Shaan

If you compare this movie with other Ramesh Sippy movies like Akayla (Amitabh, Meenakshi, Amrita, Jacjie and Aditya), Bhrashtachar (Rekha, Rajnikant and Shilpa in her debut role), Zamaana Deewaana (Shah Rukh, Raveena, Shatru and Jeetendra), Andaz (Hema, Rajesh and Shammi) this is an absolute classic. If you compare it to Seeta aur Geeta (Hema, Sanjeev, Dharmendra) and Saagar (Rishi, Dimple in her topless scene, Kamal) this movie is OK but if you compare it to Sholay it is a letdown (but which movie isn't. Ramesh Sippy as a director is in good form (not topform). R.D. Burman gave a better soundtrack than in Sholay which songs like Jaanu meri Jaan, Yamma Yamma and others. Amitabh Bachchan is THE HERO with support from Shashi kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Sunil Dutt (in a special appearance) , Raakhee, Jhonny Walker, Parveen Babi and Bindiya Goswami. Kulbhushan Karbanda makes a mark as Shakal bur he is no Gabbar Singh. This movie can be best describes as Sholay in the city. If you don't expect a Sholay this movie certainly entertains. The story is about three brothers Sunil Dutt ( a police officer), his wife Raakhee, his two brothers Amitabh and Shahsi who are two conmen. On their wedding anniversary Sunil and Raakhee get shot by Shatrughan but they survive. Half an hour later Sunil does get killed. Now Amitabh and Shahshi get serious and want to take revenge on the killers. They get unexpected help from Shatrughan who has become a good man. Thgether these three tackle Shakal with help from their girlfriends and Shatru. No super plot but like almost all Ramesh Sipy films the execution is perfect. A flop when released but a cult movie now. Definitely worth a watch and far far much better then the crap action movies that come out now. Definitely worth a watch, not only for Amitabh Bachchan -the only great Indian Actor (except for Rishi Kapoor) but the supporting cast is good as well. Watch out for the scene with Amitabh and Prakash Mehra's Raquela Padmini Kapilla in a special appearance. This scene is hilarious. All in all a very good movie

Shaan has everything you would want in a film - there's comedy, drama, action, great music, and an all-star cast. Not only that, but there also is a car chase, a hostage crisis, a shootout, a jewel heist, and a deadly marine animal!

Characters include a pair of con-artist brothers who get conned themselves but end up joining their crafty foes (an uncle and niece team), another brother who just happens to be a police officer, his wife and daughter, a mischievous club singer, a hitman who turns good, a diabolical villain and his cronies, and a disabled informant. What more could you ask for?

As if the movie itself is not enough, the music is excellent as well. What else can you expect from R.D. Burman? "Yamma Yamma" is an instant classic. Find out for yourself if you haven't heard it yet, just ask for the MP3. "Pyar Karne Wale" is a hit as well, and fits perfectly into the movie, unlike most songs in Hindi films which just appear out of nowhere (and I must say, Parveen Babi looks great as she "sings" and dances to it in the movie).

This film is a 10/10 all the way. Shaan may be older than I am, but it's a film for the ages, and my father having a rather large video collection, Shaan being among them, I must have seen it at least a half dozen times since I was little. If you love watching Hindi movies, but haven't seen it yet, put it on your list of ones to watch. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Shaan tells the story of an honest inspector named DCP Shiv Kumar (Sunil Dutt) who lives a very peaceful life with his wife (Rakhee Gulzar), daughter and two brothers Ravi & Vijay. However, upon, investigating about different crimes in his area, he is killed in his line of duty. However, later on his two brothers Ravi (Shashi Kapoor) & Vijay (Amitabh Batchchan) was persuade by a circus master and a marks man (Shatrughan Sinha) that a man called Shakal (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) who keeps a man-eating crocodile was responsible for his death. They, however, after fighting a prolong battle of great difficulty they manage to reach the island where Shakal is holed up and killed him and also have there brother's revenge taken.

Shaan is a Big budget movie from the Great Director Ramesh Sippy, who has given us the Best Bollywood film of all time Sholay. His next film is bigger in budget and star cast. Shaan is a Highyly enjoyable movie that has lots of comedy with action and fun. Amitabh Bachcan in a entertaining role. Shashi Kapoor is amusing at times. Sunil dutt is efficient. Rakhee gives a decent performance. Shutrungh Sinha is not too bad. The Late Parveen Babi is fairly good, she was one of my favourite actresses in the 80s. Shaan has a classic villain Shakaal played by Kulbushan Kurbandar in his best movie of his career. Shakaal is a james bond style villain who has his own island with guns, secret rooms, rotating chairs, sharks and crocodiles. Shaan in full on entertainment and a must see if you haven't seen it.

I consider Shaan to be one of the best Indian films ever made. It looks like a very professionally made film, which is quite rare in Indian Cinema.

The fight sequences are very good. Mr Sippy (the director) wisely chose to use the same style as in his previous blockbuster, Sholay. This adds a touch of realism to the fights, as opposed to the norm in Indian films, where we get to see the hero beat-up about 20 guys on his own.

Another highlight of the film was the music. Sippy had an original music soundtrack created for this film, as opposed to stealing bits and pieces from other films. This really does help to increase your enjoyment of the movie. I don't generally like the songs in Indian films, but they were quite good in this film.

The cast is excellent, with everyone performing well in their roles. I find that a lot of films with all-star casts suffer problems as the director tries to give everyone equal screen-time to the detriment of the plot. However, in this film, the whole cast gels. Shatrughan Sinha's character is wisely introduced half-way through the story, thus avoiding trying to introduce too many lead-characters at the start od the film. Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor play well off each other as always. As usual, the female characters don't have much to do in the film, with the possible exception of Rakhee Gulzar.

The villain is brilliantly played by Kulbushan Kharbanda. It's blatantly obvious that this character (Shakal) is modelled on Blofeld from the James Bond movies, as is much of the film itself. One gets the feeling that the Sippy was trying to create a villain that would be remembered in Indian Cinematic history in the same way as his earlier creation, Gabbar Singh. Although Shakal is not remembered as fondly as Gabbar Singh by many people, he's still one of Indian Cinema's more memborable villains.

The plot of the movie is sometimes a bit silly (for example, we get the heroes dancing with their girlfriends in a bus soon after they discover that one their family members has been murdered). However, this is a minor criticism in an otherwise brilliant film.

If you like Indian films, Shaan is essential viewing. I'd give it 10 out of 10.