Phool Aur Kaante is Ajay's first film and from the first time I saw it what impressed me the most was his joyful boyish innocence and total high energy exuberance here. You can just feel Ajay's confidence and purity. He is obviously so happy to be working with his Dad, Veeru, perhaps fulfilling his father's dreams a bit at long last.
Ajay's love interest is Madhoo, who was also in Mani Ratnam's Roja. The film opens with a college scene and a geeky dork of a professor who is meant to be funny. Fortunately Ajay soon comes riding into the scene in full glory doing complete splits across two motorcycles! I was impressed, as men don't do the splits easily. It takes a lot of time and practice to become that limber. And I would imagine that his father Veeru must have been training Ajay in karate since he was a limber little boy.
There are bundle of upbeat romantic songs sung by Anuradha Paudwal, Udit, and Alka, with good clean college dance routines from Saroj Khan. Ajay is leaping, jumping, and rolling around the foxy Madoo, singing the catchy, "She gives me a heartache, she makes me pine. She's no heavenly angel, she's a girl in my college!" Sweet silly fun stuff!
Like any good BW film, our hero blatantly stalks his girl and wins her. There is a cute bit in the locker room where the freshly smitten Ajay describes his new love to his pals. He tells the boys that she has eyes like Meena Kumari, Madhubala's smile, Sri Devi's body, Jaya Prada's poise, and Rekha's appeal. This 'cocktail' he says, is the one he's going to marry!
Ajay is wearing that same mystery prayer bracelet he always wears, long before he met Kajol, and I am curious who gave it to him Mom or Dad? Often affectionately nicknamed Romeo in the film, Ajay's classmates idolize and adore him. He is the all around good-guy college hero loved by everyone - everyone except the rich kid thug Rocky, who pushes drugs in school. Ajay confronts Rocky and his gang, and thus sets the stage for Veeru's fight scenes - all featuring his wonderfully agile and energetic, good-to-go son Ajay. So fresh!
There's an imaginative fight in the locker room where Ajay faces the gang alone. He takes 'em on with his super high-kicks, breaks through wooden doors with his bare fists, flies through the air and lands safely on his feet, all to pummel and stomp the bad-guy rats.
You can't convince me that none of this hurts. And even though the action may seem a bit naive compared to Hong Kong or HW, I personally would still rather watch this film than most American television fare. In fact I have heard that Phool Aur Kaante is on Indian TV quite a lot so you can maybe catch it there.
The drug dealing Rocky becomes a real problem when he tries to set fire to the lovely Madhoo, but Ajay saves the day in a nice scene with plenty of flames and some cool but deadly swordplay more Veeru.
Amrish Puri plays Ajay's Dad, a role he will repeat over and over in many more of Ajay's movies. Here Puri is the self-made local Mafia Don, a Malik kind of a guy, and he is excellent as the long suffering, selfish and manipulative, both cold and emotional, hardened criminal. But remember Ajay hates criminals and in Phool Aur Kaante he also hates his father.
Ajay is that wild and crazy college guy who climbs in your window at night in the rain for a little romance. There's a nice wet sari number with Ajay & Madhoo dancing in the rain and fountain sprinklers. She's not a bad dancer and Ajay does what he always does, which is what I call 'man' dancing. OK, so he's not Fred Astair but he's agile and has more than enough testosterone to compensate.
Ajay marries pretty Madhoo and they have a baby. Here the plot thickens as Ajay's little family becomes enmeshed in the webs of his mafia father when their newborn baby is kidnapped. Who would do such a dastardly evil thing and why? Only Ajay's father who carries an old childhood photo of his son so he can kiss it - can help now. I love my India!
There are some real Kitch moments like when the crying kidnapped baby is sorta falling off a filthy bed, being totally neglected by an incredibly seedy boozing thug. And Ajay's Mafia Don Dad lives in a bungalow worthy of Las Vegas and wears $3000 English tailored suits. But like every Indian father, he wants his son and Puri is quite believably sympathetic.
Naturally there is a grand action-stunt finale Veeru Devgan style with a flying Ajay, machine guns, hand grenades, and lots of stuff that explodes! Why, oh why, do so many BW flicks start off with a bang and get mired in adding everything but the kitchen sink! Yes, I know it's masala!
Still all in all, I like this film. It is good clean fun and a real pleasure to watch the very young action man Ajay in his first-start, staring appearance of what will be a long and interesting career. I recommend you see Phool Aur Kaante more than once. Happily it grows on you.
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