Armaan

One of the best Hindi movies in recent times. absolutely great. Almost a classic! The movie is quite different in the way it has been dealt with. Very nice and laid back.

the performances are some of the best I have seen.Amitabh is Amitabh, superb! quite different from what he has done recently and yeah nothing like Mohabbatein(to those who thought he is playing the usual father).Anil Kapoor is mind blowing. One of the best role of his career.Reminds a lot of Sanjeev Kumar. Very restrained and thoughtful. Gracy singh blew me away with her maturity. Just her second movie(even though she had some small role in Hu Tu Tu). she is comfortable in romantic and emotional scenes. Preity Zinta is good too and this has to be her best performance.

Worth a watch for everything! Music is extremely pleasing to the ears! Photography is good. I have to admit that I enjoyed the movie much more on the subsequent viewings as compared to the first. One of those rare movies, where such things happen. Best Hindi movie since Dil Chahta Hai.

I must admit that after seeing this film the first time a couple of weeks ago I was less than impressed. Bachchan, of course, was excellent, but I felt that movie was missing something, or maybe it was trying to hard to be something else, or perhaps it was Preity Zinta's villainous departure from her previous girl-next-door roles.....I wasn't sure.....

But, upon watching it a second time yesterday, the film's brilliant subtlety exploded on the screen. It was all there: wonderful dialogues and performances from Bachchan, Kapoor, Singh (and -- yes - Zinta: she's a little over-the-top in her performance, but in the end the effect works [the character she creates truly is weird/creepy]); a remarkably restrained and appropriate camera style from Verman (including his interesting use of 180-degree-arc two-shots during key dialogues); outstanding sound recording and perspective matching from Kamte and Dev; brilliant music and choreography (sans the chorus lines); and some excellent writing -- particularly the development of key thematic parallels and negations.

For example, Irani masterfully, yet subtly, contrasts the two dominant child-parent relationships -- Soniya-Gulshan and Akash-Siddharth -- to comment quietly on the impact of western materialism on the values of successful Indians living abroad. The theme is reinforced by the masterfully directed wedding scene -- starkly devoid of the colorful mise-en-scene, music, and traditional practices that are picturized in typical Hindi film weddings -- in essence emphasizing the alien(ated) character of the proposed relationship. The effect is reminiscent of Subhash Ghai's Pardes (1997), but without the grandstanding that dominates the earlier film. Additionally, Irani's selection of neurosurgery as Akash's profession provides an excellent metaphor for the exploration of the film's climatic theme, which --without giving too much away -- involves the resolution of a key moral dilemma.

All-in-all, Irani demonstrates remarkable restraint and deftness in her directorial debut. The film's naturalistic look belies the subtle thematic complexities that inform the storyline. Watch this film more than once -- you might be surprised!

`Armaan', which marks Honey Irani's directorial debut, has a surfeit of high-minded sentiments, some genuinely honest and lovely moments, and unfortunately, also a number of snigger-inducing scenes. Mind you, her direction is charmingly understated, and the leads are truly likable. You have that eminence grise of the Hindi film industry, Amitabh Bachchan, playing the noble Dr. Siddharth Sinha and Anil Kapoor as his equally noble son, Dr. Akash Sinha. Gracy Singh, who was a winsome village maiden in `Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India', and selflessly stood by her man, plays Dr. Neha Mathur, a winsome anesthetist here, and again selflessly stands by her man. Preity Zinta, that cherubic-looking leading lady, is cast against type and has fun as a spoilt heiress (is there any other kind?), unhampered by scruples or too much clothing, who will do anything to get her way. At one point, she helpfully dons a pair of scarlet horns to show just how diabolical her character is. She has a hoot being devious and gleefully smiles at the camera as she mouths insincere apologies to her rival in love, the upstanding anesthetist. Her angelic face belies her spiteful machinations; she makes a persuasive bitch. Randhir Kapoor, appearing on-screen after a long absence, plays her guilt-ridden tycoon father, who gives in to her every whim to atone for his preoccupation with making money, and in so doing, creates a monster, albeit a very pretty one.

All of this is fine, except that several of Honey Irani's characters in this film (based on her story; she co-wrote the screenplay, as well) are doctors, and most movie actors, I suspect, are congenitally incapable of convincingly portraying the medical profession. Amitabh has style and panache, and in his role of CEO of this hospital, he has less medical jargon to spout, which helps his credibility enormously. He also makes an extremely dapper ghost; his demise does not prevent him from making several well-dressed and chatty appearances each time his screen son is faced with ethical or emotional dilemmas. However, Anil Kapoor playing a neurosurgeon, in an otherwise competent performance, is at his hokiest when called upon to be doctor-ly. The movie includes a couple of surgery sequences where Anil's character peers flummoxed into his patient's open skull and haplessly mumbles to his cohorts, `This is a very complicated case!'.not the most confidence-inspiring talk from a celebrated neurosurgeon. No number of defibrillators, the glittering array of scalpels and other medical paraphernalia managed to influence me otherwise! Not for a moment did I buy that Anil and Gracy Singh are overworked, put-upon members of the medical profession, especially when after the first messy surgery, they take a song-and-dance break in the bucolic vistas surrounding the hospital. There they finally get the opportunity to discard their drab hospital scrubs, wear true movie-star designer clothing, break into song and be themselves: a Hindi film hero and heroine!

The strongest points of the movie are the lovely depiction of the father-son relationship--Amitabh and Anil exhibit wonderful chemistry together, the well-etched characters of the principled Dr. Siddharth Sinha, his son, and the willful heiress. Randhir Kapoor makes a welcome return to the screen looking, more than ever, like his father Raj Kapoor during his character actor years. Honey Irani elicits sincere performances from her entire cast and deftly stages the emotional scenes with poignancy. Too bad the story is set in a hospital, and the actors make such awful neurosurgeons and anesthetists.

What can I say about Armaan?

Change in location to a hospital setting made one wonder if this would truly be a change from the traditional bollywood norm movie. Far from it, the characters and storyline is the same. Boy meet girl - boy likes girl - enters villain (ess in this case) and break-up boy and girl - after much tabulation boy and girl get back together!!

Bachchan acting was good, a change from his recent stereotypical arrogant mature man; It was nice to see Anil Kapoor finally back with a meaty role, to do justice to. Pretty Zinta was fab in the role, one can see why Honey Irani said that she specifically wrote this role with Zinta in mind; Randhir made a pleasant return to the screen; and Gracey was good in her minute role.

For a first movie, Honey Irani was good, unfortunately with such an emotional drama and impressive cast, it lacked the professional touch and would only have done it justice if an established director had taken then helm. Maybe for now she should stick to writing her screenplays, something she is very good at.

The only recollection I have of the movie is the few catchy tunes such as 'meri zindagi meh ayeho' and the hippy hairstyles!!

Honey Irani made a fantastic directorial debut. Armaan is brilliant in every aspect, despite being fairly outdated. Everything, from the dialogue to the proceedings to the characters seems to be taken straight from the 1960s (I mean it as a compliment). I seriously think Irani should have officially set the period of time as such, because it would have made much more sense. I genuinely liked the film. I thought it was special, realistic and artistic in its subtlety and restraint. The concept of life in a hospital is quite interesting though it certainly might not work for the wide audience and some might find it slow. In my view, it doesn't take anything from Honey Irani's honest attempt which is never less than worthy; it's just a film that does not appeal to everyone, but aren't all films anyway.

The film, however, has a pleasant surprise which comes as a saviour after an hour or so in the form of Preity Zinta, whose bubbly, spoilt, wicked, narcissistic and altogether mentally unstable Sonia Kapoor is both interesting, hateful, funny and memorable. Kudos to Zinta for such a spectacularly played negative role. She is natural and convincing, and she manages to make her evil character unique and almost, if not completely, likable. This is thanks to her animated line delivery and her lively, partly vicious and partly vivacious attitude. I can understand why Irani wrote the character with Preity Zinta in mind. She does not really act in accordance with the film's mood, yet she seems tailor-made for her role, and her commanding screen presence more than carries the film.

I think the rest of the cast are very good, especially Anil Kapoor, who is restrained and greatly impressive as the level-headed, intelligent and well-mannered Dr. Akash. This highly sincere performance is in my view amongst his most accomplished works. Gracy Singh is graceful and compelling as the reserved Neha. Bachchan is good as always, but he appears only in flashbacks in the second half, so there isn't enough of his role. Aamir Bashir is absolutely outstanding as Dr. Sanjay, despite a small role. This truly is an underrated actor. Randhir Kapoor plays Sonia's father and for some reason he made me laugh every time he appeared on-screen. He is unintentionally funny (I was particularly floored in that scene in which he said he was gonna sue Akash for insulting his daughter).

Armaan is almost a classic. There is something in its subtle narrative style that makes it very engaging. It has a much stronger second half though. With the entrance of the character of Sonia Kapoor, the story takes shape and the film flows more effectively. The film becomes much more interesting, entertaining and enjoyable, although it generally still remains loyal to its realism and keeps following a rather slow pace. One must also note the background score, which is simply exceptional. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's soundtrack is quiet and pleasant. My favourite song is Zinta's seductive number "Mera Dil Ka Tumse", which is extremely energetic and fun. To all those who appreciate quality films, Armaan is a must-watch.