Many of these movie reviews are from the RAMLI newsgroup .(rec.arts.movies.local.indian)

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Movies in North

Manchester.

New release 'Aur Pyar Ho Gaya' - a movie about NRIs -starring Ashwarya Rai in Manchester at the big screen Tatton Cinema , Gatley Road , Gatley Cheshire. Sharp at 7.30pm Sunday August 24 . Tickets in advance from Shadoos ring to confirm - 0161224 4215 . Films are shown every second Sunday at 7.30pm

Aug 31Border also at .- one pm . Tickets from Royal Video in Nottingham 0115 9784816 or the Asian Arts Council at 0115 956 3775

Derby
Sunday midday and Tues evening -call 01332 296000 for times Also Bollywood movies playing twice a week at UCI cinemas in Sheffield, Preston, Warrington , Hatfield , Milton Keynes and other places.

Aur Pyar Ho Gaya

I saw this movie with my sister, brother and his friend. (Unfortunately, I had to sit by his friend and I heard my god, wow, and other "sounds" everytime Aishwariya Rai showed up on the screen:) ) Well anyways, I loved the songs, probably the best thing about this movie ( though many guys would disagree with me here:)) The second best thing about this movie was Aishwariya Rai. She looked good in the movie...I loved her outfits.. She can act pretty well too (though she needs to work on her crying and her laughing... ) Its worth it to see this movie if u are a fan of hers because she's the movie. (She even gets a whole song just on her eyes) THe story is like Only You (Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr.. romantic comedy) but the second half becomes like Dil. I think they should have ended the movie after the song (Kaisa yeh pyar hain allah allah). If u are looking for a good story, do not see it.. Only if u are an Aishwariya Rai Fan..see it.. I think she can go pretty far.. she just needs a better story.. I enjoyed the movie because I like the songs, and enjoyed the outfits.. BUT I would not watch it again.

Most people will come out of this movie with a heavy heart -nothing wrong with it , its a great entertainer , but its the first and last time they will see Pakistan's great Qawwali Singer -Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on the big screen. Even his brief few minutes electrified the audience , such was the magic in his voice.

Nothing beats a live performance but cinema with is larger than life size and color comes close and what would have one given to have heard a complete 15 min Qawwali by this genius ? The distributors dare not cut the songs in India and its not surprising that movies with long 10 min songs such as Pardes and Border have been such big hits. Bollywood is almost matching Hollywood in special effects now , but in the songs and dances it reigns supreme.

The distributors in the West do not understand that much of the repeat value of these movies is because of the songs -some have seen DDLJ , HAHK , RH and others ten times or more just for that,. Cutting the length of songs is literally criminal as they are shortcharging the customer and they should cease and desist , otherwise if enough people complain they may find themselves liable for heavy fines.

This movie has superb comedy. Ashwariya Rai is a girl who sleep walks into men's rooms and Bobby Deol for once has acted well . Sunny even puts in a guest appearance. Switzerland is picturised better in this movie than any other I have seen -still no match for Arunachal Pradesh in Koyla ! In the street dances the incomprehension on the faces of the adults and the delight in the Swiss children is fun to see. The lift scene where Bobby and Ash use a Swiss who doesnt speak Hindi to bounce their fights off and then try to strangle him in the dark is also great fun. Ash may find it tough being accepted by the Indian audience . She could do with brown contacts like Karishma in RH. Her remark that a fat Swiss man looked like a 'soo-ar' !!..luckily the Swiss dont understand Hindi ! The song and dance she does after getting drunk is superb-worth seeing the movie again just for that.

In a TV discussion one commentator remarked that India has never tried to be a melting pot. Nobody ever forced the minorities to try and adapt and so all cultures have remained distinct. Bollywood takes delight in this diversity by showing the Qawwali with NFAK , followed by scenes inside a Gurudwara and then Hindu wedding dances. It is this willingness to exhibit such diverse cultural phenomenon which is the great strength of Bollywood. A new movie is apparently being made with the theme being the great classical dances of the South - Barat Natyam etc. and one really looks forward to it.

Aur Pyar Ho Gya is a superb entertainer...Mo

Pardes

A lovely , lovely movie. A beautiful cross between a slow moving art film and commercial cinema.Superb dialogue and comedy which had the audience laughing time and again. Mahima is perfect as Ganga who goes to America with such high hopes to get married. SRK is a national treasure and could not act badly even if he wanted to !
' I love India ' song shows the beauty of northern UP .The big family houses have this large enclosed courtyard in front of the house where a lot of human interaction takes place., an idea that should be copied in California and other places. When somebody in America says he wants to be left alone , you leave him alone , but in India if we have to we all break into his house to cheer him up ! says Mahima and sums up very nicely the difference between the two cultures !
One tells her that Indians are such hypocrites !- no sex before marriage , men and women must sit apart at weddings and then when you get married you produce children like there is no tomorrow ! - even Mahima is too stunned to reply to that one ! The camera could have a lingered a bit to show the Sphinx in Las Vegas -almost as big as the real one, but overall the photgraphy is breathtaking.
An English girl at the interval told me that there was nobody to translate when I asked her - but she had started watching Bollywood movies on channel 4 and now came to see them on the big screen. There is getting to be so much English in these movies that she could get the gist of the movie , but above all she loved the music and songs . The song 'Gangha desh chodh ke 'should have been picturised in a temple when she says Raaam instead of running in the field - a minor point.
One message to Eros-fax 0181 963 0154 them if you feel strongly about it -LEAVE THE SONGS ALONE- . I have a feeling they show the complete movie only at the London matinee and then cut and cut as became obvious in some of the flashbacks- but songs are the main strength of Bollywood and here they had chopped in half the beautiful children's song when they are trying to impress their American uncle !. Even the 'Zara Tasweer se' has been cut. Faxes to them remain unanswered . If they must cut at least put in a disclaimer. The other distributors are not so high handed.
The patriotic song I love India does not have the same emotional impact as the one in DDLJ - Aaja Pardesi , tera desh bulaye - recently played after midnight by Sunrise, by far the best Asian radio station in the world and availaible on Satellite and Cable. Leaving a VHS tape even on long overnight results in six hours of beautiful music to listen to ( VHS tape I think has higher fidelity than ordinary audiocassete ) and I shall post a sample of the DDLJ song lyrics later. One message for Indian girls who are worried about NRI boys after seeing this movie- not all smoke , drink , chase women and look down on India - well not all 4 anyway ! Most are good and love India and the people of India..

Here is the Short Review of Pardes, which I had just seen. Firstly, this must be the best of Subhash Ghai's movies in recent times. I enjoyed watching it (despite its looong 3.30 hours duration). YesBoss- because ShahRukh does the same "chamchagiri" to "pata" "desi girl" (Mahima) for his Boss's Son (Amrish Puri and ApoorvA) until the Interval and succeeds in it. (No! I am not letting any secrets out.. Don't worry ). The Only difference is, he is more restrained and has to pata the "whole family:,
DDLJ- because it also involves interplay of Western and Indian traditions. The difference here is US takes the Place Of UK and the action is set in India before the Interval, instead of after it (as in DDLJ). I hope U clever folks have got the gist of the story by now. SRK- as usual enacts his role in his Breezy, Charming style. And thankfully Ghai restrains him from hamming. This is not a new role to him. And after seeing him just a few weeks ago in YesBoss in a somewhat similar role, there is a slight feeling of Dejavu. Anyway, nothing to let us fellow Rukhsters down. U'would surely enjoy it.
Mahima (ritu) - Hmm! Ok! Looks good. (though not a stunner like Madhuri) Acts competently. This being a film in which the story is centered around her- u have to give her credit for coming up with a decent performance. The relationship of trust and silent yearning which develops between her and SRK in critical situations is the "Highlight" of the movie, according to me. (Watch out for the scene where she rushes with joy towards SRK after missing him in US) during a function,leaving everybody dazed.
ApoorvaAgnihotri- Plays a thoroughly bred Yank; Looks like a close relative of RahulRoy (remember him?). Impressive. His role is well developed. But the sudden twist in his character in the last few reels was a big letdown from Ghai. (Ok, I am not letting anything out!) (Watch out for some "hard-hitting" dialogues from this character in the Bedroom scene in Lasvegas. It invited a lot of Boos here in the theatre) Amrish Puri- Good, as in DDLJ.
There is not much room for other characters . (though it was a pathetic sight to see the talented PawanMalhotra playing a extra). Music by NadeemShravan is a letdown. (except for a couple of numbers which are OK). On the whole, a nice clean movie (san all those cholis. satsahaliyans and other such Ghai specials) which keeps us engaged (except during some songs) and entertained. I reckon U desis out there in US would definitely like it. And finally, yes! Portly Ghai Makes a special appearance in a song. Happy viewing!.... Raj

Yes Boss

The film's music by Jatin-Lalit is a treat to the ears. The songs are soft, sweet and melodious, and the album has been sold out at most Indian audio shops. Yes Boss is a light-hearted film with no real villains. Perhaps it will be this year's Raja Hindustani. All we want is money, and all we need is love. It's a well-known fact that a want is a luxury, but a need is something you can't live without.

The plot, well lets forget the plot because it wasn't really important was it?? I mean the film makers didn't think so. The film ideally should have been shorter, but no we had the full VIP treatment. The characters were one dimentional, inherently greedy and selfish but they miraculously become kind and caring as the film progressed. Rahul and Seema deserved each other, though personally Rahul was no better than his Boss, so it doesn't matter. I really thought that line about 'good people' being successful was funny, especially considering the only selfish people were the ones that were sucessful in the film.
Juhi, looked very pretty in the film, but why is it that when ambitious women are shown in Indian cinema they always succeed on the basis of their beauty?? I must admit that even SRK looked cute, calling him 'adoreable' is doing unnecessary violence to the language. Personally, I think it was his suits and smart clothes. I mean lets face it any Tom, Dick and SRK can look good in a smart clothes. Aditya, was bearable, and a lot better looking than SRK. Unfortunately the guys acting 'skill' need some work, but I suppose SRK more than acted for both of them. I enjoyed the picturisation of some of the songs, and of course Switzerland was as stunning as it was in other films. If this is what SRK is capable of and what his 'fans' want to see him do then he has a very bright future.
Finally the moral of the story, well there are so many to choose from: - Don't be greedy and selfish, be good if you want to succeed.
- Make sure the guy you go out with actually divorces his wife before you get serious
- If you bargain with the devil, make sure he is an honourable devil.
- Don't work in advertising.
- Don't tell a lie, it will grow and grow and eventually take over your life, but it is alright to tell white lies.
Does anyone want to add more??
....Shazia Khan

Don't you think you are being a tad harsh? i saw the film and thoroughly enjoyed it for what it is: entertainment. It had funny moments, sad moments, a touch of action and some very nice music. If it wasn't your cup of tea, then so be it. There are definately worse ways to spend four hours: like watching the crap hollywood has been releasing this summer. And your right about Pardes--it doesn't look to promising..... Amir

Hi Ramliers, saw 'Yes Boss' tonight. I liked it. It has a number of funny situations that had the whole theater in splits. But its a fairly long film and does, at times, tend to drag a bit. Picks up in the second half with a lot of gags. Watch out for some really funny lines from Shah Rukh.
Thin storyline. But competent direction ensures that we don't feel "pained" at any point of time. No headache scenes :-). On the whole, its a light-hearted comedy. Couple of decent songs. Good photography. Juhi looks cute, also comes out well in romantic scenes. Definitely worth seeing it.... thanks, Sudhakar

I went to see YES BOSS today but it was sold out again! But this time we were determined to see it, so we bought tickets for GUPT and sneaked into YES BOSS. The movie was good, as were the performances. SRK was his charming self. Juhi and Aditya were good also. The story was a bit different. It was comedy-oriented, but still not as good as RBGG or as fun as KHKN. Still, the role fit SRK nicely. The movie did have touches of RBGG and DDLJ here and there. The picturization of the songs and overall direction was good. Nothing too different, but just a fun film worth a try. SRK's next release will probably be PARDES. - Sadat A very good movie...a must see! I not too big a Shahrukh fan but i liked this one... Juhi is just too cute..Aneesh

Mrityudand

I saw Mirtyudand, what a film!! All must see it, I thought it was excellent, Madhuri was really very good in it. The dialogue were punchy too. The little romance between Om Puri and Shabana Azimi was really cute. It was a bit harsh on the men and pundits, but I suppose you can't have everything. ..Shazia Khan

Well, it is a good movie , relatively speaking to the routine Masala we are forced to watch every week. There was so much hype about it all along its making- the star cast, the "new" style of "middle-wave" cinema, etc etc.
This wetted my curiousity to rush to the movie on the first day itself. It revolves around three women -Madhuri a educated, urbane housewife who doesn't take any nonsense from her husband without demurring; -shabana, the elder bahu of the house, who is ditched by her impotent husband and who later drifts towards an physical relation with Ompuri ( a baniya in the movie).; -ShilpaS , a worker who is exploited by the "thakurs" as a bonded labourer.
The story weaves around many layers- the caste factors, the growing awarness of "Backward castes" in asserting their rights, the political machinations, Male chauvinism, Male Hypocrisy etc ... But nowhere do u find the movie dragging or boring. The only problem is PrakashJha hasn't succeded in bridging the "art" type of cinema with the "popular" type (like ManiRatnam has done recently). Critics here have been harsh on the movie , dismissing it as a failed attempt to make a Commercial "mirchmasla" (remember this KetanAnand Classic?)
Highlights of the movie:
1) Madhuri's performance. -- She had a slightly similar role in PremGranth but made a thorough mess of it (probably due to RajeevKappor's pathetic direction). But here, she is in perfect command. Not overdoing the vital scenes. (though the last scene where the women beat up the men of the village looked overstretched and ridiculous).
2) Shabana & Ompuri - this veterans are in perfect ease with each other. The relationship between both of them in this movie is brought about in a very natural manner. (else there was a danger of not sympathising with Shabana's character).
the surprise packet is Ayub Khna (with a mustache). "keh do ek baar.." is already in all the countdown charts. Unfortunately the movie has bombed here in India. Can't expect our audience to watch serious social stuff...raj

A very good movie showing what men have to put up with. One has to become a priest when his barren wife cannot have a child. Another Ayub Khan becomes a wife beater temporarily. Some women even brutally kill a few men !

The movie starts with the prettiest persenter anywhere in the world on TV today - Mona Ambegonkar of Cinemagic on Zee-being cast out of a village as a witch. Why are Marathan girls like Mona , Madhuri , Mamta such good lookers ?. Did Shivaji's soldiers carry off all the good pretty ones ? Madhuri may be on the wrong side of 30 but she looks beautiful and has large eyes. Shabana and Om Puri perform extremely well. It has been wrongly marketed as a social drama -in fact it is a good masala movie as well. The erotic natch dance in the village at the beginning is superb , much better than any belly dance .

It is really in English from deepest rural Bihar with an occasional Hindi word thrown it -galat idea, contract cancel kar do, total loss ho gaya , ten percent de do etc.etc. The distributors have done their best to stop it becoming a hit by cutting all the best songs in half . When I asked the manager why -he said the distributors have to carry the same print from city to city in one day and if any movie is over 2 hours it gets cut and since they know from their marketing knowledge most people come to see innovative Bollywood stories rather than songs and dances -the latter get cut . If you feel cheated after paying your ten bucks now you know why. Photography is stunning . Rural India beats the concrete jungle of the West anyday...Mo

Also read Ali Ikram's review on Gupt

If you've seen Gupt, come give it your rating at the All India Site interactive movie review page:
Gadnet

After Mohra, GUPT was to be Rajiv Rai's next blockbuster biggie. Alas the banner that gave us great movies like Deewaar and Trishul is a pathetic piece of worthless drivel. Rajiv Rai's Mohra was no great shakes but he has gone one step lower with Gupt. GUPT is supposed to be murder mystery revovling around a man ( Bobby Deol) wrongly accused of killing his hotshot politician father( Raj Babbar ) and his relationship with 2 gals( Kajol and Manisha ). GUPT is touted as the hidden truth...after the show ended i wished it would have stayed hidden. Rajiv tries to weave his tale with the help of techinal savvyness in an attempt to divert the viewer away from the lame brain storyline. This fails miserably. His technique is shoddy as his direction and cinematography and he fails to extract decent performances from his star(sic!)cast.
One of the redeeming qualities of Mohra was its music.Here even the music is bad with the exception of the title track Gupt Gupt (rendered well by KavitaK). The songs are ill placed and add to the viewers misery.Its a wonder that this song is Number one in India at the moment ( I smell a rat ). Performance wise the lead actors appear insipid and the weak script adds to the ordeal.Bobby Deol has a long way to go....for starters he should trim his locks.Kajol and Manisha don't know what going on and it shows on screen. When the mystery is finally solved in an absurd manner and the truth is utterly senseless.
If this is the best thriller Hindi producers can hammer out i think i will stick on to Hitchcock's classics a while longer... deepthroat out... p.s. take my advice and give this one a Royal miss... adios..

And I thought I was the only one who hated ( I can't think of a more agonizing word ) the movie so much that I had to forgo the remaining $3.50 of my ticket's price. ( no prize for guessing it right. I left at the intermission ). To add to the miseries, the re-recording ( the back ground score ) was done in a sinusiodal fashion ( remember the sine curve oscillating between -PI/2 to +PI/2 ). For example Saahil ( I refuse to call him the lead man ) has a lengthy , heated discussion with his pathetically ( if I may say so ) potrayed father in a I-don't-know-the-techno-instrument-producing-that-music background and immediately ( I am not exaggerating ) in a Pandit-RaviShankar-sitar's-ala background turns his head to his mother and has some senti dialogue. The scene shifts now to his bedroom talking to one of the girls against a KenneyG-saxophone background. Same is the case with the editing where one could see a lot of jumps. I really pity those guys who had to sit through the entirety of the movie just because of the fact that it is only their money at stake. Regards..krishna

A very very good whodunit , with lots of clues on the way. Bollywood is geting bold! Miniskirts in college ! Frank kisses between Manisha and Bobby and Bobby and Kajol . Thankfuly it has not progressed to tongues yet !
The music is a bit of a let down - nothing wrong with the lyrics , in fact Duniya hasin ka mela , mele me hum akele -is thought provoking -its just that the background is often so loud that one cant hear the lyrics . There also appears to be a noise enhancer so that whenever a song appears there is a loud screech from the loudspeakers -maybe it was the theatre.
Booby with his unconventional good looks and long untidy curls is going to take some to get used to being a hero. the best song is the Kathakali dance . The costumes are the same as in the Miss World contest -one must thank AB for that but the Zee programme was much more satisfying. The best item in that was by Vaneet -I think from Karntaka -anybody have the info on that ? ..Mo

It was quite entertaining. Rajiv Rai did a nice job of maintaining the suspense for most of the movie, and the direction had distinct Western touches to it (the opening credits were something you'd expect from a Bond movie).
However, like most Indian movies, the actual story could have been compressed into an hour without all the song and dance sequences. Also, the twists and turns at the end went on for too long, and Bobby Deol is a terrible actor. But on the plus side, Manisha and Kajol were quite stunning, and there were some hilarious one-liners from Sadashiv and Raza Murad. Gupt is no classic, but it is better than most of the recent movies I've seen. You'll probably enjoy it. Regards...Faez,

Afsane Dilwalon Ke

An excellent Muslim musical . The main actress is a very pretty young one who sings Qawwalis full of mischief with lot of winks and biting of the lower lip , driving most men mad. The hero competes with her . The girls mother schemes and gets him involved in their performances . Those who think Indian girls are shy should see this one ! She is all over him 10 seconds after meeting him and he is completely smitten . Becomes quite uninterested in his girlfriend at home , who prays a lot.
The first one of course ditches him , so giving rise to a couple of broken heart songs. Who is going to win him in the end ? Will the first girl turn religious or will the second one become a nightclub dancer to win his heart ? You will have to see the movie to find out , songs are really good . Very enjoyable movie for those who like Urdu Shairi and Qawwalis.

This movie even though a hit has been released early on video. The print quality was bad - I think the shop makes a few 3rd generation copies and when these have been worn out brings out the original. So it is better to rent after about a year. Hope DVD will be out by Xmas. Action packed .It was an adult certificate but the kids will love it in the home -drooling over the gory scenes. One guy molests Sunny;s sister and in revenge he rips out the guys arm and throws it into the crowd - real cool ! Another guy and this is I think is the best way of killing oneself puts one hand over his head and the other below and then twists his own head snapping the spinal cord. The doctors on the net can tell us if this is a recommended method of suicide.
As in the flood scene in Virasat sometimes one wonders how they did it. In one scene Sunny shoots the tyre of a car which hits an obstacle and spins in the air round with one bad guy who had been shooting with his whole body out of the window going round and round until it falls on top of him. surely the centrifugal force would have flung him out ?
Shweta has made screeching popular in movies with her song 'Ore Ore'. There were apparently two Pakistani tunes -but I only spotted one 'Dil le gayi Gamo kidr ' but it wasnt mentioned in the credits . Surely the Indians wouldnt be shameless enough to lift the entire song and tunes ? A movie that should really be seen on the big screen...mo