A deeply flawed film with bizarre logic and a runaway screenplay... but the magical visuals of Aishwarya Rai back in form and glimpses of her epic beauty made it worthwhile. The soundtrack was sensational too...
But yikes, that ending. And... well the poetry... well, wasn't by Javed Akhtar I'll tell ya that...
In a world where nothing succeeds like success, the massive hit snuffed out every critic. Including us. But we still stand by our initial review, it's by no means a great film.
No word on why, when, but she no longer is the 'face' (and what a face!) of the brand in South-East Asia.
No official word on why and how the conversation fell apart as posters of the original advert are still dotted in many parts of the world.
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| Hrithik Roshan, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai An all-superstar line up of Aishwarya Rai's co-stars in a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film; Hrithik Roshan (Guzaarish), Shahrukh Khan (Devdas) and Salman Khan (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam), . The fandom clearly loved Ash and Hrithik more; below the FAKE pics of the two superstars trending on social media with some clever and not-so-clever pixel edits. |
Released on July 12, 2002, there was an unquestionable queen of Bollywood. Madhuri Dixit had passed the baton...
Released on August 13, 1999, there was a new female superstar on the horizon at the turn of the new millenium. The face of Indian cinema changed to a model turned beauty queen. There have been several Miss India's before, but no one like 'the' Aishwarya Rai.
The significance of Aishwarya Rai and her power at the box-office has been underreported - people went to movies (some terrible ones) just to see how she looked, danced, and sometimes performed. She took every critic's note on the chin and strove ahead. As she herself, in her first film, she was being coming to the first lady of Bollywood. She was sensational in Taal - a film of incredible ingredients not the least of which was the music.
1999 was her year, like 1989 was Sridevi's year; a double nominee for Taal and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. (Sridevi in 89 had Chaalbaaz and Chandni!).
For our gen, the movie was soul stirring, an awakening of the possibility of what Hindi films could be, led by a young gen director. The old guards changed, a new era was ushered in.
