No match for Madhuri, but Rani is good...

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript" src="Config?Configid=43376741"></script></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="62.2%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:=""><a href="javascript:popUp(&quot1;photopop?msid=155609&type=0&quot1;)"> <img border="0" align="left" src="/cms.dll/thumb?height=299&width=299&photoID=155609" hspace="12"" /></a></span></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">Click to enlarge</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal">NEW DELHI: "There''s no trace of Gandhiji yet, doesn''t he appear in the film," PM Vajpayee once asked during a special screening of Ambedkar at Siri Fort auditorium.<br /><br />Director Jabbar Patel said he would appear in the second half of the film. Is it correct to leave without seeing Gandhiji, Vajpayee asked L K Advani, then home minister, in jest. The answer was a prompt "no". As for the power wedding the duo had to attend that evening, they made it unusually late, about 11 pm, after the film was over!<br /><br />For Advani, former film critic of the Organiser, films are a passion. He likes to watch them with friends, family. ‘‘Earlier, Vajpayeeji and I would watch films together at the Films Division auditorium. But now with 7, RCR getting its own screening facility, it rarely happens,’’ says Advani. He hosts at least one screening a month of a new release.<br /><br />What does he think of the new genre in Bollywood? ‘‘Technically good. But not much attention is being paid to storyline.’’<br /><br />From what he has seen in the last six months, Advani found a few to be ‘‘reasonably good.’’ <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Pinjar</span>, the last film he saw, ‘‘was quite different from the run-of-the-mill films on Partition, which are pronouncedly anti-Pakistan and have a love story somehow woven around them. This was a human story. The best character was a Muslim boy played by Manoj Bajpai who kidnaps a Hindu girl. Even when sympathies are with the girl, her decision to stay back with her kidnapper is considered right,’’ he says. He liked <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Koi Mil Gaya</span>. ‘‘This first Indian attempt at science fiction was technically good, though not exceptional, Hritik was good.’’ <br /><br />Warming up to the subject, Advani says, ‘‘<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Jogger’s Park </span>was out of the ordinary. The urbane nature of the film...a person cut off from normal, social interaction...he is overwhelmed...he slips at one such interaction...the main character, an uninhibited, extrovert girl and the manner in which the director deals with the plot emphasises healthy, traditional values in a modern way.’’ The latest Amitabh Bachchan starrer, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Baghban</span>, ‘‘upholds traditional values. Remarkable acting by two veteran actors...’’ It took Advani a while to recollect the name of Amol Palekar’s Marathi film <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Anaahat</span>. ‘‘I had seen the Hindi play <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Surya Ki Antim Kiran Se Surya Ki Pehli Kiran Tak</span>. It’s the same story. It is good, but the form is more like theatre.’’ Said quite like a film critic.<br /><br />Favourite actors? ‘‘Kamal Hassan,’’ pat comes the reply. And others? ‘‘I liked Sanjeev Kumar,’’ was all he could say. Actresses? Giving it a thought, the deputy prime minister says, ‘‘She is not doing anything now, but Madhuri was good... Rani is not bad.’’</div> </div>