shrikant-narayanan Reviews

Agni Sakshi (1982)

Excellent must watch film in top 500 of Indian films

[26 September 2021]

Agnisatchi talks about how the husband gives unconditional love to his wife - woman who is sensitive to how things are portayed on screen or in objects or how she doesn't like a child being beaten or how she doesn't like her parents getting insulted. Story is also about how man's parents don't like the daughter in law when she disobeys or gives back answer. Well directed by K Balachander and the lead pair has acted very well. 10/10 it deserves.

Thalaivi (2021)

Excellent tribute to Jayalalilthaa Madam and MGR sir

[14 September 2021]

The film Thalaivi focuses on journey of Jayalalilthaa in films and politics from 1965 to 1990. It's excellent film made by efforts of entire team. Director, art director, actors and technical team have contributed their best. I hope there is second film where her journey from 1948 to 1964 & journey from 1991 to 2016 is covered and how she respected Janaki and her mother Sandhya is shown more. Arvind Swami has excelled in his potrayal of MGR. Want to point out that Jaya respected MGR Janaki as a father mother figure. Infact Janaki met JJ when JJ met with accident and was recovering and told JJ that she is right successor. This film will create awareness about Jayalalilthaa around the world as well as the North of India. In real life it was JJ behind whom automatic fans followers would come and stand in huge numbers , the way it is shown in films of Rajnikant like Padayappa or Arunachalam or in Shankar's Mudhalvan or Nayak. JJ was always admired and respected. JJ wasn't egoistic. Also one needs to know that JJ acted with Jaishankar, Ravichandran, NTR, ANR from 1965 to 1978 and with MGR she did only 28 films between 1965 and 1973. She had more than 90 hits of the 140 films in her career. Maximum people must watch Tamil version with subtitle to feel the dialogues and situation. Don't go by the fake paid reviews where they are giving 1 star rating as these must be anti India or anti Kangana gang. Watch the film and automatically you will praise it and give 10 stars. Thalaivi is good tribute to Jayalalilthaa Madam and MGR sir.

Andaz Apna Apna (1994)

Remake of Tamil comedy films Bommalattam and Thenmazhai and scene borrowed from Adimai Penn

[6 March 2016]

The Hindi film industry never acknowledged openly the fact that Andaz Apna Apna was straight lift from three old classic Tamil films from which comedy scenes of actor Cho Ramaswamy have been lifted - Bommalattam and Thenmazhai, both written by Cho Ramaswamy and third being Adimai Penn.

1)In 1968, Tamil film Bommalattam became a blockbuster. Bommalattam story and dialogues were written by Cho Ramaswamy and Bommalattam was directed by Mukta Srinivasan. It had the cast of Jayalalitha, Jaishankar, Sechu, Manorama, Nagesh, Cho Ramaswamy and V.S.Raghavan. The plan of kidnap being made by the two boys Jaishankar and Nagesh to kidnap V.S.Raghavan to impress him by getting him released from kidnappers and the plan getting failed and the heroes informing the daughters Sechu and Jayalalithaa that they did plan to kidnap but their plan failed and actual villains have kidnapped their father. The same scenes have been reproduced in Andaz Apna Apna.

2) Similarly the scenes where Nagesh acts as mental patient who acts as if he lost his memory and stays in the house of Manorama and Cho Ramaswamy acts as a doctor and uses carpenter tools and hammer to make diagnosis of Nagesh, from the 1967 Tamil film Thenmazhai have been lifted in Andaz Apna Apna.

3)Also the climax scene of Andaz Apna Apna is straight lift from Victoria 203 where Pran and Ashok Kumar fool the villains.

4) The scene where in Aamir Khan talks about some old match he was part of which in turn foils plans of Viju Khote to make the main characters drink poisonous drink, is straight lift from Adimai Penn (1969 ) produced by M.G.Ramachandran. In the original Tamil film it was actor Cho Ramasawamy who fooled the villain R.S.Manohar and foiled the evil plans by exchanging the glasses.

Dhoom 3 (2013)

A Classic

[22 December 2013]

Dhoom3 is a classic. I was never a fan of Dhoom1 and 2. Dhoom 3 is simply superb thanks to Aamir Khan and Jackie Shroff. This film is like watching any Hindi classic of 1970-85 period (of Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra and not of Mithun). Jackie Shroff's acting was another highlight and Jackie's acting resembled /infact reminded me of the intense acting of Rajesh Khanna. Hope this time every award show gives away Best actor award to only one man Aamir Khan and Jackie gets award for supporting actor. Situations have been deliberately created to ensure the police team of Abhishek and Uday catch Aamir. The only weakness in the film is the introductory action - scene of Abhsihek and Uday - which was pathetic. Direct Robbery scenes have not been shown - now that's okay as we have many other films showing how thieves rob and so is not a flaw!! Abhishek,Uday,Katrina don't have much to do. Katrina has been made to dance very well. This film is a must watch. Worth watching in theaters. After long time a film from which my eyes never ever strayed from the screen. A clean family entertainer. Music of the song Tu Hai junOon was great. Worth your money. Plus point is Aamir Khan's characterization of his double role of Sahir and Samar and strong story-line.

I Guess all those reviews - which say the film has goof-ups and term the film a disaster - r plain idiots.Those who love films of 1970-85 would like dhoom 3. This film is way above Chennai Expres or Kirsh 2 and 3. if this film is called a disaster then may be people's tastes have changed- they want vulgar scenes and jokes or 3rd rate Masala film (like Rowdy Rathore or Grand Masti or Ek Tha Tiger or Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani or expect that length of the film to be below 2 hours).

Masterji (1985)

Masterji - A Laugh riot film with Rajesh Khanna in title role

[6 October 2011]

Masterji is a comedy film starring Rajesh Khanna in the title role and Sridevi's comic timing was explored for the first time in Hindi Cinema in this film. Sridevi had done many films in Tamil before this but she never got to star in a movie where she could display her comic side.This laugh riot is fully based on confrontations and difference in point of view of the lead characters in various matters.This film was released during school reopening time of that year and end of vacations.So many people flocked to theaters to see this family entertainer and resulted the film being a big hit of the year.Khanna had 11 releases in 1985 and 8 were hits. Khanna proved his versatility by attempting this film. 1985 saw Khanna prove again that as an actor he could do films of different genres with ease. Bhagyaraj starred in title role in Tamil opposite Urvasi and had written and directed the same in Tamil. After its success in Tamil, he wanted the Superstar himself to essay this role in Hindi and so wrote the screenplay but asked Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao to direct the Hindi version.

Red Rose (1980)

Red Rose - Classic Murder Mystery Thriller Film of Rajesh Khanna

[9 September 2011]

Rajesh Khanna played a psychopath in this murder mystery and thriller classic film. Due to its unorthodox story-line and since it was made in 1980, it was very ahead of its time for Hindi Film Audiences. The film bombed at the box office but got critical acclaims for the story-line and Khanna's strong attention holding performance.Lot of political parties back in 1980 protested that the film be banned but amid protests the film was released but audience did not flock to theatres. Subsequently look at English film like Joker (2019) which became succcesful despite it having similar storyline.Redrose has been remade in Russian and Japanese languages.

Rajesh Khanna has done films of all genres and people used to go with their families to go to theater to watch his films. But for this film people feared to go out with family and this affected its box office collections.People did not want to see their hero doing wrong things. Its a must match for people who are fan of films from phsycological thriller or adventure or mystery genre. A must watch for both Rajesh Khanna fans and his detractors. Kamal hassan won many awards for the same role in Tamil, but Khanna was not even nominated in any award function for best actor, in-spite of Khanna having given splendid performance.

Shair (1949)

Classic where heroines perform better than hero

[1 September 2011]

The film had Dev Anand acting opposite Suraiya and Kamini Kaushal in the eternal love triangle.Lilting music provided by Ghulam Mohamed gave some very memorable songs not often heard nowadays.The performance of Kamini Kaushal was far better than Suraiya.Other star cast included Sulochana senior and Cuckoo and Agha. Suraiya is billed much above Dev Anand and yes her performance outshines Dev Anand's performance.This film was a box office hit.A Classic which was a film having , at the time of release, a very new subject and very new treatment to a love triangle. The movie is rarely available in CD'S and net. A Must watch for admirers of Dev and Suraiya

Oonche Log (1985)

Oonche Log - A Classic Film with Excellent music and better remake

[23 July 2011]

Oonche Log is much better in terms of storyline plot, music, performances by the actor in leading role ie.Rajesh Khanna and character actors like Danny, Prem Chopra, Pradeep Kumar , Priti Sapru, Deven Varma than its predecessors like Wuthering Lights and the boring Dil Diya Dard Liya. The Dilip Kumar starring film had lots of mistakes in the plot -how the people agree that Dilip Kumar' character is the long lost king, the mood swings in the hero etc. Oonche Log had all its songs composed by R.D.Burman as big hits but the movie flopped at the box office as Khanna had total 11 films as the lead hero releasing in 1985 and additional 3 films had him in special appearance.If there was some weakness in this film it was Salma Agha's acting, her brown hair and her slim body which does not look nice when she wears sarees but her playback voice suits the mood of the film.Another classic starring Rajesh Khanna in the lead role.May be Tina Munim or Ponnam Dhillon must have been cast opposite Khanna instead of expressionless Salma Agha.Also Khanna did not get along with Agha by the end of the shooting days as he did not like her work.This movie must be telecast more often in TV else a classic will be missed by viewers.

Jaanwar (1982)

Jaanwar - Classic Superhit Film of Rajesh Khanna

[30 April 2011]

This film was a superhit at the box office although subsequently this film is not well publicized in T.V (rarely telecasted). The film is on par with Haathi Mere Saathi in fact even better. Story has been made in a manner that its believable right from start till the end. Music is excellent by Lamikant Pyarelal and lyrics very meaningful. Rajesh Khanna's facial expressions and voice modulations in the scene when he realises zeenat likes him, zeenat cannot talk, him introducing to Nirupa Roy etc.. is simply excellent. Films like Maa(76),Dharam Veer,Mard,Coolie are nowhere near this film in terms of performance of lead actors,music. The film brings together Pran and Rajesh Khanna together and another speciality of this film is Pradeep Kumar is given villains role. Zeenat gives spellbound performance as a mute girl is first half and as talkative proud girl in second part.Its a must watch although first 10 minutes you will have to bear some not so well taken shots

Namak Haraam (1973)

Namak Haram - Classic Superhit Film of Rajesh Khanna

[22 March 2011]

Namak Haram is a great classic film well directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and written swiftly by Gulzar with wonderful performance by all cast members and yes here quite obviously Rajesh Khanna's performance overshadows Amitabh's acting. Rajesh Khanna proves that he is indeed a versatile superstar yet again in this film. Each film of Rajesh Khanna saw him playing a totally different character Amar Pram Naya Kadam,Babu, Kudrat,Hum Dono, Palkon Ki Chaon Me,Tyaag,Anand,Aap Ki Kasam,Redrose etc....(107 films had Khanna in solo-lead role and just 21 multi-star movies of which 81 super-hits at box office.rest are 35 films where he was not the main lead and made guest appearances) When Rajesh Khanna is the hero you always have had Amitabh or Vind Khanna or Shahsi Kapoor or Vinod Mehra playing supporting roles and never ever as the leading man of the film or Rajesh in supporting role to them.I give 10 out of 10.

Nishaan (1983)

Nishan - super-hit time pass movie, rare multi-star movie with Rajesh Khanna

[11 March 2011]

Nishan is one of the few multi-star movies which Rajesh Khanna did. Rajesh Khanna told in an interview that he always did movies of different genres - adventure, political satire, comedy,melodrama, social, action, family movies, character with negative shade etc.. so he accepted movies of formula films in between just to unwind himself from the serious films. Nishan is a film with plot of long lost brothers uniting at the end of the film. Kishore Kumar sings all the 3 songs picturized on Khanna and the film was Superhit at the box office. Rajesh Khanna has rarely done movies which are having low class Hindi dialog like in most of Amitabh's trademark multi star movies like Nastik, Insaniyat, Coolie,Mard or Mithun Govinda Anil Kapoor type (mouthing cheap street Hindi vocabulary & plot being miserable life) and this film and Dharam Kanta are the multi-star formula movies where we get to see Rajesh Khanna doing such films(both with childhood friend Jeetendra).

Maqsad (1984)

Maqsad - Superhit Blockbuster

[11 March 2011]

Maqsad was the second highest grosser of the year 1984. K.Bappiah, after the box office success of film Bandish, kept insisting Rajesh Khanna do be part of at-least one multi star movie of his films and Khanna readily agreed to do this film.The producer D.Rama Naidu always gave the solo hero films requiring strong performance of the male lead to Rajesh Khanna when he remade his Telugu films by himself in Hindi.Maqsad was one among the only 15 multi hero projects which Khanna did(Rajesh has 99 solos and 15 multi of which 80 are superhits). The movie was the best of the three movies which childhood friends Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra did to together. All the songs pictured on Khanna and sung by Kishore were more popular than those which Kishore sang for Jeetendra in the film.The movie was remake of Mundadugu produced and directed by the same team of D Rama Naidu and Bappaiah. Amjad Khan plays as a comedian and the movie saw excellent acting abilities of Sridevi and Jaya Prada. As expected Rajesh Khanna steals the show from Jeetendra in the film.

Bayen Hath Ka Khel (1985)

Bayen Haath Ka Khel

[8 February 2011]

Bayen Haath Ka Khel is a 1985 Hindi film directed by Vijay Kaul and produced by Khaliq Paria. Vijay Kaul debuted as a director with this film. Vijay Kaul has written screenplay for films like Souten ,Adhikar 1986) and Nazrana for Rajesh Khanna.This film has Superstar Rajesh Khanna in the lead opposite Tina Munim.Khanna had eleven films in the year 1985 as a lead hero of which six were successful namely Hum Dono , Insaaf Main Karoonga, Akhir Kyun, Bewafai ,Babu, Zamana,Masterji, and in addition had one films with him in special appearance Durgaa was a big hit. So the film could not be released that year but the music was released widely and was popular too. The songs are sung by Kishore Kumar for Rajesh Khanna.The duet song Aye Jhoot Bolti Hai was the most popular from this film.But the film sadly remains unreleased.