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.

Late 70s and 80s were a time when alternate or parallel cinema entered the Hindi film industry. Shyam Benegal, Saeed Akhtar Mirza, Govind Nihalani, Mahesh Bhatt gave soul to some heart-wrenching narrative and created a cinema which was a long-call from the rosy, sanitized feature bollywood movies. Instead what we saw was dirt within the society, issues like Labour rights, Dowry deaths, Prostitution, Communal violence were dealt with openly and our favorite protagonists had to wrestle not against the stereotypical Bollywood Evil Banker or Industrialist but against the 'system' itself.

In this time period came along Vidhu Vinod Chopra with two feature movies, 'Sazaye Maut' (1981) and 'Khamosh'(1986). Made without a star-cast to speak of, the movies did not find many takers and despite being a brilliant start to his career they remained largely forgotten, till the internet era introduced them to a larger audience. The experience of making these movies perhaps led to some of the decisions which were reflected in Parinda. This movie which can be called as Realism's Gateway to Bollywood is a weird mix, feeling like a brilliant art-movie at times and a decent Bollywood feature at others. There are sequences of Anil Kapoor-Madhuri Dixit which are filled with rosy, romantic scenarios, while there are scenes between the two brothers or the ones featuring the impeccable Nana Patekar as Anna, which are filled with grim realism usually not present in the other features of the era. Take the plot for example, Prakash's death at the start to Brothers' fate towards the end are not your usual run-of-the mill scenarios in a Bollywood feature of the time. Besides having seen Jackie-Anil in Ram-Lakhan, Karma etc. I was expecting a movie where the heroes eventually trump all odds and win the day in the end.

It all was too unexpected for me until it dawned that this movie could be called the first place where Vidhu Vinod Chopra started using his own formula of movie-making which show-cased so well in Munnabhai MBBS, 3 Idiots etc.

We can only guess as to whether the failure of his brilliant Khamosh was the reason behind this approach, but this allowed him to tell his audience otherwise complicated stories in a crisp manner, where songs and some lighthearted sequences keep the story moving on forward, while he tells a tale dealing with issues in the Indian education system (Munnabhai 1, 3 Idiots) or the need for Gandhi's values in today's society. (Munnabhai 2) Here he does the same in a gangster saga of two brothers, where an otherwise decent tale is given both the formulaic Bollywood approach to keep the mainstream audience engrossed, while the gritty sequences dealing with Gang-violence, Anna's troubles and the rift between brothers provide a deeper understanding to the movie.

Madhuri Dixit and Anil Kapoor were brilliant as usual while Jackie Shroff also provides a good support. But it is Nana Patekar's madness which lifts the movie to another level. His genius is scenes during a 'Shraad' scene, where he loses it after seeing fire being lighted. There are also other undercurrents visible within the movie, such as fate of turncoats, Musa's eventual victory over Anna due to his habit of making friends out of enemies. The music in the movie was done well with songs of the movie going on to become some of the popular songs of 90s.

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

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.