Dil Chahta Hai

Dil Chahta Hai
(translates as "the heart wants")
2001
5/5 stars

Akash (Aamir Khan), Sid (Akshaye Khanna), and Sameer (Saif Ali Khan), just graduated from college, are the closest of friends.  Sameer falls in and out of love regularly, while Sid is too involved in his painting to be interested in women.  Akash, a cynic, doesn't believe that love truly exists.  This coming of age drama follows their first tastes of real love, a devastating break in their friendship, and their eventual maturing.

The film also stars Dimple Kapadia, Priety Zinta, and Sonali Kulkarni.

This was a most impressive movie.  The three male leads were believable and natural as they gave award winning performances.  Zinta, and veteran actress Kapadia were also particularly good in their roles.  The soundtrack was uniformly enjoyable.  The plot is funny, moving, and engrossing, enhanced by excellent cinematography.  It is obvious that the screenplay writer/director, Farhan Akhtar (27 at the time), is talented and able to bring out the best in his cast.  It's easy to see why this film has become a cult classic.

Toh Baat Pakki!

Toh Baat Pakki!
(translates as "Then it's final!")
2010
3/5 stars

In this romantic comedy, Rajeshwari (played by Tabu) is a pushy, outspoken woman who, nevertheless, only wants what is best for her family.  When she meets Rahul (Sharman Joshi), an engineering student, she thinks he would be a perfect match for her younger sister, Nisha (Yuvika Chaudhary).  With a bit of meddling from Rajeshwari, the two fall in love.  Then Rajeshwari meets Yuvraj (Vatsal Sheth), an even more eligible bachelor, and breaks the the match with Rahul, to arrange one with Yuvraj.  Rahul, deeply in love with Nisha, is determined to be the one to marry her.

The predictable plot is amusing, but not engrossing.  Tabu is an accomplished actress and gave a fine performance as the likable-yet-unlikable Rajeshwari.  Joshi also gives a good performance, but is hampered by not being a convincing romantic hero. The music was lively and enjoyable, but not exceptional.  Overall, it's a light movie, not particularly memorable, but still entertaining. 

Aisha

Aisha
2010
4/5 stars

In this Bollywood remake of Hollywood's Clueless -- itself an adaptation of Jane Austen's 1815 classic Emma -- spoiled, rich, entitled Aisha (Sonam Kapoor) flits from project to project, such as animal welfare, art, and matchmaking among her friends.  She meets middle-class Shefali (Amrita Puri), and makes it her new plan to update the small town girl and find her a upper-class husband.  As Aisha meddles, her childhood friend Arjun (Abhay Deol) watches in frustration, trying to give her a guiding hand and encourage her to mature.  Despite Arjun's attempts, Aisha makes a muddle of things, her own love life included.

Aisha's best friend, Pinky, is played by Ira Dubey.  Cyrus Sahukar, Arunoday Singh, and Lisa Haydon round out the main cast.

Though not sticking fully to the plot, Aisha was well adapted from Austen's novel, hitting all the high points that make the book so compelling and entertaining. The movie balanced humor and drama well, and developed the characters nicely.  The music was generally excellent, and the overall filming exceptional.

I've not been impressed with Kapoor previously, but she played Aisha perfectly.  Deol is a strong actor, and was great in his role.  The rest of the cast were convincing as well, with Puri giving a particularly good debut performance.  I was surprised at just how good this movie was, and had it not been for the alcohol and marijuana usage, I would have rated it five stars.

Siggh, Haydon, Dubey, Kapoor, Deol, Puri, Sahukar

Ahishta Ahishta

Ahishta Ahishta
(translates as "slowly, slowly")
2006
3/5 stars

Megha (Soha Ali Khan), runs away from home to Delhi to marry her secret fiance Dheeraj (Shayan Munshi).  When Dheeraj doesn't show up at the marriage registrar's office, Ankush (Abhay Deol), who is making a living as a wedding witness, offers to help.  Since Megha feels she can never return home, Ankush assists her to find a place to live and work.  They become fast friends, with Ankush eventually falling in love with her.  She agrees to marry him, then Dheeraj returns to her life.

Deol gave a mostly natural performance, but Khan was wooden at times, and not fully convincing.  Music was average and less.  The plot was typical, but then had a most unexpected turn. This would have made the movie higher rated, but there had not been enough emotional build up previously to cause the viewer to be invested in the characters.  The movie was not a disappointment, as such, but could have been much better. 

November 2019 Viewing

Watched:
Lakshya 4/5 stars 
Quite good patriotic film; plan to review it later.

Rewatched:
Shanghai Triad (Chinese film) 4/5 stars
An old favorite that didn't stand up quite as well 20 years later.

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (previous review here)  4/5 stars

Did Not Finish:
Karthik Calling Karthik
While Farhan Akhtar is a convincing actor, I had no connection with or compassion for Karthik after 30 minutes of viewing, so I gave up.

Bobby
Made it an hour into this classic Bollywood favorite, but wasn't connecting with the characters, so moved on to another film.  May try to watch it again another time.

October 2019 Viewing

October was a difficult month like September, so again I did a lot of rewatching movies.  I went for comfort over new experiences, with the Telugu movie Rowdy Fellow as my only first-time watch.  I enjoyed it, and will write a review at some point.

September 2019 Viewing

September was a month of rewatching favorites and of abandoning many others.  In the end, I only fully watched one new-to-me, Dil Chahta Hai, which I very much enjoyed and deserves an eventual review.  It was a solid five star film, and one which I'll probably revisit.