Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge

Directed by: David Dhawan

Starring: Salman Khan, Karishma Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Anupam Kher

Released: 2000

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

Often my readers accuse me of not being able to appreciate films which are meant to be „just fun“, films that are purposefully mindless, silly and unrealistic. They say I cannot enjoy anything that is not meaningful. And so I sat down and tried to think of a movie that was all that and I would have liked it. I did not have to think for long. A line up of such films exists and Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge (which at first confused me because the title was just too similar to Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge) is one of them. Coming out of David Dhawan´s workshop, it ranks among his better efforts, before he went into a long and fruitless period before being somehow revived by his (so far) latest outing of Main Tera Hero.

It is a story of Sapna (Karishma Kapoor), white-clad, long-haired, blue-eyed virginal niece of three rather eccentric uncles, who all make her their personal crusade by forcingly trying to shape her according to their own lifestyle. Thus the strong, wrestling sportsman tortures her with rigorous exercise, pious devotee insists on her spiritual development and the forever young disco lover just wants her to be a modern vixen. Naturally the poor girl wants nothing but to be herself, and so one day she secretly joins a group of tourists traveling to Switzerland. Among the travelers is also Raja (Salman Khan), already determined to make Sapna the Queen of his heart. But conquering her is the least of his troubles, since ultimately he will have to impress the uncles. All of them.

Judging by the wardrobe neither were sure of what the climate of Switzerland actually was like.

Now, you really cannot look for „meaning“ and „depth“ in this one, can you? But you can enjoy it immensely and I did. Perhaps because even the over the top performances seemed earnest, perhaps because it was cute and fluffy and funny without need to use profanities or lewd sex jokes. Maybe it was Johnny Lever dancing. Maybe I was simply in the right mood. Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge serves you comedy laced with youthful enthusiasm of the main leads and great combination of great supporting actors, and there are some hilariously choreographed (but back then highly cool) catchy songs (complete with puzzled foreign onlookers). Not all films that may claim to have the same hold my love, and I suppose many times I just go by instinct (and my, am I picky!). Some films just do not feel nice. This one does.

Unlike the horrendous Biwi No. 1, this film provides greatly for all Salman-Karishma shippers, among whom I count myself. They are one of the grossly underrated jodis. Neither of them is a stupendous actor, but they bring out the crazy best out of each other. They seem very well suited and there is cheekiness to them both which beautifully underlines their chemistry.

As usual my feminist side was not entirely happy with the movie, since there is lots and lots of men deciding for the girl in this film. Even the happy ending is ensured only thanks to Sapna´s grandfather. At few points it actually gets regressive (talking here about two scenes especially: when Sapna is immediately sexually attacked while thumbing a lift, and when Raja hits her when she is dancing with two horny men. Given both things were stupid of her, the whole thing played it on stereotype that INDIAN girls do not behave „like that“). Well, at least nobody makes a big deal out of Sapna´s change of image from baggy clothes and pigtails to sexy mini-skirts and fashionable hairdo.

So there you have it. That „pure fun“ film I like. Go and watch it. It might just be the right thing to brighten your afternoon.

Zubeidaa

Directed by: Shyam Benegal

Starring: Karishma Kapoor, Rekha, Manoj Bajpayee, Amrish Puri

Released: 2001

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

Everything that is great and wonderful about Karishma Kapoor is in this film. She´s been a very inconsistent performer and her filmography overflows with horrendous movies with some really bad performances, but then there is also Zubeidaa, which in itself is a reason enough for me to have a soft spot for this Kapoor girl. True enough, she also had Fiza, but there she was equaled by both Hrithik Roshan and Jaya Bachchan, and the film had its weak points. Zubeidaa on the other hand is one of those movies that are, according to me, near perfection.

As Wikipedia informs us “The film is based on the life of the ill-fated actress Zubeidaa Begum and the writer of this film Khalid Mohammed is her own son.” That in itself gives the movie a unique feel, and indeed the pattern of the movie captures this. The story of mother is step by step rediscovered by her son, whom she supposedly left for her lover, only to die in a plane crash few years later. However Rizwan (her filmy son), believes there is much more to the tale and tirelessly keeps looking for clues and information that would tell him the truth nobody wants to talk about.

Zubeidaa, a daughter of a wealthy and well-thought-of Muslim family, was a lively and strong-willed girl with a mind of her own, and very much modern in her desires. To act in films, to dance, to study abroad.... all this she sets her mind to, but one by one her hopes are shattered by authoritative father, who may be doting, but at the same time is extremely dismissive to female independence (as is clearly seen in the way his wife treats him – like a God, and thinking of herself as worthless dust). Zubeidaa feels more and more depressed as her father manipulates her and controls her life. Forcing her to marry, forcing her to be divorced, he never asks what she wants. And Zubeidaa bears it, though unhappily, until she actually falls in love – with a Hindu raja.  

Zubeidaa is really a story of a woman, who knew what she wanted, was capable of extreme sacrifice to get it, and accepting absolutely nothing less. A rather unlucky character, destined to be always unhappy. Zubeidaa is scripted with much feeling, unfolding in front of us in a compelling way and nice pace, presenting some of the most difficult human choices realistically. The whole cast is brilliant. The dignified Queen, a father guarding the family honour and never forgiving those who acted against his wishes, a mother in the shadow of her husband, finding just as much courage to carry on, Zubeidaa´s prince Charming, who loves her, but fails to understand her... all these characters are brought to life by a joined effort of the script, direction and the actors with utmost precision.  

But it is Karishma Kapoor as Zubeidaa who is the brightest gem of the movie. Never has she been presented as beautifully, non of her other characters had such depth or scope. She spent the 90s prancing around with Govinda and Akshay, making faces in David Dhawan over the top comedies, wearing the tightest, shortest skirts and doing some of those „PT dance numbers“, but never has she had as much impact as in here, draped in sarees and with abundant curls styled in a period way. Never before or after did she act or looked better.

The music is weaved into the narrative just as flawlessly, with several gorgeous compositions by the one and only Rahman. Be it loving Dheeme Dheeme, or melodious Mehndi Hai Rachnewali, they have a contemporary feel to them, but still fit the era the film captures. The most poignant of the songs – So Gaye Hain – which returns time and again throughout the film in the background, is sung by Lata Mangeshkar. I never really liked Lata´s voice in the 90s and on, not on actresses for sure, but there are some songs, not really picturized on anyone, that she is perfect for, and this is one of them. The main melody in itself, with our without the lyrics, is enough to make one teary.

Zubeidaa remains one of the movies I completely cried through, because it was just impossible not to be effected by the turmoil and pain of a girl denied her dreams, or mother separated from her child, and woman who believed her happiness, earned with so much difficulty, is slipping away from her.

Raja Hindustani

Directed by: Dharmesh Darshan

Starring: Aamir Khan, Karishma Kapoor, Suresh Oberoi

Released: 1996

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

When I think about it, it was not really Devdas, that was my first brush with Bollywood, but Raja Hindustani. A friend of mineshowed me a youtube video – for laughs, commenting on it as the song progressed. A seriously depressed guy singing his heart out while object of his desire sits all quiet with eyes bulging wide to the point of scary, a weird man dressed as a woman, a woman with so much paint on her face and drinking from the bottle being disturbing, and finally big finale with the girl falling into the boy´s arms and her father being apparently displeased. My friend thought the song was the movie´s finale. How wrong was she, unfamiliar with Bollywood ways back then. The song was Pardesi Pardesi and it signified only the beggining of the all the troubles for the on-screen couple.

Rich and beautiful Aarti (Karishma Kapoor who got rid of her mad curls and shaped her wild eyebrows which she sported in the early 90s) makes a sentimental trip to a small city of Palanketh, a place where her parents first met, before leading a loving marriage and having Aarti. Sadly Aarti´s mother died and her father married for a second time – a much westernized (read BAD) and greedy woman, who´s fake affection for her step-daughter is so obvious it hurts. In Palanketh Aarti, accompanied by a sibling duo of brother and sister who, for the sake of laughs, switched personalities and visage, meets a poor taxi driver Raja (Aamir Khan). Raja is not only poor though. He is honest, hard-working and obviously the director´s vision of a true Hindustani, unpolished and uneducated but with high principles of morality at heart. Principles so high I actually took offense because it bordered on completely sexist.

Mr. Morality has problems with guys liking her in dresses but standing under the same tree in a rain is obviously a completely moral opportunity to get seriously cozy.

A woman he has no relation to apparently cannot wear a western (read BAD) dress of her liking, because some other uneducated men make remarks about her then. She naturally gets angry, but apparently doesn´t learn her lesson, and instead of dismissing the taxi driver, she not only falls in love with him, but actually leaves her loving father for this man, whom she only knows for a few days, and who is an utter mismatch to who she is. I could never understand why would Aarti sacrifice everything she had – not only status and riches, but her own family and even education and ambitions – for a man who refuses to change in the slightest because of her. I foud Raja extremely selfish and Aarti lost her appeal once she actually took his side, leaving heartbroken father behind.

Although at this moment she apparently realized she really screwed her life up.

Once Aarti and Raja get married, their love story actually becomes hardly bearable. Raja turns out to be proud, uncompromising, even to the point of abusive (and later in the film he goes totally bonkers), while Aarti considers an occasional dance to a catchy song a solution for all marital problems. However evil plotting westernized step-mother initiates the „happy“ couple´s split up (by pointing out the obvious – Aarti is a sophisticated and naive girl and her husband a jerk who clings to his pride more than to his love) and while Raja returns to Palanketh to grow a beard Aarti gives birth to his child. By this point the film went pretty much insane with Raja stealing the baby (because obviously he on his own in his chhota hut can give his son a better upbringing than his mother in a bungalow) and fighting a bunch of goons while still holding the baby, throwing it into the air and stuff while beating everybody up. And finale? The insane dude forgives his weeping wife because everybody gathers around and sings.

"Kaun kambakht bardasht karnay ko peeta hai?"

"Sorry. Wrong film, wrong year. Wrong Khan."

Raja Hindustani is just horrible. Aamir Khan actually gives a good performance, but Raja is just too awful as a character, Karishma Kapoor, who created sensation with this movie, is objectively speaking very weak in this movie. I like Karishma, but a great part of her films never did her justice, and she has very few performances that could be really praised. I believe that it was really her looks and style, so different from any other heroine till then, what caused the rapture and gave her a real standing among the A-listers.

The plus point would be some of the songs, and in a strange, twisted way, the movie is actually enjoyable – if you deliberately decide to turn off your brain. At the same time it is one of those movies that can only do Bollywood more harm than good when shown to a person unfamiliar with Indian cinema.

Marital advice for women: "Hubby snooty? Shake yout booty! In Ooty."

Dangerous Ishq

Direction: Vikram Bhatt

Starring: Karishma Kapoor, Jimmy Shergil, Rajneesh Duggal, Divya Dutta, Gracy Singh

Released: 2012

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

I had severe reservations right from the moment I´ve heard the atrocious Hinglish title for the first time, but for the sake of Karishma Kapoor, whom I don´t see among the greatest of the great actresses, but still love her well enough for the intensity and experience she gave me with Zubeidaa and Fiza. And it was for her sake again that I managed to sit through the film, that turned out to be the two possibly longest hours of my life. I guess that seals her presence in the list of my favourites forever.

Karishma, looking stunning and not a day over twenty something (and better than many younger actresses), plays a supermodel Sanjana, whose really unattractive and absolutely non-leading-hero-material-ish boyfriend just got kidnapped, and since true love knows no bounds Sanjana plunges into the whirphool of thrilling situations that are not at all exciting, dangerous stunts and special effects that look like from a 90s gameboy, and enthralling past lives memories that are badly edited and badly placed. There is no shortage of some hardcore magic either – which however ultimately moves the film to a level of bad fairytales for adult people. On her search for her lover Sanjana starts seeing visions from her past life, and as it turns out few regression sessions later, her love life has always been totally screwed up by somebody else in all her births. Ultimately she finds out that once upon a time she refused a rich guy obsessed with her, and through some divine powers and abracadabra the whole ever repeating cycle of her lover (and herself) dying a violent death thanks to the refused guy started. Once she discovers the person in this birth, she finally can put an end to it.

Obesessed with me for centuries? I am flattered!

What needs to be appreciated is that whilst dealing with the ever-popular reincarnation theme, the film´s premise and the way the past lives are explored is definitely innovative. At the same time, sadly, none of them is presented well enough for us to connect with them – or the characters. All the timelines had great potential, and although the 16^th century one is generally agreed upon as being the „best one“ shown, I must say I was only really touched by the 1947 one, showing Karishma as a Rajastani girl on her fearful and futile flight from the awaiting death. Alas, it was criminally short, and all too soon I was thrown back into the dullest timeline of all – the present time one, which not only bored with the lack of good cinematography and cheap special effects, it also has Karishma being completely dull and without that intensity one associates her with. She seemed extremely half-hearted throughout. It doesn´t help that in many scenes she literally has nothing to do.

A temple? I thought it was a pizza man!

Jimmy Shergil and Divya Dutta did well, and I even dare say Divya was the show stealer in all the scenes she had. Others are not really worth a mention. The casting of the male characters was mostly wrong. I have already mentioned the main male lead being completely unfit for the part, not only because I personally find him difficult to look at, but because he and Karishma share zero chemistry. Dangerous Ishq was promoted as a female centric movie, but it is far from being one. If anything it had a great potential to be an epic love story (if everything from script to direction was handled better), but to feel a love story and root for a couple throughout a movie you need to feel their connection, and here there is nothing but more dull dialogues. It was interesting to catch a glimpse of once so promising Gracy Singh as Krishna´s worshipper Meera, a character shown a bit loony really, but not without a certain charm.

WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU CAST THIS GUY AS A HERO?

And a girly complaint of mine – considering she was a supermodel, I expected to see some seriously awesome outfits, however on the costume level the film seemed terribly cheap. Music was good, very good actually, and could work as an album, it doesn´t seem appropriate for the movie though and the director let go of an opportunity to create some memorable picturizations, that possibly might have made us see some real feelings between the leading couple after all. The film was also released in 3D, something completely unnecessary and not bringing any betterment to the final product. I can´t see the point of it at all.

Dangerous Ishq remains a film of possibilities untaken, and would work better as a TV miniseries than a big screen picture. A movie about past life regression, that actually gave me a feeling that not the character, but I am in the past, lost somewhere at the point where Bollywood heroines were made to stand around screaming their boyfriend´s name while those fought valiantly against the villains.

Do not waste YOUR time with this film unless you love Karishma Kapoor.

Andaz

Directed by: David Dhawan

Starring: Anil Kapoor, Karishma Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Kader Khan

Released: 1994

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

Many years before Farah Khan brought to life Main Hoon Na that revolved around a college and terrorism, there was David Dhawan who created a movie based on the two as well. Main Hoon Na is not even remotely a copy of Andaaz, as the two stories are different, and where Farah Khan´s movie changes easily from comedy to family drama and action flick, David Dhawan stayed faithful to what he could do best and maintained the light spirit throughout, yet still I found it curious that the two movies have the same feel. Main Hoon Na, aspiring to be a modern day classic in my book, is of course far superior to Andaaz in every department, being a slick, polished and witty massala of the memorable team Farah-SRK, while Andaaz is what it is: a typical 90s movie with loopholes, bad cinematography and Shakti Kapoor.

Anil Kapoor armed with his trademark moustache and wearing glasses (signifying he is a civilized and educated man this time) comes to a college as a new teacher, however his peaceful nature and young age make him a favourite target of student jokes and tricks. One of the girls in particular disturbs his inner balance – Jaya (Karishma), who, after pulling a practical joke on him, seems to annoy him with every single thing. Anil puts up with everything up until the moment he finds an „I love you“ note addressed to him. He gives it to Jaya (as he believes it was her sending it) without much of an explanation, and thus starts an avalanche of other similar notes. Unknown to him it was not her who sent them, but one of other students trying to avenge for previous punishment, and while Anil thinks he is love object of Jaya´s, she in return believes she is his, building this belief on the I love you notes he keeps giving her „back“

The film is also an unashamed eyeglasses porn.

When truth comes out it is already too late for Jaya, who is head over heels and for real in love with the teacher, and in order to gain his affection leaves the school and moves next door, only to be rejected again and again. Until finally Anil decides to bring home – a wife! Marrying in a hurry he chooses Juhi Chawla in an orphanage, with a conviction him marrying will shoo Jaya away forever. Originally he wanted a woman who could cook, sing, be educated. Juhi is none of that and quite useless, however Anil is not angry for long because she still possesses the erotic female parts and basically the whole second half of the film could be called „The tales of a horny husband“. One song in particular made me stare at the screen in a complete disbelief of what was actually happening! The first 13 seconds will be enough for you to understand!

Karishma, who dominated the first half completely, being adorable with her huge eyebrows and frizzy hair, is immediately sidelined not only by her love interest (now interested only in jumping into bed with the wife at every single opportunity. Compared to the latest Dhawan movies it was all still innocent, which can give you an idea of how distasteful are his films now.), but also the script, which is a shame. Her character henceforth doesn´t really make much sense and looses all the appeal.

You may be wondering by now where the terrorists fit in. They don´t fit in at all – and yet they are present. The „action“ subplot is limited to about three or four short scenes during the film, only to overwhelm it in the last 15 minutes, and basically holding no importance at all. In fact the whole terrorist thing is just a way how to get rid of Jaya in the end.

Let´s get laid darling.

Let´s get intimate!

Actually, let´s get kinky.

I really enjoyed the movie (after all I love myself some 90s with all the cringeworthy stuff and guilty pleasures they represent).It is one of the few rare pictures where I didn´t cringe at Anil Kapoor´s comedy, maybe because he kept the acting rather calm and came of much more convincing than his usual let´s be as loud as possible and let´s put my head forward and bulge my small eyes way of acting „funny“. The ladies steal the show from him (I guess after working with Madhuri and Sridevi he was used to that already anyway), Karishma breathes the life into the story in the first part, Juhi with her gorgeousness and comic sense nobody can match takes over in the second, in spite of being given just an extended cameo. She was a pure delight to watch and left me longing for more.

It´s no Main Hoon Na for sure, but it is worth a shot if you are looking for something fun or if you are missing the naughty but not yet completely over the top vulgar David Dhawan.

Fiza

Directed by: Khalid Mohammed

Starring: Karishma Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan, Jaya Bachchan

Released: 2000

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

The Kapoor Khazana continues! After Rishi´s sweaters the next one of the family who deserves a mention is definitely Karishma Kapoor. After all, she is my favourite of the whole khandaan.

Fiza – what a simple name for film with such a nerve-wrecking story and also for a girl with so much to live through. Once a member of a small Muslim family consisting of her, her mother and younger brother Aman, Fiza has first been faced with the non-sensial cruelty of this world when Aman disappeared during the unrests of Bombay Riots in 1993.

Both mother and daughter left behind have a hard time coping with the painful issue, but where Fiza finds enough strength in her youthful stubborness and occupies herself with studies, her mother refuses to accept the possibility of her son´s death. Every week she goes secretly to a police station to inquire about her son, unaware Fiza knows only too well where she goes. And so Fiza suffers not only for the lost brother, but for her mother as well. Such situation lasts whole six years. 

Once a happy family...

After much crying and shouting Fiza decides she has had enough of uncertainty and living on hopes and starts searching for Aman. But everything fails her – the law, the police, politicians.... bribing, threatening, pleading..... nothing brings any fruit, and only makes Fiza more confused as well as hated. She is slowly becoming a public figure and people, who similarly lost their loved ones, are looking up to her. All in vain. Aman seems to have disappeared from the face of the Earth, and nobody can confirm or deny his death.

But fortunately it is year 1999 – the age of internet has come! And a guy, who has been trying for ages to impress Fiza, googles out (cause it sounds stupid if I write "yahoos out") a photo of a terrorist group operating in the border area. And Fiza recognizes similar features in one of the photos. Refusing any company she sets out to find the person in the picture, and yes, on one night she finally, after six years of complete uncertainty, finds her brother. Very much alive. And very much a terrorist.

Yahoo saves the day

Fiza is a basically a family drama, but interestingly enough it portrays it more as three individual stories. There are different points of view on the same situations, all influenced by the character´s background and experience. While traditional, peace-loving mother cannot understand the tragic changes in her life, and ends up committing suicide with a feeling that she has failed in her most sacred task of raising her children, stubborn, adamant and hard-to-please Fiza uses anger to hide her pain. Because you feel that deep inside she is very fragile. And she knows that if the world saw her weakness, it would crush her completely. And then there is of course Aman, the most innocent soul, who after witnessing horrors, adopts a simple belief that freedom and justice need to be fight for with all possible weapons. They are all bound by deep love, but they all completely lack understanding and many a heartbreak comes out of their helplessness to communicate.

A rare sight - Jaya Bachchan NOT crying in an emotional scene.

Karishma owns the film. She is perfect as Fiza. Her gentle appearance moves you even more when she reveals the hidden outrage. Her eyes are giving out all the emotions, everything is very honest and straight about Fiza. I think one scene I could have done without was her dancing in a club. True, she wanted to show others that she could act as all other girls if she wanted (but she doesn´t care to do so, because... she´s not!), but the weird choreography made her look awkward and didn´t really take the advantage of her excellent dancing skills. Also Fiza is one of the rare films where she was not made to wear skimpy clothes and ultra-short skirts, instead a simple white Indian attire and later more modern, but still not revealing clothes perfectly captured her character. Not to mention she look heavenly in white.

There is something about white colour, that makes you feel the inner strength.

The film has also another rare exception – and that is that I actually liked Jaya Bachchan. I find this woman terribly annoying, just her presence on the screen often makes me cringe, but here she was somehow different. I cannot really put my finger on it. She just was. Maybe because for the first time her crying wasn´t constant and didn´t look artificial. Maybe because her dialogue delivery wasn´t so clichéd. Maybe because she really succeeded in creating a bond with Karishma and Hrithik on screen. And speaking about Hrithik, for me this was the best performance he has given that I´ve seen. Yes, I rate it higher than Guzaarish and even Jodhaa-Akbar. His physical resemblance to Karishma was only a plus and they created a wonderful sibling combination. 

If I didn´t know better, I would easily believe they ARE brother and sister.

It is true though, that I did not understand the relationship between Fiza nad her mother. The way it was portraited in different scenes left me rather confused. We see them chatting away merrily, and the next moment Fiza is screaming that her Ami should forget Aman forever. Another time Ami is crying and Fiza is telling her not to give up hope. These constant changes in what Fiza wanted her mother to do were not handeled too well.

The numerous supporting cast does a good job, though nobody really stays in mind, except perhaps Johnny Lever (another rarity – he is funny and not OTT). Sushmita Sen did an item song for the film, but I must admit I was not taken in by her dancing or the song itself, and fast-forwarded through most of it. 

Film works in both parts and doesn´t loose the pace or thrill, the ending comes of as downright nail-biting and very moving. You just don´t want Karishma to pull that trigger. And on the other hand you want Hrithik to be finally given the peace only death can offer. I read that Fiza did not do well at the box office. Yet another proof that the success of the film does not automatically comes with quality.

Celebrating the music of Dil To Pagal Hai

I heart this movie. Live with it. And one of the reasons it´s that absolutely wonderful soundtrack. I am NOT a fan of Lata Mangeshkar, it took me some time to get used to her voice, but as soon as I did there was not a single flaw in the musical part of DTPH. And since it clearly claims to be "Yash Chopra´s MUSICAL" there is a LOT of music. The film opening credits are one of the cutest ever, from the main message to the last couple shown, which incidentally is Yash Chopra himself, huging his wife.

And then we are given something about love too, but it definitely is nothing fluffy! Make way for energetic Karishma Kapoor and her - possibly best and most famous dance number ever!

Next there is Shahrukh sharing his fantasy about a girl with an innocent face, who has mischief in her eyes and shies away. It was his favourite song from the film by the way.

A song that set a trend of heart-shaped baloons for a Valentine´s day. I must admit some of Shahrukh´s choreography (left arm up, right arm up, left arm forward, right arm forward....) reminded me of some silly school dancing we did as kids, but in the end it´s SRK and nobody really cares, because even with silly moves he looks sexy. If you have not seen the film yet - no, Madhuri and Shahrukh don´t knoweach other yet. It doens´t stop them from singing songs about each other though. I love Bollywood.

The title song - favourite track for both Madhuri and Karishma. Shot in Germany, which I find terribly cute (and a relief after all the Swiss Alps Yash Chopra was serving us for years). Only Akshay´s ridiculous haircut spoils a bit the perfect picture.

But happy times do not last forever, do they? And so Nisha is injured and Rahul in need of a new dancer.... And then she just appears - like an illusion in a moonlight. Like a beautiful dream. Fortunatelly for us all, she is a human being, in real life going by the name of Madhuri Dixit.

My own personal favourite - Koi Ladki Hai. I already featured her on this blog in my "rainsongs list". Except for the "Maya´s dance" (right above) it has the best choreography in the film, and the one responsible is Shiamak Davar. But yeah, I never knew it is possible to dance like this with a broken ankle! Seems Lolo is capable of nearly anything.

By now Shahrukh and Madhuri are in love. But they don´t know it yet. Not even Karishma knows it, but she REALLY doesn´t like somebody like Madhuri dancing on HER stage. And so she decides to give her a lesson. People have been endlessly arguing about which of the ladies out-danced the other. My reply is: none. They both were amazing - and completely different. Madhuri as Pooja was full of grace and joy, simply enjoying the dance, while Karishma was more energetic, less graceful and full of anger. Both were superb.

They still don´t know they are in love. But to show the viewer they really are, Yash Chopra presents his favourite song Arre Arre. Brilliant picturization full of tender SRK/Madhuri moments that make my heart melt. And Madhuri just looks divine in white.

And the same melody is used to show us a moment when Madhuri realizes..... she is in love!

Guess what! Rahul knows he is in love too! And we have a PERFECT excuse for a absolutely delightful song with an amazing picturization!!! No words needed....

And in the end - a little sum up of the main songs, this time "live"! Long live DTPH!

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.....