Archive for the ‘Patriotic’ Category
Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal: Disappointing
On December 09, 2007 in Action, Bollywood, Culture, Discriminatory, Masala, Movie, Patriotic, Sports, Video, West
Quite a few of you would have seen ‘Chak De’ and been impressed with the overall tone of the movie, the way that a coach tries to overcome his history and blend a team together inspite of their individual differences, egos, and ambitions. And the result is gripping, with a good dose of patriotism possible. Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal seems to suffer on this count. The movie, even though set in the United Kingdom, tries the same logic with a disparate team of people, hard up, trying to make a last ditch attempt to pull themselves up and win a championship on which their team depends. However, even though I liked the thought of the movie itself, given that there did not seem to be much of a market for movies that explored the sports theme without much of a romance, villains, and other commercial aspects. After all, how often do you get to see a movie looking at South Asians based in London, and with no reference to going back to India, or with a romance, but purely based on the life of people in that location ?
Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hain (1960)
On September 28, 2007 in Action, Bollywood, Classic, Crime, Melody, Movie, Music, Nostalgia, Patriotic, Police, Singing, Society, TV, Values
An almost magical movie from Raj Kapoor, it seems a very simplistic movie. In these cynical times, you would think that such a thing is impossible. However, the fact is that in reality, Acharya Vinoba Bhave did indeed cause dacoits to see the error of their ways and surrender. The movie portrays Raj Kapoor as a very simple man, not used to the complication of life, not very clever; but very honest, very much in love with the country and the fact that humans are not bad, and if they are acting wrongly, they can be shown the error of their ways and come to the right track.
The movie was released in 1960, and was a big hit. It was directed by Radhu Karmakar under the banner of R.K.Films and also starred Padmini, Pran, and Lalita Pawar. The music was by Shankar Jaikishan and the songs were a great hit. The movie won the Filmfare Award for Best Movie in 1961, and perpetuated Raj Kapoor’s image as the simple, uncomplicated, not calculating film persona that he had been carrying along since Awaara and Shree 420.
Song: Ek Tu hi Bharosa (Pukaar – 2000)
On September 15, 2007 in Action, Bollywood, Crime, Military, Movie, Music, Patriotic, Song
If you are a great fan of Lata Mangeshkar’s voice, then you will love this song. And from what I know, I don’t believe that Lata Mangeshkar appears in films to sing a song, and she has done it for this song. This song really appeals to me, the lyrics go right down to my core. It gives hope, and a feeling of being able to overcome against all hands, if you have faith in God. The lyrics are by Majrooh Sultanpuri and Javed Akhtar, and the music is by A.R. Rehman, and they have really excelled.
The movie is Pukaar, released in 2000, and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. It stars Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Namrata Shirodkar, Danny. The movie is essentially about this heroic Army Major who does a lot of good deeds, and is then framed by Madhuri (almost by mistake) as she grows very jealous when she seems him having an affair with Namrata). He is condemned as a traitor, dishonored and jailed. The rest of the movie is how he manages to get his honor back as well as save a number of children.
Chak De India: Good performance by Shahrukh Khan
On September 11, 2007 in Action, Bollywood, Classic, Competition, Movie, Patriotic, Sports, Talent
The last movie of Shahrukh Khan before this that I knew about was ‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kahna’, and I did not watch it. Given that it was a Karan Johar movie, it was pretty unlikely that I would have considered the movie any different from the regular emotion drama; and even though the movie was somewhat different from his usual theme, covering the topic of marital and extra-marital relationships, I could not force myself to see it.
So it was with some trepidation that I went ahead to watch Chak De India; I had already heard that it was a good movie, but most people who had seen it had told me that it was essentially about hockey and the patriotism inherent in the country winning a major tournament, and there was the fear that it would turn out to be a movie steeped in patriotism, with players being urged to play for country and honour, and getting the feel-good feeling. It was all this to some extent, but in a vastly well scripted way, something that cheered you up. And frankly, I did not expect either Yash Raj Films or Aditya Chopra to make a movie that did not have a single decent song, or a romantic liasion, and I was proved wrong.
Chak De succeeds at many levels, it takes a person with all his reasons for doing what he is doing and does not try to air-brush those reasons or cloak them under a sentimental way. It also tries to show the reality of the game and conditions, when compared against the immense money involved in something called cricket that is a national obsession. It also shows our current administrators of sports and how they are singularly unfit to run something like this, it is only when you get dedicated people to run things that you get results.
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