Andaz -- Style
MAIN CAST
Anil Kapoor -- Ajay
Juhi Chawla -- Saraswati
Karisma Kapoor -- Jaya
BRIEF PLOT OVERVIEW
Ajay is a new teacher at his alma mater, where the students pick on him horribly. Then the top student, Jaya, lends Ajay her book; unbeknownst to them, someone has stuck a love-letter in the book. Ajay thinks Jaya gave it to him on purpose, and when he returns the letter, Jaya thinks Ajay is trying to woo her! And then there are some terrorists. I think. I don't know, really, because this movie makes zero sense to me, and I've yet to find a decent synopsis of it.
FILM -- 1/5
I almost keeled over when I realized that this movie came out in 1994. It looks so outdated: the clothing is from the 80s, the quality of the sound and video is smeary and cruddy, and the script is prototypical yesteryear masala fair. The title may mean "style," but it's completely off the mark! There are a couple of cute moments, but the script as a whole meanders and is bland at best. I could give a fig less about the overdone action scenes, so every time Anil Kapoor went in to "ridiculous ass-kicker mode," I wandered off to make dinner or finish some more homework. I actually ended up ignoring the last 30 minutes of Andaz, since it's basically a long, ridiculous action scene. Some of the choreography is cute...or at least, I want to say it's cute because it includes Juhi Chawla bouncing back and forth, or Karisma Kapoor shaking her hips, or Anil Kapoor acting like a total nerd. Andaz's ending comes out of NOWHERE. An important character dies, "the end" pops up on a picture of Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla dancing, and there's absolutely no emotional resolution. It worked for Chandni Bar and fit with that film's tone, but in Andaz, the sudden halt is just poor writing. Have I mentioned the sheer horror that is Andaz's wardrobe yet? Oh, I have? Sorry, I just can't get over it.
CHARACTERS -- 1.5/5
The actors ham it up like you wouldn't believe, so if you're looking for some realistic, super-powerful acting, you'd better look elsewhere. These are stock masala characters with little of the usual charm. Anil Kapoor is a "stern but cool" teacher with a really awful haircut. He wants an arranged marriage, which doesn't bother me, but the "I want it to save an orphan, but said orphan must be so amazing and perfect" manifesto really rubs me the wrong way. Karisma Kapoor is half as hot as usual, thanks to some poorly groomed eyebrows and an endless parade of horrible costumes. Still, I kind of liked her with Anil Kapoor, even though she was a creepy bitch at first. I should feel really dirty about that, since Karisma is supposed to be a young girl and Anil is her teacher, but they were cute together. Jaya could have been a very interesting character with a really interesting relationship with Ajay, but the film-makers took the easy way out and turned her in to a total wuss in the second half of the film. Juhi Chawla is absolutely stunning, but she's also the stereotypical, goody two-shoes, traditional Hindu orphan girl, which bored the crap out of me. I hate, hate, HATE the supporting cast, mostly because they constantly make this obnoxious "aaooo!" sound. What are they, a bunch of dogs?!
SOUNDTRACK -- 3/5
The soundtrack sounds really old, the lyrics are godawful, and the picturizations are corny as all Hell, but I have to admit that I like this soundtrack. The first song, "Adat Buri Yeh," comes out of nowhere and is like an Indian version of Grease, compressed in to a single song. "Laila Bechari" is surprisingly awesome, with great vocals, decent lyrics concerning Romeo and Juliet, and a catchy melody. "Dil Ka Panchi" is the stupidest song...and it's also my favorite. You have to love it, if only because Anil Kapoor and Karisma Kapoor make chicken noises. "Dhakka Lagga" and "Khada Hal Khada" have unusually sexual lyrics about driving a train with a hot engine and opening up a door while you're up; if the picturizations weren't so goofy, I'd feel a little embarassed. But it takes the fact that Saraswati and Ajay have a rockin' sex life and makes it adorable. "Lelo Lelo" is a typical masala ballad, and the equally unnoteworthy background music is very cheesey and overdone.
OVERALL -- 2/5
It's a bad sign when I have to scrounge to find a picture to post with my reviews, but I should've walked away from Andaz when I ended up screencapping it so its review wouldn't look naked, then had to Photoshop said screencaps so the colors weren't so washed out. I want to love Andaz, but...outside of the student-teacher-orphan love triangle, I had no clue what was going on. It's just a huge piece of cliche fluff with a terrorist plot attached to it. I still have a deep-seated fondness for it, as I am a huge Anil Kapoor fan, get a kick out of tacky costumes, and find Karisma Kapoor and Juhi Chawla charming, but my warm feelings towards Andaz stop there. Andaz would have been better if it had stayed a simple love story with cute songs, but instead they threw in some stupid terrorist plot and a bunch of anti-feminist ramblings. The only reason I watch this movie is because I really like the cast and some of the songs, so if you aren't an Anil Kapoor fan and you don't like 90s music, take a pass on Andaz.
TOTAL SCORE -- 7.5/20 (bad)
MAIN CAST
Anil Kapoor -- Ajay
Juhi Chawla -- Saraswati
Karisma Kapoor -- Jaya
BRIEF PLOT OVERVIEW
Ajay is a new teacher at his alma mater, where the students pick on him horribly. Then the top student, Jaya, lends Ajay her book; unbeknownst to them, someone has stuck a love-letter in the book. Ajay thinks Jaya gave it to him on purpose, and when he returns the letter, Jaya thinks Ajay is trying to woo her! And then there are some terrorists. I think. I don't know, really, because this movie makes zero sense to me, and I've yet to find a decent synopsis of it.
FILM -- 1/5
I almost keeled over when I realized that this movie came out in 1994. It looks so outdated: the clothing is from the 80s, the quality of the sound and video is smeary and cruddy, and the script is prototypical yesteryear masala fair. The title may mean "style," but it's completely off the mark! There are a couple of cute moments, but the script as a whole meanders and is bland at best. I could give a fig less about the overdone action scenes, so every time Anil Kapoor went in to "ridiculous ass-kicker mode," I wandered off to make dinner or finish some more homework. I actually ended up ignoring the last 30 minutes of Andaz, since it's basically a long, ridiculous action scene. Some of the choreography is cute...or at least, I want to say it's cute because it includes Juhi Chawla bouncing back and forth, or Karisma Kapoor shaking her hips, or Anil Kapoor acting like a total nerd. Andaz's ending comes out of NOWHERE. An important character dies, "the end" pops up on a picture of Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla dancing, and there's absolutely no emotional resolution. It worked for Chandni Bar and fit with that film's tone, but in Andaz, the sudden halt is just poor writing. Have I mentioned the sheer horror that is Andaz's wardrobe yet? Oh, I have? Sorry, I just can't get over it.
CHARACTERS -- 1.5/5
The actors ham it up like you wouldn't believe, so if you're looking for some realistic, super-powerful acting, you'd better look elsewhere. These are stock masala characters with little of the usual charm. Anil Kapoor is a "stern but cool" teacher with a really awful haircut. He wants an arranged marriage, which doesn't bother me, but the "I want it to save an orphan, but said orphan must be so amazing and perfect" manifesto really rubs me the wrong way. Karisma Kapoor is half as hot as usual, thanks to some poorly groomed eyebrows and an endless parade of horrible costumes. Still, I kind of liked her with Anil Kapoor, even though she was a creepy bitch at first. I should feel really dirty about that, since Karisma is supposed to be a young girl and Anil is her teacher, but they were cute together. Jaya could have been a very interesting character with a really interesting relationship with Ajay, but the film-makers took the easy way out and turned her in to a total wuss in the second half of the film. Juhi Chawla is absolutely stunning, but she's also the stereotypical, goody two-shoes, traditional Hindu orphan girl, which bored the crap out of me. I hate, hate, HATE the supporting cast, mostly because they constantly make this obnoxious "aaooo!" sound. What are they, a bunch of dogs?!
SOUNDTRACK -- 3/5
The soundtrack sounds really old, the lyrics are godawful, and the picturizations are corny as all Hell, but I have to admit that I like this soundtrack. The first song, "Adat Buri Yeh," comes out of nowhere and is like an Indian version of Grease, compressed in to a single song. "Laila Bechari" is surprisingly awesome, with great vocals, decent lyrics concerning Romeo and Juliet, and a catchy melody. "Dil Ka Panchi" is the stupidest song...and it's also my favorite. You have to love it, if only because Anil Kapoor and Karisma Kapoor make chicken noises. "Dhakka Lagga" and "Khada Hal Khada" have unusually sexual lyrics about driving a train with a hot engine and opening up a door while you're up; if the picturizations weren't so goofy, I'd feel a little embarassed. But it takes the fact that Saraswati and Ajay have a rockin' sex life and makes it adorable. "Lelo Lelo" is a typical masala ballad, and the equally unnoteworthy background music is very cheesey and overdone.
OVERALL -- 2/5
It's a bad sign when I have to scrounge to find a picture to post with my reviews, but I should've walked away from Andaz when I ended up screencapping it so its review wouldn't look naked, then had to Photoshop said screencaps so the colors weren't so washed out. I want to love Andaz, but...outside of the student-teacher-orphan love triangle, I had no clue what was going on. It's just a huge piece of cliche fluff with a terrorist plot attached to it. I still have a deep-seated fondness for it, as I am a huge Anil Kapoor fan, get a kick out of tacky costumes, and find Karisma Kapoor and Juhi Chawla charming, but my warm feelings towards Andaz stop there. Andaz would have been better if it had stayed a simple love story with cute songs, but instead they threw in some stupid terrorist plot and a bunch of anti-feminist ramblings. The only reason I watch this movie is because I really like the cast and some of the songs, so if you aren't an Anil Kapoor fan and you don't like 90s music, take a pass on Andaz.
TOTAL SCORE -- 7.5/20 (bad)
6 comments:
It's a bad sign when I have to scrounge to find a picture to post with my reviews, but I should've walked away from Andaz when I ended up screencapping it so its review wouldn't look naked, then had to Photoshop said screencaps so the colors weren't so washed out. ROTFLOL I can't believe you went to such lengths! As a loyal reader, I appreciate your efforts on my behalf. ;-)
Oh god.
I love Juhi Dhawla, so it's sad to hear she's in such a bad movie, hah hah.
I don't know why students pick on Ajay, he's a nice guy, he's a talented teacher. I end up in watching this blog after I place my weekly order of Generic Viagra on the web.
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