Movies that you have seen and would recommend to others

Thank you for starting an interesting topic.

I love to watch movies that are realistic and close to the life.

For the reasons i mentioned, I'm an avid viewer of Shyam Benegal in Hindi like Ankur, Bhumika Manthan to name a few

In Telugu I love to see K. Viswanath's Movies like Sagara Sangamam, Sankarabharanam, Swati Kiranam to name a few.

rambabu wrote:

Thank you for starting an interesting topic.

I love to watch movies that are realistic and close to the life.

For the reasons i mentioned, I'm an avid viewer of Shyam Benegal in Hindi like Ankur, Bhumika Manthan to name a few

In Telugu I love to see K. Viswanath's Movies like Sagara Sangamam, Sankarabharanam, Swati Kiranam to name a few.

 

Rambabu , Please write about one movie at a time and also why you like it and recommend it....

 

Ankur (Seedling) exposes the hypocrisies prevailing in the society especially in the dominating class. Shyam Benegal the director tells the story in a simple way like a mother tells her child. No monotonous and oft repeated gimmicks like Zoom ins melting of the scenes which we see in the present day movies. Expertly directed and beautifully acted by Shabana.

Those who want to see movies with realistic touch close to life must see this movie.

There are so many movies that I have seen and really liked and would recommend to others. But since it is one at a time, I would like to recommend a quite old Marathi movie called Sinhasan which means a throne. It is a political drama directed by Dr. Jabbar Patel and based on a novel by Arun Sadhu of the same name. The cast included great stalwarts like NIlu Phule, Dr. Shriram Lagu, Mohan Agashe and Nana Patekar and Satish Dubhashi.

The plot of the movie is based around an honest journalist played by Nilu Phule who stumbles across telephone tappings related to powerful Mumbai politicians and trade unions etc. It is all about the game of dirty politics played between the greedy who do anything and everything to remain in power. A realistic portrayal of how politics is played and how innocent people are sacrificed in the blink of an eye with no remorse whatsover.

The movie was a hit with its lovely musical score, a very strong story and dialogues and a great cast. Furthermore, even though the movie was released in 1979, the way politics is played today is exactly the way it was back then. Only the technology has changed and colour is added. I think you will find it on youtube with subtitles. It is worth watching at least once and if you cannot find with subtitles, you will understand it even in Marathi.

First of all I like the movie Dhanwan starring Rajesh Khanna, Rina Royand Rakesh Roshan, It shows how money cannot be answer to everything, money cannot buy your love, money cannot buy you eyes and so on, excellent movie and I would recommend fellow members to see it from what ever source a real eye opener, when rich Rajesh Khanna after accident lost both of his eyes and doctor told him to collect eyes within seven days otherwise he would be blinded for rest of life, for first six days he was confident that he would spend any sum of money to acquire eyes but on last day he begins to realise money is not solution for everything, it is Lord which solves everything and rest one could watch movie, definitely a boring movie but the story line and the acting part of Rajesh Khanna brilliant. 

I like Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Veer Zaara and My Name is Khan, to name a few. Also Taare Zameen Par is also a very good film.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham is a tale of a joint family and 2 sons where one son is adopted(SRK) and he is distanced due to some reason and the other own son Hrithik goes abroad to get him back. It is a good family movie and emotion filled one.

Veer Zaara is a story of 2 lovers, one from India and other from Pakistan and how they spend life without each other for a long time due to circumstances and then finally meet at an old age. The songs and music are one of the best. The true love and the concept of India and Pakistan is good to watch.

My Name is Khan is a revelation in terms that it speaks out that a Muslim should not be seen as a terrorist always and discretion and judgement should be taken and it is very vividly and strongly potrayed in the movie.

Taare Zameen Par is a story of a child where he is suffering from Dyslexia and his growth under Aamir who understands his difficulties.

I am going retro....I love all films made by Bimal Roy and my most favorite is Sujata which starred one of my favorite leading ladies of yesteryears Nutan with Sunil Dutt.The other prominent actors were Shashikala, Sulochana,Lalita Pawar and Tarun Bose.

The story is that of a low caste baby named Sujata ( Nutan) brought by a Brahmin family.They have a daughter Rama ( Shashikala) who is totally unaffected by the caste differences and treats Sujata as her own sister.But the mother played by Sulochana is unsure as to how to treat Sujata, since she keeps getting negative criticism from other relatives and friends. Sunil Dutt a high caste Brahim Lawyer supposed to marry Rama, falls in love with the simple and sweet Sujata and this brings in a rift within the family.

A beautifully made film that is a must watch for Nutan's acting and the superlative music by SD Burman, this is an all time favorite film of mine ..

usha manohar wrote:

I am going retro....I love all films made by Bimal Roy and my most favorite is Sujata which starred one of my favorite leading ladies of yesteryears Nutan with Sunil Dutt.The other prominent actors were Shashikala, Sulochana,Lalita Pawar and Tarun Bose.

The story is that of a low caste baby named Sujata ( Nutan) brought by a Brahmin family.They have a bubbly daughter Rama ( Shashikala) who is totally unaffected by the caste differences and treats Sujata as her own sister whereas Sujata herself is aware that she is not an equal in the household . Mr Chaudhury her adopted father showers her with love and affection, but the mother played by Sulochana is unsure as to how to treat Sujata, since she keeps getting negative criticism from other relatives and friends. Sunil Dutt a high caste Brahim Lawyer supposed to marry Rama, falls in love with the simple and sweet Sujata and this brings in a rift within the family.

A beautifully made film that is a must watch for Nutan's acting and the superlative music by SD Burman, this is an all time favorite film of mine ..

Aamir Khan is well known for his perfectionism. 'Lagaan' which literally mean Tax (in the form of grains) is a story of ordinary people set in a small village 'Champaner' in Central India during the British rule in 1893. The tale narrates the determination of the villagers to fight against injustice and opposition.

There is no rain in the village since a year. The villagers who depend on rain for farming are unable to pay the lagaan to the ruler Captain Russel. On top of that they are asked to pay dugna lagaan (two taxes). Captain Russell gives an alternative to the villagers that if they defeat the British in a game of cricket, they will be exempted from tax for three consecutive years but if they loose they will have to pay three times more lagaan. It becomes a life or death situation for the villagers.

Aamir plays the central character Bhuvan and Gracy singh, a rank new comer portrays the role of Gauri, Bhuvan's sweet heart. 40 British actors have played the role of Englishmen and officers.

The highlight of the movie is cricket match that was filmed in a gripping manner. The entire movie especially cricket match takes the spectator literally to the scene of action.

The movie was directed by Asutosh Gowarikar.

Lagan is one of my favorite movies. I recommend this movie to the members to see it. One can see in YouTube.

I like the English movie 'Face off'. One of master pieces, John Travolta's beautiful acting, as FBI agent to catch the criminal goes for face transplantation, he assumes the face of ruthless terrorists but it back fires on him. the same criminal impersonate FBI agent, what an movie, espeically the dialogue sequences, every dialogue in this film relates with philosophy of life, it is recommended to see the movie with subtitles of English to understand the depth of dialogue in this film, well acted. 

Both Lagaan and Faceoff are excellent films...

Aamir Khan has made quality films and they are all watchable and as for John Travolta, he has gone on to become one of the most talented actors in Hollywood. I have been watching his films from Saturday night fever  when he was a gawky youngster unsure of himself and later he went through a bad patch , but he was able to resurrect himself ..

usha manohar wrote:

Both Lagaan and Faceoff are excellent films...

Aamir Khan has made quality films and they are all watchable and as for John Travolta, he has gone on to become one of the most talented actors in Hollywood. I have been watching his films from Saturday night fever  when he was a gawky youngster unsure of himself and later he went through a bad patch , but he was able to resurrect himself ..

Face/off is one of my favorites too. John Travolta really did a great job on that film after a long hiatus and proved himself as good as he did in those dancing flicks of his!

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

There are so many movies that I have seen and really liked and would recommend to others. But since it is one at a time, I would like to recommend a quite old Marathi movie called Sinhasan which means a throne. It is a political drama directed by Dr. Jabbar Patel and based on a novel by Arun Sadhu of the same name. The cast included great stalwarts like NIlu Phule, Dr. Shriram Lagu, Mohan Agashe and Nana Patekar and Satish Dubhashi.

The plot of the movie is based around an honest journalist played by Nilu Phule who stumbles across telephone tappings related to powerful Mumbai politicians and trade unions etc. It is all about the game of dirty politics played between the greedy who do anything and everything to remain in power. A realistic portrayal of how politics is played and how innocent people are sacrificed in the blink of an eye with no remorse whatsover.

The movie was a hit with its lovely musical score, a very strong story and dialogues and a great cast. Furthermore, even though the movie was released in 1979, the way politics is played today is exactly the way it was back then. Only the technology has changed and colour is added. I think you will find it on youtube with subtitles. It is worth watching at least once and if you cannot find with subtitles, you will understand it even in Marathi.

 

Kalyani , I too have watched this film a few years ago on DD when they used to show regional films once a week with sub titles and they normally showed a very good selection of regional films...I agree that it was an excellent film, worth watching.I have seen a couple of other Marathi films which were as good, one was called Silence if I am not mistaken ..

 

usha manohar wrote:

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

There are so many movies that I have seen and really liked and would recommend to others. But since it is one at a time, I would like to recommend a quite old Marathi movie called Sinhasan which means a throne. It is a political drama directed by Dr. Jabbar Patel and based on a novel by Arun Sadhu of the same name. The cast included great stalwarts like NIlu Phule, Dr. Shriram Lagu, Mohan Agashe and Nana Patekar and Satish Dubhashi.

The plot of the movie is based around an honest journalist played by Nilu Phule who stumbles across telephone tappings related to powerful Mumbai politicians and trade unions etc. It is all about the game of dirty politics played between the greedy who do anything and everything to remain in power. A realistic portrayal of how politics is played and how innocent people are sacrificed in the blink of an eye with no remorse whatsover.

The movie was a hit with its lovely musical score, a very strong story and dialogues and a great cast. Furthermore, even though the movie was released in 1979, the way politics is played today is exactly the way it was back then. Only the technology has changed and colour is added. I think you will find it on youtube with subtitles. It is worth watching at least once and if you cannot find with subtitles, you will understand it even in Marathi.

 

Kalyani , I too have watched this film a few years ago on DD when they used to show regional films once a week with sub titles and they normally showed a very good selection of regional films...I agree that it was an excellent film, worth watching.I have seen a couple of other Marathi films which were as good, one was called Silence if I am not mistaken ..

 

Yes Usha., It is The Silence, although I have not watched it myself. Sinhasan was a very good movie and till date, it is considered an iconic movie in Marathi cinema/.

 

Dilip Kumar as we all know is probably the best actor the hindi film industry ever had...He has played varied roles in all his films as a leading man.

However in Amar he plays a negative role. I watched the movie quite recently and was impressed by it.The film has a star cast of Dilip Kumar, Madhubala and Nimmi...

Dilip Kumar is engaged to be married to rich girl Madhubala but is attracted to poor tribal girl Nimmi...I wont go into more dtails since it gives away the suspense completely. The songs, Dilip's portrayal of a complex character and of course Madhubala's mesmerising beauty  add to make this film a cut above the rest. It is definitely a film worth watching ....Some of the scenes linger in your memory like the interaction between Madhubala and Nimmi and that of Madhubala and a guilt ridden Dilip Kumar.

The film has a great musical score by Naushad with Rafis 'Insaf ka mandir hai yeh bhagwan ka ghar hai , Lata's Janewale se mulaqat na and others 

In the recent past I have seen a few sports based movies like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Chak De India. I feel that Bollywood industry turned a new leaf with such sport based movies.

In the Movie Chak De India, when Shahrukh Khan is accused of Match fixing in a hockey world cup final. returns back after seven years. He returns to coach a hopeless Women hockey team. The rest of the movie deals with his journey to glory of the National team..

Sharukh   as the coach to an underrated  women’s Hockey team toils and succeeds in turning a mediocre women’s Hockey team in to a National Team.

A disgraced hockey player coaches the women's national team to win back his honor and dignity.

Directed by Shimit Amin, written by Jaideep Sahni. Sharukh Khan plays the lead role.

Despite its shortcomings, it makes the audience stick to the edges of their seats.

The underlying Moral is “Never Lose Heart. Persevere andwin.”

I recommend this movie for all such viewers who love to see Sports based movies with a difference.

Do ankhein barah hath, a warden sets himself goal to rectify path of six murderes, this is an old movie but the message shows how criminal could be brought to correct path when they are treated like fellow citizens, the evergreen song, a malik tere bande ham is the definitely one of the master pieces, and this is perhaps the only bollywood film which inspires holly woods. Brilliant message about reformation in policing. I would definitely hope for such ideal and sacrifice driven warden to create more people from criminals. Similar one is Dushman, where Rajesh Khanna inadvertently murdered a person who happens to be sole bread earner of that family, and the court ordered him to sever those family and the story moves on from dushman he became friend to that family. Excellent message with some good songs. The song dushman..... doston se bhi pyara hai///// signifies the story line of this movie, from hate mongers to becomes lovable in that village. A treat to watch indeed. Both movies in their own way, opposes existing criminal systems and try hard to show how such reformation could change the lives of many. Thought for food. 

mohan manohar wrote:

Do ankhein barah hath, a warden sets himself goal to rectify path of six murderes, this is an old movie but the message shows how criminal could be brought to correct path when they are treated like fellow citizens, the evergreen song, a malik tere bande ham is the definitely one of the master pieces, and this is perhaps the only bollywood film which inspires holly woods. Brilliant message about reformation in policing. I would definitely hope for such ideal and sacrifice driven warden to create more people from criminals. Similar one is Dushman, where Rajesh Khanna inadvertently murdered a person who happens to be sole bread earner of that family, and the court ordered him to sever those family and the story moves on from dushman he became friend to that family. Excellent message with some good songs. The song dushman..... doston se bhi pyara hai///// signifies the story line of this movie, from hate mongers to becomes lovable in that village. A treat to watch indeed. Both movies in their own way, opposes existing criminal systems and try hard to show how such reformation could change the lives of many. Though for food. 

 

Do Aankhen Baraa Haath is a trend setting film by the veteran producer and director V. Shanta ram. He produced many such trend setting and movies made on social evils like  Dowry .Teen Batti Char Raasta , Dahej which will be remembered for generations on.

mohan manohar wrote:

Do ankhein barah hath, a warden sets himself goal to rectify path of six murderes, this is an old movie but the message shows how criminal could be brought to correct path when they are treated like fellow citizens, the evergreen song, a malik tere bande ham is the definitely one of the master pieces, and this is perhaps the only bollywood film which inspires holly woods. Brilliant message about reformation in policing. I would definitely hope for such ideal and sacrifice driven warden to create more people from criminals. Similar one is Dushman, where Rajesh Khanna inadvertently murdered a person who happens to be sole bread earner of that family, and the court ordered him to sever those family and the story moves on from dushman he became friend to that family. Excellent message with some good songs. The song dushman..... doston se bhi pyara hai///// signifies the story line of this movie, from hate mongers to becomes lovable in that village. A treat to watch indeed. Both movies in their own way, opposes existing criminal systems and try hard to show how such reformation could change the lives of many. Thought for food.

 

I have seen both the films and V Shantaram's Do ankhein baarah haath is any day a better movie than Dushman. Shantaram has made some very good films, they were artistic and had good music mostly by Vasant Desai or C Ramchandra...I like his Navrang and Sehra too ...The only problem was Sandhya who was his leading lady in all these films. She was wooden and a miserable actress, but the credit goes to Shantaram that inspite of that he could make his movies so qualitative and popular 

A Benchmark for Movie making- Sholay

A 1975 Movie Directed by Ramesh Sippy, written by Salim –Javed and Music composed by Rahul Dev Burman.

 The story line in brief is A Police officer’s family was massacred by a dreaded and notorious  bandit. To take a befitting revenge, the police officer hires the services of two outlaws to capture the bandit alive.

Though many opine Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan who portrayed the roles of small time criminals employed by the Thakur ( Sanjeev Kumar) were the main roles of the movie, I rate Amjad Khan who has portrayed the role of Gabbar Singh, the dreaded Bandit as the central role of the Movie.

 it was Amjad’s maiden appearance and stole the hearts of the entire nation with his famous dialogues

 “ Kitne Aadmi The..”

 “ Jo dargaya Soch Woh Margaya. “

 Amjad not only created waves in the movie world, he has earned the name of “ Most beloved Bad man”.

 The other prominent cast includes Hema malini, A.K Hangal, Iftekar etc.

 There is not much to say about the storyline, one has to note how Ramesh Sippy and the music composer RD made an ordinary storyline into a Masterpiece of all-time.

RD's Mehbooba Mahbooba

Koi Haseena Jab Rooth Jayegi to...

Yeh Dosti are still ringing in the ears of the public.

To put it simple, "Shoklay " is inimitable

 For the reasons said above I recommend Sholay to be seen by one and all either in the cinema hall or in YouTube. But personally I feel that it should be seen in a cinema hall.