Koyla

At first, I hated this movie. Amrish Puri was so evil he scared me to bits, and Madhuri Dixit's character (Gauri) seemed to be a nitwit. I have always loved seeing Madhuri in intelligent, strong and charming parts (Dil, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Dil To Pagal Hai), so seeing her act like a 2-year old was annoying.

And then... Somewhere in the middle, the movie all started to "click", and I really started enjoying it. Shah Rukh Khan put in a fantastic performance which I absolutely loved. He was raw, yet charming; simple yet mysterious; and pulled off his role of deceived mute man who becomes 'enlightened' perfectly. A reviewer here said something about the fact that he could sing in the musical numbers but is supposed to be mute...but that reviewer obviously does not realise that songs are usually a suspension of reality in Bollywood movies. Characters usually can do anything and everything during a musical number! Besides, in most of the songs, it was a trick with Johnny Lever's character that 'enabled' Shah Rukh's character to sing.

Madhuri Dixit's character, Gauri, actually grew up and became much more likable. Madhuri ended up pulling off a fascinating portrayal of a young childish girl who is dragged into maturity by evil. Who wouldn't grow up, anyway, when faced with the terrors of Amrish Puri's "Rajasaheb"? And the relationship between Gauri and Shanker (SRK's character) is really sweet, complex and perfectly captured.

Rajasaheb, though terrifying, irritating, and very over-the-top, now strikes me as a fairly good characterisation. Like another reviewer said on here, a villain that we love to hate is hard to find. (see 'Dushman' starring Kajol, for Ashutosh Rana in a fantastic portrayal of another 'villain you love to hate' - much better than the one in 'Koyla', in my opinion).

I loved the other actors as well, the girl who played Rajasaheb's secretary was particularly good. Johnny Lever (though very silly as usual), the actor who played Lever's father, and Mohnish Behl (in a brief but strikingly tragic appearance)all put in well-rounded and credible performances. Very nice work.

The film is pretty violent and sometimes shocking (one particular attack actually made me physically jump), but I think it was a case of justifiable violence. The director, Rakesh Roshan, was trying to achieve a certain rawness, and he definitely succeeded. It does make you wonder, though, if he was going through some kind of "blood and gore phase" at that point in his film-making career.

All in all, 'Koyla' is very unusual for a Bollywood film, and that, in my opinion, is what makes it worth seeing.I started out hating it and finished it very happy. It is a satisfying and entertaining movie.

I feel that this film, while it had potential, failed to live up to expectations. While the first was entertaining, containing romance, drama, and several good songs, the second half dragged considerably. I would warn potential viewers that this film is graphically, and often unnecessarily violent, especially against women. The performances.... Madhuri was good as ever, although she was not given nearly enough to do in the second half, seeming to fulfill a decorative function only. Amrish Puri plays a typical bolly villain with his usual booming voice. Shahrukh plays the cute, mute hero well, however his transition to angry, avenging young man seems too far fetched. on the whole, i would not rate this film as a wonderful or warm movie.

I had high hopes from this film but this turned out to be surprisingly bad. The storyline is very weak and full of clichés. Shahrukh is silent in the first half and changes his voice in the second. Despite these gimmicks, there is little worth mentioning. Amrish Puri is decent but very over the top as the villain. The other villains are rather sadistic and the nastiness leaves a foul taste. The violence should have been toned down. The action scenes are middling and overblown. Madhuri Dixit has a thankless part. Luckily, she has some watchable dance numbers with Shahrukh. Very disappointing.

Overall 2/10

"Bloody ape!!!", Rajasaheb (Amrish Puri) mutters.

Folks, Bollywood action films are NEVER merely action films--they are often a fabulously preposterous melding of action, romance, comedy, and musical genres INTO ONE FILM! In fact, many of the Bollywood films I've had the pleasure of seeing simply do NOT conform to any of the narrow genres that U.S. audiences are accustomed to. Sure, we have hybrids such as the "romantic-comedy" and "comedy-horror", and perhaps even "action-thriller-romance"...but we ain't got NOTHIN' equivalent to the glorious Bollywood-type films from south asia (India in particular).

One moment Koyla is a brutal action flick a la Bronson (gratuitous and graphic violence and carnage), the next moment Shah Rukh Khan is lip-syncing cheezy-yet-infectious pop music to the woman he loves (yes, my friends, musicals CAN kick butt), followed by Shah Rukh Khan's comedic thwarting of his persuers, only to be jolted back by the ruthlessness of Rajasaheb (an over-the-top-to-the-point-of-insanity performance by the veteran actor Amrish Puri, who played Mola Ram in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom").

Amrish Puri can certainly play a villain: but whereas the character of Mola Ram is a generic, arbitrary villain, the character of Rajasaheb is truly despicable because the audience witnesses the injustices he perpetrates. ("Give me a compelling reason to hate the bad guy and root for Indiana", I demanded. Spielberg fails to do so, and so i have always rooted for Mola Ram in "Temple of Doom". Similarly, I rallied behind the Decepticons and C.O.B.R.A. in my youth as a T.V. casualty. But honestly, what did you expect from a crapmaster like Spielberg?).

Ahh, Rajasaheb is a bad-guy you love to hate! Actually, "bad guy" is an understatement--he's a "loveable elderly sadist"--and I guarantee that you, too, will love to hate Rajasaheb! A convincing antagonist is a crucial ingredient for any action film because it drives the whole drama of the film. Unfortunately, few films successfully succeed in delivering a villain you love to hate. Koyla delivers.

Shah Rukh Khan is great as well and really hams up his performance playing Shanker. (I must, however, admit that i am a sucker for any film starring Shah Rukh Khan. I encourage you to see all his films--even the countless bollywood "romantic-comedies" that he is in--you will rarely be disappointed).

KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN for one of the most ludicrous, ridiculous, & insanely POOR special effects occurring at the CLIMAX of this film. Without spoiling this cinematic delight, let me simply say that it involves an axe, slow-motion, etc... Even if we ignore the poorly executed FX, the heavy-handed use of slo-mo harkens back to the glory days of prime-cheeze-USA-action films circa 1980's.

SEE THIS FILM NOW. Even if you hate the film, you'll dig the musical sequences with the bangra-hindi-pop music. Yes, the actors are lip-syncing to other artists' songs--but you won't care.

Bonus trivia: "Koyla" means "coal", by the way. Now do you see the significance of the this film's title?

IF YOU LIKE KOYLA, but want more blood and less comedy, then I recommend Shakti: The Power (2002). Shah Rukh Khan has a minor part in it, providing the only levity in an otherwise brutal film (the spirit of Cannon's action films of the 80's lives on!!!)

I remember I saw this movie when it first came out in 1997 it was on TV and my eyes were locked on the screen during the opening credits with the fire all around and heart touching music. It was about 3 hours and I enjoyed every second. The film was so emotional and I loved the story about Raja a sadistic rich old man and has a dumb servant Shankar who gets treated like a dog. One day Raja seen a young village girl Gauri and sent her a photo of Shankar. Gauri liked him and agreed to marry but Raja was in his place during the so called marriage and now she is trapped in his mansion. Shankar felt really sorry for Gauri and after a really bad incident Shankar was provoked, he took Gauri & ran out and that is where the action starts with many unpredictable twists & turns. Koyla was inspired by many action movies including Rambo: First Blood & Hard Target but it doesn't mean that the film is bad. Directed by one of my most favourite directors Rakesh Roshan, his films always took Bollywood to a new level e.g. Koi Mil Gaya was the first Indian sci-fi & Krrish is the first superhero movie. Overall Koyla is a very unforgettable film, it is 10 years old & I still love it.