Thursday, February 10, 2022

Duniya (1984) {Mid Era}

            Duniya is a 1984 Crime/Drama film directed by Ramesh Talwar, written by Javed Akhtar, starring Dilip Kumar, Rishi Kapoor, Ashok Kumar & Amrita Singh produced by Yash Johar. Framed for a crime he didn't commit, Mohan Kumar loses his wife, son, & freedom, then he emerges from prison vowing revenge. 

             Let's start with this, the only reason why I chose to watch this film was Dilip Kumar. Now that I've established this, let's begin with the review. The plot of the film is very average. It's a typical revenge story with a mix of family drama. A lot of bollywood films of those times followed a similar storyline. The film is a slow burn and runs for 2hrs 47mins which could've easily been cut down to a 2hr 15min mark. The fist half is more engaging than the second half as the first half does a god job establishing the premise of the film. The second half is dragged and ruined by the predictable climax. 


            Dramas blended with crimes, smuggling, revenge, lost children, and reuniting have been an instant recipe of most of the Hindi Movies from '60s. By the time this film came, the story has been seen so many times that there remains nothing new to be explored. The story is familiar, the villains are well known, the characters are shallow, music and songs if not mediocre are still not very memorable. A sequence if I'm not mistaken is taken straight from the Oscar Winning "The Sting" in which Rishi Kapoor steals cash. If something is good in this movie, it's an impressive performance from Thespian Dilip Kumar and a cameo by Saira Banoo. Rest all the other actors have a stylized persona and have acted very loud. Loud acting was considered 'good' acting in those times & hence it's a common troupe. People who've watched the film when it came out must not have found it odd but the acting is outdated by todays standards & the film doesn't stand the test of time. It is a very forgetful film, not bad for a one time watch but nothing special to take home with you. I would rate the film  5.5/10.


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Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) {B/W Film}

              Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam is a 1962 Romance/Drama film adopted from the Bengali novel Saheb Bibi Golam, directed by Abrar Alvi, st...