Pardes

The movie is well made. The characters are believable and justified. One of the few movies that attempts to mix west and east, which is not done bad. Aa ab laut chalen is one of those. Patriotism is shown from cultural perspective, but alright. Songs are reminding of 90s trend, melodies of both western beats and soulful Indian tunes. It could have been highly intense in its contents by adding a few subplots regarding cultural shock issues. Its because a lot of Indians face that in reality. The film is made in themes like, friendship, love, sacrifice, misunderstanding, families with high reputation involved etc. It is a tale of love in personal level of the protagonist and in it the nationalism comes into play. It doesnot seem so irrational because the lady is affected by it more than the protagony. And love emotions plays it's natural part succeedingly.

The film is technically impressive, retains the serene presentation of standard 90s. SRK and other casts have done well, but not without the lining of dramatizations. No significant flaws present, except that of contents. Not really a perfected depictions of traditionalism and ultra modernism fused into one. But still an impressive try in that line. A 67/100.

The character of Shah Rukh Khan in this movie, is the perfect son-in-law. I think every girl who sees him in this movie would fall in love with his character Arjun. This unselfish boy, who is brought up in a home where some of them treated him like dirt.

The persons I truly disliked were the 2aunts. Looking like witches and being really arrogant about the money they owned and their dislikes of any one with less money (I call it the American syndrome). Mahima Choudrey was and is gorgeous, the role of Ganga was really a bit too much, but I could understand her point of view.

The scene with the snake was quit weird, the director could have solved that in another way. Don't know what the point was of this particular scene. Also the last song of the movie was totally uncalled for. I won't spoil it by saying why, but that song could have been edited somewhere else in the movie.

The story of this movie is reminiscent of Dilwalle Dulhania Le Jayenge, but it have it own joyful line.

Pity that Shahrukh Khan isn't at his best performance, because Mahima Chawdary is fill the entire screen with her spell binding act. She laugh, she cry, she dance, she sings, and she always look convincing (and gorgeous). It's really a splendid performance for a debutante. It's seem to me that Shahrukh is subordinated by the stunning Mahima.

Anyhow, the movie is better than the other typical Hindi Movies. There's nothing to loose to watch this one, because it have charming plot, charming cast, charming view and charming memorable songs, that will make you on the edge of your seat.

8/10

Pardes, directed by Subhash Ghai, is a heartfelt film that beautifully captures the cultural clash between traditional Indian values and the Western way of life. The story revolves around Kishorilal (Amrish Puri), an NRI in America who wants an Indian bride for his westernized son. He finds Ganga (Mahima Chaudhry), a pure-hearted girl from his hometown in India. Shah Rukh Khan delivers a compelling performance as Arjun, Kishorilal's foster son, who becomes entangled in the ensuing drama. The film's strength lies in its music and emotional storytelling, though it sometimes veers into melodrama. Overall, Pardes offers a poignant look at the idea of home and identity, making it a classic in the genre of Indian cinema.

This movie makes all of us NRIs or better known as ABCDs look like value-less and immoral pigs. Mr. Ghai should have actually researched the way of life of NRIs in America and UK before he even wrote the script on this movie. But as with all Hindi movie-makers, they don't even research the topic their movie is about and do something that unsophisticated Indian audiences would believe (which is just about everything on the big screen) This is the MAIN reason why most commercial Hindi films lack credibility and Pardes being one of the most notorious examples that supports my theory. One example of this increduality is how smoking and drinking are treated in this film. In India nobody smokes? drinks? Another is the assumption that Air India and more unbelievably Indian Airlines flies to American (and moreover to L.A. aka Vancoover, where the movie is filmed). In my life experiences, I have never ever met an NRI (or even a white guy) with the selfish, stuck up attitude as exuded by Amrish Puri's son in Pardes. So congratulations, Mr. Ghai, you have convinced several millions in India that us male NRIs are all egotistically womanizers and pigs. This treatment is also true for NRI females. Amrish Puri's wife in this movie is also portrayed as a "chudail" What's up with that? Well...you all know how I feel about this film. But I recommend you see it just to see how many stupid mistakes that Mr. Ghai has made.