata) that were duds at the box office. They were thankfully so, since both were pretty painful for the viewers also. Rajiv Rai's Gupt was also hyped till the cows came home, but luckily it is a far more polished product.

Gupt, if you didn't already know, is a murder mystery. Now Bollywood is not a large manufacturer of this film genre, because its past attempts have either been laugh-worthy (Yash Chopra's awful Ittefaq), or box office poison (Khoj starring Rishi Kapoor and Kimi Katkar: good movie). Only once in a blue moon we get an Abbas-Mustaan directed Khiladi, which is both entertaining and a hit. You never know if Gupt will be as successful - judging from the huge matinee crowd I witnessed, it is a likely winner - but it is almost as watchable as Khiladi.

In the movie, the hero Saahil (Bobby Deol) is framed for the murder of his stepfather, the Governor (Raj Babbar). Saahil hated his stepfather and had even tried to kill him a few days earlier when Papaji tried to force Beta to get engaged to Sheetal (Manisha) at Saahil's birthday party. Saahil loves only Eesha (Kajol), his childhood buddy from whom he had been separated for eons. Nevertheless, the party's guests have no problem assuring the court that Saahil did indeed kill his father because of the earlier incident they witnessed. Even Saahil's mom (Priya Tendulkar) testifies against him. She had stopped him from attacking the Governor at the party, and she also saw him with his hand on the dagger after Saahil discovered the body. (When will the heroes learn not to touch a knife in the body of a dead person? You're being framed, stupid!!)

So Saahil goes off to jail, is involved in some fisticuffs and escapes through the toilet drain, which is steps from the sea. (You gotta see it to believe it.) Then he begins his search to find the real killer and clear his name. On his trail is an oft-suspended 'karak' Inspector (Om Puri) and his sidekicks (Sadashiv Amprapurkar and Ashok Saraf).

You're wondering... how is Saahil going to find the real killer? Who are the possible suspects? Literally everyone folks! The film is sandwiched by a long list of famous screen villains, and they were all involved in trying to coax the deceased Governor to accept/reject a foreign contract deal before his death. Plus, there are also the Governor's other contacts and Saahil's other relatives who could have done the gruesome deed.

Rajiv Rai leaves no character in the film for the audience to cast suspicion upon. Everyone appears to have a motive to kill off the Governor (including Saahil). This aspect of Gupt is what makes the film so watchable. Every five minutes, I cast suspicion on another person; not because it is always explicitly stated, but because of the character's behaviour. For instance, witness Priya Tendulkar's behaviours in her testimony scenes and meetings with Saahil after his escape. She is either badly acting on purpose (I hope at the instruction of the director) or guilty of the crime herself.

I liked Rajiv Rai's direction in this film. Rai is not extremely gifted, but he makes the best of the talent he has. Rai himself admits that he is not a very emotional person so he makes slick action films instead. (From Rai's past films, I loved the mindless romps of Tridev and Vishwatma, but was thoroughly bored throughout most of Mohra except the songs.)

Performancewise and generally, Bobby Deol is the biggest liability of the film. I didn't except Bobby to be this bad, because he was competent in Barsaat. But the village bumpkin act from his debut may become Bobby's eternal on-screen persona. This Deol, unlike his father and elder brother, is not confident enough on screen. Sure he can dance, unlike the others, but he can't fight to save his life. In most of the action sequences he either moves slowly, hesitates or moves back after a punch, so that you can tell the other guy is letting Bobby win. So unlike the Deol Khandaan!!! Plus he also carries a dumb-founded and shy look in many of the film's scenes, especially when he is with the two talented heroines. Hey buddy, hurry up and develop a strong screen presence, unless you only want female fans.

Manisha isn't given much opportunity to act, but she tries her best in the songs, where she dances like there is no tomorrow. (Please lose some weight though, beautiful.) The couple of scenes where we do see her talent include her verbal combat dialogues with Om Puri and the comedy-cum-flirt sequence with Prem Chopra. (This lady can excel at comedy too.)

Kajol, on the other hand, is given her opportunity to stun us in more scenes than Manisha and she delivers brilliantly. Wowza! The remaining cast members are all competent, with no one really standing out among the crowd, except the real murderer.

The music by Viju Shah is of course brilliant. Who doesn't have the audio yet for this film? The videos are aptly shot on scenic locations, but the choreography by Rekha-Chinni Prakash borders at times on vulgar, particularly in "Duniya Hasseeno Ka Mela". (Too many pelvic thrusts and writing bodies all the time.) The stupid costumes given to the actresses in the film (which accentuate their heaviness), only make things worse. Cinematography by Ashok Mehta is also expectedly above average, though at times he seems to be showing off his innovative camera angles.

Gupt is generally worth your time and money. Despite all the excessive hype, the only real disappointment is Bobby Deol. You'll enjoy the suspense though and remember to keep Gupt about the ending.

Himalay Putra

Director: Pankaj Parashar
*ing : Vinod Khanna, Hema Malini, Akshaye Khanna, Anjala Zaveri,Shazia Malik, Danny Denzongpa, Satish Shah and a guest appearance by Amrish Puri
Music : Anu Malik

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce Bollywood's newest star and actor to you: Akshaye Khanna. Putra of Mr. Vinod Khanna, this kid has a lot going for him. He is a good looker, has impressive acting skills, and is an agile dancer and fighter. Mark my words, he is certainly going to be famous in the near future. Well enough about the actor, let us talk about the film.

Himalay Putra is a film made by Pappa Khanna to introduce his Putra, and boy is there a lot of the Bachcha in the film: Too much if you ask me. Akshaye dominates almost every frame, and though you are impressed by his talent, it gets boring seeing him on the screen all the time.

The story is sort of novel, but pretty lame. Hema and Vinod love each other but she is rich and her father, Amrish Puri, does not approve. Vinod goes to make Rs.20 lakhs on a bet with Amrish to let Hema maintain a comfortable lifestyle. Amrish makes plans for his daughter's wedding. Vinod returns with the money(Where this police officer gets it, who knows?), but leaves disheartened upon reading the marriage card of his beloved. Then, Hema discovers she is pregnant with Vinod's child and Amrish dies of a heart attack. So Hema goes to her family's apple orchards and raises son Akshaye there. Are you still following? This all happens within the first fifteen minutes.

Akshaye grows up to be an energetic and lively young man, but if there is one thing he yearns for, it is to meet his real father and confront him about leaving his mom. (Don't ask about it... too complicated.) Our hero falls in love with the Juhi-like Anjala Zaveri, helps his drug-addicted 'friend cum obsessed lover' Shazia Malik, finds his father and rids the farm of Danny's drug smuggling.

As I said earlier, the film is watchable for factors other than the story. It is the newcomer's launch vehicle and it his charisma which is entertaining. (Akshaye has the potential to become abetter actor and star than his father, but only time will tell.) The comedy sequences are also extremely entertaining (and a little reminiscent of director Parashar's mind blowing earlier film 'Chaalbaaz'.)

Acting by the other principals is adequate, except Danny who seems to be reprising his Bakhtawar role from 1991's Amitabh starrer 'Hum'. European-bread, Anjala Zaveri looks pretty and is also a potential future star, only at times she tends to imitate Juhi Chawla's mannerisms. (She even looks a bit like Juhi, though definitely not as beautiful.)

Pankaj Parashar has redeemed himself somewhat for the fiasco that was 'Rajkumar' but he must get better scripts in the future. Comedy seems to be his forte and that is probably what he should stick to.

The songs by Anu Malik, and dances by Ahmed Khan and Saroj Khan, are also really good. Of all of them, I love the danceless "Kaga Sab Tan Khaiyo" most, and was surprised to see it pictured on Hema, Akshaye and Vinod in a very Yash Chopra-ish dinner sequence.

A note to the film's cinematographer, who repetitively used some stylized yet obtrusive camera angles. Buddy, it started off as cute and interesting, but by the end of the film I could hardly look at the screen because you almost gave me a headache. Stop trying to show off!!!

Overall, Himalay Putra is a recommendable product; pretty good but by no means a classic, as were the first films of Aamir and Salman Khan. It would benefit from some trimming of Akshaye's footage, and a better script.

EDITORS NOTE-- I assure you the film needed no trimming of Akshaye in my opinion, but this review is an unbias one....

PARDES

Producer: Subhash Ghai
Director: Subhash Ghai
*ing: Shahrukh Khan, Mahima Chawdhry, Amrish Puri, Apoorva Agnihotri, Himani Shivpuri, Shobha Khote, Alok Nath
Music : Nadeem-Shravan

Don't I know these people... Over and over, I kept having this thought while watching the antics of Amrish Puri's American-Indian family in Subhash Ghai's latest movie, Pardes. And almost all the women in the theatre seemed to agree with me... At least that is what I gathered from all the weeping and sniffling going on around me.

Similar to the dual nation setting of 1995's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Pardes takes a serious look at the lives of Westernized Non-Resident South Asians in North America. Of course, Subhash Ghai has wisely packaged this message in a very entertaining and thoroughly engrossing film.

A very simple story about a young, Indian born girl who is betrothed by her parents to the son of a very rich NRI. The NRI (Amrish Puri) hopes his soon-to-be bahu will instill some Indian values in his extremely westernized beta. Ganga (Mahima Chawdhry), our village-bred heroine, must contend with the culture shock that she faces upon arrival in the United States. And for a bit of spice, everyone must contend with Arjun (Shahrukh Khan), the NRI's adopted son, creating a love triangle in the proceedings.

Inspite of the generally oft-heard storyline of Pardes, the abundance of thought-provoking messages contained therein make it a must-see for all families. Generally, is it worthwhile living outside our countries of origin? What is our connection with our homelands? What are our connections with North America (or Europe, etc.)? To what degree is it acceptable to try to fit in to Western Society? Should we encourage our children to be more Westernized or South East Asian? And at what point do we lose our identity as Indians/Pakistanis?

So many thoughts invade the mind when watching this movie. Directly and indirectly, there are many issues raised in the U.S. set scenes. For instance, in one scene, Ganga is completely alone at Amrish Puri's house and she makes a call to her parents in India. They repeatedly ask her if she is well, and she lies and says yes. Here is a girl brought up in a society where your extended family is always with you, and according to the film, very supportive of your needs. The principle in North America, as stated by Ganga's fiancee Rajiv (Apoorva Agnihotri), is to let people be alone, when they are depressed.

But at some point of time all Indians/Pakistanis are new to North America, and they must deal with these completely opposite ideologies. What does each individual do? Some may stick to the togetherness principal, as much as possible with the few friends and relatives they have nearby. Others, they will desensitize their need for human support, and will preach this idea to their future generations. Desensitization is the problem with Amrish Puri's family in Pardes, and Subhash Ghai is condemning this situation. Keep your mind open, and you will see many other topics touched upon by Ghai in this film.

The performances in Pardes are also superb. Shahrukh Khan has finally bawled me over with a flawless performance. His acting as Arjun, is subtle yet very powerful. The character is a slight deviation on his Yes Boss persona, but this time it is more subdued and appreciable. Arjun loves Ganga, but knows she is to be married to Rajiv. Contrary to normal filmi expectations, he never tries to steal her away, but is there to be a friend and protect her. I said some day I might become a fan of Shahrukh Khan: that day is today.

Mahima Chawdhry is gorgeous, confident and very impressive in her first film. When Subhash Ghai had first planned this film, it was to be titled Ganga, and star Madhuri Dixit in the lead. Luckily, the title and the lead actress changed over time. The film needed fresh-faced innocence and Mahima has it in spades. I really hope this beauty achieves tons more in a long and prosperous film career. The other newcomer, Apoorva Agnihotri is unfortunately not as impressive, and his boyish looks don't exactly fit in with the selfishness of the character. But then again, who said you can tell someone's personality by looking at them?

Amrish Puri is very dignified and plays another role to perfection. I see no reason why this amazing actor should not get his current fee of Rs. 1 Crore as a character actor per film. And Himani Shivpuri should start doing roles other than the eternal aunt stuff. (Last time we saw her do something different was the bad-mouthed and scene-steeling prostitute in the otherwise uninspired Prem Granth.)

Cinematography by Kabir Lal, choreography by Saroj and Ahmed Khan, editing by Renu Saluja, and all technical aspects of Pardes, like all Mukta Arts films, are perfect. The Vancouver-Las Vegas-India locales are all breath-taking. And the Popeye-Shahrukh dance sequence in "Dil Deewana Dil" was also innovative for an Indian film. Nadeem-Shravan's average music score, as I had always predicted, is redeemed by great song picturisations by Ghai.

Showman Subhash Ghai has always been a great Indian film-maker. But this is the first time he has dealt with an important topic that has not been touched before properly in Indian cinema. (Whereas Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was about NRIs with Indian hearts, Pardes is about Westernized NRIs.) I salute Subhash Ghai for this good deed. And I also commend him for evoking patriotism in the hearts of the viewers by showing us the rich culture and beauty of India. I believe patriotic feelings are effectively instilled in a viewer by showing the beauty of one's homeland, not by harping on life-taking land battles of the past. Even though I am Pakistani by birth, I felt a strong connection with India because of the magnificent Pardes. Whereas J.P. Dutta's offensive Border reignited the Pakistani-Indian rift the world over. It is because of films like Pardes that Indian cinema is loved by movie-goers in both Pakistan and around the world.

Producer: Paramjeet Baweja

Director: Rajesh Singh, Harry Baweja

*ing: Arshad Warsi, Chandrachur Singh, Mayuri Kango, and Anjala Zaveri

Music : Vishal

BETAABI is an original movie. Originality makes the movie interesting. Chandrachur Singh plays Sameer, a poor man who falls in love with rich girl Sheena (Anjala Zaveri). Sheena's father is involved with a major crime boss Brij (Gulshan Grover) who is after Sheena's father. Arshad Warsi plays Vicky, a small time crook hired by Brij to marry Sheena and take her to Brij who will hold her for ransom.

Sheena happens to be a girl who lives on the wild side. When poor Sameer finally gets up enough courage to ask her to marry him, she dares Sameer to kidnap her and take her to the Gateway Of India in Mumbai in fifteen days. If he succeeds in doing so, Sheena will marry him.

Later in the same night, Vicky, who has come into Sheena' life as Chetan, the son of her fathers' 'langotia yaar', proposes to her too. Seeing the challenging possibilities in this, Sheena, dares him to save her from Sameer in 15 days. Thus creating a 'swamber' for herself.

Complications arrive when Reshma (Mayor Kango) is to be married to a the college 'gunda', Sheena, knowing this guy and his habits well, advises her best friend to run away, thus creating a second villain for the plot to continue.

Finally 'the D day' arrives and after a lot of mishaps and setbacks, Sameer & Sheena are finally on their way, with Vicky & Reshma hot in pursuit. As the events unfold, Sheena falls in love with Sameer, Reshma with Vicky and eventually Vicky gives up being bad to fall in love with Reshma. And we have a typical Hindi movie ending, in which the heroes fight the villains, villains lose, heroes get the heroines and they all live happily ever after.

Despite the unoriginal ending, BETAABI has a wonderful, love story mixed with the typical fights and action. The songs, by Vishal, too are fantastic, specially the haunting 'Tum Mere Ho' sung by Chandrachur's character. Not, offcourse, as good as they were in ‘MAACHIS’, but good enough.

Of all the performances, the popular duo from 'TERE MERE SAPNE', Chandrachur and Arshad, were excellent. And I am sorry to say that Anjala too did, a good job, much better that 'HIMALAY PUTRA'. As for Mayori Kango, I'm sorry to say that though she has come a long way from her high pitched shrieks in 'PAPA KAHTE HAIN', she has a while to go before she will be considered good. Grover does a good job as a villain, as per normal, and Reema Lagoo as Sameer's mother is wonderful, as is Shakti Kappor. All I have left to say about this film is WATCH IT.

N.B. Unlike all the other reviews, this one was actually written my me :)

Producer: Yash Chopra

Director: Yash Chopra

*ing: Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Karisma Kapoor, Farida Jalal, Sp. App. Akshay Kumar

Music : Uttam Singh

Everything boils down to this. After twenty-seven years of Yash Raj Films, two years after the mega-success Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Yash Chopra’s son, Aditya Chopra’s, first directional venture, Dil To Pagal Hai releases. Expectations are high, as this is the first film that Madhuri Dixit acts with Karisma Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan alongside. This is also the first film Shah Rukh Khan acts with Yash Chopra as director after the mega-success Darr.

To start off the music is released and within a month the songs have hit the number one position on the charts and are breaking records all over the world. The music director, Uttam Singh, relatively unknown before this album released (except for a few albums in the eighties), reached a high with his compositions. Anand Bakshi’s mastered the lyrics one more time.

Nothing could have gone wrong, right? Well, maybe.

The story is fairly simple, and may be the only thing lacking in the movie. Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan), a director, starts with describing a new play that his performing team is going to put on "Maya", translated as "illusion". The lone female dancer in his team is Nisha (Karisma Kapoor). Nisha, madly in love with Rahul, once tells him about her love. As Rahul starts making this play with Nisha in the lead as "Maya", she gets injured, and the real "Maya", Pooja (Madhuri Dixit) arrives. Pooja is arranged to marry Ajay (Akshay Kumar), a businessman from London. Pooja takes the part as Maya hesitantly. From there, the story rolls to the finale quite peacefully.

Shah Rukh Khan dominates the movie. His role as Rahul is played valiantly and may be deserving of an award. Karisma Kapoor dominates her role also. Her talents, shown off again after Raja Hindustani, may make her a mainstay in the film industry. Madhuri Dixit, as Pooja, shows off her talent as an actress, and this role may bring her back into the numero uno spot, as it was left up for grabs because many big name female character films flopped this year.

The music sounds even better in the film than on cassette. The choreography and technical aspects of the direction during the songs show off the real beauty of Yash Raj Films. Yash Chopra’s direction stresses his experience and delicate handling of the movie. Many other directors destroy films at their endings, especially films with weak scripts. The dialogues by Aditya Chopra showed off his young talents. The handling of the dialogues by Yash Chopra may make the dialogues better than they actually were, but they worked well in the context of the movie.

So why not ten out of ten points? There was something missing from this film. Every time I come out of a film feeling special or enlightened, I give it a 10. But this film didn’t make me feel that way. I felt indifferent. That magic that Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge or Lamhe had after watching them wasn’t there. A feeling that I am satisfied with what I expected from this film is just not there. Were my expectations too high? Maybe—but those expectations were for this movie to be perfect, a ten out of ten-point movie—even without the emotional attachment of Lamhe or DDLJ. There were two flaws with the movie, one being that the story is weak, and two being that after the movie was finished I felt as if I saw a theatrical performance rather than a real movie. It felt as though the actors actually acted for me and they would go home to their families and live their normal life. Of course that is what is true in real life—Shah Rukh, Karisma, Madhuri andtime I come out of a film feeling special or enlightened, I give it a 10. But this film didn

But still this movie is worth at least one watching. Shah Rukh, Madhuri (though a bit chubby), Karisma, and even Akshay do a good job and Yash Chopra’s potentially award winning direction are just a few reasons to go watch it.

EDITORS NOTE ~ this movie is a must see for 1997, though lacking the DDLJ magic, this is all set to be a big hit. Watch out for a fantastic performance but a smooth and sauve Akshay Kumar, who is looks great in glasses by the way. The major disapppointment was Madhuri & Karishma and i have never likes this two ladies anyway, and watch out for the same suit (salwar kameez) worn by madhuri constantly in the film, just in different colours

The movie and story however were great and Shah Rukh was as hot as ever, the love story aspect of the film really does have something going for it and the films' 'slogan' Someone...Somewhere...is made for you... , is almost as good as Come...fall in love.

CAST: Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgan,Juhi Chawla and Kajol.

DIRECTOR: Inder Kumar

Indra Kumar obviously believes in the mainstream cinema dictum: loudness all? The louder a film is - whether it is comedy, or serious drama - the more avidly our audience will lap it up. Ishq is a bad example of how such unrelieved loudness can spoil what could have been a zingy entertainer. Not that the content is new. It is that hoary old chestnut about rich boy-poor girl. The only difference here is you have a cosy foursome to play the "infinite variations" known only to Hindi cinema of the rich-poor divide.

So you have rich kid Ajay (Ajay Devgan) falling instantly in love with a poor Kajol (not that you think she is poor from the way she is dressed in our democratic Mumbai). And spoilt rich girl Madhu (Juhi Chawla) falls for Ajay’s best friend and the film’s saving grace, Raja (Aamir Khan). Now Raja is a mechanic who hangs out with the rich boy much to the annoyance of Ajay’s maniac father a white and grey wigged Sadashiv Amrapurkar who deliberately stamps over the hand of a menial wiping the marble floor to show his contempt for the poor.

Indra Kumar ascribes his box-office success to elevating the "situation’ above all defined characters. Okay, you do have situational comedies where characters have to be just types. But the types have to be believable and not specimens dusted out from some museum for archaic crazies. Take the two villainous fathers in Ishq. Seth Ranjit (Amrapurkar) and Seth Harbansal (Dalip Tahil) are so unbelievably crude and loud in their utter contempt for the poor and such hams when they express this contempt that they just aren’t human beings. If they had been less loud and more sneering contemptuous, you could believe - at least till the film lasts - in the two morons. Why has the good sense Indra Kumar exhibited in Dil (where he created two really funny fathers) deserted him?

The first half which is supposed to be all fun and games is again afflicted by this decibel level of conception and execution of gags. When Ajay walks across steel pipes some 80 feet above the ground, unaware of where he is just to reach his beloved on the rooftop across, the entire gag is stretched beyond its capacity to generate laughs. Speed and fast editing are today’s requirements for such sight gags but Indra Kumar seems stuck in a time warp of archaic circus clowning and not clued to the 90s where a Jim Carrey kind of frenetic kind of frenetic action sets the standard for purely physical comedy.

Even the spats between Madhu and Raja-they portray the fight at first sight syndrome-don’t have the verve of the old Shammi Kapoor films. Aamir Khan is dependable as ever but Juhi Chawla’s timing is off and you can "see" her straining to be funny. Nothing can be more fatal. The only thing unpredictable in this boringly predictable film is the placement of songs. Or "items" as they are called in the business. There has to be a logical place in the narrative for the song. The Hum ko tujhe se pyar hai number just comes on without rhyme or reason. So does the elaborately picturised Lova Lova which has at least has some logic, even if it is the elementary kind to express the joy of the happy four - some and the tiresome Johnny Lever who reserves aces up his sleeve to teach the conniving, caddish dads a lesson in the last reel. Why couldn’t he do it earlier and put us out of our enforced misery? If the much hyped Ishq is the best a beleaguered Hindi film industry can come up with as the formula for sorely needed success. God help the film industry. And us, the long suffering audience.