Pukar

Pukar aka "The Call" is a movie about how a soldier (Jaidev played by Anil Kapoor) raises to the occasion whenever his nation calls irrespective of his personal issues. What makes Pukar interesting is that, inside the story there is also a different kind of pukar, the call from a dear one (Anjali played by Madhuri Dixit) who truly loves him but he does not feel or see or responds to her love. Rajkumar Santhoshi blends these two "pukar"s very nicely with right amount of emotion, beautiful visuals, stunts and, entertains us for about 3hrs.

Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit have given first rate commendable performances. The chemistry between them is not like their earlier youthful movies (Tezaab, Ram Lakhan etc.), it is more restrained, mature and appealing. Definitely it is one of the best of Anil-Madhuri combination. It could have been little better if Anil Kapoor looked a bit younger. Though, Om Puri as Colonel Hussein and Rohini Hatangadi as Mrs. Mallappa have little screen presence, they have played their role very well. Rest of the acting crew has supported well. I felt Girish Karnad, an actor of high calibre has been wasted in this movie.

A. R. Rahman's music is OK. The songs are hummable especially "Kay Sera Sera" and "Sunta Hai Mera Khuda", but the background score does not leave any lasting impression. The choreography of the song "Kay Sera Sera.." is commendable. The visuals and locations are beautiful. Rajkumar Santhoshi's direction is crisp and good, but it is not in the league of his previous best movies Ghayal and Damini. The story remains on its track all the time, there are no subplots and, unlike usual bollywood movies does not digresses into unnecessary petty comedies, emotions, and remarks about any particular country or organization.

The main weak point of the movie is that the story is not air tight: 1. The way the commando operation is carried out to save the minister shows that the army already knew Abhrush's hide out and so, they could have done it well before. 2. Anjali as daughter of an army personnel should have known the meaning or consequence of leaking confidential information. 3. Army intelligence work is downplayed. Logically, when Om Puri is killed in such a "big" terrorist attack, there should have been an inquiry and, that would have lead to the cancellation of the independence day function due to security risk.

Inspite of these flaws, Santhoshi's direction and dialogues keep the attention of the viewer till the end. The first half of the movie is fast paced but the pace weakens in the second half. If you want to watch a quality commercial movie with good acting, visuals, and dialogues then I would recommend it.

The deep love story touch heart that you wanna see it again and again. A charismatic love story, dance, song and all twist makes this movie one of the best of that time. It has been 22 years and I still go and listen to the songs and also enjoy dance. Kismat se tum mile ho song is heart of the movie.

The deep love story touch heart that you wanna see it again and again. A charismatic love story, dance, song and all twist makes this movie one of the best of that time. It has been 22 years and I still go and listen to the songs and also enjoy dance. Kismat se tum mile ho song is heart of the movie.

It is an excellent movie which can be characterised as a mini classic . It has first rate performances from Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit .The action sequences are a major highlight of the film as are the photography and locales . Good work from Rajkumar Santoshi.

Here's a movie that was directed not quite in the typical Bollywood fashion. Rajkumar Santhoshi quite blatantly tried to give it more of a Hollywood feel (perhaps with the exception of the few random song sequences).

Like a previous user commented, the storyline isn't totally airtight but that's just a minor flaw.

Pukar presented quite well a story of how a naive woman went too far with getting the man she loves. She lived in her happy little world were she thought she'd be marrying him someday but she gets crushed when she realised he's in love with another woman, albeit a top-line model. Politics sets in when some high profile criminals bank in on her love for him. She unrealisingly sets him up...

Madhuri sinks her teeth into her role! She was nominated for Best Actress at the Filmfare awards 01 for her role here and you'll see why after you watch it. The movie is a little long and gets a bit draggy in the second half but Madhuri truly captives here, in a character that is naively possessive but whole-heartedly loving. She shinned throughout this movie.

To sum it up, Pukar could have been a mind-blowing romantic thriller, but it falls a little short. Still, its definitely worth watching. Rent it at least

Pukar is a well acted film in terms of storyline, plot and performances.

Director Rajkumar Santoshi direction is good yes there are some let downs in the storyline but still film can easily manage the loophole and can give you definitely a one time watch.

First 20 mins of the film is superb starts of with a journey of a major who works in a government military and suddenly got a vacation to meet his family & friends till here the story is superb but after that a love story revenge begins and the military angle totally got lost in somewhere and turn into a love revenge film.

Performances of the lead cast is the highlight for me specially ANIL KAPOOR stellar performance from start to end is remarkable.

MADHURI DIXIT screen presence outstanding with her dance performance is just a worth watch.

Supporting cast did also a great job and well suited throughout the film.

Music, Cinematography, screenplay are top notch no complaints over there.

All n all definitely a one time watch for screenplay, acting performances & music..