User Reviews

I just came back from watching 'Baabul' and I really liked it. 'Baabul' deals with a widow's rehabilitation. It begins with Avinash Kapoor's return to India after his studies in the U.S. He has an extraordinary relationship with his parents especially with his father Balraj who is more than a normal father but his best friend. Although they are wealthy and lead a quite modern life on the surface, traditions are given lots of weight by Balraj's brother. Shortly after his return Avinash meets Malvika. She is a painter and quite passionate. They fall in love. Rajat, a singer and Millie's childhood friend, has more than just friend-like feelings for her but he does not express them, especially not after Millie tells him how much she has fallen in love for Avi. Millie and Avi marry and are blessed with a son, Ansh. As it is already written in the plot outline, destiny strikes hard and the wonderful world of the couple, their little son and Avinash's parents collapses when Avi dies in an accident. While Balraj and his wife derive a little bit of comfort from Ansh and his love, Millie falls in a state of depression. Now, Balraj decides to give her life a new meaning especially because he does not regard her as a daughter-in-law but more as his own daughter. He does not want her to live her whole life in solitude and despair - what the society claims her to do - but bring colours back into it. He is even ready to defy traditions and old values just to see Millie find her smile again. But on his way to do so he has to cope with his elder brother and even his wife. The first half of the movie is filled with a lot of 'masti' and light entertainment in form of song and dance sequences and Millie and Avis' love. In the second half a lot of tissues must be used. The dialogs throughout the movie are really great and well-written, so is the climax. As for the main characters Balraj and Millie, both, Rani and Amitabh do a fantastic job and play their roles with persuasion. Amitabh is in his best form and Rani adds another outstanding performance to her already impressive list of excellent-played characters. Although the movie has its flaws and won't be appreciated by everyone - just like any other movie -, who cares as long as it is entertaining. 'Baabul' has it all: Fun, love, dance, happy and sad moments as well as very good performances from the whole cast but fantastic ones from Amitabh and Rani. A piece of great entertainment for families. Go and watch it!

Really, if they wanted to show that widows can remarry then they should have made it like this : Even though Sallu dies, Rani gets over him in 5-6 yrs. But throughout the whole ordeal John was with her, helping her through. After some time she starts dating John and falls in love with him and then they get married and then all the drama. I mean, the movie was made in such modern style yet that same old ghissi pitti story ? Why ? I really didn't expect this from a director who made Baghban. Including the fact that it looked like as if Rani didn't even wanted to get married . Why the heck can't they leave a woman single? What's the big deal ? Throw in the bad acting { even from John} , boring songs, and a movie soooo slow that it successfully put me to sleep . {I had to watch it again. No, I'm kidding at this. Dead .Serious. )Jeez! And Rani and Sallu looked bad. Sallu looked as if he had wrinkles.Why can't Rani for once in her life change her style? Hema somehow really irritated me with way she speaks.Gosh !How on earth was a movie like that made? Especially in an year where really good different movies were being made ?Those who are against widows remarrying will continue to do so even after watching this movie. This really didn't get any point across. So what was the point ? This movie is just made to bore us ?and make no sense? and use a solution to a problem used in the '60s and '70s which was totally nonsense?? Please!

Here we have a quite modern family, son staying in U.S.for 7 years and all that, with the most modern cars, a big luxury house with sprawling lawns, domestic help at the finger tips, and the father and son duo calling each other buddy ! Even the lady of the house can shake the leg or two , to add to the fun ! However, it's the other brother, played by Om Puri, in his typical style, quite convincingly, that plays the part of a square peg in an other wise round hole ! the movie starts off breezily, with lighter moments, romance, and some fun ! however, Salman khan with eye bags, and Rani looking washed out this time, it's a little hard to digest, that they are so new to the game of love ! the age shows ! In fact, Hema Malini looks much more prettier than Rani, even at this age ! the age old formula of the hero hiding his true connections, is once again repeated here ! Over to the birth of a baby, growing up, and all that ! then the sudden accidental death of Salman, and now it's the second chapter, in specially, Rani's life !

aware of her earlier friendship with Rajat, played reasonably well, but some how giving an impression of miscasting against Rani, and in this particular role, some questions arise, like why did he not try to find out, how Rani is, when he loved her so deeply ? Then there are all those tension mounting in the family situation, when Amitabh decides to bring Rani and Abraham together, but every body is against ! And then while the other widow in the family, that is Pushpa, enacted by Sarika, speaks out for the first time, about her woes, but briefly, does the old fashioned other brother realizes, that the social customs are not greater than the human beings, traditions could be questioned, if needed ! Happy ending, after much tear jerking ! But the point is, this problem of widow remarriage, is getting absolutely out-dated, specially in the affluent society's ! Premrog, another movie, handling this problem, was much more touching, because it was a period film, and dealt with the traditional household of Lanlords ! Here, in Babul, we have the convenient back drop of a most modern household, with narrow mindsets, only for fueling the crisis, which is more or less artificial, to that extent, and context ! Wouldn't it have been proper for the father-in-law, to take every body in confidence, including his mature wife, rather than flashing an expensive wedding card in her face, or going ahead with the ceremony, with such pomp and show ? but after all, what else can you expect in an Indian cinema, with it's one eye on the box ? the songs are good for the score, but not for the lyrics, especially, the one when Rajat performs live ! they are too prosaic, and lack the flow of a poetic content one expects ! the voices of the play back singers do not match, and therefore, seem odd ! and that Qawali type of Urdu style number, when every body dances Mujara type, is absolutely out of place , for a Hindu family !

How can the viewer relate to a problem, which does not touch the cord of probability ? the current situations, and the social scenario, have different problems, as a lot of water has flown under the bridge since then ! Good performances, and a lot of extravaganza simply wasted over an outdated issue ! Tut, Tut, wish the story writer could have at least consulted a sociologist, before coming out with this brilliant idea ! And some tips to Rani ! better stick to your earlier dress designer, and health consultant, otherwise , the end of your career is near ! Stick to your Paheli, and kabhi Alvida.. Chalte Chalte looks, and please eat well ! All which suits Zinta, is not meant for you, Rani, we like you as you are ! And God ! why did they have to pick up the muscle man Salman ? Congratulations Amitabh ! one can watch this movie, at least for your sake, if nothing else !

Being out of the loop I did not know about this movie until now. I do not know what the general reaction to this movie was, can only hope it was a super flop. The point of the movie seems to be that widow remarriage is a good thing. Agreed. But this movement had started more than a century ago and I don't think exists in the upper classes in urban Mumbai (which is where the movie is based). So, the movie should have been set where this is still an issue (like the movie WATER). OK now let's allow the movie some artistic license. So, what is it that we learn from this movie? We learn that women have the right to a happy and fulfilling life even if their husbands are dead. And how are they to have this life - by getting themselves another HUSBAND!!! And that too she should not fight for her rights and demand such a thing but hope that her patriarchal father-in-law has the goodness of heart to ALLOW her to remarry. Really, is the concept of women's rights, women's own identity so alien to Bollywood? AAKHIR KYON. This was a commercial movie made in Bollywood more than 30 YEARS ago and even that talked about the importance and necessity of a woman having her own identity. Seriously, does Bollywood suffer from Collective Amnesia? I can only end with AAKHIR KYON?

This movie has a lack of excitement and energy and brings us to the brink of boredom during the first 1 hour 45 minutes, after this initial part the rest of the movie is very well composed and the actors have done well to lift up the movie in this period. Initial part of the movie shows the inexperience of the director to keep audience interested. If the movie be edited so that the initial 1 hour 45 minutes be compressed to 30 to 40 minutes the movie would be a treat to see.

Anyway the movie is all about widow marriage. Where Balraj Kapoor (Amitabh Bachchan) tries to get happiness into his daughter-in-law Malvika Talwar's(Rani Mukherjee) life who is sad and depressed due the dead of her husband and Balraj Kapoor's son Avinash Kapoor(Salman Khan) by getting her to marry Rajat(John Abraham). This is objected by Balraj's wife and brother played by Hema Malini and Om puri.

I can't believe this movie wasn't titled 'Buddy' - that's how father-and-son Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan keep referring to each other throughout this predictable film with a widow-remarriage theme. Ravi Chopra suffers from a Baghban hangover and tries to replicate its success here. And fails.

The first half is the syrupy-sweet half of a Karan Johar flick - with its loving family and designer parties and you keep wondering why you weren't born into a family like that.

America-returned Salman (he returns after 7 years, a possible take on the saat janam ka saath theme) woos golf-enthusiast Rani. A few cups of tea and golf lessons later, the couple receive the blessings of Bachchan and Hema Malini and settle down to a lifetime of family life.

Almost.

Salman gets run down by a car while coming back to his young son's birthday party (apparently he was never taught in school to look left-right-left while crossing roads).

Enter Rani weeping. She's been doing that for ages now (Black, KANK) and we're tired of those tears streaming down her eyes. The widowed daughter-in-law bothers Big B and he strives for ways to make the roses in her garden bloom again. He turns to John Abraham, Rani's childhood friend who still cherishes a secret love for her.

From then on, the film trudges on towards its destined end. Throw in a few villains (Read extended family of tauji Om Puri, Aman Varma and Parmeet Sethi) to preach about how bringing widows to a wedding and getting them married brings bad luck. Sarika frowns and weeps in her guest appearance as Bachchan's long-widowed sis-in-law. She's not alone - Hema weeps, Rani weeps, John weeps, Big B weeps and in the end even Om Puri (when he suddenly decides he has sinned by berating widows) can't help shedding a few tears.

On second thoughts, this film is still worth a watch despite its storyline. Music by Aadesh Shrivastav is surprisingly of the non-grating variety. Big B turns playback singer with his sterling rendition of Kehta hai Baabul. Salman is his usual effervescent self, Hema Malini is as regal as ever, even John impresses in downcast-lover mode.

On the flipside, we have some shoddy costume designing. Rani looks like a parrot in some scenes while the very sight of John in white trousers and white shoes would send shivers down Jeetendra's spine. Thank God Ravi Chopra is now directing a comedy - I am just about sick of didactic movies trying to change society.

As for audience reactions, the usual suspects - middle-aged aunties - waxed eloquent about the movie while a couple of youngsters left midway. Take your pick.

I found Baabul a B-category movie with an A-list-casting. The story, about a young girl being widowed, and the challenges she faces to try and get married again, is really an interesting idea, even though I am not sure whether it still is a common social problem amongst Hindustanis.

There's two reasons which make the movie quite bad: Salman Khan and Screenplay/Dialogue.

I don't know what people see in Salman Khan, but by the gods, this man CAN NOT act. He sounds like he is a half-German, half-Indian class B actor who is dubbing himself over in real-time. His post-modern interpretation of Romantic Love reminds me more of freshly laid asphalt then of anything else. Why do people still hire him? Were they out of money after Amitabh, Malini and Rani signed up?I found him so irritating that I could not suppress a small 'yay' when he gets run over by a car, halfway through the movie. "Great" I thought, "now let's get on with the people who CAN act and make it a good movie".

The second reason: at about three quarters of the movie, I suddenly realized something: if at this, or at any point in the movie, any of the characters would suddenly be played by another actor, it probably wouldn't change any of the dialogue, screenplay or anything else. If Rani would have been replaced in every other scene by let's say Kajol, Priyanka Chopra and an anonymous street vendor from Kolkata, the movie would go on. Now, that may seem an interesting achievement, but it isn't: it shows that many of the people involved just did not care about the actors, the plot and the movie. Screenplay and dialogue should be made to fit the actors: this is what makes chemistry and empathy possible. This just felt like the producers and director thought of this movie as 'another day at the office'. This comes out during the climax: at the point where even hard and sturdy men like me should break down and cry: "oh yes, that's so true, how can humans be so cruel?", you just don't feel anything.

The reason why I don't give the movie lower then a six, is that: well, at least the movie is tolerable. The camera-work is quite nice, the idea is quite nice, and the songs are not that bad. So, if you must see it, buy it on DVD and watch it at home when you have nothing else to do.

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-