Over the last few weeks, television channels have been flooded with debates over the relationship between Jodhaa and Akbar. Was she his wife or his daughter-in-law? The question has seen many answers, arguments and counter arguments. So it isn’t surprising to see a disclaimer even before Ashutosh Gowariker’s epic saga starts.



We are told that while the name of Akbar’s wife remains a topic of debate, historians have agreed that the Emperor did marry a Hindu princess. Further, it acknowledges the existence of other versions of the story, and suggests that this is just one of them. What it does not tell you though that it is about 3 hours and 40 minutes long.



Akbar in Jodha AkbarHaving said that however it must be mentioned that if you can actually sit through this phenomenally long film, you may actually walk out feeling quite pleased with the effort.



As the title of the film suggests, Ashuthosh’s dream project tells the story of two people who meet circumstantially and end up falling in love. It is just incidental that these two people happen to be the Emperor and the Empress of India. Needless to say that this puts them (and the filmmaker) in a rather curious situation. Because there’s so much happening around them that it becomes difficult for their love to reach fruition. And sure enough it becomes a bit of a problem for Ashu to film their story too.



So just what does one concentrate upon: the dynastical politics in Rajputana or the kitchen politics within Akbar’s household? If Ashu is to be blamed he should be for not being able to strike a balance between these two.



Yes, the narrative flags at various points. Yes, you keep looking at your watch. Yes, you want to tell Ashu to get on with it. Yet you sit through it all. Why? Because Jodhaa Akbar, whether we like to admit it or not, is a story that dreams are made of.



Aishwarya and Hrithik in Jodha AkbarBeyond all the glamour and politics, the marriage between Jodhaa and Akbar was union not so much of two souls but of two cultures. And somehow stories like these have always fascinated us.



Think about it, how many times have we sat up and heard out the tales of colleagues and friends who married outside their religion? It’s the very same thing with Jodhaa Akbar – the story and the film.



The magnitude of the canvas is indeed very breathtaking. However it is this very thing that tends to get overwhelming. There are chances that the dialogues and language of the characters may put you off. But we’d say give it a break. If you can stand the archaic English in Elizabeth or Shakespeare in Love, we don’t see any reason why archaic Urdu and Hindi should be such a problem.



If Jodhaa Akbar belongs to someone it belongs to Hrithik Roshan. Aishwarya Rai looks pretty as a doll, but it’s Hrithik who delivers all the goods. Watch out for that scene where Hrithik gets an epiphany and joins the Sufi dancers in trance.



As for the war sequences, they could have well been done without. Ashu doesn’t get too creative here. But he does a superb job when it comes to bringing out the chemistry between Hrithik and Aishwarya.



The palpable but tentative romance between Jodhaa and Akbar is beautifully complemented by AR Rahman’s music. Khwaja mere Khwaja, remains our favourite song, though the rest are lovely too.



Jodhaa AkbarIt is the choreography, however that leaves a lot to be desired. Marhaba (Chinni and Rekha Prakash) is a filled with clichéd dance moves and outdated camera angles.



In another song, there is a part where Akbar sings to his beloved and that little voice inside you says, “Hey, they didn’t tell us that in our history books!” But Jodhaa Akbar has never claimed to be entirely truthful to history (in fact no one can probably ever be).



However, it reminds us what critics for the longest time have demanded – the need to free art from the shackles of history.



So even though it tends to be long and sometimes boring like a history lesson, Jodhaa Akbar in its essence is a boy-meets-girl story. And to write off the story entirely just because the guy takes a little too long to woo his sweetheart, would be a little unfair. ... More ... Collapse

Sajid Khan's much touted debut venture is here, and true to expectations it raises sufficient laughs. 'Heyy Babyy' is an enjoyable film. The film is a little uneven in the way the comic and sentimental elements of the film are woven together but the overall impact is that of fun. As for the film's resemblance to 'Three Men In a Boat', the director borrows just the premise of three merry bachelors and the baby from that film. After that, it is pure Sajid Khan.



The film is a breezy comedy about three bachelors, who only believe that life is about one-night stands. It's a typical bachelor's life that they lead with three-day old pizzas in the refrigerator and dirty underwear. There's Arush (Akshay Kumar), Tanmay (Ritesh Deshmukh) and Al (Fardeen Khan) who are having the time of their lives in Sydney, with girls and drinks galore. But their dating and mating rituals go for a toss when Angel (baby) makes her way into their lives. They find her literally on their doorsteps in her crib. They are not sure which one of them is the father of Angel and their methods of finding out do not find favour with their ex-conquests. Their lives are thrown out of gear, what with soiled diapers, baby food and a baby who keeps them up all night with her wailing. The disgusted bachelors then decide to dump the baby. They leave the crib outside a church. But the move backfires as it pours that night. When the guilty trio makes it way back to check on the baby, they find her lying frozen in her crib. She is rushed to hospital and somehow manages to survive. Contrite, the men apologise to the baby and promise themselves to make amends. Angel soon makes her way into their hearts. And their lives now revolve around baby food and nappies, and of course, Angel. Their old days of hunting are soon forgotten, till one fine day, when a woman walks in with her lawyer and claims that Angel is hers and walks off with the baby. The woman is Esha (Vidya Balan), who has had her heart broken by Arush. And now she decides to punish him by taking his baby away from him.



The film takes a slightly sentimental turn as the men try to cope with life without Angel, and Arush comes to terms with the fact that Angel is his daughter. The laughs and gags stop here for a while but before the sentimentality can get out of hand, the film slips back to its comic mode as the three men plot to bring Angel back home. Aiding them this time is Esha's father (Boman Irani).



The three male actors exhibit a wonderful chemistry between themselves. All three of them excel in their roles. Fardeen, specially impresses with his take-off on Parimal Tripathi, the character from Hrishikesh Mukherjee's laughathon Chupke Chupke. But the one who binds and holds the film together is Akshay Kumar. He excels in the dance and song routine, and carries of the sentimental bit as well. He stands out in his portrayal as the rougish Arush as well as the doting father of Angel. Boman's appearance in the film too adds to the comic quotient of the movie. He is, as usual, very effective. Vidya Balan is a promising actress and looks wonderful as well in the film, specially in her first appearance.



Sajid has packed his film with all the typical filmi masala. It is replete with one-liners and smart repartee, which is just so characteristic of him. He strives to entertain and he manages that quite well. The only problem with the film is the balance that it fails to strike between the comic and the serious. Both elements fail to mesh very well. But one has to credit Sajid for his masterly handling of the exposition. He wastes little time in establishing the main characters and their characteristics, before the baby makes her appearance. He gets to the point well, and effectively too. The film moves at a very decent pace and the screenplay (Sajid and Milap Jhaveri) is suitably taut. Milap's dialogues are quite in keeping with the mood of the film. The first half is well in place even though questions like what do these three actually do for money, remains unanswered as they spend all their time with Angel. Akshay is the only one shown holding an actual job, from which he is fired early in the movie. But moving away from logic, if we move to the quality of humour then there is a point to be made. This is not high brow humour. In fact, it is quite earthy at times. But what saves it from being crass is the element of wit that Milap introduces into the dialogues.



This music of the film by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy works wonders for the movies. It is peppy, melodious and every song of the film fits the situation perfectly. Of course, Shah Rukh Khan's appearance in the Sufi number, 'Mast Kalandar,' raises the value of the song a couple of notches higher. As a first-timer, Sajid reveals his comfort level if not expertise, with the language of Hindi cinema. He has not made a great movie but he has revealed that he knows how to make an entertaining one. Maybe, he will laugh his way to the box office. ... More ... Collapse

It unfortunate that an actress of the calibre of Raakhee Gulzar (August 15, 1947) has been forced into semi-retirement, more one suspects due to a lack of good film offers than anything else. This doe-eyed beauty from Bengal, made her debut in Bengali films and won rave reviews for Badhu Baran (1967), her first movie. That earned her a ticket to Bollywood and landed her a role in Rajshree's Jeevan Mrityu opposite Dharamendra in 1970. But the film which shot her into fame was Sharmilee (1971) opposite Shashi Kapoor. She played a double role in this film. The Seventies saw Raakhee peak in her career. Her most notable films in that era were opposite Amitabh Bachchan, the rising superstar.



But before her jodi with the Big B, the temperamental actress delivered a power house performance in Yash Chopra's Daag (1973). That film saw her pitting her talent against the other Bengal tigress Sharmila Tagore. She bagged the Filmfare award for Best Supporting actress for Daag that year. So, the film was the winner in the end. Raakhee put in another remarkable performance in her role as the sole bread winner of a middle class family in Tapasya (1976), opposite Parkishit Sahni. That film went on to win the actress her second Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

By now, she was recognised as a volcano of talent. Her forte was drama and she excelled in dramatic scenes. Even though she could never quite rid herself of her strong Bengali accent, her accented Hindi served her well enough and the Hindi audiences accepted her wholeheartedly.



One of the most important phases of Raakhee's career was linked to the rise of the superstar Amitabh Bachchan. When Amitabh started out, there were few heroines who were able to match his stature and talent. Jaya Bachchan had retired, Sharmila Tagore was on the verge of semi-retirement and the likes of Neetu Singh, Parveen Babi and Zeenat Aman were yet to match him. Raakhee was the best option. The Amitabh-Raakhee duo may not have created the sizzle that Amitabh-Rekha did, but they still formed a very made-for-each-pair on screen. She was all soft and feminine while he was the brooding man. Something definitely clicked and some of the best movies of the Seventies saw them create magic at the box office - Kabhie Kabhie (1976), Muqaddar Ka Sikander (1977), Trishul (1978), Kasme Vaade (1978), Kaala Pathar (1979), Barsaat Ki Ek Raat (1981).



Besides these typical masala films, the duo also worked in two very memorable films directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Jurmana (1979) and Bemisaal (1982). There is a lot written about the chemistry between Rekha and Amitabh. But one just has to watch Bemisaal and feel the crackling chemistry between Raakhee and Amitabh. Raakhee was an actress first and hence when Shakti happened in 1982, she was not averse to playing mother to Amitabh.

Afterall, she was cast opposite the great Dilip Kumar in this Ramesh Sippy venture.

Gradually, her appearances as a leading heroine started decreasing. There was the odd Shraddhanjali and Basera (1981), and Paroma made in 1984 by Aparna Sen. But she was gradually moving towards character roles. Her strength as a dramatic actress was in evidence here as well, even when she played mother, be it in Ram Lakhan (1989) or Karan Arjun (1995). Her last film in Hindi was Dil Ka Rishta in 2003. In between, she found time to act in Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film Shubo Mahurat, opposite old rival Sharmila Tagore and again walked away with the honours --- a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.



The actress is now retired from films. She makes rare appearances at filmi functions and has become a recluse of sorts. But she can sit happy knowing that she has worked with almost all the top heroes of her time, be it a Rakesh Roshan, a Dharmendra, a Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Dev Anand, Raj Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, the Big B of course, and even Dilip Kumar. She has worked for the best of banners, the Sippys, the Rajshrees, the Chopras and Hriskikesh Mukherjee.

Besides playing the normal heroine roles, Raakhee was never averse to experimenting. Doosra Aadmi (1977) directed by Ramesh Talwar, sees her playing an interesting role of an older woman who creats havoc in the life of a young man. The young man in question is Karan Saxena. He has just married his sweetheart Timsi (Neetu Singh), quite against his father's wishes. Karan is eager to do something on his own and prove a point ot two to his father. He decides to open an ad agency. He needs a good creative head and the only person whose name comes up immdiately is that of Nisha (Raakhee). She is the best in her field, is a freelancer and has definite mind of her own. Nisha is an independent woman who lives by her own rules. Remember that the film is made in the Seventies and so it is quite bold for the heroine to be seen drinking and smoking and enjoying it. Nisha does it all with relish. She is stylish -- printed silk sarees with a sleevless blouse with sunglasses perched on her head. Raakhee looked quite gorgeous in the role and made quite a style statement of sorts at that time.



Nisha agrees to his proposal and starts working for him. The reason is disclosed a little later in the movie. Karan bears a striking resemblance to Nisha's dead boyfriend Shashi Saigal, played by Shashi Kapoor. (Being a paternal uncle of Rishi Kapoor, Shashi did bear a slight resemblance to Rishi and that worked for the premise of the film). Nisha is heartbroken over his death and is yet to get over the entire trauma. When she meets Karan she is struck by his uncanny resemblance to Shashi. And that is the only reason she agrees to his proposal. Karan is in his early twenties while Nisha is in her forties. Karan gets attracted to her and she starts reciprocating.



The director has handled the film beautifully. If it was any other film, it probably would have been called Doosri Aurat and not Doosra Aadmi! But seriously, what is novel about the film is the manner in which it depicts the so-called other woman. Nisha's character is treated with sympathy and compassion. She is blinded by her love for Shashi and just cannot get over him. It also makes a difference that Shashi Kapoor, who plays the role of the dead lover, makes a very charismatic presence in the movie. In the Seventies, Shashi Kapoor had more than half the female population crazy after him. And when you look at his role in Doosra Aadmi, you can probably guess why. So even though the first half of the movie is about the Karan-Timsi romance, once Nisha enters the scene, the focus is on her life.



Nisha instigates Karan and lures him in but clearly does not mean to harm anyone. It takes a lot of tough talking and love by Shashi's best friend, Bhisham (Parikshit Sahni) which finally awakens her to the truth. She realizes that she cannot re live her past with Shashi, with Karan. And especially, when he is married. Both Karan and Timsi emerge from the encounter a little wiser about themselves and each other. The character you have the least sympathy for is that of Karan's. He walks into the silken trap laid by Nisha, despite the presence of Timsi in his life.



The music of the film by Rajesh Roshan is definitely above average and has some exquisite Lata Mangeshkar-Kishore Kumar gems like 'Nazron se keh do' and 'Chal kahin door nikal jaayen'. Like the film, which is about love and romance, the songs by Roshan reflect the mood as well.



The story of the film has been rendered most sensitively on screen. There are no villains in Doosra Aadmi just as there are no villains in life. There are just circumstances. Nisha is no villain but a victim of the circumstances. When she is finally pushed into opening her eyes and taking a reality check by Bhisham, she steps away from Karan. Raakhee is superb in her rendition of this role. She carries of the role of uninhibited, bold Nisha with élan. Her expressive eyes bring out the brittle state of Nisha's mind as well. Her heart is in turmoil when she meets Karan. The actress manages to handle and portray the complex emotions of Nisha with great dexterity. Doosra Aadmi will surely remain as one of Raakhee's most mature and seasoned performance ever.



Providing able support to her is Rishi Kapoor. One of the most underrated actors of Hindi films, he is a treat to watch. This man is such a natural actor that he just never seems to be acting. He makes the whole business of acting seem so effortless. No matter how complex the role, Rishi works his magic on it and what comes out is a finely nuanced performance. Neetu Singh is a good foil. But one feels that here character could have done with a little more meat. But perhaps it would need another film to do that. Parikshit Sahni, plays the supporting friend well.



It is to Ramesh Talwar's credit that he is able to impart a compassionate dimension to the clichéd story of a young man and an older woman. A well told tale, there is little fault in the film.



Ultimately, it is Raakhee's film and she carries it on her shoulders with her high-voltage performance as Nisha. She does full justice to her role and the film remains one of those lesser known gems in the annals of Hindi cinema. ... More ... Collapse

Salman Khan's much awaited foray into Hollywood in Willard Carroll's Marigold doesn't quite turn out the way one expected. It fails to live up to any kind of expectations. In fact, barring the presence of Salman Khan, the film has little else to offer. It's quite a poor attempt at bringing the two - Hollywood & Bollywood—together.



The film's story revolves around Marigold (Ali Larter), who is 'like the flower,' we are reminded about half a dozen times in the film. Marigold is spoilt, American starlet, who finds herself stranded in Goa, ostensibly to shoot for a movie which has been shelved. She meets Prem (Salman Khan), the choreographer of a Hindi film, who is actually a Prince, slumming it out on the sets of a Hindi film. Marigold lands the part of the vamp in the movie. Prem takes her under his wing, protects her and teaches her how to dance Hindi film style.



Inevitably, the two of them fall in love. Bit there is a hitch: Marigold has a fiancée back home called Barry while Prem is engaged to Nandana Sen, his childhood friend. Prem takes Marigold home to his family but is forced kowtow to his parents' wish and marry Nandana. The path of true love never did run smooth. So there is a minor conflict of sorts created by the director of true love versus tradition, but it lacks bite. It all gets resolved all too quickly when Marigold's fiancée lands up as well at the palace. With a little help from the ditched lovers, Nandana Sen and Barry, Marigiold and Prem are united in wedlock.



So much for the story. There is obviously no novelty in the story, which is not really the problem. The problem is that the director makes no attempt to create a plot which could be remotely interesting. The film plods towards the end, which is a forgone conclusion anyway. The conflict never really appears as a proper conflict. The love story fails to move. There is an obvious emotional disconnect somewhere. Merely throwing in props and costumes does not a film make. It's sad to have to say it, but Willard Carroll's efforts are quite amateurish. The only emotion that the film elicits is one of sympathy for Salman Khan.



The dialogues in English are so stilted that it is hard to believe that this is a film being made in 2007. It specially becomes obvious in the scenes between Salman and his 'royal' parents (played by Kiran Juneja and Vijayendra Ghatge). And then there is Gulshan Grover, who plays one of the royal guards. He never speaks and is present as a prop in most of the scenes. The only word that he utters throughout the film is a stern "no."



Marigold's heroine Ali Larter breezes through her role with confidence. She may not be much of an actor, but she has an endearing kind of confidence. Nandana Sen has scope to act but ends up acting coy and petulant. In fact, Suchitra Pillai and Rakesh Bedi are more watchable. Despite their teeny-weeny parts, the two of them put in a good show.



Our hero Salman Khan looks great, dances a bit, looks suitably in love, in short does all that is expected of him, but never really seems at ease. That is another drawback for any Salman fan. He is not the Salman that we are used to seeing. What we see on screen is a very watered down, mute Sallubhai.



Marigold has little to engross the audience. Objectively speaking, it has all the expected elements but somehow the film as a whole fails to strike a chord with its viewers. ... More ... Collapse