"Actor: Rajit Kapoor"

• Zubeidaa | DVD | (07/05/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £10.99

  Palaces, princesses and politics--on the face of it Indian art cinema doyen Shyam Benegal's maiden foray into Bollywood, Zubeidaa, appears to have all the ingredients of a mainstream success. However, the film is at best an uneasy blend of art-house sensibilities with the full-on spectacle that is commercial Hindi cinema. This is the latest in a series of semi-autobiographical stories by writer Khalid Mohamed that have been directed by Benegal. Here the director charts the story of Zubeidaa, a young aristocratic Muslim woman, whose promising film career is cut short. She is married off young, has a son, is divorced and finally finds love with the married ruler of a princely state in newly independent India. Told in flashback, the film's structure and some key scenes are very similar to the director's masterpiece Bhumika ("The Role", 1976). Karisma Kapoor, hitherto known for her scantily clad raunchy roles, makes her bid for artistic credentials as the eponymous heroine. But much like the film itself, her performance falls between two stools. Veteran actress Rekha who plays her paramour's first wife easily outclasses her in a graceful yet forceful performance. AR Rahman's music is haunting, dreamy and helps create a mood and ambience that the visuals fail to produce. On the DVD: Zubeidaa is presented in a pleasing anamorphic transfer with 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. While the menus are easy enough to navigate, the extras are disappointing, consisting of a faded theatrical trailer and a few television promos complete with dropouts. The subtitling, though largely accurate, makes quite a few errors. For example "cemetery" appears as "symmetry" while the word "diary" consistently appears as "dairy". --Naman Ramachandran

• Hari-Bhari | DVD | (21/01/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

• Sardari Begum | DVD | (14/02/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In the old city of Dehli off Chandni Chowk lives a once famous thumri singer Sadari Begum. She has retired and wants the tradition to continue through her daughter Sakina. One evening a schirmish breaks out in the neighbourhood and Sardari is killed in an accidental stone missile. Due to tension of the forthcoming elections her funeral becomes a media event. A reporter Tehzeeb Abbasi is sent by the editor Mark D'Cruz to cover the funeral. Tehzeeb was shocked to see her father Jabb

• Zindagi Khoobsoorat Hai | DVD | (29/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.99

  An Indian love story starring Bhangra legend Gurdas Mann....

• Monica UK DVD | DVD | (14/11/2011) from £8.99   |  Saving you £6.00 (66.74%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Lucknow girl Monica Jaitley shakes off her small-town roots by the easiest route she’s set upon, without her really wanting to: sleeping her way to the top. As a star-struck college kid, she is charmed by her mentor Raj. As a reporter who likes busting scandals, she is taken in by ambitious politician Chandrakant. Her rise is pock-marked by a series of relationships that flounder, and she finds herself friendless, paranoid, and afraid for her life. Ambition is often seen as a boon in men, but in a woman? It's a bane. Justified?

• Dahek - A Restless Mind | DVD | (25/06/2007) from £9.70   |  Saving you £-3.71 (-61.90%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Dahek - A Restless Mind (Bollywood)