Tashan

Tashan
(translates as "style")
2008
4/5 stars

Jimmy (Saif Ali Khan) is hired by Pooja (Kareena Kapoor) to teach English to her disreputable looking boss, Bhaiyyaji (Anil Kapoor).  Jimmy falls in love with Pooja, who persuades him to help her steal money from Bhaiyyaji.  When Bhaiyyaji finds out, he sends a small-town thug, Bachchan (Akshay Kumar), to find them.

This over-the-top action flick is surprisingly enjoyable. The plot, while ridiculous at times, is engaging and fast-paced, with good dialog.  It seems apparent that director Vijay Krishna Acharya  was strongly influenced by Tarantino, and there are what look like obvious nods to some of his films.

Khan and Kareen Kapoor give solid performances, but Anil Kapoor and Kumar are extraordinarily good in their roles.  The action, though often unbelievable, looks great and is well choreographed.  The musical numbers are average but the background and incidental music are well-above.  This certainly isn't a family movie, due to the violence, but it is a thoroughly fun ride nonetheless.

This movie is available with Amazon Prime.

Khan, Anil Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Kumar

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
(Translation: "never say goodbye")
2006
5/5 stars

This is the story of two broken marriages.  Dev (Shah Rukh Khan) and Rhea (Preity Zinta) were college sweethearts, but after an accident leaves him embittered, Dev becomes an emotionally cruel husband and father.  Maya (Rani Mukerji) and Rishi (Abhishek Bachchan) grew up together, but though Rishi is thoroughly in love with her, Maya has emotional reservations about their relationship.  Dev and Maya meet through an accident and strike up an unlikely friendship; they each encourage the other to fix their marriage.  Then the unexpected happens, and brings heartbreak for all involved.

This tear-jerking drama is a surprisingly outstanding movie, despite it's unhappy story line and average music.  The plot is  compelling and engrossing, as well as being tight and believable, and the characters well developed.  The acting from the four principals is fantastic, with realistic emotions and reactions.  While the topic is not one I "like", I have to say that this was a stellar movie.

(Dev and Rhea's son is played by Ahsaas Channa, Rhea's boss is played by Arjun Rampal, Dev's mother is played by Kirron Kher, and Rishi's father is played by Bachchan's real life father, Amitabh Bachchan. John Abraham and Kajol both make cameo appearances. )

Loveyatri

Loveyatri: the Journey of Love
2018
3/5 stars

Susu (Aayush Sharma) is a failing college student with nothing but Garba on his mind.  During Navaratri, he meets and falls in love with Michelle (Warina Hussain), a rich NRI from London, who is top in her university class.  Despite the gulf between them, Susu pursues Michelle, but is warned off by her father (Ronit Roy).  Michelle returns home after having a disagreeable scene with Susu who, encouraged by his uncle (Ram Kapoor), tries to find a way to reach London to apologize and declare his love.

The plot of this insipid romantic-drama is unrealistic and predictable.  This is the debut movie for both principle actors, and neither is impressive.  Hussain is too unsure of herself-- nearly shy-- to be a leading lady.  While Sharma isn't a bad actor, a hero needs to be either charismatic or handsome, and preferably both.  Sadly, he is neither.  (What is with that horrible brushed-back hair style?!)  He also suffered at the hands of the make-up artists, with thick cosmetics that are extremely obvious.  The supporting cast gave good performances, however.  The music and choreography are average, though the Garba scenes are lovely.  I wavered between giving this two or three stars, but since I didn't enjoy it, but didn't actively dislike it, I'll rate it three.

Hussain and Sharma

Dhoom

Dhoom
(translates as "Blast")
2004
3/5 stars

After a series of clever, successful robberies by a motorcycle gang, Assistant Commissioner of Police Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachchan) takes the case personal, and with the help of a minor crook Ali (Uday Chopra) attempts to catch them in the act. John Abraham plays Kabir, the mastermind behind the thefts, with Esha Deol as Sheena, Ali's love interest, and Rimi Sen portraying Sweety, Jai's wife.

This action/adventure film is not an outstanding one.  There is no surprise to the plot, it drags in spots (the last ten minutes felt like it lasted three times as long), and is, at times, rather inane.  The music and choreography were unremarkable.  As there was no depth to the plot, the actors only presented average performances. Despite all that, this popular film was rather fun, and I would consider watching the other two in the series.

This movie is available on Amazon Prime.

Veer-Zaara

Veer-Zaara
2004
5/5 stars

After 22 years in a Pakistani prison, Hindustani Veer Pretap Singh (Shah Rukh Khan) is assigned a  novice lawyer, Saamiya (Rani Mukerji), to review and represent his case.  Having remained silent for the years of his imprisonment, he opens up to Saamiya and tells her the story behind his arrest: the love story between him and a Pakistani woman, Zaara (Preity Zinta).

The plot of this romantic drama is gripping, moving, and mostly believable.  It portrays Pakistan-India relations sensitively.  The music is average and above, with some enjoyable choreography. This is a gorgeous movie, with both costumes and scenery that were breathtaking.  Khan and Zinta have excellent chemistry and were entirely convincing.  Mukerji played the uncertain but determined attorney well. Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini were cast as Khan's parents, with Kirron Kher as Zaara's mother; the three were, naturally, fantastic. The cast also includes Divya Dutta, Anupam Kher, Zohra Sehgal, and Manoj Bajpayee, all of whom gave solid performances.  Overall, this is a wonderfully written and acted film, and I highly recommend it.

Khan and Zinta

This movie is available on Amazon Prime.

Bachna Ae Haseeno

Bachna Ae Haseeno
(translates as: Watch Out, Ladies)
2008
4/5 stars


Raj (Ranbir Kapoor) thinks of himself as a lady killer, and seriously breaks the hearts of two young women: Mahi (Minissha Lamba) as a teen, and Radhika (Bipasha Basu) as a twenty-something. Shortly after devastating Radhika, Raj falls in love with Gayatri (Deepika Padukone), only to have his own heart broken. Seeing how it feels, he sets out to try to make amends with Mahi and Radhika.

I was surprised at how good this romantic comedy-drama was.  All four leads were convincing, the film work was good, and the story was strong.  The music ranged from really terrible to average.  (That first song nearly put me off the movie entirely.)  I enjoyed the overall movie enough to ignore the bad songs, though, and do recommend it.

Lamba, Padukone, Basu, Kapoor

Movie is available with Amazon Prime.

Om Jai Jagadish

Om Jai Jagadish
2002
4/5 stars


Widowed Saraswati (Waheeda Rehman) has three sons: Om (Anil Kapoor), Jai (Fardeen Khan) and Jagadish (Abhishek Bachchan); the family is devoted to each other.  Om, much older than his two brothers, is the wage earner and is supporting Jai and Jagadish as they go to college.  The movie follows the lives, romances, and dramas of the family over the course of a few years.

While melodramatic at times, this family drama is well written, interesting, and generally entertaining.  The music and dancing are average but energetic. Bachchan gave a lively, enjoyable performance. Kapoor didn't show a large range of emotions, but was mostly convincing.  Khan was the least credible, in a role that gave scope for much character growth.  Rehman played her role well.  The three female love interests were Mahima Chaudhry,  Urmila Matondkar, and Tara Sharma.  Matondkar played a disagreeable character, and did it well.  The other two ladies, while not outstanding, were solid.    If the viewer is willing to commit to nearly 3 hours, it's worth watching.