hindi-films « WordPress.com Tag Feed

The idea to write this post came to me yesterday on a flight from Hyderabad to Delhi, while I was browsing songs through my iPod. Usually, the hallmark of a great song is one where you lose yourself completely in the song.

I am an avid movie watcher and most often when I listen to certain songs, it brings back vivid pictures of the actors from that song and the emotions they went through. While the interwoven lyrics and melodies are the larger reason why songs work or don’t work, there is yet another critical aspect of these songs that determines how popular the song becomes, which is the picturization and the production values.

As a result, I decided to write and share with the readers of this blog post, songs that are not only melodious in nature, but have brilliant picturizations with regard to the plot of the film, as well as with regard to production values and overall ‘feel’ of the song. Hope you enjoy reading about it as much as I do writing.

Aaj Kal Paon Zameen Par – Ghar (1978); Singer: Lata Mangeshkar; Music: RD Burman; Lyrics: Gulzar; Director: Manik Chatterjee; Starring: Rekha, Vinod Mehra

This is a song that has haunted me ever since I’ve heard this song. The visuals of this song further strengthen the impact of the song. To me, it is one of the few romantic songs that strikes a chord, where the synchronization and mood of the song match the picturization as well. Natural acting and excellent cinematography makes it one of my most-loved songs. Simplicity is one attribute that stands out in this song. Incidentally, this is also one of RD Burman’s favourite compositions as suggested during an interview in the 80s. This song was very close to his heart as well.

Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaaye – Anand (1971); Singer: Mukesh; Music: Salil Chowdhury; Lyrics: Yogesh; Director: Hrishikesh Mukherjee; Starring: Rajesh Khanna

Few songs touch the cord and describe the true meaning of life as this one does. The thoughts of a dying man, who’s living each day painfully at a time come to the fore through the words of the song. A beautiful melody and very few people (if anyone else at all) could showcase a man standing in his balcony wondering about when death will come to him.

Incidentally, there’s an extra paragraph in this video clip that doesn’t exist on the cassette/CD of this movie. Watch this clip just for that paragraph.

Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli – Anand (1971); Singer: Manna Dey; Music: Salil Chowdhury; Lyrics: Yogesh; Director: Hrishikesh Mukherjee; Actor: Rajesh Khanna

By now, it must be evident how powerful a screen-presence Rajesh Khanna demanded. Only Hrishikesh Mukherjee could pull off a song where they show nothing but a man walking down the beach with a few helium baloons in his hand throughout the song and not make it boring at all.

Roop Tera Mastana – Aradhana (1969); Singer: Kishore Kumar; Music: SD Burman; Lyrics: Anand Bakshi; Director: Shakti Samanta; Actors: Rajesh Khanna; Sharmila Tagore

Very few people know that this entire song has been completed in a single shot without any breaks. This was not intentional, but just speaks about the intensity and dedication of the actors to their work. One of the best seduction songs ever produced.

Aasma Odh Kar – 13B (2009); Singers: Shankar Mahadevan, Chitra; Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy; Lyrics: Neelesh Misra; Director: Vikram K Kumar; Actors: Madhavan, Neetu Chandra

The reason why this song makes this list is because it is perhaps one of the few songs that has been shot in slow motion for the major part of the song. Further, keeping with the theme of the movie, the melody has a haunting feel to it.

Kitni Baatein – Lakshya (2004); Singers: Hariharan, Alka Yagnik; Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy; Lyrics: Javed Akhtar; Director: Farhan Akhtar; Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta

If there’s one song where the acting emotes more than the song, it’s this one. The silence between the two actors says a thousand words between them. Simply (and without saying too much), brilliant!

Ye Hawaayein – Luck By Chance (2009); Singers: Amit Paul, Mahalaxmi Iyer; Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy; Lyrics: Javed Akhtar; Director: Zoya Akhtar; Starring: Farhan Akhtar, Isha Sharvani

A wonderfully shot song, which was not easy to shoot, especially with two unknown actors trying to re-create romance the way traditionally, good-looking couples do on-screen. However, having said that, this is one song that has been picturized with an aim to please and has the ‘feel good’ factor going for it.

Main Agar Kahoon – Om Shanti Om (2007); Singer: Sonu Nigam; Music: Vishal Shekhar; Lyrics: Javed Akhtar; Director: Farah Khan; Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone

This is one song that has been picturised in a dream-like sequence, creating different themes to suit the mood of the song. A very-well choreographed song and perhaps one of the best romantic numbers in recent times. This is also an insight into how, if certain directors want, can create romantic musicals that can still do wonders for the dying art of creating melody.

Dil Dooba – Khakee (2004); Singers: Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal; Music: Ram Sampat; Lyrics: Sameer; Director: Rajkumar Santoshi; Starring: Aishwarya Rai, Akshay Kumar

Not a great/catchy song at all, but the way it’s been shot in sepia (?) is very interesting and makes it a treat to watch.

Chori Chori Jab Nazrein Mili – Kareeb (1998); Singers: Kumar Sanu, Sanjeevani; Music: Anu Malik; Lyrics: Rahat Indori; Director: Vidhu Vinod Chopra; Starring: Bobby Deol, Neha

I am sure that when you read the name of the song and saw the names of the artistes who were involved in making this song, you would have wondered what this song was doing here. However, there’s something about this song and the way it’s been filmed (incidentally, this is the last film that VVC has directed yet), that mesmerizes you. These folks took romance to an entirely new level – twilight, river with ‘diyas’ floating all around, wet actors, waltzing to the song, extra long ‘dupattas’…. It’s unconventional and that’s what makes it different.

Tumhi Dekho Na – Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006); Singers: Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik; Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy; Lyrics: Javed Akhtar; Director: Karan Johar; Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee

Of all the songs that have been featured in Karan Johar’s movies, this one stands out as the best. One that contains imagination, emotion, and all the ingredients of making it a song that one relishes audibly as well as visually. Great use of pastel shades and colors. Amongst my personal favourites as well. When lovers meet…this is what happens.

I’ll be back soon with subsequent parts to this thread.

Thanks for watching/reading.

Hef

Rocket Singh:Salesman of the Year

simply61 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:37:20 +0000

Director: Shimit Amin

Screenplay,story and dialogues: Jaideep Sahni

Cast: Ranbir Kapor,Gauhar Khan,Shazan Padamsee,Prem Chopra,Mukesh Bhatt,Navin Kaushik

Musix: Salim /Suleiman Merchant

A refreshing and unpretentious film that throws cynicism out of the window and supplants it with some much needed idealism.Ranbir is brilliant in his well nuanced performance that does away with the carefully cultivated ’star’ look of his previous films.

As Harpreet Singh Bedi,Ranbir is probably the first non-stereotypical presentaion of a sardar in Hindi films….he is not the joker of the film,nor a bhangra dancing buffoon,nor a Pak defeating soldier…..he is just a regular young lad of urban India out to make his mark in his first job as a computer salesman .He does not wear loud sherwani’s,does not twirl his moustache endlessly and within the first 10 mins you even stop noticing he is a Sikh.Finally a Punjabi/sardar boy minus the ‘balley balley’ and ‘hadippa’ quotient…and it works.

Gauhar Khan as the office receptionist is well cast and gives a good performance but the thunder is stolen mostly by the computer engineer Giri(D.Santosh) and Cup-plate (Mukesh Bhatt).The only disappointment is the ‘new introduction’ Shazan Padamsee but that hardly matters as romance is incidental to the movie and treated with a casual,fresh approach totally missing from the usual Bollywood flick.

The casting is spot on and the Shimit’s eye for detail impressive.Its a movie which tells an ordinary story in a down to earth manner.The second half is slow but this is anyway not a movie where some great secret has to be revealed at the end so one remains in one’s seat without keeling over with boredom.Those in similar office situations and those who have one up the ladder after surviving the mayhem of an Indian office will find a lot to identify with.

The film may not appeal to all sections of the audience but should touch a chord with young,aspiring and struggling urban India.So go and watch Harpreet Singh Bedi as he struggles to meet his sales targets while trying to hold on to his innate honesty and value system.

PAA-r Excellence (Here Be Spoilers)

aditimittal — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:27:12 +0000

I am normally gripped by the fancy to watch a movie once every month. This is crazy because I grew up watching first-day-first-shows of almost every Hindi movie ever made. It had translated in to being a long line outside Lowe’s theater on 31st and 2nd every Thursday night to watch the first-night-first-show of every Hollywood film that happened to be running there when I was in New York. (I saw ‘All about Steve’, there, I said it) So the fact that I’m watching one movie a month now that I’m back in India, and that includes all my T.V time, is fucking insane.

Last month, I had the fortune of finding a 1:00 p.m. showing of Wake Up Sid that I enjoyed thoroughly and have been smitten/stalking Ranbir Kapoor since then. (Wait till I get my hands on you Ranbir!) The cinematography by veteran Anil Mehta was breath taking, lyrical and gentle. Bombay will never be the same to anyone who has watched the movie.

This month, I called Niharika, eager to watch Kurbaan. I don’t much care for Kareena Kapoor or Saif Ali Khan and the hype around their ‘on screen chemistry’ had already annoyed me to epic proportions, but reviews mentioned that there was an attempt at some sort of discourse on terrorism, I really wanted to see what Bollywood thought of terrorism. But Niharika saved me Rs. 80 and need for a barf bag at Saif Ali Khan’s and Kareena Kapoor’s ‘on screen chemistry’ (What? It’s like watching Skeletor and Jocelyn Weinstein make out.)

Discourse on terrorism aside, I bet you’d like to see the ‘on-screen chemistry’ between this:

I am Saif Ali Khan. Hear me roar.

and this:

Nahin, Bebo MAIN Bebo

I didn’t think so.

Now, you have to be living in the Himalayas, to miss out on the pre-release promotion for Paa. Amitabh Bacchan was organizing private shows for every body- from members of the Indian cricket team, to his driver’s children, there were the interviews with the characters from the film with the ad rag, Bombay Times- but it never reached the irritatingly feverish pitch that Kurbaan had, so when Niharika suggested Paa, I agreed.

Good idea, me thinks, because the film was exceptional. R. Balki of Cheeni Kum fame managed to make and write one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. From the performances to the cinematography everything was just right. Paa is the story of a young couple, Amol and Vidya’s untimely separation due to an unwanted pregnancy. Amol encourages Vidya to abort the child which she does not and raises it, Auro on her own. Auro and Amol meet by coincidence 13 years later when Amol is a successuful politician and MP and Vidya is a practicing gynecologist. Auro, suffers from Progeria, a disease that causes accelerated physical aging among infants. (So patients may only be 12-13 but their bodies look and work like that of a 70 or even an 80 year old). The fact that Amol does not know that Auro is his son forms the crux of the story.

And because no one has ever accused me of brevity, I’d like to go more into detail on my thoughts about Paa.

The Performances

Amitabh Bacchan: Starting off with the baap of the movie of course- Amitabh Bacchan. I have long maintained that Bacchan is not a “super star”. He’s an actor. I have a disdainful opinion of the word “super star”- It means nothing. Superstars need idiotic press coverage to stay in the limelight. For eg. “Preity Zinta moves bowls, plates feel left out.”Actors, on the other hand, like Amitabh Bacchan can stand aside and let their work speak for themselves–because no amount of private screenings and character interviews will ever be able to do justice to his performance in the film. In Paa, Amitabh Bacchan is at what I’m hoping is not the zenith of his acting career. Of course the make up and strong vision by the art direction team helped. Bacchan disappeared into the character of Auro. I would forgive his Lal Badshah’s and Boro Plus endorsements based solely on his performance in the film. I never understood what the hell the hype around him the superstar is, but I will be reverently bowing down my head to Amitabh Bacchan, the actor, every time I think of this performance.

Abhishek Bacchan: I have a love-hate relationship with Abhishek Bacchan, but no one has managed to remain constant in my heart more than he has. For every Dhoom and Dostana there’s a Yuva and a Paa. And in a movie with performances of the bring-the-house-down variety from Amitabh Bacchan and Vidya Balan, Abhishek Bacchan has not received his due. Junior B is back, in a big way. The scene in which he watches Auro sleep and breaks down is undoubtedly one of those moments when you are reminded of the fact that this man is the offspring of two of the most prolific and popular actors in the short history of Hindi cinema.

Vidya Balan: She’s fucking gorgeous. Let’s just get that out of the way, because I’m constantly thinking about it, to the point that it distracts me from her performance. Her transition from the sultry and naive grad school student to the no-nonsense yet gentle and caring mother over the course of the film is natural, and the transition phase of a woman determined and resolute to keep a child that is not wanted is heart wrenching and beautiful. Vidya Balan bode her time with Kismat Konnections and Hey Babyys. I would love to see her do some Indie work (Even though the Indie film industry in India is regrettably small to the point of non-existence), so she can just keep churning out fantastic performances, one after another.

The Script

I have to admit that the salty-sweet Cheeni Kum did not leave much of an impression on me. I will be going back to watch it and might even post about it. The true hero of the film, Paa of course was R. Balki. His generous yet measured approach to the script and film left me satisfied and yet greedy for more in true “pet bhar gaya magar niyat nahin bhari” style. The universe of Paa is simply beautiful and poetic. It is a world where there are no mean kids making fun of the protagonist for being different and no one stands at the roadside to gape at anyone. I have to admit, that I was prepared to see a couple of scenes, at least, where Auro gets teased for being different by a bunch of cruel, taunting kids. I’m glad the preparation was in vain. All the issues of different-ness are dealt with and out of the way allowing the focus to remain on the cultivation of a relationship and its conclusion. On every level, just like the title suggested, the story was about a father-son relationship. The fact that the child was sick, was happenstance and did not take away from the film but added beautifully. Thematically tight, relentless and yet surprisingly gentle, Paa is a late night ride in a dark forest, a walk on the beach by the rising sun, and a view of the stars as you sit on the roof when the power in your house goes out. I will of course, as you might have inferred, be watching the film again, but I did notice some themes featuring more prominently than the others- of time, of expectations and most beautifully portrayed, what it means to be human and what, on the most biological level is the reason for our existence.

Time

Time could almost have been a protagonist of the film. From the first meeting of Vidya(Vidya Balan) and Amol (Abhishek Bacchan) under a large clock (I’ve been unable to place where that is though I spend a bit of time on the Oxford University Campus. Yikes!) to the scene in which they go ’round round’ when both their watch adorned wrists come together as if almost adding up the time they both wish they had with their dying son, making it more. The youngerAmol and Vidya ended up going different ways because careers had to be made, lessons had to be learned, there was no room for a baby in their relationship, the timing was just not right. Even the nature of the disease that Auro suffers from is about the warp between time and a human body.
Expectations

Weather it be from politicians who are expected to be pure and therefore wear only white or Mr. Arte’s (Paresh Rawal) expectations of Amol, his son or even a woman, who cannot be unmarried and pregnant, expectations weigh heavily on the protagonists. I found myself re-thinking my own expectations and perceptions of a lot of things after this movie.

Man, as an animal

I was reminded after watching Paa, of the most basic reasons for our existence, on the purest, most biological level. Cutting through all our desires of self actualization and the cloak of expectations, standards and pressures, we are animals. We were born to procreate, to produce more of our kind, that is our purpose. Our ancestors realized this when they write “Be Fruitful and multiply” or why most Hindi T.V serials, when a married couple enters, the resident old character/person normally says something along the lines of “Phallo Phullo.” The scene where Vidya, quietly points out to a patient who is too busy to have a child and yet is suffering from some sort of a problem gynecological in nature, that her body is giving her the signs that it’s time for her to have a baby is indicative of this theme. A man and a woman’s body goes through the changes it does, because we are meant to phallo phullo. The scene between Amol Arte and his father at the hospital when he finds out that Auro is his son is heart wrenching and eye-opening.

(This is not verbatim, but as I remember it and it’s in English. It’s still freaking awesome though)

Mr. Arte: (To Amol) The media has gone crazy over the fact that you have this illegitimate child. They want to ruin your career. What you must do is tell them that it’s all a lie and that you were just feeling pity for this dying child which is why you stayed by his bedside all night.
Amol: Why are you saying this Dad?
Mr. Arte: Becasue you’re my son, and I love you and if anything comes in the way of you and your wishes then I want to stomp it out.
Amol: Auro too is my son, and I love him and if anything comes in the way of him and his wishes, I too want to stomp it out.
And it’s as simple as that, the need to protect your offspring, the simplest, most rudimentary biological impulse. It’s just that, man, being what he truely is, an animal.

I’m going to try and convince my mom to watch the movie with me, even though I’m quiet sure she won’t be interested. Or will be making phone calls through the film.(She’s one of those)

There’s a whole political subplot that I’ve not made any mention of and I hear that the movie, when submitted to film festivals across the globe will be cut. I don’t mind that though, Paa in it’s most basic, visceral form, is still a beautiful film.

Simply because this made me LOL, and becasue I'm three years old. I heart photoshop.

Hindi Film “Paa”

stockresearch52 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:43:01 +0000

No two opinions about Amitabh Bachchan putting his acting skills to the test in the film Paa with new voice, face, body language, style and mannerism. It is indeed a new sight to everyone.

The 67 year old Indian Hindi film star Amitabh Bachchan is playing a 13 year old boy named Auro in the film Paa. My big salute to the makeup crew.

The story is about a rare genetic disorder called Progeria wherein a child ages fives times faster than his actual age. So at 13, Auro physically looks and functions like a 65 year old but is mentally as stable as his real age. Paa: Movie Review .

The disorder is just used as a backdrop to make way for a basic human drama where a child is instrumental in getting his estranged parents together. If the climax scene does not bring a lump in your throat then you are not a human being. It is very much touchy of human emotions and feelings. Even the stone-hearted will end up with moist eyes. Paa, on the cover of a magazine: Rediff.com Movies.

The man behind this idea is writer, filmmaker R Balakrishnan- Video .Ilaiya Raja’s musical score soothingly works on a subconscious level.

Paa is not designed as an educational or informative film on Progeria unlike Taare Zameen Par that took a serious look at dyslexia. However, no doubt that Paa has given definitely a new identity to Amitabh Bachchan. In the world of performing arts Paa is ready to ring the bell of more recognition in terms of awards and revenues than earlier films of similar nature.

Bollywood acknowledges Bachchan’s call

just4info — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:32:29 +0000

When Amitabh Bachchan calls for a special screening of PAA, the industry acknowledges. Yes, the idol of our Hindi film industry in no way wants to leave any stone unturned for the success of his upcoming movie that also comes under the banner of his own production house AB Corp.

Mr. Bachchan invited almost all the big names in the industry including Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan, and both have confirmed their presence. Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Ajay Devgan, Anil Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol and many other industry stalwarts are going to attend the pre-release screening.

“Dilip Saheb is unwell as are Shammi ji and Shashi ji and Dharamji … but speaking to them after such a while was a joy and an accomplishment in itself… Dev Anand ji, just back from London and in his elements as ever, writes a note to me and sends across a bouquet of flowers. Says he will try,” Bachchan wrote in his blog.

“Vinod Khanna calls in and regrets. He is out of town, but shall catch the film later and sends wishes for success. Hema ji acknowledges and will be there as will Jeetendra …,” informed further.

The Dec 03 screening of PAA in a Mumbai theatre will be attended by some of the distinguished stars and personalities of various fields. The movie directed by R Balakrishnan features Bachchan as a 13-year-old, Auro, suffering from progeria, a rare genetic disorder that causes premature ageing among children.

PAA is going to be released worldwide on Dec 4 but the character Auro has already created much buzz among movie goers and ardent fans of Bachchan to catch this rare father-son-son-father story. The story revolves around Auro and his father Amol played by Abhishek Bachchan, while Vidya Balan plays the mother of Auro.

Maharashtra Bhushan for Sulochana

fenilseta — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:23:39 +0000

By PTI (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 01, 2009) Veteran actress Sulochana was named the recipient of the M

Free songs unlimited and great speed no login required

gauriavs — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:25:55 +0000

Latest Album

Learn new techniques – It is cool n easy

How to Download Flash Files from the webpage

How to make a blog in 5 Minutes

Protect your documents with a password

How to Download Youtube Videos

3 Idiots free hindi mp3 songs
De Dana Dan free mp3 songs
Tum Mile free mp3 download
Aao Wish Karein mp3 songs
Marega Salaa free mp3 songs
Blue free mp3 download
All the best mp3 download
Kurbaan free mp3 download
Main Aurr Mrs Khanna
Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahani mp3 download
Mohit Chauhan – Fitoor
Aladin free hindi mp3 songs
Jail free hindi mp3 download
Kailash Kher – Yatra
Burn The Dance Floor 3.0 mp3 download
Shaabash You Can Do It mp3 download
Chin2 Bhosle – Sapne Suhane
Fruit & Nut mp3 download
London Dreams free songs download
Acid Factory free mp3 download
Wanted free hindi mp3 media – Salmaan’s latest movie
What’s Your Raashee free mp3 download
Everybody On Dance Floor 8 – Remixes
Radio free hindi mp3 songs
Wake Up Sid free mp3 download
Do Knot Disturb free mp3 download
New York free hindi Download
Dil Bole Hadippa free mp3 songs download – Yash Raj Banner’s new film (Shahid and Rani)
I Love Bhangra free mp3
Love Aaj Kal free download mp3 movie

Album of the week
Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahani mp3 download

Download movie torrent
Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahani – Link1 Link2
2012 (in hind) – Link1 Link2
2012 (in English) – Link1 Link2
Blue – Link1 Link2
All The Best – Link1 Link2
Main Aurr Mrs Khanna – Link1 Link2

Pop

Bhangra

Singer’s Album

Ghazal

Wedding Songs

Movie Songs

Shilpa Shetty Marriage Photo Gallery

puligadu — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:05:32 +0000

Click here for: Shilpa Shetty Marriage Photo Gallery Click here for:Shilpa Shetty Reception P

Kurbaan - a Review

astralwicks — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:57:46 +0000

Avantika, the heroine of Kurbaan finds the truth of her neighbour, including her husband’s evil terror designs by the most facile manner. She is under lock and key supervised by highly motivated terrorist’s who forget to search her. She in fact has a phone on her!

Still interested? Avantika who knows that a plane carrying a special delegation to Iraq is about to be BOMBED does NOT call the cops – inspite of having a phone!! She calls up a journalist who is traveling on the said plane – who like most travelers switches off her phone before take-off.

Vivek Oberoi’s journalist character (with horrible accents that change like calamitous weather) again discovers that there is a terrorist cell in operation about to carry a HUGE operation. What does he do? He decides to investigate on his own – without informing the FBI. And better still – he goes and informs his editor that he has LEADS but is not going to inform the FBI! You would assume that the editor would pick up the phone and call the FBI. But no sir, he doesn’t. All this after 9/11.

There is more. Even after knowing that the terrorist cell is targeting the Metro Lines and even after the 1^st bombing – people in America go about their daily lives. The authorities continue to operate the Metro instead of closing it down and sanitizing it so that our plot reaches it logical ending.

The clothes of course are good. And the locations. Couple of scenes work well. But does it justify the lack of careful attention to screenplay-detail? Seems like that. We are cagey in our criticism until and unless there is an ulterior motive. A taut flawless script is no guarantee of a film’s success. I like Rang De Basanti (at least I did when I last saw it). My friends laugh and mock me, but I still enjoy it inspite of the inconsistencies and flights of fancy. RDB has a sincere charm – the emotions of those characters are infectious and accessible. You are ready to gloss over because you believe in the film emotionally if not intellectually.

That is not possible with Kurbaan’s because its politics exist in a no man’s land. A Pakistani posing as a professor, charms off an Indian psychology professor teaching in the US so that he can take revenge on the white man and his politics of oil. The story of his idyll being destroyed by America is told by Kiron Kher’s character. Similarly Kiron Kher and family’s rage has a backstory set in Afghanistan.

The complex web of the Jihad – Wahabism, invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviets, the Mujahideen, the Saudi funding of Madrasas, the CIA financing of the Mujahideen, the ISI agenda of funding terror for strategic depth in Afghanistan, the radicalization of Pakistan under Zia, the strangle-hold of the military in Pakistan, the emergence of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda – nothing is even remotely touched upon. Kurbaa’s reductionism lays the blame on the door of the US of A. Is it that simple?

Do we see any evidence of what Bhaijaan (Om Puri) constantly asserts – that Ehsaan (Saif) is falling for Avantika (Kareena). NO. It is just a bogey so that when Ehsaan actually does have a change of heart without any reason whatsoever (no it’s nothing to do with the kid that Avantika is carrying) you have to gloss over the obvious lack of motivation. Again Ehsaas, the numero – uno terrorist is surprised by the rigging of Avantika’s bag. Is he a fool or a motivated fanatic?

Is Kurbaan a vivisection of the increasing clash of cultures between Islam and Christianity? NO. Is it a study of radicalization of the world per se. NO. Does India play any role in it? Nothing other than the fact that the film starts in India and the heroine has Indian roots.

Kurbaa’s characters lie in a no-man’s land. Are we supposed to like the film because it features 2 of India’s good-looking, talked-about people who are in a relationship? Good ploy but it fails.

Qurbaan:A review of sorts.

simply61 — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:32:46 +0000

I had not actually been planning to see this film as I have had enough of these bleak movies about terrorism and also because I did not think a terrorism related film from the Karan Johar stable would be anything worth watching.I would rather re watch ’Aamir’…….

As is usually the case, I went because some friends made a programme and, boy, am I glad I went…

The good surprises started with the credits when I saw that the film had not been directed by Karan but by Rensil D’ Silva…then as the first few scenes came on and the good slick photography began to cast its spell I realised that this could prove to be a film worth watching.

What works for this film is the effort made to narrate a tight,believable story without getting distracted by the commercial formula film demands to put in song and dance sequences.The story moves at a good pace and the background score and the sombre hues of the film compliment the story.The editing is good for the most part and the performances worth applauding.Even Kareena manages to tone down her ‘POO’ (K3G) persona to fit into the role and is good as the girl who finds her world crashing around her once she moves to USA with her Muslim husband.Saif has delivered a well nuanced perfromance and the rest of the cast is stellar too.Om Puri, as the man of few words(bhaijaan), is menacing and Kirron Kher makes a mark as the controlling ‘aapa’.Vivek Oberoi delivers a very impressive performance too.

The story revolves around some regular Asian Americans who are settled in USA but are involved in a terror plot to hit America and Americans.The parts where the FBI is shown are a bit cliched and ‘GI Joe’ like in treatment but by and large the movie keeps on track without resorting to sensationalism or showing scenes of torture,blood and gore every few minutes.

What I like about the film is that keeps the preaching to a bare minimum,explores (to some extent) the active role of women in terrorism and makes neither heroes nor villains out of the various characters.

The music is good too( Salim-Suleiman).New York looks good minus the explosive color treatment that K Jo gave it in Kal Ho Na Ho.

For us the experience was also surreal in the sense that we watched a film relating to Islam inspired (at least the terrorists always justify their brutal deeds in the name of the religion) terrorism in a movie hall where the audience was 99 % Muslim and comprised mainly of Arabs and Pakistanis.The Indians,inexplicably, were in small numbers.Usually it is the other way around for Bollywood films here in the Gulf.There was pin drop silence in the hall.Once the movie was over and the lights came on I saw many Arab men sitting in pensive silence……..I can not say anything about the women’s expressions as most were fully veiled (weekend crowd from Saudi).Evereyone slowly shuffled out of the hall with no one discussing the film.Missing was the usual instant analysis that one hears on the way out of movie halls.

That this film was screened here in a conservative Gulf state,a stone’s throw away from the ultra conservative Saudi Arabia, is in itself amazing although after reading some of the Indian reviews of the film I get the feeling that some scenes relating to the American oil policy’s role in fueling conflict have been cut out from the version shown here ( along with the ’sizzle’ scenes between Saif and lady-love Kareena.)

I would recommend this film because I think slowly films like this one are marking a long awaited departure from the set formula film making and they are finding a receptive audience too…

This film is such a sea change from the pop treatment that terrorism got in ‘New York’ and one hopes to get more such mature stories out of Karan Johar and company.