Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin - Dare I Call It A Bollywood Classic?

Last evening (Friday), I finished work at around 9.30 pm, took a shower, poured myself a drink and switched on the TV to unwind a bit. I prefer watching English movies and was hoping there would be a good action movie, recent release but the channels were predictably boring and were showing the same movies for the 10th to 100th time. While surfing channels, I realised that Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (henceforth referred to as DHKMN) was just starting off (the opening credits were rolling). I decided to stick with it, thinking that I have always missed the beginning and I could at least watch the comedy part.

After the first 5 minutes or so, the song Galyan Sankali Sonyachi started and I started humming along as the thought passed through my mind that 'Thank God, Hindi movies seem to be less prone to breaking into songs these days'. Then Aamir Khan enters the scene, does a comedy sequence where he argues with the bus conductor, Pooja Bhatt takes his seat and the movies takes off.... 

My memory of the movies of that period is the endlessly crass stuff that used to be overbearing on any one angle - action meant extreme violence and rape scenes, family dramas killed it with complications and comedy was just too stretched out. The reason why I would like to call DHKMN a classic is that it has all the elements that make it a good Bollywood picture

- Great chemistry between Aamir and Pooja Bhatt (she looks very brash and cute despite the horrible hairstyle)
- Super soundtrack composed by Nadeem Shravan - dil hai ke manta nahin, adain bhi hai, sapnon ke saudagar, dil tujhpe aagaya. I must confess that towards the end I got a little tired of them bursting into song once too many times but the songs made up. Click on this link for the soundtrack

- Good comedy by all the characters. Personally I am very happy that Anupam Kher was fairly restrained in terms of length of his scenes
- The storyline is not very different and quite predictable but at least it is fairly fast paced and does not prolong any scene

I'm kinda thinking of stuff to add here but nothing is coming to my mind so thats it folks. Don't break a sweat but watch it again if you get a chance. Cheers.

For the DVD, click on Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin

Movie Review - Rock On

I have never been a fan of Hindi movies (Bollywood movies, should I say). During my college days, I once jeered my friends so much for going to watch one that they picked me up and carried me to the bus. That movie was called 'Mann', starring Aamir Khan and Manisha Koirala. It was so bad that we walked out even before the intermission. Such a traumatic incident was enough to reinforce my belief that Hindi movies and I should stay away from each other. After this, I have seen very few Bollywood flicks, mostly to keep my friends company.

However, it is my firm belief that the quality of Hindi movies has improved. It may not be a drastic improvement but they are more watchable. With this belief, I went to check out Rock On. The movie is about four friends who have a rock band ergo they are rock lovers. The characters are Aditya (Farhan Akhtar), Joe (Arjun Rampal), KD (Purab Kohli), Rob (Luke Kenny) and Sakshi (Prachi Desai). They get along very well and so do their girlfriends till a bit of fame come along. Bam, the problems come tumbling like an avalanche and they split up. About ten years later, each of them are living separate lives, successful in their professions except for Joe. Despite this, they aren’t very happy and something seems to be missing in their lives. A chance encounter between KD and Sakshi gets the two talking and then they try to get the others together. Will the group get together (hurrah) or will the old problems compounded by egos keep them apart (gasp gasp gasp - last two were echoes, Bollywood ishtyle)? That is what the rest of the movie is about.

Now this is a typical rock band story, in real and reel life. However, full marks to Abhishek Kapoor for using the theme in a Bollywood flick where this is not an old overused theme. Although the movie is produced by Farhan Akhtar and not written by him, it seems to have his influence. I mean this is the guy who gave us Dil Chahta Hai and Lakshya (I enjoyed both thoroughly). He sings pretty well too, most of the songs in the movie are sung by him. What I also liked about Rock On is the way the movie switches between their past and present lives. Purab Kohli has done a great hob, very entertaining. What I didn't like about movie is that the rock band didn't have the chemistry you would expect. The camaraderie and the jamming sessions didn't feel right. Arjun Rampal just doesn't have the cool attitude that lead guitarists inherently seem to possess. Also, the plot slows down and kinda loses its way just before the end but it rights itself at the end. Overall rating on the Mathew Rate-O-Meter 3.25 out of 5 stars.