The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

I reviewed the movie like 1 or 2 years ago and I no one gave me a thumbs up or down (useful or not) for my review but I'll give this another go Film Review The movie introduces corrupt police inspectors (Mahavir Shah, Govind Namdeo in his breakthrough role), a crime lord Kali (Gulshan Grover) and his brother in law cum cowardly sidekick Velji (Harish Patel). In the next frame we meet Kali's brother Bali (Mohnish Behl) who tells us he is going to an NCC camp Then through him we are introduced to Raja Bundela, Satyajeet, Girish Malik and Govinda! (yay) who makes a funny entry. Anupam Kher is the camp instructor, teacher (the only one I remember seeing), boss of the NCC camp and the target of Govinda's pranks. Anupam Kher falls in love with Bindu thanks to these pranks. The two have good chemistry with each other Govinda comes across Divya Bharti during her cycle race and turns his attention to her instead of playing pranks on Anupam Kher. He and his friends dress as girls to face her in a kabaddi tournament, jump into her birthday party and then jack a kiss from her and her friends.But Mohnish Behl also likes Divya Bharti (lust not love). In no time, Gulshan Grover finds out and will do anything for his brother. I've started using the character's real names instead of their filmy names but never mind! Gulshan Grover sets up Govinda for murdering a guy (Mac Mohan - the dude we met at the start) Govinda is arrested by police and sentenced to 14 years but thanks to Mohnish Behl, Govinda escapes the police. Alok Nath, Divya's dad and police commissioner, is annoyed and gets even more annoyed when Govinda kidnaps Divya in front of him and even more so when Govinda delivers an awesome dialog while he does thatGovinda kidnaps Divya and puts her in a forest where Divya finally falls in love with him. (better late than never). Govinda's friends, Anupam Kher join them and from here begins a cat mouse game between the good guys and the bad guys with Alok Nath stuck in the middle believing each side to be the opposite until his eyes are opened leading to a all's-well-that-ends-well climax The movie is a great entertainer and deserved to be a hit. The movie released at a time when the "1st half = comedy/romance. 2nd half = action/drama" formula set by PAK (1991) was relatively new. That's why the movie doesn't look clichéd.I think what works best for this movie is that in the second half of the movie where most 90s movie heroes go out for social reform, Govinda doesn't. His motive is revenge and he sticks to it. Even the songs he takes part in in the second half show how dedicated he is. Good lad! There's also no annoying comedic side plot because all the comedy is related and to do with the narrative The song pictursations are passable and are well placed. They don't interrupt the flow of the movie.Govinda is a good actor and proves to everyone why he was one of the best actors in the 90s. His action, drama and romantic scenes work because of the experience he has got from his 80s movies but its his comedy that surprises the audience because his comic timing was funnier than the annoyingly unfunny comedy subplots (Asrani and Jagdeep specialized in this) that were seen in 80s. Audiences wanted more funnier comic actors and then came Govinda, Anupam Kher , etc. Also the scenes where he gets angry or hurt evoke sympathy and anger as even I felt like bashing the bad guys with him The late Divya Bharti (RIP) was drop dead gorgeous in this movie. She handled all her scenes well and doesn't get overshadowed Mohnish Behl did lots of roles like this but here he adds a bit of sensitivity (his scenes with Gulshan Grover) in the role of Bali.Gulshan Grover was a menace in those days. Grover was one of those actors who hardly disappointed audiences in those days and here, he delivers a good performance.Alok Nath made his anger justified when he thought Govinda was the bad guy and when he found out Gulshan Grover was the bad guy Bindu made me laugh. Its a good thing David Dhawan used in her in his other filmsReema Lagoo can't impress anyone as she's there for like 2 minutes so she's passable Harish Patel plays his menacingly coward / cowardly menace act well. His Atka dialog was funny Raja Bundela, Satyajeet and Girish Malik supported Govinda well and likable Mahavir Shah and Govind Namdeo were good as the corrupt cops but its Namdeo who I liked more because he was a bit funny and likable as the film went on However the coolest character was Anupam Kher! His "Sridevi!" scenes were hilarious and proves he's not to be messed with when he joins the "Govinda is innocent" brigade. He also proved quite useful in the climaxI noticed a lot of things in this movie that would go on to be repeated in other David Dhawan movies• the way Sudha Chandran goes to Govinda after she is attacked in broad daylight by the villain is REPEATED in Judwaa (1997) • Gulshan Grover's look is REPEATED in Loafer (1996)• An army of dudes coming to save the good guys in trucks in the climax is REPEATED in Aankhen (1993)• the way Alok Nath interrogating Govinda's friends and the answers they give to him is REPEATED in Jodi No.1 (2001)

Few people would know that success of this movie actually started the trend of Govinda style acting and David Dhawan style direction of comedy movies in Hindi. This was not the first time they worked together but the success of this movie made both of them popular.When this movie came, both of them were in a lean phase. Maybe, the late Divya Bharti was lucky for them as she agreed to work in this movie.Story wise, the first half of the movie is similar to romanticism in Dil (Aamir Khan & Madhuri) and second half is similar to the action based chase in Ghayal (Sunny Deol). The first half entertains by the comedy of the NCC cadets versus the women hostel. The second half is good in its way by the action and chase sequence where viewers would not like to miss it at least in 1st time view.Govinda was very good in all aspects of the movie whether it is comedy, tragedy, fights and dance and Divya Bharti did not leave far behind. She matched virtually every step with Govinda. Both of them were ably supported by Anupam Kher, Bindu, Alok Nath and the three lesser known guys who play Govinda's friends.I would not call this movie a classic but surely entertains and relaxes my mind when I am back home in stressful condition despite of the fact that I have watched it 'n' number of times since it's release.

Shola Aur Shabnam is a complete entertainer. The first half of the film is a complete comedy provided by Divya Bharti, Govinda, and Anupam Kher. The later half depicts action and gives scope for some memorable performances from Govinda, Divya Bharti, and Gulshan Grover. Divya Bharti in her novel getup is sure to attract audience and Govinda is at his usual best. You should watch this film if you are a Divya Bharti fan, or Govinda fan, or if you like entertainment.