LAJJA REVIEW!

Posted by Hero76 on September 09, 2001 at 14:45:19:

ALI/STAFF,

Just saw LAJJA last night also and would give it 9/10. I've always had a soft spot for MANISHA so my rating could be kind of skewed. I have to give kudos to RKS for trying something different, after the debacle of CHINA GATE, many thought he would return with a commercial action or romantic film but he stuck by his guns and made a film he believes in. Some positives of the film:

-lavish production venues (easily on par with a HOLLYWOOD film)
-each star giving a splendid performance (REKHA will get the NATIONAL AWARD, if not MADHURI)
-daring to show the truth (the year is 2001 A.D. but some of our customs make it look like 1002 A.D.)
-dialogues were great (sorry ALI, but I thought each character was given excellent dialogues, the BIHARI dialect for the final episode was well done but might agree on REKHA's HINGLISH being too much; my personal favorite was Mahima's speech, after nearly 20 years of watching HINDI films, this was the only time I would have gotten up and clapped after hearing her speech)
-the handling of the different "episodes" and transitions to and from each one was excellent
-Manisha's thought-provoking speech during the climax, each time she says "Lajja hai" you can feel the women in the crowd feeling that shame

Now for the negatives:

-too much B.S. during the wedding sequences(seriously did we need JAGDEEP'S annoying self ruining comedy for another film like he did in the 80s?)
-Yet another portayal of an NRI(Jackie) gone wild, needing an INDIAN woman to convert him back to a caring, sensitive human being
-some offensive dialogue and sermonizing could have been limited

In conclusion, this COMMERCIAL effort to show the plight of WOMEN in INDIA toay was excellent. There were a few flaws but I don't think RKS could have made a better film to satisfy everyone(keeping in mind STARS, distributors, audience, etc.) Well I do think there are better ARTY(sorry ALI but those are art-house classics you mentioned) films on the subject, commercially this is the best we've had in a LONG TIME.

Thanks for listening,

AKHLAQ

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