Saturday, June 18, 2011

You watched Karan Arjun? Whadda joke!

You watched----- REVIEW:
Karan Arjun (1995)



No matter how entertaining he can be in crash-boom-bang masala films like Dabangg, I cannot, and I probably won't ever be able to, take Salman seriously when he tries to "portray" a "serious" character.
In this one, like in many others, it's a mixture between "serious character" and flashing his naked upper body (which though wasn't just as over-pimped as it is today, in my opinion). He does well in dealing out blows, but as it has become a habit of his when playing "serious characters", he uses his "so-low-and-calm-because-this-is-a-serious-character"-voice, that I already mentioned in my review of Baghban

Neither has this been one of Shahrukh's better performances, even though he's cute and sympathetic as always. In one of the first episodes of Koffee With Karan, he said that he admired Kajol for only having chosen to act in films that she truly believed in and wanted to do. You can see that in Karan Arjun: while Shahrukh exaggerates a lot, and sometimes seems quite fake, Kajol is wonderful as always, even in this trash-pearl.

In the last (and first) episodes of these new reviews, I wrote about Koyla, coincidentally happening to be directed by Rakesh Roshan as well. Now, Karan Arjun is not as bad as the first-mentioned, but the image of Rakesh, that I used to have in my brain, is slowly bursting... Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai and Koi Mil Gaya are two films that I watched in the start time of my Bollywood-madness, and I love them so much. Even though there are some trashy aspects to especially the first one, I didn't see them as trash-bash-films, but more like... well, "normal" Bollywood films for their respective years. Krrish was also okay. But now, after watching Koyla and Karan Arjun, I don't really know what to think of Rakesh. Is he the king of so-bad-they're-good 90s flicks, instead of mainstream-but-fun 2000+ films? Help!

Okay, last but not least: something that Koyla had, and Karan Arjun didn't... really.... have - good music. Almost every song in Koyla is really good (90s-good), while there was only one song I liked in KA. But that one, on the contrary, was not only good, but really, really good - especially speaking picturization. 
So, here it is, the famous "Jaati Hoon Main" - enjoy!




Rating: 3.4


Thank you for reading, 
Mette M. K.

9 comments:

  1. Agreed with your Karan Arjun review, but it was OK, contrary to the bad Koyla. LOL
    When it comes to Rakesh Roshan, the only film of his that I really really really love is Koi Mil Gaya - which is one of my favs. Otherwise, I'm not a fan.

    "Jaati Hoon Mein" is the only song I liked too.

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  2. @ Siham: Yes, I didn't fast-forward as much as I did when watching Koyla. I also love Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, even though it's tending towards the trashy side. :)

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  3. "Kaho Na Pyaar Hai" I totally forgot just after watching it. LOL. Not an amazing one either IMO. Obviously, I do not understand the hype that movie got in the early 2000s, because I found it average too...

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  4. @ Siham: Well, it's not really "new", neither was it in the early 2000s, but I think it's... sympathetic, if a movie can be sympathetic. I love Hrithik in it, as it was his first role, and the music is also great (Ek Pal Ka Jeena...). But yes, I do understand your reasons for not liking it.

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  5. Nice review Limette!

    I watch that video, you're right, it is a rather catchy song. But if it's the highlight of the film than I don't think I'll be seeing the film...

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  6. @ Jack L: Thank you. Wow, you liked the song, I didn't think it was something you'd like. Oh no, please don't watch the film, there are so many much better Hindi films.

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  7. Hi Limette,
    I hadn't see Karan Arjun during my Kajol-craze a few years ago: how great she looks! Thanks for Jaati hoon main, which I knew by heart but had never seen picturised.

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  8. @ yves: She looks fabulous, indeed :). If you're still a big fan, you might want to watch the movie. Do like me, fast-forward the (many) boring parts.

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  9. karan arjun is a great movie of its time. yeah in the current time it may look outdated to the new generation. the two great actors were accommodated equally in this movie. you have to understand it was a action movie n did not required great performance. the plot was excellent. loved it in 1995 when i was 15yrs and just finished watching it again today(2014) with my son. Both of us loved it.

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Let the discussion begin!