Anupam Kher Movies
This Hindi melodrama is set during India's fight for independence from the British. Although lavish song and dance numbers are unexpectedly common in Indian cinema, the soundtrack, prepared by prolific film composer Rahul Dev Burman remains a favorite among Indian fans. This musical tells the story of two lovers during this politically turbulent period. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Recalling the subtle, understated films of master director Satyajit Ray, this is a quiet drama about a lonely, unfortunate middle-aged woman. Banalata (Kiron Kher) has lived a solitary existence since her husband-to-be died the night before their wedding from a snake bite. Never having quite gotten over the tragedy, she rarely ventures out and is clearly very lonely. This changes when she agrees to allow a film production to shoot in a wing in her sprawling estate. Suddenly her house is filled with movie stars and glamorous people, including the beautiful actress Sudeshna (Rupa Ganguly) and charming director Deepankar (Chiranjeet Chakraborty). Though she knows that not only is Deepankar married but that his former lover Sudeshna still holds a torch for him, the lonely widow finds herself drawn to the director. He is exactly the sort of worldly character whom she has always longed to meet. The rakish man flirts back and even persuades Banalata to appear in a bit part in the movie. Yet once the film crew decamps, things at the estate return to the same grinding tedium as before, though the woman feels her isolation all the more acutely. The letters that Banalata writes to Deepankar go unanswered, and her bit part in the movie ends up on the cutting-room floor. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirron Kher
An independent-minded young woman discovers the joys of football, much to her family's chagrin, in this upbeat British comedy drama. Jess Bhamra (Parminder Nagra) is an 18-year-old growing up in West London, where her family has taken every effort to stay in touch with its Indian heritage. Jess' father and mother (Anupam Kher and Shaheen Khan) are after their daughter to go to law school, learn to cook a traditional Indian dinner, and settle down with a nice Indian boy -- the latter of which is high on the agenda of her older sister Pinky (Archie Panjabi), who is soon to wed her longtime beau Teetu (Kulvinder Ghir). However, her family is unaware that Jess has a secret passion -- football (or soccer, as it's known in North America). While Jess' enthusiasm for football star David Beckham is obvious, given the fact his photos cover the walls of her room, her parents don't know that in her spare time she likes to play a friendly game in the park with some of the boys in the neighborhood. One day, while Jess and her pals kick the ball around, she meets Jules (Keira Knightley), who is quite impressed with Jess' skills. Jules plays with a local semi-pro women's football team, the Hounslow Harriers, and she thinks Jess has what it takes to make the team. Jess knows that her parents would never approve of their daughter playing football, so she doesn't tell them, and starts spinning an increasingly complex series of lies as she tries to keep up a double life as a student and a footballer. Jess soon discovers a number of her new friends have their own problems to overcome; Jules dreams of playing pro ball in America, but has to deal with her stubborn and disapproving mother (Juliet Stevenson), while Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Hounslow's Irish coach, still struggles with the disappointment of a career as a professional athlete which was dashed by a knee injury. Bend It Like Beckham was a significant box-office success in Great Britain and Europe, but didn't reach American theaters until nearly a year after it debuted in the U.K. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, (more)
The very British sensibilities of Jane Austen are introduced to the exotic flavors of the Bollywood musical in this romantic comedy with songs from the director of Bend It Like Beckham, Gurinder Chadha. Lalita Bakshi (Aishwarya Rai) is the lovely and eligible daughter of her socially ambitious mother and father (Nadira Babbar and Anupam Kher). Mother and father want to be sure that Lalita, the most beautiful of their four daughters, settles down with a man worthy of her, but she has proven resistant to matchmaking, announcing that she will choose her own husband, and will choose him for love. While mother is keen on the profoundly annoying Kholi (Nitin Chandra Ganatra), Lalita has had her head turned by a handsome vagabond from England, Johnny Wickham (Daniel Gilles). But while attending the wedding of a friend, Lalita meets Will Darcy (Martin Henderson), a college buddy of family friend Raj (Naveen Andrews) who is the son of a wealthy hotel magnate. Lalita finds that Will makes a strong impression on her -- she can't stand him, but she also can't get him out of her mind. Will feels the same way about her, and as they inadvertently chase one another over three continents, will morbid fascination grow into true love? Bride and Prejudice marked the first English-speaking role for Aishwarya Rai, who had firmly established herself as India's leading female star when this film was made. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, (more)
- 2007
Director Rahul Rawail teams with screenwriter Anand Sivakumaran for this cutting black comedy about greed, corpses, cold hard cash, and funerals. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Om Puri, Anupam Kher, (more)
- 1994
In this Bollywood romantic drama, Shyam (Salman Khan) is a wealthy young man whose family is from India, though he was born and raised elsewhere. When Shyam's mother passes away, she makes a final request of her son -- that he marry a girl from India so that he will retain ties to the traditions of his family. Shyam travels to India in hopes of honoring his mother's wishes, but as his uncle Hasmukh (Anupam Kher) shows him around, he finds that Bombay is a major metropolis just like those in Europe, and he wonders if the "real" India of which he's heard still exists. Shyam then meets a beautiful woman named Radha (Sridevi) who tells him that India's ancient cultural traditions are still very much alive in the outlying rural villages; as Radha shows Shyam the "real" India, he begins to suspect he's also found the women of his dreams. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Salman Khan, Sridevi, (more)
- 2009
Rani Mukherjee is one of Bollywood's big-name beauties, but that doesn't stop the Saawariya star from cross-dressing in this Hindi-language romantic comedy. The actress plays a female athlete who is desperate to succeed at cricket. Rather than joining a women's team, she dons a beard and a sardar's garb and plays with the big boys. But will her dreams be deferred by a romance with a fellow player (Shahid Kapoor)? Anurag Singh directs this Punjab-set comedy that also stars Anupam Kher, Rakhi Sawant, and Sherlyn Chopra. ~ Kimber Myers, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rani Mukherjee, Shahid Kapoor, (more)
- 1995
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (Brave Heart Will Take the Bride) was a huge hit in India, and won all the major Filmfare Awards. It was also the film that catapulted Shahrukh Khan to Bollywood superstardom, and it was the first of several successful pairings of Khan and Kajol. Khan plays Raj, a likeably goofy rich Indian boy, brought up in London, who's had everything handed to him in life. Kajol is Simran, a proper Indian girl who also lives in London. Her stern father (Amrish Puri) has arranged for her to go to back to his sorely missed homeland in Punjab to marry the son of an old friend. Simran persuades the old man to let her go off on a month-long trip to Europe with her girlfriends before she weds. On the trip, Simran meets Raj, and naturally they don't get along at first. He humiliates her with his pranks, and she refuses to loosen up. Then they get stranded together, get drunk together, sing and dance together, and begin to develop feelings for each other. They return to London, each hoping the other will express his/her love. They part, and when Simran's father overhears her telling her mother (Farida Jalal) about Raj, he gets angry and demands that they leave for India immediately. But Raj follows them there, determined to win over Simran's father and take Simran as his bride. He ingratiates himself with the dimwitted groom, Kuljit (Parmeet Sethi), and enters the household as his friend. Things get even more complicated when Kuljit's family mistakenly believes that Raj is interested in the groom's sister, and they begin to plan a double wedding. The film was the directorial debut of Aditya Chopra, and the hit soundtrack was composed by the writing team Jatin-Lalit. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, (more)
- 2007
Six directors converge to film an ensemble epic detailing the love and companionship of two friends torn apart by the cruel mechanisms of fate. When a writer makes a shocking discovery about the woman he loves most, the grip of madness takes hold of his fragile psyche. Later, when an underworld don and his best friend attempt to navigate their way through a potentially explosive internal conflict, five friends find that the fictional stories they weave seem to have a profound and unexpected effect on reality. Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Arbaaz Khan, and Dino Morea star in a film from directors Jasmeet Dhodi, Hansal Mehta, Meghna Gulzar, Rohit Roy, Apoorva Lakhia, and Sanjay Gupta. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, (more)
- 2007
A mere mortal gets the unique opportunity to try his hand at being the creator in director Rumy Jaffery's heavenly comedy. Arun Prajapati (Salman Khan) has just experienced what he believes to be the worst day of his life, and as the sun begins to set he rails against God for making his life a living hell. When God responds by taking human form (Amitabh Bachchan) and challenging Arun to see how well he fares at carrying out the divine duties, the awestricken mortal responds with childlike zeal. The result is a series of hysterical disasters that threaten to spiral into a cosmic calamity. Arun thinks that by granting everyone their deepest wishes he can make the world a better place, but it doesn't take him long to realize that God's job is tougher than it looks. And while the love of Arun's life (Priyanka Chopra) is genuinely impressed with his newfound confidence, will she still have the same feelings for him once his powers are gone? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, (more)
- 2006
The primal forces of religious animosity pit a fledgling Muslim photographer and a retired Sikh Colonel from the Indian army on a dangerous collision course in director Tanuja Chandra's simmering post-9/11 drama. The setting is New York City, and the year is 2001. Colonel Oberoi's son has been killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks, and now the ageing military man has focused his rage onto Muslim Ali Siddiqui. Siddiqui is an honest man whose sole transgression was falling in love with Colonel Oberoi's widowed daughter in law. In an era where religion seems to divide the masses more than ever before, does love have the power to triumph over tragedy? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anupam Kher, Mahima Chaudhry, (more)
