Bunty Aur Babli

-

 Bunty Aur Babli [2005]

Starring: Rani Mukerji, Abhishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan

Direction by Shaad Ali

Language: Hindi

After reviewing a few movies, I have realised that I only watch Bollywood movies if I have listened to the songs beforehand and have enjoyed them! In this case, members of my family have singing Kajra Re since I was born! In other reviews, I have mentioned how I tend not to enjoy crime/action films. However, a crime film put together with some incredibly extravagant choreography, a budding romance and you've got me hooked. Finally, I have seen a movie that isn't just a soppy romance in its entirety!

What is interesting about this movie is the shift in narrative: the writers of Bollywood films, to this day, have an obsession with the western world. You'll be hard pressed to find a movie that doesn't take you to the streets of New York or London for a dance number. Most movies often centre around the movement of NRIs (non resident Indians) to and from India. However, this movie presented India as a land of opportunity. There was almost a stylishness that came with small town India that I have not really seen before. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am a die hard Rani Mukerji fan. She is definitely the most versatile actress that I have ever seen, and in roles like this one, where there was a transition in her character where she had to go from being a low-income, small town girl to a big city criminal, her strong grounding and impeccable technique put her at a level that surpassed those of her costars. 

Speaking of which, this movie was a rare case where Amitabh Bachchan, in my opinion, did not perform well at all. I feel like he was trying to relive his glory days from the 1980s, where he commonly played the role of the angry young man. Whilst he has a lot of experience in that role, he was essentially trying to act the role of a 30 year old man as a 60 year old. Quite frankly, it was a little bit disturbing. There was a wealth of other appropriate actors that could have played the role but Amitabh Bachchan gets picked? I think it was a GROSS oversight. 

If this isn't worth a watch, I don't know what else is! 

9/10

Popular posts from this blog

Moonlight

-
Image
  MOONLIGHT [2016] Starring: Mahershala Ali, Janelle Monae, Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, Naomie Harris Direction by Barry Jenkins Language: English In 2016, I turned 11. I had watched La La Land in the cinema, but was too young to watch Moonlight. I loved musicals even then, and so I thought I was supposed to love the movie. So I resented Moonlight when they were the ones that ended up winning the Oscar on that fateful day in 2017. The movie has always been in the back of my mind: I've been wondering about it of late, and it was only until it came up on my Netflix recommended list that I decided to watch it.  Side note: I didn't realise that A24 was involved in the production and distribution of so many critically acclaimed films! Moonlight, Lady Bird, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Whale, Aftersun. The list goes on and on. A24 is my kind of production house, that's for certain.  What can I say about Moonlight? It was alright, I guess? I don't know. I watche...
Read more

Days of Being Wild

-
Image
  Days of Being Wild [1990] Starring: Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau, Carina Lau Direction by Wong Kar-wai Language: Cantonese, Mandarin I was very lucky to find that in my city, a local independent cinema was having a Wong Kar-wai retrospective, where they were showing Wong Kar-wai's most influential movies in a bid to increase tourism to Hong Kong. I had originally wanted to watch 'In the Mood For Love' on the big screen, yet it sold out almost instantly. In response, I watched this instead, and I am so glad that I did.  If the movie does anything well, it is character development that excels. Although the movie was quite short, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of symbolism Kar-wai was able to pack into it. All of the characters felt very fleshed out, but not the the point where their storylines became repetitive, as is the case with may Western movies. Kar-wai's craft, in my opinion, is giving the audiences small hints throughout his movies, meaning t...
Read more