Thugs of Hindostan

Thugs of Hindostan

2018
2/5 stars

Set in 1795,  Azaad (Amitabh Bachchan) and his ward Zafira (Fatima Sana Shaikh), lead a group of resistance fighters trying to free an Indian kingdom from the British East India Company's rule. The British commander John Clive (Lloyd Owen) sends a small-time confidence trickster, Firangi Mallah (Aamir Khan), to infiltrate the band and betray them.  (Katrina Kaif also stars, as dancer Suraiyya)

The film has a great premise, and the first thirty minutes were quite good; sadly, the next 134 minutes were not.  Instead of being exciting, funny, and enjoyable as shown in the trailer,  it was mostly deadly dull.  The "surprise" changes of allegiance became increasingly predictable and annoying.  The action scenes are too long, as were the (average and below) musical numbers.  Kaif's first number was embarrassingly ridiculous and not worthy of either her talent or dignity.  Her performance, and that of Shaikh, were stiff and not natural.  Owen made an exceptional villain, however.  Bachchan and Khan gave strong performances, but that was not enough to redeem the entire movie.  I would suggest watching the trailer, as it has all the good parts, and skipping the movie entirely.

Waqt : The Race Against Time

Waqt : The Race Against Time
2005
3/5 stars


Ishwar (Amitabh Bachchan) and his wife Sumitra (Shefali Shah) run a toy factory that is successful enough for Iswar to spoil their son Aditya (Akshay Kumar) in every way. Aditya has no interest in the factory, or in taking responsibility for his life. He is satisfied to live off his parents' hard work and talk about becoming an actor. He elopes with his girlfriend, Pooja (Priyanka Chopra), expecting his father to support them. When illness strikes Ishwar, he makes the hard decision to throw Aditya out of the house to force him to become responsible and dependable.

This drama had the potential to be a moving and emotional film, but fell short.  Everything about it, excepting the acting of the four principles, was average or below.  Bachchan and Shah were especially good in their roles, while Kumar and Chopra gave their usual level of performance.  Solid acting alone cannot improve a mediocre movie, though, so the end result was underwhelming.  

Saawan - The Love Season

Saawan - The Love Season
2006
2/5 stars


Raj (Kapil Jhaveri) and Kajal (Saloni Aswani) meet on vacation in Capetown, and fall in love.  When they return to Mumbai, Kajal is saved from an accident by an unnamed reluctant prophet (Salman Khan), who then predicts her death.

(Johnny Lever also stars, as Raj's friend, Funsukh.)

This film is terrible.  The first half, when Raj and Kajal meet and fall in love, is tedious, banal, poorly written, and just as badly acted.  Even the excellent Lever couldn't save this portion of the film, as his jokes were weak and generally not funny.  The music, while not fully terrible, was certainly not good.

The story becomes much more interesting once Khan's character is introduced.  He portrays the agonized seer well, and if the focus had been on his character, it could have been interesting and emotional.  With the focus elsewhere, though, one good performance from Khan was not enough to make this movie even tolerable.

(Personal note: I finished watching it out of curiosity to see just how awful it would get.)

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.