Believe it or faint, this one's actually a saccharine-sweet review of movies that I like the most. So no acid, no venom, no spite, just waxing eloquent about my favorite movies! Without further ado, I will cut to the chase:
Thevar Magan:
This movie is very special because it brought together Sivaji Ganesan and Kamal Hassan together in a masterfully crafted script. They play father and son, divided on idealogies and principles. The father is the fuedal lord in a village that is ravaged often by faction wars, precipitated by Kamal's cousin Nasser and his father (Kaka Radhakrishnan). The son is forced to stay on in the village, despite having a foreign-earned degree, and assume the village headman responsibilities following his father's death.
Shot in picturesque Pollachi , the movie had a bit of everything. Music by Ilayaraja brilliantly captures the rustic theme of the movie. It's a monumental treat to watch Sivaji and Kamal together.
Apne Paraye:
This movie by Basu Chatterjee is about a joint Bengali family, with a truckload of adorable children, that laughs together, eats together, enjoys music together, without of course giving us diabetes like the HAHK parivar! The patriarch of the family is Utpal Dutt who plays the role with characteristic aplomb. Amol Palekar as his step brother and Shabana as his wife are very real. Girish Karnad and Bharti Achrekar as Dutt's real brother and sister-in-law visit them from the city and rock the boat causing a family feud.
Anand:
What can I say about this movie except that it has had a profound influence on my life! Although I love all of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's films, this one's real special. Rajesh Khanna as Anand, gave the performance of his lifetime/career and Amitabh as Dr.Bhaskar was the epitome of a man of science reluctant to getting swayed by emotions, but ultimately falling victim to Anand's infectious humor and zest for life. The greatness of this movie lies in its simplicity (sorry to rephrase that quote on Gandhiji).
Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Rajesh Khanna infused such life into the story of a dying man and his last days that words fail to capture the magnificence. Anand's death was so poignant yet dramatic, that I sob uncontrollably every time I watch it, even though I know it's coming! That song, ''Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye'' is my anthem.
Maine Pyar Kiya:
This cute story about friends turning lovers was well-made by debutant director Sooraj Barjatya. It had no frills, just a simple story about friendship and life. The story was good, script was so taut there was not one unwanted dialogue and music (although ''inspired'') was good! Salman and Bhagyashree looked good together and shared a great chemistry. Although it was formulaic and had about every cliche in the book, it appealed because it was well-presented and had a happily-ever-after ending.
Megha Dhaka Tara:
It means ''cloud covered star'' in Bengali and it's the story of a girl that is the breadwinner of a family, that is too dependant on her. She gives up her dreams, her desires and her beloved in order to take care of the family. She bears it with stoic resilience for as long as she can, until she discovers her lungs have developed tuberculosis. The doctor recommends isolation and recuperation in a hill station facility. When she spends some time at the facility, she realizes how she has not lived her life at all and as death stares her squarely in the face, she has a burning desire to live again, to experience all of those things she missed out on and doesn’t want to die.
Music by Kishore Kumar is filled with melancholy, melody and bucolic nuance. Ritwik Ghatak's direction masterfully steers the ship, cleverly avoiding the pitfalls of melodrama and sentimental overload.
Mughal-E-Azam:
From Ghatak's neorealist cinema to a commercial magnum opus. K.Asif's larger-than-life 16th century love story, between a Mughal crown prince Salim and the court dancer Anarkali, personified the word grandeur. The sheer opulence of the sets, the majesty of Prithviraj Kapoor, Kamal Amrohi's dialogue, the lethal pairing of star-crossed lovers Dilip Kumar and Madhubala and the rich royal music of Naushad make it a collector's item.
The one scene etched in my memory is the one where Madhubala dances to ''Jab Pyaar kiya to darna kya'' in the court of emperor Akbar, Salim's father. She makes her defiance to authority and power apparent and proclaims her love for Salim brazenly. Cinematically speaking, the dance was shot with a thousand mirrors on the ceiling, in order to make it really ostentatious. The result was spectacular! Dilip Kumar and Madhubala set the scene ablaze with their passion and chemistry, even though they hardly even touch each other on screen!
Maya Bazaar:
This movie is a treat for Telugu movie-lovers. A black and white classic, it's about an episode from the Mahabharata, Lakshman's (Duryodhan's son) wedding with Balarama's (Krishna's brother) daughter Sashirekha. Ghatotkacha's (Bheema's son with Hidimba) antics put a spanner in the Kauravas' evil plans, providing comedic relief!
The movie had a compendium of such stalwarts....NTR, ANR, SV RangaRao, Savitri, Gummadi and Relangi and many more. Timeless comedy, unparalleled music, great acting and laudable special effects make this movie a classic.
Phir Milenge:
Revathy's movie on AIDS-awareness focussed more on the stigma associated with the dreadful disease without getting preachy or going into too many medical details. Shilpa Shetty plays a well-educated ad agency executive who contracts the HIV virus from ex-boyfriend Salman Khan, when they meet at a college reunion. The story follows her emotional upheaval when she discovers that she is HIV-positive, loses her job as a result and faces a life of ostracised exile. She fights back with help from corporate lawyer Abhishek Bachan and fights harder to put her life back together. The movie's message was clear: AIDS doesnt discriminate when it comes to who you are or what social class you belong to. And being HIV-infected doesnt mean you re going to contract/die of AIDS immediately. Hats off to Revathy for handling such a sensitive topic with such maturity. In the hands of a less-talented director, it could have gone to pieces.
Nayakan:
Mani Ratnam and Kamal Hassan teamed up for the first and only time to reprise The Godfather. But they ended up making a true classic. In fact I like it better than the original Coppola's Marlon Brando starrer and here's why: Kamal Hassan, as the slumlord who later turns into the godfather, excels himself in the role. That scene where he says ''See what they did to my boy''(Godfather-reference) moves you to tears and the song (Ilayaraja scores again!) ''Thenpandicheemaila'' playing in the background wont let the tears stop. Mani Ratnam doesnt let the screenplay drift into the unwanted not even for a minute. You have to watch it to believe it, it's that good.
Baasha:
Of all Rajni movies, this is my all-time favorite. Rajni plays an underworld don from Mumbai who returns to native town Chennai in order to lead a quiet life. He becomes a good samaritan auto driver and hopes to erase his past. His family -- police brother, college-going sister and widowed stepmother-- are in the dark about his past as well. This is a complete entertainer with loads of comedy, action and of course a stylish performance from Rajnikant. He looks dapper dashing as the underworld kingpin.
These are some of my favorite movies. Let's read about yours now.
