Aitraaz by Akshay Kumar

Aitraaz is the Bollywood remake of the 1994 film, Disclosure, starring Demi Moore and Michael Douglas, which was based on the book by Michael Crichton. This is one of the rare Bollywood remakes that is better than the original; in fact, it's even better than the book, and I'm a huge Michael Crichton fan!Aitraaz opens with a love story explaining how Raj Malhotra (Akshay Kumar) meets and marries Priya (Kareena Kapoor), a girl who starts out to become a legal secretary, accidentally becomes a maid, and eventually marries engineer Raj. This introduction is essentially a mini romantic comedy attached to the larger film, a luxury that bollywood films can afford because of their longer running times. The love story is somewhat cliched, but it is very nicely acted, and you feel the two characters could have fallen in love at first sight, as the story asserts. Further, it establishes the strong bond between these two lovers that will be required to sustain them when Raj is forced to defend himself against an attempted rape charge.The action really begins at Raj's company's annual corporate meeting, where he is expecting a promotion and pay raise, money he desperately needs to pay for his newly purchased home (referred to as a "bungalow" in the English subtitles), and to support his growing family, as Priya is now pregnant. The owner of the company, a man in his 60's, shows up with a beautiful young wife, Sonia (Priyanka Chopra), and immediately announces that Sonia will be the new managing director of the company, effectively becoming everyone's boss. Sonia, for reasons that are not explained until later, slyly and repeatedly flashes glances at Raj all during the speeches and promotion announcements, leaving no doubt that there is huge sexual tension between the two.The scene then shifts to the company party that evening, where Raj, Priya and Sonia become involved in a sexually charged dance number that begins to unveil Sonia's intentions towards Raj that don't appear to Priya to be all that honorable, a realization that will prove to be an understatement. After the party, as Raj and Priya engage in a postmortem on the party, Priya tells Raj essentially to watch out for Sonia and confine himself strictly to work subjects when around her. (By the way, why didn't I ever work for a company that had parties like this??!!) After Priya falls asleep, we learn, via flashback, that Raj and Sonia were actually dating 5 years earlier, and Sonia refused to marry him because of her career. This flashback sequence is one of the strongest parts of the movie, and I will leave the details to your own viewing pleasure.Back in the present day, Raj is confronted with a product defect, and he requires Sonia's approval to halt production for a fix. Sonia insists that Raj stop by her house that evening as she is too busy during the day. When Raj shows up, Sonia propositions him, dragging him to the floor and demanding sex. Raj recovers himself and leaves without having sex, returning to his wife. This is the most pivotal scene in the film because the court case that follows depends on the varying accounts of what happens here. It is a stunning scene, and both actors are superb. In my opinion it is much better than the equivalent scene between Demi Moore and Michael Douglas in the original. Priyanka Chopra is absolutely spectacular here, both for her acting and her beauty. It is unbelievable that she played this part when she was only 21! From the time she starts down the stairs in a beautiful white gown until she pursues him out the front door yelling and screaming, you literally can not take your eyes off of her.Sonia does not take her rejection lying down and accuses Raj of attempted rape. Her husband insists Raj resign immediately or be prosecuted. Priya convinces Raj to fight, leading to a sexual harassment court case. Priya ultimately acts as her husband's attorney, and the final court battle is very well done. I will leave the details and the ending for you to enjoy on your own.There are three main reasons why this movie is better than the hollywood original.The first is plot. The original book and movie featured an elaborate subplot where the company president tries to destroy the Michael Douglas character by blaming him for the company's manufacturing defects even though he knows that the Demi Moore character was really responsible. No company in it's right mind would deliberately punish the competent person in favor of a malicious, incompetent schemer and expect to remain in business very long. This subplot was stupid, un-necessary and was thankfully eliminated. This also improved the ending, which was more satisfactory than the original. The addition of the love story to the front of the film was also a very nice touch.The second is acting. All three main characters were superb. The critical roles were the two women. Kareena was the beautiful, loving wife with a hard side that surfaces when she must defend her family. She was terrific in this role. The hardest role was that of Sonia. The character had to be a scheming bitch and overt sexual predator within the limits of bollywood norms, i.e., without removing her clothes or even smooching on the lips. The answer was Priyanka Chopra. From the time she emerges from the white limo for the company meeting until the end of the movie she is breathtakingly stunning. Veiled glances from the corner if her eye and just the right raised eyebrow exude a raw sensuality most hollywood starlets couldn't accomplish with full frontal nudity, not to mention the crossing of the legs in that sumptuous white gown where just a hint of thigh is exposed--just as effective and much less shameful than the infamous leg-crossing routine by Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. Priyanka would win a Filmfare Best Villain award for this movie and receive a Best Supporting Actress Nomination. How she didn't win that is beyond me.The third is Priyanka Chopra, who was more beautiful in this film (pre plastic surgery) than Demi Moore could ever hope to be even in her own wildest dreams (post plastic surgery)! It is speculated that the on-going feud between Kareena and Priyanka still playing out in Bollywood today began because of the accolades the newcomer Priyanka received for this film while the well-established Kareena received comparatively little notice.The film's and DVD's faults.1) The songs. I hadn't seen many Bollywood films when I saw this movie, and I still don't like some of the music. The music interlude surrounding the Raj/Priya marriage I just skip these days. The very important song and dance at the company party is very well done, but the high-pitched voices of the women singers is still a distraction. It is so clear that Priyanka Chopra would never sound like this, and I don't understand Bollywood's fascination with these unreal, screeching voices. Voices aside, this sequence is very good and essential to the plot. Also, the dream sequence between Sonia and Raj is excellent. In fact, all the songs and dances featuring Priyanka are worth watching.2) The English subtitles are bad. I don't think they actually care enough to hire professionals to to do these subtitles. Often, the subtitles don't reflect what's being said when the original dialogue is in English. Also, at one point a speaker can clearly be heard saying the numbers 987, while the translation reads 973. Clearly, they just don't care about accuracy in the translations. This is a problem I have with Bollywood film subtitles in general, but it is extremely annoying and indicates a complete lack of respect for English-speaking fans.3) The DVD has no menu, no special features and no index to songs. You stick it in and it plays in a loop forever.Overall, this is a very fine film, primarily because of the outstanding performance of Priyanka Chopra. I am amazed that she got this part in 2004. At the time she had seen box office receipts for only two Hindi films, and although both (Andaaz and The Hero) did well, she was not the star or female lead of either film. Her first three film releases of 2004 were flops, and while the fourth, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, was a major hit, that could not have been known when she was cast in this film. One could argue that this was the most powerful female role of 2004 in all of Bollywood cinema, and I am shocked that there was not a line of actresses around the block wanting this role. It is true this is a negative role, and many actresses do not want to be seen in negative roles, but to pass up a part with this substance just doesn't make sense. My own theory is as follows: to play the part of a manipulative sexual predator and be believed without the hollywood crutches of nudity and overt sexual displays one needs a stunningly beautiful woman who can act exceedingly well, especially when she must appear to be stunningly beautiful when on screen with Kareena Kapoor, herself a stunningly beautiful woman. I can think of only three actresses in Bollywood cinema in 2003 who might be able to pull this off: Priyanka, Lara Dutta, and Bipasha Basu. (Aishwarya Rai -- perhaps, but it is not technically the lead role she would have wanted, and Aishwarya would have been somewhat old for the flashback sequences where the young Priyanka excells.) Lara, like Priyanka, hadn't really proved herself yet. Priyanka generally exuded more screen presence in Andaaz than did Lara, but plenty or Lara fans would disagree. Or perhaps Lara and Bipasha both turned down the offer. Or Priyanka was simply first choice. Arguably the most beautiful woman in the world (even before her supposed plastic surgery), and an actress who had demonstrated a willingness to listen to her directors and learn her craft, even if she had not yet demonstrated any great acting talent, these traits were perhaps enough to get Priyanka the job. Also, as a newcomer she was probably considerably cheaper than her two co-stars. Still, by any objective judgment, she was too young to play this part. The actual character had to be at least 27 or 28, and possibly older. It was a huge gamble to think that this 21-year old could do it justice. Her spectacular success paved the way for the roles in women-centric films that Priyanka has been able to garner in recent years, more so than any of her contemporaries. This was a defining role in Hindi cinema as well as a pivotal moment in the career of Priyanka Chopra. That she was cast in the role in the first place is a testament to Priyanka being one of God's Blessed Children, that she did so well with the opportunity at such an early age is a testament to her hard work and acting ability, and that she looked so good doing it is one of God's little blessings for the rest of us.

I love this movie, I have the CD but I couldn’t figure out how to set up my player so I purchased it so my beloved husband watch it.

EXCELLENT FILM. Great story line with good progression at all times. You really feel the tension and Akshay gives a fantastic performance as the falsely accused husband. I totally agree with the other reviewers . This was by far the better of the two movies . Much better than our American version. Loved the beginning of this film and how it let's you fall in love with Akshay and Kareena. They do this in a fun and playful manner that makes sure that we have an emotional investment in the film from the outset. The plot pieces fall together seamlessly and in no way do you ever feel it is overlong or contrived . Really neat dance scenes interwoven into the parties and vacations more natural seeming. The others say it better than I can . Watch and enjoy. I'm buying this one , it's that good.

I enjoyed this movie, only to show that the female is a dangerous species. And yes I'm a, female. Kudos to show that we are not the only victim of malicious lies.

Now,despite being a fan of all the main Hindi stars, this movie borderline sucks. Really. It has a slow start and from there goes into a past lover being falsely accused of rape. Yes, like the Demi Moor movie but not impressive at all. I give it three stars because it's just okay and by a whim Kumar is found not guilty. You can see or pass on this one.

A sexual harassment case with a twist. The female protagonist and CEO of a mobile phone company hits on a newly appointed board member. It appears like an open and shot case. However there are underlying factors. The protagonist and board member had been lovers five years ago. She had walked away from the affair on the premise of building a career. Fast forward to the present, she has gained material wealth and success which she thought she would use as a weapon to lure the executive into an affair. She was not getting any satisfaction from her much older husband, the executive was a convenient alternative. She meets her match in the executive's wife who believes her husband's innocence and is ready to use her legal skills as a crack shot attorney on her husband's behalf. This is the background for the explosive court action. Watch it for the tension, the song and dance of Bollywood movies and the stunning end

I love this movie because it has many twists and turns! Akshay Kumar is always a good actor in comedy so I was surprised that he could play a serious role as well!

I loved this movie. It was so emotional. All the actors did a fantastic job!!! I watched it three times