sksanjaykumar-69941 Reviews

Kudrat (1981)

Taut thriller

[8/10 · 20 February 2024]

Kudrat is a taut thriller directed by chetan anand. The reincarnation theme has been handled in a few movies & this one impresses. Music by RBDB is of the highest class. It has got an impressive star cast who have all given goof performances.

Hemamalini has given a beautiful performance & her chemistry with kaka is magical. Raaj kumar is his usual self. Vinod khanna gets a relatively minor role. Rajesh khanna steals the show witha fantastic performance. The main drawback is. Priya Rajvansh who is wooden & performs miserably.

There were stories before release that kaka took the entire reel & edited it. If that were true, then the other actors would have got their roles chopped off.

The film did average business possibly bcos of its delayed me , release & also bcos a film with a similar theme Karz was released earlier.

Anyway, a movie to be savoured for rajesh khanna fans.

Prem Kahani (1975)

Love story beautifully told

[9/10 · 3 October 2023]

Prem kahani is an interesting love story in the backdrop of indian independence. The story is simple, but the screenplay is engrossing. It is a multi starrer with rajesh khanna, mumtaz, shashi kapoor with vinod khanna in an extended cameo.

Music by LP is good, but could have been better. Mumtaj looks aged & shashi kapoor makes a rather late appearance & has played his character well. Vinod khanna shines in the pathan role.

However, the real scene stealer is the evergreen superstar rajesh khanna. He owns this film from the 1st to the last frame. He has played his role with subtlety & calmness. He shines in the emotional scenes.

Somehow when we talk of kaka's best films, this flm is missed. Definitely one his best films. It is a pity that it did not do well in the box office.

The director deserves kudos for extracting very good performances from his case.

Apoorva Sagodharargal (1989)

Innovative film

[8/10 · 9 September 2022]

A different entertainer from the haasan stable. Everyone thinks that the dwarf character was introduced by kamal in this film, but he truth is he had appeared as a dwarf in a scene in the KB starrer "Punnagai Mannan" released a few months earlier.

The cast was an unusual one with Nagesh playing a villain (Probably for the 1st time in his career). Dialogues by Crazy & lyrics & music were a BIG PLUS for the film.

Uptil the release of this film, kamal had a string of flops & his career was sliding, but he took a huge risk in producing a film of his kind.

Initially, the script of the film was different & even a few scenes were shot but later, it was modified to give more weightage to the dwarf character.

It ran houseful for 100 days (all shows) in Devi Paradise theatre in chennai.

It is from this film onwards that Kamal started experimenting with challenging roles.

Red Rose (1980)

Eerie thriller

[5/10 · 17 August 2022]

Red Rose is one of those films which you will not associate with Kaka. The film was a remake of the enormously successfull tamil film "Sigappu Rojakkal". Having watched the original also, I am slightly inclined to think that the tamil version was better.

Reasons are kamal was far younger than rajesh & also sridevi played her role beautifully, something which a young poonam dhillon could not match. Comparing the performances of Kaka & kamal, kamal was more romantic whereas kaka was more menacing.

The music by RD was very good but Ilayaraja's music in the tamil original was awesome.

Unfortunately Red Rose had to be removed from theatres due to heavy protests.

Anyway, Kudos to kaka for having the guts to take on this role in spite of his image as a romantic star.

Vetri Vizha (1989)

Moderate fare

[4/10 · 9 June 2022]

This movie is an adaption of the novel "Bourne Identity". The film was produced by Sivaji prodcutions. It was launched with Prabhu as hero & kamal in a guest role. But kamal changed the script & Prabhu was redued to a minor role.

The movie has nothing to rave about. Salim ghouse makes an impression. Kamal seems disinterested & prabhu is wasted. Khushbu & sasikala, as heroines have nothing much to do.

The movie was dragged to 100 days in chennai & had an average run in the box office.

Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal (1975)

Brilliant off beat cinema

[5/10 · 30 May 2022]

One of the best tamil movies to have been made & certainly Director Bheem singh's best directorial effort. The novel has been handled beautifully in the film, something of a rarity in tamil cinema. All the actors have done well. Lakshmi of course, is stupendous but credit should also be given to Srikanth who has brought out the complexity of the character very well. Pity he was typecast as a villain in so many films.

The film enjoyed a 100 day run in chennai, a rarity for cinema of this kind.

Nammavar (1994)

Lousy film

[2/10 · 18 May 2022]

Nammavar is like a documentary. On top of it, you have kamal hamming all the way through. It requires lot of patience to sit thro; this film. NO wonder, it was a huge flop at the box office.

Nagesh is the only saving grace of this film. Music is ordinary. There were reports that kamal ghost directed the movie since the director Sethumadhavan & the producer had some differences.

Kamal himself said later that this movie was "6 months waste of time" while reviewing his movies in the tamil mag "Bommai".

Nazrana (1987)

Worth a watch

[4/10 · 13 May 2022]

Nazrana is a film wihch will be remembered for a powerhouse cast - Kaka, smita & sridevi.

Smita Patill has given a very matured performance as always. Sridevi also acts well but her action scenes are funny & totally unnecessary.

Rajesh khanna is probably the only star who has done many heroine oriented movies & yet manages to hold his own.

Music is passable & direction is ok.

Worth watching.

The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980)

Pretty good film

[3/10 · 13 May 2022]

I saw this movie when it was released & liked it. Peter Sellers always had a flair for comedy & it shows. He actually plays 7 roles in tis film & not 4 as is usually said.

It should have fared better at the box office than it actually did.