Fanaa stars Aamir Khan and Kajol.#

Recommendation: A beautiful tragedy with some great over the top Bollywood moments. Highly recommended.#

Paheli stars Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee.#

Recommendation: Medium-High. A very cute movie that is quite funny and shows a delightful relationship. Great colours, costumes, and dances.#

The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey stars Aamir Khan and Toby Stephens. Cameo by Rani Mukherjee.#

Recommendation: I thought this movie was made well, except that the period was not exploited to have beautiful dance scenes... the movie found itself too serious to have great songs. I disliked the movie, however, due to the source material. I tend to take the British side on the history of the incident and the life of this one person is quite obviously exaggerated. You can read more on Wikipedia: Sepoy Mutiny.#

Salaam Namaste is the latest Yash Raj release. It stars Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta; for backup is Arshad Warsi and Tania Zaetta. There is a surprise appearance by a Bachchan, and it is great.#

Saif and Preity have great chemistry in this movie. And by herself, Preity is slowly becoming one of my favourite actresses. She's been more diverse than my previous third, Kareena. (The first is, of course, Aish.) (The second is Rani.)#

The story of this movie is very cute and like my favourite kind of Bollywood movie, it uses the additional hour to have a wider emotional range, rather than more songs or montages. The only ``problem'' with the story is that it is very untraditional, but does not exploit this as much for commentary.#

Overrall the songs are nothing special, but the title track has quality in both the sound and the dance at the time. The ``What's Goin' On?'' song has a very cute dance sequence to it.#

Recommendation: Medium to high.#

Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya stars Salman Khan, Sushmita Sen, Katrina Kaif, and Sohail Khan.#

Recommendation: Medium. Average and slightly more funny than normal.#

Parineeta stars Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan, and Sanjay Dutt.#

I liked story; it was a remake of a classic. The visuals were amazing, the movie is set in 1962. There were few dance sequences, but the weddings gave good visual candy and the songs were admirable. What really made the movie for me was Saif's acting. Vidya impressed me as well. I think that Sanjay played a different character then was supposed... he was a bit too creepy and old feeling.#

Recommendation: Medium to High.#

Bewafaa stars Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, and Kareena Kapoor. Priyanka Chopra supposedly makes a special appearance for a song, but I'm pretty sure my DVD skipped at that song.#

This is a spot-on average movie. Not particularly good... much to much rehash from previous works, and unimaginative dance scenes. But, not particularly bad, the songs are nice to listen to although I would not buy the soundtrack. Also, the actors are decent: Anil is great, Kareena is good, but Akshay is hardly ever good in my opinion.#

My biggest annoyances was that my DVD skipped at the climax. I know what happens in the end, because the last scene was fine, but the scene before is unknown, so I don't know why.#

Recommendation: Medium#

Bunty aur Babli stars Amitabh Bachchan, Abishek Bachchan, and Rani Mukherjee. Aishwarya Rai makes a special appearance.#

I saw this movie with Faré in the theatre, and the crowd of people laughing and yelling made the movie much better. Certainly, it was good on its own -- very funny, good music, very decent dancing. I highly recommend it. One thing I particularly enjoyed was the subtle in-jokes about the relationship between the Bachchans and the Chopras and others.#

Recommendation: Medium to High#

Dil Hai Tumhaara stars Preity Zinta, Mahima Chaudhry, Arjun Rampal, and Jimmy Shergill.#

A cute movie, with some decent dance scenes. My main complaint with this movie is how cowardly Preity is; how terribly Arjun portrays a CEO; and, how bizarre Jimmy as a ventriloquist is. Still, a decent movie.#

Recommedation: Medium#

Socha Na Tha stars some new players, Abhay Deol, Apoorva Jha, and Ayesha Taki.#

I hesitated in renting this movie, because I heard that it was not good. But, I took the chance and actually like it! The story is cute and the characters are interesting. The acting is fine for new actors, although Abhay definitely ranks pretty low, because of how uncomfortable he looked on screen. Ayesha, I thought, was very good, although this might have something to do with her looking a bit like Mandy Moore and her character reminding me of Mandy's in A Walk to Remember.#

Recommendation: Medium#

Mujhse Shaadi Karogi stars Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra, and Amrish Puri. It also includes Rajpal Yadac, whom I think is incredibly funny.#

This is a senseless romantic comedy with some fairly funny immature humour, but nothing particularly clever. The dances and songs are not particularly exciting either, but they are not horrible either. This movie is a straight 5.0, nothing really to complain about, but nothing to cheer either.#

Recommendation: Medium#

Maqbool stars Irfan Khan, Tabu, and Pankaj Kapur. It also includes Om Puri and Masumi Makhija.#

This Bollywood rendition of Macbeth set among gangsters in Mumbai does the job right. Fine acting and directing on top of a reliable story, with very little absurd Bollywood things thrown in on top.#

Recommendation: Medium; High if you like Shakespeare and Bollywood a lot.#

Armaan stars Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Preity Zinta, and Gracy Singh.#

I thought this was a pretty fabulous movie. The story is interesting, although not incredibly original. Where the movie shines is the realistic characters, and particular Preity's portrayal of a spoiled young girl. She is incredibly believable in her viciousness. Gracy Singh is admirable, although in retrospect, her role did not give her much opportunity to make a stand, as she essenitally plays second fiddle to Anil and Preity.#

One complaint of mine is with the substance of the story, actually. For one reason or another, Preity's father gets Anil to agree to marry her when he loves Gracy. I think that it was against the image that was setup for his character that he would not be incredibly loving to Preity, even if faking. And secondly, when Preity is jealous about the continued interaction between the two, Anil's character doesn't even bother to explain the situation, instead yelling at her and saying that she is mean for even considering it. I thought this was a bit of a childish approach, if taken from the start. Overall, these are not important issues for enjoying the film though.#

Recommendation: Medium, but on the High side.#

Dil Ka Rishta stars Aishwarya Rai and Arjun Rampal.#

This movie follows a pretty standard program with a reasonable performance by all. Nothing about it is spectacular, but it should be a fine movie from a sick afternoon, like the one I watched it during. Actually, one thing I found spectacular was the number of great saris that Aish wears in the movie; they are all fabulous, particularly the blue sari given as gift during the second half.#

Recommendation: Medium#

Chupke Se... stars Syed Zulfi, Masumi Makhija, Rati Agnihotri, and Om Puri. Also appearing is the ultra-cute Peeya Rai Chowbhary, who played Lakhi in Bride & Prejudice.#

I thought the movie was very cute in its lightness. It reminds me of Hollywood movies like 13 Going On 30 and She's All That. The cast is all new and they do fine. I thought Masumi was underrated by people I've read on message boards, and additionally, I think she has an amazing smile and dazzling eyes.#

Recommendation: Medium#

Khamoshh is a clone of the Hollywood movie Identity with an Indian cast and a slightly different story, plus two songs in the beginning. I wish I had know that before I rented it!#

Recommendation: See the real movie, unless you prefer scantily clad Indian actresses.#

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam stars Ajay Devgan, Salman Khan, and Aishwarya Rai.#

A cute story with some interesting twists and character development. The locales, songs, and dances were all top-knotch. The main flaws are: a light story; Ajay's inability to express emotion; and, a rather blatant attempt to pretend that Hungary is Italy.#

Some funny lines:#

Salman has just eaten and needs to pass air. He does and Aishwarya hears, then reminds him that Sameer, the character's name, means ``a whiff of air.''

Salman is talked about how Aishwarya thinks so highly of her beauty and says that ``She probably thinks she could be Miss World!'' Aishwarya, of course, was Miss World in 1994.

The songs I liked the most were: Aankhon Ki (chapter 10); Nimbooda (chapter 12); Chand Chupa (chapter 23); and Doli Taro Dhol Baje (chapter 32.)#

Recommendation: Medium to High#

Dev stars Amitabh Bachchan, Om Puri, Fardeen Khan, and Kareena Kapoor.#

A fabulous, and honest, story about race conflicts in India, with emphasis on the corrupt nature of many of the politicians involved. I particularly liked Amitabh's character for upholding the Constitution, even if the Constitution of India may not be a particularly just one.#

The acting was good as well, especially the older actors Amitabh and Om. Fardeen was a lot like Keanu Reeves, that is to say he was basically a block of wood. I've seen him act well before, so I'm not sure what went wrong. Although Kareena's part was relatively small, I thought she did a great job. (However, whomever did her makeup put far too much blush on.)#

Recommendation: Medium to High#

Kuch Naa Kaho stars Aishwarya Rai and Abishek Bachchan. Arbaaz Khan makes an appearance.#

This movie, similar to Jerry Maguire, was pretty cute. At least, the way that I narrated it was, because my DVD did not have subtitles. I could follow the story and everything, but the cuteness of the dialogue was lost. However, I find that this is a good exercise because it shows me how much Hindi I actually know.#

The IMDB review of this movie expresses great dislike for the story and characters, and particularly the portrayal of women. I don't agree with that from the essentials of the story, but I don't know what the dialogue was so, we did not watch the same movie.#

Recommendation: Low Medium to Medium; although, I'd like to watch it again with subtitles to decide for sure.#

Hum Tum stars Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee; and it features many special appearances.#

The story and characters of this movie are very cute. The comedy is top notch and it is a great addition to any 'battle of the sexes' style movie collection. The dances and songs, although there were few, were good for the modern style.#

Recommendation: Medium#

Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi stars Uday Chopra, Sanjana (her first movie), Jimmy Shergill, and Bipasha Basu.#

This remake of My Best Friend's Wedding was great. The acting was definitely of quality for a movie of this type. The dance scenes were interesting and without abnoxious 'modernity.' The story was as cute as MBFW, but with some changes that made it stand out. And furthermore, the girls were sooo khubsuraat.#

The dance scenes I liked the most were Uday and Sanjana's first; Jimmy's ballad to Sanjana, because of Sanjana's outfit; and, the dance before the wedding day, with everyone.#

Recommendation: Medium.#

Note: At one point, the family is singing a song from a different Yash Chopra movie, I think it was Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, my mouth started singing but I couldn't remember exactly what it was.#

Lakshya stars Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, and Preity Zinta.#

This movie has a strong story and great film making qualities from Farhan Akhtar (of Dil Chahta Hai fame.) I thought that all the actors did fairly well, although Amitabh was a pushing it a bit in his role, although this reaction could be Black residue. The movie did not attempt to recreate Hollywood quality action, and thus did not embarrass itself. The war scenes were well done and fit with the rest of the movie.#

Recommendation: High#

Black stars Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee.#

This drama was an excellent movie, although it does not compare much with other Bollywood movies. A more apt comparison is with quality Hollywood dramas, and it compares well.#

Recommendation: Must see.#

Diwale Dulhania Le Jayenge stars Shahrukh Khan and Kajol.#

This was a cute movie. Where it really shines is the music though. All the songs are fabulous, even if the dances that go with them are not perfect.#

Recommendation: Medium.#

Kisna: The Warrior Poet stars Vivek Oberoi, Antonia Bernath, and Isha Sharvani.#

This was another great movie. The dancing and songs were fabulous. The story was interesting, although the present day section was a bit of a stretch. The acting was good, particularly Antonia and the supporting cast. (I've seen Vivek better.)#

Isha Sharvani's dancing was amazing. You really have to see it. Her mini-bio on IMDB is interesting:#

Isha is 20 years old who lives at an ashram in Kerala, India. She is trained in gymnastics, martial arts, yoga, ballet, kathak, aerial dance etc. She started dancing at the age of seven and has already performed in 22 countries in the last seven years. Her mother is of Indian-origin, Daksha Seth, dancer by profession. Her dad is Australian, Vissaro, a composer by profession. She has been named by her mom (first name) and aunt (last name). "Isha" means goddess, and "sharwani" means Parvati = Goddess Parvati. She originally intended to a vet by profession, but couldn't bear the thought of injecting and hurting animals. She received an email from Subhash Ghai's office, who were looking for an actress with some knowledge of dancing, to act in Bollywood movies. She and her mom went to Bombay to visit Subhash Ghai, and an year later she was signed as the female lead in "Kisna" opposite Vivek Oberoi.

She has not been in another movie yet, but I hope she will be soon. She's amazing.

Recommendation: Medium to High. (I often wonder if I am over rating these movies, or if I just like them too much, or if I am just getting the prime pickings.)#

Waqt stars Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, and Priyanka Chopra.#

This was a fabulous Bollywood movie. The story was adorable, the characters were interesting, the songs and dances were great, and it was incredibly funny in the beginning. A definite must see. The acting was good enough, but this was not meant to be an acting-heavy movie.#

Also, I saw this movie in the theatre, which was an interesting experience. One thing to note about Indian movie watchers is that it is not considered impolite to talk (loudly) in the movie. This can be helpful when some word has not been translated. Some other things I noticed. In the first scene of this movie, there is a very sexual song and a lot of innuendo; in the crowd I heard some sound of disgust and apall. Also, during the movie there were some parts that were supposed to be sentimental and emotional but I could hear *no one* crying and almost everyone was laughing at it--maybe at how forced it seemed? I don't know.#

Recommendation: High.#

Note: You may notice the symbols '*' and '+' in the subjects of these posts. A '*' indicates that I would like to buy the movie, and a '+' indicates that I would like to buy the soundtrack. This is just for my record keeping.#

Mr. and Mrs. Iyer stars Rahul Bose and Konkona Sen Sharma.#

I thought this movie was great for an introspective and touching movie. I quote the IMDB plot summary:#

A bus rolls down a narrow, winding, hilly road. On board is Meenakshi Iyer with her nine-month old son, Santanam. With them is a Muslim named Raja Chowdhary, a wildlife photographer who was introduced to her through a common friend before boarding the bus. Since Meenakshi is travelling alone with her infant, Raja is given the responsibility of looking after her and everyone on the bus assumes them to be a couple. When the bus is stopped by an angry mob of Hindu extremists on the prowl for Muslims, a chill runs down Raja's spine. Born and brought up in an orthodox Brahmin family, Meenakshi is shocked to learn of Raja's background. She starts to maintain her distance from him. But fate has other ideas. Looking at the inhuman way in which Muslims are being killed, she can't help but save his life. She lies to the Hindu extremists, saying that they're a married Hindu couple, "Mr. and Mrs. Iyer."

I am not one to judge the accuracy, but I thought the movie did very well in helping outsiders understand the conflicts between Muslims and Hindus, as well as about each group on their own.

The acting is top knotch, the camera work is often beautiful or interesting, and the timing is just tense enough without making the movie a thriller.#

Recommendation: High, although probably not a movie I'd want to buy.#

Lagaan stars Aamir Khan, Gracey Singh, Rachel Shelley, and Paul Blackthorne.#

This was a great movie. Interesting story, some nice dance scenes, good acting, a bit of excitement. And I now understand cricket. My only complaint is not so much about the movie, but about the Indian attitude towards the British.#

In the movie, some villagers are upset about having to pay a double Lagaan (land tax) when there has been no rain that year. The cocky British commander of the area says they will not have to pay for three years if they beat his team in cricket, but if they lose they must pay three times the normal amount.

The villagers complain about how these taxes are horrible, and presumably this is an indication a larger sentiment about the British Raj. I find this laughable given the situation with the Mughal rulers, who continued to tax the people during the British Raj, and given the situation after the British left when an oppressive socialist government held back the country's growth.

Also, there is a ridiculous insinuation that the commander would have enough money to pay the Lagaan for the villagers if he loses. (His commanding offer did not approve of the bet.)

Recommendation: High#

Shabd stars Sanjay Dutt, Aishwarya Rai, and Zayed Khan.#

The movie is very thoughtful and attempts to be profound and uncomfortable. However, it seems a bit contrived and too over-the-top. I quote an IMDB reviewer:#

Shabd is too conceptual and too tentative in its approach. Debutant director Leena Yadav tells a story in Shabd that is very modern in its approach. Shaukat (Sanjay Dutt) does not believe in disappointment but when it comes to him as his own disaster, he is not able to accept it easily. He has a gorgeous wife Antara (Aishwarya Rai) who is very responsive and very thoughtful. She will do anything to make her husband grin. Having earned disgrace with his unusual novel, Shaukat now makes a bid to enact the novel in his real life using himself and Antara as the fundamental characters. Sanjay Dutt supports his wife Aishwarya Rai to have an extra-marital affair with her colleague Zayed Khan, so that the husband could integrate life-like, realistic situations in his current novel.

Can it ever get weirder than this?

I agree with the reviewer that the music and Sanjay's acting is very good. Aishwarya shines at the end and I thought she did fairly well throughout. I thought Zayed was too boyish to consider him truly in love, although his childish in the movie was helped by his looks.#

Recommendation: Low to Medium.#

Aitraaz stars Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, and Priyanka Chopra.#

I thought this was a great movie. The story is very suspenseful and all the players do a great job. Particularly Kareena who is completely not bubbly like normal. Priyanka was beyond expectations, but something weirds me out about her and I can't stand looking at her.#

The main flaw with the movie was the songs. All except one are pretty odd and irritating.#

Recommendation: Medium to High.#

Koi... Mil Gaya (I've Found Someone) stars Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta, Rajat Bedi, and some cool kids as the "Super Six."#

This movie, supposedly the first Hindi science fiction musical, is about a mentally handicapped boy (Hrithik) whose father discovered alien intelligence. Basically, it's a crazy story but how Hrithik and Preity fall in love (in a non-bizarre way) is very cute and the science fiction vibe is decent for a first attempt.#

Hrithik's acting is amazing. He reminded me very much of DiCaprio. Preity was beautiful, and I found her to be very well dressed throughout. The songs were all very good, the dance ratios was up, and they very respectable for a movie with a modern setting.#

Recommendation: High, despite terrible special effects and goofy alien backgroun.#

Saathiya stars Rani Mukherjee, Vivek Oberoi, and Sandhya Mridul.#

The story and style of this movie are top knotch. There is a bit of a love story in the beginning that, as one IMDB reviewer puts it, has "soft realistic tone" that helps set the movie apart from most other Bollywood movies. The interaction between the characters is interesting and it is difficult to know for sure what will happen next.#

As far as the music and songs go, I thought the movie was less than excellent. Certainly the songs themselves were very good musically, but they seemed to be poorly placed in the movie. Furthermore, due to the general saddness of how they were used, there is very little dancing, which is something that I always look at when I watch a Hindi musical.#

Recommendation: Medium to High.#

Dil Vil Pyar Vyar stars a fresh-faced cast consisting of Madhavan, Jimmy Shergill, Sanjay Suri, Namrata Shirodkar, Sonali Kulkarni, and Hrishitaa Bhatt.#

The story is decent, but the focus of the movie (and any review) should be on the music and songs. The movie is essentially a long music video about some friends who are in the music business, so often times there will be only five to ten minutes of action before another song begins. Most of the songs are good, so this is not a problem.#

Recommendation: Worth seeing, not amazing.#

Veer-Zaara, a Yash Chopra film, stars Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, and Rani Mukherjee.#

Although a lot of people seem to think Yash Chopra is over-rated, I've noticed that I've liked all his movies I've seen. This movie is no exception. The costumes, dancing, and songs were all fantastic. (Particularly Preity's first dance and the Lodi festival dance.) The characters were believable and amazingly acted. The story was very interesting, although it does lack a bit of realism, but who really cares? If I were the type to cry at romantic movies, I probably would have cried at this one.#

Squadron Leader Veer Pratap Singh [Shahrukh Khan] is a rescue pilot with the Indian Air Force, who risks his own life to save the lives of others. One day, on duty, he comes across a stranded girl from Pakistan, Zaara [Preity Zinta]. Zaara, a carefree, sprightly girl has come to India to fulfill her surrogate mother's dying wish. She meets with a bus accident leaving her stranded in a foreign land. Veer saves her life... and his life is never the same again... Twenty-two years later, Saamiya Siddiqui [Rani Mukherjee], a Pakistani lawyer on her first case, finds herself face-to-face with an ageing Veer Pratap Singh. He has languished in a Pakistan jail cell for 22 years and has not spoken to anyone all these years - and no one knows why. Her mission is to discover the truth about Veer and see to it that justice is served. And thus starts her journey to unveil the truth... the story of Veer and his life... Why has Veer been silent for 22 years? Why is he in a jail in Pakistan? Where is Zaara? What happened to her? God has written the destinies of Veer and Zaara, such that they can never be joined together. Saamiya has come to change that... to join Veer and Zaara together... forever...

For the players individually: Shahrukh remains looking very frogish to me, particularly when he is shown from the side; Preity is very beautiful, but in a way completely different from other actresses--Kareena has a sort of "sexy" vibe, while Aishwarya is simply gorgeous and more adult, Rani is similarly refined and elegant. And finally Preity is very... cute, she definitely looks young (but not so young that it feels wrong), and these things combine to make her seem completely adorable.#

Recommendation: High.#

Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam stars Madhuri Dixit, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, and has a special appearance by Aishwarya Rai.#

This is a great movie, with just a few blemishes. The acting and the scenes are very nice. The story is great and leaves you on the edge of your seat, which is very nice. While the characters are generally believable and engaging, they have the fault of inconsistency--Salman and Mudhuri's characters are not so stupid as to not see that they are making Shahrukh jealous. The songs and dancing were okay, but other than the title song were obviously just there for necessity.#

Recommendation: Medium to High#

Hungama stars Akshaye Khanna, Aaftab Shivdasani, and Rimi Sen. It is a hilarious comedy about a group of characters who lie and mislead each other in hysterical ways, with a brilliant culmination at the end. The few songs are very cute and the dancing/costumes up to par with expectations. (Note: The team behind the movie went on to create Hulchul.)#

Recommendation: Definitely see it.#

Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai stars Hrithik Roshan and Amisha Patel.#

I thought the movie was very enjoyable -- cute story, nice scenery, decent songs, and quality recording. My only problem was the DVD I got did not have subtitles, so while I understand the plot and what-not, I didn't get the full flavor of why jokes were funny and how romantic the lines were.#

Amisha Patel is a new face for me. Her IMDB biography is interesting:#

She was a Biogenetic Engineer graduate in a university in the United States and won a gold medal for her Economics paper. Before she entered films, she worked in banks. Her family is good friends with the Roshans. It was at dinner in the Roshan's house that Rakesh Roshan, father of Hrithik Roshan offered her a starring role in his film, Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000) with his son. Because of the mega hit of the film, she became the hottest actress in town overnight. She denied the rumours of Hrithik Roshan gaining more recognisition than her after the success of Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000) and explained that the rumours did not affect her relationship with the Roshans.

Recommendation: Try it out, with the subtitles if you can.#

Kal No Naa Ho stars Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Preity Zinta.#

Accidentally, I rented a bootleg DVD. So, it was blurry, and I think some parts were cut, and the subtitles were not on the songs.#

Even with this bumble, I can say that the story was cute and the characters were interesting. Unfortunately, most of the songs were pretty bad. There were two towards the end (the first when Preity falls in love; and some other) that were actually good though.#

Recommendation: Decent, but bear through the first few songs and get a good copy.#

Khushi stars Kareena Kapoor and Fardeen Kapoor.#

Story: The story was pretty cute and without some of the more ridiculous things that happen in movies like this. The first five minutes are particularly cheeseball though, so don't be turned off right away.#

Characters: The two characters are very lovable. And their relationship is ultra-cute. Basically, they fight all the time about little things... Kareena always mistakes what Fardeen means and this is humourous. Kareena is also very difficult and gives Fardeen pain in an amusing way. (I was very proud of myself when I got what a surprised/confused/hurt face was about--Kareena made Fardeen call her by the formal second person pronoun, aap, rather than the informal, tum, that they used before a fight. But I don't think I should be proud, a billion Indians would have gotten it when they were six.) #

Costumes: Kareena's outfits throughout the movie are great; not Devdas great, but good in a different way.#

Songs: The first few songs were kind of bad and there's basically a Pepsi ad in the middle of the movie; but, the later songs are really good -- particularly the one when they dress up as different people and after the hospital scene.#

Overall: I thought it was good overall and can imagine renting it again to show to someone.#

Devdas stars Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, and Aishwarya Rai. #

I can't say much about the story, besides that it sounds very interesting from the DVD box blurb, but the DVD I got did not have subtitles (and did not seem to be a bootleg either.) However, the blurb was very detailed, so I was able to get most of what was going on in the movie.#

I really enjoyed the dancing and music, particular the song Dola Re Dola (chapter 17 on the DVD.) I cannot stress how amazing it is. It motivated me to go read about the different styles of Indian dance, whereupon I found this article that talks about the different kinds in movies. It actually mentions that the dancing in Devdas is the Kathak style.#

Recommendation: If you know Hindi, it's probably fabulous. If you can find a DVD with subtitles, it's probably great. If not, check out the songs. (And if I know you, I can show you the one song I really like.)#

(More on the DVD: The DVD from Eros Entertainment is supposed to be a special edition double-disc and is probably much better than what I found, from the original producer.)#

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, from the team that created Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham..., is an exceedingly cute movie. Starring is Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, and Rani Mukherjee.#

I thought the story, acting, and songs were great. Actually, the songs were fabulous. I have a collection of CDs with songs from Shahrukh movies, and I loved all the songs from this movie before I saw it.#

Shahrukh is handsome and well dressed in the movie, although he reminds me a frog in general. Kajol was beautiful in the second half and her wedding gowns were amazing. Rani was beautiful in the beginning, although I think she looks better without her "modern ideas."#

Highly recommended.#

Company staring Ajay Devgan, Mohanlal, and Vivek Oberoi is a fabulous Hindi movie that is very The Godfather-esque in its portrayal of a rising Mumbai gang. I thought the acting and story were fabulous, and I was pleased by the lack of out-of-place songs and poor fight scenes.#

Highly recommended, but different.#

Kyun! Ho Gaya Na... is an incredibly adorable romantic comedy. It stars Aishwarya Rai and Vivek Oberoi, with a supporting role for Amitabh Bachchan. The songs were cute, but I was a bit let down by the absence of traditional-style dances and costumes. The story was great and I was on the edge of my seat, about to write the most depressin LiveJournal entry ever, had the last plot twist not happened.#

Greatly recommended.#

Note: In case you do not know, Aishwarya Rai is the most beautiful woman in the world. Oh my god.#

Hulchul is a very entertaining comedy with Akshaye Khanna and Kareena Kapoor. The plot is interesting and well done, and it truly is funny. Kareena was dressed very well; and, the songs are nice and cute as well.#

Recommended.#

Raincoat, staring Ajay Devgan and Aishwarya Rai, is straight drama, something that I have not seen to date in a Bollywood (technically ``Tollywood'', that is, Bengali) movie. I enjoyed the acting and the story, but Amanda didn't think it was that good.#

A review on IMDB writes that it is an ``art-house movie obviously not for commercial consumption.'' I can recommend it if you don't expect a cutesy movie.#

Chameli is a much shorter Bollywood movie than is typical. It is has a different style -- a couple that doesn't quite connect and is made of a prostitute and businessman, but nothing like the cuteness of Pretty Woman. The story is surprising, but Amanda didn't like it very much, although I enjoyed it.#

It stars Kareena Kapoor and Rahul Bose.#

A note on the songs -- the one Kareena dances is good, but most of the others are not so good. But, the dancing in the club is great, although a bit too provocative for my tastes.#

Fida stars Kareena Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, and Jai Malhotra. Kareen was amazing acting as a cold, heartless woman and was dressed very well throughout the movie. Fardeen looked liked he was trying a bit to hard to be "suave." And, Jai portrayed a man crumbling and going mad very well, through his transition from being cutesy in love, to crazy with pain.#

The story was interesting, but seemed to happen a bit too quickly.#

Dil Chahta Hai is very different than most of the Bollywood movies I've seen so far. It is less silly, although still has many funny moments. There is actually some intense dramatic action and sad parts. Although not unique, one thing I liked was having no clue how or if the couples would get together.#

Preity Zinta was beautiful. Aamir Khan and Akshaye Khanna were very good-looking.#

Highly recommended.#

I watched another good Bollywood movie, Dil To Pagal Hai. It stars Karishma Kapoor, Kareena's older sister, and Madhuri Dixit who reminds me of Rani Mukherjee.#

The movie is a fairly clever. The biggest disappointment with it was that there was little tradition style outfits and dancing, which has become my favourite aspect of these movies. Still it was very cute, and Amanda cried at the end.#

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... is another cute movie. It is really two movies in one, however, the intermission could very easily be a gap between two movies. Kajol is a new face for me.#

According to imdb.com, it was the most expensive Indian film ever as of 2001.#

Mujhse Dosti Karoge! was my second Bollywood experience. Much better than the first one. Hardly any sour points.#

Rani Mukherjee is much cuter and better at acting that Kareena Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan is actually very sweet and intense.#

Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (Official Site) was my first Bollywood experience. I thought it was very cute, although a few parts were a bit crazy and annoying.#

Kareena Kapoor is very attractive in this movie. But Hrithik Roshan is a bit too annoying and plastic.#