Main Aur Mrs Khanna

Main Aur Mrs Khanna
(translates as "Me and Mrs. Khanna")
2009
4/5 stars

Loving couple Samir (Salman Khan) and Raina (Kareena Kapoor) experiences marital troubles when Samir looses his job.  They decide to move from Melbourne to Singapore where Samir hopes to restart his career.  Certain things happen, and as a result Raina remains behind in Melbourne, with Samir promising to return for her.  She takes a job and makes new friends, one of which, Akash (Sohail Khan) falls in love with her. With the help of his friend Arsh (Yash Tonk), Akash sets about to woo her and discredit Samir.

This romance has a good, if predictable, plot that nicely combines humor with drama. The songs are good, some especially so.  Kapoor is sometimes stiff, but Sohail Khan has good energy and gives a good performance.  Salman Khan's role is brief and two-dimensional, and he doesn't give much emotion to it.  On the whole, while it's not an exceptional film, it gives good entertainment.

Special appearances by Preity Zinta and Deepika Padukone.

Baahubali: The Beginning

Baahubali: The Beginning
2015
5/5 stars

A baby is found in the river by a village that lives at the bottom of a gigantic waterfall.  He is adopted, named Shivudu, and not told of his history.  Shivudu (played by Prabhas) spends his life trying to climb to the top of the waterfall.  When he finally succeeds, he finds the large kingdom of Mahishmati, and  falls in love with a girl (played by Tamannaah) from a rebel group who are trying to rescue their queen from Mahishmati's evil king.  Shivudu, brave and fearless, vows to rescue the queen himself.

Despite the predictable plot, this Telugu action-drama is all around fantastic.  The acting was solid, the scenery and settings gorgeous, and the music (songs and incidental) excellent.  Some of the CGI animals weren't fully credible, but the rest of the CGI usage looked natural and impressive.  The action scenes generally looked believable, and were always exciting.  Overall,  for viewers comfortable with violent action films, this is a movie not to be missed.

This epic is available for rent on Amazon.

Kyon Ki

Kyon Ki
tagline: It's Fate
(translates as "because")
2005
5/5 stars

The less known about the plot the better for this movie.  In brief, Anand (Salman Khan) is admitted to a mental hospital in a childlike state where he is treated by three doctors, Tanvi (Kareena Kapoor), Sunil (Jackie Shroff), and Dr. Khurana (Om Puri).  His past is shown in flashback, and Rimi Sen plays Maya, Anand's love interest.

This fantastic drama is funny, touching, and sometimes shocking.  Khan plays the childlike Anand excellently.  Shroff and Puri give wonderful, believable performances.  Kapoor is a bit stiff at times,  but generally convincing.  The music is good, with some lovely lyrics.  Kapoor's costumes are beautiful.  The plot is gripping, keeping the viewer interested throughout.  Overall, it is a movie I would universally recommend.

Tiger Zinda Hai

Tiger Zinda Hai 
(translates as: "Tiger is alive")
2017
4/5 stars

When Indian nurses are held hostage by a religious militant extremist, former RAW agent "Tiger" (played by Salman Khan) is recruited to rescue them.  With the help of his team and his wife, former ISI agent, Zoya (Katrina Kaif), Tiger plans a daring rescue with a tight deadline.

Like it's prequel Ek Tha Tiger, Tiger Zinda Hai is a fast-paced espionage thriller, with much action and excitement.  Kaif plays a steely-eyed killer well (much better than her acting in romantic comedies) and Khan is obviously at home portraying a hero.  The music is good, though there is little of it.  The action looks realistic, the plot is generally tight and believable, and the film is overall enjoyable.


This movie is available on Amazon Prime.

Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam

Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam
(translates as "I am yours darling")
2002
4/5 stars

Radha (Madhuri Dixit) has been friends with Suraj (Salman Khan) since childhood; they are as close as siblings and spend much time with each other.  Radha marries Gopal (Shah Rukh Khan), previous ward of her grandfather (Alok Nath), and each is very much in love with the other, though Radha is uncertain how to show it.  This brings misunderstands, which grow as Gopal becomes jealous of Radha's obvious affection for Suraj.

Shah Rukh Khan does a fantastic job as Gopal, slowly cracking under the strain of his jealousy.  Dixit gives a good performance as well, displaying convincing emotions.  Salman Khan's character had very little development, and the result was a 2-D performance.  His musical numbers were quite good, though.  My only complaint with this film is the erroneous (to my mind) advice given by Gopal to his secretary about her marriage.  Other than that, this is an excellent drama, showing realistically how problems can arise in a relationship.

Cast also includes Aishwarya Rai and Atul Agnihotri.

Marigold

Marigold
2007
3/5 stars

In this Hollywood/Bollywood "crossover" film, Marigold (Ali Larter), a vain and spoiled American actress arrives in India to star in a film.  When it is cancelled, she has the good luck to make a friend and find another movie.  On the set, she meets Prem (Salman Khan), whose gentleness and kindness help her to change, and they fall in love.  Prem has a secret, however, that will prevent their happiness.

The cute plot is typical Bollywood, with both romance and drama.  Songs were average, but did nothing to advance the plot; the choreography was generally good, though.  The costumes, particularly Marigold's, were gorgeous.  Khan's role was stereotypical and two dimensional, giving him little scope for acting.  Larter did a good job being unlikable, but did it so well that it was hard to warm to Marigold even after her personal transformation.  Sadly,  Khan and Larter did not have good chemistry.

Other problems I had include finding the personality change to be too abrupt and not credible, and disbelieving that Prem could fall for Marigold before this change.  By suspending belief on those points, I was able to enjoy most of the film, but it's not one I would universally recommend.

Special appearance by Helen.