Koyla

At first, I hated this movie. Amrish Puri was so evil he scared me to bits, and Madhuri Dixit's character (Gauri) seemed to be a nitwit. I have always loved seeing Madhuri in intelligent, strong and charming parts (Dil, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Dil To Pagal Hai), so seeing her act like a 2-year old was annoying.

And then... Somewhere in the middle, the movie all started to "click", and I really started enjoying it. Shah Rukh Khan put in a fantastic performance which I absolutely loved. He was raw, yet charming; simple yet mysterious; and pulled off his role of deceived mute man who becomes 'enlightened' perfectly. A reviewer here said something about the fact that he could sing in the musical numbers but is supposed to be mute...but that reviewer obviously does not realise that songs are usually a suspension of reality in Bollywood movies. Characters usually can do anything and everything during a musical number! Besides, in most of the songs, it was a trick with Johnny Lever's character that 'enabled' Shah Rukh's character to sing.

Madhuri Dixit's character, Gauri, actually grew up and became much more likable. Madhuri ended up pulling off a fascinating portrayal of a young childish girl who is dragged into maturity by evil. Who wouldn't grow up, anyway, when faced with the terrors of Amrish Puri's "Rajasaheb"? And the relationship between Gauri and Shanker (SRK's character) is really sweet, complex and perfectly captured.

Rajasaheb, though terrifying, irritating, and very over-the-top, now strikes me as a fairly good characterisation. Like another reviewer said on here, a villain that we love to hate is hard to find. (see 'Dushman' starring Kajol, for Ashutosh Rana in a fantastic portrayal of another 'villain you love to hate' - much better than the one in 'Koyla', in my opinion).

I loved the other actors as well, the girl who played Rajasaheb's secretary was particularly good. Johnny Lever (though very silly as usual), the actor who played Lever's father, and Mohnish Behl (in a brief but strikingly tragic appearance)all put in well-rounded and credible performances. Very nice work.

The film is pretty violent and sometimes shocking (one particular attack actually made me physically jump), but I think it was a case of justifiable violence. The director, Rakesh Roshan, was trying to achieve a certain rawness, and he definitely succeeded. It does make you wonder, though, if he was going through some kind of "blood and gore phase" at that point in his film-making career.

All in all, 'Koyla' is very unusual for a Bollywood film, and that, in my opinion, is what makes it worth seeing.I started out hating it and finished it very happy. It is a satisfying and entertaining movie.

I had high hopes from this film but this turned out to be surprisingly bad. The storyline is very weak and full of clichés. Shahrukh is silent in the first half and changes his voice in the second. Despite these gimmicks, there is little worth mentioning. Amrish Puri is decent but very over the top as the villain. The other villains are rather sadistic and the nastiness leaves a foul taste. The violence should have been toned down. The action scenes are middling and overblown. Madhuri Dixit has a thankless part. Luckily, she has some watchable dance numbers with Shahrukh. Very disappointing.

Overall 2/10

That's what the movie is, actually. The acting, the story, and the action are all over the top. SRK and MD are the only thing salvageable (besides the guy from Temple of Doom ^_^). Seriously, though, my main beef with the movie stems from the fact that it unabashedly uses the soundtrack from 1492:The Conquest of Paradise and DOES NOT CREDIT THIS USAGE. If you're going to use a theme over and over again in the movie, please, credit it somewhere. If you're going to use the exact music from the movie, then I do expect them to add it somewhere in the credits. If I am wrong, please correct me. As a fan of Vangelis, I'm insulted.

How incredibly lame.

I was forced to see this movie by my college professor. I didn't like the idea of seeing a foreign file with english subtitles and thought it would be boring. I, along with my classmates, was completely wrong. The movie was wonderful. It was truly a heartbreaker and so non-American (if you know what I mean). It's a wonderful movie, see it if you have the chance-you won't regret it.

I feel that this film, while it had potential, failed to live up to expectations. While the first was entertaining, containing romance, drama, and several good songs, the second half dragged considerably. I would warn potential viewers that this film is graphically, and often unnecessarily violent, especially against women. The performances.... Madhuri was good as ever, although she was not given nearly enough to do in the second half, seeming to fulfill a decorative function only. Amrish Puri plays a typical bolly villain with his usual booming voice. Shahrukh plays the cute, mute hero well, however his transition to angry, avenging young man seems too far fetched. on the whole, i would not rate this film as a wonderful or warm movie.