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For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

This movie was so totally interesting and full of good storyline Good screenplay good editing good direction Saif was doing a good job Sanjay is remarkable vidya was superb in her debut performance Songs are really impressive 5 star Don't miss

Compared to Paheli, India should probably have sent Parineeta as their Oscar selection but all is well. Parineeta is more visually stunning than the former and involves one of the most daringly dangerous tests of any film industry, which is the casting of the lead heroine as virtually unknown actress Vidya Balan. But Balan manages to hold her own and make a mountain of her film debut by turning Lolita into a force to be reckoned with. The tale revolves around a guy named Shekhar (played by a very fine and in his element Saif Ali Khan) who falls in love with Lolita from the moment she arrives in the colony as a young orphan next door. They do everything together and he even steps in to provide her with money whenever she needed it. Time goes by and they grow into young adults. Shekhar gets Lolita a job with his father's company, and one day while at work she discovers an unusual folder which she is quickly chastised for coming across. She briefly ignores this, thinking nothing of the folder and continues on with her life. She begins to think of ways to let Shekhar know that she is in love with him but even though he feels the same way, he chooses to keep his feelings under-wraps. One day, while alone with a trusted worker at the office, Lolita comes across that rare folder one more time and this time opens it to see it contents. She is bewildered to discover that it contained classified information about the secret selling of the home she lives in with her relatives behind their back. Distraught but glad that she has now come to terms with the true motives behind Shekhar's father's insincere smiles, she goes home to ask Shekhar for help. But when he ignores her pleas, she turns to a stranger (played by Sanjay Dutt) who has come to visit with their neighbours and also has feelings for Lolita. Girish(Dutt) becomes like an angel for Lolita's family and this angers Shekhar who begins to make a mountain out of a molehill about things. Several misunderstandings prolong the otherwise stellar film, and that's the advantage that Paheli has over Parineeta. Paheli doesn't insult the intelligence of its audience. The most upsetting thing to me was the premise of creating excuses for the two sex scenes in the film. I don't want to be rude, but the audience is not stupid you know? That's something I would love to have told the director.The ending is so crappy that you might want to slap yourself if you sit through it. I found very many elements of Devdas (2002) in this film, it wasn't even subtle. Don't miss Rekha's cameo as the Moulin Rouge singer which adds a much needed pizazz, style and energy to the film. The Parineeta theme is also an instant classic. Raima Sen, Sabyasachi Chakravarthy, Diya Mirza among others add light as co-stars.

The movie's promos and songs looked promising but I did not hope much from the film as very few films live up to it's promos. I have read the story and the movie storyline tries to be faithful as much you can expect from 'adapted screenplay' Taking the story forward in time to 1960s seemed a masterstroke as you could show opulence and beautiful things on screen. The actors suited their characters except Sanjay Dutt. He looked elderly to both the actresses in the movie(Vidya Balan and Raima Sen). Both the actresses played out their parts well(Raima as pampered younger sister and Vidya as responsible girl-woman). Saif Ali Khan oscillated between neglected son, lover and a man who misunderstands his love. Rekha looked ethereal in her 3 minute role as bar club dancer and singer. One has praises for Sabyaschi for playing the role of money-hungry father who thinks his son's marriage nothing more than a business alliance. The music, cinematography,editing and direction were fair enough and loses steam only at end scene. Thanks to Parineeta I could see Calcutta in her old world charm again and I loved it.

Shekhar and Lolita seem destined for each other from childhood, but we know from the first scene that something is amiss, as the film begins with Shekhar about to marry another woman and Lolita already wed... after which the film goes back in time to show us their meeting and growing up together, to explain how the first scene was reached.PARINEETA is based on a 1924 novel by the guy that wrote Devdas, but moved relocated to 1960's Calcutta, which forms a gorgeous backdrop for the story. The production design and cinematography are luscious, and the soundtrack equally beautiful. There are times when PARINEETA has the feel of a classic and classy melodrama, beautiful and romantic... but there are others when it is so corny it shoots itself in the foot... or blows half its leg off.The leads Saif Ali Khan and Vidja Balan (her first movie) are suitably beautiful and do a pretty good job with the acting. But what gives with casting Sanjay Dutt as a romantic rival to Saif? Or to anyone human (and some of the more attractive mammals) for that matter. The idea that he is a "handsome" and debonair rival for Lolita's affections is absurd - the audience quite literally burst out laughing at the suggestion. And he's not even much of an actor - I'm fine with him when he's busting heads, but he was not right for this part at all (IMHO).Whilst the direction by Pradeep Sarkar (another first-timer) is mostly assured and accomplished, there are other times when it is excessively heavy handed - particularly some of the shots + sound cues used to imply the onset of melodramatic conflict - again, the audience were reduced to laughter when that was clearly not the intent.As such, PARINEETA veers between really rather good and really rather bad, with me contemplating scores anywhere between 9/10 and 3/10 at various points. Unfortunately the ending is one of the weaker parts, leaving the film on a lower score than it would probably have had if it had resolved itself in a less corny and unbelievable way... last impressions count, kids! So I think I'm going to settle on... 6/10.