Nayak: The Real Hero (2001)

What you call a film like NAYAK?It has a message, it has a good topic but it's handling is a mishmashIt sometimes is like a social drama and sometimes veers into a surreal modeIt's like a south film, not surprising directed by Shankar a south Indian directorThe film starts rather painfully with a bad joke by Johny and Razzak Khan and they are many of such incidentsThe turn of events like the riot is ruined by melodramatic and exxegarrated picturisationThe interview too is too contrived to take seriously, also Anil made an interviewer from a cameraman is also sillyBut the things Anil does to change the state of affairs is well handled though it's too contrived to believe that it can be done in 1 day Also the film has too many stupid scenes like Anil getting into disguises and fighting with a goon over a truck Paresh's outburst forcing Anil to join politics again is well handled and also the finale Direction by Shankar is good in parts Music is okayAnil Kapoor looks his best here and he dons the role perfectly his formal clothes, his natural acting and his common man type look suits the role Rani annoys as his girlfriend doing all the nonsense she mostly does in most films Amongst rest Pooja Bhatra is okay, Johny Lever hams it up as usual and irritates Amrish Puri is good in his part though a bit too much Saurabh Shukla is funny Paresh is a highlight, he is a natural hope to watch him in such roles now. His outburst is perfect Amongst rest Shivaji Satham is okay Vikram Gokhale has done dubbing for Anil's father while Neena Kulkarni is as usual

A very silly, bright and brash comic book of a film that highlights Indias significant corruption problems but still entertains. Despite starring the old and hairy Anil Kapoor and the awful Johnny Lever in an irritating first ten minutes this film is bursting with vibrant colour, grand song sequences and energy. Rani is as stunning as ever in her occasional appearances as the love interest and sports a rare (but very welcome!) cute village girl look.Old Anil does surprisingly well as the journalist who turns Ramboesque Chief Minister for a day. He immediately sets about sorting out India single-handed saving dying kids, cutting out corruption, kicking ass and defusing bombs. The highlight being a cheeky Matrix influenced fight scene! The lowpoint being Rani kissing his fat hairy stomach.. gross! The plot is simple, far stretched and a bit of boys superhero fantasy. It won't trouble any brain cells but the three hours whizz by.. a real old school entertainer.

What impressed me most about the movie is the tightness of the script. Events unfold one after the other. Neither too fast, nor too slow. Keeps you gripped. The events are coherent. Something you rarely see in Indian movies is people referring to events that have happened in the beginning of the movie. More often than not, the scripts are improvised on the sets and to maintain continuity the dialogues are abstract in nature so that the different parts gel in. To make a movie with cross references to subtle events needs you to have a script very firmly in place.Second good thing about the movie was the experimentation with Visuals. Though at some points I felt that they have just indulged into special effects without the need for it (they should use effects only where needed), but honestly I was very impressed by the efforts taken to meet quality standards.What has put off many people about the movie is the songs and dance and the unrealistic fights and some silly extremisms. Well the songs really don't have much bearing on the movie. And they have experimented with a very rustic style of entertainment which won't get wasted on everyone. As far as the fights and 'silly extremisms' go, I feel they tried to retain the HERO flavour which would really appeal to a large aspect of the masses.The movie has very innovative ideas and also dares to be different - thougt most of that part should be attributed to its South Indian Counterpart.I would say please go and see the movie. Its a nice experience. Appreciate it for its professionalism and technical expertise. Appreciate it for amazing dialogues and great performances by Paresh Rawal and Anil Kapoor both. It is a thought provoking film - something I feel the movie really set out to be. So its purpose is served.

The director has done a good job with this movie. It is thought-provoking and inspirational. The plot is along the lines of "What if I were the President or the Prime Minister of the country for a day" essays that we have all written in our school days. Not only does it expose corruption in various aspects of life (which is not really new) but it also offers genuine solutions in tackling those problems. There are enough twists in the plot to keep you glued to your seat. I was disappointed with Rani Mukherjee's role which is insignificant and restricted to singing songs with the "Hero". Unfortunately, the songs aren't great. If I could edit the movie to delete the songs and the long fights, I would. But overall, if it inspires even one good soul to enter politics, that would be great. Three cheers to the director!