Humko Deewana Kar Gaye (2006)

My first contribution to Rum's annual bakwas list is this rather enjoyable but 'oh so silly' rom com

Our story begins with Car Engineer Aditya (Akshay Kumar) who gets engaged to his adorable fiancée Sonia (Bipasha Basu)

Soon after his engagement he's promoted to Canada and Sonia also leaves for Paris to showcase her fashion designs, the two lovers promise to stay in touch

(bollywooddeewana's note:While in Canada the film never shows him thinking of or even communicating with Sonia which makes me doubt how much they loved each other to even get engaged in the first place)

In Canada he meets and falls in love with another woman Jai (Katrina), who as usual doesn't take to him at first  but later warms up to him

They fall head over heels for each other but Jia doesn't tell Aditya she's engaged and about to be married to strict businessman Karan, Aditya too keeps news of his relationship and engagement with Sonia  away from Jia

How will all these melodramatic matters be resolved, find out when or if you dare watch Humko Deewana Kar Gaye (I'm Crazy about you)

Overall a rather silly & sparsely scripted rom com, watch it if anything for the songs, or if you are a Super Akshay fan like me. I really wanted to like this film more but I  couldn't sympathise with any of the lovers in this triangle and I found myself rooting for no one in particular, which usually is a good sign of a good rom com or love saga. As already noted above we get no real sense of how much Aditya and Sonia really love each other and I totally feel Bipasha was wasted in this, they might as well have broken up before his trip to Canada 

As for Katrina's Jia character, I found it rather annoying  that she had no voice of her own, the men in her life (her dad and fiancée) called all the shots and made all the decisions, that said though, I think Katrina was at her dramatic (or should I say melodramatic) best in this

And as for Akshay, I liked  him in this, his enthusiasm in the music numbers plus his good looks made this film a little bearable

Whoa!! Its crotch grabbing Akshay!!

And lest i forget it was great seeing some old faces a la Bhagyashree & Helen

Helen in particular had some hilarious moments, first was this classic dialogue, even Helen couldn't keep a straight face after uttering it, I wonder how the director convinced her to say that. I've captured it for your enjoyment below

How come all three guys 


Next up was this faux gay scene, the look on Helen's face is priceless

Funny scene from Humko Deewnaa Kar Gaye by kandigee


The music of this film by Anu Malik and Himmesh Reshammiya with lyrics by Sameer made it even more bearable, highlights are the hilarious for your eyes only, the lovely and 90's sounding title track 'Humko Deewana kar gaye' the groovy 'mere nazron mein' (she's a rockstar) and mera saath chalte chalte'. My favourite of the whole lot though is 'Fanaa Fanaa (yeh dil hua fanaa)' simply for Akshay's enthusiasm plus i love the black girls and their funky 'eh to fanaa, eh fan fan fanaa 'dance which I've captured below

Humko Deewana Kar Gaye (2006) - Dil hua Fanaa... by kandigee

Paisa Vasool rating: 4.5/10

Ankahee (2006)

I have to admit, and perhaps as is obvious by now, i'm a bigger fan of the old bollywood films than the currrent ones, but now and again there comes a film from the current era that makes its way onto my favourites list, Ankahee (Untold) is one of them, perhaps not the most perfect film but i liked the story, enjoyed watching it and enjoyed the performances

When Kaavya (Esha Deol) a reigning beauty queen& starlet arrives at Dr Shekhar's (Aftab Shivdasani) hospital after attempting suicide, he takes pity on her and they start having an affair

However Dr. Shekhar is a married man with a lovely wife Nandita(Amisha Patel) and daughter Sheena, his friend Dr Kunal (Amin Hajee) warns him about Kaavya, alerting him on her Manic depressive personality and that nothing he does can ever make her happy

Dr Shekhar's affair with Kaavya soon becomes national news & Kaavya's reputation and work suffers, Shekhar's marriage too hits breaking point

Will he be able to make amends and save his marriage? Will Shekhar continue his affair with Kaavya?

I loved and thoroughly enjoyed watching this film, one little thing that bothered me though was the lack of attempt to portray two different decades, considering the film was set in two different decades, the director could have made an attempt to mark out the difference more realistically by adding fashion and cultural artefacts more typical of each, in particualr the earlier decade which was the late 70's/early 80's

A big part of the movie that stayed with me is What happens when we fail to draw up boundaries in our lives as could be seen in Dr Shekhar's affair with Kaavya, true he felt sorry for her but had he drawn a boundary, most especially over that of his marriage, his life wouldn't have been distraught

On the other hand Shekhar's straying could have been as a result of his over devoted wife who forgets her own aspirations, even when she was encouraged by her husband to focus on her own ambitions. I love this film's angle on this, yes she wants to be a good devoted wife, but over dependency or being too clingy is smothering and one does get the impression that its this clinginess that leads Shekhar on to commit adultery

I've never seen Aftab Shivdasani in a central role and he just excels as Dr. Shekhar here, he's not over the top with his acting here, and he pulls it off with just enough restraint

Amisha Patel is one of my favourite actresses of modern times, she's on fine form here, a bit melodramatic but lovely none the less

Esha Deol, where do i start, for all those allegations about star kids having it easy, Esha surely hasn't, sure it probably gave her a footing, Esha hasn't enjoyed immense success or fame. What an intense actress she was in this, she really executed her performance as a manic depressive, i believed her as the over possessive, manipulative Kaavya. Esha is a great actress and i hope she picks or is given more chances to develop her talents, this is an actress i would like to see more of

I love the gigantic picture of her face on her living room wall

Fabulous songs from Pritam none of his usual peppy numbers here, rather the music here is more sentimental and are mostly ballads, like the lovely 'Lamaa', 'aa paas aa' , 'tum se yun milenge' and my favourite which is 'Ek pal ke liye'

Paisa Vasool rating: 7/10

Cash (2007)

Lots of jokes do indeed prevail about how this movie should have been called 'Trash' rather than Cash, i had read lots of reviews that wrote it off and decided to see for myself, hoping there might be some ridiculous camp moments i might i enjoy, but unfortunately there was little to keep me amused or entertained

The film revolves around some long lost diamonds stolen from India by the British in the 18th century, the diamonds get lost at sea only to be found years later, where its split into three, one of the diamonds lands in Cape Town south Africa. Karan (Ajay Devgan) a professional robber enlists the help of four robbers to assist in stealing the diamonds

Robber No.1 Pooja (Esha Deol)

Robber No.2 Danny (Zayed Khan)

& Robber No.3 Lucky (Ritesh Deshmukh)

also after the diamonds is another high profile robber Angad (Sunil Shetty)


and his girlfriend Aditi (Dia Mirza)


protecting the diamonds is Karan's police officer Girlfriend Shania (Shamita Shetty)

Will they be able to carry out the Heist?

Indeed you might have noticed my quick write up of the plot synopsis, which is unlike other movies i review on here, it's because this movie was a big disappointment, What could have been an exciting, fun even if yet camp movie is let down by a dull script which made watching it quite tedious, there were some goodies though

I loved the brief comic animated sequences with which some of the characters were introduced


In a movie where the cast are let down by the script or should i say whose script does their talent no justice, i couldn't help but admire and fall for Shamita Shetty's energy and fierceness, what a babe she truly is

the Hip Soundtrack by Vishal Shekhar is what i loved most about this film, thankfully i had rented this film but if i had spent my own CASH on it, i would have been consoled by the songs, if you love Pop Music and R'n'b you'll love the songs of cash

there's the drum and bass influenced title Track 'Cash'

'Naa Puchho' which mixes some subtle traditional strings with a kicking R'n'b bass,

Cash - Na Puccho
Uploaded by kandigee. - Explore more music videos.

the sensual mellow R'n'b grooves of 'Rahem kare'

and the wonderful 'mind Blowing Maahiya', i love the whole hinglish R'n'b vibe going on



Overall watch Cash only if you're a die hard fan of any of the actors or better yet still for the songs if that's your thing, i really hope the director Anubhav Sinha who's directing Sharukh Khan's forthcoming action film R.A 1 has stepped up his game and delivers a super exciting and highly entertaining film with R.A 1

Blue (2009)

When one thinks of the colour Blue, the word cool comes to mind unfortunately i can't say the same for this movie, high on production values, cinematography, visuals etc. But the film is just Dull, Dull, Dull! It didn't feel like a bollywood movie, it was devoid of emotional content ala the masla movies of the 60's-80's, the characters weren't exciting, the dialogues were corny & cheesy, the performances didn't blow me away, the picturisations weren't exciting, fun or over the top ( yes i love my big colourful bollywood numbers) all these things were missing, even though this is the most expensive bollywood film ever made (what a dubious title). Everything apart from the music by A.R Rahman just falls flat, the director Anthony D'Souza says he'll shed tears if the film flops, sorry mate i can so see your film flopping, get your buckets and tissues ready because you'll be weeping loads

Total Score: 5/10

Refugee (2000)

While many bollywood stars hide and shriek when asked about their debut film, Kareena and Abhishek need not worry as their debut movie is a pretty impressive one

The backstory of the film is set in 1971 with the Bihar who had settled in East Bengal (a part of Pakistan) for a better life, things take a change when East Pakistan becomes Bangladesh, thus resulting in the these Muslims from Bihar seeking a new Refuge once more

Manzoor Khan (Kulbushan Kharbanda) happens to be one of the Bihars who lands in India wanting to cross the border into Pakistan with his family

They're led to Jaan Mohammed (Anupham Kher) the village senator who introduces them to Refugee (Abhishek Bachchan) who helps people across the border

Refugee helps take Manzoor Khan and his family across the border into Pakistan to meet his brother Atta Mohammed (Avtar Gill)

Refugee is a stand-offish & quite cold individual who doesn't get personally involved with the strangers he helps across the border, things change when he sets eyes on Manzur Ahmed's daughter Naaz (Kareena Kapoor)


Following his love for Naaz (Kareena Kapoor), Refugee keeps making the journey to Pakistan to see her


Ashraf (Suni Shetty) a Pakistani ranger falls for Naaz as well, he asks her hand in marriage from Manzoor Khan who is only glad to give her away unknown to Manzoor however is his daughter's love for Refugee

On the other side of the border in India Raghuvir Singh (Jackie Shroff) is suspicious about people crossing the border, he gets Jaan Mohammed to do regular headcounts to keep the population in check

Things take a turn when Refugee unknowingly helps Makka a terrorist into India.
Makka (Ashis Vidyathi) aware of the headcounts kills a villager and then takes upon his identity


On the other side of the border in Pakistan during a headcount search for a terrorist Manzoor's family are outed as Bangladeshi


Manzur Khan reasons and pleads his case, he explains a catch 22 situation where he explains how they're seen as traitors who had helped Pakistani and over here they're considered aliens

Events take another turn when Naaz tells her parents of her plans to marry Refugee and not Ashraf who her parents had promised her in marriage to


Refugee on the other hand faces hardship on the otherside when he's trapped in a terror foil


Will Refugee and Naaz get to see each other again? How will Naaz's parents handle her decision to marry Refugee and not Ashraf? Will Ashraf backoff or be a gentleman and respect Naaz' wishes?

Overall Refugee is an enjoyable watch and at just under 3hours 30minuto it kept my attention which i guess is due to the interesting storyline and amazing cinematography, its beautifully shot with great views of the Rann desert



At the heart of the film is that Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are all one which on its own is a great message, however as i watched this movie after previously viewing the director J.P. Dutta's Border, which was somewhat anti Pakistani i can't help but feel the director was trying to right some wrongs

I liked Sunil in this, his character as Ashraf could have become the atypical film villain out to avenge his broken heart


Very natural performances from Kareena and Abhishek as well, given this was their first film Kareena and Abhishek were utterly impressive, they seemed natural and tended not to overact which i believe is a combination of their talents as well as the director's sternness



I was also delighted to see my beloved Reena Roy in a small role as Jaan Mohammed's wife, Reena is one of my favourite actress from 70's-80's bollywood


Excellent Music from Anu Malik, if i had to Pick my top five Music directors both old and new Anu Malik would definitely be there. The music of this film is utterly beautiful and is one of the reasons i can watch this film over and over again, from the joyful 'Aisa lagta hai' which celebrates the joys of young love, the awesome Rhythms and chorus of 'Jise tu na mila', the wonderful lyrics of 'Panchi Nadiya' which explores the freedom and borderless nature of birds a metaphor for restrictions on human immigration, the romantic 'taal pe jab yeh' (watch as kareena and Abhishek do a cute dance very similar to Masakali towards the end) but my favourite and the one song that kept lingering in my head after watching this film is 'Mere Humsafar mere paas aa' sang by the wonderful Alka Yagnik (i love this woman her voice invokes so much emotions in me)



Total Score: 7/10 (A well packaged commercial socio-political entertainer)

Kareena and Abhishelk should really be proud of this film as their debut. In the Yash Raj films dvd extras we get to see proud parents in the form of Big B and Jaya supporting their son of course

And Randhir Kapoor and Babita supporting their Bebo