Ram Jaane

This movie has an intriguing story. Two foundling orphans are childhood friends: one turns his misfortune into an opportunity to help others, while the other is unable to rise above his sad beginning and turns to crime. Murli, the good orphan (Vivek Mushran) now runs an orphanage himself, while Ram Jaane (played by Shahrukh Khan, and so named because when he asks a priest what his name is, the priest replies "God knows!" "Ram Jaane!") works for an evil crime lord. Juhi Chawla is Bela, the sweet girl who is loved by both men, but who only has eyes for Murli.

Shahrukh Khan, the undisputed King of Bollywood, is an engaging, riveting, charismatic actor who is unfortunately prone to unprovoked fits of atrocious overracting. Ram Jaane is a case in point. Although he has moments of sheer brilliance in this film (his reading of his goodbye letter to Bella had me in tears) his consistent scenery chewing becomes a distraction in many scenes. Khan is entirely capable of delivering subtle, thoughtful performances, and it's hard to see why the director didn't reign him in a bit here. The character of Ram Jaane has so much potential; he is a tortured soul who longs for love and tries in his own twisted way to be loyal and virtuous, but simply lacks the moral equipment to make the right choices...if played with a bit less hamming this could have been a great film.

Vivek Mushran and Juhi Chawla handle their characters admirably, however, and there are a trio of nice songs: the title song Ram Jaane, another little ditty called Chori Chori that has Juhi and Shahrukh dancing in the fields of Ram Jaane's imagination, and a manic dance number called Pump up the Banghra that's loads of fun. This movie has its moments, but overall fails to live up to its potential.

I missed this film when it first came out and just saw it on DVD. The story line is very depressing though not really removed from reality.There is a great deal of violence and the usual overblown underworld but all that fades with the presence of Shahrukh Khan. In fact the great strength of the movie is the remarkable performance of Shahrukh Khan as the main protagonist. He is believable as a victim of circumstances who retains great moral strength and ability to fight back but also has pathos. He retains audience sympathy throughout. The heroine Juhi Chawla is rather weak. We can understand the obsession and love of the 'hero' for her but cannot make her out at all. We have to take her at her word that she loves Murli the good character and is just pretending love or affection for the hero. But there is no conflict in her emotions or evidence of what she really feels for the Shahrukh character. Is he able to get through to her at all? The ending is unsatisfactory in this regard. A film well worth seeing for the performance of Shahrukh Khan.

This film is the epitome of LOVE, DEATH and PASSION. It successfully captures themes of each aspect, into a breathtaking acting peformnce from the main protagonist Ram Jaane (Shah Rukh Khan), alongside other actors/actresses. The acting reflected the situations in every scene. Lastly, and how can i forget, the songs, catchy and powerful.

I just came here to say that despite everything, this is actually quite a profound movie. And I'm no Shah Rukh Khan expert but I've seen him in movies where he was good, as well as in movies where he was bad. In this one he's good. I started watching this movie not knowing what to expect but I definitely enjoyed the experience. You just have to keep an open mind and let the movie unfold in it's own style.

OK. Apparently you have to write at least 600 characters so here goes. If you're not used to Bollywood movies, you may be taken aback by the overacting. I've come to learn that it's actually an artistic choice in this genre and once you get used to it you realize that it really contributes to the escapism these movies provide.

I was quite excited when I saw that this movie was a gangster flick with my favorite Indian actor, Shahrukh Khan, nevertheless SRK's mere presence doesn't make the film any better, actually for once I think it makes it worse.

The movie is a pathetic remake of WB's Angels with dirty faces starring James Cagney (in the part taken by SRK) and I think that SRK has mixed up a lot of Cagney with a bit of Amitabh Bachchan's simpleton in Don (the chewing thing). But this cocktail rather turned me off. Though I sincerely love him, his overacting is truly dreadful, one of the worse performances of his career, but the rest of the cast, though less excessive, is not this wonderful either. The film is replete with a series of nerve-raking songs that never end, when I saw SRK and Juhi on a boat near a sunny desert island, it was really too much!!

Moreover it seems to last forever! The first half hour is tolerable, and has a very nice action scene in a bar. If you wondered where Farah Khan got the great idea of SRK sliding on his knees between the legs of a villain in Main Hoon Na, that's where she got it, and it works damn well. But apart from that there is not much to save.

A pity to remake an overall good US film into a dreadful Bollywood flick, nevertheless they have been luckier with other remakes such as Nayakan (Mani Ratnam) which is a remake of the Godfather and really worth watching.

Keep trying boys ! my grade: 4/10 (5 if U like the fact that SRK never wears a shirt under his jacket, which is pretty sexy but useless)