Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Spoonixel Amateur movie with Big budget

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Peter Young Honey Irani made a fantastic directorial debut. Armaan is brilliant in every aspect, despite being fairly outdated. Everything, from the dialogues to the proceedings to the characters feels like being set in the 1960s. I seriously think Irani should have officially defined the period of time as such, because it would have made much more sense. I genuinely liked the film. I thought it was special, realistic and artistic. The concept of life in a hospital was very interesting. I'm fully aware that it does not really work as far as the wide audience is concerned and that many people would find it slow and stretched. In my view, it doesn't take anything from Honey Irani's honest attempt and doesn't mean the film is less worthy, but just a film that does not appeal to anyone.The film, however, had a pleasant surprise which came as a saviour after an hour or so in the form of Preity Zinta, whose bubbly, spoilt, wicked and mentally unstable Sonia Kapoor is both interesting, hateful, funny and memorable. Kudos to Zinta for such a spectacularly played negative role. She was natural and convincing, and she managed to make her evil character unique and almost, if not completely, likable. This is thanks to her animated line delivery and her lively, partly vicious and partly vivacious attitude. I can understand why Irani wrote the character with Preity Zinta in mind. She does not really act in accordance with the film's mood, yet she seems tailor-made for her role, and her commanding screen presence more than carries the film.I think the rest of the cast was very good, especially Anil Kapoor, who was restrained and greatly impressive as the serious, intelligent and well-mannered Dr. Akash. He was very sincere, and this is amongst his most accomplished works. Gracy Singh was very pleasant and compelling. Bachchan was good as always, but he appeared only in flashbacks in the second half of the film, so there was not enough of his role. Aamir Bashir was absolutely outstanding as Dr Sanjay. This truly is an underrated actor. Randhir Kapoor played Sonia's father and for some reason made me laugh every time he appeared on-screen. He was unintentionally funny (I was particularly floored in that scene in which he said he was gonna sue Akash for insulting his daughter).Armaan is almost a classic. There is something in its subtle narrative style that makes it very engaging. It has a much stronger second half though. With the entrance of the character of Sonia Kapoor, the story takes shape and the film flows more effectively. The film becomes much more interesting, entertaining and enjoyable, although it generally still remains loyal to its realism and keeps following its slow pace. One must also note the background score, which is simply exceptional. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's soundtrack is quiet and pleasant. My favourite song is Zinta's seductive number "Mera Dil Ka Tumse", which is extremely energetic and fun. To all those who appreciate quality films, Armaan is a must-watch.

jungleking What can I say about Armaan?Change in location to a hospital setting made one wonder if this would truly be a change from the traditional bollywood norm movie. Far from it, the characters and storyline is the same. Boy meet girl - boy likes girl - enters villain (ess in this case) and break-up boy and girl - after much tabulation boy and girl get back together!!Bachchan acting was good, a change from his recent stereotypical arrogant mature man; It was nice to see Anil Kapoor finally back with a meaty role, to do justice to. Pretty Zinta was fab in the role, one can see why Honey Irani said that she specifically wrote this role with Zinta in mind; Randhir made a pleasant return to the screen; and Gracey was good in her minute role.For a first movie, Honey Irani was good, unfortunately with such an emotional drama and impressive cast, it lacked the professional touch and would only have done it justice if an established director had taken then helm. Maybe for now she should stick to writing her screenplays, something she is very good at.The only recollection I have of the movie is the few catchy tunes such as 'meri zindagi meh ayeho' and the hippy hairstyles!!

Herag Halli The Indian film Industry needs revival, since it is stagnating with mediocrity in talent and the mediocrity is put on the pedestal and worshipped by few biased morons of the Indian Media, who have no clue about class, aesthetics or process of review. "Armaan" is a one of the movies after a decade of decadence that spells a ray of hope, a wiff of fresh air. The casting could't be any better. When you have two stel warts of the Indian Cinema portraying father and Son, you can only expect some poignant moments and cinematic brilliance. There is no headshaking or filthy gyrations, pelvic thrusts as seen im the movies that has the Bollywood scums--the Khans-that is played out in the name of Choreography and acting and this is not representative of Indian Cinema. Amitab Bachchan the "Al Pacino" of the Indian Films has given one of his trademark portrayals so much so you wish there was more of him to see. Gracy Singh has class and elegance and act she can-indeed well. I hope we can see more of this talented actress. Anil Kapoor is the finest actor in the genre of "Robert De Nero" an all-rounder and the ultimate actor that the Indian Cinema is blessed with. Overall I like this movie-"I really,really,like this movie", if I can borrow the exuberation from Sally Field on her Oscar nomination.

ank27 Armaan is a story woven around a hospital in a town called 'Chandipur' which I suspect has been the land of many other films. But what makes Armaan's 'Chandipur' special is that it stretches from Mussoorie and Mauritius to South Africa, so naturally it encompasses all the landscapes: hills, plains, waterfalls, lakes, farms et-cetera et-cetera. The main protagonists of the movie are all doctors whereas the antagonist(s) are not, which makes one think whether the 'hidden' message of the movie is that you have to be a doctor to be nice and rational and if you aren't, there is something terribly wrong with you.Anyway, Amitabh Bachchan plays Dr. Siddharth Sinha who runs the Hospital. What??? A Hospital in 'Chandipur'!!! and that too complete with neurosurgeons 'n all, As far as my memory serves me 'Chandipur' only had Dacoits and evil landlords but now it has a hospital. Imagine how many lifes could have been saved if there had been a hospital in 'Chandipur' ever since we started making films but.... alas the patients of 'Chandipur' always had to be taken to the hospital of the nearest 'shehar' and that too by a bullock-cart and that too at night... Oh God! what a revolutionary idea to have a hospital in 'Chandipur' of all places, God bless Honey Irani!!! Dr. Akash Sinha played by Anil Kapoor is the adopted son of the Big B. Dr. Akash Sinha is a hugely gifted and an equally busy neurosurgeon. I say gifted because in all the operations he does, the patient has a very remote chance of survival (upto a maximum of 5%) but he always comes out with flying colors. And I say 'busy' because it looks like the people of 'Chandipur' are extremely prone to brain tumors(endemic???), so Dr. Akash Sinha is perenially busy, infact when his wife Soniya Kapoor (Preity Zinta) presents him with two tickets to Switzerland, he refuses to accompany her. Why??? because he has to perform 9 operations in the next 15 days and cant spare time for Switzerland(and importantly Preity Zinta), what dedication!!! Here, It is important to mention the role of Dr. Neha Mathur (played by Gracy Singh of lagaan fame(???)) who is a part of Dr. Akash Sinha's Surgical Team and is a anaesthesist par excellence herself. Dr. Akash Sinha and Dr. Neha Mathur are romantically involved with each other before the script demands that Dr. Akash marry Soniya Kapoor who incidentally is the daughter of one Gulshan Kapoor(Randhir Kapoor), and Gulshan Kapoor is one of the ten richest Indians in the world but as the script would have it, he also looks like one of the ten most stupid Indians in the world and the most idle tycoon in the world.It would be unfair to reveal the story(or the lack of it) of the film but generally speaking Preity Zinta looks like an ideal candidate for Vandana Luthra's weight reduction programmes and Anil Kapoor a candidate for her age reduction programme. Coming to Gracy Singh, she never looks good but this time the problem is compounded by her lack of acting abilities. Otherwise, she needs a shave badly. The songs featuring Gracy Singh and Anil Kapoor look like an attempt by middle aged people to re-live their youth. Performance-wise, Preity Zinta in this hyperactive 'made for Urmila' role is irritating at times, As for Gracy Singh, the lesser said the better, Anil Kapoor is adequate and infact does justice to his character. And there is a certain Dr. Sanjay who lends a freshness to the film, his is a likeable cameo in the film. And now coming to the man himself, The Big B has got three and a half scenes in the film and little room to perform as he is dead even before the intermission (you know the director is apologetic about this as Big B's ghost keeps making a presence post-interval). But in these three and a half scenes, He delivers your moneys value and especially in the 'waterfall' sequence which is a must-see for all Bachchan fans as you get the glimpses of the genius that makes Amitabh Bachchan what he is... Amazing....All in all you won't return disappointed if your expectations are reasonable. Passable stuff