Last month was a bumper at the movies. I watched 11 movies in total and a lot of them were old Hindi movies. It’s fun to go hunting for movies to watch on Youtube, especially when a lot of them are free (but not ad free). Here’s the last set of four movies from April…

Do Ladke Dono Kadke

 
Rating: ***/5 – Could Watch!!
Release: 5 January 1979 (India)
Language: Hindi
Running Time: 1h 57m
Director: Basu Chatterjee
Actors: Navin Nischol, Amol Palekar, Moushumi Chatterjee, Asrani, Keshto Mukherjee, Dina Pathak, Ranjeet
Music: Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay

The story of two broke young robbers who impulsively kidnap a child that was supposed to be the target of a kidnapping gang. What forms is a triangle of sorts, the pros are demanding ransom while searching for the stolen child, the amateurs are caring for the child and making novice demands, and the parents and police and in knots trying to untangle the multiple calls and demands.

I picked this movie to watch on a whim and wasn’t disappointed. But I wasn’t sold on it either. It’s supposed to be a funny movie but I didn’t find it humorous. Palekar’s falling in love with a widow and immediately turning a good leaf is cliched in both departments. The end also is very unbelievable. It as if the director got tired of doing his thing and ended the movie with the first ludicrous happily-ever-after idea he thought of.

Chhote Nawab

 
 
Rating: ****/5 – Should Watch!!
Release: 1961 (India)
Language: Hindi
Running Time: 2h 22m
Director: S.A. Akbar
Actors:  Ameeta, Mehmood, Johnny Walker, Helen
Music: R. D. Burman

Chhote Nawab isn’t chhote, he is a 20 year old who behaves like a 5 year old because he was born on February 29th. Spoilt and pampered he has no understanding of the world and it’s ways. When his father suddenly passes away Chhote Nawab is left floundering. A friend of his fathers find him and takes him away to Calcutta where he grows up rather quickly.

An old movie but a gem, not only for Mehmood but also the ideas, emotions and situations explored. There are a lot of layers to  this movie. My only complaint though is the sudden jumps in time the director made maybe because he was running out of time. the pace of the first half and second half are mismatched.

Excellent music! Especially ‘Matwali Ankhon Wale’, it was a treat to watch Mehmood dance with the beautiful Helen.

Tahaan

 
Rating: ****/5 – Should Watch!!
Release: September 5, 2008 (India)
Language: Hindi
Running Time: 1h 45m
Director: Santosh Sivan
Actors: Purav Bhandare, Anupam Kher, Sarika, Rahul Bose, Rahul Khanna, Victor Banerjee
Music: Taufique Qureshi
Cinematography: Santosh Sivan
Editing: Shakti Hasija

Based on the life of a little boy in Kashmir who is trying to reclaim his donkey that the family lost to debt. This is a story of borders, militancy, violence and the people of Kashmir.

The story explores various things, but what stood out for me was the ease with which children can be used for terrorism. Their innocence misused. That said the intelligence of children is also shown. An good movie both for children and adults.

Lucy

 
 
 
Rating: ****/5 – Should Watch!!
Release: July 25, 2014 (USA)
Language: English
Running Time: 89 minutes
Director: Luc Besson
Actors: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik, Amr Waked
Music: Éric Serra
Cinematography: Thierry Arbogast
Editing: Julien Rey

The normal everyday man uses only 10% of his brain. What would happen if he used more? That’s the premise of this movie.

Lucy gets used as a drug mule, the substance leaks into her system and give her powers. She is able to use more than 10% of her brain. What happens when you use 100% of your brain is the story.

That’s it from April. What did you watch in April? Any outstanding movies?

 
P.S. – Day Twenty-Two of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge.

I’d been meaning to share two more old hindi movies I watched in April but Che and I impulsively watched two movies today, so I’m sharing those instead.

Nightcrawler

Rating: ****/5 – Should Watch
Release: 31 October 2014
Language: English
Running time: 117 minutes
Director: Dan Gilroy
Actors: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton
Music: James Newton Howard
Cinematography: Robert Elswit
Editing: John Gilroy

An serious and thought provoking movie, Nightcrawler is about a guy who roams the streets at night stealing just about anything he can. He stumbles on to an accident one night and sees a cameraman in action.

This sets him off on a mission to improve his prospects. He buys a video camera, a scanner to monitor police frequencies, gets himself an assistant and starts out.

Initially it’s as simple as listening to the radio, rushing off to the accident spot to grab a video before anyone else and then selling it to the news channels. But as he gets into the game he finds that is much more to it.

A snarky take on the corporate world about the games played, the sweet sounding insults, the stellar sales pitches and the politics, Nightcrawler is a fun movie to watch.

Dawn Of The Planet of The Apes

Rating: ***/5 – Could Watch
Release: 11 July 2014
Language: English | American Sign Language
Running time: 130 minutes
Director: Matt Reeves
Actors: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirk Acevedo
Music: Michael Giacchino
Cinematography: Michael Seresin
Editing: William Hoy, Stan Salfas

I’m not a great fan of this series but I have watched all the previous movies and this one completed the set. The movie is about how the Planets of Apes came about.

It all starts out with the accidental outbreak of simian flu and the escape of the apes that were being experimented on with the virus.

Over a few years the flu ravages entire counties and leave only a very small number of people surviving who are immune to the virus. One particular group of survivors sends out a search party with the objective of finding and restarting an old dam as they are running out of fuel. The group stumble upon the the ape society and there conflict begins.

If you are a Planet of The Apes fan you’ll enjoy this movie. The costumes and graphics are well done and the storyline is quite believable too.

What movies have you watched lately?

 
P.S. – Day Eight of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge.