Thursday, April 10, 2008

Bhool Bhulaiya

Knowing it is the remake of the great Malayalam movie "Manichithrathaazh", anyone who watches this movie or the Kannada remake Apta Mithra or the Tamil remake 'Chandramukhi' is bound to compare it with the original frame to frame. There is no question about it. Nothing can compare to the original movie and the talents of the stars which made it a success. The question is how successful are you in entertaining the new target audience with this theme that had been a success everywhere in the past. I don't think Priyadarshan failed in that.

Given that, I was watching the movie out of curiosity. I was not biased to keep saying to myself from scene to scene - hey, this was better in the old one. I should say I enjoyed Bhool Bulaiya and there is nothing wrong in watching it once. People who have not watched the original movie will enjoy it better because it is exposing them to this totally different story.

I liked the location where this has been shot. The palace is a great fit for this story line.

Selection of artistes is commendable, I felt. For example,Vikram Gokhale for Thilakan's role. Good fit!

Akshay Kumar has done a good job - compared to the old past when I had nothing to expect of him.

I loved the gorgeous sarees the ladies wore throughout the movie. Hmm Hmm! it is a delight to watch those colors.

One thing I noted was: it is a ditto of the original. Even the way the actors stand or react has been copied from the original.

Amisha Patel has been wasted totally.

About climax dance sequence and emotional scenes - Vidya Balan's performance looked artificial to me compared to Shobana's. I liked Soundarya's performance in ApthaMithra better. Jyothika overacted in the whole sequence with some black paint around her eyes in the Tamil counterpart.

There is only one person who did the same role he did in Malayalam in this Hindi movie. Vineeth! I think it is an achievement that he still looks the same and is able to fit in the same role after these many years.

The conclusion is, Manichithrathazh rules!

6 comments:

Anya Padyam said...

Hey Anamika, saw that too... the DVD wasnt too good, but still:) you are right, original was way better - no comparison to Shobana:)
I think the character Vineeth plays in BB was played by someone else in Malayalam... dont know the name, though.

anamika said...

@Just someone - u r right! I think he is a Kannada actor (name start with S?). I must have seen Vineeth in the Tamil movie then..good catch

UL said...

yes, manichitrathaazhu rules...i have seen it several times...and would do so again...

A-kay said...

Manichitrathaazhu was awesome - I think no one can repeat Shobana's performance. Jyothika over-acted and VB was so fake - it would have been better if the role was done by an actress who is classically trained.

anamika said...

@akay - agree with you 100%

S said...

I saw this movie in tamil called Chandramukhi...once I knew it was a remake I lost interest in seeing this since I feel remakes are often in Indian context scene by scene copies and that is difficult to watch,we do tend to make comparisons...:)