Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Michelle Ridley The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

silvan-desouza After SHOLAY, Ramesh Sippy returned after 5 years with SHAAN(1980) with Amitabh, Shashi, Shatru(sources say that he wanted Dharam in lead role again but things didn't work out). The film has a decent story, starts off with Amitabh and Shashi who play conmen(in DO AUR DO PAANCH released same year too they played conmen) Sunil Dutt is their brother who is killed(in a stupid death scene) and then revenge starts. Similar to SHOLAY, here too Shakaal the main villain is given lot of prominence,SHAKAAL is based on James Bond type films, he has an island of his own and some weird gadgets(it was very expensive set of it's time). The first half is spent establishing characters and things take a turn when AB and Shashi alongwith Shatru seek to avenge death of Sunil Dutt. The problem with the film was it's comparisons with SHOLAY The film may not be as epic as it but yet its quite watchable. The film does get lengthy though. Also scriptwise it's not too tight yet it does seem entertaining The scenes are quite good like Amitabh bashing Goga Kapoor, the final showdown too is good, at times the film doesn't make sense too though it's forgiven for such a genre Direction by Ramesh SIppy is good Music by RD Burman is good, Yama Yama(RD BURMAN and Rafi) is exceptional, Pyaar Karnewala is a good song by Asha while Jaanu meri Jaan though oddly placed yet it's a good number with Kishore singing for Bachchan.Amitabh Bachchan is as always charismatic and cool in his role, Shashi Kapoor compliments him well,though he looks tired and older, Shatrughan Sinha's role was reportedly not in the original script yet he does well, Raakhee is as usual(for once she ws cast as Amitabh's Bhabhi),Parveen Babi and Bindiya Goswami are okay. Khulbushan Kharbanda had done small roles before but this was his like a relaunch for him, he shaved his head bald and played his role superbly, he is simply perfect, sadly he never played roles of such calibre later Sunil Dutt is there for 1 hour in the film though he is credited as a special appearance and is okay, Amongst rest Mcmohan, Sudhir, Sudhir Pandey, Dalip Tahil, Goga Kapoor are okay, Mazhar Khan is good as Abdul Johny Walker is his usual self rest are okay

elshikh4 Ramesh Sippy is an excellent director. Obviously he loves the Occidental world's cinema. So since his start he was determined on marring his commercial homeland cinema with the western in (Sholay), or James Bond in (Shaan). For the first half it runs as a crime comedy, with schemes and heists, then for the second as an action about a war between 3 heroes and one super-villain imported from many Bond movies; he lives on an island (Dr. No), has an office with sharks around it (The Spy Who Loves Me), disposes of a failure henchmen by exploding his chair (You Only Live Twice), and he's bald (Blofeld). Come with that some "Bondy" touches here and there : opening credits that roll while showing parts of the movie's events on a sexy girl's dancing body (From Russia With Love), the good guy fights a monster and beats it underwater (Thunderball), survives an alligator (Moonraker), and – sure – a theme song at the start and a ticking bomb at the end (nearly all of Bond movies !).The cinematography did grand. 2 shots were historically beautiful : seeing Abdul's character dead, and the leads' running to the helicopter at the end. Amitabh Bachchan is a walking movie industry, with unbelievable charisma and wit. Johnny Walker proved that he can make comedy and dance well. And Kulbhushan Kharbanda stole the show with sober cogent acting for what could have been a caricature of a character. It has smart editing and dexterous dialog, though still the movie's highest element is its hot and elegant directing. Sippy individualized every single sequence with distinct sets and visual details, being helped by towering budget. For instance : the amusement center's try of assassination, the stable's gunfight (which revived some of Sippy's love of Westerns), the port's murder, the thugs' home's fistfight.. etc. It reached its zenith at the last song Yamma Yamma, which managed to be one of the finest songs I have ever heard and watched. Yes, almost everything is top-notch. The ambition to overtop (Sholay), the most successful hit up to that point, is felt. But they forgot one factor : the script. While (Sholay) remade (The Seven Samurai) to Indianize a western movie, now (Shaan) remade many points of Bond to westernize an Indian blockbuster and give it another flavor. Thus it had a more than enough foreign atmosphere, looking strange sometimes, missed the human dimension, with light pain and more fun, and – unfortunately – suffered a load of cheese !Bone Cheese : There is absolutely no difference between Kapoor's and Bachchan's characters; they're the same happy-go-lucky guy, just one taller than the other ! The leading dual fight Shakaal, a *super* bad guy, the same way Sholay's leading dual was fighting Gabbar Singh; without appropriate advanced gadgets ! Flesh Cheese : A respectable officer has 2 crooks as brothers ? How come that none of his superiors blamed him for that ?! That officer decides to jump over a cliff to the sea while knowing that he's 300 km away from any land; so he thought he could swim that distance ?! The villain has a secret way to release the bonds around his victims' hands hidden under his main table, why ?! To use it whenever he's captured in his office, like what happened at last (SO FORCED !). The villain's toxic gas didn't harm the heroes (low quality gas ?!). The villain dies right beside the secret key to destroy his island (strange coincidence). While Shatrughan Sinha's character is a circus man, he can run a helicopter cleverly ?! The villain with all of that wealth, power, craziness is just a black market dealer ?? With his sophisticatedness he seemed as someone who wants to rule not the world but the galaxy ?!! And finally, the giddiest point ever : how come that our heroes flee from the exploding island while leaving at least 50 dancers, they used in their disguised entrance, behind them, including the legendary Helen herself ?! These are innocent people for god's sake, why to sacrifice them damn carelessly like that ??!!Lending the thick voice of R. D. Burman to Bachchan while Yamma Yamma was terrible decision; I was laughing out loud ! Bindiya Goswami wasn't fit for her role as a con woman who could dazzle men by her beauty (what beauty ?!). The charming Parveen Babi was infamously overweight, with no fresh performance. In terms of writing, the best addition this movie came up with was dividing James Bond, the forever *one* hero, into 3 guys. The beauty of unity is a favorite for me in the face of "Only One Man Can Do This Mission". It's someway the opposite of what Sippy did in (Sholay), when he remade the 7 Samurais with purely 2 guys. The matter of the evil man's last fate still worries Sippy. While making 2 ends for (Sholay); one where the violence wins which was canceled by the censor, then one where the law wins which was used, this round as if he wanted to revenge, declaring that killing must be faced with nothing but killing, and he did it rightly : Shakaal tries to kill the 4 leads, so they act naturally with self-defense, finish him with 3 bullets, and make Sippy eventually happy !It's an Indian good vs. bad blockbuster that visited Bond to borrow some super bad material. Well, nice visit but not nice fantasy altogether. Feature like harmonic was kind of missed. Though, despite (Shaan)'s faults it is better than many of Bond movies (at least it has a plot !). Yet, it's not (Sholay), just a big mild entertainment that flashes in your eyes to soothe your brain.

sharankandhai If you compare this movie with other Ramesh Sippy movies like Akayla (Amitabh, Meenakshi, Amrita, Jacjie and Aditya), Bhrashtachar (Rekha, Rajnikant and Shilpa in her debut role), Zamaana Deewaana (Shah Rukh, Raveena, Shatru and Jeetendra), Andaz (Hema, Rajesh and Shammi) this is an absolute classic. If you compare it to Seeta aur Geeta (Hema, Sanjeev, Dharmendra) and Saagar (Rishi, Dimple in her topless scene, Kamal) this movie is OK but if you compare it to Sholay it is a letdown (but which movie isn't. Ramesh Sippy as a director is in good form (not topform). R.D. Burman gave a better soundtrack than in Sholay which songs like Jaanu meri Jaan, Yamma Yamma and others. Amitabh Bachchan is THE HERO with support from Shashi kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Sunil Dutt (in a special appearance) , Raakhee, Jhonny Walker, Parveen Babi and Bindiya Goswami. Kulbhushan Karbanda makes a mark as Shakal bur he is no Gabbar Singh. This movie can be best describes as Sholay in the city. If you don't expect a Sholay this movie certainly entertains. The story is about three brothers Sunil Dutt ( a police officer), his wife Raakhee, his two brothers Amitabh and Shahsi who are two conmen. On their wedding anniversary Sunil and Raakhee get shot by Shatrughan but they survive. Half an hour later Sunil does get killed. Now Amitabh and Shahshi get serious and want to take revenge on the killers. They get unexpected help from Shatrughan who has become a good man. Thgether these three tackle Shakal with help from their girlfriends and Shatru. No super plot but like almost all Ramesh Sipy films the execution is perfect. A flop when released but a cult movie now. Definitely worth a watch and far far much better then the crap action movies that come out now. Definitely worth a watch, not only for Amitabh Bachchan -the only great Indian Actor (except for Rishi Kapoor) but the supporting cast is good as well. Watch out for the scene with Amitabh and Prakash Mehra's Raquela Padmini Kapilla in a special appearance. This scene is hilarious. All in all a very good movie

nyredman69 Shaan has everything you would want in a film - there's comedy, drama, action, great music, and an all-star cast. Not only that, but there also is a car chase, a hostage crisis, a shootout, a jewel heist, and a deadly marine animal!Characters include a pair of con-artist brothers who get conned themselves but end up joining their crafty foes (an uncle and niece team), another brother who just happens to be a police officer, his wife and daughter, a mischievous club singer, a hitman who turns good, a diabolical villain and his cronies, and a disabled informant. What more could you ask for? As if the movie itself is not enough, the music is excellent as well. What else can you expect from R.D. Burman? "Yamma Yamma" is an instant classic. Find out for yourself if you haven't heard it yet, just ask for the MP3. "Pyar Karne Wale" is a hit as well, and fits perfectly into the movie, unlike most songs in Hindi films which just appear out of nowhere (and I must say, Parveen Babi looks great as she "sings" and dances to it in the movie).This film is a 10/10 all the way. Shaan may be older than I am, but it's a film for the ages, and my father having a rather large video collection, Shaan being among them, I must have seen it at least a half dozen times since I was little. If you love watching Hindi movies, but haven't seen it yet, put it on your list of ones to watch. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.