jmathur_swayamprabha Pardes (foreign land) is the story of Kishorilaal (Amrish Puri) who is an NRI settled in US but has been nurturing the love for his motherland, i.e., India in his heart despite living away for it. Arjun (Shah Rukh Khan) is his foster son who has grown up with his real son Rajeev (Apoorva Agnihotri). Sorry to find most of his family members including his son as completely coloured in Western culture, Kishorilaal decides to arrange such a bride for his son who is soaked in Indian culture and values that those Samsakaaras and life values reach his son and the generation next as well.Kishorilaal's quest for such a bride finds a perfect choice in Ganga (Mahima Chaudhary), the daughter of his childhood buddy Suraj (Alok Nath) who is living in India. He sends both Rajeev and Arjun to the house of Suraj to see Ganga and confirm that matrimonial alliance. However after the engagement of Rajeev and Ganga in India, Kishorilaal insists that prior to the wedding Ganga visits US and spends some time with his family in order to familiarize with her in-laws as well as the environment there. And there starts the trouble. Several undesirable things come to Ganga's notice and she has to flee from US with the help of Arjun. Shortly, she is able to find out that Arjun, not Rajeev, deserves to be her life partner. Kishorilaal also realizes that it's incorrect to cut an Indian girl from her roots and compel her to take root in a foreign soil.The idea behind the movie is definitely good and the conclusion rendered is agreeable. It's a lesson for those parents of Indian girls who feel that by sending their girl abroad through her marriage with an NRI, they will be arranging a happy and prosperous life for her. Even when the boy's family is wealthy and the boy earns well, it may not always be advisable because if the boy has grown up abroad, his personality and psyche must have been groomed according to the environment prevailing there and the girl brought up in India may not be able to adjust with him as well as in the family of the in-laws. Finally, mental adjustment matters the most in the marriage of a girl and not the wealth and the luxuries of her husband or her in-laws. But ! But Subhash Ghai who was considered an expert in making formulaic movies during that period, has not done proper justice to the story idea. To justify his theme and the conclusion of the story, he has taken different points and facets of that to the extremes and reduced many characters (in both the Indian and the foreign milieu) to mere caricatures. Love for India cannot be proved by shouting I Love My India loud (as done through a song of the movie). This love should reflect through understanding the Indian values and way of life. And it's here where this movie falls flat on its face.There are several ridiculous things in the first half of the movie in which the story moves at a snail's pace. The most ridiculous of them (at which I was beating my head in the cinema hall) is the Kabaddi match played between the two teams who are staking their claims on Ganga in order to take her away as the daughter-in-law of the respective families. The bet is that whosoever wins the match will take away Ganga through her marriage with a boy of the team. Such a laughable stock has been presented in a movie made on such a brilliant theme ! The second half of the movie is fast-paced with many twists and turns but they appear to be imposed to justify the case of the filmmaker and not evolving with naturalness. Personally I don't feel that smoking and drinking make a bad boy. All the same, a good wife is able to make her husband (if otherwise he's nice) get rid of such bad things after marriage also. As far as his promiscuity is concerned, this fact also appears to be suddenly thrown at the face of the audience (as well as the heroine). The boy's father's ignorance of this kind of nature of his son is a serious issue (especially when he's bringing a girl from India to US and allowing her to spend time with his son prior to wedding) which the filmmaker has neglected.The climax has also been dealt with in the typical Subhash Ghai style which entertains but doesn't impress. The heroine elopes with the hero without any love in her heart for him which doesn't make much sense. In the end, the whole stuff of the movie appears to be something having pious intentions behind but not executed properly and honestly.This lavishly made movie is technically superior. The only flaw in this regard is its excessive length. The editor and the director should have curtailed its length by at least 30 minutes by removing many unnecessary sequences. The overall form of the movie renders an impression that it was made under the hangover of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge (1995). However every movie cannot become DDLJ even with certain similarities in the story and the lavish style of filmmaking.All in all, this formula-studded movie which was a box office hit also, is quite entertaining but does not do justice to its noble theme because it deals with the love for one's motherland in a childish manner. The treatment of the subject is melodramatic for a major part of the movie. Love for the motherland should reflect in one's attitude and deeds. It's not possible just by yelling I Love My India from the roof of one's house or by singing and dancing at a song containing these words.

Peter Young Whatever anyone may say about Subhash Ghai's 'Pardes', I personally found it very entertaining, engaging and charming. The film may be slightly stereotypical, it may be a bit incorrect, but should it really matter to me as long as I enjoy it? The portrayal of the US may have been flawed, but the film's issue was in my opinion dealt with convincingly. Besides that, the story was very lovely and the film was according to me believable and moving due to the performances, the music and the overall writing.The film is about a young Indian girl named Ganga who lives in a rural village in India with her extended family. Her father's best friend, Kisohrilal, who's been living in the US for over 20 years, comes to visit them. Kishorilal is immediately charmed by Ganga and wants her to marry his young son Rajiv. Ganga's father agrees to the proposal and soon comes Arjun, Kishorilal's faithful nephew, who is also a good friend of Rajiv, to organise the engagement before Rajiv, who's never been to India, comes to see his bride. Arjun and Ganga befriend each other, but the real trouble starts when Ganga is taken to LA to live with Kishorilal's huge NRI family before marriage. The social, cultural and economical gaps rise, and Ganga finds herself lonely in a world which is very distinct from hers, where no one except for Arjun seems to understand her. There also starts the realisation that Ganga and Arjun are actually in love.The film is according to me beautifully narrated and Subhash Ghai's direction is very good. Technically the film might have been better as the cinematography was not that good. I did not see 'Pardes' as a social film or anything of that sort, but more as a romantic drama, and in that genre it was very well-made. I don't think Ghai tried to show NRIs in a bad light, because such differences and difficulties are to be expected in any kind of transition from one country to another, particularly when moving from a conservative and traditionalistic society like that of India to a liberal country like USA. There were many great and touching moments in the film, my favourite being when Ganga talks to her father in India on the phone and feels very lonely and sad. The romance between Shahrukh Khan and Mahima was very well portrayed and the two had a wonderful chemistry. While discussing Shahrukh Khan's best performances, many seem to overlook his work in 'Pardes', but this is according to me one of the finest performances of his career. As Arjun, he is kindhearted, and atypically subdued, sensitive and extremely vulnerable. Khan played his role with restraint, depth and sincerity rarely seen by actors of his bracket in those days. The film's brightest spot may be the gorgeous Mahima Chaudhary. She is not only one of the most beautiful actresses to have graced the Indian screen, she is also an extremely talented actress. Her smile lightens up the screen, and she is so compelling, moving and charming as the smart, sensible and no-nonsense Ganga that there seems to be nothing easier than to fall in love with her. This is a marvelous performance and easily one of the greatest debuts by an actress in Hindi cinema. Why she did not go on to reach any particular heights in her career is still mystifying. Another newcomer, Aproova Agnihotri, who plays Rajiv, fails to impress here and it was not a good idea to start a career playing an unsympathetic character. Amrish Puri is outstanding as Kishorilal, and the rest of the cast provide good support.Nadeem-Shravan's soundtrack includes some very melodious tracks. I liked Kavita Krishnamurthy's rendition of "I Love My India". This film also marks the breakthrough of Sonu Nigam, who became a star with the song "Dil Deewana". A soulful, melancholic and very romantic song called "Zara Tasveer Se Tu (Meri Mehbooba)" was beautifully sung by Alka Yagnik and Kumar Sanu. To sum it up, 'Pardes' is a wonderful romantic drama and that is the reason it was appreciated upon release. I recommend 'Pardes', for its story, music and superb star cast, particularly Khan and Mahima.

Liakot Ali Pardes was a Hit movie from great director Subash Ghai. It tells the story of a girl from India, who has a arranged marriage with a guy from America. She gets engaged to him and travel to USA, and realises her fiancé is not a nice person. This is more of a woman's point of view based movie that stars Superstar Shahrukh Khan. He doesn't give a great performance as he usually does. This is mainly because the movie is more based on Mahima's life. Mahima looks very sexy and gives a fairly good performance. Her character is a little immature, which doesn't impress me. There is a scene where she is asked to sing a song in front of many people including her fiancé and in laws, but she see's Shahrukh, leaves the stage and runs toward him. She is suppose to be a village girl so it is acceptable. I'm sure not all village girls are this immature, not to understand, its bad manners and disrespectful to do this. Apoorva plays the Fiancé in a pathetic performance. His character has no realism, there is a scene where he starts a fight in the club with a American person. He starts talking to him in Hindi in a dreadful looking scene. Poor music and the movie does get a little slow at time. The ending looks rushed and unprofessional. Overall not such a bad film.

va_dcblue This movie makes all of us NRIs or better known as ABCDs look like value-less and immoral pigs. Mr. Ghai should have actually researched the way of life of NRIs in America and UK before he even wrote the script on this movie. But as with all Hindi movie-makers, they don't even research the topic their movie is about and do something that unsophisticated Indian audiences would believe (which is just about everything on the big screen) This is the MAIN reason why most commercial Hindi films lack credibility and Pardes being one of the most notorious examples that supports my theory. One example of this increduality is how smoking and drinking are treated in this film. In India nobody smokes? drinks? Another is the assumption that Air India and more unbelievably Indian Airlines flies to American (and moreover to L.A. aka Vancoover, where the movie is filmed). In my life experiences, I have never ever met an NRI (or even a white guy) with the selfish, stuck up attitude as exuded by Amrish Puri's son in Pardes. So congratulations, Mr. Ghai, you have convinced several millions in India that us male NRIs are all egotistically womanizers and pigs. This treatment is also true for NRI females. Amrish Puri's wife in this movie is also portrayed as a "chudail" What's up with that? Well...you all know how I feel about this film. But I recommend you see it just to see how many stupid mistakes that Mr. Ghai has made.