Himani Shivpuri Movies
A young courtesan kidnapped from her home and sold into slavery ultimately transcends her grim fate in director J.P. Dutta's adaptation of author Mirza Haadi Ruswa's classic 1905 novel. Previously adapted for the screen to great acclaim in 1981, Ruswa's novel tells the story of a middle class girl kidnapped by a habitual offender who had been imprisoned for ten years as a result of her father's damning testimony. Determined to curse his accuser with a fate worse than death, the vengeful ex-convict spirited the man's daughter away and sold the young girl - then known as Amiran - to a brothel in Lucknow. Subsequently given the name Umrao, raised in the lap of luxury, and trained to be a great entertainer, the young girl would grow up to become one of the most beautiful and popular entertainers of her time. Yet despite all of her success, something was missing in the life of the girl now known as Umrao. Though fortune seemed to smile down on her against all odds, Umrao soon fell in love with the powerful Nawab Sultan and longed to start a family with the influential figure despite the fact that their love seemed doomed from the onset. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shabana Azmi, Sunil Shetty, (more)
Love blossoms in the most unlikely of places in director Rohan Sippy's feature debut. A carefree bachelor who is in no hurry to marry, Raj (Abhishek Bachchan) finds himself the pawn of an overzealous Cupid upon attending his cousin's wedding in India. Though Namarata (Aishwarya Rai) has soon laid out a series of potential mates for Raj, her plan backfires when she learns that it isn't her suggestions that Raj is interested in, but Namarata herself. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, (more)
Sanjana (Kareena Kapoor) is a spirited young Indian woman who has just graduated from college. While she respects her father, Satya (Pankaj Kapur), and her mother, Susheela (Himani Shivpuri), she wants to forge her own path. When they arrange for her to meet a wealthy businessman for possible marriage, she plots with her four close girlfriends (Arti Avashti, Kusumit Sana, Parizad C. Kolah, and Rituv Kambow) to expose the young man's weaknesses and chase him away. But when Prem (Hrithik Roshan, who co-starred with Kapoor in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...) shows up, he's exuberantly friendly, athletic, and handsome; and soon, to her parents' delight, Sanjana finds herself falling in love. Just when it seems like a happy ending is in store for everyone, news comes that the wealthy businessman never showed up after all, but sent his not-so-wealthy assistant and friend, also named Prem, in his place. Susheela is determined to end whatever is beginning between Sanjana and the first Prem, so that Sanjana can marry the wealthier Prem (Abhishek Bachnan, who made his film debut opposite Kapoor in Refugee), who turns out to be a very reserved young man, but one who has a poet's soul and longs for love. For comic relief, there's also a computer-generated parrot and a partly animated dog with the same name as Prem's assistant, Johnny (Johnny Lever). Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon was written and directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya, the grandson of Rajshri Productions founder Shri Tarachand Barjatya. It was his fourth feature with a hero named Prem, but the first in which Prem was not played by Salman Khan. Anu Malik composed the score. While the film, expected to be a blockbuster, fared somewhat disappointingly at the Indian box office, it did exceptionally well in Great Britain and the United States. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor, (more)
- 2002
Director Kunal Kohli presents the Bollywood epic of mistaken loves and matrimonial mismatches in his 2002 release Mujhse Dosti Karoge! Young Raj (Hrithik Roshan) has spent the last 15 years in London, due to his father having relocated his family in order to start a computer company. In the meantime, Raj has kept in touch with his childhood friend, Pooja (Rani Mukherji), who still resides in India. Over those 15 years, Raj reveals to Pooja that he had fallen in love with her sister, Tina (Kareena Kapoor), before leaving India and via his communications with Tina. Pooja, it turns out, was the true author of those messages in a bid to spare her friend's feelings for a deeply ambivalent Tina -- and Pooja has subsequently fallen in love with Raj in the process. As Raj makes a return visit home to India, he spends as much time with Tina as he can allow and Pooja is forced to sit by and watch in silence. After Raj returns to London, however, Pooja decides to follow him. When the two meet, the truth is revealed and Pooja and Raj decide to marry. They return to India to announce their engagement, but find her father had recently died. Further complicating matters, Raj's father is determined to keep the vow he made to Pooja and Tina's father of marrying his son to Tina. The young lovers are forced to find a solution to their problem quickly before Raj is married to Tina and irretrievably lost to Pooja. Somewhat popular with the Indian movie-going public, Mujhse Dosti Karoge! was critically dismissed as derivative and unoriginal at the time of its 2002 release. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hrithik Roshan, Rani Mukherjee, (more)
When forbidden love tears a tightly knit Indian family apart, a mother's heartbreak prompts her son to reunite the shattered clan in this family drama from filmmaker Karan Johar. Business tycoon Yashovardhan Raichand (Amitabh Bachchan) has everything a man could ever want: a loving family, a thriving empire, and a beautiful wife. When Yashovardhan's son Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) discovers that he is adopted, he expresses his gratitude through unwavering devotion and unending loyalty until the day that he falls in love with a boisterous young outcast named Anjali (Kajol). Disowned by his father and left to his own devices, Rahul gathers Anjali and her young sister, Pooja (Kareena Kapoor), and sets his sights on London. As the grief of Rahul's mother becomes too much to bear, Rahul's brother Rohan sets out to find his brother and reunite their fragmented family. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, (more)
In this remake of the 1997 Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy of the same name, a young career woman must choose between the love of her life and the job of her dreams. When Pooja (Kirti Reddy) takes a vacation in Agra and meets renowned artist Kabir (Abhishek Bachchan) it's love at first sight -- for the artist at least. Though Pooja is attracted by Kabir's undeniable talent, her true heart lies with her disapproving boss Mr. Oberoi's (Kader Khan) business-minded son Raj (Sanjay Suri). Just as Mr. Oberoi decides to terminate Pooja from the company for frequently arriving tardy, Pooja's scheming co-worker Maggi (Johnny Lever) comes up with a foolproof plan for Pooja to keep her job. By using pictures of Pooja and Kabir to convince the boss that his absent-minded employee is engaged to be married, Maggi manages to save salvage Pooja's job -- but not without a catch. When Kabir gets word that Pooja has announced their engagement, the hapless Pooja must convince her "fiancé" that it's all a big misunderstanding while simultaneously expressing her true feelings to the unassuming Raj. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirti Reddy, Abhishek Bachchan, (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)
A huge hit when released in India in 1994, director Sooraj Barjatiya's affecting family drama started a notable trend towards more family friendly fare in a time when violence was the predominant attraction of Bollywood films. As Prem's (Salman Khan) brother prepares for his marriage to Nisha's (Madhuri Dixit) sister, the single siblings slowly fall in love with one another. Following the death of Nisha's sister Pooja, Nisha is obligated to marry Prem's brother Rajesh since Rajesh's child is familiar with Nisha. As Nisha and Rajesh prepare for their wedding, Rajesh finds a note that Nisha has written to Prem and insists that she follow her heart and marry her true love. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madhuri Dixit, Salman Khan, (more)
