Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani

This movie was way ahead of it's time ...and is highly underrated

Its a movie which tries to encompass love, comedy, and dark comedy. But it seldom happens that all three can be added effectively into one flick.

The movie starts from the light- hearted professional rivalry of Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, turns into a love story somewhere in the middle, and then turns into a a vitriolic satire on the society, system and law. The strongest part of this movie is the direction (a director ought to be a good story teller and Aziz Mirza excels in it.) and of course, the music by Jatin- Lalit ranges from an average to the Excellent, especially in songs like "aur kya...".

Shah Rukh Khan, in some scenes overacts, while Juhi constantly maintains her performance level, Paresh Rawal is extremely wonderful as the convict, he represents the common man, and steals the scenes from SRK and Juhi. Dilip Tahil and Satish Shah are too good as epicentres of laughter while Johnny Lever is just OK. Bottom Line: A feel good movie.

Yes it is a bit overdone, not as slick, but it is 6-7 years older. The same story line, young folks starting out looking out for number one (themselves), then circumstances around them and the corrupt political scene changes them and patriotism takes over. The difference is that there is no violent ending and violence is not espoused in this film - but that was my least favorite part of RDB. Shahrukh Khan is of course the king himself and delivers the goods. This what he does best, the goofy adorable, the not very brave but eventually coming through boy next door type. Juhi is very beautiful and talented and does not disappoint. The music does a bit, but eventually you get to like it. The movie is very funny - a great way to be entertained.

While this may not seem like a great movie for today's times if you didn't grow up in the 90s, it's actually a good movie. For it's time, this movie was quite good- it flopped because it was ahead of its time.

It depicts the nexus between the media and politicians- and how they can never be unbiased. It may seem like a simplistic take, but it was a poignant transition for Hindi cinema to more realistic cinema in the next decade. However, sadly Bollywood took the leap but somewhere lost itself along the way.

SRK is his usual awkward comedic self, and the supporting cast is okay. I love Juhi Chawla as always- her comedic timing is unmatched and she is a real gem that people have forgotten. Sometimes I watch these movies out of nostalgia, but they do surprise me at times - if you can look past some of the dated comedy of the time/ over the top scenes, the message is actually quite poignant and important.

This film carries a very socially relevant message: Unity is strength. We, the society can achieve anything if we stand united, have a strong common voice. This film shows how the two journalists (played by Shah Rukh and Juhi) successfully save the life of an innocent (played by Paresh Rawal) who has been fixed by evil and selfish politicians as a terrorist and awarded a death sentence and of course he is a killer like a common killer and he is not motivated to destroy Indian union by this act.

The film is a complete comedy till the seriousness creeps in. The film, released in 2000, already was ahead of its time by portraying how the TV channels use everything for commercial purposes; in this film they actually show live of the hanging ceremony with interviews of the hangman. We saw it recently on TV of interviews with a hangman from Kolkata and his family history too.

This was the first film attempted by Shah rukh, Juhi and Aziz mirza under their new production company. The film didn't go well with audience but they will be remembered, say 50 years from now for making such a film.

Coming to acting and that too with comic touch, SRK and Juhi is a great combination. They did very well their roles. Music is good; the song "Aur Kya" was fantastic, written by Javed akhtar.