Hum

Hum(We) is the excellent blend of Bollywood masala which has all spiciness of our angry young man Tiger played by big B, tadka of beautiful jumma(Kimmi), bitterness of great villain and memorable character Bakhtawar by Danny, Sweetness of Kadar khan/Anupam kher comedy, Sourness of Govinda Rajneekant jugalabandi,..its a complete 10 out of 10 entertainer.. Its fantastic to watch Tiger(AB), fighting to bakhtawar, sacrificing his love for his brothers,And WOW to that dialog by greatest delivery man AB.."Do prakar k kide hote hai.." In the second half, Tiger turns to Shekhar living with happy family. in particular this scene.. when shows back glimpse of Tiger when he drags that driver out of the bus.. I remember, on they used to show the Promo of movies next Friday and they used the same scene, which is irresistible to watch AB in angry mode !:) This movie is like all time favorite for me, loved all performances and drama !!

The first thing I said to myself while watching David Cronenberg's History of Violence was "Damn, this is Tiger's story told in reverse!" Mukul Anand's Hum is a landmark film in many ways. Apart from being one of Bachchan's truly last leading men roles, it (a) gave us the item number of the decade in "Jumma Chumma" (still gets a Bollywood party going anywhere in the world), (b) brought Big B and Rajni together for the last time, (c) gave us last of the legendary Bachchan drunkard scenes, (d) brought Haryanvi into mainstream B'wood through Anupam Kher's Girdhar and (e) gave us the last truly memorable Bollywood villain in Danny's Bhaktawar (that over the top villainy is long dead). Hum is one of those guilty pleasures of childhood (VHS tapes) that actually hasn't aged so bad. The reason is that at the core of it, it's a pretty cool movie about how our past can come back to haunt us. And how families can either be destroyed or come together to fight it out. Hum is an apt case study in good Bollywood masala entertainer genre: how to turn a completely fantastic nonserious storyline into an entertaining 3-hour long movie with an all-star cast, song and dance affair with the right amount of genuine comedy (Kader Khan, Anu Kapoor) and iconic one liners and scenes. It even had the done to death double role twist thrown into the mix and not a piece looks out of place because it's made with such frantic pace and style that you don't have time to ponder. But for me, the scene that really propels the movie beyond the usual run of the mill affair is where Bachchan gets his Tiger mojo back while inquiring about his missing sister-in-law at a bus stand. A rowdy bus driver misbehaves with him, which obviously pissed Bachchan off. But this is not normal anger. This is someone-is-going-get-hurt-real-bad level anger. He takes his glasses off and shrugs his partly grey hair in slow-motion and pulls the driver out of the bus and onto the street before tearing his uniform to shreds- all this while the Tiger leitmotif soundtrack is brought back from slumber to insane goosebumpy effects! Only Bachchan could have pulled this scene off and this is the last time he did something like this onscreen. That was 1991. History of violence ended that year.

HUM or "US"redefined the notion of entertainment in indian cinema by introducing sophisticated use of camera framing and an exploration of the use of irony in the guise of farce .Most villains in Mukul Anand's films are caricatures and in this respect "HUM" introduces this specificity in this talented director's cinema. The rhythmic song and dance number "JOOMA CHUMMA DE DE "got packed houses dancing literally from India to USA.This film also brought to a cinema art et essai director his first feeling of what a popular film director's reputation meant .

One of the last best movies as the hero for Amitabh Bachchan.

Hum review :

I have an interesting personal anecdote to share about Hum. The much hyped and most eagerly awaited film of 1991 was to come on February 1, 1991. As a school kid, I had saved nearly three months of pocket money for its FDFS viewing. The grand day finally arrived and I was in front of Gaiety cinema, Bandra for the matinee show. It was obviously 'Housefull' and the obnoxious blackwallah demanded Rs. 500 for one ticket, an unheard of amount in 1991. Even today, this amount makes for an IMAX viewing in a premium multiplex so you can well imagine my shock!!! Returned back disappointed and finally watched Hum the same week on VHS.

The film was special for Amitabh Bachchan fans primarily for two reasons :

One, for having him in his much loved angry young man personna in first half and then playing his age in second half where the family scenes are the most endearing part.

Second, ofcourse the Jumma Chumma number which had Bachchan sizzle the screen with hottie Kimi Katkar playing the girl named Friday.

Of the cast, Rajinikanth, Govinda, Deepa Sahi, Shilpa Shirodkar - all lend able support. I particularly love Govinda and Shilpa hot up the Mauritius beach in "Sanam Mere Sanam" song. But overall, Hum was a complete Bachchan show. Tiger was a ferocious character who doesn't forget his punches even after he ages.

One of Bachchan's best roles in 90s, Hum took the box office by storm even ignoring a certain trade analyst who was hell bent on calling it a flop. After all, yeh public hai...yeh sab janti hai.

Completing 100 days run at prestigious Metro cinema (Mumbai), it emerged one of the biggest hits of the year and won Amitabh Bachchan his third Filmfare Best actor award. Rightfully!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni