Amin Hajee Movies
- 2005
A career criminal tries to disprove the old adage that "you can't con a con man" in this Bollywood drama. Arjun (Fardeen Khan) is a confidence man who, after the death of one of his best friends, decides to pull a major scam to punish the killer. However, the plan goes awry, and he finds himself deep in debt to two of his partners, gangster Sikander (Gulshan Grover) and hitman Kaif (Kay Kay Menon). In order to even the score and save his own skin, Arjun is forced to plan an even bigger con, with one of India's most powerful crime figures, Jehanghir Khan (Feroz Khan), as the target. Helping Arjun pull off the scam of a lifetime are his friends and cohorts Bhatia (Mukul Dev), a master forger; Jack (Amin Hajee), an all-purpose swindler; and Natasha (Koena Mitra), a beautiful psychiatrist whose passion for the nooks and crannies of the human mind had caused her to fall for Arjun. Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena (aka The Player and the Beauty) was the first directorial credit for screenwriter Suparn Verma. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 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)
- 2005
- Add The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey to QueueAdd The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey to top of Queue
One of the earliest salvos of Indian militancy before the nation won its freedom from the British Empire is recounted in grand scale in this historical drama. In the 1850s, Great Britain held both political and economic sway over India, and the East India Company was one of the most powerful English firms trading there -- so powerful that they had their own private army to help enforce the laws as they saw fit. Mangal Pandey (Aamir Khan) was a "sepoy" (local slang for an Indian soldier) in the East India Co. militia who became friendly with British officer William Gordon (Toby Stephens). Gordon had a great deal of respect for Padney, unlike many of his fellow British soldiers, who regarded their Indian colleagues with little more than contempt. While Padney's commitment to his duty was genuine, he became increasingly aware of the disrespect shown to Indians by the British, and when word began to spread that the powder cartouches being given to sepoy gunmen were greased with animal fat, making them taboo for Muslim and Hindu soldiers, long-simmering anger in the ranks began to boil over into open rebellion, and in time Padney was charged with mutiny for defending himself and other sepoys against their British superiors. Adapted from a true story, The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Padney features dialogue in both Hindi and English, unusual for most Bollywood films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aamir Khan, Toby Stephens, (more)
