JAWAAN (2023) : review

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And finally the much hyped, much awaited Jawaan saw light of the day ! Big stars, big budget( humongous budget actually), big music composer, everything super large. But does it meet the expectations of the average viewer? No it goes not. Read on.  A decorated jawan locks horns with a criminal called Kaali, this is in 1986 ( the year movies like Aakhri Raasta released, just for reference). Kaali gets him eliminated and send the pregnant wife to jail. The baby born in jail grows up to become the hero (look alike of the father) and decides to avenge the misdeeds done to his innocent patriotic parents. Well, isn’t it a masaaledaar full on Bollywood- Tollywood drama subject ?  And then the director Atlee also borrows ideas and references from various retro movies, some idea from Sholay (1975) as the hero assembled a gang of jailed Qaidis in order to form a team to nab the villain, then there’s an entire episode borrowed from Dhartiputra (1993), and the basic theme is copy pasted ...
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Swami(1977): revisited

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SWAMI(1977) revisited 

Director: Basu Chatterji 

Cast: Girish Karnad, Shabana Azmi, Vikram, Utpal Dutt, 

When my favourite library is closed for nearly two months, and I’m too old fashioned to read e-books/ kindle and the likes, what’s the option available? Discovered movies adapted from classic literature and satisfies my hunger for virtual books by watching these retro gems. 

Swami is a Bollywood adaptation of a classic tale penned by the great Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. A beautiful tale about a headstrong vivacious young girl Soudamini(Azmi) who is infatuated with her next door handsome neighbour, but due to societal and family pressure gets married into a upper class joint family where her husband(Karnad) is the glorified head. Her inability to accept the new relationships and unspoken attraction to the righteous, principled and far sighted husband dwell deeper into her dilemma. 

Basu Chatterji’s fine and inspiring direction makes sure it stays loyal to the original short story. Realistic depiction of man-woman relationship, authentic Bengali culture, you can almost smell the rain in some of the scenes. While Karnad is restrained and plays his Ghanshyam with sensitive brilliance, Azmi delivers a stupendous performance which earned her the Filmfare best actress award. Music by Rajesh Roshan is soul-stirring with long-drive solos like ‘Yaadon Mein’(Kishore),‘Pal Bhar Mein’(Lata) and ‘Kaa Karoon Sajni’(Yesudas). 

We are in an age of fake feminism, opportunistic politics and extreme communal disturbance, it’s so pleasant to watch a movie released in 70s based on an even ancient story where the protagonist is a strong willed educated feminist, a real feminist. 

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