 |  | bollywood goes to britain |  |
You have to accept the Bollywood formula to enjoy this movie. If you do, it is quite entertaining. The music is great, the acting pretty good, the scenery nice and the leading characters both highly attractive. The moral lesson is also admirable. My sole quibble: the leading man affects a terribly annoying persona making it difficult for me to grasp his attraction. Having said that, this is three hours of good entertainment.
June 18, 2008That Indian romance could be so good? Winner of 11 film awards and a classic of Bollywood, I had never heard of this film(translated, The Brave Heart will Take the Bride) and stumbled across it by accident on Netflix, getting it on a whim. What a joyous discovery. While prevented from overlong song sequences and a more than a small dose of sheer goofiness from being another Romeo and Juliet or Pride and Prejudice, this is an intensely romantic, delightful, and well-made concoction, starring in what was to become their most famous role a couple who are apparently famous in Bollywood film, Shahrukh Khan and Kajol, known informally as Srk-Kajol. The two have almost painfully intense chemistry at times, and this, along with Shahrukh's character, the bafflingly annoying and yet intensely charismatic Raj, lights up the film. The first half is taken up by their initial meeting, which leads Simran, Kajol's character, to instantly hate him, and by a series of circumstances that throws them together. What I particularly liked about this film is it's so wildly unpredictable, not merely for the colorful Indian melodrama and singing/dancing scenes the characters were likely to spring into at any moment but also because rather than taking the traditional route of romantic comedies the producers instead trace a delicately nuanced, hilarious, and often painfully realistic path for the passion that springs up between the two, and for the fact that it is not during those initial scenes of being thrown together(so requisite for any romance) that they really fall in love but later on, when they part. An odd mix of wit, comedy, melodrama, and genuine feeling in the first half, I was already in love with it, but the turn to utterly convincing passion in the second, as the lovers struggle with her family and tradition, completely took my breath away. I give only one example - Raj finally comes to find Simran at her family's home, and finds her in a field of golden wheat outside her family's home, where she has been drawn by the haunting music of his banjo, which she thinks is yet another dream. The moment when she sees him and runs to him is one of the single most classic scenes I have ever seen onscreen. And not only women will enjoy this romance - Raj, as a womanizing, shameless, overconfident, ever-witty and tricky(even, and most especially, to Simran) wealthy Indian expatriate, is someone that every man can identify with and in fact envy(as I learned to my cost while watching it). The two main flaws this movie does possess - which keep it from being a true romantic classic - is, as I said before, over-the-top music sequences and its healthy splurge of goofiness. But with the longest-running initial release in Indian history, this movie had to have something good. And indeed it does. It glows.
July 24, 2007 | | The Best Movie in The World | |
I'm not kidding. This movie is written so well, with such amazing casting, directing, and not to mention music (just buy the soundtrack, you'll wear out the CD). Kajol and Shahrukh Khan are legendary for their onscreen chemistry, which is at its peak in this film. The story line is classic, the sets and scenery beautiful. Whether you're American, Dutch, Malaysian, whatever, you will fall in love with this movie over and over again.
July 14, 2007Just ordered it here 4 days ago and the delivery was super quick. I watched the movie tonite and I LOVED IT!!! I'am a fan of KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI and I love Shahrukh Khan & Kajol. I'am looking forward in seeing more Indian Films. They are so good and so refreshing. I love learning about the Indian culture even though I'm Puerto Rican. I'm glad I own this movie.
June 8, 2007| | | "In Big Places, Such Small Things Happen" ~ Love Versus Tradition | |
Note: Hindi with English subtitles.
`Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' (translation: "The brave heart will take the bride") was released in `95 and is unquestionably one of the most beloved Indian films ever to come out of Bollywood. This Yash Raj comedy, romance, drama stars the incomparable Shah Rukh Khan and the beautiful Kajol as two young British Hindustani's, Raj and Simran, who meet during a one month European vacation. Things do not start out well for the two, but slowly the ongoing banter of dislike and ridicule between them transforms into friendship and finally so much more. Unfortunately Simran is leaving for India soon after their return to England where she is will fulfill her Father's wishes and be wed to a stranger in a pre-arranged marriage. Will Raj follow her to the Motherland in hopes of stopping the wedding and claiming Simran for himself? If he does who will win out in the end, Love or Tradition?
I guess 1.1 billion Indians can't be wrong. Shah Rukh and Kajol are perfectly matched as foils and lovers, they are absolutely marvelous together. Watch and see two of the biggest stars in the world in top form, you'll love it too!
May 18, 2007More reviews at Amazon.com ...
Daily Birthdays
(17 reviews)