Storyline

Circa British rule over India in the year 1942 where Indians are either revolutionaries or supporters of the British. In the midst there is wealthy Narendra Singh alias Naren whose romance with a poor yet beautiful girl, Rajeshwari Pathak alias Rajjo brew changes over the entire scenario but unfortunately there are complications in their relationship as Naren's father, Diwan Hari Singh is an informer of the British, who for his loyalty attain the title of Mayor while Rajjo's father, Raghuvir Pathak is one of the many Indians who are revolutionaries against the British with a motive of a free India.—gavin (racktoo@hotmail.com)

Plot Keywords

horse riding, explosion, bomb, crowd, blood, cruelty, shot in the head, psychopath, death of husband, burned to death, person on fire, uprising, revolution, hanging, horse, library, love triangle, saved from hanging, torture, father daughter relationship

Short Review

Anil Kapoor and Manisha Koirala give superb performances in this romantic drama directed Vidhu Vinod Chopra as a young Indian couple who are both from wealthy backgrounds. But they find themselves caught up in the 1940s Indian revolutionary movement and this threatens to destroy their relationship.The two leads suit the lead roles very well and give one of the best performances of their careers, while there is very solid support to be had from Jackie Shroff in his role as Shubhankar.The direction from Chopra is very solid because he keeps a good pace going throughout, while at the same time keeping a very tense atmosphere due to what the film is about and the chemistry between the two leads is very impressive because it shows how much they love each other. The script is very well written by the director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali (who would go on to be one of the master directors of Indian Cinema) and Kamna Chandra.This swept the board at the Filmfare awards winning nine prizes - for Supporting Actor (Shroff) and for its superb set, excellent camerawork, decent editing and very good sound design. It also took home awards for its solid score from Rahul Dev Burman and for its playback singers. Kumar Sanu won the Male award for Ek Ladki Ko Dekha, which also won best lyrics, while Kavita Krishnamurhty won the Female Playback Singer award for Pyaar Hua Chuke Se. The only categories it didn't win were for Best Film, Best Director, Actor and Actress.But despite not winning in those categories, this is one very decent film to be made from Chopra and is one that I consider to be a masterpiece of Indian cinema and it may not be a classic now but I don't reckon it will be long before it is.

Trailer

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