Mr. India

Evil james bond style cartoon villain MOGAMB0 (Amrish Puri from DDLJ having a ball as you can tell...MOGAMBO LIKES IT, MOGAMBO IS PLEASED insert bwahahaha evil laugh here ) tries to take away the orphans home . He wants it for his weapons stash because it's on the beach. Warning he has 3 soldiers jump into an acid pit in his evil lair and it shows 3 skulls pop up thus denoting their devotion to his evil genius . Our happy family of orphans and Anil Kapoor Mr. India owe the grocery man and the land lord and are about to get evicted. He goes to place the ad at the paper and a female crime reporter mistakes him for a thief arriving for an interview. She's apologetic and then led into renting a room thus helping to pay for back rent owed . They don't realize the grocery man and the building owner are owned by evil villain guy and it won't help if he pays up any way. Sridevi is perfect with the at first cranky doesn't like kids role and later Lois Lane actions . She wants out of her apartment she lives in now because of noisy children ; when she asked him if he was married or had kids he rightfully says no. She was acting like she wanted his personal info. She finds about the orphans at the new apartment after she's moved in and after he's paid the back rent. They warm up to each other later. The role for this woman was written with humor, brains, grit, and dialogue no paper dolls in this film. She's lois lane and he's Clark Kent/ Super man. The evil grocer who used to be nice but is being bribed by Mogambo won't give the children food but instead took all Anils money for the back bills owed and is starving the children, Sridevi is horrified and feeds them and they make friends from then on out More Mogambo . Sridevi is now going under cover as a singer dancer in the crooks lair off of a tip on a party line. Fun moments for Anil and a surprised orphan . Non fun moments for Sridevi. She gets caught as her Lois Lane character always does . The second in comand villain has her hung up in chains like a pirate movie and is going to use a bullwhip when suddenly it stops in mid air and the cartoon villains go flying and things land on their heads (She gets even with that whip in the end) . Long whistle sounds of the funny notes kind as the whip walks and slides across the room on it's own with the villians crawling on their hands and knees to follow it then slapping themselves or getting slapped by invisible man. Anils surprise was an invention of his father's that makes you invisible. Fun little scenes with Anil and the little boy trying out the device and the child reacting to it , little ones do love the pretend your scared scenes.The music tunes are sung by the children almost 98% of the time. ,there's one about please give us our foot ball back and a little orphan annie style song that you only win after you've lost. Peppy and denotes the bravery of the orphans while they ride bicycles with balloons tied to them . Little ones who can read english subtitles or understand Hindi will love this one.

Mahalo for sending the DVD in excellent condition. The movie is not available on itunes so I was very happy to find the DVD for sale

Yes this is another Bollywood classic that I enjoyed...cast as well as storyline. Anil Kapoor is an excellent actor and he brings his characters to life! Friends also liked this movie.

Love this film.

The movie freezes very much.

Great movie!

I was really looking forward to this movie b/c I hadn't seen a Bollywood film about a superhero. Mr. India isn't born a superhero. He is an ordinary Indian who happens to come into the possession of a bracelet that can make him invisible. When he's not invisible, he's Arun (Anil Kapoor), a poor man who takes care of a flock of cute little orphans. Being of superhero caliber, he will of course do anything for these sweet helpless creatures, who all happen to be good breakdancers. The movie came out in 1987 and I guess breakdancing captured the imagination of India. Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done for Me Lately?" also dates the film. It plays in the background at a fancy restaurant where some villains dine. I wonder if high class restaurants really played Janet Jackson songs. Anyway, before Arun discovers the bracelet that will make him Mr. India, he meets a journalist named Seema (Sridevi). She agrees to rent a room in his house before she realizes there are like a dozen children running around and singing all the time. One of the first songs begins when Seema takes the children's football (soccer ball) away from them. The whole song consists of the children pleading with her to give them their football back. Despite her vexation, Seema eventually falls for the herd of orphans. What melts her icy career-girl heart? When Arun's grocer refuses to give him food on credit (due to an alliance with a supervillain named Mogambo), the orphans begin to starve. Seema is unwilling to trade the lives of the orphans for some peace and quiet so she feeds them a ton of junk food and immediately falls in love with them.I mentioned the villainous Mogambo. He lives in some kind of crazy palace-compound with a bunch of mindless followers who greet each other with cries of, "Hail Mogambo!" Early in the film, Mogambo proves how loyal his followers are by asking three of them to jump into a pool of acid located beneath the floor. Without hesitation, they jump into the acid. Mogambo is always talking about taking over India. He wants to be the king. Mogambo is a very bad man. He's played by Amrish Puri, who also played the heart-eating dude from the culturally-sensitive Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.Speaking of cultural sensitivity, the showstopping musical number in Mr. India features a troupe of backup dancers all dressed in blackface. The scene showcases an excellent high-energy song called "Hawa Hawaii" sung by Seema who is posing as a showgirl for some reason. The plots in most (older) Bollywood films are so convoluted that though one keeps up with all the twists and turns during the film, she (read: me) is hard-pressed to recall them. This is part of their appeal. The sensory overload one experiences is thrilling and leaves one feeling punch-drunk. It also seems to be an effective strategy for diverting the audience away from plot holes. Seema and her dancing boys go through several costume changes throughout the song which contributes to the intoxication. Before donning the aforementioned blackface, the boys are dressed in glam makeup and skintight pantsuits and then in grass skirts and pasty-style nipple paints. Seema is eventually discovered to be an imposter. Arun, in possession of his bracelet, becomes Mr. India and saves her. Lois Lane style, she falls in love with Mr. India and shuns Arun.I'll briefly mention two more scenes. The first takes place in a gambling hall. For no apparent reason, Seema is dressed as Charlie Chaplin. The scene is filled with slapstick comedy and allows the actress to show off her comedic skills. This is a rarity in Bollywood. There's a lot of comedy in Bollywood, but it's not very often that a woman gets to be funny. Sridevi does an excellent job and has tons of goofy sex appeal. The other scene I want to mention is the love scene. Seema and an invisible Mr. India profess their love for each other in song. You probably have heard that kissing is not allowed in Bollywood films. It seems that if people know one thing about Bollywood, it's that kissing isn't allowed. I'm not sure if that's still true or if it ever was an explicit ban (and I'm pretty sure I've seen at least one onscreen kiss), but Mr. India is no exception to the rule. Though I'm all for free speech, I must admit that censorship does breed creativity. (Just watch any movie from Iran). In this scene, Seema attempts to relieve her sexual tension by literally rolling around in some hay and seductively chewing on some straw. Really.I won't give anything else away. It's a big winner: the music is fantastic, the story's insane, and it indulges in the irresistible fantasy that there's a such thing as an "ordinary Indian" and that he could triumph over the rich, powerful, and evil.

When I saw that Eros released Mr. India on Blu Ray I was immediately curious if it had 5.1 sound. I searched on the internet and didn't get a good answer but I can confirm that it does have DD 5.1 sound. I haven't watched the whole movie but from the parts that I did see the picture quality was fairly good and the sound was good as well for a 1987 film. Also it is an anamporphic presentation (wide-screen).

Chindhood memories

This film was brilliant, it wasn't the sharpest definition in the world, but it was not at all poor quality. Much better than I imagined it would be for a 1987 film. It DID have 'Shemaroo' on screen throughout, but in such a way that after a little while you didn't notice it. I would recommend this film and this supplier without reservation. The DVD arrived a couple of days before it was due, carefully packaged and with a very polite request for feedback. Im one very very happy customer.

This film was well ahead of it time, and it shows a lovely warmth when seeing Anil Kapoor and Sridevi together in the film. The late Amrish Puri offers one of his best roles as Mogambo, and though I do not watch many Bollywood films (roughly one every year or two), I love this film and would recommend it.Just make sure you fast forward the majority of the songs to ensure you keep gripped with the story!

A rattling good tale of a super hero standing up for song dance and the Indian Way!

My fave childhood movie