Parineeta

7.2
2005 2 hr 4 min Drama , Romance

Since childhood, Lolita has been in love with her next-door neighbor, Shekhar, whose father, Navinchandra, is a wealthy but heartless businessman. When she discovers Navinchandra's plan to seize her uncle's home and turn it into a hotel, she decides to seek help from Girish, a steel tycoon. Shekhar, however, suspects romantic motives are behind Lolita's entreaty.

  • Cast:
    Saif Ali Khan , Vidya Balan , Sanjay Dutt , Raima Sen , Dia Mirza , Amitabh Bachchan , Supriya Shukla

Reviews

Hellen
2005/06/10

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

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Solemplex
2005/06/11

To me, this movie is perfection.

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Console
2005/06/12

best movie i've ever seen.

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Allison Davies
2005/06/13

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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Tarekul Islam
2005/06/14

First of all I didn't like saif's character. All I saw was a jealous person and someone that is scared of his father. Also I noticed that saif's character was abusive. It's not about liking or disliking the character. It's about character development. Sail's character wasn't developed to an extent where the audience can connect with him or see his point of view. In other words his character was shallow. Saif and vidya's characters grew up together since childhood, but throughout the movie their relationships seems like they don't understand each other in a deep level. Their relationship seems artificial in a way. Vidya balans character was likable. Sanjay Dutts character was fine. However I think Sanjay looks too old to play the role. I didn't like him playing that role. It was creepy, made me dislike seeing him in the screen playing a young person role.

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ssimlote
2005/06/15

I recently saw Parineeta(2005). Sitting there, watching the movie, I felt like I was watching a beautiful 1960's movie. Myself being a great fan of old movies, which are clean and free from stunts, harsh language, nudity. It is a movie well done by V.V. Chopra. During the entire movie, I was not able to get up to take a break. There are two things in this movie that could have been avoided. The dramatic climax and the small, but there, bedroom sequence with Sanjay Dutt. Other than that, a wonderful movie. After Munna Bhai MBBS, this was the movie I could watch with family. Vidya balan, despite being a débutant, has done justice to her role. She is a natural. Saif Ali Khan has once again proved himself. He just needs good roles like this one. He is so natural with the acting. Sanjay Dutt, matured as ever, looks great as Girish Babu. A great, must see movie.

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aliasanythingyouwant
2005/06/16

A new restraint may be creeping into Bollywood, if movies like Parineeta are any indication. This may be good news for those who think it's high time the Indian film industry "grew-up," but for anyone who likes the pretty soap opera fluff Bollywood has been churning out for decades, who finds it a reasonable substitute for real Hollywood melodrama, which of course no longer exists, this may not be a welcome development. Some may laugh at perfectly-timed, punctuative thunder-claps (always going off at particularly dramatic moments in the story), might think them quaint, but those who appreciate a good overwrought extravaganza, filled with silly devices, absurdly convenient turns-of-plot and hammy histrionics, can only be disheartened at this apparent rejection of classic form in favor of a more modern, less over-the-top approach.Of course "restraint" is a relative term; Parineeta may be less hysterical, less willing to aim for the melodramatic moon than Bollywood movies have traditionally been, but it still has its cornball charms. The plot, culled from a famed novel by Saratchandra Chatterjee, is classic Bollywood: Shekhar (Saif Ali Khan) and Lolita (Vidya Balan) have been sweethearts since childhood, he living with his wealthy parents and she with her adoptive middle-class family next door. A dark cloud hangs over their budding romance in the form of a family debt; Lolita's adoptive father Gurucharan (Achyut Potdar) owes Shekhar's father, ruthless business-man Nabin Roy (Sabyasachi Chakravarthy), money, and if the debt isn't paid Gurucharan's lavish ancestral home will be taken away and turned into a hotel. Help arrives in the form of Girish Babu (Sanjay Dutt), a wealthy relative of a family friend, who agrees to pay the debt, presumably in return for Lolita's hand in marriage; this inflames Shekhar's jealousies, pushing him closer to the woman, Gayatri (Aishwarya Rai look-alike Diya Mirza), chosen for him by his family over the undesirable Lolita. It's the kind of situation that would easily resolve itself if the characters just slowed down and thought about things, but of course, in Bollywood, rash over-reaction is the order of the day. There's nothing more predictable than this kind of melodramatic plot, and of course that is the entire point. One doesn't watch Wile E. Coyote chase the Road Runner hoping that, for once, Wile E. WON'T fall off the cliff; one EXPECTS him to fall off the cliff, WANTS him to fall off the cliff. And one watches a film like Parineeta wanting, indeed expecting, more-or-less the same thing, people flying over figurative cliffs in the name of love, pride and family honor.The elements are all there - the romance between people from different classes, the misunderstandings leading to crazed, self-destructive acts, the family loyalties in whose name one's desires must be set aside - but the heat isn't turned all the way up, the movie never achieves the level of hysteria one has become accustomed to. Director Pradeep Sarkar remains faithful to the conventions of Indian melodrama while demonstrating a certain unwillingness to cut things all the way loose. The problem with Parineeta is that we halfway believe what we're seeing; the movie veers a little too close to actual psychological realism for it to work as a full-on musical soap opera in the great Bollywood tradition. There's nothing more toxic to melodrama than naturalism; what killed the Hollywood soap opera wasn't changing audience tastes but changing directorial and acting ones, and the same thing may be happening in India now. When Hollywood threw off the old-fashioned theatricality and started striving for "honesty" and "truth," that was when the classic dramatic forms, which had sustained the industry from the days of Griffith on through Sirk, started falling by the wayside. You can't buy melodrama if the actors playing it aren't willing to stretch toward caricature, and if the directors staging it aren't willing to let it all hang out. The new directors, like Sarkar, seem to be hedging their bets; they want to play to the galleries, but may have begun thinking that the old Bollywood forms are out-moded, that what once made for great spectacle is now corny, and that the only way to protect themselves is by holding back. Bollywood directors, and young actors like Saif Ali Khan, may be ready for more realistic, daring material, but the stories they're getting are the same old fluff, and the only choice they have is to compromise, to play the game the same way it's always been played but without the same gusto, the same commitment. The result is something that looks like Bollywood and sometimes feels like Bollywood, but just seems watered-down.There are things to enjoy about Parineeta even if it doesn't live up to the usual Bollywood standard. There's a marvelous performance by the understatedly commanding Sanjay Dutt as Girish, the classic good guy stuck in an uncomfortable position (the guy the girl should love but doesn't). There's a fabulous musical number set in a 1960s nightclub featuring the sultry Rekha (it's the only memorable number in the movie; Sarkar also seems less-than-enthused about musical staging, which seems almost sacrilegious). There's the assurance of Saif Ali Khan as the romantic lead, the musician Shekhar, and there's the moist-eyed beauty of Vidya Balan as Lolita the orphan girl. One wishes it all came together better, was pushed through with a little more force, a little more enthusiasm. Parineeta is accomplished but tame.

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naidu88669
2005/06/17

I have never commented on a movie before, but I would really like to state how much I enjoyed the film "Parineeta". I am from the India diaspora (third generation) and though I don't speak any Indian languages, I enjoy watching Hindi films.This is the first time I am seeing Saif Ali Khan in such a mature role which is very becoming of his character. His acting was superb. He could even act as The Great Gatsby, rendering a very romantic and longing portrayal of a fragile love circumstance. His attire and demeanor, expressions were very appealing. Hats off to the direction of this wonderful story of an earlier time.Vidya is also extremely beautiful. Her acting was fantastic for a newcomer. She has that rare beauty that is not often seen in the film actresses these days. Please bring her in more films, especially these types of dramatic roles. I would love to see these two in another film.I have seen the film twice.The music was very endearing, romantic and very suitable for this film.Wonderful movie.

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