Producer & Director : K.C. Bokadia
*ing: Amitabh Bachchan (X2), Manisha Koirala, Shilpa Shetty, Amrish Puri
Music: Aadesh Shrivastava

Released on : March 05, 1999

Reviewed by: Tanmeet Kumar
tanmeet@indolink.com

out of 
The wait is finally over and a dissapointing feeling is in the air. Big B's fourth release since his comeback film is LAL BAADSHAH. I was expecting this film to be the surprise packet of the year. Well, I was surprised, alright. LB was a dissapointing attempt to recreate the  magic of Amitabh on screen. The story is no great shakes. Amitabh acts in a double role as a father-son team. The son, after seeing his father and mother (Nirupa Roy) being wronged and seeing his fellow townsfolk harrassed, destroys the baddies, namely Amrish Puri and company. Throw in a wasted Manisha Koirala as a life insurance agent who falls in love with the younger (?) Amitabh and a sexy Shilpa Shetty, who has even less of a role as a rich girl who is saved by hero saab, along with several plot twists and action sequences and there you have it, Lal Baadshah.

Heard the story before? I think so. Don't believe me? Just watch every Mithun film being made these days. The whole good against evil plot has been worked to death. So why the 6.5 rating, you ask? Amitabh has performed very well and has tried hard to carry the film. Even though he doesn't look any younger, he still has the energy to pull off daring action sequences and hip shaking dances with our heroines, which makes me think that Big B has a few years of work left in him. His Bihari accent is very well done. Two other reasons for the relatively high rating are two songs: Koi Hai Dil Dene Wala, a fun cabaret number, and Dhanno Ki Aankh. A fourth reason is Shilpa Shetty. She looks amazing. Her song and dance sequence is a treat to watch. Manisha is wasted. It's unbelieveble that an actress who has pulled off some amazing performances in her career (Akele Hum Akele Tum, Dil Se.., Yugpurush, Khamoshi, 1942: A Love Story, Agni Sakshi, Bombay, etc.) is doing these degrading roles. Her last film, Kachche Dhaage, though doing well, had her in a same type of role, and Laawaris has Dimple in a better role. I still can't wait for Grahan (A heroine oriented film with Jackie Shroff and newcomer Anupama) to release. That film, at least, will have a top notch performance by Manisha. The direction is just average. K.C. Bokadia has spent a fortune on this film, let's hope, for his sake, the film breaks even. Surprisingly, LB has gotten off to a good start in India. A few weeks will tell whether the film is rejected or not. So the final verdict? Don't have high expectations and you will enjoy the film. LB, though a good timepass film, is not something I expected to see Amitabh do. He either needs to get better scripts or leave the industry. Another LB will nail his coffin shut.