Baabul (2006)

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

¤ Big B:: Starts off as a pampered Papa and later dons the cap of Rajaram Mohan Roy. As an actor he has gone beyond the stage of judgement. The penultimate moments are reserved for the lion to roar.¤ Dream Girl:: Not quite as good as "Baghbaan" in terms of characterisation for the simple fact that this time the Bahu hogs the entire lime-light resulting in animosity in the "Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi" episode.¤ Rani Mukherjee:: Personally I found the character was presented in OTT. Wonder why the character was presented with a complete "U" turn.¤ Salman/ John:: In their own right, they were just a regular fare.¤ Sarika:: Very short role but it was nice to see her in a Big B movie after Nastik.The usual "Baghbaan" cast Aman Verma, Avtar Gill, Sharat Saxena were adequate.Films from the baton of B R Chopra are noted for the social message that is interlaced in them. It had a fair success riding on their USP. The last outing "Baghbaan" created a milestone in its own right primarily because the social issue it addressed was staring right in the face of "India Shining" and the audience was able to instant connect with "Reverse Mortgage". In the next outing, taking "widow remarriage" as the key-issue with the same ingredients, does it manage to recreate the "Baghbaan" magic? Sadly not because its not quite a burning issue in contemporary times and it comes across as the character (Rani Mukherjee) sans practicality/ common sense to the extent of nearly classified as an emotional fool.

Well all i can say that I really enjoyed this film it was very unique and different compared to other Indian films that i have watched in the past,i mean most Indian films nowadays have the same sort of storyline, a man meets woman, they fall in love, a sleazy item number to make the movie sell and the happy couple get married, LoL but there was something different about this film that made me go and watch it in the cinema and i am very glad that i did go and see this movie.Basically what the story is about Sallu meets rani's character, fall in love, have a child and get married. Sallu parents are played by Big B who's role in this movie was just fantastic and the beautiful Hema Malini who i have admired and watched her films since i was a child. Om Puri was also very good in this film too. Sallu And Rani get married and have a child and then sadly he dies in a car crash, i mean when i saw the scene i was pretty shocked, it was really well directed. So Rani is alone with the child and she and her in laws find it hard to come to terms with his death.Rani had a best friend whom she has known since she was a child played by John Abraham, he too gave a great preforms in the film and was well suited for his role. Now John has been in love with Rani since he was a child and never told her how he felt, Big B decides that the best thing for everyone is to get Rani and John married, he was the right bloke for her and loved her dearly.Rani does not approve at first and them comes round and the last half and hour of the film would be the best part of the movie in my opinion, all of Big B's family are against the Marrige taken place and they try to stop it, apparently in India women should or are not allowed to get married if there first husband has passed away, i mean why???? and i completely disagree with this , it is totally wrong and immoral, i mean a woman is allowed to live ain't' she? if i was in that situation i would marry again for the sake of my child and my own happiness. So Big B gives this wonderful speech and Om Puri agrees for the couple to be married, so John and Ran do get married in the end and live happily ever after.The songs were mind blowing in the film also, and the Saree's were really lovely too. I really think that you all should go and watch this great family film and take your parents with you too.

Okay, in all fairness this movie didn't deserve to flop and perhaps it wouldn't have had it not been for the controversial issues surrounding the plot and well, yeah maybe that Salman Khan. Nevertheless, I would say definitely see it (if you haven't already) for the stellar cast, awe-inspiring leading performances by Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee, as well as memorable supporting turns by John Abraham (who manages to upstage Khan, with very little effort might I add), Om Puri and Hema Mallini.In summary, the film revolves around a young man named Avinash (played by Khan) who returns home to India upon studying overseas and bumps into the girl of his dreams, Milli (played by Mukherjee). In order to win her affection he plays down his rich boy persona by inventing series of lies that help the attraction and eventual love between blossom. But sooner than latter the truth comes out and Avinash's dad (Played by Bachchan) steps in to plead on his son behalf keep his son from being deserted by his sweetheart. All of this leads to a very dramatic and overdone (mostly on the part of Mr. Salman Khan and his weird theatrics) marriage proposal. But not before we are introduced to Rajat (played by John Abraham) Milli's best-friend since childhood who (in case you haven't guesses it) harbours deep affection for Milli as well. Nevertheless, he keeps his feelings secret and allows Milli to marry. Years later a horrible tragedy reunites the two childhood friends and leads to the major dose of controversy in the film, which ties the whole plot together.My main issues with Baabul were: 1. The length - especially because the unnecessary scenes were less than few and far between. They had a good story to tell but stuffed it up with a bunch of crap at the seams. They should have cut a lot of the Avinash scenes because in all essence, the meat of the movie had to do with Milli and her father-in-law.2. "Buddy! Buddy! Buddy." Nough Said.3. The whole scene surrounding Avinash and Milli bumping into each other at the airport but not formally meeting has been so overdone in Hindi movies that I could have done without seeing it one more time. Then to add insult atop of injury, they also had the nerve to do the very cliché 'walk away, look back. walk away look back' lovers last glance crap in another scene. Um, hello! Get creative.4. The painfully shameless product endorsements of items like Taj Mahal Chai, Sergie Donuts or whatever it said on that shirt Avinash was wearing, Eros Jewellry, Dove soap, Audi, Mercedes Benz just to mention a few. If you're going to roll it with the credits, why do you also feel the need to bombard us with the products during the film?5. The drag racing scene between father and son at the beginning of the movie, how irresponsible and unnecessary was that??? Bollywood needs to stop glorifying dangerous and reckless behaviour.There was absolutely no suspense within the film, you could predict what would happen next in almost every scene but thankfully the explosive ending vindicated the entire nearly 3 hour film. Without any upfront competition from any actress her age in the entire film, Rani Mukherji had room to shine, glow, shimmer and whatever else they could afford for her to do throughout the film. She owned every scene she was in and I must admit that she was better (both in her acting as well as dressing) in this film than in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. The music was also very good, especially the hauntingly beautiful score. I give Baabul an A-

A reviewer once said about Bollywood that "if it's a colour, use it" and Baabul is anything if not colourful. There are lots of what could be euphemistically described as vibrant colours on screen at any given time. The plot, such as it is, revolves around love found, love lost and love re-found. All clocking in at little under three hours, with the characters bursting into song at the slightest provocation. Some of the choreography for the song and dance sequences must have taken ages to put together. As usual in Indian films, kissing is taboo and the romantic sequences are remarkably chaste by western standards. All the actors should have life memberships of the academy of over-acting. Emotional nuance is not really the name of the game here. But the actors sure are good looking, even those with grandchildren. They seem to have discovered the fountain of youth. While all of this doesn't sound like a glowing review, points have to be granted for the sheer positive life-force of this film and its life affirming message.