Thursday 14 October 2010

Sridevi and Sunny Deol in a rare Bollywood sequel: Nigahein (1989)


Nigahein (1989), i.e. Nagina part II, with Sunny Deol was a far more polished looking film that its predecessor, but it didn't do nearly as well as the smash Nagina (1986). Possibly, Sridevi's biggest box-office hit EVER. We state that in regard to cost of film vs profit margin, subject to inflation.* 

Nagina did not get great reviews in the press when it first released - but the movie was an unstoppable blockbuster at the box-office, defying critics and lukewarm press that it garnered prior to its grand arrival nationwide. The mystery, that climactic song and dance routine, the A-list star-cast, the crisp, fantasy and thriller element that went against the grain of the pointless violent movies that were on trend in the 80s...  so many factors helped boost the movie to become a bona fide blockbuster.  

Trying to re-create the magic with the entire team - minus Rishi Kapoor and Amrish Puri - with younger substitutes Sunny Deol and Anupam Kher, didn't work in Nigahein's favour. 

Anupam Kher, years after Nigahein collected dust at the box-office, mentioned that he was a bit embarrassed by his hammy performance in this flick. Ah well. No one has an unblemished career (as much as we love Sridevi, she's done a few blah movies too; Farishtay, Pathar Ke Insaan, Naaka Bandi, Chand Ka Tukda... etc etc.).

Sridevi looks incredibly beautiful in Nigahein and her finale dance number, a re-worked Main Teri Dushman (swapping the divine Lata Mangeshkar for Kavita Krishnamurthy was a misstep too - though Kavita's a fab singer in her own right!) rocks.

Many didn't like this film but we loved watching Sridevi in it. She's sooo good and sooooo gorgeous in the film. 


Slim and trim, ever-graceful Sridevi stole the show (again) from her co-stars, much to the chagrin of one particular leading man. Rumours are rife that after Sri won all the awards and priase in Chaalbaaz, Sunny Deol and she never worked together again. 

Sri also famously turned down Ghayal (Sunny Deol's home-production) which didn't help their equation. These two looked really good together and did quite a few films in the '80s (Sultanat, Joshilay, Ram Avtaar, Chaalbaaz, Nigahein and Main Tera Dushman). With more flops than hits, perhaps this screen-pair just wasn't meant to be in the overall scheme of things. 

To give the devil its due, both stars appeared super comfortable together on screen even though the vibes were notably cold off-screen. But then, that's what acting is all about... 












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