Movies ‘R’ Us: #1-2010

1. Prahaar (Assault) (1991) (Hindi Film)

A Nana Patekar directed-movie, slow moving though not boring. Not a classic, but with enough passion to sustain it through. With emphasis on some of the ideas Nana is passionate about: the army, patriotism, corruption and the lack of values in public life etc.

One of the main couples is Christian (that’s unusual for a Hindi movie) Peter and Shirley i.e. Gautam Joglekar (in possibly his first and only Hindi film……no wait, he’s acted in one more ‘Thodasa Roomani Ho Jaayen’) and Madhuri Dixit. Another beautiful lady in Dimple Kapadia and both of these ladies sans makeup

Only a couple of scenes really that stand out. One is a brilliantly picturised scene where Madhuri discovers her beloved boyfriends disability.

And yes, there are some very potent action scenes in the end when Nana beats up the thugs. its almost as if he is exterminating the pests of society, squashing them.



2. Lahu Ke Do Rang (The Two Colours of Blood) (1979) (Hindi movie)

A pretty mediocre film with hardly anything to recommend for itself. 3 fine actors, Vinod Khanna, Shabana Azmi and Danny are more or less wasted on a painfully weak masala script. The pretty mediocre set of hangers-on don’t add much value either.

Yes, there is a pretty fine sequence involving SA and her deranged mother. There are some good action sequences including the climax in a dockyard. SA is great in the emotional sequences, not so great in the masala scenes including the dancing. VK is competent all throughout.

Crucial parts in script continuity are missing: how SA meets VKs ma, why Ranjeet the villain needs a diver from HongKong to recover treasure from a river bed in India.

Helen you could say is the surprise package. Her only contribution to licentiousness in the movie is sleeping with VK outside of marriage. Otherwise she has a very serious role, a non-item girlish role. She got a once-in-a-blue moon opportunity and has grabbed it with both hands. For an emotional role with meat in it, she does well in emerging fairly unscathed.

But all in all a dud movie



Songs

* Chahiye Thoda Pyar (I want love) is the only song that may be remembered by many from my generation.

Starring

Vinod Khanna
Shabana Azmi
Danny Denzongpa
Ranjeet
Helen
Prema Narayan (exists to display her ample cleavage)


Playback: Lata, Kishore, Rafi, Danny, Anuradha Paudwal, Yesudas, Chandrani Mukherjee
Dances: Vijay-Oscar
Editing: Waman Bhonsle and Gurudutt Shirali
DoP: Pravin Bhatt
Lyrics: Faruqh Kaiser
Music: Bappi Lahiri
Story, Screenplay and dialogue: Suraj Sanim
Produced by Seroo Daryanani and Bhagwan S.C
Directed by Mahesh Bhatt (a real surprise / shocker from him)



3. Andaz (Hindi Movie) (1949)

A pretty forgettable movie though it was pitted as the battle between the 2 superstars of that era: Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, with Nargis as a side highlight

Essentially a love triange, where DK falls in love with N who is in love with, and marries RK and how the sloppy mess is sorted out

Other than the chemistry between Raj and Nargis which is all too evident, there’s not much in this movie to recommend.

The DoP gives us all those close-ups are unnerving since the editing to accompany it is patchy and the deficiencies of the stars are revealed at a close glance. There is an extremely irritating comic actor for diversion and also a racist comment:

“Ji Ha, main Africa ka rehnewala hoon. Ab aap mujhse ye puchengi ki meri shakal gorilla se kyon nahi milti?”

“Oh Yes, I am from Africa. Now you will ask why my face doesn’t resemble a gorilla’s”


Forgettable! Avoid!



4. Shreeman Funtoosh (Hindi Film) (1965)

Villains with names such as John and Francis, SF is a movie that is utterly forgettable and which manages to screw-up on all fronts.

‘Balma kitna nadaan hai tu’ is a unique song because of the choreography which also includes a milder version of the Michael Jackson crotch dance step done here by Kum Kum!!

There are some wonderfully quirky character actors, including the scientist father, the servants and the tantric but all-in-all, the thought remains that the movie reels should have been isolated and destroyed long-ago


Credits

S.B.Productions’

Starring

Kishore Kumar as Sreeman Funtoosh
Kum Kum
Anoop Kumar
Mohan Choti
Harindranath Chatopadhyay

Written by R.Priyadarshi
Photography: Babubhai Udeshi, Rocky Fonseca
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi, Asad Bhopali
Music: Laxmi-Pyare
Produced by Shamim Bhagat
Directed by Shantilal Soni