Aaina – remake – Laga Chunari Man Daag (LCMD) – release year 2007 30 years later, Bollywood made the same theme because they failed to drive in the message in the think-brains of we, the Indians – way back in 1977! So in LCMD- Rani (who eventually becomes a prostitute in the film) is the daughter of a retired Professor (Anupam Kher) who is not getting his pension and is shown running from pillar to post to get it. Jaya (playing Ran's mother) is somehow managing to run the household by sewing blouses & petticoats. Financial crunch drives Rani to the big city where she becomes a high class Prostitute – having the designation of 'Escort' because in big-big corporate sectors, the senior officials cannot ask like 'get me a prostitute for the night' …..etiquette does not allow – so a new name 'Escort' has been given to such sex-workers. They obviously get paid higher than the red light area sex-workers….yea – this is a kind of injustice – absolutely the same work but payment is vastly different! So in this world, in 2007, where unemployment is rampant, Rani starts living in a plush house in Mumbai plus starts sending money to not just feed the family but also renovate the dilapidated building they lived in! People from her village (her cousin in fact) comes to know that she was actually a sex-worker and even starts blackmailing her! She then meets a filthy rich handsome hunk who starts dating her and then even marries her because rich males – mostly f**k around all kinds of females – but in Rani – he could see the subservient, submissive qualities as well (along with promising sex-postures that escorts are supposedly experts at) – after all she was from a small town and decides to marry her after all. His brother marries Rani's younger sister – who was an MBA (not an escort because she was educated…..I think this is the reason why Indian females are kept uneducated – coz if they all become literate and independent..who would do the job of sex-worker?..this is an inherent fear that sleazy debauch males have and thus do their level best to promote whoredom among women and keep it alive forever!) Take Home for commoners (thick brained esp.) after watching LCMD:That a female can be a sex-worker – either out of choice or by force – whatever – because eventually they will find some rich & handsome idiot to marry – so why not enjoy with as many males as possible?When males are allowed to happily hump around females – why shouldn't females do the same? Why on earth should they maintain their chastity or virginity – when some debauch, amply humped demon will ultimately marry them? A demon only deserves a witch. Ravana needs to marry Mandodari. So there.Some males seem hardly bothered about concepts like chastity or virginity (so it seems in the film) – the fact that Abhishek (Rani's hubby in the film) happily agreed to marry the escort – knowing very well that later, when he attends the corporate meetings etc., the BEEPS will smile and even wink at his wife…reminding her of the 'nude' times they had together!!(you see Abishek happened to meet Rani in one of the corporate meetings…means that he will be meeting the same officers or executives – for whom Rani was present……like to entertain them on bed!Aaina - a yesteryear Bollywood film Difference between Aaina 1977 and LCMD 2007 – Not much really. Parents are dumb enough to not understand the source of money. Both the times the prostitutes got married and lived happily ever after.Indians (maximum) went to see the conical blouse & open cleavage of Mumtaz and Rani respectively.

I started out with a pretty bleak expectation, to be honest, but it was not all that bad after a 2+ hours.Though I was very impressed the ad-man Pradeep Sarkar's first outing, Parineeta. It was one of the best of that year. I began with expectations of good cinematography. But as the movie unfolded, it was hard to disregard the story to watch each and every frame! Certainly the frames, esp the Benaras ghat scenes were very artistically done. One can be pretty much sure of artistic delight of Pradeep Sarkar's penchant for visuals.Acting wise, it's Rani Mukherjee's solo movie. I don't remember seeing her in a pivotal role in any film. So much so that, her co-star Abhishek Bachchan almost seems a gust appearance in the movie. Kunal Kapoor does good job in his role. (Why does every working professional hero/heroine in the Hindi movies have to do a job in ad-industry?) Konkana SenSharma - the only character I thought was a miscast. A big fan of her, almost all her movies - but her role in this movie looks sorta fake! Its not matter of the middle-class-family daughter in Benaras or working professional (ad-industry, of course) in Bombay. For that matter, last year, Vishaal Bharadwaj shot her beautifully in Omkara! I just think she is not commercial-movie-type. She seems very fake, when trying to dance or sing.Shantanu Moitra's music is passable. 'Hum to aise hain bhaiyya' is hummable by the time you finish watching the movie, because it keeps playing in the movie throughout. This is a typical filmy album, with few happy, a dance number, a sad song, the usual fair. The only song really stands out is the sort of hip-hop number with Mita Vashisth's voice with Shubha Mudgal's rendition of Manna Dey's old classic, 'Laaga chunari mein daag'.Lastly, I am truly happy for Pradeep Sarkar. Here's a man, who came to the industry very late in his career, but I am glad he did. In fact, I think going to Switzerland for Yash Chopra's movies is a must, so he does! But really, he doesn't need to go abroad to make his visuals appealing, he has enough colors in his desi palette to fill the canvas!

Natasja (Rani Mukherjee) grows up with her sister in a poor family in Banaras. Her father (Anupam Kher) always wanted to have sons, so they could provide the family with money. Natasja goes to Mumbai to make some money, to become a son. But she ends in the prostitution, where she makes a lot of money! Het sister comes to Mumbai as well, where she goes to school. She meets a boy, even Natasja meets a boy (Abishek Bachchan). When he finds out Natasja is a prostitute, he doesn't mind.This movie is far from real life. I have been in India a few months ago. I have spoken to boys from lower and middle class. Their dream is to have a foreign wife, but not a woman who has had a lot of relationships. Not even a prostitute! In that case this story wants to break a new boundary. It tells a story that even a prostitute deserves a second chance. But I don't think so that even Yash Chopra would marry a prostitute! So why would you make a film about it? It is even a coincidence that the boyfriends of Natasja ans her sister are brothers as well! I did not like this movie, acting of Rani and the girl who plays her sister was too exaggerating. It was below the level of Rani's movies I have seen.Jaya Bachchan was the only one who did not disappoint me.

We have seen Bollywood churn out several good movies about the innocent small-town girl who is forced into a life of prostitution. One of my personal favorites, Julie, depicts this story very well. We get to see the same story once again in LCMD. I think the biggest strength of the film is Rani's great performance followed by the beautiful cinematography from the ghats of Banaras to the Mumbai skyline. Rani's performances are improving film by film, and one can now safely say that she is the top actress in Bollywood. Konkona Sen also does a good job. Hema Malini is a pleasant surprise. Jaya is a big disappointment after her lovely performances in Kal Ho Naa Ho, Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe, and Fiza. Anupam Kher was OK. Songs are decent. Being a Yash Raj production, I had extremely high expectations. I wasn't let down totally, but expected something more, something new. If nothing else, watching the movie is a nice way to begin the festive season in a year where very few good movies have come out. For those of you who don't understand Hindi, the English subtitles are quite a comical translation.