Band Baaja Baaraat (2010)

Star Power: Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh

Overall Rating: 6 out of 7 chilies

Music: 6 out of 7 chilies

Choreography: 5.5 out of 7 chilies

Synopsis:

Shruti Kakkar (Anushka Sharma) is a young college student who dreams of starting a wedding planning company before she marries. Bittoo Sharma, (Ranveer Singh) is a student at the same college as Shruti and the two first meet when Bittoo and several other friends sneak into a wedding that Shruti is helping her aunt coordinate. In spite of this rough start to their friendship, Bittoo finds a reason to meet her again and it is then that she explains her wedding planning idea to him. Bittoo scoffs at the idea at first, but when he is later confronted with the choice of returning to the family farm or finding a job in town, he decides to convince Shruti to let him become a partner in her business. She eventually agrees, on the understanding that their relationship will be strictly a business one, and they name their company Shaadi Mubarak. As their company grows, the two grow closer together, but can their business survive the trials and misunderstandings of love?....

Comments:

A good, fun modern movie with a lot of humor and good performances from both of the leads. I found Anushka Sharma's portrayal of Shruti a good deal more believable than that of her character in Rab ne Bana di Jodi (2008), and Ranveer Singh, (in his debut role) makes a great humorous counterpoint to her character. There aren't a lot of songs, but the music is fast-paced and quite catchy, especially the main theme, "Ainvayi Ainvayi", which is definitely worth a watch (see Must-See-Songs Part II).

Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978)

Star Power: Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Rekha

Overall Rating: 4 out of 7 Chilies

Music: 5.5 out of 7 Chilies

Choreography: 5 out of 7 Chilies

Synopsis:

A young orphaned boy finds work in the house of a wealthy man, Ramnath, and becomes friends with the man's daughter, Kaamna. Out on the streets of the city, the boy saves Ramnath's housekeeper's purse from thieves and in gratitude she adopts him on the spot, giving him the name Sikandar. Ramnath has always been suspicious of orphans, as one was responsible for the death of his wife, and when Sikandar sneaks into the girl's room one night to deliver a birthday present, he accuses the boy of stealing and throws him and his mother out. The shock is too much for Sikandar's new mother, who dies in the street, entrusting the well-being of her daughter to Sikandar's care. Many years later, Sikandar (Amitabh Bachchan), has become a wealthy businessman, while Ramnath's fortunes have taken a turn for the worse. This reversal of situations has not improved Kaamna's or her father's opinions of him, as they both still believe him to be a thief and mistakenly assume his new wealth is ill-gotten. Can Sikandar overcome her misconceptions and find a way to express his love?...

Comments:

A decent 70's movie which was pretty popular when it premiered, but not one of my favorites, I admit. The moral the movie seems to be pushing comes early on in the film, when Sikandar meets with a fakir soon after his mother's death and the fakir tells him he can become "master of his destiny" (Muqaddar ka Sikandar) if he can laugh in the face of sorrow and death. However, this maxim doesn't seem to be exactly carried out by characters in the events that follow and it's hard to tell whether that's intentional or not. There are a number of subplots that make keeping up with the action difficult at times. Also distracting are the multiple times when the story slips into Sikandar imagining himself doing something without there being any indication beforehand that the scene isn't really happening. This is novel the first time it happens, but it can get confusing when you try to keep track of what's actually happened. Rekha does a lovely, sympathetic job in the role of a dancing girl whose house Sikandar visits, but because she is a dancing girl, in typical Bollywood fashion her chances for happiness seem shaky from the start. The music is thoroughly enjoyable and the choreography is quite good, especially for a 70's movie, but there's nothing I would really consider a must-see. Overall, it seems a little like the screenwriters wrote themselves into a corner and couldn't come up with a way to end things without coming up with an awkward result.

3 Idiots (2009)

Star Power : Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Boman Irani, R. Madhavan

Overall Rating: 7 of 7 chilies

Music : 6.5 of 7 chilies

Choreography: 6.5 of 7 chilies

Synopsis: Businessman Chatur Ramalingam (Omi Vaidya) shows up one day at the homes of former college classmates from the Imperial College of Engineering (ICE), Farhan (R. Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi), to prove he has won his wager that he would be more successful than they were. Most important to him is to lord this fact over their friend and fellow classmate Rancho (Aamir Khan), who made the bet with him one day at college, but Rancho is nowhere to be found. On a roadtrip to find him, the friends flashback to their college days, remembering the trials and tribulations they experienced and the ways that Rancho changed their lives. As the journey progesses, many questions arise: Who is Rancho ? And what has he become?

Comments: What a romp! The film is mostly a light-hearted affair, with a little bit of social commetary (the problem of student suicides). Aamir Khan, in his role as "Rancho", casts back to the days of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, creating a likeable, amiable character. Kareena Kapoor, as the love interest, is believeable and both R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi do a nice job of the typical college friend types. Boman Irani excells in his role as the baddie -- the autocratic dad-educator, causing mayhem for our heroes.

The music is excellent -- both All Iz Well and Zoobi Doobi will stick in your brain for hours! The choreography is done very well, especially Zoobi Doobi. The cinematography is surprisingly good ( I'm a stickler for good segues and this movie has no problems with this!). All in all, 3 Idiots is a enjoyable picture and I can see why it received numerous awards and acclaim.