Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai

There's a bit of everything in this film. A bit of moral dilemma, a bit of heroic action, and a bit of love and family values. If we add a folk farce and an American friend with her heart on her sleeve, we're set in every way. The story is extreme, the emotional twists and turns erupt like a geyser, and the small townspeople are no less tragic than the corrupt police or the local boss and his family. The bottom line is that I highly rate Aisha's interpretation of her post-rape trauma and her gradual softening to return to life, but I consider everything else just part of necessary film history. And no more Johnny Lever solos, please! (2012.08.24)