Hum

I remember when this film had come out in India all the hype that was going around in the UK and when the film finally reached the UK for days the local cinema's were all sold out, and when you could finally find a time that was suitable tickets were being sold at £25, what a bloody rip off, credit to the cinema owners though, they knew where and when to make their money.

Finally got to see it, when the local video shop had it, and by complete and utter fluke my parents and I happened to turn up to see what film we could rent out, and there sat 'HUM' literally just arrived. So as I sat down finally with my drinks and snacks for the cinema atmosphere, i went into the film with an open mind trying to forget about all the reviews I heard prior to watching this film.

I can honestly say that I enjoyed the film from start to finish. The film had me tensed up, on the edge of your seat sort of drama with light relief between scenes, is what you require from a film. The film writers had finally (to me anyway) made a story line which captivated it audiences perfectly. Each character had it's own story, but the director made sure this was not detailed too much as this would have prolonged a film unnecessarily, the character of Bakhtawar is fantastically portrayed by Danny Denzongpa who is a total class act anyway. The songs were fantastic, and the club battle between Vijay / Kumar against Captain Attack with the batman theme playing in the background is a great great scene. Rajnikant when he's miming with the cigarette in his mouth is mesmerising! Utter Class.

Overall a film definitely worth watching for all the family, mainly for it's originality. Possibly my favourite 'bollywood' film of all time.

Late Filmmaker Mukul S. Anand was A Visionary. Just take a look at his handling over any film he's made. Be it 'Agneepath', 'Main Balwaan' & 'Hum', he has his own vision, which in every manner, is stylish. 'Hum' is one of his best works.

'Hum' is well-written, well-acted & marvelously directed by the late genius. Anand has his stamp all-over the film & emerges a big winner. I loved the film, more so, for the execution Anand has given to this story. Sure, The Screenplay is entertaining, but Anand's work in here stands out! A Special Mention for the fantastic Music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal.

Performance-Wise: Amitabh Bachchan is in his element. Rajinikanth is pretty decent. Govinda is terrific, as always. Kimi Katkar is proficient. Deepa Sahi is fair. Shilpa Shirodkar is passable. Danny is simply spell-binding, while Anupam Kher shows a menacing side of his. Kader Khan is dependable.

On the whole, 'Hum' demands a viewing, thanks to the high-class execution given by Anand.

Hum(We) is the excellent blend of Bollywood masala which has all spiciness of our angry young man Tiger played by big B, tadka of beautiful jumma(Kimmi), bitterness of great villain and memorable character Bakhtawar by Danny, Sweetness of Kadar khan/Anupam kher comedy, Sourness of Govinda Rajneekant jugalabandi,..its a complete 10 out of 10 entertainer.. Its fantastic to watch Tiger(AB), fighting to bakhtawar, sacrificing his love for his brothers,And WOW to that dialog by greatest delivery man AB.."Do prakar k kide hote hai.." In the second half, Tiger turns to Shekhar living with happy family. in particular this scene.. when shows back glimpse of Tiger when he drags that driver out of the bus.. I remember, on they used to show the Promo of movies next Friday and they used the same scene, which is irresistible to watch AB in angry mode !:) This movie is like all time favorite for me, loved all performances and drama !!

Hum directed by legend mukul anand is a complete action thriller starring legend big b in the lead role, ably supported by govinda, rajnikant and others. Violence, location, and the perfect story, background about tiger (amitabh) forms the usp of the film. Each character is well written, specially amitabh, rajni, govinda, deepa sahi and danny. Supporting characters such as shilpa, kader khan, deepak shirke are also well written characters and all of them do justice to their roles. Annu kapoor does well as antagonist constable arjun singh. He's convincing. His performance stands equally parallel to his counterpart anupam kher. His performance is original and he comes out of the caricature aspect. But only 1 character which should have been well written is antagonist girdhar (anupam kher). Girdhar's character lacks depth. His intentions are very simple and cliched. It should have been more gravity oriented. Although performance wise anupam kher gives his best. But the main aspect lies with the writer.

Full time masala entertainer.

Hum review :

I have an interesting personal anecdote to share about Hum. The much hyped and most eagerly awaited film of 1991 was to come on February 1, 1991. As a school kid, I had saved nearly three months of pocket money for its FDFS viewing. The grand day finally arrived and I was in front of Gaiety cinema, Bandra for the matinee show. It was obviously 'Housefull' and the obnoxious blackwallah demanded Rs. 500 for one ticket, an unheard of amount in 1991. Even today, this amount makes for an IMAX viewing in a premium multiplex so you can well imagine my shock!!! Returned back disappointed and finally watched Hum the same week on VHS.

The film was special for Amitabh Bachchan fans primarily for two reasons :

One, for having him in his much loved angry young man personna in first half and then playing his age in second half where the family scenes are the most endearing part.

Second, ofcourse the Jumma Chumma number which had Bachchan sizzle the screen with hottie Kimi Katkar playing the girl named Friday.

Of the cast, Rajinikanth, Govinda, Deepa Sahi, Shilpa Shirodkar - all lend able support. I particularly love Govinda and Shilpa hot up the Mauritius beach in "Sanam Mere Sanam" song. But overall, Hum was a complete Bachchan show. Tiger was a ferocious character who doesn't forget his punches even after he ages.

One of Bachchan's best roles in 90s, Hum took the box office by storm even ignoring a certain trade analyst who was hell bent on calling it a flop. After all, yeh public hai...yeh sab janti hai.

Completing 100 days run at prestigious Metro cinema (Mumbai), it emerged one of the biggest hits of the year and won Amitabh Bachchan his third Filmfare Best actor award. Rightfully!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni