Mard

I love this movie. Get me some of whatever the director was on. I don't want to spoil the insanity for anyone who's never seen this, but ... tanks, gladiator fights, Sherlock Holmes outfits, a dog who's smarter than anyone in the movie, black leather bondage gear, and villains with Union Jacks on their evil capes. Get some friends and some beer and I guarantee this movie will be a good time.

All hail Moti the Wonder Dog (as he is actually credited in the movie).

This movie is really great. It is a picture where Amitabh can show that he is very good in Action Movies , too. The performance he shows is great (which one isn't it?). The theme of this film is good, as well. A movie for Amitabh Fans who also loves his Action movies. Just watch it and make your own picture of the film.

Oh well, Mard is really an unintentional comedy, that's how I used to watch it, and that's what made me want to watch it to begin with back when I was a kid. A middle-aged Amitabh Bachchan plays a young brutal man, which was the greatest symbol of manliness. Mard is in many ways a quintessential Hindi masala potboiler of the 1980s - exaggerated action, many songs, some (often lame) attempts at comedy, heroes, villains, and basically more caricatures than actual human characters, tons of stereotypes, bad dialogues, and absolutely implausible, ridiculous situations. Some of these basically border on the absurd.

I often wonder why someone of the stature and talent of Amitabh Bachchan never used his star power to promote better, more quality work. After all viewers would see him in anything. It's particularly surprising considering how much good work he did the previous decade - from Hrishikesh Mukherjee to Yash Chopra, from Saudagar, Abhimaan, and Zanjeer to Don, Trishul, and Amar Akbar Anthony, he did it all, and he was so good and, mind you, successful at it. And he does some routine stuff he got used to and it seems like for him it was just another acting job, although he does seem to have fun.

Mard is watchable for those fond of mindless Hindi films, but it's also quite embarrassing. I guess if seen in the required spirit and taken in the right context, it can be quite enjoyable, senseless entertainment. I honestly can watch it for comic relief. Then the songs are so nostalgic - "Will You Marry Me?", "Sun Rubia", "Mard Tangewala". And I like Amrita Singh, too. I know there's a growing following nowadays of young foreigners who are slowly discovering new Hindi cinema, and Bachchan is one hell of a find. After all, this man is a phenomenal actor. I wish they wouldn't try to get acquainted with some of his 1980s stuff like this one. This is an acquired taste, for sure.

"Mard" (1985) Although the late 70s early 80s produced some cinema masterpieces, this was also the decade of what in Spain we called "pelis de mamporros" (lit. "blows films"). There, fistfights, silliness and impossible plots were mixed in equal measure. United States had Chuck Norris, Europe had Bud Spencer and Terence Hill…and Bollywood had Amitab Bachchan. While this silliness was absolutely enjoyable in films like "Don" (also with the Big B as leading man), "Mard" actually provokes embarrassment. Any attempt to describe the plot would defy belief: animals that behave like humans, humans that behave like animals, gladiator fights, flamenco dancing, villains dressed as cowboys with the Union Jack as a cape... Moreover, nobody seems to have decided if the film is set in the 19th century or the present (some characters wear Victorian dresses, some walk around in bikinis and trainers). Special mention deserves the cheeky heroine (Amrita Singh), who is lethal with the whip and does not think twice about asking the protagonist for sex: in a reversal of the traditional love song, it is her who chases the hero, while he tries to reject her advances.

So, laugh out loud, enjoy and be thankful that the Big B prefers to do movies like "Black" these days.

Bollywood fans pretty much hold Amitabh Bachan's Mard in high regard but I think it is very overrated. Manmohan Desai collaborated before on movies like Suhaag,Parvarish,Amar Akbar Anthony,Naseeb,Desh Premee and Coolie and I have seen all of them I liked so I had very high expectations before I watched Mard and was bitterly disappointed. My main gripe about Mard is that it feels like Amar Akbar Anthony part 2,maybe Mr Desai ran out of ideas, after all he had been using that formula for years and years. 1. First of all some members of the cast is repeated from AAA, for instance the police inspector who brings up Amar, the Muslim who brings up Akbar, Nirupa Roy and a few more. 2. In AAA Nirupa Roy loses her eyesight, in Mard she loses her voice 3. In AAA there is the famous song (Shirdi wale sai baba)well in Mard we have Amitabh singing Maa Sherawali. Having seen AAA for over 1000 times I noticed that straight away.

My other gripes are that some of the situations just seem ridiculous, true Manmohan Desai made leave your brain at the door kind of movies but with Mard I thought he went too far. My last gripe is that compared to songs in previous Manmohan Desai movies I found the songs rather disappointing. I know it has many fans that swear by it but I didn't like it one bit. It actually pains me to write this review because I am such a huge fan and have loved his movies since I was a child.