Producer: A.G. Nadiadwala
Director: Yash Chopra
ing : Sunil Dutt, Vinod Khanna,
Ashwini Bhave, Ramya, Anupam Kher, Aamir Khan, Raveena Tandon, Neelam, and Saif Ali Khan
Music : Shiv Hari
Lyrics : Anand Bakshi
Reviewed by: Tanmeet Kumar
tanmeet@indolink.com
Rating : 
(out of 
)
There are so few movie makers today that have the talent to tell a story. Yash Chopra is one of those few in a batch of many mediocre, talentless, and money hungry imbeciles. This flop film from Yash Chopra is entertaining and, while not entirely original, worth watching once or twice.
Parampara is a film about two warring families. It can best be described as a cross of Yash Chopra's own Trishul and Romeo and Juliet. Prithvi (Vinod Khanna) is the only son of thakur Bhavaani Singh (Sunil Dutt). Bhavaani disapproves when Prithvi falls in love with Tara (Ramya), a poor gypsy girl. He arranges Prithvi's marriage with the daughter of another thakur khandaan named Raajeshwari (Ashwini Bhave). After finding out that Tara is pregnant with his child, he pleads with his father, who does not yet know about Tara's pregnancy, to call off the wedding. Bhavaani refuses and tells Prithvi that if he does not marry Raajeshwari, he will kill everyone in the gypsy camp, including Tara. Not wanting to bring harm to Tara, Prithvi agrees to the marriage. Raajeshwari and Prithvi are married, to Tara's dismay. After the wedding, weeks pass and the day of Tara's delivery nears. On the day she goes into labor, Bhavaani finds out about Tara's unborn child and, in fits of fury, orders his men to burn the camp and kill everyone. Raajeshwari hears this and rushes to the gypsy camp to warn everyone. There, she finds Tara, who has just given birth to a baby boy named Rangveer. Tara pleads with Raajeshwari to take the baby away. Raajeshwari takes the baby and leaves the camp just as the thakur's men arrive. Everyone in the gypsy camp is killed, including Tara. Tara's brother, Shankar (Anupam Kher) vows to take revenge on Bhavaani and rushes to the mansion to kill Bhavaani. He fails and is arrested by the police. Learning from his men that Tara's baby is still alive, Bhavaani angrily orders his men to keep looking for the child and to kill him when he is found. Raajeshwari reveals that she has Tara's newborn baby and places it in front of Bhavaani, saying that if he has the guts to kill his grandson, he should do it right now. Bhavaani cannot kill his grandchild and orders Raajeshwari to take the baby away from him. Prithvi returns from a business trip, unaware of the events that have taken place. He rushes to the gypsy camp, where he finds Tara dead. After mourning her death, Prithvi returns to the thakur khandaan and confronts his father. Prithvi then swears on his dead lover's body that he will never speak to his father again.
After these cataclysmic events, Prithvi settles down and finds love with Raajeshwari. Together, they have a child named Balbir. Five years pass and they both raise Balbir and Rangveer together. Balbir is favored by his grandfather while Rangveer is completely ignored. Shankar gets out of jail and returns to the thakur mansion. He threatens Bhavaani and challenges him to a duel. Defending his father's honor, Prithvi accepts Shankar's challenge instead. The duel takes place the next morning and Prithvi gets shot. He tells Shankar on his deathbed that he never fired a shot because he could not kill his friend. He tells Shankar to take Rangveer away from his grandfathers house and raise him. Prithvi then dies, leaving a widowed Raajeshwari and two sons alone. Shankar takes Rangveer away and raises him while Balbir grows up in the thakur mansion.
Years later, a now grown Balbir (Saif Ali Khan) and a grown up Rangveer (Aamir Khan) meet in college, without knowing that they are half brothers, and become friends. The two are ignorant about the legacy of secrets, betrayal, and hatred existing between their families that threatens their friendship --and their lives. What happens when they find out about their shocking past??? Find out. Watch Parampara.
Parampara is a fantastic film from one of India's most respected and renowned directors, Yash Chopra. Though this film does not rise to the level of his previous films (Aaina, Lamhe, Chandni, Trishul, etc.), it is still a notch above most Indian films. Parampara has everything: fantastic music by Shiv Hari, brilliant direction, and award winning acting from a brilliant starcast. The plot, though overused, unravels like magic. Sunil Dutt is excellent as the thakur with shades of grey. Vinod Khanna sheds his "non actor" status with his performance in this film. Ashwini Bhave is excellent as usual. This girl should receive more attention then she is getting. She took a risk in taking the role of a motherly figure (from which actresses much older than her are running away from, like the old fossil Rekha), but has pulled off a marvelous performance, especially towards the end of the film. Among her other brilliant films are Yugpurush, Bhairavi, Henna, and Mohabbat Ki Aarzoo. I cannot wait to see her in Mr. Aashiq, a film by Mahesh Bhatt in which she plays the role of a prostitute (costarring Saif Ali Khan, Twinkle Khanna, and Chunkey Pandey). This film was Ramya's first Hindi film and she has really shown some acting talent. She not only looks gorgeous (and thin), but has done a great job acting opposite actors much senior to her. I can't wait to see her in Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan with Amitabh and Govinda and Wajood with Nana Patekar and Madhuri Dixit. Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan are good, but are not given much of a scope to perform. Saif Ali Khan was also introduced by Yash Chopra in this film. Even Anupam Kher has given a superb performance. Raveena Tandon and Neelam play the love interests and are in glamorous roles that do not call for much acting ability. All they do is prance around with our heroes and sing songs, but they look beautiful doing it. Music by Shiv Hari is at it's best. Among the musical gems on the soundtrack, "Aadhi Raat Ko", the qawaali by the Saabri Bros., Tu Saawan Mein Pyaas Piya, Hum Pyaar Karne Lage, Mere Saathiya, and Dosti Ka are all fantastic. Ramya has done a good job with her dance sequence in Dosti Ka. This film is not really for children. There are many graphic kissing scenes between Ramya and Vinod. Direction by Yash Chopra is, as usual, fantastic. Though this movie could have been better, it is still worth a watch or two. Hats off to Yash Chopra for making such an entertaining film.
Would you like to contribute? Please contact assteditor@indolink.com to send in a review.