SAMPLE niM REVIEWS IK ENGLISH Agjpendix 1 Fiagnu on tha Uarpath It's Leila Majnu time on the sands of Goa (or is it Ualtair?), Kamal Hassan and Rati Agnihotri do the fever and the fret routine uith gusto in L.U.Prasad's "Ek Duuje Ke liye" (Dir.K.Balachander), Only this najnu is a bit aggressive and instead of tearing his shirt in agony, bares his chest in anger to do a classical Siva's danca of destruction. Fresh faces and bodies all the same. A much required rest from the dreary routine of the regular circus performers. Rati is bouncy, a rather peasant lass type but uatchable. I hope the playful Punjabi punch she landed in Kamal's solar plexus didn't do much damage. Kamal is too smooth (the moustache is a bit rabbity) but has an intensity matched only by Nasseeruddin Shah, The plot is a re-hash of the usual North v. South Comic routine(remembBr 'Neu Delhi' of yore?).. Rati plays a "North Indian" girl Sapna (area unspecified) and Kamal Uasu a "nadrassi". They meet in Goa, frolic on the beeches but the heavy parental hand comes doun before things go further. After the initial hyderics at the thought of a Hindi-Tamil bond, the parents settle doun to an agreement - the boy and the girl to remain apart for a year and then marry if the flame still burns bright and true. -371- So Uasu emigrates to Hyderabad uhere he is instructed in Hindi and Kathak by an attractive young uidou (Madhavi). A visit to bangalore leads to complications, Uasu comes to believe that Sapna is about to marry a young man from Lucknow (Rakesh Bedi), On the rebound he proposes to the uidou and is accepted. The plot takes another turn. The uidou discovers that Sapna is still uaiting for Uasu. She cancels the marriage, sends Uasu packing to Goa, The Uidou's brother plans Uasu's murder uhich takes place by uncanny chance at the very spot uhere Sapna jumps off a building to escape rape at the hands of an urgent admirer. The lovers are united in|an overlong pre-death ecstasy. The first half is easy on the eye and the ear. The jokes and the situations are conventional but there is a freshness about the pair and about the uay the land-scape ls« is evoked that puts you in a forgiving mood, A feu of the songs - Lata, S,P,Bala3Ubramaniam and Anup 3alata - are good and hummable. But the trouble uith mainstream Tamil/Telup(gu productions and their Hindi versions is that they don't knou uhere to stop. The linguistic quarrels go on and on, the lovers' death scene is so prolonged, you long to sayl Go on, get over uith it. Besides Rati and Kamal, nadhavi does very uell-liquid eyes, sensuous figure (could do uith a loss of a feu pounds, though) Poornam Uisuanathan and Arvind Deshpande are good. - 371 Lokanath's photography is good too but here again he doesn't knou uhere to stop. There is a lov/ely shot towards the end of the film of a lone boat on the beach uith the waves rolling up gently. But he has to go on to the red blood dying (or rising?) sun to hammer in the itieaning. If it had shed the typical extravagance, and crude metaphor of its origin, this might have been a good film. As it is, it remains uatchable, - Indian Express, July 1981 Naseeb Produced and directed by POanmohan Desai; photography: 3al nistry, nusic: Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Cast: Amitabh Bachehan, Rishi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Hema nalini, Kim, Reena Roy, Pran, Amjad Khan» Stop Thinking Before you say 'Deck' you can see 'Dill' come 'tumbling after'. You didn't see them going up the hill but you sau them coming doun - that is P'lanmohan Desai's kind of cinema. He does not bother about the '3Us" (Why, When, Uhere), he strives for mind boggling pace, and never mind logic. And it is only uith a willing suspension of disbelief that you can sit through his films, especially his latest, "Naseeb", Desai's forte is the lost-and-found theme. In fact, he was the one who found it. And he is able to infuse a lot of energy into routine proceedings as he did earlier in "Amar Akbar Anthony". He did not quite succeed uith "Suhaag" but is nou back inlhis element. 373 Desai has very cleverly modified what is by nou an overplayed theme, giving it longer life. For example, the uhole boring process of children and parents getting separated is dispensed uith very fast - the details are glossed over quickly, treated as something to be taken for granted. And as a uelcome change the annoying and inevitable 'mother', so very important to these films, is underplayed. Also, uithin a short time a dozen characters are introduced and the proceedings get so complicated the only way out is to stop thinking about uho is uho„ In any case the director himself does not seem very interested in a formal story, or in investing the goings- on uith some semblance of credibility. For Hanmohan Desai the moment is all important and to make it live and interesting he does everything possible even if it means a ridiculous or illogical tuist. He utilises frenetic cutting and dizzy camera movements to keep things on the move. Though even in this exercise he does falter towards the end when all the heroes and heroines gather forces to fight the villains - in contrast to the rest of the film, this is long draun-out and dreary. Unlike directors of many other multi-starrers, Desai develops characters to a large extent - they do not remain mere decorative pieces. He also avoids the use of r excessive ketchup and exposure to tiers of flesh. The absence of loud-mouthed comedians is refreshing. Laughs are inherent in situations though there is excessive slapstick - the kitchen scene uhen marbles are strewn all over is over-played and the scene ir^ondon uhen a man is forced to wear a bikini isn't inventive at all. - 3 74- The song sequences are handled uith a lot of uerve and energy. The boxing scenes, patently borrowed, are done well. The performances are generally competent, tuo that stand out being those of Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor. Amitabh may be a very versatile actor but his real forte, as seen here again, are light roles aglou uith humour, Rishi Kapoor is an under-rated actor - here he is able to match strides uith Amitabh uith ease, "Naseeb" seems to say that entertainment is only possible by defying all logic - undoubtedly a cockeyed notion. Also, escapism may be a necessary ingredient to a majority of our audiences but then you certainly can escape within the realms of common sense and logic, - Arun Kumar T,R - Filmfare, June 1981 Alaiqal Oaivadhillai Director Bharathirajaa gains much of the lost ground by of his adroit handling a caste dominated love story in Pavalar » II Creations, Alaigal Oaivadhillai, As the plot is about the love affair of a rich Christian girl and a Brahmin youth, the director treads uith caution putting his experience and maturity to good use uithout casting aspersions on any caste, a trait uith some of the directors in recent years. - 375- The director slowly breaks the caste barrier betueen the tuo young hearts through little incidents, sometimes playful, sometimes disturbing and also establishes the fact that their lov/e is more than mere physical attraction, a lasting bondage based on mutual respect for each other's feelings. Even uhen the girl is put to pain by her elder brother, a rich influential man of the locality, she is unruffled saying as long as Uichu (her lover) is in my heart nothing can hurt me. In a caste-conscious locality it looks strange that the the boys go scotfree after teasing the girls having their bath in a river. The other jarring note is the scene where Mary's brother seduces the servant maid thereby casting a slur on the character itself. It may be the turning point which forces his wife to muster courage to encourage Hary but the director could have developed other suitable situations to meet this end. The two young faces Karthik(\iichu)- son of film star Ruthuraman - and Radha(Mary) live up to the director's expectations, essaying their roles without any blemish. They make an ideal pair acting naturally. But the palm of acting goes to Kamala Kamalesh as the emaciated poor Brahmin mother of Uichu. She is the right choice to capture the anguish of a hapless mother threatened by the all powerful man of the locality. - 37G - Thiagarajan as Mary's brother could have been a little restrained.Hanif as the priest, uho finds a solution when the whole Christian community rises as one man against the alliance, Smitha as Mary's sister-in-lau(a fairly good uork in an important role), Rangarajan as the servant and Renu Chandra as his uife, provide the needed support, ELayaraja's music (the LP has already been reviewed in these columns)is sueet and rich, B Kannan's(Bhim Singh's son) photography is one of the main contributions for the movie's success. He may get an award or two for his job. The film is on show at Alankar, Ega and Sri Krishna, - Hindu, Duly 1981 A Gawky Debut Rocky - Directed by Sunil Dutt Starring: Sunjay Dutt, Tina Munim, Raakhee, Amjad Khan, Reena Ro/^y.