Post by odadune on Apr 8, 2015 0:07:27 GMT
This is part of the same run of big Manmohan Desai hits that included Amar Akbar Anthony, Parvarish, and Naseeb, but it is set in a hodgepodge of Indian, Middle Eastern, and European "historical" settings that cannot be described, only experienced; a place where spoiled but good-hearted Prince Veer (Jeetendra) and his friend (and separated at birth twin brother) Dharam (Dharmendra) tangle with stereotypical gypsies, gladiators, and Tortuga-style pirates. I personally liked the first half, where we start off with the tragic backstory of the heroes' parents (Princess turned Queen Simi Garewal and roaming "samurai" Pran), then watch the guys bond with each other and with their love interests, Neetu Singh for Jeetendra and Zeenat Aman for Dharmendra. Okay, "bonding" is perhaps an unfortunate choice of words for Dharmendra/Zeenat, who spend most of the early stages of their courtship tying each other up and trying to torture each other, in what is probably the most annoying thing about this film. The second most annoying thing about this film is the second half, a boring mess where the villains manage to break up the heroes' bromance and things end badly for Simi and Pran, whom I found way more sympathetic than their children.
Not quite as annoying to me, but perhaps more crippling in the long run, is that the brothers are not that interesting of characters on their own terms: I liked them just fine when they were being nice to Mother, or each other, or their love interests, but I didn't care that much about them. Dharmendra was definitely capable of better; he started out in fairly dramatic roles in the 60s before transitioning to action films in the 70s/80s, but here, outside of the action scenes, he just stands and preaches and preaches and then he preaches some more. And when he's not doing that he's doing disturbing stuff to/with his girlfriend. Jeetendra has a more likable character, at least initially, and does fine with what he is given, but just isn't, in my experience, a terribly compelling screen presence. Nice bloke, onscreen and reputedly offscreen as well, just not compelling.
A lot of people like it better than I do, and the incidentals-the brilliant camera work, the insane sets and costumes, Pran's supernaturally talented falcon and horse-are probably enough to make it worth seeing at least once. But to me the best thing about it is this:
Blogger reviews:
Beth Loves Bollywood: bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2009/01/masalameister-desai-rides-again-dharam.html
So They Dance: sotheydance.blogspot.com/2008/04/ride-of-your-life-dharam-veer.html
Memsaab Story: memsaabstory.com/2008/06/12/dharam-veer-1977/
Not quite as annoying to me, but perhaps more crippling in the long run, is that the brothers are not that interesting of characters on their own terms: I liked them just fine when they were being nice to Mother, or each other, or their love interests, but I didn't care that much about them. Dharmendra was definitely capable of better; he started out in fairly dramatic roles in the 60s before transitioning to action films in the 70s/80s, but here, outside of the action scenes, he just stands and preaches and preaches and then he preaches some more. And when he's not doing that he's doing disturbing stuff to/with his girlfriend. Jeetendra has a more likable character, at least initially, and does fine with what he is given, but just isn't, in my experience, a terribly compelling screen presence. Nice bloke, onscreen and reputedly offscreen as well, just not compelling.
A lot of people like it better than I do, and the incidentals-the brilliant camera work, the insane sets and costumes, Pran's supernaturally talented falcon and horse-are probably enough to make it worth seeing at least once. But to me the best thing about it is this:
Blogger reviews:
Beth Loves Bollywood: bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/2009/01/masalameister-desai-rides-again-dharam.html
So They Dance: sotheydance.blogspot.com/2008/04/ride-of-your-life-dharam-veer.html
Memsaab Story: memsaabstory.com/2008/06/12/dharam-veer-1977/