Do you know how to give "aura" to an action hero in a Bollywood movie? Have the dude beat/shoot 100 goons as epic music plays in the background. I have always been taken out by such scenes, even if a superhero does it. Way to break the immersion in a film.

This scene in Awarapan is a great example that "aura"/gravitas of an action hero is built from restraint rather than cheese. The setup is the usual 2 guys facing off about 15 people. But characters act in a more logical fashion. Shivam does take out his anger on the son character but no shots are fired. Because guns/bullets have weight to them, you don't just fire guns with 0 consequences. Which then leads to great tension in the scene. What if a gun gets fired?

Which is why Malik's brother walks away even though he has many henchmen along with him. But he knows that one single shot can kill either him or his son, so better to walk away.

Credit to Shivam's friend too, he is his only backup, and he asks Shivam to hold off but at the same time double wields two pistols. Cool stuff.

Ek Ruka Hua Faisla was telecast as a TV film for the first time, on this day, in 1986. While it is far from a flawless creative work, being a near frame-to-frame adaptation of the critically acclaimed English play/film '12 Angry Men' and depicting a jury trial in India long after they were abolished in the 1960s, it has still earned a cult following over the years, especially after its upload on YouTube a decade ago.

The film is a gripping courtroom/psychological drama in which twelve jurors from vastly different social backgrounds fiercely debate in a closed room whether a young man on trial for murdering his father is guilty or not. What begins as an open & shut case, gradually turns into an all-out war, filled with personal below the belt verbal and physical attacks that reveal how the jurors’ own prejudices, biases and internal conflicts influence their judgments, even though they are expected to remain impartial.

Directed by the acclaimed Basu Chatterjee, the film was born when he watched the Hindi play (performed by almost the same cast) and decided to adapt it to the screen with almost 0 changes. As a result, 9/12 actors were NSD graduates and all came from strong theatre backgrounds. The ensemble cast is evidently the film’s biggest strength: Deepak Qazir, Amitabh Shrivastava, Pankaj Kapur, S.M. Zaheer, Subhash Udghate, Hemant Mishra, M.K. Raina, K.K. Raina, Annu Kapoor, Subbiraj, Shailendra Goel and Aziz Qureshi. Standouts include Pankaj Kapur and Annu Kapoor (both unrecognisable, the later portraying a 70 year old guy while he was in his late 20s irl) along with K.K. Raina who delivers a powerful performance as the protagonist.

Its core themes: logic and rationality versus bias and prejudice, the dangers of letting personal emotions influence professional decisions, moral courage, leadership and manipulation techniques (none of them being original obviously) are presented so effectively that the film is still used as a case study in many Indian law and business schools.

I don't know why but I also really like the background music playing at critical moments throughout the film. The music and the video quality makes you feel that you really are in the 80s (or 60s as per the film!)

If you enjoy this genre, Ek Ruka Hua Faisla is an absolute must-watch, even though it is essentially a remake/rip-off.

Available for free on YouTube.

Lucky Singh played by Boman, is easily one of the most memorable characters in any Hirani film for me. I'd even put him above Dr. Asthana from Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (subjective, of course). The guy was hilarious while being a complete scoundrel at the same time. Absolute gold 🤣

I love watching Hollywood action movies.. especially femme fatale kind of movies.. where girl-power wins! Can you guys suggest a good Bollywood movie where the female lead does a lot of ass kicking, hand-to-hand combat, handling guns, weapons and grenades, riding motorcycles, beats up bad guys.. saves the world.. you know that kind of stuff!

Someone suggested some Tiger movie starring Katrina but mostly the male actor did most of the action. Also some Kangana movie but it didn't make sense to me. Doesn't Bollywood make stylish female action movies like Tomb Raider? Or does every Bollywood movie always need a male star to save the world?

Please suggest only stylish and entertaining movies guys.

Thanks!

The reason I'm asking is because I'm skeptical on whether it can be released by December after the production and release of Ramayana part 1. Given that Some films release after Diwali are considered good holidays in the winter. I think a Potential Eid release could be a good delay of good preservation of the film. Let me know your thoughts? 💬💭