Ghulam is truly a masterpiece with an excellent theme by Vikram Bhatt.Definitely it is his best directorial venture.The plot of the movie taken from ON THE WATER FRONT fits very well to the culture of Subcontinent,beautifully reflects the hardships & attitude of the society in big cities and also shows the right way to fight against injustice & cruelty.The sole of the film is Aamir Khan's stunning performance.The way he has portrayed the character of Sidhu a confused,tipori is awesome.This performance has for sure declared Aamir Khan as the best actor in history of Indian cinema.Rani Mukherji looked very fresh and beautiful, the only flaw of the film is her dubbed voice which was needless.SharatSexana in the role of Ronak Singh is excellent.Music is very good.All the songs are good with "ab naam mohabbat ke ilzam " & "aati kya khandala" stand out.Overall it is an excellent film.I have seen this film 18 times till date and i recommend it to every movie lover.

Bhatts have known to remake Hollywood films from time memorial though they have given several great films. In 1990s Mahesh Bhatt directed many films, many worked like Aashiqui(1990), Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahin(1991) which were not that great, while Hum Hai Raahi Pyaar Ke(1993) was a superb film and worked well too, he gave flops too like Criminal(1995),Chaahat(1996), Duplicate(1998) and many more. Ghulam directed by Vikram Bhatt who earlier worked with Bhatts in films like Fareb, Jaanam, Bambai Ka Babu, got his first hit reportedly with this film. The film is a remake of On The Waterfront(1954) which was earlier remade by the Bhatts as Kabzaa(1988) and Vidhu Vinod Chopra too borrowed a chapter from it in Parinda(1989) and other films too. Ghulam starts off well, Aamir's character though may seem close to his Rangeela character is different, he plays the typical thug with a heart of gold who does dirty work as told by his brother and then changes his life. The film also has Aamir's most dangerous stunt, the train stunt which he did himself and missed the train by a second. The first half focuses more on establishment of characters and does waste a bit more time on romance but the twist in the tale is superb, The second half focuses more on how Munna changes and seeks revenge The ending may be a bit hard to digest but yet is well executed Comparing with On The Waterfront may be tough, the film does copy most of the film but adds it's own masala, love and all but yet it's watchable Direction by Vikram Bhatt is good Music by Jatin Lalit is superb, All songs are seeped in melody, be it Kumar/Alka's songs Aankhon se Tune and Jaadu Hai, or Udit Narayan's superb Ab Naam Mohabbat Ki or the crowd puller Aati Kya Khandala which was sung by Aamir for the first timeAamir Khan portrayed a tapori earlier in Rangeela(1995) but he doesn't repeat himself, he does a superb job as always and brings in the difference, He conveys a lot through his expressions. Rani with a dubbed voice is okay though she doesn't get much to do Mita Vashisht is superb in her role, Rajit Kapoor is superb Sharat Saxena is effective, Akshay Anand who also starred in Mahesh Bhatt's ZAKHM in the same year is good in his role, Raju Kher is okay in a short role,Deepak Tijori has just 1 scene, perhaps to recreate the JJWS success Amongst rest Bhatts Favourite Ashutosh Rana and Dalip Tahil have cameos

Ghulam is a story about a wannabe boxer who spends his time among gangsters and does their bidding. He begins to question his life of crime and meets a girl named Alisha who he falls in love with.Watching it as a youngster I found it quite compelling and exciting; the scene where he plays against death running on train tracks, saving the girl. Aamir Khan provides a satisfactory performance and Rani Mukherjee sadly is dubbed in this movie...............Its not her voice!She however looks stunning and very very sexy in the songs...Now the songs, the songs are all really good, catchy and romantic...Thats what bollywood does best.

I went through the list of Vikram Bhatt movies, and realized I had seen quite a few of them. And there isn't a single original storyline in any of them. Vikram Bhatt isn't happy in just getting inspired by Hollywood movies, he copies them totally. Sometimes, he does a bad job (Awara Paagal Deewana: The Whole Nine Yards, Deewane Hue Paagal: There's Something About Mary) but sometimes it isn't so bad (Raaz: What Lies Beneath and Ghulam: On the Waterfront).The difference with Ghulam is its treatment. This treatment is very rustic and non-glamorous. What you get is a nice, realistic view of the situation, with Siddhu being a very real character. Aamir Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Rajit Kapoor, Sharat Saxena and Mita Vasisht all turn in pretty good performances. I remember when I first watched the movie and was impressed by Rani. Come to think of it, I have been a fan of Rani since then itself, so I'm pretty glad things are working out for her now.Even being a copy, it is a rather good movie with a believable storyline and strong performances. Worth a peek.