With Jodhaa-Akbar making waves for the on-screen chemistry between Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai, its worth taking a look at the factors that go into a strong woman’s surrender to the man whom she recognizes as her partner or soul mate. The film has been criticized for being too long and drawn the usual protests from interested parties for its alleged historical inaccuracies, but at least it makes us think once again about the union of two proud and independent spirits.

For a strong woman, the almost lifelong dilemma is not to find the ideal man, but the man strong enough to take her as his partner, without feeling threatened or insecure. In many women’s lives, such a man is never found, and they have to settle for a compromise, losing some of their vitality, and becoming bitter and brittle in the process. For other women who have stayed true to their own natures in spite of the many hurdles in their path, the rewards may come in a surprising form, but they do arrive. Sometimes, the efforts for such self-determination may be so difficult to sustain that they require being single long after one’s friends and classmates are all married. Such women acquire the respect and admiration of peers and colleagues, and may have to make do with this till they find true companions. Total integrity in one’s dealings with others, and most of all, in the visible manifestation of one’s own nature, will draw similar spirits – even though this seems to be taking forever.

A new film is running in theatres that has the potential to change many things about mainstream Hindi cinema. Showing signs of being a hit, and bound to gain some viewers from the prison stint of one of its leading actors – Sanjay Dutt, the film is entertaining enough to have viewers rocking with laughter. And yet, what makes ‘Dhamaal’ such a different film is not the quality of its comedy – it is the complete absence of any boy-girl angle.

Film : Die Hard 4
Starring : Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long
Director : Len Wiseman

Looking for speed, thrills, chills, fights, and some intensely gripping moments on screen? Then Die Hard 4 will live up to all these expectations and more.

The movie sees the reprise of a beloved and iconic character: John McClane (Bruce Willis). All the action takes place on the Fourth of July weekend, when an attack on the vulnerable United States infrastructure begins to shut down the entire nation. The mysterious figure behind the scheme has figured out every modern angle…but he never figured on McClane – the old-school “analog” fly in the “digital” ointment. Though he isn’t completely savvy about and at ease with the New Age wizardry and gadgets, he relies on just plain ol’ fashioned action, to achieve his ends. And apparently in a situation like this, his fists, brains and bravado are about the only hope of the nation.

What if you are born gifted in playing a particular sport and want to play it on the world stage? What if you know that you are part of the geographical map of a country and are yet treated as a foreigner? What if you want to reclaim your national identity, not through demonstrations and slogan shouting, but through sheer performance? Chak De, Shah Rukh Khan’s latest film that has been released to coincide with India’s 60th anniversary of Independence, asks all these questions and more in a very memorable, entertaining and action-packed manner.

Film : Bombay To Goa
Starring: Raju Shrivastav, Vijay Sale, Shakti Kapoor, Ahsan Quresishi, Sunil Pal, Tinu Anand
Director : Raj Pendurkar

Why is it that good comedies generally elude film makers in Bollywood and very few of them are able to make us really laugh? Bombay to Goa should have been a laugh riot, considering the number of comedians in the film but despite their best efforts, innane lines and sheer nonsense in the name of comedy, leaves more frown lines than laugh lines at the end of it all!