Peter Young Honey Irani made a fantastic directorial debut. Armaan is brilliant in every aspect, despite being fairly outdated. Everything, from the dialogues to the proceedings to the characters feels like being set in the 1960s. I seriously think Irani should have officially defined the period of time as such, because it would have made much more sense. I genuinely liked the film. I thought it was special, realistic and artistic. The concept of life in a hospital was very interesting. I'm fully aware that it does not really work as far as the wide audience is concerned and that many people would find it slow and stretched. In my view, it doesn't take anything from Honey Irani's honest attempt and doesn't mean the film is less worthy, but just a film that does not appeal to anyone.The film, however, had a pleasant surprise which came as a saviour after an hour or so in the form of Preity Zinta, whose bubbly, spoilt, wicked and mentally unstable Sonia Kapoor is both interesting, hateful, funny and memorable. Kudos to Zinta for such a spectacularly played negative role. She was natural and convincing, and she managed to make her evil character unique and almost, if not completely, likable. This is thanks to her animated line delivery and her lively, partly vicious and partly vivacious attitude. I can understand why Irani wrote the character with Preity Zinta in mind. She does not really act in accordance with the film's mood, yet she seems tailor-made for her role, and her commanding screen presence more than carries the film.I think the rest of the cast was very good, especially Anil Kapoor, who was restrained and greatly impressive as the serious, intelligent and well-mannered Dr. Akash. He was very sincere, and this is amongst his most accomplished works. Gracy Singh was very pleasant and compelling. Bachchan was good as always, but he appeared only in flashbacks in the second half of the film, so there was not enough of his role. Aamir Bashir was absolutely outstanding as Dr Sanjay. This truly is an underrated actor. Randhir Kapoor played Sonia's father and for some reason made me laugh every time he appeared on-screen. He was unintentionally funny (I was particularly floored in that scene in which he said he was gonna sue Akash for insulting his daughter).Armaan is almost a classic. There is something in its subtle narrative style that makes it very engaging. It has a much stronger second half though. With the entrance of the character of Sonia Kapoor, the story takes shape and the film flows more effectively. The film becomes much more interesting, entertaining and enjoyable, although it generally still remains loyal to its realism and keeps following its slow pace. One must also note the background score, which is simply exceptional. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's soundtrack is quiet and pleasant. My favourite song is Zinta's seductive number "Mera Dil Ka Tumse", which is extremely energetic and fun. To all those who appreciate quality films, Armaan is a must-watch.

raymond-15 The funding of hospitals is never easy. There is always a constant demand for new equipment, medical researchers and other staff have to be paid and debts have to be met.. If you can find a rich donor who would like to see his name emblazoned on the hospital walls, lucky you….providing of course the conditions laid down by the donor are not too demanding.In this film a top neurosurgeon Akash Sinha (Anil Kapoor) is compelled to make an unusual decision. In order to save his hospital from closure, he must marry the rich donor's spoilt and somewhat hysterical daughter Soniya Kapoor (Preity Zinta). Akash must sacrifice his love for Neha Mathure (Grace Singh) his charming anesthetist and constant support in all medical matters.If you haven't guessed it by now, the dialogue of this film is in Hindi and it is given the whole Bollywood treatment. It is adequately sub-titled, but you'll need a comfortable chair because the running time is a little less than three hours. It's a strange mixture of a film. Apart from the hospital's basic problems, there is the eternal triangle of one man and two women. The romantic drama is well played out, the gentle Neha swept off her feet by Akash and selfish Soniya doing her best to destroy their love for each other. Soniya is forever having tantrums which keeps the action alive. Some of her wild scenes are reminiscent of the Bette Davis technique.If at any time you are becoming a little weary of the dialogue, rest assured the principal actors will burst into song and you will begin to wonder if this is a musical after all. But no! This is the Bollywood style, and the overpowering music takes up every change of mood and comes crashing down all around you. The Indian population must like this style of entertainment. It's almost as if the film makers are determined to give their patrons three hours of intense pleasure.The characters in the film are well defined and the scenario easy to follow. The photography is brilliant and the music, as I said, encroaches a little too forcefully over the action. As for the dance and song routines which interrupt the dramatic sequences, I guess they are a matter of choice. They give you a "breather" , I suppose, in the very long film and add to the whole night's entertainment.

jungleking What can I say about Armaan?Change in location to a hospital setting made one wonder if this would truly be a change from the traditional bollywood norm movie. Far from it, the characters and storyline is the same. Boy meet girl - boy likes girl - enters villain (ess in this case) and break-up boy and girl - after much tabulation boy and girl get back together!!Bachchan acting was good, a change from his recent stereotypical arrogant mature man; It was nice to see Anil Kapoor finally back with a meaty role, to do justice to. Pretty Zinta was fab in the role, one can see why Honey Irani said that she specifically wrote this role with Zinta in mind; Randhir made a pleasant return to the screen; and Gracey was good in her minute role.For a first movie, Honey Irani was good, unfortunately with such an emotional drama and impressive cast, it lacked the professional touch and would only have done it justice if an established director had taken then helm. Maybe for now she should stick to writing her screenplays, something she is very good at.The only recollection I have of the movie is the few catchy tunes such as 'meri zindagi meh ayeho' and the hippy hairstyles!!

fk1829 They'll tell you its a story of sacrifice, with some stupendous performances. But really its just dreary and dull trash, this guy Amitabh turns in a 'restrained' performance that borders on the contrived - a problem with most actors from Bollywood; their acting is plain contrived. Lifted across-the-border music [Yeh larka from the original 'Falak pay kaisa', the hit from the mid 80s] does not add much zing to the proceedings. And who was this actress with this Cleopatra like 60s hairdo?? Gawd, guys, get a better person to do that next time!!Only watch if you relish boredom. Really, its just another one in the long list of cinematic trash churned out by the Indie movie industry.