Reviews

One of the rare movies that has the power to make you think and challenge your beliefs and assumptions. One of the better Bollywood movies I've seen. The movie is about the plight of prostitutes and empowering women. Most of the scenes are about Gangubai and her struggle, and her efforts to make life better for her entire red-light district. Some parts of the story are predictable but shown in a captivating way. Each and every second is executed perfectly which is typical of Bhansali's movies. There is a small touch of beautiful folk music too. The performance of all actors was phenomenal. This is not just a movie, but a lesson for young people as the problem is still widespread.

After SSR's death Alia Bhatt has been constantly trolled from the anti-nepotism gang, which has affected her film ratings and comments on IMDb, YouTube and other sites (just see YouTube comments of any Alia video). I'm 100% against nepotism but it should not be a reason to downvote movies. The movie is created by lots of people who never benefited from nepotism.

The storyline is very far-fetched and strange by 2020s standards but movies of those times have their own charm due to beautiful songs, strong scenes and great acting. The movie focuses on the typical theme of victim takes justice in their own hands because the system is corrupt and broken. It mostly plays on the stereotype of pure, innocent, vulnerable women and evil, opportunistic, selfish men (there is one evil woman who is told she looks like a transgender). Madhuri's acting is absolutely amazing and Shahrukh also did a great job. The story becomes more and more twisted like an Indian soap opera on steroids, but there is enough to keep you entertained. My favourite parts were the songs and Johnny Lever's comedy scenes. I noticed that one foreigner has reviewed giving 3 stars and is puzzled at the average rating...I don't think through subtitles and belonging to a foreign culture, it can be understood why Indians find such movies entertaining.

HAHK is a very lighthearted movie full of fun, laughter and songs. It has a very simple plot but the direction and acting keep you glued. Everyone's acting was great but the lead actors Madhuri and Salman delivered an exceptional performance. Their characters are very friendly and relatable and will be remembered for generations to come.

Most Bollywood movie have a lot of songs but HAHK is dominated by them. And each one of them has become a classic.

Because of the movie's easygoing nature everyone can enjoy it from the very young to very old, and most Indians can relate to the cultural aspect. Hence it is the perfect film to watch with your entire family, and I mean it, everyone from the pardada from the village to the NRI cousin will love it! No wonder it has become the highest grossing Bollywood film of all time when adjusted for inflation.

I love movies with action and thrill but I still enjoyed HAHK because it kept me smiling through almost every single minute.

If you don't want spoilers, don't read the description on Google/IMDb because it tells you everything.

The film shows a very sensitive story based on real-life events. This film made me feel like the quality of Bollywood is really improving. This is not just a film for entertaining, it's for seeing someone's sad and painful story and learning something from it. It has a strong portrayal of the patriarchy that exists. It is THE movie Indians should watch in 2020. Deepika Padukone acted very well and the supporting actors were all amazing.

It has a low rating because some reviewers are boycotting Deepika for senseless reasons and some still hold patriarchal beliefs and don't want to see women rise.

In the pursuit of showing a realistic movie they have just shown very ordinary people doing (almost) very ordinary things. Actually there is some conflict and plot but it's very basic. I don't know why someone would want to watch this. You can go outside and observe random people having normal conversations and it would be the same thing. The comedy was equally bland. Borrrrring film.

Most of the movie is about the love story between the characters played by Shammi Kapoor and Asha Parekh, and it has some nice iconic songs. It is not a bad film but there is not much suspense. The thriller story is not developed throughout the film so the plot twist looks completely unrelated. It may have been revolutionary in the 60's but is nothing compared to modern thrillers like Andhadhun. The story is very simple so you can skip the film and just enjoy the songs.

More than half the film went in just introducing Rajjo's Gulaab Gang and their ferocity. Overall it looked like a series of loosely-connected events (and random songs in between) and not much focus or time was given on the main conflict between Rajjo and politician Sumitra Devi. Closer to the end you could tell that the film was just trying to rush through some dramatic scenes.

Rajjo and Sumitra Devi were interesting characters. The acting by Madhuri Dixit and JuhI Chawla was good but not exceptional. Many of the supporting characters (Gulaab Gang members) also had very powerful roles.

Based on how the film was developed, it would have made more sense to make the film 1 hour longer to develop the conflict, or to keep it the same length but cut out the irrelevant scenes and use that time to develop the conflict. It would be even better as a short high-budget TV series.

This film is not too great but it doesn't deserve such a low rating. I thought it would have 6-7 stars like an average film. As it is a typical village drama with a dacoit theme, there are no inspirational messages or big lessons. However, it will keep you entertained.

Twinkle Khanna was a decent actress, not as good as Aamir or Faisal but not bad either. Some of her dialogues reminded me of the bahu's of TV soaps. It's just the typical acting of a Bollywood damsel-in-distress of that era.

The film had lots of colorful songs and Johnny Lever comedy scenes which were entertaining.

Some of the dramatic and/or violent scenes were actually so far-fetched and cliché that they made me laugh, instead of taking it seriously. But that wasn't a big deal.

On YouTube it is one of the top 5 Hindi movies, having 103 million views (and counting). That means it is liked by the general population.

Madhumati has a predictable storyline although some scenes were shocking. Many other old Bollywood movies had similar stories, although Madhumati may have been one of the first and hence still new for its time. The movie went into the supernatural realm to complete the story, and had odd coincidences. From a modern perspective it felt a bit slow.

I liked the portrayal of simple village life of historic India. There were beautiful scenic views of the countryside, but it's black and white. Songs were really nice and many of them have been popular for generations throughout India.

It's a simple movie, not intriguing like modern thrillers and mystery movies, but still enjoyable with the family.

A story of love and sacrifice, great to watch with family or friends.

The songs are really good and most of them became very popular across India.

The movie has a deep message and will touch your heart. 10/10 direction and story. It's a complete plot.

Acting at beginning (particularly by male lead) seemed a bit amateur for which I will cut one star. But overall acting was superb and there were some really powerful scenes.

This is a very interesting show for those who're into crime/action shows. Of course it is -- a lot of money and hard-work went behind it, it's based off a successful American TV series, and only the very best actors were chosen for this show.

I think it would've been better off as a movie series, at least in India. But it's a huge step forward for Indian television, which is mostly filled with boring repetitive shows.

There were two things about 24 that I did not like:

1. The portrayal of Indian politics. The prime minister's seat is more or less shown as a matter of family rivalry in this show, and the future prime minister (30-year-old Aditya) is once referred to as वारिस (heir) of his position. They should've thought of something else -- India's a democracy, not a monarchy!

2. All the events shown in the show occur in 24 hours, where each episode shows the events of each hour. But it isn't very believable that so many events happen in just one day, and that all these characters are awake for the 24 hours and go through so many events yet at the end show minimal signs of being tired!

Also I wouldn't recommend the show for the faint-hearted or those who don't like fast-paced shows that require you to do some mental work while watching them. I can see why overall it didn't succeed in India -- it lacks the humor and lightheartedness most Indian shows have. That's why I think it would've been better off as a movie series.

But except for those points I think this show is perfect, and I can't give it less than 10 stars.

Yudh is a colossal step forward for Indian television.

As spectators of Indian television, I think we can all agree that this statement is true: most Indian shows are repetitive. Each episode might be unique and different, but on the grand scale they follow the same format and are predictable. What do CID, Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and India's Got Talent have in common? They're Indian TV shows and they're repetitive.

Yudh is an Indian show that is not repetitive. It's very much like the excellent 20-to-30-episode Pakistani dramas. It makes you think, answers questions you might have had deep inside, and challenges previously-held believes and assumptions.

Set in U.P. and Delhi, Yudh presents to you the life of an elite businessman during a stressful phase in his life. It shows his struggles and the struggles of those around him. This businessman, whose role is performed flawlessly by the biggest Bollywood superstar alive Amitabh Bachchan, is shown attempting to expand his company despite (1) the mental, physical and medical problems he has due to his old age and tough life, and (2) a mysterious source of problems that are trying to ruin his career and life.

The only part of this show that I did not enjoy was the end, because though definite I found it to be inconclusive.

But all in all, Yudh is of course a masterpiece, arguably because it is based heavily on the previously-successful American TV series Boss, and because it cost 3,00,00,000 INR (450,000 USD) to produce each episode (according to telegraphindia.com).

Watch it.

For a black-and-white movie released 60 years ago, Pather Panchali was fairly engaging because it managed to keep me glued to the screen for two hours.

However, it is not a complete story; it's more like the beginning of one. That could be because it's the first in a trilogy, but I feel that despite that, it would have been better for it to have followed at least roughly the traditional structure of beginning-middle-and- end, even if it was meant to be an adaptation of only the first part of the novel Pather Panchali.

I didn't give it a rating of less than 7 stars because the focus and message of the movie were executed pretty well. The focus was upon childhood spent in poverty in a developing country, the message being that childhood is universal.

In any case, Pather Panchali surely helped me achieve my initial purpose of, being from India, understanding Indian cultures different from my own, in this case the culture of Hindu Bengal.

A note about the subtitles: English subtitles are great, but if you're like me and speak an Indian language that isn't Bengali, try finding subtitles in them instead of in English. I found Hindu subtitles online and they were much more accurate and culturally- appropriate than English ones, and using them challenged and consequently improved my ability to read Hindi.

Matamgi Manipur is the first feature-length film in the Manipuri language. Released in 1972, it is a black-and-white film, which is surprising given that most films were made in color from the mid- 1960's onwards.

However, despite being a black-and-white film less than an hour in length, the story is interesting enough and also very well-directed. In less than an hour it presents many issues and themes in a very broad story, which is definitely not an easy task and which it accomplishes by being so simple and focused. A true achievement, which is why I rated it 10 stars.

I cannot tell you too much about the story without revealing it all, but I'll say as much as for you to get the general idea: it is about an Indian family that due to disintegration faces various issues.

I watched this film because being from India (the North and West regions), I've recently become interested in learning about Indian cultures different from my own by watching their movies; I watched a Bengali movie before this one and will watch a South Indian one next week. Matamgi Manipur was certainly very informative to me about Manipuri (and in general Northeast-Indian) culture; from what I saw it seems to be a very unique culture in a place blooming with nature and though it seemed foreign to me when I began watching it, as it progressed I noted some very interesting similarities to the Indian culture of the parts of India I'm from.

Rudaali is set in a village in Rajasthan, but the village life shown in this movie reflects the reality of rural life across most of the rest of India. TV shows and Bollywood movies often choose Rajasthan or nearby states if they need to set something because the language of these states is similar enough to Hindi for Hindi-Urdu speakers to understand it without it being modified too much.

It reveals the tough and sad life villagers go through, focusing on topics like the caste system, poverty, the ज़मीदार ("Landlord") system, prostitution, disease (cholera): in general, the backward and limited life in villages in comparison to cities.

These issues are concluded intelligently when the protagonist of the movie decides to live the rest of her life as a rudaali after she can finally cry out all the grief she's been through in her life.

A rudaali is a professional mourner who's paid to cry at peoples' death.

I loved this movie; though I can't say that every part of it was perfect, it was very close to perfection. I loved the music, the dances, the culture, and the depiction of India during the Mughal empire. I especially loved the purity of the language, though I couldn't understand every word because a significant portion of it was in Urdu whereas I'm Hindu.

That said, this is certainly not THE best Bollywood movie ever. Many people seem to think that, and many articles call it the #1 Bollywood movie, but there've been many other movies that I felt were better. Aamir Khan's movies, for example, are more appealing to the newer generation, and have much more to teach.

I watched this movie to improve my Spanish (of which I am not a native speaker), and I didn't have English subtitles so I might not have understood each and every word the characters said but I do think it was a fascinating movie and it did help me learn the language. It was a fantastic movie; great plot, great actors, and great direction. That said, I simply cannot give it a perfect 10-star rating just because there were so many scenes that were way too sadistic and gory! This is definitely not a movie you want to show to your kid (it's R-rated just for the violence), and you might consider not watching it yourself if you're a faint-hearted person. The sensitive parts aren't just simple fighting or whatever's shown in the average movie. They're pure savagery! I mean, I guess it'll be fine if you're watching the movie on DVD, but if you don't have the option of skipping or fast-forwarding I really recommend you check the Violence & Gore section of the Parent's Guide before you watch it.

The thing about the violent scenes in this movie is that they aren't just implied, they're actually shown to you directly, with all they're ruthlessness and cruelty. Overall, it was a great movie, but I personally did not enjoy the violent scenes, which I am not going to forget anytime soon.

I'm a foreigner who watched this movie to learn Spanish. I was specifically interested in a Colombian film because I've heard that the Colombian accent is very neutral and nice-sounding in Spanish, so I should try to learn speaking it like the Colombians.

-> The plot: not very interesting, but definitely revealed various problems that are a part of Latin American society.

-> Colombian culture: this movie taught me a lot about Colombian culture: what's right, what's wrong, how people live, what the govt.'s like, etc.

-> Spanish: I watched this movie with English subtitles, so I didn't learn many (if any) individual Spanish words, but I did learn about how it's generally spoken, the rhythm, the styles, and a lot of other stuff.

In short, this movie will not be very interesting to watch (especially if you're a foreigner), but it taught me a lot about the culture and was worth it.

HOWEVER, if you're interested in Colombian culture you need to remember that this movie was released more than two decades ago! Colombian culture and society has obviously changed a lot since then. So, remember that while watching it, obviously! Bon voyage!

This movie might've been interesting for a 20th century audience, but that's probably only because the technology and visual effects were all new and thrilling back then. To those from the 21st century, who've already been exposed to much more exciting (improved) technological effects several times, this movie will be a waste of time. To me, besides the fact that the graphics that have been enjoyed by perhaps billions in the past were nothing in comparison to the graphics of the average 2010s sci-fi movie, this movie was horrible because of the fact that it lacked a reasonably good plot. The plot was all over the place, at times difficult to follow but mostly just downright boring. Even if you must watch this film because you're a devoted Star Wars fan, you're probably not enjoy this film.

Lesson learnt: a movie doesn't need to be good just because it's at the top of the IMDb 250 list.

If you're interested in sci-fi, I'd recommend watching more recent films, like (1) Interstellar or (2) The Matrix, or even something animated like (3) WALL·E.

Pokemon is a series aimed towards children, but many teenagers and adults (myself included) absolutely love the show, or at least it's first season. Many of us believe that the first season was the only good season, and that the rest of the seasons were horrible. Personally, I think that the first season was the only good one because it was the first season. You see, Pokemon is basically a repetition of the same sort of things happening over and over again. Every episode (sometimes group of episodes) presents a new adventure, and when that adventure over, there's another one, and then another one, and then that continues forever. There's no major adventure that encompasses more than a few episodes or a significant portion of a season, though all adventures connect to the progress of the protagonist in the Pokemon world.

Pokemon keeps repeating itself, which is why many people find the first season most appealing -- it was the first one they watched, and there's nostalgia associated with it. In reality, all seasons are equal; they might be getting better over time, but they're essentially repetitions of themselves. That's why from the second season onwards, it gets too boring to continue watching Pokemon, cause the second season's exactly like the first!

Of course, there's a reason why Pokemon keeps repeating itself, and it makes perfect sense (in case you were thinking that all the writers, directors and producers were stupid). Pokemon is targeted towards kids, and the idea is that a kid should be able to start watching Pokemon from any episode and get hooked into the show for at least a few seasons. That's also the reason why each episode begins with an introduction. Now, if there had been a particularly large subplot occurring within the show, a kid new to the show would not have been able to understand it from any random episode. Since there's a new adventure every episode, anybody can pick up from any episode without having to watch any previous episode(s). This makes perfect sense to me.

So if you want to watch Pokemon, go ahead, watch it! You do not need to start from the very beginning, since it doesn't really matter which episode you start from. You might as well watch random episodes from across the ~900 episodes, it does not matter! You might love it at first, but I promise you, you'll eventually find it boring and repetitive. It's supposed to be repetitive, so if you find it to be so, it is neither your fault for choosing to watch this anime, nor is it the fault of the directors for creating a boring anime. It's a great show, and I'm sure you'll love at least the first few episodes you choose to watch. Bon voyage!

The first thing I did after I first finished watching this movie was to go on the IMDb website to check if it was, in fact, 124 minutes long. I wanted to ensure that my DVD wasn't messed up, and that I had watched the entire movie, because I was afraid I'd missed a few of its scenes. That's how confusing it had been the first time. I had to watch the movie again before I could understand it and make sense of the events. It might be confusing, but it is a great watch for the entire family, for both parents and children alike. No matter how old you are, you'll be able to connect to this movie and you will love it. I've often heard that this anime film is best-known for it's animation, but to me, the story's execution was most fascinating. A MUST-WATCH (and I'd recommend using subtitles no matter what language you're watching it in).