Akshay Shah's INdepth Review of LAJJA-8.5/10

Posted by akshay shah on September 03, 2001 at 03:39:42:

LAJJA
Cast-Anil Kapoor, Ajay Devgun, Jackie Shroff, Manisha Kopirala, Madhuri Dixit, Rekha, Mahima Chaudhury, Danny Denzgopa, Gulshan Grover, Johnny Lever, Razzak Khan, Suresh Oberoi, Anjan Srivastav, Farida Jalal, Sameer Soni, Govind Namdeo, Rohini Hattangadi, Simone Singh, Asrani, with Ritu Shivpuri and in Sizzling Appearences Urmila Mantondkar and Sonali Bendre!

Producer/Director-Raj Kumaar Santoshi
Music-Anu Malik
Released-2001

Lajja is a film that I had burdened with expectations. The cast was humongous, the story looked killer and the trailors of the flick blew me away, now does the film live upto expectations? IMO...YES!

The film depicts the life of different women around India and how women are still being tormented and treated unjustly even to this date. It starts out in New York and end up in a very illiterate village in Uttar Pradesh!
It revolves around Vaidehi(Manisha) who is married to Raghu(Jackie). Raghu is a selfish man who cheats on Vaidehi constantly and doesn't care for her. After another argument he asks her to leave to India. After a accident Raghu is unanble to have kids, he finds out that Vaidehi is pregnant with his child and wants her back just for the kid.After which he would probably kill her. Vaidehi finds this out and embarks on a journey running away from Raghu. On this journey she embarks across many women all of which are faced with some sort of injustice and unfairness.
There are 4 episodes overall and Vaidehi's is the central one. The second one is about Matthali(Mahima) and revolves around the dowry system and how in India the parents of the girl still have pay a high sum of money and be treated badly just to make sure their daughter gets married off, after her father does everything in his will to get her married , her father is again insulted by the boys side and that is when the women in her takes over and she rebels! The third one is Janki(Madhuri Dixit). She is pregnant with her lover's(Sammer Soni) child. But he leaves her because he thinks she has been unfaithful and wants her to have a abortion, Janki meets with a unfortunate miscarriage due to being a unwed mother. The last story is of Ramdulari(Rekha), she lives in a Rural village in the outskirts of Uttar Pradesh in one of the most illiterate village in India. But Ramdulari is a progressive women and believes education will help the women in the village gain self-respect and power. The story and screenplay have been written well by Santoshi himself, though the initial scenes with Manisha and New York aren't very attention grabbing and a little slow.

Performancewise everyone is EXCELLENT and performance are the major highlight of the film. Manisha has been given the meatier role and she excels as Vaidehi, all her scenes are well done and the actress is definetly BACK! The scenes she has with Madhuri Dixit are a definite crowd please and her speech in the climax shows that she is a force to reckon with. Mahduri Dixit gives a slightly better performance than Manisha IMO. AS Janki she is fiery and at her very best! She gives a very spirited performance here and is midnblowing, the crowds seemed to love her role. Just watch the scene where she teaches Manisha how to whistle, she gives Manisha some toilet training , her expression when her lover dumps her or her facials as she faces a angry mob all cursing her. Mahima is Matthali looks gorgeous and is very bubbly. When she finally rebels at her marriage she leaves a impact with a good performance. The best female performance in the flick IMO was Rekha's(Slightly better than Madhuri). As Ramdulari she was simply ASTOUNDING! Her getup, dialect, dressing and everything was perfect. Her performance had me shocked and breathless and this is one of the best female performance I have seen in recent times and is sure to stay with in my mind in the future. Just watch her when Simone Singh tells her she loves her son and she breaks down. This is definetly a award winning performance. Now the males-Ajay Devgun gives the best performance of the lot! As Bulwa he is loud, agressive, and absolutely PERFECT! in his role. He fits the role like a glove and this flick is bound to fetch him a lot more fans. Funnily enough this role was written with Sunny Deol in mind. After average performance in RAJU CHACHA and YRHPK he is awesome in a powerful and actionpacked role. He leaves a impact even though he doesn't have very much screentime. His entry garnered a lotr of claps and whistles from the crowd, iam now DYING to see him in COMPANY and TERA MERA SAATH RAHEN.. Anil Kapoor as Raju-a thief with a heart of gold is good too. He gets to show off his comedic skills and they are emmaculate. He gives a very seasoned supporting performance here. Jackie Shroff as Raghu is OK! I would have expected more of him considering the combo of RKS and Jaggudada sounded killer, but looks like Ajay got the best role of the lot. He didn't impress me in the earlier scenes and nor in the latter, bit disapointed here. Danny Denzgopa as Gajendra Babu gives a great villianous performance here , though it aint as good as PUKAAR's Abrush or GHATAK's Katya! Gulshan Grover, Johnny Lever, Razzak Khan, Sameer Soni, Tinnu Anand, Ajan Srivastav, Farida Jalal, Jagdeep, Govind Namdeo, Rohini Hattangadi and the other supporting cast members do their part well. Urmila and Sonali sizzle in their dance numbers-ecspecially Sonali

Technically the flick is sound! The credits with the red dupatta is shot magnificently. Madhu Ambat's cinematography captures all the moods of the different stories very well. Dialogues by Santoshi and Ranjit Kapoor are award worthy! Santoshi has earlier won Best Dialogue Writer for GHAYAL,GHATAK, DAMINI and CHINAGATE and once again deserves the award. Action by Bhikhu Verma and Pappu Verma is top notch! The action with Ajay is EXCELLENT.

Musically the flick is OK! The songs aren't really needed in the movie but they are well shot. Ecspecially MEHNDI SAJA KI AYEE and BADI MUSHKIL(This one drove the public NUTS!)

In terms of direction Raj Kumar Santoshi is again in top form. He proves he is one helluva genius and knows exactly what he is doing and he is the best at extracting performances. The starting is a bit slow and dull, but as the film progresses it gets more and more engrossing till the point you are shaking with shock , adrenalin or excitement. The climax is thrillingly shot. There are a few scene which have the Santoshi stamp branded right across it and they will linger in your memory for a while.

* Pregnant Madhuri faces a angry crowd alone and has a miscarriage
* Ajay Devgun's intro in the movie, all the scenes featuring Ajay and Danny

* All the scenes shared between Manisha and Madhuri
* The rape scene with Rekha(SHOCKING).

All up LAJJA is a definite MUST-SEE! It is not the best film of the year and IMO LAGAAN, DCH and AKS still rule the year so far in that order, but LAJJA falls into the fourth position. This is a flick that definetly deserves repeat viewings IMO to appreciate it more. Now Mr Santoshi...BRING ON BHAGAT SINGH:-)

Overall rating is 8.5/10.0

peaceout;)

comments welcome at

praz_hari@hotmail.com

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