Shaan

5 years after the breakthrough success of SHOLAY, director Ramesh Sippy once again teamed up with Amitabh Bachchan - and this time they're taking no prisoners. SHAAN is a grandly conceived epic of action, adventure, comedy, romance, drama and a bald supervillain who keeps a man-eating crocodile in his underground lair.

Amitabh Bachchan and <some other guy> are bad guys! But they're not the kind of bad guys you hate... they're the lovable rogue types. They're con-men, but they only con other bad guys. Their policeman brother knows this, and when he arrests them it's really for their own good. When they get out of jail he's there as a brother to support them, and they earnestly decide to try and go straight. But their plans of living an ordinary life are foiled when they get caught up in the investigation of super-villain Shakal, a bad guy in the best James Bond tradition played brilliantly by Kulbhushan Kharbanda. The good bad guys have to go up against the really bad bad guys!

SHAAN is like every movie ever made all rolled up into one, and barrelled through at a pace that makes the 195 minute running time seem very brief. It rides a little roughly, with some pieces of plot development and editing that challenge logic and continuity, but with tons of energy and enthusiasm. It's not as carefully crafted as the masterful SHOLAY, but it does provide the same kind of fun and thrills that make DON such great entertainment. It's a grandly ambitious movie that sometimes skirts the line between genius and simple madness very closely. It's the kind of movie they just don't make anymore!

A movie so grandiose can only work with a cast up to the task, but Amitabh rises to the occasion, oozing cool and commanding the screen most of the time. As with SHOLAY though, the bad guy nearly upstages the heroes - he definitely has all the best lines (plus an island fortress surrounded by sharks!).

SHAAN may borrow most of its elements from other movies (notably the James Bond movies), but it has enough personality of its own to make them seem fresh and special all over again. You just can't help grinning at the sheer silliness of it all, and getting carried away by the melodrama. It's a movie treat, jam packed full of high calorie entertainment. What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon?

If you like James Bond, you'll love it!!!

Pure action, good roles, good songs! Bit different from the usual indian themes too.

Recommended!

Film Length as shown in Censor Certificate is 5714.51mtr and No.of Reels 22. The running time of film should be 208 mins (3hr 28min). Whereas it is available only 2hr.47mins.

Such a underrated movie, a Huge star cast and well written. Story of 3 brothers and a loner. 2 brothers are petty little thief's and older brother is a honest police officer. Their life's turn upside down when a big criminal decides to cross their paths. The soundtrack is amazing, with Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar. Well worth a watch.

I consider Shaan to be one of the best Indian films ever made. It looks like a very professionally made film, which is quite rare in Indian Cinema.

The fight sequences are very good. Mr Sippy (the director) wisely chose to use the same style as in his previous blockbuster, Sholay. This adds a touch of realism to the fights, as opposed to the norm in Indian films, where we get to see the hero beat-up about 20 guys on his own.

Another highlight of the film was the music. Sippy had an original music soundtrack created for this film, as opposed to stealing bits and pieces from other films. This really does help to increase your enjoyment of the movie. I don't generally like the songs in Indian films, but they were quite good in this film.

The cast is excellent, with everyone performing well in their roles. I find that a lot of films with all-star casts suffer problems as the director tries to give everyone equal screen-time to the detriment of the plot. However, in this film, the whole cast gels. Shatrughan Sinha's character is wisely introduced half-way through the story, thus avoiding trying to introduce too many lead-characters at the start od the film. Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor play well off each other as always. As usual, the female characters don't have much to do in the film, with the possible exception of Rakhee Gulzar.

The villain is brilliantly played by Kulbushan Kharbanda. It's blatantly obvious that this character (Shakal) is modelled on Blofeld from the James Bond movies, as is much of the film itself. One gets the feeling that the Sippy was trying to create a villain that would be remembered in Indian Cinematic history in the same way as his earlier creation, Gabbar Singh. Although Shakal is not remembered as fondly as Gabbar Singh by many people, he's still one of Indian Cinema's more memborable villains.

The plot of the movie is sometimes a bit silly (for example, we get the heroes dancing with their girlfriends in a bus soon after they discover that one their family members has been murdered). However, this is a minor criticism in an otherwise brilliant film.

If you like Indian films, Shaan is essential viewing. I'd give it 10 out of 10.