Finally...Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

Wow, I'm really, really sorry this post took so long to write! I realize I promised it weeks ago, but school has been a lot more intense this semester than I anticipated...I'm in a whirlwind of nursing exams and papers...my daughter's demanding all my attention and I just can't give it to her right now...all I know is, I need a good Bollywood movie in my life, stat!

And, speaking of a good Bollywood film...Luckily, before school began, I finally sat down to watch Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, the stirring romance starring Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai, and Ajay Devgan.



HDDCS is like no other Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. Sure, it starts out a bit like Devdas, but takes such an unexpected turn after intermission that it didn't seem repetitive at all(I realize this was made before Devdas, but it was still nice to see SLB didn't make two films that were too much alike). It's so beautiful, unique, and romantic film that I'm sure I'd like it even more with subsequent viewings.

Nandini (Aishwayra Rai) is the favorite daughter of a well respected classical Indian musician, Pandit Darbar. Being Daddy's Little Girl, she's a bit spoiled, and has always gotten what she wanted. So when an Italian musician named Sameer (Salman Khan)comes to India to train with her father, Nandini throws a little hissy fit because she has to give up her room.

However, when Sameer and Nandini meet, sparks fly.






From their first meeting at the chandelier(one of my favorite scenes),their chemistry is undeniable. One thing is clear--Salman Khan is not afraid to touch Aishwarya Rai! Nor is he intimidated by her beauty. Yes, I know they were involved offscreen as well, and regardless of personal opinions on all of that drama, I still think they deserve full credit for their jodi in this film. Just check out the hauntingly seductive song, "Aankhon Ki Gustakhiyan" (Please also note how hot Salman Khan looks in his outfit. He should dress like this more often, just my opinion).



Anyways, despite how cute Sameer and Nandini are, there's a little bit of a problem-- Sameer has some growing up to do. When Nandini slaps him (it wasn't hard, but she still should have kept her hands to herself), he literally leaves the wedding celebrations to go pout in his room.



Nandini tries to apologize, but he's just as stubborn as she was about giving up her room. She warns him that another man will fall in love with her at the party, but he chooses to sit and sulk instead. And this is first mistake.

Enter Ajay Devgan as Vanraj, the man who does exactly what Nandini warned Sameer against--he falls in love with her on first sight at the wedding. Prior to this film, I'd never seen Ajay onscreen and knew him best as Kajol's real life husband. To be honest, I was a little creeped out by him as he gazed at Nandini from afar. He was totally wrong for her, in my opinion--I was already sold on her ending up with Sameer, despite his immaturity. "Keep dreaming, buddy", I said aloud,"She's already taken!" Since I thought the chances of Vanraj actually winning Nandini over was slim to nil, I relaxed and actually forgot about him for awhile.



Yet as Sameer and Nandini's fate took a turn for the worst, and Vanraj kept popping up in intervals with a marriage proposal he conveyed to Nandini's parents, I realized (to my dismay) that this guy wasn't going anywhere. Sure enough--Sameer was sent packing by intermission and Vanraj married a stoic Nandini, whose heart clearly still belonged to the Italian musician.



As Nandini kept resisting the advances of her new husband, I began to soften to Vanraj. He wasn't so bad, I realized. After all, most men would have sent Nandini home after the first night. But not Vanraj. He just held on to the hope that her heart would change.

(***Some slight spoilers ahead***Sorry, I can't really complete this review without discussing them)

Here's where the film completely took me by surprise. When Vanraj discovers Nandini is in love with Sameer, he does what any husband would probably never do--he accompanies her on a trip to Italy to find her long lost love.

The second half of the film is even more brilliant than the first. For one, its funny--some of the scenes with Vanraj and Nandini on the hunt for Sameer are so ironic they're comical. And Nandini maintains a lost expression on her sad face--one is left to believe she'll literally die without Sameer.



But for me, the best part about the second half is Ajay Devgan. While I started out rooting for Nandini and Sameer, I slowly began to empathize with Vanraj, and then found myself falling in love with his unselfish devotion to his wife. By the end of the film, I realized he loved Nandini in a way Sameer couldn't even begin to understand.

For example, there's a scene where Vanraj and Nandini are waiting for the bus. Vanraj boards and takes a seat, thinking his wife is behind him. But Nandini is lost in her despair and doesn't even notice the bus has left, remaining at the bus stop as her husband rides on. Once Vanraj notices she isn't present, he naturally jumps off the bus, frantically running to locate her. He finds her at the bus stop in the exact same postition as she was when he left, a lost expression on her face. Instead of questioning her about it, he sits down calmly and pretends as if the whole incident never happened, so as not to upset her. Nandini snaps out of her reverie, unaware she's missed anything--and Vanraj casually lets her know the next bus is coming.

There's another scene where the couple go to eat at an Italian restaurant. Nandini sits and sulks, appearing almost ungrateful to her husband and clearly uninterested in eating. When the server asks her what she wants, she shrugs and points to a random item on the menu, sighing heavily. But when the plate arrives (and ends up being a whole octupus on a bed of lettuce), she looks practically sick to her stomach. Vanraj steps in, as a true gentleman, and offers her his own plate.



I couldn't believe how my devotion to the smoking coupling of Nandini and Sameer crumbled on its own shaky ground and allowed me to see the gem of a man Vanraj truly was. I almost felt as if I was Nandini, as if all of her changing emotions were my own. At the end, I literally felt as if the choice between Sameer and Vanraj was mine to make--I was that involved in the film. Hats off to Sanjay Leela Bhansali for making this happen!



Although I loved Sameer, he completely dropped the ball in his relationship with Nandini. He had ample opprotunity to talk to her father and ask for her hand--and let every one of them pass him by. Sameer's immaturity may have been cute in the beginning, but it just didn't hold water when things started to get rough. This is what separated him from Vanraj--he lacked the qualities of a real man who is in love and doesn't want to lose his woman. As a matter of fact, when Nandini's father discovers the truth about their affair, he orders Sameer never to see his daughter again--and Sameer accepts without much complaint. Nandini, on the other hand, was willing to put up a fight to be with Sameer, even straining the solid relationship she previously held with her father. This imbalance between the two helped to make up my mind about which man truly deserved to get the girl--it was Vanraj, hands down.



I'd heard Ajay Devgan was a good actor, but wow, he was superb as Vanraj. I have some of his other films such as "Halla Bol", "Kaal", and "U Me Aur Hum". I haven't gotten around to watching any of them yet, but it'll be interesting for me to compare them and truly form an opinion on him. So far so good--he made an excellent first impression!

I really liked Aishwarya here. Bratty, smug, spoiled, playful...she fits all the shades to Nandini's personality like a glove. I do think she's grown as a performer in many ways since this film, but for the most part, this role couldn't have been more suited for her.



And what is going on with me and Salman Khan? Kuch kuch hota hai, I swear! The guy's growing on me, especially as in this film as the goofy-yet hot-Sameer. I dig this ditzy quality on him, in the same way I liked him as Suraj in the less popular
Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam. Yes, there were moments in the film where his expressions felt really forced (not that I'm any expert, but his reaction when he found out Nandini was in Italy was almost a joke), but overall I loved Sameer's idiosyncrasies.



Some of the other supporting cast members added just the right touch to already amazing film. Nandini's parents epitimized my vision of a healthy marriage (for the most part). They were full of giggles and praise for each other--check out this screen shot of them cracking up hysterically, in bed!



Did I mention that I wish Zohra Sehgal was my grandmother? Every time she's in a film, no matter how small the role, she manages to make me smile. Zohra has a great scene in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam where she starts to tell Sameer and Nandini the story of her marriage--and catches them being naughty! It's one of the cutest scenes in the entire film.



As in Devdas ("Do you love me?" "Or you could ask me if I breathe"), Sanjay Leela Bhansali has given me yet another line that I can't wait to incorporate into my own life. I love, love, love spicy food and always get flack from those who can't handle it. When Sameer makes a smart remark about Nandini's spicy food, she has a quick response:




As if I needed one more reason to love this film!



© 2008 Nida Nazir
Bitten By Bollywood

Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam

Prior to watching, I just didn't get why I hadn't heard more about Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam. I mean, its a love triangle between Madhuri, Salman, and Shahrukh! Yet its only grazed over briefly on most Shahrukh Khan fan sites, has never been recommended to me by any of my fellow bloggers, and...well, its just not talked about much.

After watching the film, I can see why. Its just not very good. Not awful, but mediocre at best. Still, it is a love triangle between Madhuri, Salman, and Shahrukh (though not in the way I'd expected), and thus there were things I really caught myself enjoying. These three did a fabulous job, and gave me enough things to talk about to warrant a review.



First of all, the biggest shock of this film was that it was made in 2002. The direction, lighting, cinematography and outfits made it look like it crawled out of the shadows of the HAHK and DDLJ hangover, gathered whichever actors from those films it could, and slopped itself together in about 1996 or so. My only clue that it could have been made later was the shape of Shahrukh Khan's hair. Maybe that's why I kept having to backtrack on my little knowledge of Bollywood pre-2007 chronology and ask myself which Khan was going to be the true "hero" of the film. Since I incorrectly assumed this was made somewhere in between Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, I expected this movie to be quite different, with Madhuri having an affair with Salman, and Shahrukh playing the husband we all felt sorry for but knew wasn't the one she was "supposed" to be with...you know,
KANK-style.

But the movie wasn't like that at all, which wasn't a bad thing, just not what I expected. Shahrukh was in the film much more than Salman was, and there was no love affair (I don't mean to throw a spoiler in here without warning, but its really no secret, as it becomes apparent to the viewer fairly quickly that the director has no intention of developing a romance between Madhuri and Salman's characters).




Here's the synopsis: Radha(Madhuri Dixit) and Suraj (Salman Khan) have been friends since childhood. The two share a beautiful relationship much like a brother and a sister would, and Suraj is practically a part of Radha's family. When Radha marries Gopal (Shahrukh Khan), her new husband sees this friendship as a threat. Most of the film centers on Gopal's struggle to trust his wife and his growing jealousy of Suraj, which definitely had its interesting moments.



I must say, Shahrukh played his part very well. I think the film would have really crashed and burned for me had he not been so great at being such a...well, such a jerk. Gopal was needy, possessive, jealous, and a Classic Big Baby. As a matter of fact, had this been real life, I would have sworn Gopal was the one who was actually having the affair, since he was so hopelessly insecure. On the other hand, there were times where I actually felt he was justified in feeling this way. Suraj was a total fifth wheel, and both he and Radha seemed completely oblivious to the fact that maybe Gopal wanted some alone time with his wife (Suraj even almost accompanied the newlyweds on their honeymoon, at Radha's suggestion, no less).






Surprisingly, these moments in the film were pretty hilarious, and I have to give credit to Shahrukh here as well. I think this was the funniest I've ever seen him--his facial expressions and mutterings under his breath whenever Suraj popped up were some of the best parts of Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam, and probably the main reason I'd consider watching it again.

But all praise doesn't go to Shahrukh. I really liked Salman, too, but in a different way. His character, Suraj, was fun and extremely likable. In fact, I actually wished Radha would end up with him, since Gopal was such a psycho. And Madhuri and Salman worked well together, as they had in Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, so I found myself enjoying these two onscreen once again.

My first impression of Salman Khan was in his more recent films like Partner and Salaam-E-Ishq. In both of those, I thought he came across as arrogant and was unimpressed with his acting skills. But after HAHK and Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam, I can finally say he's growing on me. The man can be really adorable, in a cheesy, Bollywoody, kind of way. And he's quite handsome, something I'd tried not to notice before. But I'm still a teensy bit confused about the acting part--Gosh, he just seemed so fake sometimes...like he was totally overemphasizing his words. Ironically, its this little flaw that's causing me to like him, since I'm seeing less arrogance and more vulnerabilty.

And, oh, yeah, did I mention Suraj was a famous singer? Well, he is, and this just kicks up the cheese factor about ten notches more... As these screencaps illustrate.





Here are Suraj's exact words: "Hey You, Beautiful Girl...I have this beautiful flower in my hand. I want to know which one of you will be lucky enough to get it...You, you, (points at Madhuri, who gives a fake surprised look), how about YOU?"...throws flower into crowd.

Yep, this is the man I liked best in the film. Go figure.

Ahh, onto Madhuri. The beautiful, graceful, talented Madhuri. I could never truly join in on her praises...I'd only seen a few films, and liked her in them, but never had that experience with her where my appreciation turned into affection. Now, that moment has finally arrived.



One of the major weaknesses in this film is that the script barely allows us to see how Radha truly feels. She mentions something sweet to herself on their wedding night, but after that, we are left to wonder if Gopal may be onto something with all his insecurities. The story is written mostly from Gopal's point of view, and his guess is as good as ours. Yet Madhuri does well with what she has to work with, and when the movie reaches its climax, we no longer have to question who she loves. It is literally written all over her face.

The supportive cast added a nice element, too, with Radha's brother Prashant (Atul Agnihotri) and his fixation on Amitabh Bachchan...



And Gopal's sister, Neeta (Suman Ranganathan), who sort of reminded me of Aishwarya Rai...



Then again, I'm always finding these random resemblances that nobody seems to agree with me on, so I guess I could be way off ;).

More cool elements? The beautiful picturization of the title song, "Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam", which is probably the one point in the film that Shahrukh made me swoon...And I saw more chemistry between him and Madhuri than I did in the entire length of Dil To Pagal Hai. I tried to take some screencaps, but none of them did any justice to what you actually see onscreen, so here's the YouTube video...The beginning looks like its a Ford commercial, but don't worry, it's not :)



I discovered on Wikipedia that this song was a copy of a Pakistani song (I always get excited when there's a Pakistani connection), "Boohey Bariyan", so I included this one for anybody who's interested...



I couldn't find the name for my second favorite song in the film, but it was a total nod to HAHK...The bedroom, Madhuri's outfit, the slick dance moves, it was all very dejavu. If there are more films with Salman and Madhuri in them, please let me know, because I'd probably buy them if somebody recommended them to me.



As for Salman and Shahrukh, they have little time alone onscreen together, but there is one little showdown that proved to be quite interesting. Salman's lines at the end were oddly humorous, and I found myself nodding my head in agreement, wondering why this was a little funny to watch. Maybe it had something to do with the onscreen rivalry between the two that the media hypes up, I don't know. Or maybe it was the expressions on their faces...Either way, it was a moment in Bollywood I'm glad I caught.



(**SPOILER***)

Towards the end of the film, Gopal's insecurities escalate to a point where he pretty much forces Radha to leave her own home. She is heartbroken, even at the verge of suicide, but Gopal is stubborn and will not budge. Guess who comes along to straighten all of this mess out...



Yep, that's right! Its the real Aishwarya Rai! She plays Suman, Suraj's blind girlfriend that nobody seems to talk much about up until this point. Somehow one visit from her magically makes Gopal see the light and realize what a gem of a wife he has.

It was kind of irritating that the writers chose Radha to nearly attempt suicide before Gopal comes riding in on his white horse and practically commands her to forgive him and return home. Of course, she does, and this lackluster ending just added to the mediocracy of the film.

(***SPOILER END****)

I had a very high tolerance level for the film's flaws, due to my affection for the three lead actors. I forgave a lot here, and enjoyed a lot of the things I mentioned above. Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam was not what I expected, but worked in some ways, which is probably why I ended up typing more than I thought I would. I'd love to hear your thoughts, though!

And, oh, yeah, on the heels of Memsaab's post comes another lovely "Hinglish" (her word, not mine)screencap. Ahh, yes, in this movie we don't drink "7up", we drink "Thumbs Up" (And if that's an actual name for a soda in India, I apologize and someone can yell at me for my ignorance.).




Text © 2008 Nida Nazir Bitten By Bollywood

Bunty Aur Babli

And here I thought Rani Mukerjee didn't do kissing scenes.



Boy, was I wrong. In Bunty Aur Babli, Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukerjee kiss. A lot. And you know what? I'm not complaining, because these two were hot together! But don't let me mislead you with that intro...their romantic jodi was really only a small part of their relationship in the film. The pair worked very well together in many other ways, and that is what made BAB appealing. Whether they were arguing, laughing, kissing, dancing, scamming innocent people...It seemed like Rani and Abhishek had a lot of fun shooting this movie. So I had fun because they were having fun.





Some argue that "Kajra Re" was the best thing to come out of Bunty Aur Babli, but I say it was the connection between the lead pair. It's a must-see for any Rani-Abhi fan out there.

**Aside: Lately, I've tried to be realistic about the whole onscreen "chemistry" thing (Something I thought a lot about in my first experiences with Bollywood but have since realized is more of a reflection of two professionals who did a good job at what they were supposed to do and a director who knew how to make that translate onscreen). Don't get me wrong--its still fun to get excited when I see a couple who has good chemistry, but its just not something I think is automatically carried by two people from film to film (By the way, this realization was not based on my own thoughts, but on something Carla said in a comment once). But call it what you want to--in this film, Rani and Abhi had great chemistry.

This comedy/adventure centers around Rakesh(Abhishek Bachchan) and Vimmi(Rani Mukerjee). Rakesh lives in a small village and dreams of making it big as an entrepreneur. Vimmi lives in another small village and hopes to become the next Miss India. One day they each decide to run away from their homes and pursue these dreams. Rakesh brings his business ideas to an investor, who turns him down but eventually steals the idea for himself. Vimmi is offered an indecent proposal as her only entry into the Miss India contest--which she adamantly refuses. Both are almost discouraged completely--until they meet each other. They discuss their situations and devise a plan to con the man who stole Rakesh's idea. Their plan works, and they quickly realize scamming people is the easiest way to acheive their goals.



As I said above, I'm not sure the movie would have worked for me if Rani and Abhishek hadn't clicked so well with their roles. Its just not my type of movie, I guess. But, luckily, the director cast two people who knew how to pull this one off.




I knew Rani was an amazing actress, but I never would have guessed she'd be that good in a comedic role. I should have known--I'm always in awe of Rani's transformation from her public persona to the character she is playing. I mean, if you watch her in interviews, she seems so refined, politically correct, quiet, reserved. But then you see her onscreen and she can be the exact opposite: sultry, sassy, playful, fun, loud, etc. Quite the versatile actress, she was hilarious in this film. Here's one of my favorite scenes:







You can't tell from the screenshots, but after this last frame (where the other girl is saying "what a bitch") Vimmi shouts back, "you bitch!" in English...but she does it in a really cute, almost innocent way...watch out for this if you see the film and you'll see what I mean.

Abhishek was less of a surprise--some of the best scenes in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom belonged to his comedic flair. He was great here, too, looking babyfaced and cute throughout most of the film (with the exception of Bunty and Babli's honeymoon, where he had that sexy five'o clock shadow that transforms him from adorable to hot).



The only thing negative I have to say about Abhishek is that I felt he slipped a little on the acting front at times. Now, I'm one of those people who happen to think Baby B can really act, and disagree when critics say otherwise. But, here, for the very first time, I saw a glimmer of what they are talking about when they call him "wooden". I don't mean this as a contradiction--He really did do a great job as a whole, particularly in the funny scenes. I just felt he slipped a little when things got serious. But I still love him, and still feel he was the best choice for this role.

As for Amitabh Bachchan as the cop hoping to capture Bunty Aur Babli, I could take him or leave him.

I'm typically not a big fan of the whole "cops and robbers" thing, as these films usually contain a lot of violence (not something I can't handle to watch, but something I don't particularly care to watch). However, Bunty Aur Babli contained very little violence, and the scams were cut and dry, easy to follow without much bloodshed. This helped to sway my opinion in a favorable direction, but may be a disappointment for those expecting an action flick (it's not).

As for the music, say what you will about Yashraj films, but they sure know how to whip up some cool song visuals. And, no, I'm not talking about "Nach Baliye", the song that looks like it was the inspiration for Love Story 2050--I have mixed feelings about that one...




I'm talking mostly about the pretty "Chup Chup Ke", the song used to portray Bunty and Babli's honeymoon. In classic Yashraj fashion, we're transported from one beautiful locale to another as each new verse plays...and it's this song that truly displays the smokin' hot connection between the leads I described at the beginning of this post...







And Rani got to wear this cool skirt...(By the way, this is the same expression I would have on my face if I were on my honeymoon with Abhishek Bachchan/Bunty).



Of course, Bunty Aur Babli is not known for this song. It's the dazzling item number "Kajra Re" featuring Aishwarya Rai that people remember most.



I'd heard so much about this song that my curiosity got the best of me last summer and I peeped it out on Youtube. I didn't really appreciate it back then, but this time around, I think I can see why it is such a hit.

For one, Aishwarya is her usual stunning self--the look her makeup artist did really suited her here(I'm a makeup artist, so this stood out to me even more than the fabulous outfit she wore--another flattering element that deserves to be mentioned).



Its also a very pretty song--Alisha Chinai's sweet voice is as smooth as butter. Aishwarya dances well, as I usually think she does.

Also, watching "Kajra Re" in the film meant I got the subtitles--a plus because some of the lyrics were very cool:




This song was made before any real life romance emerged between Ash and Abhishek--at least as far as I know--so it was somewhat amusing to watch her cast him aside in favor of Daddy B. I know they were all in character, but...you still gotta love the irony, right?



Speaking of Amitabh's Lt. Singh, check out this line Ash uses to seduce him:



Lt. Singh chooses the latter option, making him probably the only man on the planet who would pull out a knife instead:



And, last but not least, I got a whole new insight on the whole "Aei Handsome" thing from JBJ--I had no idea it originated here!



The worst thing about my Bunty Aur Babli experience was the growing ache in my heart caused by my lack of funds to purchase tickets to The Unforgettable Tour for its Chicago stop. It almost made my "Kajra Re" moment bittersweet. Another bummer in my life as a college student--and a single parent! Oh well, hopefully they'll come back someday...they will come back, right?...Right?? ;)

For me, this was a pretty good way to spend a Tuesday night. But don't go into Bunty Aur Babli expecting to be blown away by plot or storyline. Just go in wanting to have a good time, because that's what this film is all about.



Text © Nida Nazir 2008 Bitten By Bollywood