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.

Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna(2006)

Star Power: Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Abhishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Kirron Kher, Arjun Rampal

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 7 chilies

Music: 4 out of 7 chilies

Choreography: 5 out of 7 chilies

Synopsis:

Dev Saran(Shahrukh Khan) is a rising soccer star living in New York with his wife, Rhea(Preity Zinta), a hardworking fashion magazine employee. His mother (Kirron Kher) is catering a wedding, and when Dev goes to meet her, he has a chance encounter with the bride, Maya(Rani Mukherji). The two connect, but when Dev leaves he is hit by a car while glancing back at her, leaving Dev unable to play. Four years later, we see that Dev has become embittered by the loss of his career, while Rhea is rising in the fashion world. Maya and her husband Rishi (Abhishek Bachchan) are also having problems, as she finds excuses to pull away from him. Dev and Maya meet again, (under rather unusual circumstances) and become friends, trying to help each other work out their problems, but gradually their friendship becomes something more...

Comments:

This movie has some problems, not least of which is the fact that the uneven storyline doesn't really live up to the incredible star power invested in it. The tone seems pretty erratic, with broad comedy moments and upbeat fluffy songs followed almost immediately by bitter recriminations and emotional scenes. I think they were trying to give the film a bolder, more realistic feel, addressing marital strife, but instead they mostly just end up sending mixed messages. The characters seem inconsistent as well. For example, Amitabh Bachchan plays Samarjit, (aka Sexy Sam) Rishi's father and a lighthearted, comedic confirmed flirt and womanizer from his very first scene in the film. However, halfway through the movie he suddenly transitions into the role of the wise advising father figure, acting like a moral authority over the two couple's problems. The songs were just average, in my view, as was the choreography - good background music, but not really anything that will stick with you. It wasn't really what I hope for in a good Bollywood movie, and I couldn't really sympathize enough with the leads to feel taken on the emotional ride you feel they were striving for.

Amar Akbar Anthony (1977)

Star Power : Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh, Parveen Babi, Shabana Azmi

Overall Rating : 3.5 of 7 chilies

Music : 6 of 7 chillies

Choreography : 5 of 7 chilies

Synopsis :

In a nutshell -- Three brothers, seperated in their youth, join together to fight evil, reunite their parents and save the women that they love.*

Comments:

*Oh, my, where do I start? Basically, this movie was a study in contrasts. It was the biggest hit of 1977 and won numerous Filmfare awards along with having one of the most popular songs of the year (Parda Hai Parda). It has famous stars of both screen and music. That said, it is the most quirky movie you will ever watch, with its convoluted, confusing storyline and zany antics. The cinematography is choppy, with abrupt hops between scenes. The storyline is, as I said, confusing and some of the choices the characters make are perplexing. The dances are okay, not real tour de forces, but adequate. The subtitles were somewhat fine. The music, on the other hand, is wonderful, with the stellar voices of Mohammad Rafi, Mahendra Kapoor, Shailendra Singh and others performing great songs. If you want to watch a fabulously fun number, you'll be rewarded at the end with "Amar Akbar Anthony" -- a great song with a madcap 60's style feel! In fact, if you are a lover of Pink Panther, It's a Mad, Mad World, What's New, Pussycat and the like, you will love this movie. It's the reason my family loves it -- its endearing crazy charm really grows on you.

Veer-Zaara (2004)

Star Power: Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukerji, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini

Overall Rating: 7 out of 7 chilies

Music: 7 out of 7 chilies

Choreography: 7 out of 7 chilies

Synopsis:

When aspiring lawyer Saamiya Siddiqui (Rani Mukerji) visits Indian prisoner 786 (whose real name is Squadron Leader Veer Pratap Singh (Shahrukh Khan)) in a Pakistani jail to offer to fight his case, at first he turns her down, but gradually he opens up and begins to relate the strange series of events that led up to his imprisonment. 22 years earlier, a young Pakistani girl called Zaara Haayat Khan (Preity Zinta) is traveling to India to fulfill her governess' dying wish to have her ashes scattered in her native country when her bus overturns. Veer is part of the Indian Air Force team that saves her and later accompanies her in scattering her governess' ashes. In return he asks to take her on a trip to his home village. Veer gradually falls in love with her, unaware that she is already engaged...

Comments:

A really great modern movie and a good starting place for anyone looking for an intro to Bollywood. A cast full of big-name stars and a list of songs which are almost all very catchy and sweet. This is one of Amitabh Bachchan's better later performances, in my opinion, as Veer's quirky loveable father and his onscreen moments with Hema Malini, especially in the song "Lodi", steal the show. Good chemistry between Shahrukh and Preity as well, and the ending will leave you smiling and crying all at the same time.