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9 Apr 1997 - 26 Jan 2021

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This section lists new movies, including recently released movies and forthcoming attractions.

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Last Updated: 11th August 2000

Deewane Starring: Ajay Devgan, Urmila Matondkar, Mahima Chowdhary Director: Harry Baweja Music: Sanjeev Darshan Releasing This Week Dhadkan Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Shilpa Shetty and Mahima Chowdhary Director: Dharmesh Darshan Music: Nadeem Shravan Releasing This Week Tera Jadoo Chal Gayaa Starring: Abhishek Bachchan, Kirti Reddy, Sanjay Suri, Paresh Rawal, Himani Shivpuri, Kader Khan, Farida Jalal, Johny Lever Director: A. Muthu Music: Ismail Darbar Releasing Next Week Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega Starring: Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Preity Zinta Director: Raj Kanwar Music: Anu Malik Released. Raj Kanwar's Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega is heavily influenced by the Hollywood film While You Were Sleeping and the South Indian movie Chandralekha. Raj (Salman Khan) comes from Goa to Mumbai to become a successful singer. In Mumbai he stays with his buddy Abdul (Neeraj Vora). Raj is not successful in fulfilling his dreams and decides to go back to Goa. But luck changes course; on the way back, he sees Pooja (Rani Mukherjee) who has fled from her home (to marry Romi) has met with an car accident. Raj takes Pooja to the hospital. Pooja has slipped into coma (but her eyes are open). Raj is mistaken by Pooja's family as her husband. Raj also hides his identity and also sees a chance to become a big singer with the help of Pooja's rich family. Then enters Jhanvi (Preity Zinta), Pooja's best friend who comes from America. Raj falls in love with Jhanvi and Jhanvi also starts loving Raj when she comes to know that he is not Pooja's husband. Then the twist in the film when Pooja comes out of the coma and expresses her love towards Raj. Raj is now in a dilemma whom to choose. Jhanvi decides to be out of Raj and Pooja's life. Some twists and turns and the predictable end. Performance-wise Salman Khan has given a good performance except in a few comic scenes he has gone overboard. However Salman should consider dress designers and give them a chance to design something for him. Rani is in coma in the first half of the film but in the second half has given an impressive performance. Preity Zinta looks cute with her deep dimples and acts well. The best part of the film is when both Rani and Preity comes together. The chemistry between them is excellent. Shakti Kapoor is good in parts. Rest of the cast does their roles ably. The first half is lengthy and the second half is better than half. Some more of editing would have helped the film. Screenplay should have been tighter. Anu Malik has given a couple of good tunes especially Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega.. and Piya Piya... which has been excellently picturised. This is a movie good for Salman's die-hard fans. Rating: Fair Justice Chowdhary Starring: Mithun Chakraborty, Swati, Pramod Moutho, Jack Gaud, Pinky Chinoy, Aroon Bakshi and Shakti Kapoor Released. Nidaan Starring: Sunil Bharve, Nisha and Shivaji Satham Director: Mahesh Manjrekar Released. This movie is not for a commercial purpose but for a social cause. It is on AIDS and what trauma the victim and her family undergo. It is very touching family-cum-love story. Soumya (Nisha) is a girl in the 12th standard who is in love with a family friend's son Ninad (Sunil Bharve). Soumya falls sick and that time Soumya and her family come to know she has AIDS. She was infected at the time of blood transfusion during one of the operations many years back. Knowing about her illness and what mental trauma does to the family, and how her boyfriend and his family undergo it is shown in a very touching manner. The love between Ninad and Soumya remains the same -- in fact, Ninad and his family decide to give her all the rights as a daughter-in-law before she dies. Mahesh Manjrekar has done a good job in direction. Performance-wise, everyone has given a commendable performance especially Shivaji Satham (as Soumya's father). Papa The Great Starring: Krishan Kumar, Nagma, Shatrughan Sinha, Laxmikant Berde and Satish Kaushik. Introducing Satya Prakash and Master Bobby Director: K. Bhagyaraj Music: Nikhil Vinay Released. K Bhagyaraj, who has to his credit a hit like Aakhri Raasta starring Amitabh Bachchan in double role, has been totally unsuccessful in his latest venture Papa The Great. The story is different but sadly the screenplay, direction and the performance are below average. Jai (Kishen Kumar) is a very timid person but gives his son Sonu (Master Bobby) the impression that he is a very strong man so that his son does not become like him. Jai witnesses a murder and the police forces Jai to be an eyewitness in the court. The murderer (Satya Prakash) flees from jail and is after Jai. A frightened Jai meets Bihari Dada (Shatrughan Sinha) who helps Jai to come out of his fear. In the end Jai succeeds in proving to his son that he is a strong man. Performance-wise all the stars have given a below average performance. Direction is poor. A film which can be easily given the miss. Rating: Poor Kunwara Starring: Govinda, Urmila Matondkar, Naghma, Inder Kumar, Mohan Joshi with Om Puri, Johny Lever and Kader Khan Director: David Dhawan Music: Aadesh Shrivastava Released. After a long time, David Dhawan-Govinda have come together in Kunwara. However the film does not even come close to the duo's previous hits. The film lacks that punch which makes the audience sit through a three-hour mindless film. Urmi (Urmila Matondkar) studies in New Zealand. When she comes to know that her friend has been beaten by some Raju, she goes in search of Raju. When Raju (Govinda) comes to know that Urmi is in search of him, he introduces his friend Gopal (Jhony Lever) as Raju and himself as Gopal. Urmi hits Gopal on his head, who becomes unconscious, and Raju tells her that he is dead. Then start the scenes of hiding the dead body and dead body following them. In between, both Raju and Urmi fall in love with each other. Meanwhile even the truth about who is Raju and who is Gopal is revealed. When Raju is returning to India, he meets a girl Sharmila (Naghma) who is trying to commit suicide because she is going to become an unwed mother and whose lover had betrayed her. Raju being a good samaritan agrees to act as her husband to save Sharmila from the anger of her father Thakur Balraj (Om Puri). Then comes another twist -- Urmi turns out to be Sharmila's sister and so when she returns to India, she thinks Raju has betrayed her. Then as usual the truth is disclosed and with some drama and action the film ends on a happy note. Basically the film just does not have any story. In between many unwanted scenes are just put in so that it becomes three hours long. David Dhawan is good in handling comedy but falls flat in emotional scenes. However the only saving grace of the film is Govinda, who has perfect timing for comedy and somehow manages to bring smiles on the audience's faces with his funny gags. He is ably supported by Jhony Lever. Urmila Matondkar wears the most glamorous dresses and matches steps with Govinda in songs and dances. However she is bad in the acting department. She should now give up those face-making stunts and seriously think about her acting and dialogue delivery. Kader Khan, Om Puri and other stars perform their roles within the demands of the film. Music is average except for a couple of peppy songs like Urmila Urmila....and Naa Hera Naa Moti... Rating: Poor Jungle Starring: Fardeen Khan, Urmila Matondkar and Sunil Shetty Director: Ramgopal Varma Released. Ram Gopal Verma's Jungle is not as interesting as his previous film Satya. Jungle shows glimpses of dacoits and their activities in the jungle. Siddharth Sharma (Fardeen Khan) is a poor boy in love with rich girl Anu (Urmilla Matondkar). He follows his girlfriend when she goes to a jungle resort with her family. In the jungle, dacoit leader Durga (Sushant) kidnaps Anu and her family to force the release of his men from the police. He starts killing one member a day. Pressurised by the politicians, an honest police commando Swaraj (Sunil Shetty) bows down and releases Durga's men. Durga releases the kidnapped people except Anu because he has given his heart to her. Siddharth not caring for his life succeeds in freeing Anu from Durga. Durga's men are after them and the police is after Durga. And then goes the rest of the film. The first half of the film is quite pacy but the second half has been stretched a lot. Fardeen Khan looks good and acts better than his debut film. Given better scope, he can act better. Urmilla Matondkar looks good but does not impress that much in the acting department. Sunil Shetty in a cameo role impresses. He has given a restrained performance. But the better performances are from the people in the jungle. Sushant has given a fabulous performance. Kashmira Shah, a gang member of the villain, has for the first time got the chance to show her talent and she has succeeded in it. Makarand Deshpande is also good in the role of the manager of the guest rooms. Technically the film is good. What is missing is the tight screenplay. Ram Gopal Verma can be appreciated for choosing a complete different locale for his film. Music is okay. Rating: Fair Bichhoo Starring: Bobby Deol, Rani Mukherjee Director: Guddu Dhanoa Music: Anand Raaj Anand Released. Guddu Dhano's Bichoo is inspired from Luc Besson's Leon- The Professional. The film is a revenge drama with oodles of violence. Jeeva (Bobby Deol) is a simple person in love with a very rich girl Kiran (Malaika Arora). But Kiran's father cannot accept the fact that his daughter is going around with a poor boy. He humiliates Jeeva's mother and his sisters to such an extent that they commit suicide. Her father's deed leads Kiran to commit suicide. Jeeva is left alone and takes up crime to avenge the death of his loved ones. Jeeva now becomes a serial killer. Jeeva encounters his neighbour - another Kiran (Rani Mukherjee). She smokes and is a drug addict. Narcotic cop Devraj (Ashish Vidyariti) murders Kiran's family and so she takes shelter with Jeeva. Devraj and his gang come to know that Kiran is a witness to these murders so are after her life. But Jeeva helps her everytime she is attacked. In due course they both fall in love with each other. The climax is predicatble with long action scenes and villains being finished off. Bobby Deol is good in action scenes. But he needs to work a little harder on the emotional part. In this film, he has a pet scorpion. Rani Mukherjee is good in parts but otherwise is very loud in the film. Rest of the cast fulfils their roles. Malaika Arora in a special appearance is not impressive. The story is repetitive and direction is nothing extraordinary. Yes, one can say the film has some of the best action scenes. Camerawork is good. Rating: Fair East Phir Bhi Hai East Starring: Om Puri, Linda Bassett Director: Damien O'Donnell Released. The film is a dubbed version of East is East. It is the story of George Khan (Om Puri), a Pakistani by nationality, who is an owner of fish-n-chip in London. He stays with his English wife Ella (Linda Bassett) and their seven children. Though he himself is married to an English girl, he objects to his son having an affair with an English girl, his wife smoking, and his daughter's lifestyle. He wants traditional values. The story is different and humorous, but may not be very appealing to the masses. Om Puri is at his best. He has given a fine performance. Linda Basset is also very good. Direction is fantastic. It is a film not to be missed. Rating: Good Refugee Starring: Jackie Shroff, Sunil Shetty, Ashish Vidyarthi, Reena Roy, Anupam Kher with Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor Director: J.P. Dutta Music: Anu Malik Released. After the super-success of Border, JP Dutta's next venture Refugee was eagerly awaited. This is a debut vehicle for two new stars -- Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor. However the film is not able to match the expectations of everyone -- the newcomers have done full justice to the role but it is the length and the loose screenplay of the film which are at fault. Refugee (Abhishek Bachchan) is an orphan who has been adopted by Jaan Mohammed (Anupam Kher) and Amma (Reena Roy). His caste and creed are unknown as he was left behind at the time of Partition. Refugee's job is to take Bihari Muslim refugees from Bangladesh to Pakistan through Rann of Kutch and brings back from there people, drugs and arms without knowing what they are for. In one of his assignments he is taking Naaz (Kareena Kapoor) and her family across the border. On the way Refugee falls in love Naaz and she also reciprocates his love. To meet his lady love, Refugee's visits across the border increase. On the other hand a Pakistani border officer Ashraf (Sunil Sheety) also likes Naaz and even asks her hand for marriage from her parents (Kulbhushan Karbanda and Padmini Kapila). Unknowing that their daughter is in love with Refugee, they agree to Ashraf's proposal. But when the reality is known, Ashraf is angry and Refugee is badly beaten by the officers and sent back to India. Here in India BSF officer Raghuvir (Jackie Shroff) blames Refugee for getting the villians across the border who are spreading terror in the country. Refugee decides to help the country. In Pakistan Naaz is pregnant and makes many unsuccessful attempts to meet Refugee. Finally Ashraf decides to help the two lovers. Raghuvir also promises Refugee to help him meet Naaz at a fair on the border. With some dramatic scenes the end is happy. The story is new. The dialogues are good. But some of the situations are unbelievable -- like the way Refugee crosses the border as if there is no security in both the countries over the border. The film is very lengthy and overall the loose screenplay dampens the curiousity to go through the film for 3 hours 20 mins. The credit for the film should go to the two new star kids Abhsihek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor for choosing very challenging and different roles as their debut roles. Where the debut of new stars is full of glamour and romance, they choose to do performance-based role with no glamour. Abhishek Bachchan did seem uncomfortable in a few scenes but then he has overcome that. He has a magnificent screen presence just like his father. With his intense look and expressive eyes, and excellent dialogue delivery Abhishek wins everyones heart. Yes one can say that he walks and talks just like Big B. A star is born and who is sure to make a great impact in the film industry. Kareena Kapoor is also very good. She looks beautiful and innocent but at the same time looks strong. Very natural in front of the camera and the confidence she has is something most of the newcomers lack. With very expressive eyes, she has done a great job in her debut portraying emotions with such effortlessness. She has her own style of acting and has everything to become a good actress. Supporting cast are good especially Anupam Kher, Sunil Shetty and Khulbhusan Kharbanda. Anu Malik's music is soft and hummable. This film's music is something Anu Malik can be proud of. Bashir Ali's camera has captured the Rann of Kutch brilliantly. The cinematography is excellent. This movie can definitely be watched for the two rising stars -- Abhishek and Kareena. Rating: Fair + 1/2 Tarkieb Starring: Nana Patekar, Tabu, Aditya Panscholi, Shilpa Shetty, Ashutosh Rana, Taku Talsania, Akihlendra Mishra, Raghuveer Yadav and Introducing - Milind Soman Director: Esmayeel Shroff Music: Aadesh Shrivastava Released. Director Esymayel Shroff has given us emotional films like Thodisi Bewafai, Ahishta Ahistaa and a murder mystery Police Public. This time his film is a suspense drama - one murder and seven suspects. The film begins with the finding of dismembered body of a girl with head missing. The police cannot identify the dead body. No one claims the body nor does anyone report a missing person. Like many cases, this case also would have been shut, but some women organisations put pressure on the government and the case is handed over to the CBI officer Jasraj Patel (Nana Patekar). He his helped by his assistant (Tiku Talsania). With some investigation, it is found that the dead body is of Roshini (Tabu) who was a nurse in an army office. Further investigation leads to seven suspects. First is Captain Ajit (Milind Soman) who loves Roshini and she also loves him. But due to her father's pressure that her younger sisters should get married first, she tells Ajit to marry her younger sister. This enrages Ajit and both of them separate. The second suspect is a businessman Mohan Multani (Aditya Pancholi). He is a widower and his children like Roshini as their mummy. Multani proposes to her and when she refuses he also has reason to murder her. Third is Dr. Major Kamal Dogra (Ashutosh Rana) who works in the army hospital. He is a womaniser and is after Roshini. Fourth is Subedar Bishan Nanda (Akhilesh Misra) who is beaten by Ajit in public when he harasses Roshini. Fifth is Roshini's co-nurse Priti (Shilpa Shetty). Sixth is a blind shopkeeper Nainsukh (Raghuveer Yadav) whose shop is just near where the body was found. And the last person to be investigated is Multani's driver Dharma (Sahjaad Khan). The life of Roshini is shown in the flashback during the interrogation of the suspects. These flashbacks are too long thus killing any curiosity for guessing the murderer. The film does have some thrilling scenes and witty dialogues. But that's not enough for the movie to be a watchable fare. The highlight of the film is Nana Patekar. He is brilliant in his role and can be called the saving grace of the film. He is ably supported by Tiku Talsania and Raghuveer Yadav. Tabu's role has not been etched out. Shilpa Shetty is mainly for the dance items which she has performed well. Milind Soman's acting does not impress like his looks. Rest of the stars are okay. Music is just average except the well-choreographed Duppata Ka Paloo and well written Kiska Chera.... Rating: Poor Joru Ka Ghulam Starring: Govinda, Twinkle Khanna, Kadar Khan and Johny Lever Director: Shakee Noorani Music: Aadesh Shrivastava Released. This is a comedy film. Director Shakeel Noorani has made an attempt to copy a David Dhawan-Govinda film, but fails miserably. The film is inspired by Shammi Kapoor-Babita starrer Tum Se Aacha Koun. Dhaneshwar Pitambar (Kader Khan), a millionaire, has four daughters. His biggest problem is that all his daughters don't want to get married for different reasons. To solve the problem he puts an advertisement in the paper that anyone marrying any of his daughters will get Rs 5 crores. The daughters drive away the suitors who come to see them. The youngest daughter is Durga (Twinkle Khanna). Raja (Govinda) and his friend Kanhaiya (Johny Lever) rob people at the airport. In one of the cases, they rob an America-returned millionaire Raju Patel (Ali Asghar). Dhaneshwar who had come to receive Raju Patel mistakes Raja to be Raju Patel. He takes him home. Raja comes to know about the advertisement of Dhaneshwar's daughters' marriage. He tries to woo Durga to become rich by getting the Rs 5 crores. He even succeeds in getting Durga agree to marry him. But then Dhaneshwar tells him that he will give the money on one condition -- when all the 4 daughters get married. So creates a new job for Raju to find suitor for the other 3 daughter. As usual, he succeeds. Hardly any story. However if handled properly the film could have been a good comedy film. The highlight of the film is an excellent performance by Govinda. He is just too brilliant and has perfect timing for comedy. The Govinda-Johnny Lever scenes do succeed in making you laugh. Twinkle Khanna has slimmed down a lot and looks beautiful. She tried hard to match the steps with Govinda but has not succeeded completely. Aadesh Srivastava's music is average. A film to be watched only for Govinda's performance. Otherwise can give it a miss. Rating: Poor Josh Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Sharad Kapoor, Chandrachud Singh and Priya Gill Director: Mansoor Khan Music: Anu Malik Released. Mansoor Khan's previous films Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander and Akele Hum Akele Tum had been both critically and publicly acclaimed. Josh proves Mansoor's capabilities as a director but the basic flaw with the film is the thin storyline. The film does have some freshness and is also pacy at times. The film has been inspired by Hollywood film The Westside Story. The story is based in Vasco city of Goa 20 years ago. It is about two rival gangs -- One is "The Eagles" headed by Max (Shah Rukh Khan) and the other is "Bichho" headed by Prakash (Sharad Kapoor). Both the groups have literally divided the land where the rival gang's people are not allowed to enter. Prakash is into land grabbing. Max has a twin-sister Shirley (Aishwarya Rai). He is so possessive about his sister that anyone who dares to even look at her is bashed up and Shirley also enjoys her admirers being beaten by her brother. Then comes Rahul (Chandarchur Singh) who is Prakash's brother from Mumbai to Goa. He falls in love with Shirley. As Rahul is Prakash's brother, Max does not allow Rahul to work in peace in Vasco. Rahul tries very hard to end the enmity between the two groups but fails. At first, Shirley does not respond to Rahul's love, but slowly she also falls in love with him. The problem multiplies when Max comes to know that Rahul loves his sister. He wants to kill Rahul. Some tragic incidents happen but the ending is happy. The plot of the film is very thin. The highlights of the film are the powerful performances from most of the leading stars. Shah Rukh Khan is in full form. He has given an excellent performance. Aishwarya Rai in a tomboyish role without any makeup has done a good job. Though her role is not very lengthy, she makes her impression especially in the songs. And as usual she looks gorgeous. Chandarchur Singh as a good man in the film has also done justice to the role. Priya Gill as Max's lover has a very small role but performs well. However, the surprise packet is Sharad Kapoor. Being given a lengthy role and pitted against the talented Shah Rukh Khan, Sharad has done excellent work. He has proved that he is here to stay maybe not in a hero's role but in a negative role. Another highlight of the film is Anu Malik's music which is foot-tapping especially Sailaru Sailara.... The songs are very well picturised and are a treat to watch. The action scenes are very well-conceived. Technically the film has been brilliantly directed. Though the film took long in the making (nearly 4 years), the director has managed to make the film look fresh. The second half of the film is pacy and action-packed. Worth a one time dekho. Rating: Fair + 1/2 Sabse Bada Be-Imaan Starring: Mithun Chakraborty, Sadhika, Manik Bedi, Laxmikant Berde, Shiva, Jack Guad, Arjun, Harish Patel, Amita Nangia, Raju Sreshta, Gajendra Chuhan with Kiran Kumar, Mohan Joshi and Introducing Ashasaini Released. Hum To Mohabbat Karega Starring: Bobby Deol, Karisma Kapoor, Rohit Roy, Johny Lever, Shakti Kapoor, Sadashiv Amrapurkar and Dalip Tahil Director: Kundan Shah Music: Anu Malik Released. Looking at this film one can hardly believe that it is directed by Kundan Shah who gave a classic comedy Jaane Bhi DO Yaaro. This film is probably Kundan Shah's worst film. It could have been a comic thriller but the main story got diverted by many other tracks like romance between the lead stars, revenge, etc etc.. Raju (Bobby Deol) is a waiter in a Uddipi hotel. He falls in love with TV anchor Geeta (Karisma Kapoor). Geeta works as a crime reporter and also anchors the show on TV. The only thing Raju does is sing and dance with Geeta in his dreams. In investigating one of the cases, Geeta comes to the same hotel where Raju works and wants to ask Raju some question as he was the last person to have served the food to the dead person. To impress Geeta and to spend more time with her, Raju tells a lie that he has witnessed the murder. Geeta behaves as if she is in love with Raju and even forces him to give an interview on her show. The interview is seen by the murderers who now go after Raju and Geeta. On the other hand Raju's description of the killer matches that of his friend Kutty (Johnny Lever). Then there is the story of Geeta's missing brother. The director gets entangled in so many twists that the main story gets missed out. Bobby Deol has some good moments in the lighter scenes but then with this type of charactersiation he has nothing much to do. Karisma Kapoor looks beautiful but disappoints the audience as her role is not upto the mark. The only highlight of the film is the title song which is catchy. A film which can be definitely be missed. Rating: Poor Kya Kehna Starring: Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan, Chandrachud Singh Director: Kundan Shan Music: Rajesh Roshan Released. Kya Kehna cannot be said to be in the same league as Kundan Shah's previous films like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro and Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naan. The story is different but does not give any sensible message to society. You cannot say that a teenage girl getting pregnant during her college term and delivering a baby against the society is a brave act. Priya (Preity Zinta) has just finished her schooling and joined college. She is the pampered daughter of her parents (Anupam Kher and Farida Jalal) and has three brothers. In college Priya falls for cassanova Rahul (Saif Ai Khan) who is known for flirting with different girls all the time. On the other hand her childhood friend Ajay (Chandrachur Singh) loves Priya. Her elder brother warns Priya against Rahul but she does not listen and continues to follow whatever Rahul says. Result -- she is pregnant. Now Rahul refuses to marry her and Ajay is heart-broken. Priya's parents want her to abort the child but she decides to go ahead with the child. She is thrown out of the house but later is brought back. She delivers the child in the face of social humiliation. Towards the end, Rahul realises his mistake and comes to Priya to accept her. On the other hand, Ajay also proposes her. Now she has to make her choice. Of the cast Preity Zinta looks cute and is bubbly. But she is not able to carry the part of a traumatic girl. She will have to work on her dialogue delivery. One misses strong actresses like Madhuri and Kajol. As the film took a long time in making, one can see Saif Ali Khan's hairstyle fluctuating. He is okay. Chandrachur Singh has nothing much to do. Anupam Kher and Farida Jalal render good support. Hysteric Navneet Nishan as Saif's mother is too loud. Rajesh Roshan's music is hummable. The film is very unrealistic and does not at all make you sympathise with the girl. Rating: Fair Jung Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Aditya Panscholii, Raveena Tandon and Shilpa Shetty Director: Sanjay Gupta / Satish Tandon Released. Jung has been directly lifted from the Hollywood film Desperate Measures. An honest Police Officer Veer (Jackie Shroff) is happy with his beautiful wife Naina (Raveena Tandon) and his 7-year old son Sahil (Master Yash). Veer had arrested Balli (Sanjay Dutt) who is a psychopath serial murderer and has already committed 14 murders. Veer's life takes a new twist when his son is diagnosed to have blood cancer. He is unable to find a bone marrow donor who can save his son's life. The person whose bone marrow matches is that of Balli. At first Balli refuses to donate but later on agrees. At the last moment, Balli escapes from hospital. The responsibility for arresting Balli is given to another cop Khan (Aditya Pancholi) who is known for shooting the criminals even though they have surrendered. In order to get the bone marrow, Veer needs Balli alive so is always saving him from the Khan's trigger. Towards the end when Balli is ready to flee from the country, his girlfriend Tara (Shilpa Shetty) changes his heart. This is a film with a different story but very poor screenplay. There are no emotions which touch the audience's heart. Sanjay Dutt has become very repetitive in the killer's role. Jackie Shroff is okay and Raveena Tandon looks beautiful. Shilpa Shetty has nothing to do except to dance in the club. Music and direction are below average. An avoidable film. Rating: Poor Chal Mere Bhai Starring: Karisma Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan Director: David Dhawan Music: Anand-Milind Released. Two brothers fall in love with the same girl, one sacrifices and the other gets the girl -- this is the story of Chal Mere Bhai. The same theme has been used by many films -- Saajan, Pyar Koi Khel Nahin, Yeh Dillagi and the latest Dillagi. The script writer didn't even bother to give some newness to the film. Many scenes look a direct lift from other films. Vicky (Sanjay Dutt) and Prem (Salman Khan) are two brothers who love each other so much that they can sacrifice anything for each other. Vicky is sincere and hardworking and handles their whole family business whereas Prem is interested in dramas and acting. Sapna (Karisma Kapoor) who is in search of a job comes to Vicky's office for a secretary's job. Vicky is not impressed by Sapna and refuses to give her the job. However, softened by her tears, Vicky's father Mr. Balraj Oberoi (Dalip Tahil) gives Sapna the job. Sapna once saves Vicky's life and the family thinks she is the perfect girl for Vicky. Even Vicky starts liking her. On the other hand, Prem and Sapna fall in love with each other. Now follow the sacrifices. When Prem comes to know that Vicky loves Sapna, he behaves that he is a womaniser and drunkard so that Sapna will hate him. No prizes for guessing who gets the girl. The first half of the film is tolerable but the second half is a sheer bore. The film is too lengthy and there is no depth in the emotions which can hold the audience. Of the star cast Sanjay Dutt is a misfit in the comic role. He is good in action roles and so should stick to those types of role. As for Salman Khan this is the nth time he is doing this type of role. However in a few scenes he is good. Karisma Kapoor is the best of the lot. Her gorgeous wardrobe is a treat to watch and she performs well. The music is a big letdown except for a couple of songs which are hummable. It seems David Dhawan did not put his heart into this film. An average movie which can be easily missed. Rating: Fair Dahshat Starring: Introducing Amar Upadhya, Shruti Sood, Mohan Joshi, Razzak Khan, Ali Azgar, Vrijesh Hirjee, Ballu, Suresh and Adi Irani Released. Dil Hi Dil Mein Starring: Sonali Bendre, Kunal Singh with Johny Lever and Anupam Kher Director: Kathir Music: A R Rahman Released. It is a love story where the lovers fall in love over Internet just like in You've Got Mail. This is a partially dubbed film. Raja (Kunal) leaves his family in the village and comes to Mumbai to do his MBA. He gets admission due to the generousity of the college chairman Ram Chander (Nazir). In the cyber cafe Raja encounters with Roja (Sonali Bendre) in a chat room. Both get attracted to each other in the chat room. They even exchange glances and smile at the railway station. Then the twist: Roja turns out to be the daughter of Ram Chander. Ram wants his daughter to get married to a rich man. Raja decides to sacrifice his love but finally there is a happy ending. Rating: Poor Hadh Kar Di Aapne Starring: Govinda, Rani Mukherjee Director: Manoj Agarwal Music: Anand Raj Anand Released. This film is Manoj Agarwal's second film with Govinda. First was Pardesi Babu -- a triangular love story -- which was a disaster. So this time he thought of making a romantic comedy on the lines of David Dhawan. But alas the result is again a disaster. Neither does the film have any story nor does the screenplay have any strength. Raj (Govinda) is a detective. His friend Sanjay (Nirmal Pandey) wants a divorce from wife Anjali (Ritu Shivpuri). Both husband and wife suspect each other of infidelity. Sanjay wants strong proof of this and so sends Raj on a Europe tour in which his wife was going. Anjali being smarter sends her friend with a similar name Anjali (Rani Mukherjee) instead. Raj mistakes Mona, a drug dealer, to be Anjali whom he always sees with a new man. On the other hand, Raj and Anjali (Rani) fall in love with each other. But they separate out when they think that they are married. They finally woo each other again. There are a bunch of couples in the film , where men flirt with other women. The language used at some places is quite vulgar. Performance-wise always reliable Govinda overacts this time. He has been given 11 get-ups and each one gets on your nerve. His dress sense is atrocious. Rani Mukherjee has done a fair job, but she also needs some good dress designer. However both the stars are very good in dancing. They are free and match each other's steps very well. Music is average. Locales are good but direction is very poor. A miss is affordable. Rating: Poor Gang Starring: Jackie Shroff, Sharad Kapoor, Nana Patekar, Javed Jafferi Director: Bharat Shah Music: Anu Malik Released. Gang was long in the making by director Mazhar Khan. Finally the film got completed after the death of its director. There are hardly any good pints to be said about this film and maybe one of the reason is the time-lag. It is the story of a group of four gangsters coming from different backgrounds -- Gangu (Jackie Shroff), Nihal (Kumar Gaurav), Abdul (Nana Patekar) and Gairi (Javed Jaffery). They live their life by committing petty crimes. The four friends have a foster sister (Shafugta Ali). Gangu has a mother and a girlfriend (Juhi Chawla). There are two rival gangs - one led by Khan (Mukhesh Khanna) who is good-samaritan, while the other is led by a hardcore criminal (Imtiaz Khan). Rest of the film is how crime pays off. Of the star cast Jackie Shroff has given an able performance. Some of the scenes are very stylishly shot but are overlooked in an otherwise dragged film. The story is repetitive. Rating: Poor Halo Director: Santosh Sivan Released. Santosh Sivan's children film Halo is a decent film to watch. It is a story about a 7-year old girl Sasa. Sasa lost her mother at the time of her birth. His father (Rajkumar Santoshi) is busy in his work. The servant takes care of her. Once Sasa gets a stray puppy and the servant tells her that this is a miracle and God has sent the puppy for her. Sasa is happy and her father , who hates dogs, allows the dog at his house for the sake of his daughter. Sasa takes care of the puppy as a mother. In fact she also keeps a name ceremony for the puppy and calls it "Halo". Once Halo gets lost and Sasa goes in search of it all over the city streets. There she encounters all types of people. The end is beautiful where little Sasa sacrifices for someone's happiness. After a long time, you get to see a beautiful children's film. Benaf Dadachanji in the role of Sasa is brilliant. She has been successful in winning everybody's heart. Santosh Sivan's direction is very good. The film has got 8 national and international awards. A film worth watching for it is different. Rating: Good Heerabai Starring: Sapna, Shakti Kapoor, Ranjeet, Sudhir, Mahavir Shah Director: Kishan Shah Music: Priyesh Vakil Released. Baaghi Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Manisha Koirala, Aditya Panscholi, Inder Kumar, Tina Senn, Shalini Kapoor, Gulshan Grover, Mohan Joshi, Mahesh Anand, Shivaji Satam, Arun Bakshi, Sanjay Narvekar, Tej Sapru and Jack Guad Director: Rajesh Kumaar Singh Music: Sajid-Wajid Released. A chain of violent films of Sanjay Dutt have been released -- first it was Vaastav, then Khauff and now Baaghi. An excess of violence with no logic is no treat to eyes. Raj (Sanjay Dutt) is the right-hand man of underworld don Vikram (Aditya Pancholi). Raja murders people left, right and centre. Then our hero goes into flashback. Raja loved Rani (Manisha Koirala). Rani committed suicide when the hotel owner (Gulshan Grover) tried to rape her. This was Raja first picked up the gun to murder the owner. Raja comes in contact with a child Surya (Master Rohan) whose disciplinarian father (Shivaji Satam) hates Surya's company with Raja. When Surya grows up (Inder Kumar), he falls in love with Vikram's sister Kiran (Tina Sen). Vikram does not like Surya and Tina's relations and wants to kill Surya. And so our hero Raja finally succeeds in uniting the two lovers. Sanjay Dutt is getting repetitive now. Manisha Koirala is like an extra artist. Inder Kumar and Tina Sen have nothing to do. So is the music by Sajid-Wajid. Direction is also poor and the script has nothing new to offer. Can give it a miss!! Rating: Poor Hera Pheri Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Tabu, Paresh Rawal, Asrani, Om Puri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Mukesh Khanna, Kashmira Shah, Namrata Shirodkar and Gulshan Grover Director: Priyadarshan Music: Anu Malik Released. After giving one super-hit Virasat and three flops Kabhi Naa Kabhi, Doli Saja Ke Rakhna and Saat Rang Ke Sapne, director Priyadarshan is back with a good comedy film. Hera Pheri, though, is not like Hrishikesh Mukherjee's light comedies, but the director has made an attempt in making a comedy film relating to day-to-day incidents. Shyam (Sunil Shetty) comes to Mumbai for a job in a bank in which his father was working. Anuradha (Tabu), daughter of an ex-employee of the same bank, is also eyeing the same job. When Shyam comes to know that Anuradha has to support her ill mother and her siblings, he lets her take up the job. Shyam gets an accommodation as a paying guest in Babu Rao Apte's (Paresh Rawal) house. Babu Rao, an alcoholic, is a garage owner and is debt-stricken. Another paying guest of Babu Rao is Raju (Akshay Kumar). Raju's mother thinks that her son is a big businessman in Calcutta, not knowing that Raju is in Mumbai and dreams about being surrounded with all beautiful women and becoming very rich. The film takes an interesting turn when Babu Rao gets a wrong number from a kidnapper Kabira (Gulshan Grover). Kabira thinks Babu Rao is the industrialist whose daughter he has kidnapped. He asks for the ransom for the daughter from Babu Rao. The three (Babu Rao, Shyam and Raju) get an idea of becoming the middlemen and think this will be the best way to earn some fast money. The three locate the correct number and ask for double the ransom from the industrialist. Here start all the twists and turns of the film leading to some hilarious and some lengthy situations. The other character in the film is Karak Singh (Om Puri) to whom Shyam owes a lot of money. The central character in the film is that of Babu Rao which is played brilliantly by Paresh Rawal. His timing for comedy is very good. He has even succeeded in over-shadowing the two machos Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty. However both the action heroes have succeeded to a certain extent in doing the comedy. Tabu has very little to do. The film has some good cinematography. The music of Anu Malik is good but sometimes the songs and dances just seem to be a hurdle in the film. Overall the film is a watchable one. Rating: Fair+1/2 Split Wide Open Starring: Rahul Bose, Laila Rouass, Shivaji Satam, Ayesha Dharkar, Farida Haider Mulla, Kiran Nagarkar. Director: Dev Benegal Music: Nitin Sawhney Released. Dev Benegal's latest take at films with Split Wide Open seems to be largely inspired by the Agony Aunt's column. A film taking a voyeuristic look at sexploitations. Kut Price alias KP (Rahul Bose) sells water to the poor and the highest quality of mineral water to the rich. He is warned to kep off the business by the water Don (Veerendra Saxena). KP finds another way of earning money, by getting guests to tell their stories on Nandita (Laila Rouass) popular tele-show, Split Wide Open. The show takes a look at the darker, unknown side of the city. KP a street-smart guy feels only for one person. Nine year old Didi (Farida Haider Mulla) his adopted sister, who sells flowers on the streets. She disappears one day. Distraught KP is not surprised. He's too aware of the paedophiles lurking around. He wants to rescue Didi from wherever she is. And discovers her in an high-profile executive, Shiv's (Shivaji Satam) house. Shiv's daughter Leela (Ayesha Dharkar) Stumbles upon her father's darker side and is shocked. Even more shocked is KP who coaxes his ten year old sister to come along with him. But Didi refuses to return. She's happy with her lifestyle - shelter, good food and clothing. She turns around and informs KP that if she wants she can get KP a job. KP has to digest the stark reality of the Mumbai city - of exploitations and survival. Benegal's takings are moody, suggestive and stark. At first glance Didi, the flower-girl waiting for the traffic to stop, looks like any nine-year old, playful and oblivious to the harsh realitiesaround her. But there is a suggestion of things not being so innocent after all and gets confirmed by the backdrop. Didi juxtaposed against an advertisement for a music system with the catch line- a new sensual experience. Another telling shot is that of water-tanker with it's name, messages and amongst all things, an e-mail address painted across it. The give-n-take of modernisation builds up when Nandita, KP's ally and lover also bargains with KP - the address of shiv fo Didi's story for the show. Split Wide Open rakes up issues - issues of poverty, modernistaion, exploitation and repercussions of repressed sexuality - a peadophile, a menage-a-trois, a homosexual priest, a father-in-law raping his daughter-in-law - but does not take a stand. It's like opening a Pandora's box and not knowing what to do with it. It does not hesitate in taking a voyeuristic look. So much so one wonders if the water issue came as an afterthought. The amount of cuss-words (and the way Rahul Bose expresses it) plus the unnecessary nude shots of Rahul gives a pseudo look to the film. It gives only shock value. Rahul Bose is stiff and out-of-place initially as the street-smart KP from the slums, but gets into the pace later. Laila, Ayesha Dharkar give commendable performance, with able support from Shivaji Satam . But Farida Haider Mulla makes an impression as the ten-year-old who grows up too early to the harsh realities of life. Split Wide Open is full of ironies, but then what? Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge Starring: Salman Khan and Karishma Kapoor Director: David Dhawan Music: Anu Malik Released. Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge is on the lines of director David Dhawan's previous comedy films but minus any vulgar comedy. The film is based on old Hindi film Ek Phool Char Kaante and the situations are inspired by Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Dil Hai Ki Manta Hi Nahin. It is the story of Sapna (Karisma Kapoor), an orphan girl, being brought up by three crazy mamas. First mama (Paresh Rawal) believes in God and is always into pooja-paat. Second mama (Om Puri) is obsessed with exercise and fitness and the third mama (Anupam Kher) is fond of pop-dancing. Poor Sapna cannot lead a normal life as she has to follow the different lifestyles of her three mamas. Sapna's maid (Himani Shivpuri) shows her photo to Mr. Oberoi (Kader Khan) and his wife (Himani Shivpuri) for their son Raja (Salman Khan). They like Sapna and go to her mamas who refuse his proposal as each mama wants his choice of boy. Fed up of her mamas, Sapna runs away from home for a holiday. There she meets Raja. Raja with the help of his friend (Johnny Lever) is there to woo Sapna. After some of the scenes (directly lifted from DDLJ and Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin) Sapna falls in love with Raja. Now Raja tries to do all the things to please the three mamas. All ends well. Salman looks good and acts ably. He has a good flair for comedy, though he takes off his shirt too often. Karisma Kapoor looks glamorous. More than acting it is a fashion parade for her in this film. Anyways, she has acted well. Rest of the cast lends able support. What the film lacks is an emotional touch and even the comedy is not very strong. There are lots of songs and dances which tend to bore you after a certain point of time. But one can easily leave one's brains home and watch the film at least once. Rating: Fair Le Chal Apne Sang Starring: Nishant, Aakanksha with Aloknath, Raza Murad, Beena, Bablu Mukerji and Ajay Vadhavkar Director: Vijay Kondke Music: Raamlaxman Released. A poorly made love story between a rich girl and a poor boy with a happy ending. The film stars newcomers Nishan and Aakanksha. But both of them fail to impress in the film. Even the music of the film is below average. Rating: Poor Krodh Starring: Sunil Shetty, Rambha, Apoorva Agnihotri, Mohan Joshi, Rammi Reddy, Johny Lever and Kadar Khan Director: Ashok Honda Music: Anand-Milind Released. Ashok Honda's Krodh has nothing much to talk about. The story is very confusing and unbelievable. Karan (Sunil Shetty) is the protector of his five sisters. He will beat up anyone who even dares to look at his sisters. But the sisters change their colours as soon as their brother is out of sight. They are friendly with Pooja (Rambha) who is love with Karan. Karan also has many enemies -- one is gangster Rami Reddy, another is Pooja's father (Mohan Joshi) because his son Raj (Apoorva Agnihotri) married one of Karan's sisters against his wishes. There is absolute confusion in the film with not a single moment of appreciation. Sunil Shetty is okay in action scenes. But it is not a film to display their talents. The music is poor and direction is worse. Rating: Poor Sultaan Starring: Mithun Chakraborty, Veenita, Mukesh Rishi, Raza Murad, Tej Sapru, Shiva, Dan Dhanoa and Dharmendra Director: T.L.V. Prasad Music: Bappi Lahiri Released. It is another Mithun-starrer with revenge as the theme. It is the story of a police officer whose whole family is killed by the villains. He leaves the police force and finally after twists and turns puts an end to all the villains. There is nothing else to talk about the film. Rating: Poor Shaheed Udham Singh Starring: Raj Babbar, Juhi Chawla, Gurudas Mann, Amrish Puri, Ranjeet, Shatrughan Singh and Tom Alter Director: Chitraarth Released. It is a patriotic film. The film is a story of martyr Uddham Singh played brilliantly by Raj Babbar. The film has some good performances. But because of the Punjabi dialogues, the film has not been appreciated by the rest of the country. Rating: Good Khauff Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Manisha Koirala, Suresh Oberoi, Sharad Kapoor Director: Sanjay Gupta Music: Anu Malik Released. Khauff means fear. The film is about the fear to tell the police about a crime one saw and disclose the criminals' details. Neha (Manisha Koirala) is an airhostess. She comes to Mumbai from Goa to attend the engagement party of her friend Ritu (Simran) with police officer Arjun (Sharad Kapoor). On her way back, she witnesses the murder of the ACP (Mukesh Khanna) by Samrat Singhania (Parmeet Sethi). A scared Neha does not want to tell anything to the police but the police finds her identity card at the murder spot and forces her to tell about the murder. She recognises Samrat. Neha goes to Mauritius till the hearing in the court. Samrat's father hires a contract killer Babu (Sanjay Dutt) to stop Neha from coming to the court. Babu follows Neha to Mauritius. He changes his name to Vicky and and tries to woo Neha. He kills all the people who identify him which also includes Arjun's fiancee Ritu. When Neha comes back to Mumbai to tell the truth, Babu reveals his identity and threatens to kill Neha's younger sister to stop Neha to go to the court. However Babu realises that he actually has fallen in love with Neha and now wants to save her from Singhania. But then it is too late -- Samrat after coming out from jail rapes Neha's sister. Now Neha without any fear decides to be a witness in the court and take revenge with Babu also. There are lots of loopholes in the film. Being in the making for a very long time, the film lacks continuity. The director could not think of any innovative ideas. Sanjay Dutt's hair-style changes with every frame. He has done a fair job but nothing great. Manisha Koirala is good in some scenes but bad in a few. She needs to work on her looks and dresses. Music is average. Rating: Poor Hey Ram Starring: Kamal Haassan, Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee Director: Kamal Haassan Music: Ilayraja Released. Producer, director and actor Kamal Hasan's <>Hey Ram is a fictional story combined with the events of Indian History. The film has a character whose thinking and views are similar to Nathuram Godse who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi. Saket Ram (Kamal Hasan) and his Muslim friend Amjad Ali Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) are archaeologists working on the Mohenjodara site. The work is abandoned during the riots, and Saket returns back to his Bengali wife Aparna (Rani Mukherjee) in Calcutta. Later Aparna is gang-raped and killed by Muslim rioters. This incident angers Saket who decides to avenge his wife's murder. He meets a Hindu fanatic Abhyankar (Atul Kulkarni) who provokes Saket against Muslims and converts him to a rigid Hindu. Saket's family gets him to remarry another girl Mythali (Vasundhara) against his wishes. Mythali also could not erase the memories of Aparna from Saket's mind. Saket starts believing that the root behind all the sufferings of Hindus is Gandhi and that Gandhi only favours Muslims. Abhyankar is given the mission to kill Gandhiji but is killed. So now it is Saket's turn to complete the mission. For this purpose he goes to Delhi and there he meets his old Muslim friend Amjad. Amjad tells him that all Muslims are not bad and that changes Saket's heart towards Muslim. He decides to protect them. He decides to go to Gandhi and confess but at that point in front of his eyes, Nathuram Godse shoots Gandhi. The film is a flashback at the dead body of Gandhi. It is Kamal Hasan's film. He is seen in each and every frame. Kamal Hasan as a director has taken care of the minutest detail of the film -- sets, lighting, music, colour. Kamal Hasan truly is the best actor. In small roles, Shah Rukh Khan, Naseerudin Shah (as Gandhi) and Atul Kulkarni play their parts well. Rani Mukherjee and newcomer Vasundhara are natural and have given good performances. Daku Ramkali Starring: Sapna, Kiran Kumar, Rammi Reddy, Rajesh Vivek, Joginder, Ishrat Ali, Razak Khan with Mohan Joshi, Sadashiv Amrapurkar and Shakti Kapoor Director: Kanti Shah Music: Sawan Kumar Sawan Released. Devi Director: Kodi Ramakrishna Released. Badal Starring: Bobby Deol, Ranee Mukherjee, Mayuri Kango, Johny Lever, Amrish Puri, Ashutosh Rana Director: Raj Kanwar Music: Anu Malik Released. After good films like Sarfarosh, Roja and Maachis, Badal, based on terrorism, is not that great a film. The biggest flaw of the film is the not-so-convincing story, where the story-writer tries to project that a person becomes a terrorist after getting injustice at the hands of the police and that he is the person who needs sympathy. The evil police inspector Rana (Ashutosh Rana) in search of a terrorist (Ashish Vidyarthi) slaughters the whole village, including Rajveer's (Bobby Deol) family. This incident converts Rajveer to Badal, a terrorist, whose only aim is to kill Rana. To kill Rana, Badal comes to Sundernagar. There he comes in contact with an honest police officer (Amrish Puri). The officer's family give him all the family love. He falls in love with Rani (Rani Mukherjee). The officer who treats criminals with love and affection gets a setback when he comes to know that Badal is a terrorist whose mission is to kill Rana. But as usual our hero emerges as a winner when he unmasks the corrupt Rana and saves the minister. Bobby Deol has acted well. Rani Mukherjee looks good but only sings and dances. In fact it is Amrish Puri who has given a very good performance. Music is good. The main drawbacks of the film are its story and screenplay. Rating: Fair Pukar Starring: Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Namrata Shirodkar Director: Rajkumar Santoshi Music: AR Rehman Released. Raj Kumar Santoshi directed Pukar comes in a league of good films based on terrorism, military and patriotism. The film reflects a sincere effort made by the producer, director, lead stars and cinematographers. The film is not only based on terrorism and armymen but also deals with the other side of the military man -- the relationship, the pain and the confusion. It is a love story with an army backdrop. A minister (Govind Namdeo) is kidnapped by a dreaded terrorist gang leader Abrush (Danny Denzongpa). Major Jai Rajwansh with his men rescue the minister and arrest Abrush whose aim was to enter India. For his commendable job, Jai is greeted by his town people and becomes famous. Then starts the romantic track of the film. Anjali (Madhuri) is Jai's childhood mate whose love is only Jai. But Jai does not reciprocate her love and instead falls in love with Miss India Pooja (Namrata Shirodkar). Very possessive of Jai and being rejected by him, a hurt Anjali becomes very jealous of Pooja and decides to adopt any means to get back Jai. Taking advantage of the vulnerable state of mind of Anjali, a corrupt minister (Anjan Srivastav) provokes her to steal the secret code from Jai's office. This results in the fleeing of Abrush from jail. The blame goes on Jai who is declared a traitor. The same people who gave him all the honours humiliate him. Even his love Pooja breaks all ties when he is court-marshalled. Anjali realises her mistake and decides to help Jai, and so admits her mistake to Jai's senior (Om Puri). They all get together and fight terrorism. A few of the patriotic dialogues and scenes are some of the best one has heard and seen. Raj Kumar Santoshi has proved again that he is one of the best directors and is capable of giving a slick film. The first half is pacy however the climax becomes predictable. When three of the best cinematographers of Bollywood come together (Ashok Mehta, Baba Azmi and Santosh Sivan), one can expect magic and truly Pukar is no doubt a visual treat. The snow-clad mountains of Alaska are mesmerising and the gorgeous Madhuri Dixit makes it worth a watch. The drawbacks of the film (AR Rehman's music and less exciting climax) are covered by the high voltage performance by the lead stars (Anil and Madhuri) and few of the supporting stars. There is no doubt that Anil Kapoor is at his best. He has given an excellent performance especially when he is humiliated and court-martialled. He conveys the trauma and the emotional scenes with utmost ease -- simply superb. Madhuri Dixit has once again proved that no one can compete against her versatile talent -- whether it is dance, emotion, jealousy, liveliness....She has given an award winning performance and looks beautiful. Though her character is slightly negative she brings a certain amount of dignity in her role. She has proved her critics wrong; she is still here to stay for long. Her perfect matching of steps with rubber man Prabhudeva in Que Sera... is simply astounding. Namrata Shirodkar looks beautiful but needs to work on her acting. Danny is superb in the role of the terrorist. Anjan Srivastav gives an outstanding performance. This well-made film with high-spirited performances and excellent cinematography is definitely worth a watch. Rating: Good Agni Putra Starring: Mithun Chakraborty, Vineeta, Pramod Moutho, Mahavir Shah, Deepak Shirke and Prem Chopra Director: B. Vijay Reddy Music: Nikhil-Vinay Released. Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla Director: Aziz Mirza Music: Jatin Lalit Released. With Phir Bhi Dil Hain Hindustani, two top Bollywood stars turn producers -- Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla. They roped in their favourite director Aziz Mirza (who made Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman and Yes Boss with this duo). The film is inspired by Hollywood films Switching Channels, The Girl Friday and Front Page and then added to it the theme of patriotism. The story begins with the rivalry between two TV reporters of two different channels -- Ajay Bakshi (Shah Rukh Khan) of K-TV and Ria Banerjee (Juhi Chawla) of Galaxee. Ajay and Ria both are very ambitious and go to any level to upstage each other. The film also has political undertones. There is rivalry between the Chief Minister Mushran (Govind Namdeo ) and the leader of the Opposition party Ramakan Dua (Shakti Kapoor). Things becomes worse when a stranger Mohan Joshi (Paresh Rawal) shoots down Ramakant's brother-in-law Maganlal Gupta (Mahavir Shah). Mohan Joshi is labelled as a terrorist and is going to be hanged which was going to be live telecast on both the channels. When Ajay and Ria come to know the real story of Mohan (that his daughter had been raped by Gupat and she died after that, so he killed him) they decide to forgo their rivalry and help him out. In doing so Ria and Ajay fall in love with each other. And with help of the media and the common people they are able to reveal the truth. The film is an attempt of social satire but is not that successful in becoming so. It is too filmi. The first half of the film does have some light moments especially between Juhi and Shah Rukh. But the second half drags and could have been trimmed a lot and could have been made more sensibly. Shah Rukh Khan is as usual very energetic. But now he needs to perform some different kind of roles. Juhi Chawla is at her best. She looks beautiful and charming and has a good flair for comedy just like her film Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke. Other cast lend support. Music by Jatin Lalit is just above average except the title song which is also very nicely picturised. The songs look good while watching the film but later on after the film they don't stay on in your mind. An average fare. Rating: Fair + 1/2 Mere Agosh Me Starring: Kanchan, Sohail Khan, Shakti Kapoor Director: B.Prasad Music: GHulam Ali Released. Kaho Naa...Pyaar Hai Starring: Introducing Hrithik Roshan and Amisha Patel Director: Rakesh Roshan Music: Rajesh Roshan Released. A dream debut film for Hrithik -- a gift from his father Rakesh Roshan. The film Kaho Naa...Pyar Hai is a thrilling love story with two debutantes Hrithik Roshan and Amisha Patel. It is a good launch film for both of them. The film has some shades of Kasme Vade and Banarasi Babu but Rakesh Roshan has managed to present it in a different style. Rohit (Hrithik Roshan) and his kid brother Amit stay with a catholic couple (Satish Shah and Farida Jalal). He works as a salesman in a car showroom but dreams of becoming a great singer. He meets a rich girl Sonia (Amisha Patel) and falls in love with her. Sonia and Rohit go on a Singapore cruise along with friends. On their tour they get marooned on a lonely island. Then, predictably, they sing and dance and decide to be life partners. Sonia's father Saxena (Anupam Kher) first rejects his daughter's choice but later agrees on the condition that Rohit should be capable to earn enough to keep his daughter happy. In the meantime Rohit witnesses a commissioner's murder by two corrupt police officers (Ashish Vidyarathi and Mohnish Behl). They kill Rohit and make his death a case of drowning. A totally dejected Sonia is sent to New Zealand by Saxena. There Sonia meets Rohit's look-alike Raj (Hrithik Roshan again). Raj falls in love with Sonia but Sonia still loves Rohit. Sonia comes back to India and Raj follows her. Now the thrills start when the corrupt inspectors think Rohit is back and are after Raj. Raj does not understand the mystery. When he comes to know the truth about Rohit by Sonia, he takes up the challenge to unmask the culprits. The first half of the film is predictable but it still has the freshness of the newcomers, exotic locales, beautiful foot-tapping songs and excellent choreography. The second half becomes gripping and the routine love story becomes a thriller. It is a dream film for Hrithik. The film gives all the scope to display the versatile talent of the hero and Hrithik is successful in doing so. He gets to sing, dance, fight, emote. He has got the chance to display both the looks -- soft look of Rohit and westernised look of Raj. He excels in dramatic and action scenes. He is a fabulous dancer. He impresses a lot in the second half. A warm welcome to a confident new hero. Amisha Patel also shows confidence and does not look as if this was her first film. Though her role is not as powerful as Hrithik's, she has done her job well. Her looks remind one of cute Neelam but she will have to work more on her get-up in the future. Rest of the stars lend good support. Rakesh Roshan has been successful in making a gripping film. Though at times the films looks predictable, you can go through 3 hours easily. It is a good entertainer. Rakesh Roshan's forte is dramatics which can be seen in this film also. Besides good direction other highlights of the film are Rajesh Roshan's excellent music and Kabir Lal's mind-blowing cinematography. Rajesh Roshan has once again given a sure-fire hit music in his brother's film. Each and every songs is good and well choreographed by Farah Khan especially Lucky Ali's Aye Mere Dil..., Kaho Naa Pyar Hai... and Pyar Ki Kasti Mein.... The film is not a masterpiece but is a watchable film. Rating: Good Bulandi Starring: Rajnikant, Anil Kapoor, Rekha, Raveena Tandon, Paresh Rawal, Sadashiv Amrapurkar Director: T. Rama Rao Music: Viju Sha Released. Bulandi, set against a rural backdrop, revolves around the lives of the thakurs and the film is totally unimpressive. It is pathetic to see that in the new millennium there are film-makers who want to try to tell the audience that women are inferior to men and their status is at the feet of the their husbands. Thakur Dharmraj (Anil Kapoor) takes on his father (Rajnikant) as the head as well as the sole law enforcer of the village. No one can dare to question his decision. His two younger brothers Arjun (Anil Kapoor in double role) and Nakul (Harish) are also obedient to him. Even Dharamraj's wife Lakshmi (Rekha) who herself is a graduate teaches Arjun's city educated wife Meena (Raveena Tandon) that the Indian woman's place is at her husband's feet. In one of the panchayat hearings Dharamraj had banished his own relative Jaganath (Shakti Kapoor) from the village for 18 years for raping a girl. To take revenge, Jaganath frames Arjun in a rape case and so Dharmraj banishes him. And finally everything ends well. The script of the film is poor. It is not in sync with today's society. Again to add to the mess there is crude comedy (by Paresh Rawal and Sadhashiv Amrapurkar). The only person who is worth watching is Anil Kapoor in the older role. The heroines are only there for songs and dances. Rajnikant has very little to do. Music of Viju Shah is also poor. Rating: Poor Mela Starring: Aamir Khan, Twinkle Khanna, Faizal Khan Director: Dharmesh Darshan Music: Anu Malik Released. Dharmesh Darshan's Mela has been highly inspired by Carvaan and Sholay. It is fact that Aamir Khan who is choosy of the kind of films he does also can make mistakes and act in such a bad film. Rupa's (Twinkle Khanna) brother (Ayub Khan) is killed by a deadly terrorist Gujjar (Tinnu Verma). Rupa wants to take revenge of her brother's death. She takes the help of two friends -- Kishan Pyare (Aamir Khan) who is a nautankiwala and truck driver Shankar (Faisal Khan). Shankar is silent and stubborn and Kishan is of flirtatious nature. Kishan falls in love with Rupa and Rupa also acts as if she is in love with Kishan but her only aim is revenge. Shankar takes the place of Rupa's dead brother. Now both of them help Rupa to take her revenge. Aamir Khan is the only saving grace of the film. As usual he has given a good performance within the limited scope of the character. Faisal's role didn't demand any complexity. Twinkle Khanna had a big role. But she still has a long way to go to prove her talents. Her voice has been dubbed to give authenticity to the role but that also didn't help. Tinnu Verma's character was inspired by Gabbar Singh of Sholay but he is not even half as impressive. There are some crude comedy scenes which are for the front benchers. Music is not very great except for a couple of songs. Direction is poor and is in no way comparable to Dharmesh Darshan's previous film Raja Hindustani. Rating: Fair

Latest Postion Again there is one film Raj Kanwar's Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega which had got bumper opening. Released in record-breaking prints the first two days collections of the film was 100%. The result of the remaining days will be known next week. The film was priced very reasonably and on top of it extraordinary opening assured the distributors that they will not lose on this film. Now one will have to wait and see whether the film becomes a mere commission-earner or a hit or the second super-hit film of the year after Kaho Naa...Pyar Hai. Good promotion, two-three hit songs and Salman Khan's presence at least guaranteed a good opening. Two films released together Papa The Great and Nidaan bombed at the box-office all over the country. The first week's collections of the films were very poor and in most of the theatres they have been removed. The first week's collections of Papa The Great were 17% in Mumbai (from 5 cinemas) and 32% in Delhi (from 2 cinemas). Nidaan did get the tag of tax-exemption in many states because of its social message, however it didn't benefit the film a bit at the box-office. The first week's collections of the film were 25% in Mumbai (from 6 cinemas). David Dhawan's Kunwara is a flop. However the film is doing average business in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The collections in Mumbai slid down. The film did a business of 61% in Mumbai (from 11 cinemas). Urmilla Matondkar is now heavily banking on this week's release Harry Baweja's Deewane co-starring Ajay Devgan and Mahima Chaudhary to give a boost to her sliding career. Ram Gopal Verma's Jungle has fallen at the box-office in its third week. The film's collections are 40% in Mumbai. JP Dutta's Refugee did a business of 28% in Mumbai (from 6 cinemas). This week's two releases are Harry Baweja's Deewane and  Dharsan's Dhadkan starring Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Shilpa Shetty. It is said that all the three lead stars are worth watching in this film for their good performances. Box Office Collections Kunwara (2nd week) Mumbai (61%) - 38,62,634 Ahmedabad - 3,81,401 Delhi - 34,80,912 Calcutta - 7,37,862 Jaipur (56%) - 4,08,161 Hyderabad - 7,79,723 Jungle (3rd week) Mumbai - 5,90,459 Ahmedabad - 1,90,832 Delhi - 9,69,748 Calcutta - 3,64,938 Jaipur (25%) - 1,21,417 Hyderabad - 3,73,727 Bichhoo (4th week) Mumbai - 8,73,971 Delhi - 3,98,827 Calcutta - 1,31,088 Jaipur (16.45%) - 1,40,179 Hyderabad - 3,40,357 Refugee (5th week) Mumbai (28%) - 9,10,,938 Ahmedabad - 1,71,234 Delhi - 3,30,127 Calcutta - 2,27,100 Jaipur - 5,68,403 Hyderabad - 4,38,379

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