Loucamente Apaixonado

Ok, Deewana was a typical 90s movie-maybe an amazing movie for that time- but SRK shone like a star.. For a debutante, He did a more than an outstanding job.. a rich spoilt brat to an obsessed lover, a loving husband to a good hearted man..That's Raja Sahai (SRK) for you in deewana...

Typical Bollywood love triangle, goes good with the dialogue, full of innocence. One of my all time faves Divya Bharti looks beautiful especially in the Aisi Deewangi song. A film with the 90s touch of innocence in Bollywood, with music that's still a phenomenan.

During the eighties, a talented youth from Delhi started his acting career through TV serials and got popular through serials like Fauji and Circus. Then he got a break in the Hindi movie industry established in Mumbai(then Bombay) which was his ultimate aim. Popular heroine turned producer Hema Malini signed him for her first directorial venture which was titled as Dil Aashna Hai casting him opposite a very young girl who had already become a star in her own right. This girl was Divya Bhaarti and this boy was Shah Rukh Khan now fondly called as SRK in the cine-world.

However prior to Dil Aashna Hai, another movie signing these two got released first and is now credited as Shah Rukh Khan's debut movie. It's Deewaana(1992). Thus despite Dil Aashna Hai being Shah Rukh Khan's first signed movie, Deewaana became his first released movie. Cast opposite very pretty and extremely popular teenager Divya Bhaarti only, Shah Rukh Khan is an angle of this triangular love story. Another angle has been played by extremely popular romantic hero of Bollywood movies - Rishi Kapoor who had already touched the peak of his career by the time of this movie. Thus this movie stars RK, Divya and SRK in principal roles. Directed by Raj Kanwar, it was a box office hit and its music composed by Nadeem Shravan was even a bigger hit with the songs being hummed by the romantic ones even today. It has deficiencies in the script and its picturization but its pluses especially the great music appeal and the extra-ordinary performances make up for them.

The story of Deewaana(crazy) starts with the romance of Ravi(Rishi Kapoor) who is a popular singer and from a very rich family with Kaajal(Divya Bhaarti) who is a dancer. They get married and start living happily when the trouble strikes due to the greedy and scheming uncle of Ravi - Dheerendra Prataap(Amrish Puri) who masterminds the killing of Ravi, leaving Kaajal as widow, adjusting with her life with the support of her loving mother-in-law - Laksmi Devi(Sushma Seth). Now comes the main twist in the tale.

Relocated to another city with Lakshmi Devi, Kaajal comes across a happy-go-lucky youth Raaja(Shah Rukh Khan) and despite her reluctance to marry, she finally gets married to him, succumbing to his true love for her and the pressure of her mother-in-law who wants her very young daughter-in-law to live a normal life again. Gradually the things start getting normalized for Kaajal when the cruel joke of destiny comes to the fore.

Ravi returns alive after struggling between life and death for a very long time. He becomes Raaja's friend but is shocked to find his wife Kaajal as Raaja's wife now. Kaajal is virtually dumbfound to find her first husband(and the first love of her life as well) as alive. This new fact is so baffling and brings such a storm in Kaajal's life that Lakshmi Devi can't even rejoice the return of the only son of hers. How this puzzle of life can be resolved now for all these three protagonists? The solution can be utterly filmy only with the villains roaming around, smelling the main characters like blood-hounds.

This story of Saagar Sarhadi is good but its presentation on the screen is not that great. Sometimes, too many good songs also become a problem because they are to be adjusted in the script, creating situations for them. That is one reason for the lacklustre narrative. Besides, the director(Raj Kanwar) also could not do justice to the story and a proper balance between the screen time of the three main characters could not be ensured.

Still if are able to enjoy the movie, then it is because of two things. Firstly, the music composed by Nadeem Shravan is extra-ordinary. Sochenge Tumhen Pyar Karen Ki Nahin, Teri Ummeed Tera Intezaar Karte Hain, Paayaliya, Aisi Deewaangee, Koi Na Koi Chaahiye Pyar Karne Waala, Teri Isi Ada Pe Sanam Humko To Pyar Aaya, Tere Dard Se Dil Aabaad Raha: every song is a treat to listen to. Kumar Sanu, Vinod Rathod, Alka Yagnik and Saadhana Sargam have given their voices to these enchanting songs. To be frank, many of these songs hinder the flow of the story but the quality of music(and choreography also) alongwith the lyrics(by Sameer) is so good that they are, in fact, a solid reason to watch this movie.

Secondly, the performances of the lead characters are simply superb. Rishi Kapoor has been a great actor and he has done his part well here also. Despite the significant age difference, his pair with Divya Bhaarti appears quite lovely. Shah Rukh Khan has proved in this first big screen appearance of himself that he's the horse of a long race. He has displayed his sentiments with commendable control of expressions. And finally, it's Divya Bhaarti who is the heart and soul of this movie, dazzling in an author-backed role. Barely 18 years old at the time of this movie, she is so charming that this movie can be watched many times for herself only. The supporting cast including the negative characters, is routine.

Technically, the movie is all right. Dialogs, background score, action and thrills, cinematography and art direction; almost everything is satisfactory. Several scenes are a visual treat. Length is definitely on the higher side and should have been curtailed.

Divya Bhaarti passed away(it's said that she committed suicide) at the tender age of 19 years in 1993, rendering a permanent throb to the hearts of millions of her admirers including myself. If not for the dashing heroes, if not for the memorable music and if not for the entertainment contained; please do watch this movie for the sake of the very beautiful Divya Bhaarti. In this movie Rishi Kapoor loves her, Shah Rukh Khan loves her, so will you.

I did not really want to watch this one. It seemed to be an old Raj Kanwar movie which tired me even before I started watching it because I don't consider him even close to being mediocre as a filmmaker. The only reason I took this one is obviously the Shahrukh Khan appearance in the film. I had not even known what the film was all about because I was sure it would be just an ordinary fairy tale. So I just imagined a love story between Shahrukh Khan and Divya Bharti with a substantial supporting role by Rishi Kapoor who I thought would be playing her father or uncle. And to my complete surprise, Rishi Kapoor is actually the hero of the film, who romances the young Divya! It was slightly disappointing that Shahrukh had a small part of no substance and that too, only in the second part of this really poor film.

Just let me repeat the question: why would a 17 year-old lovely Divya have fallen for a 40-plus Rishi Kapoor? The producers must have been really sleepwalking through the process, as the only thing they did is having Kapoor ridicule himself. He romanced a girl who could logically be younger than his own daughter and to make things worse -- acts like a teenager at his forties. On top of that, just to make himself even less credible, he plays a pop-star. More than anything, the story is playing as though this pairing couldn't be more natural and as if the age gap didn't exist to begin with, which really comes to show the poor production and casting values of this film.

Personally, I have no problems with actors romancing ladies half their age as long as they make a convincing couple. In fact, leading actors have always been cast opposite young girls (Amitabh Bachchan-Sridevi, Mithun Chakraborty-Madhuri Dixit, Shahrukh Khan-Deepika, Salman Khan-Sneha Ullal) and made the pairing pretty well. Also, I have nothing against Rishi Kapoor, I think he is a good actor, and his act in Bobby is still incredibly memorable, but he really looks like Divya's father.

That was such a disappointment. Oh, and as for the reason most people would actually watch this film today, Khan made a good debut. He excelled in the very little his part allowed him to do. The late Divya Bharti made a promising debut as well. If you want to watch this film, go for the second half only. Personally, I would not do even that.

I finally got around to seeing this film. I knew that SRK was not lead billed but boy was the wait long and painful. Why any one in their right mind would have fallen for puff haired, no waistline, buck toothed Rishi Kapoor was completely mystifying. At first I thought maybe he was like an aging Elvis or something, but this man had no charisma, no personality, nothing. Yet the perky Divya falls for him and all is blissful - awful dance numbers with numerous girls in yellow all over the hill side and all.. I have given up hope that the movie will go anywhere, when BAM the pop star is gone, and things begin to look up. Divya looks way hotter in white than she did in the first half. Then the young Romeo (SRK) arrives on the scene and the story becomes much much more interesting. Hearts and minds are won over and a new love story unfolds. But the dead don't stay dead and we have to kill them yet again, it is Bollywood after all.

I think this movie might be one right at the cusp of changing over in style from the terrible eighties into the nineties. They did one half to keep the eighties crowd in and the second half to ring in the nineties. And am I glad the eighties are truly gone! Watch it to see Divya Bharti in a creditable performance, too bad she is gone. Watch it to see SRK as a young man playing the deewaana (demented), the angry, the lovelorn - and all done very well. Amrish Puri does not disappoint either. All in all an 8 just to see SRK take an absolutely rubbishy film into the realm of entertainment.