I have not enjoyed such a wonderful movie in years.
I don't watch very many Hindi movies but decided to watch this one when I watched an interview of Vidhu Vinod Chopra on MTV. The few clips that I saw during the interview convinced me that the movie was one of the best Hindi movies ever made.
Everything about the movie is enchanting- the music, the wonderful shots of Calcutta at dusk, at sunrise, in the winter fog, in autumn, the churches, the old houses with their colonial architecture, the warm portrayal of those exquisite times, the delicate filigree of relationships, the simplicity of the childhood bond that describes the relationship between Lolita and Shekhar, the realism of the story. Everything was absolutely marvelous.
I have never doubted Saif Khan's great talent and my faith in him was vindicated in the movie. He plays his role with great finesse.The heroine may be debuting in this movie but she will definitely go places. She is talented, she is graceful, she is beautiful without having to thrust her body at the camera to capture the audience's attention. I sat enthralled through the love scenes that reminded me of a watercolor painted with a very fine brush.
The music was absolutely wonderful and captured the sound of the 60s. Every song was a treat--not just the music but the picturisation especially "piyuh bole".
All through the movie I sat and marveled at the amount of work that had gone into the making of such a film. The research, the reproduction, the faithful details(even the oven that was used to bake a cake!)
There are only two aspects of the film that jarred. One was the casting of Sanjay Dutt as Girish. I like Sanjay and he was super in Munna Bhai but he looked too old in his role here. The other thing that somehow spoilt things was the Sanjay Leila Bhansali moment that crept into the movie towards the end.
Even so, if the movie were to be compared with(I confess that it is an unfair comparison) Devdas, Pareenita would win hands down. For all the song and dance hoopla of Devdas, the movie failed to tug at one's heart strings.
For me the most wonderful thing was the fact that both my children, young teenagers, enjoyed the movie and loved it.
Thank you, Pradeep Sarkar and Vidhu Vinod Chopra!
I don't watch very many Hindi movies but decided to watch this one when I watched an interview of Vidhu Vinod Chopra on MTV. The few clips that I saw during the interview convinced me that the movie was one of the best Hindi movies ever made.
Everything about the movie is enchanting- the music, the wonderful shots of Calcutta at dusk, at sunrise, in the winter fog, in autumn, the churches, the old houses with their colonial architecture, the warm portrayal of those exquisite times, the delicate filigree of relationships, the simplicity of the childhood bond that describes the relationship between Lolita and Shekhar, the realism of the story. Everything was absolutely marvelous.
I have never doubted Saif Khan's great talent and my faith in him was vindicated in the movie. He plays his role with great finesse.The heroine may be debuting in this movie but she will definitely go places. She is talented, she is graceful, she is beautiful without having to thrust her body at the camera to capture the audience's attention. I sat enthralled through the love scenes that reminded me of a watercolor painted with a very fine brush.
The music was absolutely wonderful and captured the sound of the 60s. Every song was a treat--not just the music but the picturisation especially "piyuh bole".
All through the movie I sat and marveled at the amount of work that had gone into the making of such a film. The research, the reproduction, the faithful details(even the oven that was used to bake a cake!)
There are only two aspects of the film that jarred. One was the casting of Sanjay Dutt as Girish. I like Sanjay and he was super in Munna Bhai but he looked too old in his role here. The other thing that somehow spoilt things was the Sanjay Leila Bhansali moment that crept into the movie towards the end.
Even so, if the movie were to be compared with(I confess that it is an unfair comparison) Devdas, Pareenita would win hands down. For all the song and dance hoopla of Devdas, the movie failed to tug at one's heart strings.
For me the most wonderful thing was the fact that both my children, young teenagers, enjoyed the movie and loved it.
Thank you, Pradeep Sarkar and Vidhu Vinod Chopra!