Parinda (1989)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Vidhu Vinod Chopra

Writers:

Vidhu Vinod Chopra (scenario)
Vidhu Vinod Chopra (story)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Family | Romance

Tagline:

The Most Powerful Film Ever Made

Plot:

Two brothers are caught on the different sides of a gang war.

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Assassination | Pigeon | Drug Smuggling | Threat

Awards:

7 wins

Cast

Nana Patekar	...	Anna
Vidhu Vinod Chopra	...	Corpse
Kamal Chopra	...	Rama
Suresh Oberoi	...	Abdul Khan
Anupam Kher	...	Inspector Prakash
Anang Desai	...	Inspector Meerani
Jackie Shroff	...	Kishen
Tom Alter	...	Musa
Sameer	...	Kid Kishen
Hitesh	...	Kid Karan
Mohan	...	Kid Anna
Shweta	...	Kid Paro
Jatin	...	Kid Prakash
Vilas Shinde	...	Man with bug
Imtiaz Hussain	...	Dara (as Imteyaz Hussein)

Also Known As:

The Pigeon (India: English title)

Runtime:

154 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Certification:

India:A

Filming Locations:

Antop Hill, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Company:

Natraj Productions

Trivia:

Due to star dates and the availability of locations, the movie was shot over a period of three years.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Eklavya (2007)

Starting a new era

This movie was the turning point in the fanciful world of Bollywood which had so far kept the remotest possible distance from reality in order to provide a fantasy escape to people amidst poverty and underdevelopment. Bollywood, in this respect had always feared compromising with colors, glycerin, scenic places, superman feats, dances and pomp and pageantry lest the movies would become insipid and turn off the masses.

Parinda dared to break the trend and brought the reel closer to real when Vidhu Vinod Chopra used the cinematography of the hitherto called 'art cinema' in the commercial mass cinema. But Parinda was not all about cinematography, it was a realistic take on the Bombay underworld and life of people in general. So far we had only seen mostly Ajit and Amjad Khan brand of opulent villains incredibly placed in their hi-tech, luxury castles. Parinda showed exactly how a real life gangster lives.

The movie is damn powerful and made such a wonderful blend of romance and violence that it is hard to categorize it into either genre. The characterization is so immaculate that the audience could connect and empathize even with the peripheral characters playing cameos. In a nutshell, the movie has a soul and is powerful enough to linger in the memory for long time.

It was a collective effort where the sensitive direction of V V Chpora was complimented by brilliant and soulful acting performances by master actors (all!) Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Madhuri Dikshit and Nana Patekar. What a dream cast that was! As mentioned before, the movie changed the age old and decadent trends in Bollywood and inspired the new generation filmmakers to stop insulting public intelligence. It set a benchmark for making realistic movies and blending them with drama. Ram Gopal Verma, for one,took the leaf from Parinda when he made Shiva in 1991 and later churned out a plethora of similar movies.