Ghulam

Amir plays the role of a confused, frustrated and sensitive "gunda" who lives with the evil but surprisingly knows the difference between right and wrong. His conscious is alive maybe because of something he saw happening to his dad when he was young. It casted a lasting effect on him and it stayed with him all his life. His brother also realizes the difference between the right and the wrong but readily accepts the wrong because he doesn't mind taking shortcuts in life. Excellent performances by Amir Khan and Rani both. The real hero, however, is Ronnie. He gave the best performance of his life. Every single dialog of his is nothing less than Gabbar's from Sholay. Not only does this movie have some great acting, but some excellent screenplay, dialogs, direction, storyline, and songs! One of my favorite Hindi movies of all time. Rating: ****

Poor * Average ** Good *** Excellent **** Masterpiece *****

Fantastic movie -- amir khan is super and fantastic >i advise with watchin this movie

The movie is one complete package of romance, action and thriller. This used to be my my favourite watch in my younger days. It had everything to enjoy for a kid like me. Aamir Khan though a bit skinny looked hot as hell. Rani Mukherjee, she was the perfect role model of the beauty for me in those days. Everything of her was perfect.Her voice, man so real it was, her eyes, her face. She having that bike ride with Aamir used to be and I think still is one of of the most romantic couple goals one can ever have. I always wanted to do that, may be someday, though I think traffic rules will hardly permit that. The action sequences specially the train one was amazing and perfectly shot, gave me goosebumps when Amir had a near miss on that railroad. That last fight between Aamir and the villian was so real that I can give one enough impulses to confront any goon on this god damn planet. A must watch, at least once for anybody who wants to relish the pleasure of one great entertainment. #Ghulam1998

So, yes, Ghulam is decent entertainment - an action-packed romantic musical with some story which resembles other stories. But it's fun, really fun actually. The film's entire feel is totally westernised, particularly in view of the overall demeanor of the gang, their clothing and sense of style, which is completely derivative of American culture, as are many other elements in the film. I found it amusing, although I know that such influences in India did exist back then although definitely not to such a large extent. Thankfully today Indian filmmakers show India's own cultural richness and weight (a la Gully Boy) - its colour and stark individuality did not exist in this film, a lot due to the common belief back at that time that Indian audiences want escapist cinema which will show a world far removed from their reality. In this regard, director Vikram Bhatt does his best, and he is greatly aided by the film's action and stunts, which are the most impressive in the film.

But then Ghulam is really an enjoyable watch. Its youthful spirit is really affecting, and it is very well shot for the time. The train race scene is obviously very famous today and it was really quite good, although the other one where the guy climbs up the building to enter the girl's room is not very credible. The romantic portions are still pretty nice, and the music is fun and catchy, obviously culminating in the popular "Aati Kya Khandala" number, which is particularly entertaining. Aamir Khan's dedication to his roles showed already then, and he's very good here. I'm not a particular fan of his acting talent per se, considering him often too clean and lacking in spontaneity, but his serious approach to his craft (when it's not too much) works well for him, and this film is a good example. Rani Mukherjee plays more or less a bimbo of sorts - she is very pretty but her voice is dubbed and it's annoying. Ghulam is nothing great but it is consistently entertaining, anyway.

Sure, its formulaic, but personally I think there is an element of spoof in it. Look at some of the dance routines. Especially the one where they are in a log cabin. They are not taking themselves too seriously here. And it does have a charm about it. My favorite song in it is the one about going to Chandala. And the scene where he enters her window about 16 stories up - it is completely ludicrous but is hugely entertaining and I feel for the right reasons.

Amir Khan also appeared earlier in "andaaz apna apna" which was very much a comedy, allthough it did tend to veer to much towards farce at times.

Although there was some sort of an action story and a moral theme to it, i think much of it was meant to be a light comedy romance, and those parts of the film worked quite nicely.

Sure its not a particularly memorable film and isnt ground breaking cinema, but its not actually a bad film, as long as you arent expecting too much out of it. And its quite watchable.