Hard Hitting Epic. Review on Lajja - Bollywood

An honest effort is what a movie needs today. And Rajkumar Santoshi is the one who does it with honesty. The film is a journey of a woman from sadness to depression. Hey but dun think this one is a depressing flick. Here depression leads to new ways. It's all about women of today. Here today's women r represented by four names of sita. The four being, Vaidehi (Manisha) Maithali (Mahima Chaudhary) Janaki (Madhuri Dixit) Ram Dulari (Rekha)

The film starts with Vaidehi in New York and ends with in a small village in M.P. The whole film is how and in what circumstances Vaidehi meets different women. And each time she gets to know how a woman still suffers in our so called modern times. The film shows the darker{raghu (jackie shroff) purshottam (Tinnu Anand) Gajendra Babu(Danny denzongpa)as well as the brighter side of men the thief (anil kapoor) & the dacoit(Ajay Devgun). It's not as if the issue has been seen from a single point of view. Rajkumar Santoshi has this 3 dimensional view for each topic he handles (much clearly seen in his more recent 'The Legend of Bhagat Singh')

Mahima chaudhary has played her part of Maitheli very well. The movie sets u spellbound mainly when Janaki (Madhuri Dixit) enters the scene. The scene where Janaki is drunk and stands on stage to play Sita in Ramleela is excellent. Then it starts getting even more interesting as Ramdulari (Rekha) is seen on screen. The mentality of every character is handled with great care. U can see this when Ramdulari burns with anger with the thought of her son having an affair. Then the film gets even more eye catching when the dacoit (Ajay Devgun) walks atop a train. Ajay's character goes very much near to Robinhood. His scenes r as deadly as he is in the movie. The scene where he meets Raghu (Jackie Shroff) is one of the best thrilling scenes in the movie. It succeeds in sending chills down ur spine.

Performances by each actress & actor r excellent. Nothing to think about when u have performers like Rekha, Madhuri, Manisha, Mahima, Ajay Devgun, Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor & Danny Denzongpa. But the three characters which really win ur heart r Rekha, Madhuri & Ajay Devgun. They r brilliant in each and every scene they give. Rajkumar Santoshi is one of the best directors we have. He has his own way of telling stories. Not the best movie from him, but an honest attempt for sure.