Bunty Aur Babli

Let me preface my comments with this disclaimer, I am a nonIndian. Forgive my obvious ignorance and any misspellings, and proceed at your own risk.

I rented B&B from Netflix because I've seen KHAKEE with Bachchan. the father and Ash Rai, plus KUCH NAA KAHE WITH Bachchan, the son and, again, Ash Rai. The father is obviously an national Indian treasure as a wonderful, serious actor. The son is clearly a gifted comedian and maturing, sensitive actor. Ash Rai? She's one of a kind too, and she clearly knows how to pick 'em in her leading men. By the way, Ajay Devron, her leading man in Straight From the Heart, Raincoat, and as that nefarious terrorist in KHAKEE, is another example of her very good taste in who appears opposite her on screen.

B$B is delightful especially for Bachchan the son, who did great work here in various con man roles and in his interaction with his perky, little costar, Rani Munkerjee. Of course, the whole thing is a bit of fluff from beginning to end, and anyone who expects more, should leave as soon the first energetic musical number hits the screen.

The narration by Bachchan, the father and his eventual, inevitable appearance as the world-weary cop chasing these carefree, con kids is worth the wait. Of course, it is just like every other American cops 'n robber spoof that I've ever seen; nobody really gets hurt.

Now the surprise and joy for me was the so-called 'item number' in the bar with father, son, and their co-star from other recent movies, Ash Rai. The drunken banter (no, I don't speak Hindi and had to rely on the subtitles) and body language was very funny to me despite, or maybe because of, this obvious handicap. Their interactions with Ash prior to the dance number were perfectly timed comedy reactions too. The dance number itself ripped up the place and Ash looked as if she was having a lot of fun "flirting" with two of her favorite men. Now that's entertainment in my book, and in any language.

Go rent B&B, or, even better, buy the DVD and add it to your Bollywood collection. That's what I'm doing right after I finish this review. Thanks to both Bachchans, Ms. Munkerjee and Rai for sharing their talents with all of us.

Overall this movie is just about average . Some scenes are really humorous like Rani and Abhishek meeting at the rail station. Rani as usual sizzles and Abhi gives a fairly OK performance. Amitabh is not in his element except for the dance sequence "kajrare". Somewhat his performance can be termed as overacting. This man ( Amitabh ) is overworked and his age shows. He is burning at both ends. It is high time he slows down a bit.

And now the piece de resistance of the movie : That is the music. The music is very good and all the songs are quite hummable. The music is quite experimental and unique.

The story is plagiarized from a number of Hollywood movies, chief of which is "Catch me if you can". The plot is not detailed enough . For example the way the duo ( Rani and Abhi )dupe their victims , seems childish and there are many gaps in their schemes. But anyway the viewer can take all this in his stride, for after all this is a Bollywood movie and they are notoriously not meant to be perfect in their plots.

All in all a passable fare..

the story got lost...Rani and Abishek are not convincing as 20 somethings in the opening scenes in which the characters struggle against their parents. These two are too old to be playing 20 somethings!

I wonder about Amitabh Bacchan these days - we seem to be watching him going through mid-life crises more and more in films these days. This was no exception, and we get to watch an aging 60+ year old man behaving 20 years younger on screen, flirting with women who in real-life are soon to be his daughter-in-law (ick!) It was sad to see him sort of beneath himself but if he doesn't mind...why should we? (p.s sorry to all his fans). He plays a "cool" tough cop in this film. He doesn't really act, as much as the dramatic music, cool shades and clothes, plus cheesy dialogue, sort of do the acting for him. His acting was terrible in this film, overacted scenes.

About the other actors in the film, both Rani M. and Abishek respectfully ought to tame it down a little. Over-acting tends to be the style of Bollywood, but it would be nice if they tried something more subtle.

Rani is probably the most natural, graceful Indian actress there is, in comparison to her peers like Aishwarya Rai, who hasn't mastered the emotional range and groundedness of her parts. But, Rani's acting style has mostly one dimension in this film - she seems to perceive everything as a joke, and is laughing in every scene, which is infectious and fun to see.

The chemistry was unfortunately just not there in the pairing of the main actors. Abishek and Rani M. seemed more like brother and sister to me, than a passionate couple. Perhaps it's because Abishek and Aishwarya Rai are married now...knowing this works against the chemistry with them. I'm not sure I really want to see the chemistry between actors who are married to other people (!)

The saving grace included the costumes - of which Rani goes through probably 100 literally; plus, the dance scenes in Bollywood films are always mesmerizing and spectacular in choreography and costumes - like wonderful mini-musicals.

I was questioning at times why Rani M. and Aishwarya Rai are both willing to be half-naked, publicly exposing themselves, in their films, but I'm not sure they have a choice (?), and certainly male viewers aren't complaining.

There was a little depth in the film too. I related to the struggle between the dual sides of Abishek's character - Bunti vs, Rakesh. Rakesh is his given name, and represents the life of his family, who are middle class and get up every day and work for a middle class living, and this lacked appeal to the young Rakesh. He used the name "Bunti" to describe the part of him that desired much, much more - things every human being wants at some point - lust and thirst for power, riches, glory, fame, and good looks. Isn't that battle within everyone?

Abishek character's struggle with this identity is very real, a saving grace - I loved it.

Leave your rational back at home and when you come out of the theater you leave the place smiling. Shaad Ali did a marvelous job of capturing the beauty and essence of North India. The story is not a ground breaking one and have been used before but it is the treatment and screenplay which makes it so enjoyable. The movie has got it all groovy North Indian dance steps, dancing on the train selling of Taj Mahal.

BAB is about two dreamers from small towns of UP Rakesh ( Abhishek Bachchan ) and Vimmi (Rani) who in the quest to fulfill their dreams elope from house and bump into each other. They both faces failure at the first stage so they both decide to twist things around and get into conning. To con they develop an alter -ego Bunty and Babli. from then they never face failure and their scams become a headache for the system.DCP Dashrath Singh Amitabh Bachchan takes the charge of catching B n B.

SHaad ALi poured a lot of hard work to make BAB a treat to watch . His home work is obvious from many small points in the movie. THe opening scene of a Kite stuck in a TV antenna , the songs which are played in the background were just sheer right on the target. Songs like " CHalat Musafir " really captured the feel of North India. Using Taj Mahal as a backdrop for the marriage and their unconventional Vows were all brilliant.

Performance wise Rani Mukherjee is absolutely awesome. The way she captured the emotions her get up and talking style of a young Punjabi girl was point perfect.Amitabh Bachchan's comedy is still the best my god what timing. Abhishek Bachchan has seriously grown up as an actor and he proves his point in BnB .

Abhishek and Rani are a treat to watch and they were so lively on the screen it gets you into the moment. The bus scenes where Rakesh tells Vimmi about BNB is amazing then the scene on Mumabi CST station where they confess their love shows their on screen chemistry.

SEL gives a good enough soundtrack with songs like "Dhadhak Dhadhak" and Chup Chup Ke the soundtrack of the movie is really worth listening. Aishwarya Rai looks amazing on screen and Amitabh and Abhishek were marvelous together. The Bar scene between Abhishek and Amitabh is all about brilliant timing of comedy. I loved the groovy dance steps of Kajrare.

In times when movies like Kya Kool Hain Hum is making money BnB comes as a refreshing good taste comedy . 8/10

Not very much influence by movie, Abhishek and rani acting was good.. Screen stealing performance of Amitabh Bachchan. You can watch once I watch after 16 years of its release.