sanjay0864

The heart and soul of Avtaar is Rajesh Khanna and his brilliant portrayal of the title role. He is ably supported amongst others by Shabana Azmi as Avtaar's wife and A. K. Hangal as a friend with similar problems. Mohan Kumar is a director who has made several successful films but not any that gained critical acclaim, that is until Avtaar. Avtaar not only was a huge commercial hit, but it is a film that was very highly reviewed. It is unfortunate that Rajesh Khanna had to miss out on the Best Actor award to another great acting performance of 1983, Naseeruddin Shah for Masoom. Avtaar in my opinion was one of the three best films of 1983 and is a must see, specially for Rajesh Khanna fans.

Aa Ab Laut Chale is one of the most under appreciated films of the 1990's. The film really deserved to do much better business than it did, something I would attribute to some very poor marketing and release timing. Anyhow the film itself is quite entertaining and although as most Bollywood films it is bereft with cliches and an oft presented story line, it still succeeds in keeping the viewer interested and entertained. Rishi Kapoor in his directorial debut has done quite a competent job and I give him credit for not letting the film from becoming overly melodramatic as most such films from Bollywood. Almost all in the cast do a pretty competent job, although no one really stands out as brilliant. The music is quite good grows on you the more you listen to it. Rajesh Khanna in a non publicized 'sort of comeback' role, performs well but is hampered by a limited role. All in all it is one of the really better films of 1999.

Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachan put in two of the best performances of Indian cinema. Although Amitabh Bachan in a louder role got more praise from the masses, it is Rajesh Khanna in a role that required underplaying, who is the heart of the film and whose acting performance is as good if not better than that of Amitabh. This is not to say that Amitabh puts in a truly great acting performance (one of his best). The film itself is excellent and is another tribute to the greatness and versatility of Hrishikesh Mukherjee (director). Quite simply put, it is in the 'MUST NOT MISS' category. By the way the excellent music is also a real plus.