Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

What a waste of my time!!!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Yes, Khuda Gawah is, lamentably, low on imagination. What it does have is loads of drama, melodrama, melo-melodrama. It is hugely unconvincing as a story, even though as a fairytale it might be a good watch for lovers of Hindi cinema. No one should be giving it too much attention, let alone take the story too seriously. The portrayal of Afghan people and culture is terribly lacking and even as an epic the emotions are so gushing and exaggerated that few people with normal patience would be able to go through it all. Ditto for the typical action scenes. What it does have is relatively good production values, nice locales and impressive costumes. The idea is interesting, since few filmmakers would be willing to step out of their comfort zone and do something like this, as flawed as the result was. Amitabh Bachchan is too old for his part, and therefore one cannot take his performance very seriously anyway. Danny Denzongpa is efficient as the loyal friend. Sridevi has sure got great histrionics, and it is sad that she was probably not good in choosing the right films. She rises above a poor script, but who does it really benefit when the quality of a film is not up to the mark and the role is so missing in depth? She is wasted even though she is responsible for some of the film's brightest moments and does well in both her roles. Khuda Gawah sure was special, but sadly, not good enough, and for me, it was just a one-time watch. Watch at your own risk.

Khuda Gawah tells the story of Badshah Khan and Benazir. The movie starts with Khan, a Patthani warrior competing with a rival warrior for a carcus. After 12 minutes of chase and bad editing, the rival warrior's mask falls off, and guess what, she's a very young babe. Badhshah lustfully stares at this hot chick (who is young enough to be his daughter, oh, but who cares?) and allows her to win the carcus. This sequence is followed by a terrible song where Badhshah expresses his lust to Benazir (which is the name of the warrior princess) and challenges her. After the song the warrior princess challenges him back and states hat if Badhshah manages to bring back the decapitated head of her father's enemy, then she will be his. Badhshah happily accepts the challenge (while maintaining his lustful grin). While Badhshah is away on his 'pilgrimage'. Benazir decides to shed her warrior princess image and become a traditional Patthani woman. Anyway, Badshah meets a bunch uninteresting people in India (except for the only interesting one being Anjana Mumtaz's character) and finds the murderer, decapitates him and brings the head back to Benazir. The former warrior princess is thrilled (and her eyes hint sadistic pleasure) and they immediately get married. But Badhshah has to return because he promised a Rajput copper that he'd surrender for having committed a crime. Benazir is disgusted but she eventually allows him to keep his promise. Badhshah is also being hunted down by the brother of the murderer of Benazir's father...confused, well watch 'Khuda Gawah' to clear that up.The late Mukul Anand's 'Khuda Gawah' is a mostly enjoyable typical Bollywood operastyle masala. It's pretty much got all the Bollywood ingredients of songs, 'dishum dishum', good guys, over-the-top villains etc but there are some new additions which is what makes this likable. The female characters, whether it's Benazir, Salma, Henna or Mehendi are very strong. Clearly these women do not cling to the men nor are they the usual damsel in distress. The songs are quite beautiful (with the exception of the first one which is pretty bad) and stay in the viewers mind long after the film's ended. There's also the refreshing addition of the Pathani culture to the story. The costumes and desert locations are also a nice touch.'Khuda Gawah' does have a slightly dated look. The cinematography is dull. The 12 minute chase sequence in the beginning is tiring to watch. Perhaps it would have been more engaging if it were better executed. The sound effect is bad. The fight scenes dragged a lot and the repetitive slow motion sequences were annoying. It could have used some editing (but then again, there is something called the fast-forward button).Amitabh Bachchan delivers yet again another irritating performance which was his habit during the 80s and 90s. He is better in the scenes where he dials down the volume. Danny Denzongpa is wonderful. He delivers a memorable performance as Badhshah Khan's loyal friend, Khuda Baksh. Nagarjuna is alright. Then newcomer Shilpa Shirodkar holds her own and does nothing short of a fine job. Vikram Gokhale and Anjana Mumtaz stand out among the supporting cast. But, 'Khuda Gawah' is clearly, and not surprisingly, Sridevi's film. Playing two characters in one film is nothing new to this actress and she can just make it look so easy. Whether it's the courageous warrior turned insane wife Benazir or the vivacious and smart Mehendi, no role seems to be difficult for this actress. She is simply mindblowing.'Khuda Gawah' also has some suggestive macabre scenes (and I really hope no animals were really killed for this movie) and the ending is quite funny. But anyway, this is among the few Bollywood 'masala' flicks I enjoyed. It is far from perfect but the good points that it has are reason enough for me.

shot on actual locations in afghanistan nepal and india this film transports youto a world of subcontinental adventure and romance intelligent colourful and sensitively directed this film is a must for viewers who would like to see an indian spielberg a thing of beauty joy forever

This was a wonderful movie which had so much to offer. It shows us how love can mean sacrifice. It was truly refreshing watching this movie. Badshah Khan and Benazier are simply too good. I'd write this down as a classic of all times. Music was outstanding, dialogue was strong, characters were excellent, nothing wrong with it.