You are here
Pyaari Tarawali film review
Pyaari Tarawali The True Story traces the journey of emotions and struggles that a girl goes through yet it also depicts (though subtly) the helplessness of a single man who is subject to ridicule just because he is still unmarried at the age of 38. This man works hard to keep his wife happy but towards the end his wife deserted him as this woman had some more desires in life that she gets swayed by sweet talks of her ex-boyfriend and ends up in a mess only for her own wrong-doings. Pyaari in her infanthood had been bought up by her mother narrating a story that one day a Knight in Shining Armor would come and marry this girl who would then rule as a Queen and live happily ever after. Is that the end? No. Pyaari had unending desires for herself. Though Pyaari had suffered marriage break-up twice, the third time she found the right man who respected her, cared and loved her, yet ....
Read More
 
Shubh Nikah movie review
What makes the narrative of Shubh Nikah different from the other yarns of this ilk is the fact it maintains a progressive tone in storytelling even as it sets out to convey its message, making the film a well-intentioned effort, says Jyothi Venkatesh. The film is about a young Hindu boy Munnalal Mishra (Rohit Vikram) and a young Muslim girl Zoya (Aksha Pardasany) who fall in love with each other, without realising the obstacles and difficulties that their love will have to face. At first, though both the families object to this relationship when the love birds convince their respective families that the other is willing to convert, they agree. The families once again develop cold feet when, because of the impending conversion, trouble-makers try to start mayhem and threaten to start communal riots. The plot is definitely as old as the hills about two people from di ....
Read More
 
Main Raj Kapoor Ho Gaya movie review
The film Main Raj Kapoor Ho Gaya revolves around Raj (Manav Sohal) and Suman (Arshin Mehta) who have a happy marriage until an unfortunate incident takes place and claims Suman’s life, forcing Raj to become an alcoholic a la Devdas. The film is about a man who, despite being born in a world full of hoggish beliefs, chooses to live a life of truth and honesty and believes in the fact that God created everyone as equals. In a strange turn of events, one fateful night, his mundane life turns upside down when he shelters and protects a woman (Nazia Hussain) from goons. From now onwards a strange relationship develops wherein she is not able to recollect anything from her past and he who desperately wants to forget his past. Though music by Vilyui Goswami is the saving grace of the film which has predictable plot and illogical development of its screenplay by the actor-producer-direc ....
Read More
 
Dilli Kaand movie review
Dilli Kaand as the name suggests somewhat means - a conspiracy in Delhi. However the core of this film is loosely based on the Nirbhaya gang rape incident that occurred about a decade ago. That is just the first part of the story. Much has been written about the Nirbhaya incident about what is the background and the torture that girl had to face and then the court proceedings and so on. What the debutante director Kritik Kumar has attempted is that the nature of power games played in the capital city of India. Therefore the film's story can be broken into two parts. As regards to the first part, it is Kaashvi Kanchan who hogs the limelight with her cheerful and chirpy college student. She has displayed a variety of emotions that of a loving daughter of her parents, a dedicated college student and then her individuality that of a student who falls in love with her college mate. Kaas ....
Read More
 
Upkar - 1967
It is said that Upkar. the movie was inspired by no less than the Prime Minister of India at that time Shri Laal Bahadur Shastri, in a meeting with the film fraternity being impressed by film Shahid's special screening, a story of Bhagat Singh's exploits in the Indian freedom struggle. He had given the slogan of Jai Jawaan Jai Kisaan due to the prevailing circumstances in India which had just come out of the 1965 war with Pakistan on one side and dearth of food grains on the other. This underlying motto within the slogan was picked up by Manoj Kumar and he wrote the storyline on the train while returning from Delhi to Bombay. This was the advent of Manoj Kumar as Bharat on the silver screen. Upkar was his first film as director and also this led the way for him to go on to direct and act in many movies with patriotism as it's central theme. Manoj Kumar was the person ....
Read More
 
Yehi Hai Zindagi 1977
There is something unique about this movie - Yehi Hai Zindagi, as it was the first time that an interaction between an ordinary common man, that too an atheist and Lord Krishna himself was shown on the silver screen. A low budget film, it is an unsung movie of 1977, though may not have been a high grosser like the other Bachchan movies of the era and might have even been overshadowed by other big budget movies. Every human being who is living in this world has some desire or the other and when their desires don't get fulfilled they look up to the Lord and complaint to him that he has been unfair, but the Lord never appears and one just quarrels with Him in his own mind. This story is on the similar premise but there is a twist and what follows is very beautifully told and summarised on the screen. We endeavour to take this movie in our list of top hundred retro gems because of its ....
Read More
 
Sadhna - 1958
Though Madhumati was a bigger hit of the year 1958 than this movie, we preferred to review this movie - Sadhna which had a controversial topic at the time. It also had a social message and was very well received by the audience and was also declared a hit as it made twice the money. Though there were no takers for the story because of its content, B.R. Chopra took it upon himself to make it as like most of his movies this also had a message and posed a question for the society to answer . Sadhna took up the cause of rehabilitation of prostitutes and though Vyjanthimala was nominated for the Filmfare best actress award for both Madhumati and Sadhna she ultimately received the award for this movie and not Madhumita thus confirming critical acclaim of the movie and the depth of the social message which reached the masses. Vyjantimala was a comparative new comer to Bollywood and only 2 ....
Read More
 
Do Bigha Zamin 1953 Bollywood retro movies
Do Bigha Zamin was a ground-breaking movie which reflected the true ground realities of rural India of the time and features in many an all-time great movies list of India. Though India was free but young India was still grappling with the colonial and zamindari mindset which made the zamindars the absolute owners of the rural India and even controlled the lives of the small and distressed farmers. Though instruments of justice were in place but they were heavily loaded in the favor of the rich and the powerful as they could bend things as they liked, even playing with the lives of the peasants and farmers who were dependent on their compassion and help for even small occasions in their lives as they were totally unprepared for any incidental or expenses as they had no fallback income of their own and were self-sufficient to the extent of producing and consuming their own food but loo ....
Read More
 
Mother India 1957
This magnum opus from Mehboob Khan was a remake of his earlier movie Aurat released in 1940. Mother India is an all time classic and is what defines Indian cinema. It describes the village life in the backdrop of agriculture, which at that time was very much dependent on rainfall with 70% of the Indian population living in the villages and also dependent on agriculture. It was released on 25 October 1957. Mother India captures the Indian ethos of the time. A woman has a prime place in Indian culture and are revered as goddesses. Mother has a special place in every child's life especially in India and this movie celebrates that. The title was deliberately chosen so, as it was also the title of a book by an American author denigrating the Indian ethos and with this Mehboob Khan wanted to put paid to that by showing that the opposite was actually the truth and Indian women had enough gri ....
Read More
 
Duuhman - 1972
Though it was a super hit of its time (not to be confused with Kajol's Dushman), this is one of Rajesh Khanna's lesser celebrated films. Released on January 7, 1972. It can be called an experimental film of sorts due to the subject of the film which was explored earlier in V Shantaram's Do Aankhen Barah Haath but was much different in the tone and tenor. Directed by Dulal Guha, Dushman has Rajesh Khanna who was at his peak when he took up this role of an over confident reckless truck driver sentenced to work for the family of his victim, a willing risk which he took being in pole position then. He pulled off this role with aplomb. He was a romantic star at the time, and here it was sort of a de-glamorization for him. He changed quite a few things, his body language, style, facial features to look the part which he was every inch of. It was also one of the last performance of Meena Kum ....
Read More
 
1 2 3 4