Ghayal – one of the best movies ever

I have seen Ghayal quite a few times, and that was in the Cinema.  And on TV and even, with all the irritating interruptions and staggered intervals – its one of the few movies that gives you such a strong adrenaline rush.

I simply loved it.                 

I saw it late – after the movie was already a big hit, and I saw it possibly in the second week – this was in Vijayawada, and went with my younger brother. The movie hall was still packed, and the majority of those who’d come were seeing it for the 100^th time already, but seemed to be experiencing the film for the first time. There were the cee-tees (whistles) and laughter, but mostly a lot of clapping.

Bollywood journalists and fraternity have always been arguing who really takes credit for a successful film, and the view has changed across the years.  This movie shows it well – its only when the complete ensemble comes together and works well does it produce a crackling movie.  This is director Raj Kumar Santoshi’s best movies (IMHO) and I don’t think he’s been able to replicate it.

And the other dominant reason for liking the movie is the hero himself : Sunny Deol – who, along with his dad (Dharmendra) is the most under-rated actor ever.  It takes a good director to bring out their best performance. For Dharmendra, it was Hrishikesh Mukherjee – and Chupke Chupke is possibly Dharmendra’s best performance ever – comedy is the hardest to pull of, and I really cant see anyone else replacing him in his movies. He also did some serious films with Hrishikesh Mukherjee where his performance was great, but for me comedy is the most difficult genre ever, and he did a great job.

Sunny Deol is masterful in this movie, and there is a raw naked outrage and anger through the movie that boils over out from the screen into every member of the audience. I think everyone had a clenched fist and tight jaw and couldn’t help clapping.   The one scene that says it best is when towards the end, Sunny Deol comes face to face with his enemy Amrish Puri and the full rage comes out on screen, where he lifts his knife and screams in anger.   The immediate reaction to this is that Amrish Puri who has a gun in his hand, actually turns and starts running away.   I mean the rage is unmistakable – even a gun cannot stop him. 

There is no point debating if one should take the law in their hands if violence is the answer – it’s a commercial Hindi film at the end of the day.  But boy, did it strike a chord like very very few films did.

I am not sure if Sunny Deol or the Ghayal team won any awards at the popular film functions – but they certainly won a lot of hearts.