Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011)

Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring: Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ali Zafar, Tara D'Souza  
Genre: rom-com
Lenght: 2h:19m.28s

I have been waiting for this movie since April. At first, I was curious because of Imran Khan and Ali Zafar. Then I got a bit nervous when I found out that the female lead was going to be Katrina Kaif. With every picture, trailer, song promo and behind the scene footage I saw I got less and less nervous and more and more impatient. :) Then the music composed by Sohail Sen released. I trusted him since the beginning, seeing as I still love his debut album What's Your Raashee, even after two years. I got so hooked on the music that there wasn't a day when I didn't listen at least to a snippet (mostly Choomantar :p). Besides, I really liked what I saw of Katrina in the promos and with that my last concern disappeared.

Hmm, this may be my longest review yet. Just felt like warning you guys :)

Of course, nobody expects objectivity from me, right? At least I hope so...

Vaaranam Aayiram (2008)

Director: Gautham Vasudev Menon
Cast: Surya Sivakumar, Simran Bagga, Sameera Reddy, Divya Spandana
Genre: action, romance, drama
Lenght: 2h:49m

Luckily this isn't one of the movies I liked that turned out to be a flop. In fact it was one of the most successful movies of 2008. It was a bit hit and miss between me and Gautham Menon - I really liked Vinnaithaandi Vaaruvaaya, but was quite indifferent towards Kaakha Kaakha (my first Menon movie). Maybe I've come to the stage where I can appreciate these kind of movies.. talking about 'these kind'.. I don't really know how to cathegorize Vaaranam Aayiram. It's not the typical masala, though there's a little bit of everything.

Amrapali (1966)

Director: Lekh Tandon
Cast: Sunil Dutt, Vijayanthimala
Genre: historical, drama, romantic
Lenght: 1h:59m.32s

Amrapali is my very own Mughal-E-Azam. It’s a historical romance, it’s epic, the music is beautiful and.. and words fail me – I can’t describe Vijayanthimala’s beauty, dancing and acting. Here the comparison ends, because even though these attributes (doomed love, beautiful and gifted actress...) could be used with MEA too, Amrapali is the one that nestled itself into my heart and left a lasting impression. It reminded me of a fairytale. Maybe it isn’t the best way to describe it, seeing as it was based on true personalities and events. Yet I’m not sure how much ‘authenticity’ remained in the finished product; I’m sure the director changed some events and shaped the story according to his wishes. Either way, does it matter? :)