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Adipurush movie review
Adipurush, made on a huge budget of 700 crores (so the makers claim) supposedly an adaptation of Valmiki’s Ramayana makes you tired with its running time of three hours begins with Ravana (Saif Ali Khan) doing penance in front of Brahma and Ravana abducting Janaki (Kriti Sanon) in the disguise of a sadhu and provoking Ram to come for him with the kind of rage which usually isn’t the emotion you’d connect with him. Fast forward to Ram seeking the help of Sugreev, Lord Hanuman (Devdatta Nage), and his brother Lakshman (Sunny Singh), and setting out on the journey of bringing Janaki back from Ravana’s control. The narrative wastes no time in establishing characters or Ram’s aura or what led to his exile from Ayodhya. The director does not at all waste time on building up the story of what led Ram to be banished from Ayodhya on exile and just focuses on Janaki’s treacherous ab ....
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Aan - 1952
A critically acclaimed movie in India as well as abroad, and Aan had many firsts to its credit. The first Hindi movie to be shot in Technicolor, the first Indian movie to be released world over in more than 25 countries not just the Soviet Union but in US, UK as well and first ever to release in Japan with subtitles in over 15 languages by the name of ‘The Savage Princess’. Aan also launched the career of Nadira. It was praised by the foreign press as well as personalities, in fact the Hollywood great Cecil B. DeMille personally wrote to Mehboob Khan the producer and director of the movie; praising it. It was the most expensive movie made at that time in true Mehboob Khan Tradition, no expenses were spared but collected 10 times over on the Indian and worldwide Box Office. It was the first movie to be dubbed and released under the same name in the south. This costume drama abou ....
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Aashiqui 1990
This memorable movie made the Bhatt camp a formidable force in Bollywood. Aashiqui gave us two new faces and new hope Rahul Roy and Anu Aggarwal. Mahesh Bhatt had spotted Anu at a party. Settled in Paris she was already an International model (first Indian Super model) and had no interest to come to Bollywood but one thing in the script clinched her okay and that was when the heroine says “I want to do something of my own’ which was also her life philosophy. Anu Aggarwal was dark complexioned; which was a rarity in Bollywood during the 90s where people usually liked to see fair toned heroines, that notwithstanding she was accepted whole-hardheartedly. Rahul Roy was also spotted by Bhatt when he went to his mother Indira Roy's house to wish her. Though Aashiqui was a super-duper hit, it did not help in the careers of the lead actors as it should have due to various reasons, mayb ....
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Ardh Satya 1983
A hard hitting cop drama directed by Govind Nihalani which catapulted the careers of Om Puri and to some extent Shafi Inamdaar and of course Sadashiv Amrapurkar. Ardh Satya was Nihalani’s second outing with Puri after the dark Aakrosh of 1980. It released on 19th August 1983. Initially Amitabh was roped in to play the role of the cop but could not and it fell in the laps of Puri. The movie’s title - Ardh Satya is derived from the Marathi poem by Dilip Chitre which is also referenced in the movie and changes psych of the main character and the flow of the movie. After the socials of ‘60s and the soft romantic and experimental movies of the ‘70s the Rajesh Khanna variety it was the era of Amitabh Bachchan in the ‘80s with his angry young man and compelling movies. Ardh Satya was one such movie which catered to the art movie sensibilities and well as mainstream cinema dramat ....
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Gulzar's Angoor 1982
This 1982 movie is a delightful Indianised adaptation of Shakespeare's play 'Comedy of Errors'. Angoor is a remake of 1963 Hindi film Do Dooni Char with two sets of twins. It is a superb subtle comedy with great artistes like Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma. Directed efficiently by Gulzar and released on 5 March 1982, it is a genuine comedy of errors as both the sets of twins do not know about each other, no lying and no impersonation. Angoor was a comedy of different caliber rarely viewed on Indian cinema screens. It was in the league of comedy like Pyar kiye jaa and Padosan the evergreen comedy classics. Mr and Mrs Raj Tilak (Utpal Dutt and Shammi) have twins and due to some convoluted logic, name them both as Ashok, and as luck would have it they adopt a set of twins and name them both Bahadur as per the same logic. Shortly after fate intervenes and each parent is separated with o ....
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Awara - 1951
This was the first attempt by Raj Kapoor to model himself on the Charlie Chaplin act in the film Awara, which got more prominent in his later films like ‘Shree 420’. It was a trendsetter of sorts, an iconic movie at the time. Awara is produced and directed by Raj Kapoor himself and it was written by the R.K. loyalist K.A. Abbas who went on to write and also direct many socials. It was a landmark movie which juxtaposed good with the bad. Many of the Kapoor family graced the movie apart from the Protagonists- R.K. (Raj) himself and his father Prithviraj Kapoor, his Grandfather Diwan Basheshwarnath Kapoor and his younger brother Shashi played R.K’s younger self. Awara was released on 14th December 1951, it is considered a path-breaking film for Hindi cinema as it was a huge success not only in India but also abroad in South Asian countries and an overwhelming success in the Sovi ....
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Aandhi - 1975
Movies are generally a source of entertainment, with some carrying a social or moral message while there are movies which used to be called art movies in late 70’s and early 80’s in INDAIN CINEMA which showed the stark realities of life. Aandhi is one such movie written by Kamleshwar and directed by Gulzar. Though India has changed a lot since then. Now those very art films are termed as contemporary and are not all depressing but also do have a funny take to them. The movies do show the ethos of the Nation at those times and can be instrumental in creating public opinion or at least validating a point of view. Aandhi was a movie of its own kind it was a political commentary on the state of affairs on the back of a very unlikely love story. It is said to have been loosely based on the life of the then Prime Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi and though it was released on 13th Fe ....
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Anand 1971
Released on 12th March 1971, Anand is an endearing story of a terminally ill patient who brings joys in the life of complete strangers. It was both funny and tragic. It showed that despite the progress we have made thru science we still have no control on certain diseases where death is a foregone conclusion. Anand was produced and directed by the well-known maker of social and moralistic drama exploring the lighter side of life Hrishikesh Mukherjee or Hrishida as he was fondly called. It was one of the 17 consecutive hits of Rajesh Khanna and his first collaboration with Amitabh Bachchan. That Amitabh was able to hold his own and define his character in the movie laid down the path for him to succeed as superhero after Khanna. It was a runaway hit at the box-office. T This movie Anand, being evergreen is still viewed with rapt attention whenever it is played on TV. It is a movie o ....
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Aradhana (1969)
Late sixties and seventies was a defining period of Indian cinema which cultivated many memorable movies. Indian cinema was moving from family dramas, social and moral tales towards stories of friendship and love. Aradhana was one such movie which changed the lives of many of those associated with it.  (Image courtesy YouTube). Released on 27th September 1969 it was a defining movie which gave birth to the first Indian Superstar- a phenomenon called Rajesh Khanna, he had been around for a couple of years before this (even had some hits ) but something in this tale caught the eyes of the audience and specially the fair sex . This was the start from where he gave 17 consecutive hits, a record which still stands to this day. This was the movie which resurrected the playback singing career of Kishore Kumar. It is rumored that before doing the playback of Aradhana Kishore wanted to mee ....
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Amar Akbar Anthony review by Pawan Gupta
This blockbuster  - AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY was released on 27th May 1977. By then the stars of this movie were well known and stars in their own rights but one among them was more than the proverbial first amongst the equal. He was none other than Amitabh Bachchan, who had by then attained stardom and though this movie was a multi-starrer, it firmly entrenched him as the new superstar his ‘angry young man’ image was already accepted but with this movie he added one more facet to his acting skills i.e. comedy. Till that time most movies had a full time comedian in the form of Mehmood, Jagdeep or someone to provide comic relief but this movie changed all that with the hero also donning the role of comedian. His contemporary and also in race for superstardom, Vinod Khanna was also in this movie, but this movie took Big B (as Amithabh is fondly called) leagues ahead. 1977-78 was one o ....
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