Despite having rising stars Shah Rukh Khan and choreographer Farah Khan, the 1995 film Zamaana Deewana was declared a box office flop in India.
But, as I'm making my way through Shah Rukh Khan's filmography, I thought I'd give it a try anyway.
The story is an old one - Capulets vs. Montagues, Hatfields vs. McCoys, Malhotra vs. Singh - with the star-struck lovers from either side of the feud. In this case, the police department seeks to set up a relationship between Rahul Malhotra (Shah Rukh Khan) and Priya Singh (Raveena Tandon) in order to stop the warring families and bring peace to the region.
The architect of this relationship is Kamdev (K.D.) Singh (Anupam Kher), a strange character who is so unbelievable it is beyond laughable. Just when you think it can't get any worse, the film has K.D. dressed as a woman to fool the two warring fathers into loving the same woman (him). Just as the two enemies are confronting each other, Rahul and Priya arrive to announce their love and that they will lovingly kill each other if the fathers don't hug it out.
And that's just the first 30 minutes of the movie.
But remember, Zamaana Deewana means "crazy world" so keep this in mind.
While watching the antics of K.D. my husband was laughing. At one point he said, "Is this what he did after leaving the 3 Stooges?" and "Yeah, like he stands a chance with this [female] inspector [Shalini Srivastav]."
A few minutes later, while watching Shah Rukh Khan and ensemble in the musical number "Zamaana Deewana Ho Gaya", my husband commented,
- "That's not how you play a sitar!"
- "Isn't every day annual?"
- "This is the movie that would have given Bollywood it's reputation."
Which all reflect the fact that the movie is living up to it's name.
Now, my husband also said that he enjoyed Shah Rukh Khan's dancing in all his films. Which is one real reason to see this movie. So, get past the first 30 crazy minutes and you will find that the film and storyline does get better. The movie improves considerably when:
- K.D. tries many ways to join Rahul and Priya, including handcuffing them together which prompts "Zamaane Ko Ab Tak Nahi" a faked song of love between the two captives who are trying to convince their captors to release them because the magic is working.
- K.D. becomes more believable as real person as the movie progresses and this character transformation also transforms the tone of the movie.
- Rahul and Priya band together to protect officers K.D. and Shalini from the real bad guys who created the emnity between the two families in the first place.
The musical numbers are definitely worth seeing, including "Rok Sake To Rok" in which Rahul pretty much explains what he is planning to do at this point in the film. Once you've seen the film (and other Bollywood movies with wedding celebrations) you'll better appreciate the humor of the antics and lyrics in this number -
Let them try and stop me from taking you away!
Let them try and stop me from taking you away!
I'm here to present you with my love!
Let them try and stop me from taking you away!
It's useless to argue, my love is true
Let them try and stop me from taking you away!
I'm here to present you with my love!
Let them try and stop me from taking you away!
Yes! Let them try and stop me from taking you away!Love has a thousand enemies, but I'm not deterred by that.
I'll show you what love is.
I'll fight with the world to keep you!
I'm a crazy man in love, so what can the world do?
Don't think, my love, that I'll be afraid!
Let them try and stop me from taking you away!
I'm here to present you with my love!
Yes! Let them try and stop me from taking you away!I'm here to present you with my love!
No one can stop me!
I don't bow my head before anyone!
I'll show the strength of my love,
I'll carry you away.
I"ve given you my word, darling.
I'll tear down any walls between us.
Let them try and stop me from taking you away!
I'm here to present you with my love!
Yes! Let them try and stop me from taking you away!
You'll have to see for yourself how Zamaana Deewana ends. All I can say is it's "too good."
The above is an unofficial version of the video which I selected because it included english subtitles. The official version can be found here.
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