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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NIKAAH (1982)

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NIKAAH (1982) 

Directed by: B R Chopra 

Cast: Raj Babbar, Salma Agha, Deepak Parasher, Asrani, Iftekhar, Yunus Parvez, Henna Kauser, Chandrashekhar and others. 

IMO this is one of the rare “bold and beautiful” movies from Bollywood archives, bold doesn’t necessarily mean raging political dialogues or skin show, sometimes it’s the concept and the overall treatment of the subject that can make you sit up and take notice of the brilliance of storytelling. 

“Nikaah” is the poignant tale of a young student Niloufar studying at the Osmania university, who gets married to a wealthy aristocratic Nawab Wasim. One night in a moment of anger Wasim divorces Niloufar, she later finds solace and sympathy in a poet Haider whom she gets remarried to. Wasim soon realizes his true love for Niloufar and starts persuading her to divorce Haider and remarry him as that’s traditionally acceptable by the Sharia Law. The finale belongs to Niloufar and her golden moment of expressing her feelings finally. 

B R Chopra was known for making socially relevant films, his “Nikaah” is one such beautiful precious gem that has been treasured in Bollywood history. The entire base of this film is so contemporary and quite relevant in today’s society as well. The music (by Veteran composer Ravi)is supremely melodious, with soul stirring ghazals like ‘Dil Ke Armaan Ansuon Mein’ ‘Faza Bhi Hai Jawan’ ‘Beete Hue Lamhon Ki Kasak’ ‘Dil Ki Yeh Arzoo’. Tell me any romantic who wouldn’t love listening to the Classic ‘Chupke Chupke Raat Din’ sung in his inimitable style by maestro Ghulam Ali. 

The movie got 11 nominations at the Filmfare Awards in 1983 and had two wins, Best Dialogue writer for Achala Nagar and Best Female Playback singer for Salma Agha. 

P.S. you may also spot a very young Archana Puran Singh in a popcorn Cameo as a salesgirl. 


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