One of the surprises of 2007 in Hindi Cinema was a film called Apnedirected by Anil Sharma and starring the Deol family members –Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol. Considering that both Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol were going through a bad patch and also that Dharmendra hadn’t been appearing in too many films those days, the box office response was certainly a surprise. What was also surprising was that Anil Sharma, more known for his over the top movies like Hukumat, Tehelka, Gadar etc had managed to keep Dharmendra and Sunny Deol both in control for a major part of the film. So after 3 years when the trio from the Deol family announced that they were coming back again with a film called Yamla Pagla Deewana ( YPD from hereon ), there were eyebrows raised out of interest. But there was no mass hysteria initially as YPD was being directed by Samir Karnik, whose filmography included films likeKyun! Ho Gaya Na,Nanhe Jaisalmer, Heroe’s and Vaada Raha- certainly nothing meriting attention.
But when the promo of the film came out things completely changed. The promo of YPD was one of the most well received promos in recent times and thus set the expectations very clearly for the film. YPD begins with a look into the life of Paramvir Singh (Sunny Deol ) in Canada. Paramvir is married to a Canadian, Mary (Emma Brown) and lives along with her, their 2 sons and his mother (Nafisa Ali). Param’s mother is still missing her husband Dharama ( Dharmendra ) and younger son Gajodhar ( Bobby Deol ) who got separated from them when Paramvir was still a child. Thanks to some people Paramvir and his mother realise that his father and brother are in Varanasi and making a living by conning people. Paramvir promises to bring back his father and brother and sets off to Varanasi. After a couple of funny encounters Paramvir manages to inform his father the truth but Dharam refuses to acknowledge their relationship. But Gajodhar convinces Dharam to enlist Paramvir in their team, impressed by his brute force.
In the meanwhile Gajodhar falls in love with Sahiba ( Kulraj Randhawa ), a girl from Punjab who visits Varanasi to write a book. After some initial drama and egged on by Paramvir, Gajodhar manages to win the heart of Sahiba. But just as things start getting rosy, Sahiba’s brothers forcibly take her away back to Punjab. Unable to see Gajodhar’s plight, Dharam then acknowledges the relationship with Paramvir and thus begins the journey to Punjab to unite Gajodhar with Sahiba. And what happens later is what the rest of the story is all about. No prizes to anyone for guessing the film’s outcome. While there is nothing remarkable about the story, what is interesting is the way the screenplay develops in course of time and helps in sustaining the interest levels of the audience. Usually in such films the 2nd half of the film typically gets very predictable and hardly has any sting. But here is where the writing byJasvinder Singh Bath needs to be specifically commended.
So what makes the 2nd half interesting and what makes the 1st half pale in significance? Well the answers to both the question are the same- Bobby Deol . Most of the 1st half is dominated by Bobby Deol as he’s initially playing the Varanasi ka bhaiyya and trying to con people and then later on playing the lover boy as well. In both the avatars Bobby doesn’t appear convincing, after all it takes more than just colourful clothes and eating paan to pull of the U.P wale bhaiyya ( a la AB sr in Don ). Coming to the 2nd half what makes it interesting indeed is that apart from the dialogues there are also a whole host of characters who make their presence. And of course Dharmendra and Sunny Deol have a little more work to do as well post interval. Anupam Kher as Joginder Singh, the eldest brother of Sahiba and Mukul Dev as Gurmeet, another brother of Sahiba are the one’s who make the maximum impact among the additional characters introduced in the 2nd half.
Talking about Dharmendra I must admit that the veteran is still out there having fun in YPD. Though age has caught up with him, it still doesn’t deter him from him giving it his all in the company of his sons. Sunny Deol has his moments as well and is sure to make his fans rejoice finally. Kulraj Randhawa who has earlier done a few Punjabi films and also seen in Chintuji gets a good platform with YPD and does what is expected of her. The soundtrack is of a mixed variety with Charha De Rang (Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shweta Pandit, Mahalakshmi Iyer ) being the best of the songs. There’s the now popular song – Tinku Jiya to keep the masses happy and thankfully by the time the remix of the yesteryear hit “ Yamla Pagla Deewana” ( Sonu Nigam, Nindy Kaur- remixed by RDB with the original song composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal in Pratigya ) appears on the screen, the audience is seen to be relatively pleased and having a good time.
For those wondering if all this indicates that YPD is flawless, I’d say that it’s certainly not the case. Not only is the plot quite old styled, there’s also the added issue of Bobby Deol taking up more of the screen time (and not doing enough justice for the same). But a more than reasonably engaging 2nd half with some fine cameo’s along with the chance to see Dharmendra and Sunny Deol in good form makes this worthwhile enough. Well the promo had indicated that the movie would be a complete entertainer and the end result shows that the makers have indeed tried hard to live up to the expectations set up by the promos. So for those who still enjoy a good masala film once in a while, YPD is not bad indeed.
Ok so Sajid Nadiadwala entrusts a debutant filmmaker Sabbir Khan to make a movie. So like all Nadiadwala productions they decide to make another lavishly mounted project with A listers Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor. There are also top notch Hollywood stars like Sylvester Stallone, Brandon Routh and Denise Richards featuring and to top it all they decide to shoot the movie against the backdrop of Hollywood. And what do they do about the story – well they just decide to look down south and rip apart a Kamal Haasan’s Tamil movie.
Followers of Tamil cinema and fans of Kamal Haasan would remember a movie called Pammal K.Sambandham (referred to as PKS hereafter) which had Kamal Haasan and Simran in the lead. Directed by Mouli and with hilarious dialogues by none other than Crazy Mohan, the movie was a simple tale of a stuntman and a lady doctor, who both have distinct identities of their own. This movie was shot without too much of grandeur in Chennai except for a couple of songs which were shot abroad.
But in case of Kambakkht Ishq (referred to as KI hereon) there is nothing called originality. In fact exaggeration is too weak a word to describe the happenings in the movie as virtually everything is over the top. The plot is extremely silly and it’s all about Viraj ( Akshay) a Hollywood stuntman who doesn’t respect women & has them literally falling all over him. Viraj arrives at his brother Lucky’s (Aftab Shivdasani ) wedding to Kamini ( Amrita Arora ) to admonish Lucky for getting married. That’s where Viraj bumps into Simrita ( Kareena )who is Kamini’s best friend and who in turn admonishes Kamini for getting married to Lucky, as she doesn’t trust men.
The die is cast and there’s a virtual ego clash between Viraj and Simrita now. So after numerous silly jokes, some illogical situations and some constant love- hate banter between the two, the movie ends on predictable lines. Akshay Kumar seems to have literally sleep walked through the movie as the role is a cakewalk for him and he has no need to try hard. Kareena looks gorgeous no doubt but there’s nothing beyond it. Vindoo Singh as Akshay’s side kick is o.k. while Amrita Arora and Aftab have nothing much to do. Javed Jaffrey and Boman Irani are virtually wasted in the movie. Kiron Kher has again a very typical role.Anu Malik’s music is nothing great- you are likely to forget the songs after the movie completes its theatrical run.
While a lot of things can & should be overlooked considering that it is a movie after all, nevertheless certain things are almost tantamount to crime. I have never heard of any stuntman who is able to lead the kind of lavish lifestyle that Akshay Kumar leads in the movie. The kind of excessive indulgence shown in the movie actually starts hurting the eye after a point. None of the so called appearances of the Hollywood actors make any worthwhile impact on the movie. Kamal Haasan’s stuntman character was a Hanuman bhakt who wants to remain single. The character was largely believable unlike the fake portrayal by Akshay over here. Though Simran who played the heroine in PKS also has a fiery temper, she still endears to us by some realism in her depiction whereas Kareena tends to certainly go overboard often.
The script (Anvita Dutt Guptan,Sabbir Khan ) seems to be the big culprit here in what could have otherwise been a reasonably engaging movie similar to PKS. Considering that KI is probably made at more than 10 times the budget of PKS, Kamal Haasan would indeed be shocked to see what a relatively quickly made medium budget movie has turned out to be in its Hindi avatar. And yes it would also remind him again that while people are not willing to back his magnum opus – Marudhanayagam or Marmayogi due to budget constraints, there are people in Bollywood who have it going for them to produce an expensive tasteless film like KI ( at more than half the budget of a Marudhanayagam ).
Akshay- inspite of the setbacks of late (CC2C and 8*10), you are still right on top with the Khans.Why do a film like this in the first place? And as for your statement that you & Kareena in KI would be the new Mr. and Mrs.Smith, well I have no words to describe my feelings on the same. In spite of all the excesses your recent blockbusters like Welcome and Singh is Kingg worked because it was patronized by the family audience. But with KI you seem to have only alienated them and in case you haven’t realized it by now it’s certainly a pity.
Thanks to the Bollywood strike people have been literally starved of movies and so the terrific opening for KI is not a surprise at all. But it would be interesting to see if the movie is able to sustain the momentum and emerge profitable for all. I’m someone who loves the smaller films but once in a while would like to indulge in the regular mainstream stuff also. But if this is Bollywood’s idea of entertainment then I guess I would rather stay away from it. So what made me watch this? Well at 50 bucks for a balcony ticket at a good standalone cinema, I thought the deal couldn’t go wrong. But I was proved wrong. So go on if you are getting some good deal like this or else leave it for one of the T.V channels to air it shortly- you won’t regret it one bit. On a parting note I would like to ask a question to Sajid Nadiadwala and co- when you had a lot of people to thank in the opening credits, was it too difficult to acknowledge anybody concerned with PKS? This is all the more surprising because due to industry sources, the remake rights have been bought officially.
Of late I keep going into a reflective mode often and look back in time and relive a lot of interesting memories. A few days ago I was discussing with a friend about a Tamil movie –‘Guru En Aalu’ which after lying in the cans for a while finally got released a few weeks ago. What’s interesting about the movie is that it is the Tamil remake of Yes Boss. The discussion once again made me go back in time to the 90’s and think of some of the romantic songs of the 90’s.Now the 90’s are very special to me for various reasons. The 90’s were when I was a teenager and also the time when I moved out of school and into college. Also it was the 90’s again (the later part) when I became a young adult. So the memories of this decade are very precious to me & since that was the time my heart really started fluttering, a lot of memories come alive when I listen to the numerous Bollywood love songs of the 90’s.
Taking a cue from my fellow author Tushar’s write –ups ( like this one- http://passionforcinema.com/hona-hai-to-ho-hi-jayega-of-lost-songs-ii/) I am going on my journey of revisiting some of my favorite songs ( mostly romantic ) of the 90’s.If anyone is expecting me to write on the standard songs from the blockbusters like DDLJ,Aashiqui,Saajan, DTPH etc, you are thoroughly mistaken. The endeavor is to revisit those songs which have been more or less forgotten by us. Most of these songs are from movies which probably were not box office successes. And these songs are most likely not to be seen/heard anywhere these days- not even in T.V (unless the movie is being played), but back in those days of the 90’s were quite popular in their own way. Most of these songs are confined to individual memories and one has to go back to the old audio cassette/C.D or the internet to hear these songs again.
1. Sambhala Hai Maine- Naaraaz By the early/mid 90’s Mahesh Bhatt had kind of become obsessed more with the number of projects than the quality of work and this resulted in him doing a series of movies which didn’t do much justice to his filmography (barring exceptions like Zakhm of course).One such movie was Naaraaz a movie which had Mithunda,Pooja Bhaat,Atul Agnihotri & Sonali Bhendre in the lead. Though I do vaguely remember the plot and some scenes from the movie, nothing else has remained etched permanently in my memory like the song Sambhala Hai Maine from the movie. Picturised on Atul Agnihotri and Sonali Bhendre, this was romance at its expressive best. I certainly was envious of Atul Agnihotri when I saw the song for the first time. Not only was he romancing the pretty Sonali, he also got to sing such a beautiful song on screen- probably his best ever song in his entire career as a hero J
Check out the video and relive the magic, once again.
Trivia- Tadipaar is the only other movie apart from Naaraaz where Mahesh Bhatt and Mithun Chakraborty have worked together.
2. Utra Na Dil Mein Koi- Uff!Yeh Mohabbat The movie introduced a new hero- Abhishek Kapoor ( now popular as the director of Rock On ) and a new director- Vipin Handa (who was popular for his T.V shows on D.D) and had an upcoming heroine- Twinkle Khanna. Somehow the promos seemed to look interesting and I remember having to literally force a female friend & her sister to accompany me for the movie because no one else wanted to accompany me. I was not at all disappointed with the movie. True there wasn’t a great story to boast of but the picturesque locales of Sikkim and the songs like Utra Na Dil Mein Koi and Deewani Deewani ( music by Nikhil-Vinay )more than made up for it. While Deewani Deewani is more likely to be remembered by people now for its brilliant Sufi rendition, Utra Na Dil Mein Koi is the one which sunk into my heart and the romantic in me was floored.
For those who haven’t seen/heard the song and for those who would like to revisit it, here is the video- do have a look and fall in love once again.
Vipinji- if you ever read this let me tell you once again that it is this movie which made me fall in love with Sikkim and prompted me to make 2-3 visits. I know I have told you this before, but cannot resist the opportunity to tell this once again.
3. Sawali Saloni- Hum Sab Chor Hain Now when a movie has Kamal Sadanah and Ritu Shivpuri in the romantic lead (for those who do not know them, just forget itJ ), what more does one have to say? So while the movie did not grab any eye balls on release and is of course completely forgotten (rightly so today), there is this song- Sawli Saloni which was extremely popular in those days. Picturised on the lead pair on a fort/palace (don’t remember which one), this one again was a Kumar Sanu hit. Lyrics by Nawab Aarzoo were perfectly in sync with the music of Bappi Lahari for the song.
For all those interested in a revisit given below is the video.
4. Hum lakh chupaya pyar magar- Jaan Tere Naam Now this is a movie most of us are aware of. The songs were quite popular when the movie released and used to be a major draw on ‘Chitrahaar’ on D.D. Starring Rohit Roy & Farheen in the main lead, the music was by Nadeem-Shravan who were literally ruling the roost in the 90’s. Most of the other songs are also popular like Kal college bandh ho jaayega, main tumse juda ho jaunga, yeh akka India jaanta hai etc. But when it comes to love songs nothing really surpasses Hum lakh chupaye pyar magar sung by Kumar Sanu & Asha Bhonsle.
6. Resham Jaise Hain Rahein- Ek Tha Dil Ek Thi Dhadkan I vividly remember watching the promos of this movie in T.V in 1997. The movie was supposed to be the launch vehicle of Isha Koppikar and had Inder Kumar and Arbaaz Ali Khan (seen later in Mrityudaata as Amitabh Bachchan’s younger brother). The music was by Anand Raj Anand whose first movie as composer – Masoom had just released some time before this. Abhijeet was in his element while singing this and you can feel the free spirit in the mood of the song when you listen to it. The opening lines of the song are very simple, yet makes you want to hum it to yourself (I do it often).
“Resham Jaisi Hain Rahein,Kholein Hain Bahein ,Ye Vaadiyaan Mausam Saare Hain Apne,Rangeen Sapne,Hain Maherbaan Yoon Hi Gayenge Milke ,Hum Geet Dil Ke ,Sadiyon Yahan”
I don’t know if the movie ever got released and have not yet been successful in my search for the actual video of the song. I guess I have to depend upon my old audio cassette when I want to hear this once again.
7. Aake Teri Baahon Mein- Vansh
Vansh was the Hindi remake of Manirathnam’s popular Tamil movie- Agninatchathiram. This was a movie noticed mainly due to the music of Anand-Milind. Most of the songs like Main to deewani huyi, yeh bindiya yeh kangna, etc were also quite popular. But when it comes to the turn of having a pleasant romantic track which makes you forget about the visual and just sit back and relax, one can definitely slot ‘ Aake teri baahon mein’ in this category. With veterans like S.P.Balasubramaniam and Lata Mangeshkar singing to the lyrics of Sameer ( who was having a golden run at that time as he was the busiest lyrics writer in Bollywood then ), the song is a virtual treat to the ears.
Trivia- Vansh was directed by Pappu Verma more popular as an action director. And of the main cast, Sudesh Berry and Siddharth can be still seen occasionally while the leading ladies Ekta and Priyanka have disappeared.
8. Chand se parda kijiye- Aao Pyar Karen
This was a Saif Ali Khan,Shilpa Shetty,Somy Ali starrer and was one of the early films for the main star cast. Music was composed by the then relatively new composer- Adesh Shrivastav. In combination with Shyam Raj (lyrics) Adesh composed some good songs like Haathon mein aagaya jo kal, Jab do dil milte hain, etc. But there’s something remarkable about this song – “Chand se parda kijiye” which in spite of being a party song certainly has soul and is extremely romantic at the core.
Do check out the video once again to revive the memory once again.
Trivia- Directed by Ravindra Peepat,Aao Pyar Karein was a remake of a Tamil movie, Chemabaruthi directed by R.K.Selvamani & starring Prashant & Roja.
The list is not exhaustive and these are just some of my top of the mind recall songs in this category. Given below are a few more songs which I feel belong to this category-
Bin tere sanam- Yaara Dildaara Man chahe sanam- Aar Ya Paar Tu jab jab mujhko pukare- Qurbaan Ek chanchal shokh haseena- Baaghi Aankhon se dil mein utarke tu mere dhadkan mein hain- Fareb Chaha to bahut na chahen tujhe- Imtihaan Tu mile dil khile- Criminal
Feel free to add more songs which you believe fall under this category and let’s relive the 90’s once again.
