Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love

Present day Bollywood movies have no feeling at all. At this one you feel the father-child bond.

What a mixed up movie! They could have done so much with all the talent in this movie, but the path chosen was the clichéd ones. Even those are done badly. The actors do indeed do their part, but the director has totally messed this movie up. It was painful to sit through this movie. If I were you, I'd avoid this movie completely.

The movies starts out good, but after about half an hour, it goes downhill. Unnecessary twists, unnecessary drama, and contrived sub plots ruin it. Why do directors think that they can simply fill in time with garbage?

Editing is horrible, many of the scenes are simply unrealistic (even by bollywood standards), direction is very bad.

Once again, staying away from this is advisable.

There is nothing much to write home about as far as the story of Ek Rishtaa goes. The title says it all. It is the story of A father, a family man, a man who is much respected and adored by everyone around him, and his estranged son. A son, who reveres, even worships his father but sadly enough has different ideals and a different thought process than that of his father's. But when fate strikes and a slew of tragedies hit the Kapoor household, It is the son, who swallows his pride and his ego, and comes walking back into his father's life, taking control, and teaching everyone, big and small something about family values, and how nothing can break blood ties and love bonds. Amitabh Bachchan is, once again, flawless as the father who believes that patience is a big virtue and is realistic enough to see that in modern day India, education is not as important as experience, goodwill and hard work, something he believes his son has till to obtain. With every passing movie, he proves that he can outshine most actors walking the planet today and hold his own against the best that World Cinema has to offer.

Akshay Kumar, as Mr. Bachchan's son is simply great. This is the second movie where he has proved that he is an actor of caliber and the Chopras and Barjatyas of the world need to sit up and take notice. His performance as the good son is understated, yet endearing. Especially poignant are the scenes where he pleads with Amitabh Bachchan to give him a chance, and show him that In this case, a son can become a father's support. Of the rest of the cast, Karisma, Juhi Chawla, Mohnish Behl and Rakhee are good. with strong characterisations. Where the film fails is in its music, length and shoddy narration.

With Golden performances, which, if the film had been made better, would have definitely got it a slew of awards. To end, the film doesn't disappoint, but then, it doesn't even please.

This is a good movie.A good family flick with a lot of strong emotions.

Story is simple with a lot of great performances.Both Amitabh and Akshay have given great performances.Supporting cast like Rakhee,Juhi Chawala have given good performances.Karishma is also pretty good and looks completely beautiful through out.Others like the 3 daughters are quite average.Mohnish Behl overacts completely.Sunil Shettys cameo was point less

Songs are good(with Ek Dil Hai being the best one ) and so are their Picturisations.Malayasian locales(in Dil Deewana no)and i think the Thai locales(in Dil Lagene Ki Saza)and also the Swiss locales in(Mohaabat Ne Mohabbat Ko)are a treat to the eyes

Everything else like the story,script,screenplay are good.Set designs and camera work is first rate

Sunil Darshan's Ek Rishtaa presents the ultimate big wealthy Indian family with all its ups and downs and their struggle in times of happiness and in times of hardship, The movie is quite watchable for the most part but its execution is at times overdone although it's more realistic and not as melodramatic as that same year's Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, which dealt with a similar subject, though the latter is definitely a better film. Just like K3G, Ek Rishtaa is primarily centred around the relationship of a father and his eldest son, their conflict of minds, resulting dispute and ultimate reconcilement, only that here the problems begin more because of conspiracies and misunderstandings. The movie shows how domestic peace is destroyed with the entrance of new members into the family, but the better part of the film shows how the family reunites and everything is settled when turbulent times of crisis seem so disruptive that they bring them together before it's too late. Some of the film's dialogues are very good but some are very theatrical and the same can be said about the proceedings.

Two of the biggest pluses of the movie are the music, composed by Nadeem-Shravan, and the multi-starred cast. My favourite songs in the movie are "Mohabbat Ne Mohabbat Ko" and "Ek Dil Hai" which are melodious and beautifully shot. Where acting goes, Amitabh Bachchan is excellent as the proud father, and Raakhee does very well as his supportive wife in a role that finally does not require her to lose her mental sanity. Akshay Kumar gets a very good role and he plays it with evident dedication and sincerity. I never saw him taking a role so seriously and he is very good in many parts, though sometimes he is a bit let down by the script. Karisma Kapoor is okay but in some scenes she totally overacts. The scenes in which she asks her husband not to return home was quite ridiculous because I could not see the logic behind them. Juhi Chawla is generally credible but I really wondered why a woman would remain with a husband who destroyed her family. Mohnish Bahl is average in a negative role and the rest of the cast are mostly so-so.

All in all, Ek Rishtaa is a generally watchable movie despite its flaws. It is nowhere a great film, and its depiction makes it look rather dated and reminiscent of those family films of the 1960, but I recommend you to watch it for the songs, for some of the performances, particularly Bachchan and Kumar's working chemistry, and for its message which conveys the importance of unity and togetherness. This movie, along with Jaanwar, is the best of Sunil Darshan, who is otherwise known for his abysmal movies.