Decoding Bollywood!

Movie no 5/100 April 28, 2018 The next movie I picked in my decoding Bollywood challenge is Sooraj Barjatya’s ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’. The 1994 Salman Khan-Madhuri Dixit starrer was not only a big money-spinner, but it also gave India some of the best wedding numbers, which are popular even today. Coming from the Sanskaari stable of Rajshri Productions, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (HAHK) was a quintessential Rajshri product – heavy dose of family values, traditions and a plethora of songs! The movie came out at a time when Bollywood was heavily infatuated by storylines dipped in violence and heroism. After movies like Anjaam and Suryavanshi, HAHK was a family drama that catapulted its leads, Madhuri Dixit and Salman Khan, to the peaks of stardom! The patriarch of a business family, Kailash Nath (played by Alok Nath), is looking for a suitable ‘Bahu’ for his elder nephew, Rajesh (played by Mohnish Behl). Along with his younger nephew, Prem (played by Salman Khan), he draws a plan

Movie no 4/100 April 27, 2018 After two back-to-back comedies, I decided to watch something from the shelves of the famed parallel cinema of the 1980s. I chose to watch the 1982-Mahesh Bhatt directorial, ‘Arth’, starring Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. Allegedly based on Mahesh Bhatt’s own clandestine affair with actress Parveen Babi, Arth is a melancholic tale of how an extra-marital affair of a man disturbs three lives – his, his wife’s and his beloved’s. Orphaned at an young age, Pooja (played by Shabana Azmi) is married for seven years to a film director, Inder Malhotra (played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda). But, her dream of having a loving husband, a beautiful home and a family of her own is shattered by her husband’s dalliances with the reigning actress, Kavita Sanyal (played by Smita Patil). The movie traces Pooja’s tempestuous journey from a state of shock, to disbelief, to helplessness, to pleads and finally, ending up being indifferent. In her t

Movie 3/100 April 25, 2018 If you gew up in the 90s like me, you will remember watching movies like Satte Pe Satta , Chaalbaaz and Golmaal umpteen number of times on TV. There was a phase in the 1970s and 1980s, where directors such as Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee (coincidentally, both were Bengalis) brought in a slice-of-the-life cinema that showcased the majority of Indian population on celluloid – the Middle Classes! The third movie in my movie marathon is Basu Chatterjee’s 1975 hit, ‘ Chhoti Si Baat ’, starring Amol Palekar, Vidya Sinha and Ashok Kumar. Years before ‘Hitch’ and ‘Partner’ were made, Chhoti Si Baat invented the concept of a ‘Love Guru’, who helps an under-confident man win over the girl he loves. Set in the beautiful Bombay of the 1970, Chhoti Si Baat  traces the journey of a novice in love, Arun (played by Amol Palekar) who is unable to confess his feelings to Prabha (played by Vidya Sinha), a girl he meets at a bus stop. While Arun is hopel

Movie no. 2/100 After watching a rather somber ‘Pyaasa’ the other day, I decided to watch something light for my second outing in this 100 movie project. I decided to watch Shaad Ali’s 2005 comedy, Bunty Aur Babli (BB), starring Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukerjee and Amitabh Bachchan. A flawed and lengthy film, BB was a commercial success in its time and the movie garnered great praise for its leads, the chartbusting music and the humor-filled dialogues.   The plot involves two small-town simpletons, Rakesh and Vimmi (played by Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukerjee), who escape from their ordinary lives to pursue their dreams. Though Rakesh and Vimmi set out to become the next Tata-Birla and Miss India, respectively, they end up conning people for a living. They take the aliases Bunty and Babli, and wear various disguises to con people. To nab this notorious duo, JCP Dashrath Singh (played by Amitabh Bachchan) is appointed. Though most of the scheming and plotting initially seems

April 17, 2018 Movie – 1/100 The genius of Guru Dutt has been a part of various discussions on filmmaking across the globe. Considered to be one of the most prolific filmmakers of his time, Guru Dutt’s movies have always been hailed as way ahead of their time and ‘Pyaasa’, released in 1957, was particularly regarded as one of his bests. Featured among the 100 best movies of all times by Time, this Guru Dutt – Waheeda Rehman – Mala Sinha starrer is a beautiful tale of pain and despair faced by a failed poet, who ends up questioning his existence in this materialistic world. Pyaasa is the story of Vijay (played by Guru Dutt), a failed poet who struggles to make both ends meet, while trying to get his poetry (shayari) published. Set in Calcutta of the 1950s, Vijay has a remorseful existence – his brothers despise him, his snobbish ‘friend’ does not care much and publishers treat his poetry as trash. Vijay finds solace in the company of a prostitute, Gulabo (played by Waheeda Re

With the increasing focus on responsible film critiquing and better research going into evaluating films, over the last few years, we have seen various publications come out with their list of 100 best Hindi films, that define Hindi cinema. While recently going through one such list, I was embarrassed to call myself a Hindi movie buff, when I had not seen more than half of these movies! That is when I decided to take it up as a challenge- to not just watch these celebrated movies but also try to decode them. So, 100 movies, 100 blog-posts, 250-odd days (before the end of 2018)! It’s Project Decoding Bollywood! While there are various lists including one from IMDB and Filmfare, I decided to select the list published by a London- based publication, Timeout, in 2015. One of the main reasons why I picked this list is because it has been compiled by a panel of leading critics and Bollywood experts. You can read the list here . This list contains not just critically-acclaimed movies,