Sangam Uncle managed to make a video tape of this film even though it’s currently running in the theatres. Watched it last night and almost had to use brute force to make Pinch sit through the entire film! He gave the film half an hour after which he was ready to quit…:-)
SRK is his usual not-so-bumbling self, Zayed Khan is quite moronic(I quite liked him in his debut film), Sushmita Sen has picked up the dumbest role in her entire short career and the rest of the cast is plain so-so. Music is quite good, with a qawaali(Sabri Bros, I think) and the title track. Most songs rendered by Sonu Nigam… what a talent!
Pinch and I had a talk about SRK a few days back. According to him, SRK is an actor with great potential, in the legions of Amitabh Bachchan. Plus he is a very smart businessman which is why he’s doing all the films which he knows will only endear him more to the masses. People like me are very few i.e who can’t bear to watch his histrionics any more.
Well, SRK and Amitabh are probably in the same league. BUT, I feel that Aamir Khan, Om Puri, Sanjeev Kumar, Naseer… these guys are far better actors and definitely of a higher calibre than SRK. These guys have each portrayed myriad characters throughout their acting career. They’ve brought a touch of reality and credibility to each character they’ve portrayed. ‘Munna’ from Rangeela or Naseer in ‘Jalwa’ or ‘Maalaamaal’ or Om Puri in ‘Chachi 420’, each role could have been loud, crass and dramatic. But these chaps lent that essential touch of class to each role by their formidable quality of underplay and subtlety. Even if SRK ever goes beyond the ‘Rahul’ roles he plays, even he plays roles akin to Sanjeev Kumar’s ‘Koshish’ or Naseer’s ‘Sparsh’ or even the showy Munna in ‘Rangeela’, he’ll always do it in his inimitable style. THAT is the difference.
SRK brings his style to each character he plays. Not that he has played such diverse characters but even if he goes on to play understated roles, he WILL play them in his distinctive style. Unlike Aamir or the others, who bring the character to themselves… I can’t identify a common strain in the acting styles of any of these guys. Whereas SRK has these unique traits which mark every character he essays.
SRK is larger than all his roles whereas Aamir or Naseer or Sanjeev or Om Puri always place the character as the larger guy.
deelight says:
I hated the movie…it was a mind numbing experience. Can’t blame Pinch!
May 12, 2004 — 6:18 am
Lakshmi says:
Liked the music and liked Amrita Rao. She is tres chic…:-) No, actually beautiful, almost traditional in her looks. I DETESTED Sushmita Sen’s oh-so-pontificating manner… Absolutely irksome!
May 12, 2004 — 7:02 am
parag says:
Hey! Finally, we agree on something. I also find SRK’s jittey, Parkinson’s syndrome like shakes and blabbering extremely annoying.
Also, I wouldn’t put Aamir Khan in the same category as Sanjeev Kumar, Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri.
May 12, 2004 — 7:07 am
Lakshmi says:
🙂
What did we disagree on, Parag?
May 12, 2004 — 7:28 am
savyasachi says:
loud, crass and dramatic
– Agreed!
May 12, 2004 — 9:19 am
Lakshmi says:
Who is?
May 12, 2004 — 10:52 am
savyasachi says:
SRK 🙂
May 12, 2004 — 4:53 pm
Lakshmi says:
Thank you, thank you…*beaming and bowing*
May 12, 2004 — 10:51 am
radhika74 says:
i feel amitabh is an infinitely better actor than shah rukh khan. could shah rukh have done a ‘shakti’,’do anjaane’, ‘saudagar’,’namak haraam’ and so many other movies with the same impact? no way!
May 12, 2004 — 8:18 pm
Lakshmi says:
Frankly, Radhika.. I’ve seen very few of those films of AB. Can’t say much…
May 13, 2004 — 5:15 am
rileen says:
I’ve had/heard/read this Aamir vs. Shahrukh discussion many times, and most people tend to agree that Aamir plays the character while SRK plays himself. But i’m surprised that you include the others in this comparison, they’re all much senior to those two, and different in many other ways too.
Interestingly, i’d once read an interview of Om Puri’s in which he lamented Amitabh’s wasted potential.
May 13, 2004 — 11:39 am
Lakshmi says:
I think Amitabh has his good looks and screen persona to handle. Like Brad Pitt whose good looks would have tended to dictate most of the roles he gets.. So that in order to get unconventional roles, he has to downplay his looks heavily. I think AB has the same issue… Besides, do Indian audiences have the kind of taste to appreciate AB in any off-beat roles?
I think that Aamir is a fantastic actor. Junior or not, he has immense potential to get into the league of Naseer or Sanjeev Kumar or Om Puri.
May 14, 2004 — 5:40 am
rileen says:
That amused me – Amitabh and Brad Pitt? AB was never considered an epitome of good looks etc, in fact was even considered rather plain looking early on in his career …… he’s ‘grown handsome with success’. To some extent, the same thing’s happened with other actors, SRK included. Success and grooming can ‘work wonders’.
Besides, do Indian audiences have the kind of taste to appreciate AB in any off-beat roles?
Pray, what does that mean? AB’s done some exceedingly lousy movies – do you simply blame the audience for that? There were plenty of off-beat movies in the last 30 odd years that AB’s been around (even he did a few!), and not all were unappreciated.
More than AB, Aamir was limited by his ‘chocolate boy’ looks in his younger days, but he’s good enough to have overcome whatever hindrance his appearance caused.
May 14, 2004 — 5:52 am
Lakshmi says:
By ‘good looks’, in case of AB, I meant his screen persona, his voice, the way he seems to fill the screen with his sheer presence… I am not sure that an Indian audience would have accepted an AB otherwise. His success hinged heavily on these factors…
May 14, 2004 — 6:32 am
rileen says:
Screen presence, charisma – of course. But not ‘conventional good looks’.
His success hinged heavily on these factors…
Of course – but that in itself doesn’t mean that he had to do stuff like Mard, Ajooba, Lal Baadshah etc etc, or that he couldn’t have done a few more meaningful films.
I admire him as an actor, too – when i see films like Chupke Chupke, i can’t help but lament the fact that he did so few of such comedies. The audience, directors, etc are all part of the equation, but of course ultimately he chose what to do.
At the end of the day, one can simply appreciate those movies of his that one likes, and ignore the others 🙂
May 14, 2004 — 6:40 am
Lakshmi says:
Maybe the lure of success was too strong… I mean, you need to have a certain amount of guts to go out on a limb and do films which, you aren’t sure, will be accepted by the general populace… Isn’t it far safer to stick to connventional formula-ridden roles which always showcase your assets?
I have felt many times before… AB is an actor whose potential hasn’t yet been tapped totally. He is capable of good stuff, far better than what he has already done.
May 14, 2004 — 6:53 am