Chandni Bar (2001)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Madhur Bhandarkar is amazing. Tabu is a glamorous Thespian! Not to mention Atul Agnihotri & Rajpal Yadav! Beautiful performances.The emotion behind the life of a bar dancer in India and all the underlying difficulties - the ups and downs are depicted in this movie. The range (1886 - 2000) is narrated in a very effective manner.The background aalaap, music, songs and all the rendition makes it a perfect movie.The message her is so true that the audience really gets touched by it. With one of the few bold themes in the history of Bollywood, Chandni Bar stands out just like his other movies.Be human, watch this and know how it feels to lead of life filled with utter baloney!Can be watched with a typical Indian family? NO!For more - bit.ly/TEJAS

I have seen lot of movies where one face lingers that made a tremendous impact on the senses-and it happens to be an actress that is not seen often-since the tendency is to concentrate on the name actors. The actress that I am referring to is Anaya Khare who played the part of kumud in "Devdas". She has incredible screen presence like the other character played by Atul Kulkarni. Both have performed well to the extent that they should be worthy of awards or recognition. The movie is stark with all the nakedness of the underground "Bombay" exposed, this is as black and white in contrast to the colorful dancers of "Chandni Bar". The movie is riveting with a great direction by Madhur Bhandarkar of "Satta" Fame-in fact this was one of the reason that I saw the movie. Tabu is a good actress but I think she is overrated. This movie is parallel to a recently released book "Maximum City" written by Suketu Mehta (most engrossing book on Mumbai and India that I have ever read-writtien by an NRI,) which depicts the other world that existed from time immemorial and will continue to exist with the characters that are mere mortals.

"Chandni Bar" is the BEST movie to come out of Bollywood in 4 decades. Its a brave film, speaking unabashedly about the seemy underbelly of Bombay (and YES it is and always will be Bombay to many), about the nexus between crime and the corrupt police in this city, about sin and the hope of redemption dashed by a vicious system. No wonder this was NOT India's entry to the Oscars....our politicians would be loathe to export something that could "create a bad impression" (they sent the ghastly jingoistic "Lagaan" instead). Pity, because, as an example of cinema verite at its grittiest, it would have probably won. Tabu would have definitely been in the running for Best Actress --- her performance is a study in truth and control. I happened to meet her on a plane and asked whether the film was shot more-or-less in sequence; and she answered in the affirmative --- no doubt this helped her create a slowly-intensifying graph of emotion, peaking at her gut-wrenching howls in the final scene. Her subtlety and sensitivity in the role of the dance-hall girl have had few equals seen by this writer in the cinema. Also the film's design, capturing the slums, back-alleys, police-stations and of course the seedy, sexual, smoky, boozy atmosphere of the dance-bar (changing its decor and its music with the passage of time in the plot) has an attention to detail and a REALISM that anyone who has ever been to these places will marvel at. Bravo to all concerned....and now may we PLEASE have this available on DVD?

This is one of the movies that allows to peek at the life of the people who have suffered and haven't seen the light at the end of the tunnel. The movie is very effective for it takes us into the life of a beer bar dancing girl (Mumtaz) in the city of Bombay, and shows us the rut that she is in and any attempts made by her to rise are in vain. The movie is both dark in content and in the lighting which is symbolic of the hopelessness and is very effective. Tabu's performance is noteworthy as she depicts the life of Mumtaz with absolute sincerity. Details, such as, her twirling the cord of the phone when she is in a state of hopelessness shows she has really immersed herself into the character. With her performance you never feel that she is putting on a show. The movie neither glamourizes nor demeans the profession of these girls and the director deserves praise for that. The lack of songs is highly appropriate for this movie as this is not a "feel good" movie. As a warning to the faint of heart, this movie is highly disturbing and should be avoided when depressed.