China Gate (1998)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

I do not blame Indians, as they have a very unique taste for movies. But, even for Indian movie standards China Gate is an absolute wreck.I do not mind the plot is stolen. But, I could tolerate this crap only for the first half than I walked off. Why? Because nothing at all happened in the first half except the fantastic belly dance show of Urmila that has also nothing to do with the film in any way. (Believe me, many of the audience was just there to see only this part). The entire first part of the movie was full of silly dialogs and "keep dragging scenes".One of the fallbacks of the movie is "the cast" also. One dozen of so called action heroes are actually at their 70'ies who need a stick to be able to walk properly! Seeing bunch of Alzheimer driven heroes trying to figth a notorious gang just make me sick. Anyway, since nothing significant happened in the first half I walked off. Do not think I troughly watch the first half. I slept most of the time. Most of the Indian movies have good scores even though the plot is stupid. However in this movie there is not much belly dance show except the one in which Urmila shows her talent. Maybe the movie picks up in the second half, I do not know. But looking at the lame direction in the first half, I can imagine how idiotic the second half with the action scenes the old men in it. A huge waste of three plus some hours. Do not come even any close.

This film works as an overlong homage to 'Sholay'. Here a bunch of squabbling, overweight and dishonored former army men fight to capture a notorious bandit and reclaim their pride. Om Puri and Danny Denzongappa are good but Amrish Puri steals the show. The sparks between Amrish and Naseer are worth watching. Urmila has an item number and it's a foot-tapping one! The villain is suitably hammy, though not very tough. The film does tend to drag and could have been at least a half hour shorter. Still, it's watchable for the most part at least on television/DVD.Overall 6/10

An excellent idea originally thought up by the Late Akiro Kurosawa copied very successfully in Sholay and very haphazardly shown with total and complete failure in ChinaGate. Inspired(this word has been given a whole new dimension by Anu Mallik) by the Seven Samurais this is a story about 10 men disgraced in war out to redeem their glory. Great till here. Enter the likes of Om Puri, Danny, Amrish Puri and Naserruddin Shah and u think its going to be a cracker. Enter Viju Khote, Sameer Soni and some others whom I can't even name and this movie becomes absolutely unwatchable. Mamta Kulkarni is in a totally unglamorous role and we all know about those accusations which are being thrown around thick and fast. Though she does give a emotional and certain sense to the movie which goes absolutely berserk at times. U have very bad background music, which rings in your ears and horrible cinematography which fails to capture the better shots. The shot in which vultures hover around waiting for the corpse is great but it is highly overdone and occurs at least 15 times with all those irritating loud noises in the background. And u have a completely hopeless Sameer Soni who is forever hovering around Mamta trying to get a peek into her u know what. The action sequences r also trite with the same things being done repeatedly. Twice in the movie u see horsemen after being shot moving back thru the air as their horses move forward. Though this is the normal trick it is rarely possible to discern it in the movie. The movie is salvaged by the excellent 'Chamma Chamma' dance number by Urmila. The proof of this is the poster outside Plaza which has Urmila covering the maximum amount of area in the poster as compared to any other single person. The choreography and music is excellent though the lyrics hardly mean a thing(does it really matter anyway). The other saving graces are Danny with his great diction and Nasseruddin Shah with his extraordinary dialog delivery specially the one that he tells Amrish Puri after saving his life. Om Puri fails to impress as much though he is passable. The others make a downright ass of themselves and makes u wonder if such people can ever be in the Army. A great military movie has been hog washed to a typical Bollywood mirch masala. I think Rajkumar Santoshi was sleeping during this movie. Said to be the costliest movie with an estimated budget of Rs. 20 crores you wonder at the end of the 3 hr ordeal as to where the money was spent. Disappointing fare on the whole.

This is another WONDERFUL movie by RajKumar Santoshi, the creator of Ghayal, Ghatak, Damini. Though the movie is inspired by blockbusters like Sholay (Hindi), Seven Samurai but has somehow prints its own identity. This movie has more than 12 actors but the director has beautifully characterize their roles. You would remember each and everybody even after leaving the theatre. I think this is the first Hindi movie which has no young actors in it and typical love story. The other highlights of the movie are excellent cinematography, live sets and superb acting. If you prefer technicially brilliant movie, this is one, you must see.-Anupam