Thanedar

Title: Thanedaar (Inspector of Police)
Year: 1990
Cast: Kiran Kumar, Jeetendra, Sunjay Dutt, Jayaprada, Madhuri Dixit

Thanks to this film, I was able to remember how much fun 90s Bollywood was~ when it wanted to be!

The movie opens with a fantabulous Kiran Kumar, evil landlord of a village. He not only rocks a topknot, he has a pigtail trailing out of it!

Kiran has kid Madhuri's mom killed, and when her dad goes to complain to the local police (lead by Dilip Tahil), Kiran isn't too please.Dilip has his own little tragic song, remembering a dead wife with his two little kids..Dilip and Madhuri's dad are soon killed off by Kiran's henchmen, and the kids are scattered. Dilips' younger son is Sunjay, a career criminal who has a on-off flirtation thing going on with Madhuri...while Dilip's elder son, in true Bollywood tradition, is the opposite of his brother, an upstanding policeman played by Jeetendra. He is happily married to Jayaprada and they have a daughter of their own.
In true filmi fashion, the brothers meet accidentally in a train, fight, and Sunjay manages to throw Jeetendra out of the moving train off a cliff. Oops.

Sunjay makes it to the end of his journey, and hits the same village he grew up in, unbeknowest to himself. The villages mistake him to be the new chief of police- in Jitendra's place. Sunjay takes things in stride, and starts fighting Kiran's men- Star Wars style!

And Sunjay's romance with Madhuri blooms, as they look super good together here. What separates Madhuri from almost every other actor is her utter abandonment to whatever character she plays. She actually seems to enjoy what she is doing, and is in the moment every time.

Which brings us to the song that made me watch this movie- the infamous Tamma Tamma!I love this song- Madhuri's 80's Madonna look, and energetic dancing beats everything else and brings the movie to another level.

Oh just check it out yourself- note that Javed Jaffery performed parts of this song as Sunjay's body double, since Sunjay really isnt that great a dancer- which explains all the long shots.

Soon enough, Jitendra resurrects from the alleged dead, and we rush into the inevitable and obvious finale- fun times! And in conclusion- its an immensely watchable movie, and if nothing else, you are bound to enjoy Madhuri in every scene she illuminates.