Sangdil Sanam

Sangdil Sanam
(translation: "heartless beloved")
1994
3/5

Kishan and Sanam are childhood sweethearts, and are officially betrothed by their families.  However, Kishan's father (Alok Nath) is framed by Sanam's father (Kiran Kumar) for a bank theft, and Kishan and his mother (Reema Lagoo) are left with nothing and retire to a village.  Twelve years later, Kishan (Salman Khan) goes to retrieve Sanam (Manisha Koirala) and bring her home as his bride.  Unfortunately, Sanam has changed for the worse and wants nothing to do with him.

This romantic drama/comedy starts off well with a great premise, but dissolves into a ridiculous slapstick in which Kishan ignores the fact that "no" means "no"; the film then becomes serious again, and quite interesting (despite the Stockholm syndrome plot line), but even the solidly good songs can't make it better than average.

Mujhse Dosti Karoge!

Mujhse Dosti Karoge!
(translation: "will you be my friend")
2002
5/5 stars

As a young boy, Raj moves with his family to London.  He asks his crush, Tina, to write to him.  She says she will, but as she has no interest in so doing, their mutual friend Pooja writes to him instead, and in Tina's name, for fifteen years. After these fifteen years,  Raj (Hrithik Roshan) returns to India, halfway in love with the writer of the letters.  When Tina (Kareena Kapoor) turns out tobe  so beautiful and bubbly, Raj is certain that he loves her, not realizing that Pooja (Rani Mukherji), who loves him, is the letter writer and the one he truly loves.

The plot is standard Bollywood fare, but is good nonetheless.  The chemistry between Roshan and Mukherjee is excellent--so good it's palpable at times.  The loves songs were good, and the group choreography pleasant to watch. Kapoor's costumes, while fitting for her character, were so skimpy as to be almost painful to see.  This film works it way up to a tremendous ending, but instead it ties up too nicely and quickly.  This keeps it from being an exceptional movie, but it is overall good entertainment.

August 2020: After rewatching this, I have to up the rating to five stars.  Yes, it wraps up quickly, but it is effective, nonetheless, and a truly greet movie.

This movie is available on Amazon Prime.

Bombay Talkie

Bombay Talkie
1970
4/5 stars

Lucia Lane (Jennifer Kendal), self-absorbed and demanding, is a British author who has come to Bombay to research her next novel.  She falls in love with Vikram (played by Kendal's real-life husband Shashi Kapoor), a younger, popular Bollywood hero. The already complicated relationship is worsened by the fact that Vikram's wife (Aparna Sen) knows of the affair, and that his friend, Hari (Zia Mohyeddin), is in love with Lucia and roiling with jealousy.

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala has written a screenplay that is both credible and compelling, with dark undertones. One simply can't like Lucia and Vikram, and yet one must continue to watch as they head towards disaster.  As with many Merchant Ivory films, this one relies heavily on the actors' facial expressions to show emotions and set the mood, and these four main actors do an excellent job.  Overall, it's a rather unpleasant movie that will simultaneously grip and repel, and keep the viewer watching till the very end.

(Cast also includes Nadira, and  a cameo by Helen.)

Kapoor, Kendal

This movie is available on YouTube:

Judaai

Judaai
(translates as "separation")
1997
5/5 stars

Kajal (played by Sridevi) is obsessed with money, and as a result begins to disrespect her upstanding, honorable husband, Raj, (Anil Kapoor) for not giving her what she wants.  When rich Janhvi (Urmila Matondkar) falls in love with Raj, Kajal bullies him into marrying Janhvi in exchange for a large sum of money.  Kajal soon discovers that the wealth she has so desired will not bring the happiness she expected.

The incomparably beautiful Sridevi gives an outstanding performance as Kajal, easily working the audience for and against her as the scene required.  Matondkar is also excellent in her role.  Kapoor, though playing his part well, is overshadowed by the two strong performances by the actresses, but that is as it should be for this film.  The direction is superb, the music is good, the choreography average, the traditional costumes stunning, and the supporting cast some of the finest.  I was surprised at just how fantastic this movie was, and it is written well enough that I was uncertain as to how it would finally end.  I highly recommend this film, if for nothing else than Sridevi's performance.

The star-studded cast also includes Kader Khan, Farida Jalal, Johnny Lever, Paresh Rawal, Upasana Singh and Saeed Jaffrey

Sridevi, Kapoor, Matondkar

Kal Ho Naa Ho

Kal Ho Naa Ho
translates as Tomorrow May Never Come
2003
4/5 stars

Naina (Preity Zinta) and her family are at a low point in their collective lives until Aman (Shah Rukh Khan) moves next door and brings laughter back into their home.  Naina falls in love with Aman, who reveals that he is married.  Aman, knowing that Naina's best friend Rohit (Saif Ali Khan) is in love with her, tries to spark a romance between the two.  What they don't know, though, is that Aman is hiding an even deeper secret.

This romantic drama has a wonderful, moving plot.  All three main actors give convincing performances, and the supporting cast (down to the children) are impressive as well.  The musical numbers are beautiful, sometimes memorably so, with the exception of the mostly vulgar Club Nirvana scene, which keeps this movie from being five stars.  Overall, this tear-jerker delivers excellent entertainment and is well worth the three hours spent viewing.

Cast includes Jaya Bachchan, Dara Singh, Sushma Seth, and my favorite screen Mummy, Reema Lagoo.

This movie is available on Amazon Prime.

Shakespeare Wallah

Shakespeare Wallah
1965
5/5 stars

Lizzie Buckingham (Felicity Kendal) is the teen-aged daughter of a roving acting couple (played by her real life parents, Geoffrey Kendal and Laura Liddell) in India during the 1960s.  Lizzie falls in love with Sanju (Shashi Kapoor) who seems to reciprocate her feelings, but he is also having an affair with the jealous actress Manjula (Madhur Jaffrey).

Loosely based on the true life of the Kendal family, this second collaboration of Merchant, Ivory, and Jhabvala is perfection.  The cast is talented and natural, the plot believable and beautifully written, the film-work graceful and personal.  The Shakespeare references may be problematic for some, but regardless, I recommend this movie whole-heartedly.

Kendal and Kapoor

Jab We Met

Jab We Met
("When We Met")
2007
4/5 stars


Wealthy businessman Aditya (Shahid Kapoor), depressed over a broken relationship, walks out of his job and gets on the first train he sees, not caring where he goes.  Here he meets feisty Geet (Kareena Kapoor), who tries to chatter with him, despite his brush-off attempts.  When he walks off the train, she tries to retrieve him, and in the end the train leaves without them.  Aditya helps her return home, and finds himself attracted to Geet's childish enthusiasm.  Geet, however, already has a boyfriend with whom she plans to elope.

This comedy-drama is a delight.  The plot is both lighthearted and serious, and at times the viewer wonders how there will be a happy ending.  Kareena excels at her vivacious role, and Shahid is convincing throughout Aditya's gradual changes and emotions.  With the exception of the last one, which I actively disliked both song and dance, the music and choreography were good.  This romance is one that I would universally recommend.