Parinda

Before Ram Gopal Verma conquered the gangster genre with Satya and Company,before Mahesh Manjrekhar's Vaastav there was the ultimate gangster movie,Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda. Unfortunately whilst Parinda was a hit Satya and Vaastav were even bigger hits and Parinda got almost forgotten. Vidhu Vinod Chopra had made one or two offbeat movie before this but he really hit it big time with Parinda. It was released in 1989 to moderate success. What really works for this movie is it's restrained style, most Bollywood gangster movies I have seen are light on content and high on action. Parinda doesn't have many overly long drawn out action sequences but what it offers is a great story and subtlety. Parinda tells the story of four friends,Anil Kapoor, his elder brother Jackie Shroff, Anupum Kher and his sister Madhuri. Jackie Shroff sends Anil Kapoor abroad to study. Years later Jackie Shroff has started working for gangster(a phenomenal performance by Nana Patekar). Anupum Kher becomes a policeman and is intent on bringing Nana Patekar to justice. Anil Kapoor returns and witnesses Anupum Kher's murder by Nana Patekar's men. Anil Kapoor tries to go to the police but Jackie Shroff tries to encourage him not to. When Anil Kapoor does eventually go to the police his loved ones are threatened. Anil Kapoor decides to start working Nana Patekar so that he can avenge the death of his friend Anupum Kher. One by one Anil Kapoor kills them off but soon Nana Patekar realises what he is actually upto and decides to get even. The scene is set for a magnificent showdown. Another incredible quality is RD Burman's music which is simply outstanding with some wonderful tunes like Tumse Milke. Coincidentally RD Burman's last score before his demise was on Vidhu Vinod Chopra's next venture, 1942 A love story. Parinda is the best gangster movie to come out of Bollywood and deserves more appreciation from lovers of Indian cinema. Highly recommended by me.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda is one of the first Hindi films dealing with life in the Mumbai underworld and one of the most realistic of its kind. Stylishly presented, the film is excellently directed and is aided by fantastic cinematography, great editing, beautiful music and natural acting. As opposed to most of the Hindi movies of that time, the story of Parinda is devoid of clichés, and the screenplay as well as the dialogues are well written. There are neither the typical courageous action heroes nor the exaggerated fantasy action sequences one gets to see so much in Hindi films, though at some points you do feel its loyalty to the general Hindi film style (that's called commercial pressure). Chopra portrays the relationship between the two brothers authentically, as he does with practically every other relationship in the film.

The narrative is very focused and taut, letting the director create the required mood for a gripping drama of its sort. The film's emotional impact is thus strong, though it does get a bit too slow and dark at places. The acting is for the most part excellent. This is one of Jackie Shroff's finest performances, powerful and heartfelt, strong and restrained. Nana Patekar plays the psychologically disturbed fire-phobic Anna with intensity and conviction, portraying every negative shade of his character in his well-known inimitable style. Madhuri Dixit is lovely in a role that is not very substantial. However, Anil Kapoor is just okay and his often childish and overly naive on-screen persona gets on your nerves from time to time. His character's transformation was also too quick to be believable. This is of course not entirely his fault.

Which brings me to the next point. Parinda, though compelling and innovative for its time, is not without its flaws. While RD Burman's music is stupendous as always and managed to relieve the film's raw tension, as it was done with the soulful and memorable "Tum Se Mil Ke", the other melodious songs seemed inappropriate in such a dark thriller and often distracted from the seriousness of the situation. The marriage song, for one, was completely redundant. Additionally, some of the scenes towards the end were quite implausible and went a bit over-the-top, though I really liked the film's final scene, which was overwhelming. Overall, Parinda is an enjoyable and impressive gangster movie known today as a favourite cult movie among lovers of Indian cinema. It's easy to see why. It was different and entertaining, but its intentions were stronger than its actual quality.

Parinda is a mind blowing film about the underworld. In fact, Parinda is not only about the underworld. It's also about the human emotions and conflicts that rule their lives.

The story revolves around Kishan (Jackie Shroff) who takes to the path of crime in order to support his younger brother Karan (Anil Kapoor). Kishan works for Anna (Nana Patekar) who rules the underworld with an iron fist. He is a pure devil who has no regrets or remorse in killing people and whoever dares to cross his path will only meet with one fate- death. Things take a turn for the worse when Karan learns about Kishan's illegal activities and about his involvement with Anna. Karan proves a real threat to Anna and Anna is hell bent on eliminating Karan who dared to challenge him. However, Anna is also torn between Kishan and Karan as Kishan is his most loyal protégé. How Kishan tries to thwart Anna's plans and what happens to Karan and his ladylove Paro (Madhuri Dixit) forms the crux of the story.

Parinda is a brilliantly made film. Vidhu Vinod Chopra succeeds in keeping us hooked with the dramatics and what goes on in the underworld. Chopra definitely knows that people don't like movies made on the crime world. So, he perfectly balances both the underworld scenes and the emotional scenes. The dialogues are praiseworthy. No preaching or overused lines. In fact, this film is the most real picture of the underworld. In a nutshell, Parinda is a masterpiece.

In a film like this, performances have to be first-rate in order to captivate the audience's attention. Nana Patekar takes the cake here as he gives a brilliant performance as the hardheaded, merciless underworld leader. Nana gives the correct nuances of a don and his coldness is displayed with brilliance by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Jackie Shroff gives his career-best performance after Hero. He is very likable in the emotional scenes and his turmoil in trying to keep his brother away from his crime life is well etched by him. Anil Kapoor is good in a smaller role. In a film dominated by men, only an actress like Madhuri Dixit can hold her own. She is immensely likable in all her scenes with Anil Kapoor and her scenes more than provide a relief to the viewer after some heavy scenes in the film. Anupam Kher is okay in a shorter role. Suresh Oberoi is good.

There are only four songs in this movie and they are neatly placed. Neither do they hinder the progression of the story.

Overall, Parinda is a must watch for those who love realistic cinema. It's a breath of fresh air from the usual 80s Bollywood masala films.

My Rating : 8/10

Shocking, violent, brutal and mercilessly evil. Vidhu Vinod Chopra weaves a masterpiece with 'Parinda'.

Must-watch for any Hindi cinema lover.

This movie could have been bad. Really, really, bad. But thanks to a great director, a great actor (Patekar), and great performances by the usual bollywood actors, this movie is a groundbreaker in Indian Cinema. Has to be one of my favorite movies from india along with Masoom and Prahaar