Afterthoughts Template

Afterthoughts

Well there we go! In retrospect, this was actually not as heavy as Romeo and Juliet, despite being modeled fairly closely to it. The fun part about this one was that I had no idea that's what it was about when I got the movie. All I had to go on was that Manisha and Jackie Shroff were in it, and I usually enjoy those two! It did have a fair amount of foolishness to it (breaking out of a basement prison using only a shoulder?!) but I've seen worse!

I'm told there are a few other Bollywood interpretations of Shakespearean works, so I might have to seek those out. Dushmani was a fun variation on a very familiar theme, yet it had some new twists and treatments of its own to bring to the table. On the whole I enjoyed it. However, there were a few loose fight scenes, and the music was a little disappointing in some cases. There were a couple of songs that sounded like the synth-pop of the 80's, which in and of itself isn't a serious crime, but I always enjoy my movie songs when they're a notch or two closer to the traditional styles.

Let's see how our cast fared this time out.

Manisha Koirala (Sapna) was fine as always. I found her to be most effective in scenes where she was playing against someone that was having a tantrum. Thinking back, the scene with Jai in the bedroom at Aunt Nameless's house and any time Oberoi was exploding all showed some great talent on her part. She had fiery defiance against her brother, but a range of timid to that same angry determination with Jai. Also, the scene where she was coaching her imaginary self with the mirror was very well done. Nice to see you again Manisha! Great job!

Sunny Deol (Suraj) was in character. That is to say, he seems to play the same part in almost every role I've seen him in. He likes to hit people, and as Money described him, he "always looks pissed off." Well he does most of the time! He did have a few effective scenes where he was expressing some actual thoughts and feelings with Sapna and Jai. Other than that though, he did what he likes to do - beat people up.

Jackie Shroff (Jai) also did a good job. He was playful at times, benevolent to some, vicious with others, and above all he actually had some character development. Jai went through some changes during the course of this movie, and learned something from the events that took place (even though he says he did not learn his lesson, we all know he really did). I like Jackie Shroff, so it was good to see him again. He did some nice work here.

Anupam Kher (Oberoi) was a surprise in this one. I don't often see him in any sort of villain role. For someone that does comedy and tenderness so well, he sure can be a mean stinker when he wants to be. He does a good job of playing a violent, reactive overlord that demands obedience from all he encounters. He expects all to do what he demands and to be quick about it, and even in his dying moments he's still sneaky and dishonest. So, for going so far out of what I considered his niche, I have to say that Mr. Kher did a good job of playing the bad guy. Nice work!

Negatives:

The fighting. Some of the choreography was pretty weak this time out. I'm never sure who to lay the blame on for that, but in any case it needed some help here.
The music. Some of the songs were okay, but others just were not to my liking at all. Also, there were only four songs. I'm used to having five to seven in these shows, so four seems a little light.
Lack of punishment for misdeeds. I'm thinking mostly of Suraj here. He goes on a rampage slaughtering what seems like dozens of Oberoi's soldiers, destroying buildings, and generally being a huge criminal. At no point is there anything done about this. For all we know he goes back to the village with Sapna at the end and lives happily ever after. Sapna is awfully forgiving of him for these things too. Those were her brother's friends after all.

Positives:

A refreshing look at a story that most of us are quite familiar with. Even once I realized that this is what the movie was, it was still fun to watch just to see what they'd do with it.
Good performances from the cast. All of our main characters were played well, and even some of the recurring goons from the various gangs did nice work.
A somewhat positive ending. Romeo and Juliet is known as a tragedy, but this take on the tale left our young lovebirds alive! That does give a sense of hope, even though Sapna is going to marry a mass murderer and former gangster. Perhaps I shouldn't think too much about these things!

I saw this face as Sapna was talking to her imaginary self in the mirror and knew right away that we had our ratings icon!

Dushmani (1995)

Quality:						(Out of 5)
Entertainment Value:						(Out of 5)

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