Faasle

"Faasle" is one of the movies of Yash Chopra, which isn't readily available in TV channels, streaming sites, or any other media; and rarely talked of. Well, I had to wait over 20 years to track it down; and surprisingly, it's one of the most unconventional and well made movies from the 80s.

The beauty with which Yash Chopra weaves romantic movies appears in "Faasle" in terms of its film making, narration, performances, music, and overall its beautiful filming locations. A trend of redefining romance and shooting foreign locations which continued in his better films like "Chadni," "Lamhe," or "Darr" started with this one.

Story-wise, it's an assorted tale of three love stories which take place under different circumstances and gaps created in between; adorned with delectable dialogues and superb ensemble acting along refreshing debuts of Farah and Rohan Kapoor. However, a shortcoming in its script overweighs its beauty; and it's the bland and surficial plot development which keeps one watching but doesn't strongly root the characters. Overall, it's one of those rare movies which despite the traits of good film making was written off to be dismissive.

Rating: 2 stars out of 4.

Faasle is one of Yash Chopra's weakest films. During the 1980s, Chopra made several films, most of which either flopped or went unnoticed. This one belongs to both categories. It is a meaningless and mostly boring romantic drama. The romance is too typical, exaggerated and uninspiring and the film goes over the top in many sequences. Sunil Dutt's role is that of a typical proud father who does not want to accept his daughter's boyfriend for basically no rhyme or reason. Farha Naaz plays his daughter. She looks good, but overall is not very memorable. Rohan Kapoor is okay as Vijay. Rekha gets a brief role of no significance as Dutt's mistress, and she does the best of it, acting with grace and restraint. The ending is simply bad. The film's saving grace is the lovely soundtrack by Shiv-Hari. Every song is beautifully composed and performed. I particularly liked the title song "Faasle". Otherwise, Faasle is a forgettable movie at best.