Mahaanta

Directed by: Afzal Khan

Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit, Jeetendra, Amrish Puri

Released: 1997

Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

Mahaanta is one of those films I tend to pretend do not exist, because it is one of those films that cause me an acute pain as a Madhuri Dixit fan. In making for almost 9 years, by the time Mahaanta came out it was badly outdated in all aspects. The star-cast, that must have been extremely impressive in the late 80s, when the film shooting actually started, was, by the time it released, almost exclusively considered veteran and non-happening (apart from Sanjay and Madhuri). The story too was one of those bloody thrillers about revenge so popular at the time, but no longer relevant in the post Hum Aapke Hain Koun and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge era. It wasn´t handled well either.

"Why were all my scenes cut out and my presence in the film reduced so much?"

"You are too old to be a heroine. Better you face it soon."

Honestly, I don´t know where to begin. The film is extremely boring from the start, and to be honest I couldn´t really follow what was happening. There was Jeetendra, already looking 60, but playing a young man, I caught a glimpse of the beautiful Poonam Dhillon (and my, does she disappear like a rock in the ocean not to be heard of again in this film!), but mostly the story seemed to focus on devilish Amrish Puri, who runs illegal business and has brave, but stupid police officers murdered. And then, out of nowhere, Sanjay Dutt appear to save the day and Jeetu´s ass (just like that, no explanation given). And in the next moment he´s wearing a tight yellow Speedo T-shirt, buying sarees for his bhabhi in a supermarket, and falling in love with the gorgeous, though horribly dressed Madhuri, as she´s passing around. However, Amrish Puri´s „son“ falls in lust with her (no, that isn´t a typo) and to get her he tries to rape her, and when he gets a beating, asks daddy to get him the gal.

DAT SPEEDO!

By threats to her and Sanju Amrish forces Madhuri to a wedding, but Sanjay having none of that manages to steal the bride for himself and marry her. And from this point on, the story gets even more boring and confusing, with more kills and more raping, and Jeetendra circling around as a righteous protector of the law while Sanjay turns into an avenging killing machine and having a song after he murders every single one of his enemies (sorts of „Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, Ninety-nine bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around, Ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall“ gaana). Until in the end Sanjay and Jeetendra have a Dostana moment of mutual forgiveness and renewed love for each other. Doesn´t you head hurt just reading? Now imagine actually watching all this in span of approximately three hours.

"I brutally murdered a guy just now. Sha-la-la-la-la!"

None of the actors gives a really bad performance, but none excels either. Jeetendra is boring, Sanjay´s character actually rather unlikeable, Amrish Puri gives us his standart staring villain and Madhuri doesn´t have a big role, especially in the second half she only appears for the songs - a reminder that she signed the film in the late 80s. Heck, Shakti Kapoor is on the screen more. Music is fine and catchy enough, although picturization of Chule Chule makes Sanjay Dutt look like a blind, deaf and unfeeling wooden log, because to sleep with your own wife would probably take away your super powers or what. Let´s just smack her across the face, that´s right. Just like when she said she loved you. Indeed, Sanju may love Madhuri in the film, but I have no idea why would she love him so dearly, cause treats her like dirt most of the time.

Saajan-wali Madhuri.

DTPH-wali Madhuri.

All those years it was in making ruined the film completely. I´m completely sure Sanjay and Madhuri´s story was just a supporting one to the main of Jeetendra and Poonam Dhillon, or at least there was loads more of Jeetendra and Poonam than what we´ve got to see eventually. Scenes were being rewritten and reshot, which we can perfectly document by seeing fresh and happy Sanjay vs. tired and weary Sanjay who just got out of jail, Madhuri with skin problems and black curly hair from the times of Saajan and Madhuri with flawless skin and brown messy hair she sported post 1996, and of course Sanjay´s mullet is ever-changing, not staying the same in two scenes.

Mahaanta is a pain. In the hearts of Madhuri fans like me, in the brains of all the sane movie-watchers, and if you manage to sit through it all at once, it can easily give you a pain in the...

"Baby, let´s make a baby!"

"No. I haven´t kill everybody in this film yet."

"WTF dude?"

Aur Pyar Ho Gaya

Directed by: Rahul Rawail

Starring: Bobby Deol, Aishwarya Rai, Anupam Kher, Shammi Kapoor

Released: 1997

Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

Aur bakwaas ho gaya. Aishwarya´a entry into Hindi films is not only not memorable but it is actually very much desirable to pretend it never happened in the first place. Sadly she was no acting miracle and so she is also responsible for the movie balancing on the edge of unwatchability, but the blame needs to be put also on extremely shallow script, bad direction, forgettable music, and Bobby Deol, whom I just cannot take seriously. My view on him and his questionable hairstyle may be changed if I stumble upon a film that will present him to me in a more favourable light (like it happened to Rishi Kapoor), but so far Bobby boy was not lucky in that aspect.

We first meet beautiful young Aarshi at her friend´s sangeet (the best five minutes of whole movie for Aishwarya´s gorgeousness and dancing), and a bit later buying a super expensive horse. Just so we know she is filthy rich. Her father then fixes her marriage with a family friend´s son Rohit, and Aarshi has no objections, even though she has not even seen a photo of her future husband. But then one of her already married friends commits suicide (no less!), because obviously her husband turned out to be quite a kamina after the wedding, and THAT is when Aarshi realizes it might not be the best idea to just get married without knowing the person. And so she has a super original idea. She is going to stalk the man (she doesn´t even know what he looks like), who conveniently for a 90s Bollywood stays at Switzerland at the time. The whole point of taking Aarshi there is to make Aish wear some cool and latest 90s fashion western outfits and super short skirts.

In Switzerland she bumps into a hairy guy who annoys her extremely (yeah, this is Bobby Deol making his entry while dancing awkwardly with her photo in his breast pocket), only to assume few more annoyances later he is probably the guy she flew down to check out. To her great pleasure he is practically a saint and Aarshi promptly falls in love. 

But the guy is not Rohit... yadda yadda yadda.... doesn´t matter cause he´s too filthy rich...yadda yadda yadda.... he makes fun of Aarshi´s dad unknowingly... because of that daddy dearest forbids the marriage.... yadda yadda yadda.... more extremely weird problems.... yadda yadda yadda..... happy ending. I lost my interest pretty soon. The film obviously aspired to be a romance aka DDLJ (just BIGGER so Bobby in the end doesn´t help Aarshi into a train but actually outruns an airplane and STOPS it by crashing an animated car in front of it for which I suppose he was later arrested and charged but film ends before that happens). Most of it was so cringe worthy I wouldn´t label it even „unintentionally funny“, because I felt sincerely embarrassed watching it and its protagonists being stupid.

Aishwarya, bless her heart, has always been a beautiful girl, and thank God for that, because her looks was really the only saving grace of the whole movie. Other then that she was atrocious, possibly one of the worst female performances I have seen in my whole life. Her face was unmoving, her dialogue delivery made my ears bleed and her overacting made me tear my heart out of frustration. She was really cute in the scenes with Shammi Kapoor though. Bobby Deol, as I have already said, was just awkward to watch (Dharmendra´s children were just not blessed with his looks or talent), Anupam Kher pull off yet another of his OTT performances when you have difficulty deciding if he is brilliant or awful (in this particular case I tend to believe the latter), Shammi has a very small role, but it was lovely to see him for a few moments at least.

Awful launch for Aish and a „let´s suffer“ movie if you are in a masochistic mood (that I have to admit I sometimes am and that is why I end up watching even films nobody else would).

Dil To Pagal Hai

Directed by: Yash Chopra

Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Karishma Kapoor, Akshay Kumar

Released: 1997

Verdict: destroy every copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great – amazing

It was my fourth Bollywood movie and also the one that confirmed my love for Bollywood forever. It was the last step that I took in my obsession with Madhuri Dixit, Shahrukh Khan and Indian cinema in general. It is for me what Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is to many others – the ultimate romantic Bollywood movie. It doesn´t have much of a story. It has a rather slow pace. It has kitschi things like running on green meadows and feeling each other´s presence, even while you don´t know the other one exists. And it is primarily not about twists of fate, but about a feeling.

Rahul (who else then Shahrukh Khan with that name, right?) and Nisha (Karishma Kapoor) are the best of friends and together with a bunch of other friends they form a famous dance troupe. Rahul is a director and choreographer, Nisha, as it would seem, the best dancer for miles and miles around. Nisha loves Rahul, but never told him. After all, Rahul is one unromantic and cynical guy, who hates all the lovy-mushy stuff. He loves only one girl, but she unfortunately exists only in his mind and resembles more of a fairy then a human being. And Rahul wants to make a new play based on this illusion, which he lovingly calls Maya. After everyone around him makes it clear they do not understand her character, he still sends them all to blazes and is adamant. Rehearsals start. And as soon as they do the nightmare of all directors strikes – Nisha injures her feet and is unable to dance. Depressed and angry, Rahul stays in the rehearsing hall till the late evening and without much of a thought he starts playing the drums. To his great surprise the gentle, rhythmical tinkling of somebody´s anklets comes to him in return from the neighbouring hall.......

Pooja (Madhuri Dixit) is an orphan raised by family friends, whom she affectionatelly calls uncle and aunty. She spends her time with day-dreaming, for which her friends make fun of her. But nothing can shake her belief that God has created everyone as a part of a couple, and only left it to people to find each other. She stubbornly believes she will eventually meet the man of her dreams and they will live happily ever after. Therefore she is nothing less then shocked when Ajay (Akshay Kumar with a rather ridiculous haircut), her best friend and son of „aunty“ and „uncle“, professes his love for her and asks her to marry him. She hastily agrees, still much shocked and not certain at all, but after a while she makes peace with the prospect and tries to convince herself that Ajay is the one. But then one evening she stays late in her dancing school. And once she hears somebody playing the drums nearby, she gives into the rhythm and starts dancing......

She´s beautiful, she´ s cute, she´s sexy..... Why doesn´t he love her?

Oh yeah...... right....... that´s why.

It is obvious, what will happen next, right? In fact, it is quite obvious what will happen since the first minute. The original message by Yash Chopra (for the first time ever not a cringe worthy one) is „Someone, somewhere, is made for you“ and it completely reveals the whole plot. The question here is not „what“, but „how“ and „when“. While the first half of the film moves really slow, introducing the characters and the relationships between them, it builds up the expectations that are fully satisfied in the second. The film sure does have several weak points, But I will get to those later. I found it fascinating that finally there is a film with no negative character at all – and still negative things happen. There is no need for a person to intentionally create problems, because there is love love love everywhere and it makes enough mess by itself, tormenting these nice, but still flawed people. 

Absolutely mesmerized and not believing his eyes. Why?

Oh yeah....... righ........ that´s why.

There is more to the characters than meets the eye, especially the leading pair, but one has to admit it is because of the sensitive and excellent handling of the roles by the actors more then because of the script. Many people feel that Rahul in DTPH is an extension of Raj from DDLJ. When I saw the movie for the first time, I could not make any comparisms as I had not seen DDLJ yet, but today I can surely agree. Rahul is however, a step ahead of a half-childish Raj. He is more mature in thinking, more aware of his aim, and he is more real in a sense that he is more possessive of the girl he loves. He even doesn´t hesitate to say things that he knows will hurt her, but only in hope that she might feel bad after that and come to him. He is selfish in his love, and yet so giving, offering her all his devotion. He is the character that goes through a development. Not exactly a stereotypical love-hater, but not convinced about romantic feelings, up until the moment he finds himself in love, he accepts this new feeling without fighting it. He is still as bratty and with an air of arrogance in the end, but love enriches him and really shows his depth. Shahrukh Khan is a brilliant actor, and even though I do not consider his performances in DDLJ or DTPH as award winning, he is as convincing as only he can be.

Then there is of course Pooja. Rahul´s fantasy about Maya is nothing else then Yash Chopra´s eternal fantasy about an ideal woman clad in white. But once illusionary „Maya“ takes the real shape of „Pooja“ right in front of Rahul´s eyes, dancing in a ray of moonlight, she is not at all a flawless creature herself. She is naive and seems to be all sweet and sugary, she could very easily be rejected as completely unrealistic. But one look into Madhuri´s eyes and Pooja becomes a real character. There is an unspoken, but strongly felt strength in her. What makes Pooja different from stereotypical heroines is not only her decision not to pursue her desire on cost of hurting people who raised her (which up until that point was not the trend in Bollywood movies), but also the way she carries herself. When she decides to give up her dreams, she does so with tremendous dignity. Her silence, smiles, pauses and eyes all emote without much dialogues. She does not speak too much, but you still know she is there, that she is feeling, thinking, longing..... Rahul represents passion in their relationship, while she is dutiful, with a great self-respect, but never cold or proud. Her drawback is her indecisiveness in the first part and her inability to clearly face Rahul in the second. What made me love the character is also the fact Madhuri got to play yet another completely different person. Pooja is like no other of her roles, it doesn´t resemble any of them.

Everyone who knows me also knows that Madhuri/Shahrukh are my favourite jodi. I love their chemistry that is simply burning the screen. They don´t have to eat each other´s head to show you they are in love. One word, one look or just being in the same room creates magic. In a way they are a mature jodi with a great depth and it was also great to see them falling in love bit by bit. There was a slow development of the relationship, which I always welcome in Bollywood films in opposite to „saw-you-in-the-mall-once-will-you-marry-me“ types of romances.

CHEMISTRY!

CHEMISTRY!

CHEMISTRY!

The „main cast“ is complete with Karishma Kapoor and Akshay Kumar. There is not much to talk about when it comes to Akshay, except that he looks somehow nerdy and keeps his OK level of acting. His buddiness with Madhuri was cute though. Karishma, whom many are praising for her performance, was also good, but did not blown me away. While both Shahrukh and Madhuri are so effortless in their craft, that it might almost seem they are not even acting, Karishma does have a sort of Bollywood OTT-ness, which is most apparent in her emotional scenes. She also looks a little out of place at times among Shahrukh-Madhuri-Akshay, who are all in the same age-group, while she is much younger. Still, her and Shahrukh´s friendship looks very natural on screen.

The awkward moment when alcohol makes you tell your best friend you love him.

As I have mentioned earlier there are some flaws to the film, which I wouldn´t label as perfect or the best ever. The first part holds some „teenage“ silliness in some of the dialogues, for example all that Valentine´s day and full moon explanations were very cheesy and one can only curse Aditya Chopra for it. Similarly Karishma´s confession to Rahul on the bank of a lake (in Baden Baden :) )is way too long and on the verge of boring. Another scene that needed more editing was the whole Khandala bussiness and visit to Pooja´s teacher. But the rest of the film makes up for these. For every Valentine´s day crap we have Shahrukh Khan without pants, for every Karishma´s boring crying by the lake we have her excellent drunken scene, for every Khandala visit we have the „Aur pass“ moment (the most sensuous, romantic, gentle, beautiful and at the same time erotic scene of the world cinema). Visuals are beautiful, and I could not care less if there is not a one as clear market place in real India. If we can have superheroes flying through the air and babies delivered by a vacuum cleaner, can´t we have clean markets and studios too? I loved the idea of two people being so close to each other and yet never meeting.

Aur pass......

Aur pass...................

Aur pass...........................................................

The great part of the film is musical score – and what a score it is! Every song is beautiful to say the least. My personal favourites are Koi Ladki Hai and Dhoolna, but every single track makes you want to dance or at least hum along. I was not excited about choreography at first. In fact it looked more like an aerobic training, but once I accepted it, it fitted well. It was different from what we usually see. The picturization of two songs is especially beautiful: Arre Arre is wonderful in showing at the same time Rahul and Pooja bonding as friends and collegues, and their „inner selves“ being very much in love. And Dhoolna is simply a song that you need to see in a Chopra movie. Madhuri looked ethreal in all the outfits and colours and Shahrukh´s loving gaze was, I´m sure, not difficult to pull off at all!

The only problem of this picturization is you don´t  know where to look!

It is also important to realize that Dil To Pagal Hai together with Hum Aapke Hain Koun and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge were very different from the rest of the films at the time of their release. HAHK was celebrating family values, DDLJ connected those with romance and finally DTPH was nothing but a tribute to love. It never promised to be anything else. Not perfect. But definitely a classic. Enjoyable, relaxing, touching, uncomplicated in narration but rich with emotions. A film about a feeling.

Someone, somewhere...... is made for you.....