Customer Reviews

Hameshaa

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This movie is an exciting, refreshing Indian film. It's unique in the fact that it's not the typical Bollywood story line.. well, in a way it is, but in a great way. It's about love and conflict, but also has a twist. The actors perform quite well, and although it, like most Indian movies, is long (about 3 hours), it still keeps your interest throughout. I wouldn't say there are any "boring" parts, like there are in some 3 hour movies. Overall, I'd highly recommend it.

The plot in brief is about a love triangle - A powerful but solitary prince (Aditya Pancholi), poor friend (Saif Ali Khan) and the girl (Kajol). It spans 2 time periods with a reincarnation theme linking them.

This 1997 movie is a myth/morality play that tells of the connection between Saif and Kajol's characters that transcends time, combined with the selfish, obsessed prince who is used to getting his own way. Things don't go well as this plays out, and players other than the couple lose their lives to protect their union. So the couple reincarnate 22 years later and repeat these dynamics to a combination of same and different resolution.

It is a good story and the chemistry between the leads is also good. Other reviews mention Kajol who is definitely excellent. However the guys are very good too. Saif makes a dashing romantic hero who is both good and very watchable. Saif plays electric guitar at one point in this movie and it may well be him playing rather than pretending this time as this seems to be a hobby of his.

It was known for its technology in bringing beautiful images with interesting camera angles off at the time. There is some beautiful romantic cinematography of dance sequences (and again for a male lead Saif throws himself into it and dances well with Kajol). The settings are interesting particularly the amazing palace the prince lives in and the abandoned hunting lodge.

However my print of this older movie wasn't maximizing that. The sound quality was a bit echoey at times and Saif's voice sounds higher in pitch than in other movies. The film quality looks a little old and grainy too. However none of this is to an extreme and it is more observation than distraction. I wish they had subtitled the song lyrics and the subtitles can move a bit fast at times too.

So, beautiful to look at. Kajol is worth it for Kajol lovers and Saif is great for the male-watchers!

There is action and violence in this movie for those that want to avoid that. The romance is the stronger part of the movie however. The dances are interesting and well choreographed and the music isn't bad either.
You may want to be aware that this movie is received in more varied ways than the fairly consistent high rating of Amazon reviewers so far. It was definitely a good one for me too but it can rate from below average right through above average to a cherished one.

Damn, another Kajol movie which sucks! I guess I've been spoiled by having watched her best movies one after the other (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (2DISC SET), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham). HAMESHAA (meaning, I think, "Eternity" or "Forever") stars Kajol with Saif Ali Khan, and both are routinely supremely good actors, something which I guess you'll have to trust me on if you haven't seen them before in cinema. Here, they are merely average and seem to just go thru the motions, thanks mostly to the subpar and very uninspiring script.

So here come the plot SPOILERS!

Raja and Rani meet in college in the 1970s, and, for them, it was instant love. But Raja's friend, Yash Vardhan, born to privelege yet a shifty and vindictive sort, has also become smitten with Rani, and Yash will do whatever it takes to win her. Even if it means killing his only friend, Raja, an act which he promptly commits high on a cliff. But this murderous act is witnessed by Rani, who spurns Yash's advances and willingly plunges to her own death, vowing that, someday, she and Raja will return and still be in love, and that Yash can do nothing to prevent this.

22 years later, Yash is shocked to discover photos of Rani gracing the pages of a magazine. Only, the photos aren't of Rani, but of a young, talented dancer named Reshma from rural Jaisalmer, who bears an eerie likeness to Rani. And, for Yash, the dangerous obsession stirs anew. He schemes to have Reshma accompany him, on the pretense of paying her to perform her dances in the city. Reshma agrees, to help pay for her ill father's medical treatment. Yash is quick to remake the provincial Reshma into the very image of the more glamourous Rani.

But one person is missing from this messed-up triangle. One day, Yash and Reshma are in a jewelry shop when Reshma glimpses a young man toting a guitar. Not knowing why, she feels compelled to follow him. The young man turns around, and Reshma at last gets a good, searing look at his face. You know who it is...even as Yash silently rages.

Oh, how fickle is fate for the eternally frustrated Yash, who now once more contemplates murder...for one thing hasn't changed. He means to have Reshma/Rani, no matter the cost and no matter the number of lifetimes or lives he has to take.

SPOILERS end.

Okay, Bollywood has done plenty of reincarnation-themed pictures before, most recently, 1995's Karan Arjun (which also co-starred Kajol) and, even more recently, 2008's Om Shanti Om (2 DISC BOX SET WITH AUTOGRAPHED POSTER). Sadly, both of those movies are superior to HAMESHAA, which came out in 1997. Kajol and Saif Ali Khan are better than what you see here (Kajol in the three films mentioned above, Khan in Hum Tum and Salaam Namaste - (2 DVD SET)). The love story in the film's first half progresses very typically and exudes such heavyhandedness and hokum, with corny, unconvincingly-delivered dialogue and overdramatic poses. It's not that I have a problem with Rani and Raja falling in love so quickly in the film. It's that the movie doesn't do enough to convince me. Particularly, it's Saif Ali Khan's stilted performance which fails to validate the romance.

HAMESHAA improves some once the reborns are introduced. You do get drawn in as, slowly, Reshma begins to recollect another person's memories, even as the murderously violent Yash continues to scheme to have his way. Another obstacle (and intriguing twist) thrown in for the reincarnated lovers is that Raju, the young man with the guitar, doesn't remember his past life at all. But, still, the plot and script continue to ruin the film, burying it in stale cliches, a profound hamminess, and a ponderous pace. I've come to expect the jubilant and colorful musical numbers in Bollywood. Regretably, the songs here are languid and lackluster. Where's the energy? By the time the climax gets to rolling around (ending in the usual Bollywood fisticuffs), my mind was on matters more relevant, such as what the heck was Kajol thinking and where had I heard that haunting theme music before?

Just as Kajol fails to have chemistry with Sunil Shetty in Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi, she doesn't spark the screen with Saif Ali Khan. But, as I'll cling to any explanation other than faulting the sublime Kajol, I'm laying the blame on Saif's bodacious mullet. Yes, it's the mullet's fault, somehow. To be honest, I'm so devoted to Kajol that I can't bring myself to rate any of her films less than three stars. Kajol doesn't embarass herself in this film, and there are still scenes where she brings the fire and showcases her acting skills. But there's a reason she didn't win any awards for this one. Saif Ali Khan, I think, back in the 1990s, was still mired in a slew of box office duds. Starting with 2001's Dil Chahta Hai, he would get remarkably better, really. And Aditya Panscholi, who plays Yash? I think he plays him poorly, basically making use of a limited set of expressions to convey the emotions of anger, shock, anger, frustration, anger, and anger.

Rebirth and romance and karma. These are cherished themes in India, where cinematic lovers can get away with dialogue such as "One birth is simply not enough for true love." and "Since when have we started fearing death?" It trips me out, though, how Raju and Reshma become so quickly accepting of their rebirths that, when they meet up with an old college friend of Raju's past life, they nonchalantly tell him, "We've had a reincarnation." Oh, okay.

With big names like Kajol and Saif Ali Khan, HAMESHAA could've and should've been a stronger film. The fact that it starred these two, who are among my favorites in Bollywood, makes the awfulness of the film more pronounced, because it really in no way should have been this laborious to watch. If you're in the mood for a good Bollywood romance, then sharply get away from this one. Watch KAMESHAA only if you're a diehard fan of Kajol or of Saif Ali Khan. And if you're into films about reincarnation, then OM SHANTI OM is a more gratifying experience.

And I just remembered. That haunting theme music to HAMESHAA? It's ripped right out, note for note, from Wild Orchid, a 1990 "blue" film (as they call it in India). I saw WILD ORCHID years ago, and I know this: I enjoyed it more than HAMESHAA.

Kajol looks so pretty...I miss her in the movies out these days! The songs in this movie are some of my favorites...and if you're looking for a typical Indian movie, you'll surely like this one!

This is a wonderful story of reincarnation where a young Saif Ali Khan shows the first signs of the great actor he is to become. His is charming and passionate in his role as Raja and later Raju. He and Kajol have great chemistry in this film but then Kajol seems to have that effect on all her leading men. The way Raja dies is shocking and will definately bring tears to your eyes. This is a great movie to watch if you wish to experience all the elements of a good Bollywood romance movie with all its peaks and valleys of emotion.