The big 2011 overview

2011 was kinda meh for Bollywood. True enough, there were blockbusters, there were expectations, there were hypes and there were big stars shining. But overal the quality/entertainment level of the films was rather low, performances except for few nothing amazing and music was mostly forgettable. During the year I watched exactly 157 movies, out of which only 35 were 2011 releases (as I write I am still yet to watch The Dirty Picture and several more films like Shaitaan or Shor in the city).

The year started for me with No one killed Jessica, followed by the Deol opus Yamla Pagla Deewana. I have tried to give a chance to Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji – and you can read in this article how it ended. Next on the list was a film that sounded interesting...

Directed by: Kiran Rao
Starring: Aamir Khan, Prateik Babbar, Monica Dogra


The last of the January releases I chose to sit through was Aamir Khan´s Dhobi Ghat....It is not a bad film... but nothing that I would label good either. Somehow it refuses to fit into such cathegories.  There is not much of a story and ending is apparently missing. I did like the overall atmosphere though, without ever being to Mumbai or India it engulfed me and let me with an illusion I actually, for a few minutes, understood. All other three actors (playing Shai, Munna and Yasmine) were great. Especially "Yasmine" touched me. In fact her "letters" were the most interesting and engaging part of the movie. Until Aamir discovers them, nothing makes much sense really. As for Mr. Perfectionist himself, he disappoints big time. Maybe because one would actually expect him to act, not just smoke and watch TV.

Directed by: Nikhil Advani
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Rishi Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Dimple Kapadia


As February came it was Akshay Kumar´s turn to arrive on the screen with his first release of the year called Patiala House (just another in a long list of English titles that decorated the posters in 2011 – from already mentioned No one killed Jessica to Ready, Rockstar, Rascals, Desi Boyz and of course The Dirty picture just to mention a few). A heck lot of nonsense and unrealistic conspiring almost completely killed off a promising family drama with decent performances – notably from Rishi Kapoor AND Akshay himself, who has laid off his comedy king image for a while and regained some of the respect as an ACTOR (only to loose it again few weeks later.....). The film  didn´t really give me anything, but it captured some part of human relations well. Especially loved how everybody was urging Akshay to stand up to his father, but when he did they were all cowards and nobody supported him. How very human.

Right behind Akshay it was Priyanka Chopra´s first 2011 release 7 Khoon Maaf that hurriedly followed. It flopped. But to me it was one of the best films of the year, even though I´m aware that is a rather unpopular opinion. If nothing Priyanka truly impressed me – unlike her co-star from Fashion Kangana Ranaut, who messed up completely in Tanu weds Manu. It is truly unfortunate when a lead actress is the greatest weakness of otherwise enjoyable movie. March did not bring any great pleasant surprises either. You can read here what I thought of some of the releases, however one of the films originally scheduled for March I´ve only managed to watch much later, so it is missing from the article.

Directed by: Rohan Sippy
Starring: Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu, Aditya Pancholi, Prateik Babbar, Govind Nameo


Now this is a movie definitely worth seeing. I really liked the way the narrative was done in the first part, the editing was very clever and in spite of various flashbacks not confusing at all. Performances are very good from everybody, but Abhishek is a miscast. Not because he would act badly, but because he is plain boring in the cop roles. Boring boring boring. It was during his scenes that the film would occasionally run short of breath. The guy needs to stop being a cop or a cool dude or a cool cop which is what he´s been trying to make his niché of, and find something else soon. Basically everybody else was more interesting. Deepika´s item number, which was so heavily propagated, is completely useless and not even well shot. Showstealer is none other than Aditya Pancholi, whom I used to hate in his 90s movies, but is growing on me more with advancing time.

Together with Dum Maro Dum Lara Dutta´s heartwarming, uncomplicated Chalo Dilli was the saving grace of April, which was also the month responsible for possibly the WORST of all 2011 releases. Yes, I´m talking of none other than Thank you, an Anees Bazmi film that could be used anywhere in the world as an example of how not to do cinema. Fortunately the month of May was more merciful enough to wipe Thank you and Anees Bazmi from my mind, even if only for a while. One of the best movies of the year was for me Stanley Ka Dabba. Rather unglamorous title is hiding a heartwarming, moving story, so full of love for life! Speaking about love, I´ve quite enjoyed two romantic comedies released the same month.

Directed by: Bumpy
Starring: Sraddha Kapoor, Taaha Shah


I loved the girl! She had so much energy and I think she´s REALLY talented. She emoted terribly well. Plus she has nice voice. Plus she looks good. The pace it´s even throughout the film, it doesn´t slow down, it´s never boring. The music is catchy. And from beginning to end there was no place for any unrelated subplots that would slow it down. The special appearance by Ali Zafar, however brief, was a VERY pleasant surprise... However the revenge the girl took was far too drastic and violent for my taste. I would have preferred something more subtle. Also the use of swearing words was completely unnecesarry. Overally I really enjoyed this, even though sometimes against better judgement.

Directed by: S. Manasvi
Starring: Tusshar Kapoor, Amrita Rao


Lot less impressive than Luv Ka The End, rather nice, "normal" film. Nothing wrong with it. Nothing outstanding in it. Some clichés, some plotholes, more clichés. No surprises, no big twists. Watching it however I realized how much I miss intensity in romantic films like this. There used to be so much intense emotions in older films about young people. Now... it´s just not there. Sad. Amrita Rao looks gorgeous and acts well, I wonder why is she seen so little and why is she not sought out for projects with actors like Imran Khan, Ranbir Kapoor? Instead she is stuck with Tusshar, who acts OK and has a charisma of a banana peel.

Directed by: Sunny Bhambhani
Starring: Sahil Mehta, Mannat Ravi, Vikay Katyal, Priyam Galav


And on a love note we have breezed into the month of June, riding the Love Express with a debutant director and debutant actors in four main leads. A simple story about two days spent in a train filled with two families going for a wedding, while the engaged couple is just not interested in each other, and trying to find a way out of the planned relationship. Perhaps predictable, but very sweet, and although one wasn´t exactly having fits of laughter, I had a smile plastered on my face throughout.

However at this content moment Anees Bazmi decided to attack again, even more agressively than before with the mess called Ready, for which I definitely was not ready. Salman Khan  not acting while Asin was being wasted and everybody swinging their hips in a terrible choreography while the unbearable Dhinka Chika was screaming from the amplions was more than I could digest. And the trend of lame comedies did not end there. Indra Kumar served us his Double Dhamaal (review coming eventually) and had us questioning our own intelligence once again. The two films releasing on the same day - 1st July, were both heavily propagated and especially the second one raise a lot of questions, expectations and curiosity. But before that just a few words about the first one.

Directed by: Puri Jagannath
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Sonu Sood


I didn´t really know how to watch this, how to treat this. I did get it was supposed to be a overview of sorts, a tribute to the body of work of Amitabh Bachchan, bringing out of the wardrobe his image of an angry young man.... with the difference this was an angry old man. And somehow, angry old men are not cool. And wearing what Big B was in the film, the way he behaved, made the character completely cringeworthy. None of the storylines did really capture my attention or stood out. One of those films I have forgotten as soon as they ended.

Directed by: Abhinay Deo
Starring: Imran Khan, Vir Das, Kunaal Roy Kapur


Shit happens. Yeah, it does. I was not sure what to expect from this one either. I thought that I will be either hilariously entertained or utterly disgusted (the promos suggested the latter). Well, the film surprised - I was neither. In fact I don´t recall a film that would leave me so completely unmoved (into any direction). Several times I smiled. Several times I didn´t like what I saw. Overally the film seemed like a background score for me thinking about completely different things! Imran suffers the fate of Aamir in 3 Idiots - meaning he is completely overshadowed by his two friends, who steal the show and actually provide the laughter. I cannot help but shake my head in disbelief over the claims this is a movie that shall take Bollywood into a new direction. There really was nothing that revolutionary or different from other half mindless half witty comedies, except for the overuse of swearing language, which by the way has no point, and it´s offensive for the pure sake of being offensive. It doesn´t hurt to see the film, but it´s nothing not-to-be-missed either. The best thing about it is actually a quick pace and quick changes of situations.

After Stanley Ka Dabba another movie that really impressed me was highly praised Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (where for the first time I ever I did not feel the need to strangle Katrina Kaif on the spot). However Ajay Devgn´s Sigham (review coming eventually) left me mostly unimpressed from a single reason only – throughout the movie I´ve had a feeling I have seen it all. Just last year in Dabangg. There was hardly anything different about it. And July was ended on a very low note with an attempt at historical drama that went just all wrong. Gandhi to Hitler can be considered the biggest joke the filmmakers played on us last year, at least I hope it was meant to be a joke. And then June turned into July.

Directed by: Prakash Jha
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone


I liked this. Well, not all, but most of it. My liking doesn´t really have much to do with the cast or performances (which were all good), more with the topic and me being a university student just realizing how great business education really can be. In fact there were several lines in the films I´m definitely noting down, because there was so much blunt truth in them. Aarakshan is basically a one man show and that one man is this time charismatic and not ridiculous Amitabh Bachchan. Saif goes out of mind as soon as he leaves the screen. Deepika has great expressions. All she needs to work on is the intensity of her voice and some modulation, but she proved again to be my dark horse for the future years. First part was more tight and exciting then the second and to cut the film´s length down to 2 hours would have been a good idea as well.

And then of course Bodyguard came along.

Directed by: Siddique
Starring: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor


Blockbuster after just few days, it was promoted as an epic love story that gives Kareena Kapoor her best role ever and Salman Bhai bhi. If there is one thing that I loved, really, really loved, it was Teri Meri. That song is awesome, full of feeling, very dramatic and yet not over the top. The picturization was good too, though Salman did way too much unnecessary running. I´m not going to say he cannot act, that wouldn´t be true as he used to act in good old days, but past few years he really doesn´t bother at all. Kareena, whom I learned to adore on screen, acts, but has nothing to work with really. Other characters are so completely sidelined it´s not even worthy talking about them, and poor villains had TWO scenes.... The fat guy trying his luck at being the new Johnny Lever annoyed the heck out of me, though I agree I loved his T-shirts stating "Six pack coming soon" and "Looking good is not a crime". The two main characters are very poorly drawn and basically boring, they don´t really go through any development - and neither does their relationship. In fact I still keep wondering where did the love came from? And similarly so I couldn´t feel for them as a couple, because the script and story simply didn´t give me a chance to feel for them, feel their love, nothing. The action was ridiculous. I can take a lot, but there is limit to everything. Way too many cheap computer effects. It was definitely better then Salman´s previous release Ready, but very overrated as far as box office goes still.

The second half of the year was considerably better, even if it held some real crap together with real gems. The better times were heralded by sweet, simple, predictable, but still highly entertaining Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (review coming eventually), which in spite of starring Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif in the leads (none of them being a mind-blowing performers) was pleasant to watch. At the other end of movie entertainment John Abraham´s Force gave us some serious chills as well as the most menacing new villains and in yet a different field Shahid Kapoor tried to sell his romance with Sonam Kapoor titled Mausam (review coming eventually) to the audience – unfortunatelly and deservingly he did not succeed. However by that time, having a Double Dhamaal hangover, Sanjay Dutt has sent his new baby into the world as well....

Directed by: David Dhawan
Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn, Kangana Ranaut


Throughout I kept having Deewana Mastana flashbacks, however one would be looking for the same light-heartedness, same charm or level of performances in vain in Rascals. Sanjay and Ajay were wasted, which is sad, because they really work as a male jodi and both have great comic timing. However the OTT acting is not Ajay´s cup of chai at all. Kangana needs to stop doing comedies right NOW! She was awful from beginning to end. She did not share any chemistry whatsoever with either of the two main protagonists, so even their pursue of her was not really interesting to watch. I did not like at all the way women were portraited, if that is even the word for nothing but a vulgar flesh show. Sanjay Dutt should either stop criticizing actresses for what they wear or stop producing films like Rascals. The film is also a proof that David Dhawan has completely lost his touch.

I am no fan of romantic comedies, even less of teenage romantic comedies, and although I liked Luv Ka the End, it is really an exception. Because of that I was quite surprised that another film of the same genre was pleasant as well.

Directed by: Nupur Ashtana
Starring: Saqib Saleem, Saba Azad


With romantic teenage comedies it is never really about story, but about concept and form, the way the script is presented. MFK is presented well. Not as energic as Luv ka the end, not as funny either, but unlike Luv Ka The End, it has a nice romantic feel, nothing goes over the top. The performances are all natural and pleasant, music, though not groundbreaking ads nice atmosphere. A good timepass.

After MFK I watched mostly older movies, waiting for more new DVDs to come out, and trying luck with several more new films. However My neither Friend Pinto nor Tell me o Khudda or Always Kabhi Kabhie held my interest for longer than 15 minutes and so I really don´t have much to say about them, except maybe that Esha Deol totally falls into the clichéd cathegory of untalented star children. Sadly enough Shahrukh Khan, whom I love so much, did not really impress me (or anyone really) with his heavily promoted Ra.One (review coming eventually), but he got back on the right track later with Don 2 (of course full review is in store). However not even he gave a better performance than Ranbir Kapoor in Rockstar (a long review so coming soon), that for me became not only the most intense love story of the year – and the best film of the year, but also a modern days classic. As I have said at the very beginning, I have not yet seen The Dirty picture, and so here got the  last two films I´m going to mention in here.

Directed by: Maneesh Sharma
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh, Parineeti Chopra, Aditi Sharma Dipannita Sharma



LVRB takes place in some weird alternative reality where Ranveer Singh is for every girl an irresistable sexy beast and from that moment on I was a bit wary because I find him neither handsome nor hot, or even interesting. The casting of the girls was much more spot on from demure Aditi to loud-nouted Parineeti, and of course very natural Anushka. Somehow however, Anushka did not matter to me in the movie. I couldn´t care less for her feelings and actually enjoyed the three other ladies in the first half of the movie much much more. Anushka´s entry into the film however, is brilliant. The story gets rather boring in the second half and climax is predictable, though not completely justified. I truly didn´t see where the love was supposed to come from or how, in matter of few days, it could have changed one´s personality completely. Ranveer has not much to work with really, except walking around showing off his body and being supposedly sexy. He was much less impressive than in BBB. His pairing with Anushka is highly praised all over the place, but to be honest they do not really "do it" for me. Music was blah, choreography bad. An OK film, but not much more than that.

Directed by: Rohit Dhawan
Starring: Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Chitrangda Singh


For me personally the most enjoyable comedy of the whole 2011. In spite of the things that kinda sucked, it was still so enjoyable and fun! What I truly appreciated was the absence of cheap and vulgar jokes that are such a rage these days, and even though there definitely are several "sex related" scenes the soul of the film remains quite innocent. The highlight performances for me were John (whose comedy had me in splits), Anupam Kher (whose every scene had me in splits) and Deepika (who just really needs to work more on her dialogue delivery, but looks drop dead gorgeous and acts brilliantly in several scenes and is good in the rest). Chitrangda looks beautiful and does well in whatever she´s given, but I did not like her character, that indeed seemed somehow desperate and well, unneccessarily horny. I´m not really a fan of Akshay´s, but he was fine - and his "job interview" was perfect. Sanjay Dutt looked really bad and apparently the composers can take a rest while writing music while he´s on screen because they can always throw Khalnayak main theme out there and everyone is happy. The emotional scenes were unimpressive.

So that was the year 2011 in Bollywood through my eyes. Thank you if you managed to read through this loooong post. ;)

Ghajini

Directed by: A.R. Murugadoss

Starring: Aamir Khan, Asin

Released: 2008

Once I finished this film I was not sure if I should feel guilty, because I thought it was actually quite good, but had only read negative comments so far. Maybe low expectation and the fact I have not seen Memento (of which this is a remake) helped, I don´t really know, but yes, I enjoyed the movie, except for the sugary ending.

But first things first. A rather nosy medicine student girl makes us aware of an existence of certain Sanjay Singhania (Aamir). He has a really cool macho hairstyle (caused by circumstances) and rather rare kind of amnesia – he is incapable of remembering anything for more than 15 minutes. The question naturally arises in everybody´s mind – how can such a person live – and that alone as he does? What keeps him going? Sanjay himself is painfully reminded of this everyday – revenge. Using elaborate system of paper notes, photo notes, map notes and not to forget body notes (from „Kalpana was killed“ spread proudly over his muscular chest to „take camera“ on his toe) he lives from fifteen minutes to another fifteen minutes, having nothing but the sense of pure hate for somebody named Ghajini. He knows he wants to kill this person (and few others). The problem is he has no idea who he is – or why exactly.....

Damn. I need a new tattoo so I´ll remember to buy toilet paper,

Through another nosy person – a policemen investigating one of the murders Sanjay has already committed, we are introduced to that reason, when he enters his flat without invitation, beats him up and reads his old diary (before Sanjay regains consciousness, chases him out of his flat and right under the wheels of a bus that is).

Once upon a time Sanjay Singhania was a successful businessman and Kalpana (Asin) was a good-hearted girl working as a junior artist in B-grade TV ads. They probably would have never crossed paths if Kalpana, to make herself interesting and seeing all the advances that it offers, starts spreading rumours about having an affair with him and their wedding being imminent. The news spreads like fire and becomes the talk of the town – and naturally reaches to respectable suited up Sanjay, who immediately decides to go and meet the girl whom he´s supposedly marrying. When they come face to face he is basically charmed off his pants, and eager to get to know the girl closer he gives her a false name and identity. And while he´s trying to figure out how to tell her he lied to her without risking loosing her love, Kalpana gets involved in a rather ugly matter of girl trade run by somebody named Ghajini. Who exactly Ghajini is, how big he is or what he does that makes him so powerful is never really explained, but you are given the idea when police covers up for him and his dark deeds. And Kalpana is soon going to suffer a sad fate of those who cross his path.

Today we offer you...

...three for the price of one!

The film is centered on and around Aamir in both timelines (present and past), with the rest of the cast being just shadowy figures, the way the character himself probably sees them. Except for Asin as Kalpana, who stands up greatly to both Aamir´s screen presence and talent, and fills the „past“ line with freshness and charm. As much as I have failed to see her appeal in Ready, where she was unforgivably wasted by a different Khan, that much I loved her here. In some of the scenes she actually reminded me a lot of another southern star Sridevi with her looks and cute expressions with slightly bulging eyes while quickly speaking. Kalpana, in spite of the first impression I had of her (silly, silly attention seeker) turned out to be actually very likeable and provided the only light and bright moments in such a dark film.

The „present“ time was considerably violent, sometimes perhaps unnecessarily so. Lingering on the details of Kalpana´s death was, I guess, meant to bring tears to my eyes, but the way it was presented actually made me sick and not teary. Aamir for once lets go of his boring subduedness (is that even a word?) and does well as a cute loverboy, but is excellent in his a half-mad, plotting and suffering avatar. His scenes did give me chills.

I wanted Chinese. You sent me Thai.

Music by Rahman failed to impress though, it wasn´t a disaster either. The play of colours used by cinematographer was interesting. While the „past“ was filled with colours reminding me a lot of Yashraj films, the „present“ was happening mostly in the night or in the darkness of Sanjay´s flat, where sun apparently has no place. The ending returns to vibrant colours and romance, but by that point I was disappointed with the climax, and I strongly felt that they should have let Sanjay die. Ghajini is basically a masalla, because it contains everything from comedy, romance to action and thriller, all in reasonably balanced doses. Just maybe the vial filled with violence slipped out of the cook´s hand and we got to see a lot more of it than most of us could digest.

Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke

Directed by: Mahesh Bhatt

Starring: Aamir Khan, Juhi Chawla, Dalip Tahil, Sharokh Irani, Kunal Khemu, Baby Ashrafa

Released: 1993

Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke made me genuinely happy. For many reasons. The main being the fact that Juhi Chawla actually had a role. In most of her mainstream films I´ve seen so far she was largely used as a decoration, excuse for a song or damsel in distress, be it in Darr, Duplicate or Bol Radha Bol. However here she got her due and she truly used every second to her advantage.

Young Rahul (AAMIR Khan. AAMIR. Not SHAHRUKH. Understand?) has just inherited a textile factory saddled with debt plus three kids from his tragically deceased sister. He tries his best to get on well with the children, but managing them and the factory proves to be rather difficult, especially since his workers are all women making eyes on him and dancing instead of working. Ad to it a hungry for shaadi rich daughter of a man you´re making a commission for and what do you have? A big load of trouble. Nobody seems to understand the man´s plight and the kids are getting more and more insufferable by day, drawing away all nannies with their pranks.

Run over by life........... and children.

After Rahul breaks his promise of taking the children to the fair and locking them in the house the three siblings – Vicky, Munni and Sunny – run away through a window and completely rupee-less make their way to the fair. While trying to steal some sweets, they bump into Vaijanti, a young girl, at the moment engaged in the same illegal action. Together they all manage to escape the policeman and upon hearing that Vaijanti has nowhere to go, the children practically smuggle her home, where she spends two days hiding before their strict uncle. But nothing lasts forever and after a rather eventful night Rahul finally finds out there are not three, but four people he needs to look after now. Especially since Vaijanti makes up a story about being a poor orphan, while in fact she has run away from home and a rather sleazy groom...

No better place to hide from the police then a center of a stage.

Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke breathes innocence from the beginning to the end (despite that horny girl chasing Aamir). Its magic doesn´t make differences between generations and I can easily imagine seniors, children or adult people watching it and having a good time. It has everything – fluff, fun, romance, action – but everything is still very much innocent and even the slight thrill before the ending is delightfully funny. Great surprise were the three children. It is one of the very rare films where I did not feel the need to strangle them for being artificial and annoying – because they were not. They all did a good job without being too giggly or too weepy.

Even Juhi was shocked at the non-annoyance of the kids.

Aamir Khan is also very good. Watching this film after Lagaan and 3 Idiots I was reminded of how much I loved this old Aamir, who used his instinct more then his head (as I like to lament in every review which concerns him). Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke has him in a rather difficult role of an uncle, who does his best to satisfy the children, but fails with his methods, which sometimes are not exactly right, and sometimes he has to face a selfish misunderstanding by the trio. Aamir made his character look real, and even in the moments, in which he is unlikeable to the children, he manages to convince you that he wants their best and is just utterly helpless from time to time.

Can we have them in a film again please?

However, as I have mentioned earlier, the film ultimately belongs to Juhi. Because she is the soul of all things. She is the active (!) reason of things happening. She is the fun. She is that innocence I loved. I´m sure other actresses would have done a good job too, but I seriously doubt any would bring it to Juhi´s level. Such was her natural charm and comic sense in this one, and she truly deserved that Filmfare she later received. Looking sweet and simply throug-out the film she makes you smile with her mere presence. This is definitely my favourite film and performance of hers, no matter how much more „meaningful“ stuff she was appreciated later in her career. Ad to it she´s acting opposite Aamir (my favourite of her pairings), and you are left with a feeling of bliss.

Not blissed out just yet.

Part of the movie´s appeal lies also in music. Every single track is beautiful and there is pretty much everything from fun songs to romantic and family ones. The following is my favourite, which really stuck in my head and I find myself humming it from time to time.

My TOP 10 Hindi songs

Why ten? Well, the list could easily be longer. But in the end I went with those, that I listen to the most. In the bus, in train during my lengthy traveling from home to university city, before I go to sleep.... Whenever there is an opportunity. These are the songs that actually are so beautiful, that I bothered to look out the best lyrics translations – only to fall in love with them even more knowing what magic there is in the words and not just in melody or singer´s voice. And I really love them for the melody, not picturization, however beautiful it might be. So let´s meet my Top 10 Bollywood songs.

10. Tumse Milke – yes, I know this one is not an original, but simply a Hindi version of „When I need you“. But Tumse Milke has innocence and peace to it, which the original lacks. It seems simpler, less forced, more sensitive. Not to mention the words are more romantic. Sung by Suresh Wadkar and Asha Bhosle, it was picturized on Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit for a film Parinda (1989).

9. Main Agar Kahoon – starting off with gentle, music box tinkeling, this is one of the memorable melodies that made part of a magic for Om Shanti Om (2007). Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal lent their voices to Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in this utterly romantic song. Result is a sheer beauty.

8. Dilli – something completely different from any other song in the list. This isn´t romantic, not by a long shot. And it is nothing else but pure rock. And it rocks big time. Main melody for a movie No one killed Jessica (2011) set a high standard for song very early this year and I don´t think there shall be many songs to be better or that would even manage to match it. Sung by Tochi Raina, Shriram Iyer and Aditi Singh Sharma, it can be heard during the opening titles of the film, brilliantly setting the mood.

7. Silsila Ye Chaahat Ka – the first Bollywood song I´ve ever heard. It was the voice that completely amazed me. Shreya Ghoshal has been truly gifted. Composed and made for Bhansali´s Devdas (2002) it was used as an introduction for Aishwarya Rai as one of the main characters. And it was probably her most amazing introduction ever.

6. O Re Piya – best song from a very under-rated soundtrack of a very under-rated film Aaja Nachle (2007). Lyrical, poetical, but full of life. The voice of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is so powerful and engaging that even though I did not understand the lyrics at first, he presented me with a beautiful story full of beautiful images. The song was partly a background score, used for a flashback sequence.

5. Masha Allah – if I could, I would list the whole soundtrack of Saawariya (2007) in here! Because it is probably the most amazing soundtrack ever. In the end I decided that this song should appear in the list, because it was the first one from the album that I heard and immediately was enchanted. Kunal Gajawala with a help of not-enough-praised Shreya Ghoshal sung for Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor, as the two were escaping each other in a dreamy, blue world...

4. Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya – maybe it is the most famous Bollywood song ever. And it has reason. It is simply brilliant. Re-written countless times, it was chiseled out to perfection. Picturized on Madhubala, the song was brought to life by Lata Mangeshkar and it is in my opinion by far her best piece ever. The soft melody grows more and more demanding by a second, until it fills you with an indescribable excitement.

3. Maar Daala – the ultimate mujra song. Try to forget for a moment about Madhuri Dixit being beyond words in it (hard, I know) and enjoy the longing, love and beauty of the piece. Brilliant voice of Kavita Krishnamurthy singing absolutely heavenly words will send shivers down your spine. Devdas (2002), just like Saawariya, was simply full of wonderful music.

2. Mere Haath Mein – Sonu Nigam has become my favourite Bollywood singer ever with this song. And Sunidhi Chauhan matched him here without a fail. Amazing, amazing, amazing. I don´t have words to really express what I feel while listening to the song. And the lyrics... oh my.... leave me longing for love... and more love.... just like Aamir Khan and Kajol in Fanaa (2006)!

1. Kismat Se Tum – my favourite Hindi song ever. Composed by the great A.R.Rahman it once again made Sonu Nigam touch my heart. The female vocals were taken care of by Anuradha Pauwal. And yet again the lyrics are indescribably beautiful. And so is everything about the song. From the gentle background singers humming to the clear sound of a flute, everything falls into place and creates a fantasy really. Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit were the lucky ones, who could present the magic to the audience in a film Pukar (2000). 

Fanaa

Directed by: Kunal Kohli

Starring: Aamir Khan, Kajol, Rishi Kapoor, Tabu

Released: 2006

This film reminded me of something. I could not quite put my figer on it. But from the very start I had a feeling I have seen something similar, if not the same, before..... And only when it ended I realized it was one big mixture of DDLJ, Raja Hindustani, Fiza and Esmeralda (the first three being Bollywood movies, the last one a sickly sweet Venezuelan telenovela that plagued our screens several years back).

So we have Zooni, a simple, nice Kashmiri girl in love with her country. She is also in love with her dreams about the yet unknown to her Mr. Right. And she is played by Kajol, who doesn´t look a day older then what she did in DDLJ. So in result Zooni is actually Simran – with one difference only: she is blind (Esmeraldaaaaaa...... Esmeraldaaaaaa....lalala). After some convincing her parents decide they can let her go with her friends to go to Delhi and perform like a dance troupe in a ceremony for Independence Day. And since they are going to spend several days in the city, and they don´t want to just aimlessly walk around, they hire a tourist guide Rehan. And so Aamir Khan enters the film, lying lazily on his back and with an arrogant do-not-disturb attitude (that is the moment Pardesi Pardesi starts automatically playing in your ears). And guess what. He and Zooni fall in love almost immediately. Nothing wrong with that, but I must confess that I don´t find Kajol someone, who can stun you at the first sight with her appearance, and so it would have been better for me if Rehan actually took at least a little time before falling in love. Their bonding afterwards is done well, with Zooni leaving with him for a private sightseeing, him watching her performance with the dance troupe (in that song Kajol DID look beautiful) and finally getting drenched in the rain together and spending the night sharing a cot in not so completely innocent way. But by that time it is clear Rehan may not be who he seems (to the viewer, Kajol remains blissfully unaware). He receives a disturbing number of calls nobody talks about and he also occasionally mumbles something about himself not believing in romance, obviously trying (but not that hard as he could I must say) to shake off Zooni´s spell.

Best Kajol pairing - why couldn´t we see it before?

The love obviously cannot wait even for few days, and so Zooni makes a phone call to her parents that she fell in love and will be getting married. Oh, and by the way Rehan took her to a doctor (which obviously nobody else did before) and it seems she can be operated immediately (I want this kind of hospitals in my country!), after which she will regain her eye-sight! She undergoes the operation and when she finally opens her eyes, her parents are there, but Rehan isn´t. And the first thing they ask her to do is to identify the remains of a victim just killed in a bomb attack on a government building. And yes, she recognizes the sweater she made for Rehan herself.....

Something smells funny, nah? Especially because one remembers those mysterious signs pointing out that Rehan just may not be Rehan the poetry-loving tourist guide after all, and also because he is played by Aamir and you are just now in the middle of the film. While the first half is beautifully romantic and colourful, the second leaves the whole romance altogether and it turns into an attempt on a thriller. There are too many twists and turns to be described, but you can count on some not that exciting action scenes, some misplaced patriotism and an „unexpected“ reunion of the two main characters after years. And just like we have seen it in „Julie“, first sex equals to immediate pregnancy, so you can expect a mini-Rehan, who will give you some cheesy and annoying lines about trust and so on.

Knock, knock!

"DAMN!"

The film worked, especially the first part, mainly because of capable handling of the characters by the cast. The highlight is Kajol, who fits well into her Simran-mode, but her Zooni is more mature then Simran and also doesn´t have any pride. In the second half her role is, sadly, stripped of any real action (till the very end), but still she is the one who keeps the soul of Fanaa alive. Aamir is a good choice for Rehan, but one cannot help the feeling that the character is either badly written or wrongly understood by the actor. The best aspect about Aamir´s casting is his undeniable chemistry with Kajol, that for me is thousand times better then the one she reportedly shares with SRK. Who pleasantly surprised me was Rishi Kapoor. The fat guy in ridiculous sweaters romancing petite young girls disappeared and transformed into a big-hearted father – a role I completely loved him in. Tabu was a complete miscast. Her role had nothing to offer her and she was, honestly, rather unconvincing. The kid was terribly annoying. So yeah, it was mainly Kajol who found the best way among all the plot holes and at times rather bizzare situations that simply happen for the sake of something happening (even though I found her putting together bits of photos to create „Rehan´s“ face during her years of loneliness a big WTF moment). Aamir doesn´t raise any sympathy. He never seems to be sure of what he is actually doing, or even why. And he really annoyed me when he killed the only Rishi I ever loved (and the film-makers could have spared us him flowing under the ice. That was both over-creepy and hilarious.).

"Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

"DAMN!"

Here comes my favourite sentence: The visuals were beautiful. Be it sunny Delhi or snowy Kashmir (ehm..... Poland. But at least you cannot really tell from what is shown, unlike in some other movies, that will go to any length to convince you Budapest is actually in Italy.), everything beautifully underlined the scenes and the mood. The soundtrack is nice, with two songs being especially beautiful – both in melody and in picturizations. I have already mentioned Des Rangila, where Kajol dances with her troupe, and the absolute winner is Mere Haath Mein. Special mention goes to rainy Dekho Na. On the other hand Chand Sifarish comes off as rather ordinary and Chanda Chamke should have never seen the light of day.

It is a definite must see for any Kajol fan, and objectively speaking she couldn´t have asked for a better role as her comeback after motherhood. However the next time I want to watch a heroine shooting somebody she loves for the sake of higher good, I will choose Fiza.

Lagaan

Directed by: Ashutosh Gowariker

Starring: Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne

Released: 2001

The complete title of this film is „Lagaan – Once upon a time in India“, so let us begin on the same note. Once upon a time, more accurately in the 19^th century, it was the British Queen Victoria, who reigned supremely over the vast country named as India. And in her name the British ruled the land, that was so different from their own. One of the officers in charge of Champaner is Captain Andrew Russel. Sleazy, spoilt, rich, spending his time with hunting and thoroughly enjoying his stay in India, as it gives him a nerly complete freedom to ridicule and insult everybody. From the first moment you know he is the BAD guy in this. Once he decides he wants a local raja to eat a piece of meat, and when the latter refuses because of his religion, our dear captain decides he is insulted and in return he wants the area under his rule to pay the double ammount of lagaan (a tax given by the villagers mostly in grain). Naturally the villages are not as half as excited about the idea as captain Russel, especially since draughts has been troubling them lately.

One of the villagers, Bhuvan, is especially annoyed (which is somehow strange because while you can see others working, he himself spends his time spoiling the hunt of captain Russel) and he decides people should go to raja and discuss the matter. But raja is just right now watching a cricket match and so the villagers have to wait a while. Cricket to them seems rather silly, and after Bhuvan mocks the game, the English are deeply offended and captain Russel, never short of insulting an humiliating ideas, offers Bhuvan a deal: the lagaan will be completely forgiven for three years if the villagers can beat the English in cricket. But if they loose, they will have to pay the thrice ammount of the tax. After hearing out his companions´ advice (NO, BHUVAN! NO!) Bhuvan accepts the challenge.

"I challenge you. And I don´t  like your haircut."

"Mera haircut perfect hai, kaminey!"

After he manages to win over some of the villagers with a happy, optimistic song, and chooses his team, the training can start. And the instructor is none other then Elizabeth, captain Russel´s sister, who proves that nto all English are cold-hearted dogs. Elizabeth, appaled by her brother´s injustice, does her best to explain the rules and ways of cricket, and is so excited about her goal, that she managed to learn perfect Hindi in like two days. Being brought up by stuck-up and arrogant English society, she finds the un-washed and illiterate Bhuvan immenselly lovable and so she falls in love with him. That causes distress to Gauri – a simple girl who too loves Bhuvan. But as of now Bhuvan is only interested in the game. After he manages to convince the whole village (destroying the caste system in the process!) and much training (which involves lots of running, sweating and singing) the date is set for the game and the English and Indian cricket team face each other.....

Dream team. Chewbacca third from the left.

When I started the film I was trembling with excitement. Aamir Khan is known for his great script sense, and after all the hype sorrounding the film is HUGE. I was expecting something AMAZING. I was expecting something BIG. I was expecting something GRAND. I got a cricket match. Maybe it would all work better for me if my expectations were lower and the match itself at least 30 minutes shorter. The only thing I really carried away from watching this was a new knowledge of what is a cricket (next to completely unknown in my soccer and hockey country). Because in the end I did not really feel any message about fighting the British or anything. The movie was more like a celebration of favourite Indian sport. And that, for me as a foreign viewer, is not good enough.

The film is very well made technically. The visuals are beautiful, the direction fine, the performances are good. Aamir Khan´s strengh has never been in facial expressions, but in his very clever dialogue delivery, and he uses that in this one too. Sadly Aamir, though signed as one of the best actors in my book, is slowly beggining to bore me. There is no realy difference in the way he plays the characters. I assume that him being a very „thinking“ actor is to be blamed. Don´t think, Aamir! Give us some spontainety, some madness! Of the supporting characters the most notable is Paul Blackthorne with great Hindi and terrible accents, wonderfully hateable and fit for his character. The two females – Rachel Shelley and Gracie Singh, have nothing much to do except for being in love with Bhuvan. One is a silent, romantic type, another a very earthy, straight-forward girl. Both are good in their roles, but do not leave much impact. After all, Lagaan is not even remotely a love story.

English anger

The real deal here is cricket. It couldn´t get any more cricket-ish than this! The match, which takes no less then half of the film (!) has everything a good match should have – cheating, fighting, abusing, chanting, injuries, and loads and loads of adrenalin. But it still remains..... a cricket match. Once you´ve seen it, there is no point of coming back (not that one doubts what the result is going to be from the beggining). Brilliantly shot. But with no repeat value.

The music of Lagaan deserves a mention for sure. Composed by the bow-worthy A.R.Rahman, all the tracks are beautifully melodious and hummable. Some are even addictive. „Chale Chalo“ has been drumming in my ears for days! Similarly „Mitwa“ and „Ghanan Ghanan“. The most beautifully picturized (if we forget the glistening male bodies in Chale Chalo for a moment, ladies) is „Radha Kaise Na Jale“. Pity Gracie Singh pretty much disappeared since Lagaan, becausei in this song she proves to be a very graceful, pleasant to look at dancer.

The song „O Rey Chhori“ made me perfectly see why song and dance work in Indian films, and why they do not really work in western ones. It was all so beautifully romantic when Bhuvan and Gauri share the intimate moments together, but as soon as „I am in love, yes, I´m in love“ comes out of Elizabeth´s throat I had a feeling I´m watching a Disney (plus I can guarantee you the nightgowns back then did not lack sleeves but cleavage!).

This works.

And this doesn´t.

 A film I seriously wanted to love, but only ended up thinking it´s good. And that, my dears, is not good enough.

Because we all love dancing in the rain....

The spring has come and with it - the first spring rain! As I listen to the soft music the raindrops are playing behind my windows, I got reminded of all those beautiful rain songs Bollywood has given us. Here are just several of them, that immediatelly came to my mind.... Enjoy! Meanwhile I´m going out. It´s raining. perfect excuse for dancing in the streets......

Koi Ladki Hai is my favourite track from Dil To Pagal Hai, and the picturization is gorgeous as well. The ultimate rain song - in the rain and about rain. With the gait of a horse, with the majesty of an elephant, oh king of the rains, where do you come from?

Arguably one of the most beautiful melodies ever composed by A.R.Rehman, used in Subhash Ghai´s movie Taal. And when you ad perfectly gorgeous Aishwarya Rai to it, the result is nothing less then perfect.

Something little older: Megha Re Megha from Yash Chopra´s classic Lamhe. Beautiful Sridevi casts her spell not only Anil Kapoor, but all the viewers.

Dekho Na from 2006 movie Fanaa is a perfect romantic rain song. And if you have somebody like Aamir Khan romancing you, who would resist?

And finally a song that I personally listen to whenever I get a little sad. Because the joy springing from the lyrics, the melody and the dancer is just so pure! This song, of Madhuri Dixit´s "forgotten" dances, was featured in movie Maha Sangram from 1990.

Aamir Khan's Biography

Original Name: Aamir Hussain Khan
Nick Name: AK
Commonly Known Name: The Choco Boy
Date of Birth (Birthday): 14 March, 1965
Zodiac Sign: Pisces
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 74Kg
Birth Place: Mumbai
Marital Status: Married
Languages: English, Hindi
Hobbies: Listening Old Music
Contact Address: 11 Bela Vista Apartements, Bandra, Mumbai 50
Contact No.: 022 - 6463744, 6463930
Father's Name: Tahir Hussain
Mother's Name: Zeenat Hussain
Brother(s): Faizal
Sister(s): Nikhat, Farhad
Spouse: Kiran Rao
Son: Junaid from Reena Dutt, and Jaan Herry Hines from Jessica Hines
Daughter: Daughter - Ira from Reena Dutt
Film Career: Started as a child artist in Yaddon Ki Baaraat, 1970
Debut Film: Holi, but Got Breakthrough in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak
Famous Movies: Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988), Dil (1990), Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992), Andaz Apna Apna (1994), Rangeela (1995), Raja Hindustani (1996), Sarfarosh (1999), Mann (1999), Lagaan(2001), Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Rang De Basanti (2006), Fanaa(2006)
Film Awards: BEST ACTOR award 2002 for LAGAAN, Best Actor - Filmfare Award For Raja Hindustani
Favourite Dish/ Recipes: Indian and Moghlai dishes
Favourite Actor: Dilip Kumar, Om Puri, Naseer, Raghuvir Yadav
Favourite Actress: Waheeda Rehman, Geeta Bali, Madhubala, Sreedevi
Favourite Movies: Pyassa
Favourite Color: Black
Favourite Destination: Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani
Favourite Perfumes: Jovan
Likes: Watching Movies
Hobbies: Listening Old Music

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