MovieChat Forums > Aan Discussion > not my kind of film

not my kind of film

posted 12 years ago by elanor-3
3 replies | jump to latest

I have now mulled over this film for some time. It has really some impressive pictures but all in all it didn't work well for me.

I have to confess I felt very tired out after nearly 2 hours and watched the rest the next day.

I liked the first scenes and hoped for a special treat (remember the women in the field waving their veils, which seemed like a prototype of Chopra's standard visualisation of "home"). But all in all I felt underwhelmed and not satisfied.

I knew Mehboob Khan had made "Mother India" which I liked very much. therefore I expected a far more ambitious movie concerning the description of the plight of "The People". This film's message is extremely watered down by the fairy tale context IMO. Even worse, this message feels artificially imposed on a film mainly consisting of Bollywood feel-good and forget-the-reality excesses.

--- each brain develops its own preferences ---

[–] sadfilmophile 12 years ago

I loved every minute.

I thought
*the royal usurpation story was given just the right amount of attention;

*the "subjects are king" story was given as much time as it could be given as it would fall apart once we asked questions like, so what happens to the royal family, do they abdicate or what?;

*the conversion of Rajeshwari to an unspoilt woman in love was given just the right amount of time and importance. Her falling in love wouldnt work with less time on this story plus its great how the movie ends 10 or so minutes after she sings "Jaane ki baad teri yaad ayi" which is her "realisation" song, where she's washed up on to the rocks as a new person, not so hard anymore.

[–] elanor-3 12 years ago

Sadfilmophile, I cannot argue against your impression of the film's construction.

But I felt the film's basis, the machinations in the royal family, as fake and as not organically belonging to the fairy-tale of a strong-willed princess tamed by love and through this into caring for "The People".

In contrast, the machinations of the royal family in Eklavya felt organically to me and very much belonging to the story of taming a prince into caring for "The People". You can probably detect that I very much prefer Eklavya to Aan .

--- each brain develops its own preferences ---

[–] sadfilmophile 12 years ago

Well, I havent seen that film, so its going into my TO WATCH list.
Thanks