Parinda

This movie was the turning point in the fanciful world of Bollywood which had so far kept the remotest possible distance from reality in order to provide a fantasy escape to people amidst poverty and underdevelopment. Bollywood, in this respect had always feared compromising with colors, glycerin, scenic places, superman feats, dances and pomp and pageantry lest the movies would become insipid and turn off the masses.

Parinda dared to break the trend and brought the reel closer to real when Vidhu Vinod Chopra used the cinematography of the hitherto called 'art cinema' in the commercial mass cinema. But Parinda was not all about cinematography, it was a realistic take on the Bombay underworld and life of people in general. So far we had only seen mostly Ajit and Amjad Khan brand of opulent villains incredibly placed in their hi-tech, luxury castles. Parinda showed exactly how a real life gangster lives.

The movie is damn powerful and made such a wonderful blend of romance and violence that it is hard to categorize it into either genre. The characterization is so immaculate that the audience could connect and empathize even with the peripheral characters playing cameos. In a nutshell, the movie has a soul and is powerful enough to linger in the memory for long time.

It was a collective effort where the sensitive direction of V V Chpora was complimented by brilliant and soulful acting performances by master actors (all!) Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Madhuri Dikshit and Nana Patekar. What a dream cast that was! As mentioned before, the movie changed the age old and decadent trends in Bollywood and inspired the new generation filmmakers to stop insulting public intelligence. It set a benchmark for making realistic movies and blending them with drama. Ram Gopal Verma, for one,took the leaf from Parinda when he made Shiva in 1991 and later churned out a plethora of similar movies.

Of the hundreds of films made on the Indian underworld this film, along with Ram Gopal Varma's Satya, is one of the most gripping and powerful. Nana Patekar (who won a national award for this film) and Jackie Shroff are brilliant. Madhuri Dixit and Anil Kapoor excel in their small roles. The editing is also great...something that puts it in a league of its own. The film has none of the commen Hindi masala film aspects...I can only remember 2 songs!!!

Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda is one of the first Hindi films dealing with life in the Mumbai underworld and one of the most realistic of its kind. Stylishly presented, the film is excellently directed and is aided by fantastic cinematography, great editing, beautiful music and natural acting. As opposed to most of the Hindi movies of that time, the story of Parinda is devoid of clichés, and the screenplay as well as the dialogues are well written. There are neither the typical courageous action heroes nor the exaggerated fantasy action sequences one gets to see so much in Hindi films, though at some points you do feel its loyalty to the general Hindi film style (that's called commercial pressure). Chopra portrays the relationship between the two brothers authentically, as he does with practically every other relationship in the film.

The narrative is very focused and taut, letting the director create the required mood for a gripping drama of its sort. The film's emotional impact is thus strong, though it does get a bit too slow and dark at places. The acting is for the most part excellent. This is one of Jackie Shroff's finest performances, powerful and heartfelt, strong and restrained. Nana Patekar plays the psychologically disturbed fire-phobic Anna with intensity and conviction, portraying every negative shade of his character in his well-known inimitable style. Madhuri Dixit is lovely in a role that is not very substantial. However, Anil Kapoor is just okay and his often childish and overly naive on-screen persona gets on your nerves from time to time. His character's transformation was also too quick to be believable. This is of course not entirely his fault.

Which brings me to the next point. Parinda, though compelling and innovative for its time, is not without its flaws. While RD Burman's music is stupendous as always and managed to relieve the film's raw tension, as it was done with the soulful and memorable "Tum Se Mil Ke", the other melodious songs seemed inappropriate in such a dark thriller and often distracted from the seriousness of the situation. The marriage song, for one, was completely redundant. Additionally, some of the scenes towards the end were quite implausible and went a bit over-the-top, though I really liked the film's final scene, which was overwhelming. Overall, Parinda is an enjoyable and impressive gangster movie known today as a favourite cult movie among lovers of Indian cinema. It's easy to see why. It was different and entertaining, but its intentions were stronger than its actual quality.

Before Ram Gopal Verma conquered the gangster genre with Satya and Company,before Mahesh Manjrekhar's Vaastav there was the ultimate gangster movie,Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda. Unfortunately whilst Parinda was a hit Satya and Vaastav were even bigger hits and Parinda got almost forgotten. Vidhu Vinod Chopra had made one or two offbeat movie before this but he really hit it big time with Parinda. It was released in 1989 to moderate success. What really works for this movie is it's restrained style, most Bollywood gangster movies I have seen are light on content and high on action. Parinda doesn't have many overly long drawn out action sequences but what it offers is a great story and subtlety. Parinda tells the story of four friends,Anil Kapoor, his elder brother Jackie Shroff, Anupum Kher and his sister Madhuri. Jackie Shroff sends Anil Kapoor abroad to study. Years later Jackie Shroff has started working for gangster(a phenomenal performance by Nana Patekar). Anupum Kher becomes a policeman and is intent on bringing Nana Patekar to justice. Anil Kapoor returns and witnesses Anupum Kher's murder by Nana Patekar's men. Anil Kapoor tries to go to the police but Jackie Shroff tries to encourage him not to. When Anil Kapoor does eventually go to the police his loved ones are threatened. Anil Kapoor decides to start working Nana Patekar so that he can avenge the death of his friend Anupum Kher. One by one Anil Kapoor kills them off but soon Nana Patekar realises what he is actually upto and decides to get even. The scene is set for a magnificent showdown. Another incredible quality is RD Burman's music which is simply outstanding with some wonderful tunes like Tumse Milke. Coincidentally RD Burman's last score before his demise was on Vidhu Vinod Chopra's next venture, 1942 A love story. Parinda is the best gangster movie to come out of Bollywood and deserves more appreciation from lovers of Indian cinema. Highly recommended by me.

My Rating : 8/10

Shocking, violent, brutal and mercilessly evil. Vidhu Vinod Chopra weaves a masterpiece with 'Parinda'.

Must-watch for any Hindi cinema lover.