Dil Bole Hadippa!

I was at the premiere of 'Dil Bole Hadippa!' at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film is a story about a girl going after her dreams to play in a big league men's cricket team. The film portrays a lot of Indian Punjabi culture and is very patriotic. Fabulous acting by Rani Mukherji playing double roles in the movie. Shahid Kapoor also delivered a brilliant role as the head coach of the cricket team. The film was well directed and produced. I personally did not like the music that much except for a couple of tracks. It is a relatively decent movie for family viewing. Overall, this was a well-made movie accompanied by a good story.

I have to admit i did not have a lot of expectations going for this film because it looked like it was going to be a tried and tested formula trying to be another chak de India or lagaan. However this film was VERY entertaining, great acting, great dance, great songs and the film was very energetic. If you like masala bhangra fun type movies go for this one-its very JOKEY amazing i just saw it today at Roy Thomson hall i was fortunate enough to be part of the first ever audience in the world to see it. All in all a very entertaining film which is a tribute to what bollywood is all about, some fabulous acting by rani and shahid who shine in their respective roles and a film that will want you to get out of your seat and say 'Dil bole hadippa!"

I don't know anything about Bollywood movies or any of the finer points of Punjab dramas, etcetera. I'm just an average middle aged Caucasian American who likes cross cultural experiences. I watch movies from different cultures to get an idea of the hopes, dreams, values and morals which are reflected back via the movie. Having been to India a few times, I am getting more and more familiar with Hindu culture.

Admittedly, there is nothing new in the storyline here (think Shakespeare's Twelfth Night), but the actors are very attractive and actually quite talented dancers. Yes, the singing is dubbed, but I enjoyed the songs for the most part. Some of the movie is so stupid that I actually enjoy it as 'bad art'.

I am not going to be a regular consumer of Indian movies, but this is a fresh scrubbed, if cynical, offering. I like it. I really like watching this movie.

Yashraj turns up with another sugar-coated melodrama but I watched it for only one reason. That is Rani Mukherjee. When I see her in films like this (and everything she's done in the last 7 years) I can't help but feel sorry for the actress who is incredibly talented and who wastes her gift in such pathetic movies. The basic concept is borrowed from the Amanda Bynes movie 'She's The Man' (which was another ridiculous film) and there was the extra addition of overdone patriotism, culture clash and gender equality and whatever that is done in a preachy, melodramatic and amateurish manner. A lot of the themes have been rushed while some weren't even necessary (like the Sherlyn Chopra track). The songs are downright forgettable even though I liked some of them mostly for Sunidhi Chauhan's energy. Mukherjee is excellent and for me she made the film watchable. She is very convincing as the girl-pretending-to-be-a-young-sardar and vivacious as the streetsmart village belle. The actress proves once again that she has a natural flair for comedy. Shahid Kapur is formulaic as is Anupam Kher. Rakhi Sawant is alright in what she's given. Sherlyn Chopra seems to have been promoted from B grade movies to, uh, more expensive films but her acting is horrendous and her dialogue delivery makes her sound like she's heavily stoned. I guess Amisha Patel wasn't available to play the bimbo this time. Overall, it's one of those films that you can watch with the family (if they like this kind of movie) and then just forget about it.

Let me tell you first, Rani has done a good job after following Bollywood new trend of "zero" figure. film includes little bit of romance, cricket, dance and "shiksha" (typical Yash raj Masala), songs are good and very enthusiastic, Rani and Sahid both looks great even though there chemistry was not that great. Rakhi Sawant should get little more dialogues and Sheryln Chopra Hot Body appearance was not fitting into the movie at all.Rani and Sahid dance was great, fan's got little disappointment after Sahid "Kaminey" for not dancing much, I would like so see more romance between Rani and Sahid in this Movie, very easily a NRI boy falls in love with DESI But beautiful Rani Kaur. There was no need of English mixed Hindi dialogues in this Movie, its hard to believe for an NRI guy fall in love with that kinda girl very easily, Little bit of poor dialogues, could have done better job with Poonam Dhillon too, Old Masala but as compare to other Bollywood movies at least you can enjoy with your family. One time watch, Have fun!