Armaan (2003)

The funding of hospitals is never easy. There is always a constant demand for new equipment, medical researchers and other staff have to be paid and debts have to be met.. If you can find a rich donor who would like to see his name emblazoned on the hospital walls, lucky you….providing of course the conditions laid down by the donor are not too demanding.In this film a top neurosurgeon Akash Sinha (Anil Kapoor) is compelled to make an unusual decision. In order to save his hospital from closure, he must marry the rich donor's spoilt and somewhat hysterical daughter Soniya Kapoor (Preity Zinta). Akash must sacrifice his love for Neha Mathure (Grace Singh) his charming anesthetist and constant support in all medical matters.If you haven't guessed it by now, the dialogue of this film is in Hindi and it is given the whole Bollywood treatment. It is adequately sub-titled, but you'll need a comfortable chair because the running time is a little less than three hours. It's a strange mixture of a film. Apart from the hospital's basic problems, there is the eternal triangle of one man and two women. The romantic drama is well played out, the gentle Neha swept off her feet by Akash and selfish Soniya doing her best to destroy their love for each other. Soniya is forever having tantrums which keeps the action alive. Some of her wild scenes are reminiscent of the Bette Davis technique.If at any time you are becoming a little weary of the dialogue, rest assured the principal actors will burst into song and you will begin to wonder if this is a musical after all. But no! This is the Bollywood style, and the overpowering music takes up every change of mood and comes crashing down all around you. The Indian population must like this style of entertainment. It's almost as if the film makers are determined to give their patrons three hours of intense pleasure.The characters in the film are well defined and the scenario easy to follow. The photography is brilliant and the music, as I said, encroaches a little too forcefully over the action. As for the dance and song routines which interrupt the dramatic sequences, I guess they are a matter of choice. They give you a "breather" , I suppose, in the very long film and add to the whole night's entertainment.

The Indian film Industry needs revival, since it is stagnating with mediocrity in talent and the mediocrity is put on the pedestal and worshipped by few biased morons of the Indian Media, who have no clue about class, aesthetics or process of review. "Armaan" is a one of the movies after a decade of decadence that spells a ray of hope, a wiff of fresh air. The casting could't be any better. When you have two stel warts of the Indian Cinema portraying father and Son, you can only expect some poignant moments and cinematic brilliance. There is no headshaking or filthy gyrations, pelvic thrusts as seen im the movies that has the Bollywood scums--the Khans-that is played out in the name of Choreography and acting and this is not representative of Indian Cinema. Amitab Bachchan the "Al Pacino" of the Indian Films has given one of his trademark portrayals so much so you wish there was more of him to see. Gracy Singh has class and elegance and act she can-indeed well. I hope we can see more of this talented actress. Anil Kapoor is the finest actor in the genre of "Robert De Nero" an all-rounder and the ultimate actor that the Indian Cinema is blessed with. Overall I like this movie-"I really,really,like this movie", if I can borrow the exuberation from Sally Field on her Oscar nomination.

One of the best Hindi movies in recent times. absolutely great. Almost a classic! The movie is quite different in the way it has been dealt with. Very nice and laid back.the performances are some of the best I have seen.Amitabh is Amitabh, superb! quite different from what he has done recently and yeah nothing like Mohabbatein(to those who thought he is playing the usual father).Anil Kapoor is mind blowing. One of the best role of his career.Reminds a lot of Sanjeev Kumar. Very restrained and thoughtful. Gracy singh blew me away with her maturity. Just her second movie(even though she had some small role in Hu Tu Tu). she is comfortable in romantic and emotional scenes. Preity Zinta is good too and this has to be her best performance.Worth a watch for everything! Music is extremely pleasing to the ears! Photography is good. I have to admit that I enjoyed the movie much more on the subsequent viewings as compared to the first. One of those rare movies, where such things happen. Best Hindi movie since Dil Chahta Hai.

I must admit that after seeing this film the first time a couple of weeks ago I was less than impressed. Bachchan, of course, was excellent, but I felt that movie was missing something, or maybe it was trying to hard to be something else, or perhaps it was Preity Zinta's villainous departure from her previous girl-next-door roles.....I wasn't sure.....But, upon watching it a second time yesterday, the film's brilliant subtlety exploded on the screen. It was all there: wonderful dialogues and performances from Bachchan, Kapoor, Singh (and -- yes - Zinta: she's a little over-the-top in her performance, but in the end the effect works [the character she creates truly is weird/creepy]); a remarkably restrained and appropriate camera style from Verman (including his interesting use of 180-degree-arc two-shots during key dialogues); outstanding sound recording and perspective matching from Kamte and Dev; brilliant music and choreography (sans the chorus lines); and some excellent writing -- particularly the development of key thematic parallels and negations. For example, Irani masterfully, yet subtly, contrasts the two dominant child-parent relationships -- Soniya-Gulshan and Akash-Siddharth -- to comment quietly on the impact of western materialism on the values of successful Indians living abroad. The theme is reinforced by the masterfully directed wedding scene -- starkly devoid of the colorful mise-en-scene, music, and traditional practices that are picturized in typical Hindi film weddings -- in essence emphasizing the alien(ated) character of the proposed relationship. The effect is reminiscent of Subhash Ghai's Pardes (1997), but without the grandstanding that dominates the earlier film. Additionally, Irani's selection of neurosurgery as Akash's profession provides an excellent metaphor for the exploration of the film's climatic theme, which --without giving too much away -- involves the resolution of a key moral dilemma.All-in-all, Irani demonstrates remarkable restraint and deftness in her directorial debut. The film's naturalistic look belies the subtle thematic complexities that inform the storyline. Watch this film more than once -- you might be surprised!