terrible... so disappointed.

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

A Brilliant Conflict

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Although the movies have evolved a lot in terms of technicality, good stories are still in a dearth. Especially the literary quality has been a missing gem in the modern cinema. In the B/W era, the film makers like Bimal Roy adapted stories from novels of distinguished writers like Rabindranath Tagore and Saratchandra Chattopadhya and brought the essence of the novels on the screen.In the term, "Parineeta" fills the void to some extent. Well, you'll miss the literary essence of the novel in this film as it is set more into a modern day setting though the story is claimed to be of '60s. Based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhya's novel, "Parineeta" (literally meaning a married woman) tells the story of womanhood, friendship, commitment, and humanity and has been given a backdrop of three Bengali families living in a neighborhood of Calcutta. The story perpetuates a kind of interest throughout but the climax looks a bit bizarre. The period details and dialogues could have been better, Despite its shortcomings, the film is still welcome for the piece of rich literary work it recites. Besides, it notes a remarkable entry of one of the better actresses in Hindi Cinema, Vidya Balan.Rating: 2 stars out of 4

The modern adaptation of a 1914 novella of reputed writer Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Parineeta tells the love story of Shekhar (Saif Ali Khan), son of ruthless businessman and developer Navinchandra Roy (Sabyasachi Chakraborty), and Lolita (Vidya Balan), his much poorer neighbour, who know each other since childhood and marry secretly on an auspicious day by simply exchanging garlands. To prevent Navinchandra's cunning schemes to evict Lolita's family from their stately home, newly arrived Girish (Sanjay Dutt) takes them under his wing, providing financial support and entertainment. In a rage of jealousy, Shekhar agrees to marry Gayetri (Dyia Mirza), but on finding the truth, defies his father and brings Lolita home, acknowledging their relationship to the world. Fine-tuned performances of newcomer Vidya Balan and veteran Saif Ali Khan, superb cinematography and costumes, painstaking attention to recreating Calcutta of the 1960s, touching and engaging music, and the talented hand of first-time director Pradeep Sarkar make Parineeta one of the best Bollywood movies of all times, despite an overcooked ending that has very little credibility and sits somewhat awkwardly with the rest of the film. For any Westerner wishing to delve in the world of Bollywood without getting burnt by silly melodrama, superficial acting and over-the-top tearjerkers, this critically acclaimed period movie is an excellent starting point.

Compared to Paheli, India should probably have sent Parineeta as their Oscar selection but all is well. Parineeta is more visually stunning than the former and involves one of the most daringly dangerous tests of any film industry, which is the casting of the lead heroine as virtually unknown actress Vidya Balan. But Balan manages to hold her own and make a mountain of her film debut by turning Lolita into a force to be reckoned with. The tale revolves around a guy named Shekhar (played by a very fine and in his element Saif Ali Khan) who falls in love with Lolita from the moment she arrives in the colony as a young orphan next door. They do everything together and he even steps in to provide her with money whenever she needed it. Time goes by and they grow into young adults. Shekhar gets Lolita a job with his father's company, and one day while at work she discovers an unusual folder which she is quickly chastised for coming across. She briefly ignores this, thinking nothing of the folder and continues on with her life. She begins to think of ways to let Shekhar know that she is in love with him but even though he feels the same way, he chooses to keep his feelings under-wraps. One day, while alone with a trusted worker at the office, Lolita comes across that rare folder one more time and this time opens it to see it contents. She is bewildered to discover that it contained classified information about the secret selling of the home she lives in with her relatives behind their back. Distraught but glad that she has now come to terms with the true motives behind Shekhar's father's insincere smiles, she goes home to ask Shekhar for help. But when he ignores her pleas, she turns to a stranger (played by Sanjay Dutt) who has come to visit with their neighbours and also has feelings for Lolita. Girish(Dutt) becomes like an angel for Lolita's family and this angers Shekhar who begins to make a mountain out of a molehill about things. Several misunderstandings prolong the otherwise stellar film, and that's the advantage that Paheli has over Parineeta. Paheli doesn't insult the intelligence of its audience. The most upsetting thing to me was the premise of creating excuses for the two sex scenes in the film. I don't want to be rude, but the audience is not stupid you know? That's something I would love to have told the director.The ending is so crappy that you might want to slap yourself if you sit through it. I found very many elements of Devdas (2002) in this film, it wasn't even subtle. Don't miss Rekha's cameo as the Moulin Rouge singer which adds a much needed pizazz, style and energy to the film. The Parineeta theme is also an instant classic. Raima Sen, Sabyasachi Chakravarthy, Diya Mirza among others add light as co-stars.

Clean. True. Heart-warming. Thought-provoking.The movie does not once attempt to push the viewer to come to grips with the emotions the actor is attempting to portray. Instead, the feelings are just absorbed through the phenomenal script and acting. You can actually feel for Shekhar being lost in his sincere emotions. You can feel for Lolita's sincere intentions for Shekhar. You can feel for Girish's sincere feelings for Lolita.The movie sets itself apart from traditional Hindi movies, while borrowing the best of what the industry offers. By creating this distinct class, we are fortunate to now have a bar for which other directors/producers may reach upon with their films.My qualm? It's too bad this story line wouldn't translate well into a Hollywood movie. The story was meant to be portrayed in Hindi cinema and only hope its story is shared with everyone.