Rangeela Movie Review- The Reason I Love Bollywood

Rangeela really does represent why I love Bollywood and what I love about it!

When one wants to make a film in Bollywood, there are a few beaten tracks one could consider… Rangeela pretty much has all of them and just proves that it’s not the story that matters, it’s the way it’s told.

Here’s a few of those clichés that are worked so well into Rangeela:

1. The underdog who puts sweat, blood and tears into trying to make that girl happy.

2. The ambitious girl (ok, maybe not so much a cliché, seen as she doesn’t want to become a model)

3. The love triangle (anyone who says this isn’t typical, BRING IT ON! “Mujhe karate aata hai”=])

4. The person in the love triangle that seems to have it all easy and the girl appears to only be interested in him.

5. The last minute running, panicking and searching.

6. The we’re-just-friends attitude.

The performances really are amazing, what more can I say? I never knew Urmila Matonkar looked so pretty before… I’ve really only seen her in her Om Shanti Om avatar:

Nothing compared to her in Rangeela.

One issue I had with her character was that she never seemed to be in love with Munna; but then again, she might have only realised how strong her feelings were *SPOILER* after he’d gone *SPOILER*

Aamir was really perfect, right down to the last ‘apun’. I found him quite winning while slightly repulsive but always endearing. I always like to watch Aamir films, old and new because you always see a different person onscreen, that’s not something you see with many other actors. Nonetheless, his character occasionally seemed a little obnoxious and arrogant but maybe that was just to impress the pretty lady ;)

Jackie Shroff delivered quite a restrained performance *SPOILER* expect for when he jumps about in his house yelling he’s in love. They really could have missed that out seen as you could tell from his face, his eyes, how much he loved her, no need for the prancing. It spoilt his restrained, slightly tormented character in a way *SPOILER* Also, normally one of the two men vying for the girl has obvious flaws, like, say, in Jab We Met, but here he really was a character with a holographic heart of gold, which made vying for Munna harder.

The music was above average (well it would be when A R Rahman composing) with one track really sticking in my head, the title track, Rangeela Re.

For some strange reason it reminds me of the title track from Hungama, not that I’m implying the makers of Hungama have copied this song…

This was, as far as I can remember, the first film of Ram Gopal Verma’s that I’ve seen. Actually, that’s one of the main reasons I watched it… seen as I’ve often read his blog and got to know a bit about the kind of person he is. He’s entertaining on his blog but nevertheless, I’d never comment because I have no wish to have my words ridiculed, which must be slightly embarrassing to say the least. As far as I know, he used to be really popular around the time Rangeela came out but then he just kind of died out and no one wants to watch Rann. It really makes me wonder what went wrong…

Rating: 3.5/5 A sweet film that’ll make you fall in love with Bollywood all over again!

P.S. I’ve been trying out these ‘modern classical’ films as I call them that are from the late 80’s and 90’s that were popular at the time or are popular now. I would love recommendations… Do you have any suggestions of such films that I haven’t already reviewed? I’ll be reviewing Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin and will watch Raja Hindustani but any except for them two? Any SRK or Salman ones?

Ek Chalis Ki Last Local Movie Review *SPOILER ALERT!*

I must admit I really liked this film. It’s a bi like Kaminey but doesn’t have that same way of making you think during the film and long afterwards.

Now, I know Neha Dhupia isn’t all that popular, I really do like her and have done so since watching Chup Chup Ke. She was a little dull in the first half but really picked it up during he second half! I’ve only seen Abhay Deol in Dev D, which I thought he was pretty good in, but I really enjoyed watching him here, you had that feeling of knowing more than him, seen as there were a few spots where anyone who has watched a few movies could have guessed what was coming, but he, Abhay Deol, didn’t know. If I’m honest, I found him pretty cute here…

When I’d finished watching this, I wasn’t sure of what I was thinking, overall I felt happy and felt it was a paisa vasool, but then again I could see there were flaws. So I did what comes to me, went to Google and looked at some reviews. Overall, most people had issues with the way the director, Sanjay Khanduri, tried to cram everything in and didn’t edit as much as he ought to have. I agree on some of it and did feel it needed some editing in places but overall I thought that those moments when loads was happening at the same time were supposed to reflect on the mad chaos of the Mumbai underworld. Nonetheless, they really could have made the gangs easier to identify and give them traits that separate them from each other.

I’m glad I put on the spoiler alert right in the title because I just have to mention about how one twist in the tale really worked. That was the revelation that Madhu/Mala was a prostitute. Now, unlike some other people, I don’t hate, nor am I disgusted by, prostitutes. And this film really summed up why. They are humans, just like the rest of us and it’s normally because they are desperate that they go down this line, not because they want to or because they like it, as I’d guess many people think. I thought Neha really shone in that scene.

In terms of music, there weren't any proper song sequences, but I guess they would have been a bit out of place. I really like the song Laree Choote; here's the remix video:

The whole experimental idea of this movie should be appreciated, and although this might not be everyone’s cup of tea, I found it pretty pleasing.

Rating: 3/5

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna Movie Review

Well Alvida to this one!

I picked this poster for a reason, in my opinion it seems to be ranked by the standard of acting, I thought Rani outshone the others, SRK was good as always, it dawned on me that his shaking was actually just him holding in his emotions. Abhishek and Amitabh are interchangeable while Preity was little more than the haughty. That’s how her character always seemed… haughty.

The music was bearable, quite pleasant in places, I like ‘Where’s the Party Tonight’ but what was that skirt Preity was wearing??

The skirt looks like something someone peeled off the Golden Temple in Amritsar (not meant in a harsh way at all, I’m going to go visit it soon!).

I was looking for a picture of Kajol from the film and I came across this:

How could I have possibly missed this before? To all those who read this blog (i.e. no one) do you have any links to fashion debacles or just silly, stupid pictures?

One of the things I did like though was the character development,they were all grey, all had faults and good points. Here’s my (short) analysis:

-Dev aka. Shahrukh Khan: He seems to be desperate to get out of this relationship, not wanting to hold it together, which annoyed me a LOT. He obviously loves his kid but tries to force his dreams on to his shoulders as many parents do. However *SPOILER* when he tells his kid to play the violin because it’s ‘cool’ I got annoyed. Never mind mentioning anything about the talent it takes or how his son is dedicated, no, it’s cool to play the violin. ARE YOU SAYING I’M NOT COOL? *SPOILER*

-Maya aka. Rani: She really is the lightest grey, she can see her husband is trying to love her and accepts her for who she is but she never seems to be able to appreciate that. Nonetheless, unlike Dev, she wants to keep her marriage together. She’d reluctant to get into a relationship with him and tries pretty hard to balance her double life. *SPOILER* Where did she randomly get the money to buy or even rent a new house the moment she left?*

-Rhea aka. Preity: Really ambitious but still loves Dev. However I get this feeling she just can’t understand him and she knows this at the back of her mind. At the beginning she just can’t give her son enough time but develops throughout. She always seems to be above others, especially near Maya, ok I can understand she ruined her life but there’s no need to look at her as if she’s vermin.

-Rishi aka. Abhishek: A child at heart and one of the most amusing characters, he can’t accept his wife doesn’t love him and, like a child, doesn’t think before he speaks. On the other hand, you can see he really is making an effort to please Maya despite her shortcomings but just doesn’t know the right way to go about it. One thing pleased me though *SPOILER* Even when he had found out about Maya’s infidelity and was stark raving mad, he still didn’t hit her, didn’t hurt her in any way *SPOILER*

The slapstick worked well in places such as:

“If you think you can bribe me in to giving you a party…. you’re absolutely right!”

But there were bits *ahemBlackBeastahem* that were overdone. You can clearly see it’s Karan Johar’s film right from the glitzy settings to the loving parents. I really liked Amitabh Bachchan and Kirron Kher in it. I can’t think of any more to say so I’ll end it here.

Rating: 2.5/5 A difficult subject handled in a reasonably interesting way