Kulbhushan Kharbanda Movies
- 1975
In India in 1945, at the time of independence, there were many isolated semi-autonomous states, which had their own laws. In this movie, a man whose wife is abducted by the rulers of such a region seeks to have the men prosecuted for their crime, but no one will help him. Meanwhile, the wife, abused and berated by her abductors, cannot bring herself to face her husband and finally submits to one of her captors. Eventually, the aggrieved husband is able to rouse the local populace and priesthood to enact a bloody revenge on these oppressors. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Girish Karnad, Shabana Azmi, (more)
- 1977
In this melodrama, the life of a beautiful Indian starlet is unfolded, beginning with her disastrous first movie audition when she attempts to sing for her listeners. Forced into show business by her family, who hoped to use her beauty to support themselves, little about her life, even its successes, brings her much joy. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Smita Patil, Anant Nag, (more)
During one of the many violent uprisings against the English colonial overlords in India, a church filled with people is massacred. The only people to survive are three generations of women in one family, hidden by a friendly Indian. They are then kidnapped by a Muslim (Sashi Kapoor), who wants to keep the youngest woman as his second wife, despite the objections of his first wife who despises the women for their Englishness. Also, the girl he is enamored of finds him frightening. He goes off to join the fighting and eventually comes back to a much-changed situation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shashi Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, (more)
- 1980
- R
Amma (Smita Patil) is a woman who has been raped and then forced to flee her home with her husband and child after her husband kills the rapist. Her life plunges even lower in the overwhelming and crowded city when her husband, in turn, is killed by smugglers. Left alone to fend for herself and her little boy, she desperately tries to instill moral values in her son in spite of the immorality of life all around them. She is indirectly aided in this effort by a dubious hero-type, but there does not seem to be much hope for her future and that of her son. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, (more)
Shiv Kumar is a responsible man who takes care of his wife and children, and devotes himself tirelessly to his job as a police officer. He also lives with his two directionless brothers, Ravi and Vijay, who eek out a living as con-men. Everything changes, however, when Shiv is killed. Angry and broken hearted at the loss of their brother, Ravi and Vijay turn over a new leaf, giving up their waywardness in order to hunt down the man who took Shiv's life. What they find, however, might be even more than these two ruthless men can handle. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
With songs and musical numbers that are woven through the storyline, this unevenly-paced drama is about a brothel that has been an institution in a small town for a very long time. The women entertain the local clients with suggestive songs and dances and are not the type of prostitutes that ply their trade in New York City, for example. Unfortunately for the business of the brothel, a developer wants to schedule some new buildings for the town, so the madam is forced to move her women to the outskirts, and things will just never be the same again. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, (more)
Liberally sprinkled with dashes of humor, this is a fast-paced comedy about a family and their friends who lived through the transition of Goa from a Portuguese colony to a district governed by India. Ana (Sushma Prakash) is about to become engaged (unwillingly) to the unappealing Erasmo when her beloved grandfather suddenly dies. Her grandmother is so overwhelmed by grief that Ana's engagement is put on hold indefinitely (along with everything else) while granny tries to contact the spirit of her dead husband. But her wires get crossed each time and instead of grandpa, she brings forth ghosts of people the family has wronged in the past. Meanwhile, Ana's real love is hiding out in the cellar. As Ana's marriage to Erasmo draws near, she faints dead away because (as he soon finds out) she is pregnant, but not by him. These and other events are revealed in flashbacks as a former resident in the house returns to visit 25 years later. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leela Naidu, Sushma Prakash, (more)
- 1986
This hard-hitting political drama was hit equally hard by Indian distributors and television, who declined to run the film. The controversial storyline features a newspaper editor who uncovers corruption, murder, and bribery in high office. When a politician is killed, an journalist discovers that a member of parliament had the man assassinated. What's more, the same member of parliament is an underworld gangster. As the editor digs deeper, the complicity of higher-placed politicians comes to the surface, which leads to riots in one town and an attempt to suppress his story. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shashi Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore, (more)
- 1986
Ramulu (Om Puri) is a master weaver whose excellence is noticed by a female government official, and his work is selected to represent his country in an exhibition in Paris. Unfortunately, the selection brings about worker discord and jealousy. Ramulu alienates his daughter by using the fine silk intended for her wedding dress for a piece he submits to the international exhibit. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Om Puri, Shabana Azmi, (more)
- 1989
Joshilaay is a bitter pill to take for anyone who thinks that Indian movies consist chiefly of Satyajit Ray epics and lighthearted musicals. Popular Indian film personality Anil Kapoor doesn't make his entrance until after half the cast has been murdered. The culprits are a pair of out-of-control criminals, played by Kulbhusan Kharbanda and Rajesh Vivek. Kapoor and Sunny Deol, the sons of two of the victims, wait many years to exact their revenge. The question: was it worth the wait? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Filmed in the Hindi language, the Indian Hathyar spotlights Sanjay Dutt in the leading role. Dutt becomes disoriented when his family leaves their remote village for the city. Unable to successfully adjust to the culture shock, Dutt falls in with the wrong crowd. He becomes a petty criminal, while his parents can only stand aside in anguish. Director J.P. Dutta also collaborated on Hathyar's screenplay. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Young slacker Ravi (Anil Kapoor) finds it difficult to stay out of trouble. Furthermore, it seems he brings bad luck to the rest of his family when his father (Kulbhushan Kharbandra) is punished for revealing one of his pupils -- who happens to be the son of a powerful politician -- to be a cheat. In an attempt to start anew, Ravi and his family relocate, only to find that their new home is just as rife with corruption and hardship. To add further insult to injury, Ravi is incarcerated when he attempts to rid his new town of corrupt officials. In an attempt to free Ravi, his friends, family, and new girlfriend, Kiran (Juhi Chawla), begin a political campaign to elect Ravi and remove the current town leaders from power. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1996
Framed by the increasingly tenuous peace between the Muslims and Hindus in 1992 Bombay, this Indian drama examines the tender relationship between 15-year-old middle-class Muslim schoolgirl Naseem and her elderly grandfather who, though confined to bed, fills her with many exciting tales of growing up in Agra while the British were in power. Though at first Naseem and her family remain insulated from the growing tensions outside, soon the political upheaval becomes impossible to ignore and people they know, including family members, get involved. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this India-set Canadian drama, two disparate wives related by marriage and united at first by the oppressiveness of Indian tradition that relegates them to miserable unions, find solace and love in each other's arms. The film opens as an unhappy young couple, Jatin and Sita, fumble through a conversation. Neither wanted to marry each other, but as it was arranged by Jatin's family, they had no choice. Marriage does not stop Jatin, who owns a video store, from continuing his long-time love affair with a Chinese hairdresser. Caring nothing for Sita, he doesn't even try to hide the affair. Jatin's brother Ashok (who forced Jatin's marriage) is married to Radha. Deeply frustrated at her inability to conceive, he has joined a radical cult that forbids all sexual contact. Ashok and Jatin's demanding mother doesn't help matters nor does the family's twisted servant Mundu. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Deepa Mehta directed this Indian-Canadian romantic drama, the second part of a trilogy. Based on Bapsi Sidhwa's autobiography, Cracking India, the story is set in 1947 in Lahore, where Hindu, Sikh, Parsee, and Muslim share a peaceful co-existence. Events are seen from the point of view of eight-year-old Lenny (Maia Sethna), a girl from an affluent Parsee family. Lenny's nanny, Shantya (Nandita Das), is involved with the Muslim Masseur (Rahul Khanna). When a train of Muslims arrives at the local depot and all the passengers are found murdered, the various sects turn against each other, and the city is soon aflame. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aamir Khan, Nandita Das, (more)
- 2001
- NR
- Add Lagaan: Once Upon a Time In India to QueueAdd Lagaan: Once Upon a Time In India to top of Queue
One of the most expensive films ever to come out of Bollywood, Lagaan tells the tale of the Indian village Champaner, beset by drought and British colonialism in the year 1893. Without a drop of rain in months, the worried villagers of Champaner decide to ask the local authorities for a temporary repeal of their taxes -- the hated lagaan. Led by the heroic Bhuvan (Indian superstar Aamir Khan) they bring their plight to the military governor, Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne). But the sadistic Russell threatens to raise the lagaan threefold, unless the villagers can beat his men at a game of cricket, in which case he'll lift taxes on the entire province for a period of three years. Bhuvan accepts the challenge, but there's a problem -- no one in Champaner knows how to play cricket. A band of misfits come to the rescue, coached by Russell's soft-hearted sister Elizabeth (Rachel Shelley), and the race is on to be ready in three months' time. An epic reworking of Victory with eye-popping song-and-dance routines, Lagaan was a major cinematic event in India upon its release. ~ Connor McMadden, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, (more)
After making a string of social commentaries, Canadian director Deepa Mehta satirizes India's beloved genre in the lighthearted romantic musical Bollywood/Hollywood. Indo-Canadian millionaire Rahul (Rahul Khanna) goes against the wishes of his mother and grandmother to date the Caucasian pop star Kimberly (Jessica Paré); however, she gets killed in an accident and he is left devastated. His mother (Moushumi Chatterjee) seizes the opportunity and announces that he must get engaged to an Indian girl before his sister is allowed to wed. This is complicated by the fact that his sister is already engaged and pregnant. Under pressure, Rahul enlists the help of Sue (supermodel Lisa Ray), a professional escort who agrees to play the part of his Indian fiancée. He thinks she is really Hispanic, and she claims to have no love for traditional Indian men. Throughout his sister's wedding preparations, Sue begins to befriend his entire family, including the tough old grandmother (Dina Pathak). After some random bursts into songs and dances, Sue reveals her true identity and they fall in love. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rahul Khanna, Lisa Ray, (more)
