DABANGG! Vintage Masala's Resurrection!

Bollywood-born Robinhood, Chulbul Pandey (Salman Khan) is capable of crying but still masculine to the core, in true Hindi cinema style. And did anyone say 'fear'? That is certainly a concept unknown to this 'Dabangg' hero (I can still hear a trail of ladies sighing as they come out of the cinema hall).

Cop... lover... rebel Chulbul happens to lose his attachment to family in his childhood when his widowed mother, Naini (Dimple Kapadia), marries Prajapati Pandey (Vinod Khanna), with whom she has son Makhanchan (Arbaaz Khan). Chulbul will only find the worth of family ties later down the line, once he meets and decides to marry exquisite Rajo (Sonakshi Sinha).

Pure masala is not usually my cup of tea as I often suffer from Western-cinema-viewer's syndrome. However, 'Dabangg' had me cracking up from the very first action scene and grooving to its fantabulous soundtrack (by Sajid-Wajid). Salman's mass appeal and power is absolutely undisputable in this film, where he rules the screen non-stop, surely getting cinemas packed with his cool macho quotient, comic timing and spot-on performance.

 

Abhinav Kahsyap directs a mad roller coaster of emotion, action, romance and almost every other genre he wanted to explore in 'Dabangg'  making it a hardcore masala that is evocative of 70s Bolly/Tollywood flicks while managing to throw some truly slick action effects for a more modern experience. "Where did the script go?" some may wonder. And we reply: "Who cares?!". Salman Khan is so brilliant at playing his character that it becomes difficult to tease them both apart. Hats off to Khan, who indeed truly becomes not only Chulbul Pandey - the man who can grab the sun in his hand - but also single-handedly succeeds in INCARNATING the entire film! 

Sonakshi Sinha is paired as Salman's love interest and can set the screen ablaze with her eyes, proving that she is a promising actress whom we look forward to seeing more of soon. Senior actors such as Anupam Kher, Om Puri, Dimple Kapadia and Vinod Khanna are of course always a pleasure to watch. However, with 'Dabangg' one should not expect a meaningful film with complex roles that may bring their deepest talent to the fore.  

All this said, go ahead: get that ticket, sit back and don't forget to put on your seatbelt. The 'Dabangg' ride is not mind-stimulating but it sure can entertain the wits out of many an audience. Expect vintage masala, a Dharmendra-like climax and lots of 'Matrix' type action with smart alecky lines brilliantly delivered by Salman Khan and you will be ready for a delirious and fun ride.

Director: Abhinav Kashyap
Producer: Arbaaz Khan
Banner: Shri Ashtavinayak Cine Visions
Music Director: Sajid-Wajid
Lyricist: Jalees Sherwani, Faiz Anwar and Lalit Pandit
Cast: Salman Khan, Sonu Sood, Sonakshi Sinha, Arbaaz Khan, Mahie Gill, Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Om Puri, Anupam Kher, Tinnu Anand, Mahesh Manjrekar, Amitosh Nagpal, Murli Sharma

Dabangg official website
Buy the 'Dabangg' soundtrack

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TUM MILO TO SAHI A lukewarm meeting of souls

'Tum Milo Toh Sahi' is a film I personally placed high expectations on, mainly due to the promise of watching its veteran actors and to its central theme: generation and life differences in an ever evolving India at the height of modernization.

The film concentrates on the story of 3 Mumbaikar couples whose lives come into contact due to the greedy purchase of a traditional and cozy coffeehouse by a powerful multinational.

1^st couple: Subramanium (Nana Patekar) is a simple man with a grouchy edge who gets dismissed from his job in a multinational company, after 30 years of service. He and Delshad Nanji (Dimple Kapadia) meet at a supermarket over a broken bottle that both refuse to pay. They subsequently have several comic occasions to fight before they become fond of each other. Delshad owns a popular café in Mumbai, the Lucky Café, and instills her love to it with energetic charm.

2^nd couple: Amit & Anitha (Suniel Shetty and Vidya Malvade) are a middle-aged couple in crisis and have one child. Amit is the stereotype businessman who "lives to work" and Anitha consistently pleas him to "work to live" instead, so that he can have enough time to dedicate to his family. Amit's ambition drives him to help the multinational that hires him to acquire Delshad Nanji's (refer to 1^st couple above) coffeehouse against her will.

3^rd couple: Vikram (Rehan Khan) is a sweet small town young man who has just arrived in Mumbai. He falls inevitably in love with Shalini (Anjana Sukhani), an independent girl who works for the film industry. Both Vikram and Shalini are among the regular customers of Delshad's Lucky Café and together with other students and Delshad's friends, will protest against Amit's multinational, taking up the mission of avoiding their favorite café from being repurchased and losing its soul.

Despite the film's promising subject, I confess I agree with most critics and a majority of the audience in saying that the film has a very strong soap-opera feel to it except for Nana Patekar's absolutely brilliant and show-stealing performance. While Dimple Kapadia also conveys well her character's strong will and a candid Rehan Khan looks promising, the rest of the cast unfortunately fails to carry a weak script and dialogues. The soundtrack and background score unfortunately do not succeed in lifting up the film either, leaving spectators feeling as if they had watched a bad musical adaptation of a good and honest film.

While director Kabir Sadanand does succeed in directing comic anecdotes, his direction of drama requires seasoned or very talented actors to give scenes the necessary credibility and depth. Working on better script dialogues and coherent musical interludes might allow him to pull off a better film next time.

If you are interested in an acting master class, I suggest you purchase the 'Tum Milo Toh Sahi' DVD upon its release in order to watch Nana Patekar's high class performance… You might sadly want to fast forward a couple of times during the film otherwise.

Release Date: 2 April 2010
Producer: Nikhil Panchamiya
Director: Kabir Sadanand
Cast:
Nana Patekar...... Rajagopal Subramanium
Dimple Kapadia...... Delshad Nanji
Rehan Khan...... Bikramjeet Singh
Sunil Shetty...... Amit Nagpal
Vidya Malvade...... Anita Nagpal
Anjana Sukhani...... Shalini Kasbekar
Screenplay:
Rajen Makhijani
Sameer Siddiqui
Kabir Sadanand

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Saagar Songs Download [MP3] [1985]

Saagar which was released in 1985 is a film directed by Ramesh Sippy. The film starred Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia, along with Kamal Hassan. I would not tell much about the movie, but the songs are great, with 'Saagar Kinare' as the best number of the album. The songs are composed by the late R. D. Burman and lyrics is from Javed Akhtar. I hope you enjoy the songs!

Free Direct MP3 Links! To Download Saagar Songs,
Right Click and Choose 'Save Target As'. Enjoy!

1. Jaane Do Naa - Asha Bhosle, Shailendra Singh
2. O Maria - Asha Bhosle, S. P. Balasubramaniam
3. Saagar Jaisi Aankhonwali - Kishore Kumar
4. Saagar Kinare (duet) - Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar
5. Saagar Kinare (female) - Lata Mangeshkar
6. Sach Mere Yaar Hai - S. P. Balasubramaniam
7. Yoon Hi Gaate Raho - S. P. Balasubramaniam, Kishore Kumar

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Dil Chahta Hai Songs Download [MP3] [2001]

Dil Chahta Hai is a film written and directed by then-newcomer Farhan Akhtar and released in 2001, starring Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni and Dimple Kapadia. It is set in modern-day urban Mumbai and focuses on a major period of transition in the lives of three young friends.The music is wonderful and is scored by the famous trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and the lyrics is given by Javed Akhtar. The songs are awesome and its worth. I like Tanhayee the most and others are also great.

Free Direct MP3 Links! To Dil Chahta Hai Songs Download,
Right click and choose 'Save Target As'. Enjoy!

1. Akash's Love Theme - Mike Harvey
2. Dil Chahta Hai - Shankar Mahadevan
3. Jaane Kyon Log - Alka Yagnik & Udit Narayan
4. Kaisi Hai Yeh Rut - Srinivas
5. Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe - KK, Shaan & Shankar Mahadevan
6. Tanhayee - Sonu Nigam
7. Woh Ladki Hai Kahan - Shaan & Kavita Krishnamurthy
8. Dil Chahta Hai - Reprise
   

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