Category Archives: My Reviews

Return Of Jewel Thief (1996)

My Reviews,

A mention of Jewel Thief immediately brings into mind the Vijay Anand directed 1967 movie. Starring Dev Anand, Vyjanthimala, Ashok Kumar and others, it was a suspense movie with good direction, performances and music. Inspired from this movie, someone decided to make a sequel after almost 30 years. The result is a disaster called Return of Jewel Thief, directed by Ashok Tyagi.

The Plot

You are warned at the start that you are entering a world of fantasy, whatever it means. The film opens with the release of the villain of the prequel i.e. jewel thief Prince Arjun (Ashok Kumar). He is an angry old man seeking revenge from Vinay Kumar (Dev Anand). Prince had tried to blame Vinay for all the robberies he had committed. Vinay had turned the tables and Prince and his associates had landed in jail. What happened to the associates is not revealed. Prince returns home where he has some gang members including Vishakha/ Sheetal (Anu Aggarwal).

Vinay has followed his passion and set up a jewellery collection. His only remaining wish is to bring the Kohinoor diamond to India. He is in talks with the chief minister Neelkanth (Prem Chopra) and the British authorities to make this happen.

Then you have 2 more jewel thieves. Jucaso (Sadashiv Amrapurkar) and Johnny (Jackie Shroff). Jackie’s character reminds you of Johnny from Johnny Mera Naam (1970), another Dev Anand film. He has a girlfriend Soni (Shilpa Shirodkar).

Another important character is Commissioner Surya Dev Singh (Dharmendra). He behaves as if he is the commissioner of the whole country. His mission is to capture all jewel thieves. It is later revealed he is Prince Arjun’s son which adds a twist to the already twisted tale.

Vinay and Neelkanth reach an agreement with the British authorities to bring the Kohinoor to India as an exhibit for a few weeks. The diamond will be displayed in Vinay’s musuem. For this, Vinay has to keep his whole jewellery collection of Rs 50,000 crore as guarantee. If something happens to the Kohinoor, the British will confiscate his collection. Surya Dev will be looking after the security arrangements.

So the Kohinoor arrives in India. There is a celebration song by Vinay and Surya Dev. The villains Prince, Jucaso and Johnny also visit the museum to look at the diamond and the security arrangements. All are aiming to steal to diamond. But the security is tight. There are laser lights and alarms. The security is changed every 15 minutes. Prince sends Vishakha to seduce Vinay and get the security plans and blueprints. She succeeds and Prince kills her abruptly because she was double crossing him!

Ramdom things continue to happen. Prince tries to make a deal with Jucaso for stealing the diamond but fails. Then Prince kidnap’s Johnny’s girlfriend Soni and forces him to work with him to make the robbery successful. Meanwhile Neelkanth is also making plans to steal the diamond and become the Prime Minister. He will put the blame on Surya Dev who is the security incharge. There is also a diamond expert character played by Madhoo whose only mission is to sign romantic songs with Johnny.

Ultimately Johnny succeeds in the mission. But there are multiple fake diamonds passing around and there is confusion as to who has the real diamond and who is the real jewel thief. The suspects include Prince, Jucaso, Johnny and even Surya Dev & Vinay and the mystery is revealed in a ridiculous climax.

The Music

Jatin Lalit give some peppy music. The songs are not bad but too many and placed inappropriately. They dont add much to the movie and you are reminded of the original movie songs which are still memorable.

My Thoughts

Ashok Kumar was 80+ when he did the movie and doesn’t add much value to his character. A 70+ Dev Anand’s dialogue delivery and mannerisms are unintentionally funny. Dharmendra, Jackie and others act on similar lines. The three ladies have absolutely nothing to do except look beautiful and participate in songs.

Sequels are tricky especially when the original is a 1960s classic movie. And this sequel is an avoidable movie. The editing is patchy. The unwanted songs appear randomly. There is no cohesive story which heightens the suspense leading to the robbery and the final reveal. The climax is badly done. Overall, this fantasy world doesn’t work and the result is a flop and forgettable movie.

Ek Unaad Divas (2006)

My Reviews,

Ek Unaad Divas is a simple Marathi movie showing the events occurring in the life of the protagonist played by Ashok Saraf. The way he turns truant (unaad) for a day and its impact forms the essence of the story.

The Plot

The movie opens with a fresh morning. Its Vishwas Dabholkar’s (Ashok Saraf’s) birthday. He is a workaholic and highly disciplined person. A stickler of manners and etiquette, he expects others (mainly his family) to follow his line. His wife (Ila Bhate) and college going son Manoj (Omkar Karve) greet him and accompany him for breakfast. His wife has arranged a birthday party in the evening. She asks him if Manoj can go to college a bit late today. But Vishwas gives a lecture on why the college needs to be bunked on his birthday. Manoj then gives him the birthday gift – a colorful shirt which Vishwas rejects immediately. He only wears light colored shirts and admonishes his wife and Manoj for their choice.

His wife mentions an article in Time magazine which says that spending your day differently by breaking the routine can increase your life by 5 years. But Vishwas is in no mood to listen. For him work is worship and he gets ready to leave for office. He is further incensed when the driver arrives 10 minutes late. He reprimands the driver and asks him to stay home for the day. An angry Vishwas gets into the driver’s seat and drives to the office himself. Thus begins his birthday on a not so cheerful note.

He arrives in the office and is kept waiting by his client Mohanlal (Viju Khote) from Delhi. A corrupt and pleasure loving Mohanlal finally arrives and after some irritable actions (in Vishwas’s view), confirms the deal of Rs. 5 crores with the company. Mr Dinesh Agarwal (Vishwas’s senior) joins and congratulates them on the deal. Vishwas decides to accompany Mohanlal for lunch. Mohanlal is satisfied with the lunch and asks Vishwas if he can keep his car for the day. While Vishwas may not like the man, he has to keep in mind the Rs 5 crore deal. Vishwas reluctantly agrees and Mohanlal is impressed with the favour.

A happy Mohanlal departs with the car and Vishwas searches for a taxi to take him back to the office. But there is no taxi on the road as the taxi union has announced a strike from 1.00 p.m. Vishwas feels helpless and tries to get on a bus. But he is not used to public transport and handling the crowd of commuters. He has no option but to keep walking and decide how to face this unexpected turn of events. He even manages to lose his mobile.

And thus begins his off the routine “journey.” During the next few hours he meets some known and unknown characters. One of them is his school classmate Govinda Khadap. Govinda earns much lesser than Vishwas. He cannot afford to call his wife and children to stay with him. But he is contented with his achievements. Vishwas listens to him and contemplates if one can be happy in the smaller joys and successes that life offers.

Meanwhile his bad luck continues. Circumstances make him change his spoiled white “routine” shirt and wear a colorful shirt (which he totally despises). But this also helps to change his outlook and become more accepting for the rest of the day. He decides to just let go and face things as they come.

This leads to some funny interactions with the people he meets. Some masks come off too enabling Vishwas to view some harsh realities.

Of course, he manages to return home on time for the party. But his close ones are surprised to see the apparent change not only in his attire but his attitude towards life.

The Music

There is only one song which appears naturally in the flow of the story. Vishwas comes across an old singer Miss Chandrika (Faiyyaz). He is her fan. She had sung a few songs and disappeared from the profession due to rivalry, politics etc. He requests her to sing his favorite song and she fulfils his request wholeheartedly. The song is Hur hur asate tich uri, sung by Shubha Joshi and lyrics by Saumitra. Salil Kulkarni is the composer of this beautiful number.

My Thoughts

The film’s story is offbeat and does not have the regular hero, heroine, villain pattern. Credit to actor Vijay Patkar who makes his debut with a different genre. While evidently low budget in places, the casting and the acting cover up the shortcomings.

Ashok Saraf plays the middle aged protagonist who wants to stick to his principles at all costs. The unpredictability of the day brings out the transition in his character. He becomes mild, accepting, and someone enjoying the situation. While his sudden change may seem a fantasy, he tries to make the character and the situation believable. His interaction with various characters are effective. And he keeps receiving some form of wisdom from the  people he meets with. Most of the supporting actors are veterans and seasoned performers who pitch in perfectly.

Dhadakebaaz (1990)

My Reviews, ,

Dhadakebaaz (meaning powerful) is a Marathi movie directed by Mahesh Kothare. This was the first Cinemascope Marathi movie. The movie mixes many elements including fantasy, comedy, action and romance churning out an entertaining product.

The Plot

The movie begins with a voice over. Many centuries back, there was a magician’s fort near the town of Shivapur. One of the magician’s disciple was Gangaram. One day Gangaram committed a mistake which made the magician very angry. As punishment, the magician shut him inside a brass bottle along with some magical sand. Gangaram would remain inside the bottle for a thousand years until his relative would come to retrieve the bottle. Gangaram needs to fulfil the wishes of his relative by using the magical sand. And he will be set free when all the sand has been spent.

The scene cuts to the present. Lakshya (Laxmikant Berde) is dreaming of a magic lamp where the genie bathes him in golden coins. He wakes up to the grim reality. He is actually in a jail with 2 friends Mahesh (Mahesh Kothare) and Bappa (Deepak Shirke). They are petty thieves and notoriously famous as they keep landing in jail. Mahesh is an ace archer, Lakshya keeps pursuing magic whereas Bappa is a bodybuilder possessing great strength.

They fight and part ways temporarily after leaving the jail but are soon united again. They celebrate with a song of friendship Hi dosti tutaychi naay. They decide never to steal again and earn money through decent means. They soon reach the present day Shivapur in search of work. There is a workers agitation going on. Through a misunderstanding, Lakshya is arrested and taken to the local police station by Havaldar Rede (Ravindra Berde) and locked up.

Lakshya is sharing his cell with Divtya (Bipin Varti) who is a member of Kavtya Mahakaal’s gang. Apparently this is a dreaded gang and the police are desperate to capture the leader Kavtya. In the night, 3 members of the gang attack the police station in order to rescue Divtya. Through some funny actions, Lakshya manages to capture all 3 members and lock them in the cell while Divtya escapes. The police sub inspector Uma Jadhav (Ashwini Bhave) is impressed and releases Lakshya. Mahesh reaches the station to bring back Lakshya and has an argument with Uma. Apparently Uma is well aware of Mahesh and his criminal past.

Meanwhile Lakshya has impressed and befriended a flower seller Ganga (Prajakta Dighe) by saving her from some goons in the market. Mahesh and Bappa also join the fight. She invites them to her house for tea. They find Havaldar Rede in her house. He is her uncle and not happy to see the criminal Lakshya and his friends in his sister Paru’s (Shanta Inamdar’s) house. But the ladies ignore his concerns. Ganga helps the trio by giving them accommodation in the stable. Ganga and Lakshya soon fall in love and sing a romantic duet Phu bai phu.

Kavtya’s 3 members are still in jail and Divtya makes an attempt to rescue them But Lakshya and his friends help the police and the gang has to run away. Meanwhile, Mahesh saves Uma during the fighting and romantic sparks fly between the two.

One day, the goons from whom Lakshya had saved Ganga follow the couple seeking revenge. Lakshya and Ganga run away from the town and take shelter near the old magician’s fort. Lakshya, by accident finds a hidden door and slides down all the way down to land near the magical bottle. He is overjoyed to find the bottle and meet Gangaram, who tells him his story and asks him his first wish. Lakshya immediately tells Gangaram to rescue him and Ganga from the goons. He does so by making both of them fly in the sky.

Lakshya is impressed by Gangaram and his magical sand. Its like a dream come true. They agree on a “whistle” signal for summoning Gangaram whenever Lakshya needs a favour. Lakshya tells Mahesh and Bappa about Gangaram but they disbelieve him. They have received a painting job to paint the Mahadev temple in Shivapur and worried how to get it done on time. Lakshya immediately summons Gangaram who completes the painting in 5 minutes. There is a Mahashivratri celebration song. At the end of the song, Kavtya attacks the town with his gang. Lakshya manages to get Gangaram’s help and counter Kavtya and the gang soon fleds from the scene.

Kavtya is shown as wearing a skull mask. He is angry at the humiliation. His gang members keep an eye on the trio and find out about the magical bottle. They inform Kavtya who makes plans to steal the bottle.

Does he achieve it? Will the police be successful in capturing Kavtya? And what happens to Gangaram? All is revealed in a Sholay type climax.

The Music

Pravin Davane (lyrics) and Anil Mohile (music) do the honours. Typical of Mahesh Kothare movies, the songs are rhythmic rather than melodious. Hi dosti tutaychi naay and Ninne preminchenu were popular. And you have the staple parody song where Gangaram (voice of Sudesh Bhosle) imitates multiple actors including Dada Kondke, Shatrughan Sinha, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan and Raaj Kumar supported by the parody versions of songs like Gangu tarunya tuza befaam, Mach gaya shor, Duniya mein logon ko, Kabutar jaa jaa, Jumma Chumma and My name is Lakhan. All fun to watch with Lakshya’s antics.

My Thoughts

Dhadakebaaz is a fast faced movie. There are multiple characters and the story keeps moving ahead. The action and chase sequences are well done. The special effects seem dated now with all the advanced technology available. Amongst the cast, its Laxmikant Berde who stands out with his easy screen presence and humour. His reactions and comic timing are too good. And he actually performs a double role as Gangaram. Gangaram’s look seems to be inspired from Dada Kondke. He is lovable in both the roles. The other actors perform nicely but Laxmikant steals the show.

Kavtya Mahakaal’s identity is never revealed. His voice is similar to Gabbar Singh’s character from Sholay but hardly impactful. He appears comical and not the evil villain one would have expected to scare the whole town. This was Prajakta Dighe’s debut movie and she appears confident. Ashwini Bhave doesn’t have much to do. Her romantic relationship with Mahesh seems forced. But overall Mahesh Kothare succeeds in making an entertaining movie and keep the viewer hooked.