In 2001, the film Dil Chahta Hai was at least a minor revelation. Made with a technical skill and a disregard for many common Hindi film wisdoms, it set the bar for the many youthful movies in the following decade and beyond. At the time, one of the major reasons it caught the attention of…
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In 1996, Sunil Shetty had more than half a dozen film releases. They were all likely action/revenge/angry-young-man pot-boilers of various kinds, and Shastra was one of them. I’ve never seen the film, from what I can remember, and it is difficult to remember because so many of these very similar products were released in the…
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Dil Chahta Hai will remain a landmark film in the world of Hind cinema for many reasons. While it didn’t have the sheer bravado of something like Lagaan from earlier that year, this 2001 film included a change in what was possible within the old tropes, it introduced some important players, and it re-introduced some…
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The 1998 film Ghulam will be remembered for many reasons. It remains director Vikram Bhatt‘s best film (from what I’ve seen), Aamir Khan sang a song in it, in some ways it marked the beginning of Aamir Khan moving away from his popular romantic hero image to being considered a serious actor, and while it…
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Jo haal dil ka is a very strange song. It’s strange only in the context in which it is presented. After all, heroines in wet, clingy clothes, mouthing sensual songs near waterfalls and other convenient water features is hardly strange for a Hindi film; It’s par for the course, but this song has no attempt…
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When Pehla nasha, from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, first played on screens large and small in 1992, and Aamir Khan appeared in a loud red shirt and flung his sweater into the picturesque landscape behind him, in slow motion, you knew something had changed and that something new was beginning. Pehla nasha went on to…
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