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Tabu , Shilpa, Sridevi, Manisha , Pooja , Ayesha , Naghma , Mayoori, Neelam , Deepti , Zeba , Dimple , Madhoo , Twinkle , Karisma , Sonali , Mamta, Kajol , Urmilla, Raveena ,Madhuri , Juhi , Ashwariya .

Najib Sahni..Sandy.. Vinay

I liked the movie starring kajol, arvind and prabhu deva Kajol was wonderful as always-she is a natural beauty...esp. her hair and eyebrows Arvind_ hmm....o.k. Prabhu deva-man, he was Hila-rious...although he aint a looker he sure got a heck of a lot of talent The only song worth listening to over again is Awara Bhanwara The main point of the movie is to tell all youngans that if you really love someone, don't be shy but go ahead and tell that person before its too late! It applies to us all!!!!!
I felt sorry for the guy man, he loved her so much, but because he was just so damn shy that he lost her to his "friend". Wouldn't blame Prabhu deva's character, because it was inevitable. Although at times it seemed like the movie will never end---a bit long, but thank god for the REMOTE CONTROL. I would give this movie a **1/2 out or **** All you lovers out there....NEVER MISS OUT ON A CHANCE!.. Reshma

Beautifully picturised songs and dances by Kajol and Prabhudeva but skip the rest of the movie. The story reminds one of the man who went overseas and wrote to his girlfriend everyday and of course she ended up marrying the postman. If the songs of three movies were cut and shown as a single show would it attract a lot of people ? I think they would in millions !-consider Sapnay , Judaii and Raja Hindustani together. It would be like MTV but on the big screen . It might be very addictive...Mo

I must agree with you, as this movie was a joy to watch throughout. Watching Kajol and Prabhu Devaa fall in love was was very entertaining. I would venture to say that this is the best movie I've seen in terms of pure entertainment value since DDLJ. I must hand it to Prabhu Devaa, despite not being the most gorgeous guy on the screen, he definitely was very entertaining. The guy has some talent!
On the not so entertaining level, I recently caught Tamana. Wow, one of the most powerful movies I have seen on hindi cinema. I must hand it to Pooja Bhatt for exploring new and unchartered territory. Though this movie was not entertaining, it has a lasting impact on the movie-goer. Pooja Bhatt was great, as was Paersh Rawal. My question to anyone who saw it: who played the role of Paresh Rawal's friend in the movie, Salim? He was equally convincing...Harin.

Great Movie !! Spectacular scenes of Arunachel Pradesh . Switzerland pales by comparison ! I want to see that waterfall ! The camera should have lingered a lot longer over it.
Having lived at 9000 ft and how even a short run left one breathless one has to admire Shah Rukh Khan’s stamina in doing the running scenes at 15000 ft. Words cannot do justice to the acting of the incomparable SRK.
Men are there however just to carry the story forwards and everybody really goes to see the women ( and this is what determines whether the movie is going to be a hit ) and here the producers have done all the right things. Madhuri looks very very good , maybe still a bit skinny for most normal Indians who like to see child bearing hips , but still OK.
She models beautiful traditional dresses , the songs and dances are superb and the background music outstanding .
It was really nice to see the dialogue writer Anwar Khan honoured outright at the start with his name first up in the titles. Bollywood movies may not quite be able to match Hollywood ones in special effects but the superb word play and lyrics is what makes them so much more fun to watch. They should also have had the name of the movie in Urdu and Hindi at the start as is traditional .
Since it is women who determine whether something is going to be a mega mega hit , Koyla may not match DDLJ , RH and HAHK as it has quite a few violent scenes but it is going to be a very big hit nevertheless.
One minor criticism . It is commendable that Bollywood is starting to show the sights of different parts of India but as in Uf Ye Mohabbat where the Lion dances and others of Sikkim are beautifully portrayed , this movie could have had at least one local dance from the Sino -Tibetan people of Arunachel Pradesh .
It is in DTS and if the producers have any sense they will dub it straight away into English , Spanish , Arabic and other languages which can be done very easily on CDs once a movie is in DTS and make a killing. People all over the world want to see spectacular movies like Koyla.
The elders will disapprove but one of the best songs/dances in the movie was Madhuri and the Kids doing ‘Bangh kae nashe mein ! ‘ after accidentally eating some ‘holy’ laddus.
Koyla is fairly good at this , but movie makers should understand about something called persistence of vision. It is no good flashing up a few seconds of some stupendous beauty spot , the camera has to stay on it for quite a while for it to register. Hopefully the sights of more beautiful places in India like Kerala and Goa will also be shown soon.
Good performance also by the girl who appears in Deler Mehendis video ‘Bol Tara Ra Ra’. There are some good comedy scenes -one where one guy sleeps with his legs folded and crossed in the air provoked much merriment.
A movie should be about educating the public as well , and I think it is great that Bollywood is going to these remote regions of the North East to show how picturesque parts of India are. I believe there was one movie with Michael Cane where the whole movie consisted of two people talking in one room. Critics fainted with praise but of course nobody went to see it.
The first half of Koyla was very good and entertaining. Even to make one song like the brilliant 'Bang ke nashe mein ' takes a lot of thinking , lyrics , costumes , choreography and to put it all together and its not easy . i dont think there is any other film industry in the world - Hollywood , Hong Kong or Egyptian cinema which can match Indian in entertainment value.
As in most Bollywood movies the second half tends to be a bit too intense as the bad guys have to be killed in the most gruesome manner possible. I dont mind choreographed fights but sometimes the killings are over the top.Sliding down the mountain on his stomach determined to get his man is another high point. One mistake made I think was not to end the movie with a little joke leaving people with a smile. I really did enjoy Koyla and will be seeing it again , one always picks up so much more the second time round.....mo

Koyla had a few interesting nuggets.....

Raja(Amrish Puri) Gauri (Madhuri) and Shankar(Shah Rukh) were the main characters

* Raja marries Gauri pretty much against her will and she tries to escape once - you would think her moments would be restricted after that but she gets a lot of leeway to spend some quality time with Shah Rukh and really get to know him
* the Raja's friend is a retired DIG which somehow should explain the man wearing camouflage clothes all the time
* the DIG gets a few "Commandos" to help the Raja - apparently to be a Commando in India you need to be fat, unshaven and wear a do-rag! I suspect these guys were ready to break into a A.R.Rehman ishtyle song and dance at any time.
*there is a point where the Raja sees Gauri for the first time - and Shobha Khote soon enters the scene and drags Gauri away - Raja says something like "kyaa kamar hain" and his vedd says " kamar - woh to kamra thaa" - for a moment it is confusing if the vedd is referring to Shobha Khote or Madhuri !!
* its difficult to fathom the period the movie is set in - some of it seems to be in older times and then suddenly you have cellular phones, helicopters all over the place
* the soft focus and settings used at times remind you of Kamasutra and certain things like the treatment Madhuri gets remind you of Prem Granth
* people get hit A LOT - everyone when pushed even slightly will find a convienient rock/hard place to bang their head against accompanied by LOUD sound effects
* Indian movies continue to use dialogue to tell the story "Gauri, tu kab sudhregeee - jab se tere mata pita guzar gaye aur tujhe humare hawaale chod gaye aur tera bhai jo Dubai mein rehta hain aur mahine mahine paise bhejta hain, jisse humara ghar chalta hain (deep breath), tune mere aur tere mama ki naak mein dam kar diya hain." ...Sushil

I just saw KOYLA. The movie is just another regular story. Though, it has a little bit more violence, I do recommend seeing it atleast once or twice. It is not such a bad movie as someone mentioned earlier. Go see it. I did not waste my $7.00. Madhuri is excellent. aur apna shahrukh - shahrukh hai...shah

I agree - I saw KOYLA on the weekend and thought that it was COOL! The story was not typical at all and there were a lot of great scenes. The only thing was that there was a lot of violence but a great storyline - and the songs were terrific.
SHAH RUKH RULES yet again! He was excellent as the mute slave who falls in love with Madhuri. By the way, this was great work by Madhuri - I think it was one of the better vehicles for her to show her acting talents.
KOYLA ROCKS!...Nawaz Noormohamed

I watched koyla over the weekend and i had a great time!!! Here are some hints on how to enjoy the movie:

	1) Leave your brain at home.

	2) Get familiar with the music before you watch the film.


	3) Enjoy the technical wizardry of the movie.


	4) the breathtaking cinematagrophy of unexplored Arunachal pradesh

	5) the awesome choreography by saroj khan (she'll at least get a

	   nomination for Ghungte main chanda hain ...)

	6) admire madhuri's GUTS to wear what she does :-)

	7) cheer when SRK escapes w/ madhuri before interval

	8) be amazed by the awesome chopper chase scenes



and if all of these don't work .... 

in the words of raja saheb:



	"tu movie dekhne kyon aaya .... bloody phoool!!"



- deva.

Just saw Koyla last night and thought I would share a few thoughts about the film. Overall, I was very disappointed with Koyla, and I wouldn't recommend it to anybody. The story is a typical rehash of the revenge theme, and Rakesh Roshan's script and direction mire this film in mediocrity. Shah Rukh Khan plays a mute orphan who falls for Madhuri and spends the second half of the film trying to save her from the clutches of Amrish Puri (see Anand's posting for a more detailed review of the plot). The film's only saving grace is its cinematography. The breathtaking wilderness of Arunachal Pradesh is something to be seen.
The talents of SRK and Madhuri are wasted in a very weak script. There is no depth to their characters, and this is one of SRK's forgettable roles. His efforts at portraying intensity fall well below his roles in Baazigar or Darr. I really can't blame him because Rakesh Roshan makes no real effort to develop SRK's character. He is too good an actor to be wasted in this crap, and I would rather see him playing more spontaneous characters as he did in DDLJ, KHKN, and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman.
Madhuri looks overweight, and has lost a lot of her lustre after 10+ years in the industry. (Personally, I think Kajol is a much better leading lady for SRK.) Madhuri is obviously carrying around excess baggage as some of the song sequences show, and has looked a lot better in Beta and other films. Some of the scenes are shamelessly lifted from other films. Two scenes from Sholay come to mind, one between Amitabh and Jaya where Amitabh is herding some sheep, and also the immortable "Mehbooba Mehbooba" gypsy song sequence. Another scene is taken directly from Forrest Gump (remember "Run Forrest !! Run !!"), where Forrest discards his leg braces
. Finally, a word about the music. Rajesh Roshan should do his father the favour of disassociating himself from the Roshan family name. His efforts at melody would bring tears of anguish to the great Roshan's eyes were he alive today. Failing that, he should shamelessly rip off some of his father's lesser-known old tunes. That would be a damn sight better than anything he could ever compose.
Feel free to agree or disagree. The views represented here are solely mine ..... and the other 199 members of the audience. Finally, the loudest cheer of the night was for the trailer of the new Amitabh film. Legends never die. Regards..., Faez

Along with some 300-400 other jostling, pushing, queue-jumping Indians I saw Koyla last night.
The movie is about this "Raja" (Amrish Puri) and his mean mean brother (Salim Ghouse). This Raja has some problems with let us say "performance in the bedroom". He tries manfully to sort out his problems with his ever-willing secretary(Deepshika, I believe). His ever-willing secretary has a bit of the roving eye and seems to like the Raja's loyal servant, Shankar (Shah Rukh). Shankar is mute, which does wonders to control Shah Rukhs' tendency to overact(flames welcome).
It is suggested to the Raja by his Vedd (comedian whose name escapes me) that his problem could be with the secretary ("its you not me") Cut to the beautiful Gauri (Madhuri - or Mega Madhuri really) who is singing along with some obliging children. Then its a case of Villian-sees-heroine followed by Villian-falls-in-love-with-heroine and then Villian-uses-underhand-means -to-marry-heroine! The underhand means involve showing Gauri a snap of Shankar as the prospective groom. On cue Gauri falls in love with Shankar. So Gauri is now the reluctant bride of the Raja. Much mayhem and madness follows with full use of Digital Theater Sound (which I have come to believe only involves raising the volume to the max) with a sacrificial brother (Mohnish Behl) and the revolt of Shankar thrown in for good measure. Gauri and Shankar run away from the Raja, he catches them, thinks he kills Shankar and throws Gauri in the kotha where the secretary now resides. Of course Shankar is not dead and in fact the old gypsy who rescues him also fixes up his voice so he can talk now and proceeds to do so in a rasping tone for some strange reason.
Inevitably it turns out the bad Raja has also killed Shankar's parents which Shankar avenges by eleminating the Raja's brother, the Raja's two friends (Ranjit in a brief appearance) and the Raja himself. The surviving live happily ever after.
Amrish Puri does an adequate job (as usual) with a Bhojpuri accent(I think) that kind of comes and goes "Humko puchna hain" that kind of stuff. And he also mixes in a bit of bad english "Bloody phool" being his favourite phrase. This is annoying at times and mildly funny at others. Shah Rukh as mentioned above does ok when he doesn't have to speak though he does use the speech handicap as a license to act mentally challenged at times. Madhuri needs to get into Jenny Craig or something real real bad. I guess its a case of fallen scales seeing someone allowing a beautiful face spread to double chins and a huge waist. Johnny Lever and the other comedian - (Ashok Shinde I believe) provide some funny moments. The songs are decent although it helps to have heard them before going for the movie. Overall the plot is thin, inconsistent and a jumbled up recipee from other movies. You'll probably see the movie for the names associated with it and will be dissappointed for the same reason...sushil

a few thoughts on KOYLA .... i guess the basic story-line is known to most, what with a full-fledged internet site operational for so long - so i won't dwell much on that. only some observations. first off, technically it is a terrific film - very hollywoodisque right from the titles to the climax. my first hindi movie in DTS (Digital Theatre Sound) - and the theatre i saw it in did make it a point to emphasize that. great photography (at times too indulgent, especially some needless postcard shots) and action. unfortunately, that is probably one of the movies weaknesses too!

one thing that surprised me was that amrish puri's character is the best developed (may be not by design)! again, here rakesh roshan goes a little overboard. to show his ruthlessness, there are at least four occasions where he is shown knifing a guy to death in cold blood. IMO, one would have sufficed.

there are two main themes - one of revenge and the other of betrayal and lovers (it isn't too convincing that they are lovers in the first place) kept apart. unfortunately, the two don't quite mesh well. also, the characterizations (of SRK and madhuri) are so paper-thin that you don't feel much for the characters who are going through all this. that is where the weakness of the film lies.

SRK is unusually measured. very controlled. also has done a voice-over a-la bachchan in "agneepath" when he gets his voice back. not even a single overdone or irritating mannerism (definitely no laugh). must have been a director's delight in this one (unfortunately the director is not a delight!). but inadequate character development prevents it from becoming a great performance.

madhuri is completely wasted. she really needs to get a grip on picking her films. even her dances have become so monotonous. what is she going to do? write a book on a "thousand ways to shake a behind"?

another observation on their chemistry - it just appeared so flat... i don't think they are comfortable with each other. compare the DDLJ scene where SRK feeds kajol v/s here where he feeds madhuri. miles apart in intensity. SRK appeared wooden in some of the song sequences with madhuri (especially "dekha tujhe to"). he almost seemed relieved getting a chance to dance by himself in "ghungte mein chanda" where he is his usual effervescent self and has done a great job.

many parallels with some hollywood films, the search thru the jungles has *rambo* like elements. SRK's healing is somewhat like segal's in *on deadly ground*. the climax scene had the beginnings of the climax in a charles bronson film, whose name escapes me.

the credits said that it was a filmkraft production. To sum it up - too heavy on the CRAFT aspect and very light on the FILM aspect is Koyla.
-- avinash

I don't understand how people who haven't even seen Koyla can bad-mouth it. I saw it this past weekend and found it to be an excellent movie. It had good songs, a good story, great dances , and a superb delivery of dialouges by Shah Rukh and Madhuri.
As a matter of fact, I am going to watch the movie again this weekend. And please stop comparing Shah Rukh with Amitabh. They are two totally different performers with totally different styles of acting. Amitabh was yesterday's super hero and SRK is #1 performer today. Amitabh was a great actor and still is and Mirtydadda will undoubtedly be a hit, but who's to say that Koyla is not. Give the movie a chance will you? At least watch it before forming opinions....Khurram Habib

Good movie , great songs , brilliant acting by Paresh as the cankaterous Dada. Beautiful photography of Switzerland although I wasnt aware the Eifel Tower had been relocated there.
Main kami is the dances which are all a bit alike and Karisma wearing skirts . Women are much more fetching in traditional dresses . The Qawwali could have been done better with men and women sitting opposite in Lucknow dresses.
Worth seeing twice but Chote Sarkar -Govinda and Shilpa had more sexy dances - the Punjabi -Sulkha walin was excellent.
Tere mere sapne is out on video. Ankh mare with Priya has the right combination of eroticism and fun to make it a smash hit song...mo

I saw the black copy of the film here on Guam and it is the BOMB! I give Mrityudaata a perfect four out of four stars. It's the best Amitabh Bachchan film since Agneepath. Forget about the new kid Arbaz Khan, who also gave a powerful role as a loverboy-turned-into-overnight-mafia. But Bachchan stole the show. If Mrityudaata doesn't win the National and Filmfare best picture of the year award, then for sure Bollywood needs to grow up. "Jaha hum hai, waha sai tum hai. Jaha Mrit ayaenge, usme be daata hai------MRITYUDAATA!"

Watch the movie over the weekend and it was a complete bore. I actually felt bad for Amitabh as he was looking so stale and old, the man could hardly run. Although I muts admit he acted very well, then again that is expected from Amitabh. The 2 things I liked about the film were Dimple and the song Saada Naaal which I actually got up and danced to in the middle of the theater. Hey after such a long and boring movie I had to do something to keep myself entertained...Khurram

MRITYUDAATA did not meet the mark. It fell far short of expectations, IMHO. The movie was a big bore. I don't know how else to describe it. There is nothing absolutely terrible about the film that I can point at and say "That sucks." It was just the film in general. It was boring as hell. I can't even believe I'm saying this.. considering I've been waiting anxiously for Amitabh's return to the big screen for the past 4-5 years. But that's the truth. It was a boring, repetitive storyline. It was just a re-hash of a typical Amitabh film except, instead of avenging his father's murder, he's avenging his little brother's murder. True, most movies today do not have totally original plots, but they should atleast offer something to compensate for that weakness. MRITYUDAATA offers no such compensation. Average songs, average performances, etc. I don't know.... I'm not saying this with happiness or anything... I really did want MRITYUDAATA to be a good film, but.... quite frankly, it's a big bore. Amitabh is still living in 1982 or something. I almost fell asleep with some of his dialogues... you know which ones I'm talking about... the type where he's dissing the police, the government, etc., reminding them of their duty.... and how people need to wake up and remove the evil roots which these politicians have planted in order to corrupt India..... oh please, give it a rest, man.... I think we all got enough of that in INSAANIYAT! Seriously guys... I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that's the way it is. If there was a sequel to INSAANIYAT, it'd be called MRITYUDAATA. Of course, it's not as bad as INSAANIYAT. This one actually has half a plot. You can actually make sense of the story. But it's an old, worn out story... done over and over and over again....more on RAMLI ..... Anwar Sadat Chup

Defintiely not one to watch with the kids. One wonders how such nudity in the bedroom scenes gets past the censors unless the video distributors reinsert it afterwards.
Somy Ali who did that sexy number with Saif Ali Khan is good when she is not being bad. It could have been a better whodunit if they as in A.Christies novels left more clues around.

Spectacular Movie ! Unlike other Bollywood movies which start well and then fade in the second half , this one builds up to a good climax. The story is predictable so it may not acquire a cult following like DDLJ or HAHK or Judaii but it should be a hit. One must not underestimate the power of these movies to mould public opinion and Hema Malini a single mother touchingly telling her son that he is not the result of sin but of her love should make illegitimate children less traumatised by society. Akshay Khanna will go on to be a big star.
There is in this movie a huge seated statue of Shiva which Akshay is fond of climbing - the head alone is bigger than him !and hopefully they will leave this statue in the Himalayas . The best song is Shiv Bhole. Akshay does a spectacular end of the world , third eye opening , wild dance but the effect is a bit spoilt by him wearing a white suit ! Nothing beats traditional Indian tribal dresses in these dance sequences. Tens of female dancers on top huge tablas are a visual treat . Hema stars in the best show on Asian TV channels - Noopur on Asianet on Sundays and this Shiv orientated movie would have proved ideal to show a few more Barat Natyam dances.
Some other scenes worth watching out for- bare hand rock climbing by Akshay , a fight to the death in a hot air balloon . waterfalls of the Himalayas and some good fight scenes, Delhi Police jeeps being blown up by bazookas ! and great shots of Delhi sites. The dialogue between Hema and Vinod when they meet 20 years after is Urdu at its best - full of hidden meanings , much to Akshay' annoyance !
With nearly 1000 people and a live appearance of the stars it was a moving cinematic experience. An unexpected delight was a full Cheez hai mast mast song shown from Mohra not once but twice during the interval !! There were also excerpts -Tum ho dokhebaz from Sajan chale Sasural.
One idea would be to string together songs from three movies -say 20 , with maybe a minute also from before the beginning of the song. This would add to 90 mins and could prove to be big money spinner if shown on the big screen. One can see Mast Mast endlessly without ever getting bored - it really is different watching it on the big screen.
All these prints lying unused and the cinemas empty most of the time -surely the producers can see what a great money making idea it would be ?. Roll on DVD -one cant wait to start building up a crystal clear collection of these songs and movies.

Excellent movie with Sonali and Ajay . Militants getting help from a foreign power . Kids playing Antakshari under capture is very good. Madhu is too pretty in her role as the bad girl .