Late last year Sanjay Chhel appeared in a few interviews highlighting that Khoobsurat had complete 25 years.
It was too little, too less for a film that is a silver jubilee hit and features one of the most compete music albums in the history of Hindi cinema. I believe this film needs to be celebrated more.
Khoobsurat (1999) is a beautiful film. Besides, it is extremely well shot.
Sanjay Dutt comes up with another fine performance. Mind you, this was his first release after the award-winning Vaastav. Many point out this is his first romanatic comedy, but it is not.
Dutt has very good comic timing. He excels in straightfaced comedy, and not slapstick. Unfortunately, the Indian audience loves the latter, on your face laughter variety.
Urmila is again another underrated actor. While people are quick to discuss the glamour part, they run down her acting. Rangeela, Satya, Kaun, Bhoot, Pinjar, Ek Hasina Thi were all diverse and extremely difficult roles to portray. Even Daud (1997), for that matter. People may discuss her sexy avatar in Daud, but few will understand it is such a difficult act to project sensuality on screen. How many Indian actresses are capable of doing it? Most of them will either appear unconvincing or vulgar.
Khoobsurat is another difficult role for Urmila. She is acting against her image, and is a plain Jane for most of the movie.
The chemistry of Dutt and Urmila is perfect. This is one of the best looking pairs in the history of Indian cinema. More importantly, they feature in three distinctly different movies. While Daud is a road movie, Khoobsurat is a romantic comedy. The little capsule featuring them in EMI (2008) is a mature love saga, a rarity in Indian cinema.
Obviously, the Indian audience is not mature enough to understand such nuances, As such, both remain highly underrated actors.
Another underrated part about Khoobsurat, other than the movie itself, is its music. There cannot be a more diverse album.
Bahut Khoobsurat ho... is a playful number, Mera Ek Sapna Hai is pure romance, Gash Khake is a fast-paced pub song, Ghoonghat Main Chand is a dandiya song and Azmaale Ye Formule is as quirky as it can get. Then, of course, there is Aye Shivani. Like his acting, Dutt's singing is also vastly underrated. Remember he featured in Asha & Friends, singing a duet with the legendary singer. Who can forget Rama Re from Kaante (2002). Aye Shivani is a fun number, intended at front benchers.
Overall, Khoobsurat is a beautiful film. Besides, it is a successful film. While both Dutt and Urmila do not have the PR skills to tom-tom about their efforts, like most other actors, this movie has too many merits to be ignored.
It's a must-watch. In case you have not seen it yet, please do. Highly recommended!
