Jalal Agha Movies
This historical drama, based on a novel by John Masters that was in turn inspired by actual events, follows William Savage (Pierce Brosnan), a British agent of the East India Company, as he is sent with his new wife to India in the early 19th century. While Savage holds the unusually progressive view that the people of India are human and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, he is still a very proper subject of the British empire and behaves accordingly. One night, when he sees a group of seemingly crazed men rob and kill a defenseless woman, he demands to know what has happened. He learns that the killers were members of a bizarre cult called the Thugees; Savage is determined to do something about them, and he works his way into the group by disguising himself as one of their number; however, the more Savage tries to win the trust of the Thugees, the more he must act as one of them, which leads him into a murderous secret life of his own. The Deceivers was produced by Ismail Merchant, his first film with a director other than James Ivory. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierce Brosnan, Saeed Jaffrey, (more)
Unlike the more succinct 1950 MGM version, the 1984 TV movie adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's Kim (filmed on location in India) takes its own sweet time establishing characters and exposition. You'll have to stay with the film for its first half hour to determine who is who and what is what, but the end result is worth the effort. Ravi Sheth stars as Kim, a street orphan in Lahore, India during the height of the British Raj. Kim's amazing adventures get under way the moment he learns that he's actually the son of a British soldier. One such exploit involves horse trader Bryan Brown (playing a character essayed by Errol Flynn in the 1950 film), who uses Kim as a spy for the British against Russian infiltrators in the Himalayas. The big-money act in Kim is Peter O'Toole as a wizened Buddhist monk. O'Toole's acting is impeccable, though his false beard and bald wig make him resemble the woebegone hermit who always shows up in the opening credits of Monty Python's Flying Circus. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
It was Richard Attenborough's lifelong dream to bring the life story of Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi to the screen. When it finally reached fruition in 1982, the 188-minute, Oscar-winning Gandhi was one of the most exhaustively thorough biopics ever made. The film begins in the early part of the 20th century, when Mohandas K. Gandhi (Ben Kingsley), a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of "passive resistance," endeavoring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed. In the horrendous "slaughter" sequence, more extras appear on screen than in any previous historical epic. The supporting cast includes Candice Bergen as photographer Margaret Bourke-White, Athol Fugard as General Smuts, John Gielgud as Lord Irwin, John Mills as the viceroy, Martin Sheen as Walker, Trevor Howard as Judge Broomfield, and, in a tiny part as a street bully, star-to-be Daniel Day-Lewis. Gandhi won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, (more)
- Starring:
- Mithun Chakraborty, Ranjeeta, (more)
A lad from the countryside moves into the city to try and earn money for his family. He has been forced to do this because work is scarce in the countryside, and all the available land has been bought up by the rich. He finds a job driving a taxi and shares this work with three people: a new friend, a young man with an optimistic air and the young mans' girlfriend, who he intends to marry. The girl's family want to sell her into servitude rather than allowing her to marry, and when she objects, they beat and kill her boyfriend. This throws the boy from the country into a quandary: should he stay in the city, brutal as it is, or take his chances back in the country. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Farouque Shaikh, Smita Patil, (more)
















