Raja

Not here to write any review, nor am sure if this movie deserves any, but man! What an astounding diva Madhuri Dixit was, back in those days!

Happen to get mesmerized watching her, every time these songs pop up in youtube. These songs frequently took place around the neighborhood, in the blank backspace of birthday video cassettes, in the late nineties; and almost all the 90's kids of South Asia must have sweet memories of adolescence around these.

And after all these years, even though the eyes got matured a bit, the hearts gathered few wrinkles and aches from here and there; Madhuri hasn't lost her appeal, not even a single bit.

A poor guy falling for a rich lady against the will of her tyrannical brothers forms a much familiar plot of this successful 90s film. Unlike Inder Kumar's earlier hits "Dil" and "Beta" which had better plots and narration, 'Raja" appears much blatant in terms of storytelling and characters. In other words, it's not the story for which you should go for. Anyway, the sets and photographic beauty in filming the sets might make it a pleasure to watch it in a theatre.

There are an abundance of songs, fitted as items, which look and sound great on the screen. Madhuri Dixit overshadows Sanjay Kapoor though she suffers overacting and her character is less passionate to that from "Dil" or "Beta." Similarly, the roles of Mukesh Khanna and Dalip Tahil are cardboard type apart the role of Paresh Rawal, which is a merit to the film. Overall, it's a loud and exuberant love saga which is a testimony of production values surpassing the storytelling in the 90s blockbusters.

Rating: 1 star out of 4.

The cinematography of this film is amazing. Also, the corny dramatic music and close ups on 'meaningful' expressions add to the overall hilarity of the movie. There are plenty of dramatic moments, romance and bollywood songs to keep anyone fixed.

Two childhood friends (Raja and Madhu) are engaged by their older brothers only to have the engagement broken off when Raja's brother (Birju) looses his fortune in a fire. To make matters worse, Birju is hit by a car in an effort to save his brother from the same fate. This accident throws him onto an electric fence and he looses his mental balance. Raja opts to care for him (even though he is a young boy) to save him from the mental hospital. Eventually, Madhu sees Raja in a coffee shop and falls in love with him. Raja begins to feel the same way. When Madhu's brother finds out, he is infuriated and tries to break the couple apart. To find out the rest, you should see the movie...everyone who I know who has seen it has loved it immensely.

Indra Kumar earlier films were damn melodramatic but some had good stories like BETA(1992)

Those days films were melodramatic with too loud background music thundering, lightning Another aspect of Indra Kumar was that first half would go with light moments, song.etc mostly and the drama would take place in second half

RAJA too is one of those films The story is implausible and the first half has several stupid comic scenes and too many songs The bonding between Sanjay and Paresh is good and also the love story is okay The entire twist in the story is well handled and the conflict is well done but then the entire end is stupid with Dalip Tahil almost killing Madhuri and then suddenly Sanjay from hospital reaching to save her The last scenes are stupidity

Indra Kumar does an average job Music is hit variety, especially Ankhiya and Nazrein which were damn popular

Sanjay Kapoor has big brother Anil's hangover in acting and it shows but he is decent though too his expressions were too much in many scenes This is his only solo big hit Madhuri is as usual Amongst others Mukesh Khanna hams like no tomorrow, Dalip Tahil is as usual Paresh Rawal steals the show with a flawless performance

Indra Kumar makes another of those typical romances that he is so known for. His previous films, Dil and Beta, for all their cinematic flaws and shorcomings, provided fresh entertainment, but no hat-tricks for him here. Ironically, Raja is named after male lead Sanjay Kapoor's character, but it's all about Madhuri Dixit, who clearly this film was made for. It showcases Dixit at the top of her beauty, splendor and dramatic form. It's all about her powerful screen presence, and what a presence it is - her gorgeous smile lights up the screen, her stupendous dancing skills set every musical number on fire, and even in a film that doesn't offer her much acting-wise, she manages to shine through.

Indeed, the film itself is just not up to the mark - it's a rehash of different romantic films, and sadly it just gets worse and worse as it goes on. The amount of Hindi rom-com tropes used here is alarmingly and amusingly inartistic. The exaggerated melodrama is embarrassing, so is the stagy dialogue, and the story just goes nowhere. Dixit is supported by her leading man Kapoor, who bears a striking resemblance to his older brother Anil (a frequent costar Dixit's) just with less acting talent, although a refreshing casting choice. The only one here close to leaving a mark as an actor is, for whatever little it may be worth, Paresh Rawal as the mentally challenged brother.

To conclude, there's nothing to look here for except for its sole redeeming quality, its leading lady. Like many potboiler films of the era that were made solely to cash in on the moviegoing public's demand to watch their undisputed screen idol, this film relies exclusively on Dixit's star power. Just watch the songs of the hit soundtrack (all melodious and catchy) - "Phool Mangoo Naa Bahaar", "Akhiyaan Milaoon Kabhi", "Kisi Din Banoongi", "Nazrein Mili Dil Dhadka", for evidence of her indelible charisma. The film lets her do what she does best, but sometimes she is just there, and if you ask movie fans, sometimes it's reason enough to watch even poor films like this one.