Veergati

Directed by: K.K. Singh

Starring: Salman Khan, Atul Agnihotri, Himani Shivpuri, Farida Jalal, Divya Dutta

Released: 1995

My rating: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

Veergati is one of those film made by and for men who consider themselves awesomely macho. Or who think being awesomely macho is the coolest thing ever. The 90s have given us some real gems of Indian cinema, but there is also a dark side to them, and from its darkest depths of all stuff regressive comes this story of an orphan played by Salman Khan, weirdly dead-eyed and foreshadowing his non-acting today, even though back then, in other films, he has always beamed with energy.

I have no love interest in the film which already gives you the idea I will die in the end.

It is all very bizarre and WTF from the very start. Upon bringing home a helpless baby he had found abandoned in the streets, a soft-hearted police officer needs to deal with a hysterical wife, who leaves him because one day the baby will surely make her yet unborn daugther a prostitute (if this sentence doesn´t make any sense to you, do not ever try watching the film). The policeman lets the pregnant wife leave him forever to raise up the baby. The kid grows up into a very disagreeable hero, who is supposed to be good in heart, but to be honest he acts like an idiot. To people he supposedly loves he is consistently hurtful, never failing to cry over the fact he has been thrown into the gutter as a baby, completely omitting how lucky he was to be found and brought up with much care and love. He also gets insulted because of his origin, and all in all the filmmaker expects you to embrace the character and pity him. Well, then maybe they should have tried a bit harder in actually making him less of an agressive maniac.

"I broke his arm and kicked his dog!" "So cute beta!"

Also, for a person constantly cribbing about how he doesn´t believe in relationships and gambles away, he becomes hell of a preacher (and „slapper“ of young girls) on moral codes when other people are not respectable towards their elders. Nothing about Salman´s character makes sense. The acting is awful from his part, and while the rest of the cast do whatever they can (the extremely lovely Divya Dutta sucks in this though), nobody saves the day.

The awful moaning of women being raped creates an eternal soundtrack to the villain´s den or even his mere presence on screen, showing his power of the underworld in the only form Bollywood knows – by inflicting injustice to women. One even more fondly remembers Mogambo who had it all sorted and though he was a highly caricatur-esque character in a comedy film, he still commanded more respect and caused you worries than any filthy pimp whom just one cleanly shaved guy can destroy by shaking his muscles.

In case you have not noticed this guy is evil, he has an ugly black mole to help you.

Perhaps you are confused why I have skipped describing the story, but there is not much to describe. Veergati is a diary of voes of a self-pitying agressor, who happens to be surrounded by people who never get angry with his annoying whining and abusive behaviour, and people who are just insane (yeah, still talking about the policeman´s wife). There is also a subplot revolving around the character of a friend, who is trying to raise money to get married to a wealthy girl he loves, but who cares really. In the end Ajay looses most of the people who are family to him (read: people who endless put up with his asshole ways), dresses into white sheets and goes on a vengeful killing spree mouthing some deep spiritual stuff in between increasing the death rate of the film.

Hello sir.

I have come to you to talk about our Lord Jesus Christ.

Neither well shot, scripted or acted, Veergati is more 80s than 90s, with all the darkness of bad cinema you can imagine under that tag, and a woman only having worth if she is a Maa.

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Akele Hum Akele Tum

Directed by: Mansoor Khan

Starring: Aamir Khan, Manisha Koirala

Released: 1995

Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

On some levels Akele Hum Akele Tum made me extremely happy. A sensitive, and not being all black and white in its views, story about one marriage´s failure and consequences, is not a common Bollywood (or Indian) concept for a movie. The film caught my fancy because of this venture into an unsure and unknown waters, as well as because it actually does try to show some new dimension and perspective to our heroes and heroines. At the same time the film failed me in some aspects, that are „small“, but seemed quite important to me nontheless. As usual I have not seen Kramer vs. Kramer, and American film this was based on, so there is no question of comparism from my side.

Rohit (Aamir) and Kiran (Manisha) are two beautiful young people. Bonding over their love for music, they start a relationship. And sharing the same dream – to make it big in the music industry – promises to bind them even more closely. In spite of her parents´ wishes Kiran accepts Rohit´s proposal for marriage, full of optimism and happy to have a husband, who, as she believes, will support her in her efforts. However reality hits hard. It is not easy to pursue ones dream when she has to tend her busy husband. And all dreams are all but left when she gives birth to their son. While Rohit is toiling, trying to fulfill his musical dreams, Kiran is home bound, being everything a proper wife is supposed to be: a cook, a maid, a nurse..... but unlike many a heroine, she is not happy.

Kiran is one of those rare speciments among Bollywood female characters who actually nurtures ambitions of her own and her idea of happiness does not fully equate tending family. After a while she cannot take it anymore and on verge of nervous breakdown she decides to leave her husband – and also their six years old son, and starts building a career for herself, starting in a chorus in advert jingles and ending up a top film heroine. Meanwhile her husband is all bewildered upon realizing how difficult it is to take care of household and son, and his own promising job turns sour at first, and pretty much dies a slow death....

The story is largely focused on Rohit´s part of the story and his bonding with son whom he neglected till then, while a story of one woman´s emancipation is pretty much just a background. Pity, because both the journeys in the reverse role universe would be worth exploring in detail. We don´t really see as much of Kiran as we should. We do not really feel what she feels and we don´t really know what her expectations or doubts are, apart from the beginning of the movie, when she indeed resembles just a wild animal trapped in a cage. On the other hand we do get a wonderful portrait of a father, who only without wife manages to grow up into a caring and thoughtful man. In the end it is bit of a disappointment for the viewer (or rather for me) that Kiran is indeed painted in the negative colours more than necessary. Her motives and reasons for abandoning her family are left without an attempt to make the audience understand. And while she regrets and asks for forgiveness, Rohit never even apologizes. I would rather believe „we failed each other“ statement Kiran gives rather than „I failed“ admission that is pretty violently drawn out of her a bit later.

The film ultimately belongs to Aamir Khan, who gives a stellar performance full of feeling. From frustration and anger to loving and protective as well as insecure, he gets is right, and his equation with his on screen son is wonderful. Manisha as Kiran is very good, but with less scope that I expected. Akele Hum Akele Tum thus remains a sensitive venture into human (and parental as well as child) psychology, that left me with moist eyes, but it is not exactly feminist friendly.

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Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge

Directed by: Aditya Chopra

Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Amrish Puri, Farida Jalal, Anupam Kher

Released: 1995

Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

I was deeply disappointed by Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. It is a film you will find in all the „must see“ Bollywood lists, it is massively popular and what is even more amazing it is still running in the theaters. For some it is the best of the best Bollywood movies ever. An evergreen classic. And it did not blow me away at all when I saw it the first time. I still remember how I was sitting in front of the screen as the closing credits rolled, me rather baffled, and I thought to myself: „Was that it?“ I failed to see the greatness there should be to rave about completely. But then after some time I returned to the film. And since then I have done so about four times. And other times I watched just small portions of it. And I realized that the beauty of DDLJ is in its simplicity and repeat value. It does not have the most amazing plot twist and it is all in all quite predictable, it does not have gorgeous sets to take your breath away and editing is a bit sloppy at times, but the film has an unusual freshness to it that can still be felt years after it first released and got so many fans.

This really wouldn´t be my reaction over prospect of being stuck with SRK....

The story line is notoriously known so let´s just sum it up quickly: Europe. Raj meets Simran. Simran hates Raj because he saw her bra and actually can play a piano. Raj doesn´t rape Simran even though they spend a night in a closed space together. Simran and Raj fall in love. But oh! Simran´s dad is Amrish Puri which in itself spells trouble. And indeed we are given his famous deadly stare and off goes Simran to India and her arranged fiancé she has never even seen. Raj, fully armed with a mandoline and a cow bell, follows, chupke chupke. Raj convinces everyone, while being in disguise, he is the most perfect guy ever. Amrish Puri deadly stares as he finds out the truth. Raj apologizes for even trying and makes a quick exit. Amrish Puri deadly stares as a train with Raj starts to move forward. They stare at each other. Still staring. Amrish Puri has a sudden change of heart and urges Simran to outrun the train and hop on. Simran runs. Running. Dramatic music in the background. Simran catches Raj´s hand and he pulls her into the train. 

One of the most famous Bollywood endings has actually many shortcomings. Why doesn´t the train actually move at the speed it should. Why doesn´t Simran hop into the nearest door and instead needs to outrun several carriages. Why the hell doesn´t Raj actually step out of the train? But as I´ve said before, DDLJ is not a perfect, flawless film. It has loads of fluffy charm to make up for it. Not even the performances are award-worthy (though numerously awarded), but there is so much earnestness in young Shahrukh Khan and natural appeal in Kajol you believe them without a complaint. It is no secret I am no fan of their jodi, as appalling as it sounds to many of you. I think they look like siblings most of the time. DDLJ however presented them so well even I couldn´t rant about my reservations towards the couple. Still, it shall forever be a great sorrow to me that DDLJ could not have been made with the original choice for Simran, the unfortunate Divya Bharti...

People usually rave about the second part of the movie, which almost entirely belongs to Shahrukh Khan as Raj, whilst Kajol as Simran remains largely passive, letting him do what he seems fit - after all that is what he asks her to do. I personally enjoyed the first part with their bonding in Switzerland more, it had more of things actually happening and there was more delightful comedy involved, it was also a lot less tear-heavy. The supporting character actors were dearly loved people whom we have learned to see in every other movie. They all do what we are used to know from them. Amrish Puri being the negative person in the film (but for once not evil), Farida Jalal an understanding and gentle mother, Anupam Kher a slightly whacky dad who interferes with everybody´s bussiness. All were lovely to watch. Though as a person who knows Karan Johar primarily as a TV host and a director of awful films it was kind of bizzare to watch him on screen as one of SRK´s friends...

"Actually, keep your daughter. Our kids could inherit your stare."

Great deal in the film´s appeal also lies in an extremely melodious and catchy soundtrack. It involves two pretty much iconic songs Tujhe Dekha To and Mehndi Laga Ki Rakhna, but all the tracks are good.

DDLJ is definitely overrated when labeled as perfect and the best ever film. But it is undeniably an all time classic with a truly tremendous repeat value, and it definitely belongs to all those „must see“ lists, even though if only as a reference point to the modern Bollywood romance it has become alongside two other biggies – Hum Aapke Hain Koun and Dil To Pagal Hai. The big three to bring romance and family values back after all the action packed massalas that ruled the cinemas for years post Sholay. It also remains the best Aditya Chopra work till date. In fact, I don´t think he came even close with any of his other movies. A begginer´s luck perhaps?

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Raja

Directed by: Indra Kumar

Starring: Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Dalip Tahil, Mukesh Khanna

Released: 1995

Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

There is really only one legitimate and valid reason why to watch Raja and that is Madhuri Dixit. Without being biased in the least, this was a film she owned completely and fully, brought life and energy into it, made it not just watchable but actually entertaining, and ultimately carrying it completely on her delicate shoulders to the hit status. The title may have been Raja, but just like three years earlier when Beta became Beti, one screening was enough for janta and critics to re-christen the movie to Rani. The movie is essentially a typical 90s Bollywood masalla, with pyaar between the hero and heroine being impossible due to money issues and family enmity, with lovely songs, memorable dance number and poetic justice coming hand in hand with the redemption of the villains in the end. All Indra Kumar style aka with logical loopholes that are brushed away with a daring grin and lots of over the top comedy.

The only reason to watch the film.

Two wealthy businessman brothers Rana and Vishwa have just proposed a future aliance of their little sister Madhu with Raja, just as little brother of another wealthy businessman Birju. But as soon as the engagement of the children, who are indeed fond of each other, is confirmed, Birju looses all his property because of a big fire in a factory. Not only poor Birju is a beggar now, but his wealthy friends call off the engagement, and to top it all he gets electrocuted (!) which results in him being mentally challenged for the rest of his life. Fortunately for him his little brother manages to take care of him, even though the two now live in the outskirts of the city in poverty.

The only reason to watch the film.

Years are passing by and soon little cute Raja grows into rather un-cute Sanjay Kapoor, dreaming about the little girl whom once he was engaged to, and refusing all other brides (kind of highly presumptious of him if you ask me). It may be bit of a trouble looking for her though, as she too has grown up and Raja doesn´t even know what she looks like. She would have to literally run into his arms for him to find her. And she does, following a lost bet. While she, unaware that he is her childhood friend, falls in love immediately with his unattractive wooden self, he only falls in love with the gorgeous, lively and enchanting creature AFTER he finds out she is Madhu (makes as much sense as a dog with a taco on its head). But her brothers, who by the way have not aged a day, are opposed to this love, intending to wed their sister to a rich Prince. What follows is a whole avalanche of situations that rate from silly to completely insane, including Madhuri in nothing but a loose white shirt romancing Sanjay in the presence of a group of archeologists who are all apparently over 100, the run away lovers believing that those who were after them were only hunting them to give them their blessing, breaking apart because of a huge huge misunderstanding and getting married in what has to be one of the most bizarre wedding ceremonies ever, unless you consider walking the seven circles around a flaming fountain with one of your brothers nearly burning to his death normal.

The only reason to watch the film.

Raja was supposed to be Sanjay Kapoor´s successful re-launch ater his previous flop debut, and till this day remains his only hit. Or rather the only hit he ever starred in as the main male lead, because as I´ve already mentioned the movie was ruled supreme by Madhuri. Sanjay Kapoor never was a hero material. He suited small, unchallenging roles of nice uncles and brothers, but as a lead he is painfully weak a performer. The one unchanging expression, zero voice modulation, unimpressive dialogue delivery and of course a complete lack of charisma makes one wonder if this really is a brother of Anil Kapoor (whom I do not really like, but his X-factor is just incredible). All others overshadow him completely, from excellent Paresh Rawal to briefly appearing Himani Shivpuri. And of course – Madhuri.

The only reason to watch the film.

When she appears on the screen, it´s like sun coming out of the gray clouds. She enacts her character with admirable ease, providing not only powerful emotional scenes, but also her very much under-used (by the filmmakers) comic sense, which proves to be simply delightful. She shows that she owns the possibly most expressive face ever and is able to change expressions of all kinds within a second – just watch the following song!

After the watching you really feel it was not Raja but Madhu, who was the lead. She is girly, spoilt and even rather snobbish at first, yet still good at heart. It was refreshing to see a girl going after the guy (and not vice versa) and that too so openly, boldly and being completely unashamed of anything just to get her way.

Raja is heavily flawed, yet still a classic. And if I haven´t mentioned it before, it´s because of one simple reason only. Madhuri Dixit. She makes it all worth it and more.

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