Parineeta – Das Mädchen aus Nachbars Garten (2005)

Parineeta – Das Mädchen aus Nachbars Garten: Directed by Pradeep Sarkar. With Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan, Sanjay Dutt, Dia Mirza. The lifelong romance between Lolita (Balan) and Shekar (Khan) is upset by the arrival of another man.

“While this film is far from perfect, itu0026#39;s still a great experience for those who hope for a revival in Indian cinema. The storyline is relatively simple – I havenu0026#39;t read the book itu0026#39;s based on, but can only assume that it was relatively dumbed down for the film. But what makes it special is the entire u0026quot;packageu0026quot; – no over-the-top acting here, great period sets, smooth narration and actors who give a good dimension to the characters they portray.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI think Pradeep Sarkar and Vinod Chopra have to be given due credit for producing this little gem. Itu0026#39;s nice to see that their artistic integrity has been (relatively) not compromised here. Thatu0026#39;s not to say that the film would not appeal to the masses, it has all the elements of a love story in the u0026quot;Bollywoodu0026quot; genre – song, dance, family melodrama, happy ending etc. – but all these are delicately interwoven into the narrative without losing focus on the story or rather the strong characters. The only complain I had was from the u0026quot;product placementsu0026quot; that seemed forced and totally out of place in the film :)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI am amazed that a film this good was overlooked, by the selection committee, for an entry to the Oscars this year. I am not saying this is a u0026quot;Pather Panchaliu0026quot; but amongst what was available, it could be argued that this film stood a better chance to find appeal amongst an international audience.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMy vote – 7 out of 10… definitely worth your time!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePS: Like another reviewer pointed out here, watch this film on the big screen or its original DVD release that does complete justice to the beautiful cinematography and art direction!”