I shocked quite a few people, who normally seemed to respect my opinion on films, when I told them some time back that I liked Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, and think that Karan Johar is a good film-maker. But, that is nothing compared to what I am going to say now.
Call it my penchant for inflicting pain on myself or momentary lapse of reason (the two are pretty much the same, aren't they), but I decided to watch Ram Gopla Varma Ki Aag night before the last. The first few minutes, starting with Mohanlal speaking in Hindi (all great acting is lost when you can't pronounce words properly, man!), seemed to live up to the expectation I had from the film. Which was zero essentially. I gave up, went down to have dinner, went to my friend's room after that and preferred studying than watching it (now how often does that happen!).
But, I decided to give it another try last night. And I was quite hooked. Brace yourself for this - The Film Is Not As Bad As It Has Been Made Out To Be. Actually I should have realized this before watching the film. If the entire world population is so unanimous in condemning something it can't be all that bad.
I think the mistake most people have committed in watching the film is to constantly keep comparing it with Sholay. It would have taken a miracle for anyone, including Ramesh Sippy, to make another Sholay. See Shaan if you need any proof. Sholay was the result of the fortuitous coming together of all heavenly bodies that control such things, when everything fell together just right and that can never happen again.
But if you look at it as an independent film, or even in comparison with most Ram Gopal Verma films, it comes across as a pretty decent attempt. In fact, apart from the nausea-inducing camera angles, Mohanlal's horrendous pronunciation and Amitabh Bachchan's hamming, everything else makes it a nice film. Both Nisha Kothari and her butt - sharing equal screen time, almost like Siamese twins - do a good job. She is not hot, and is too loud on occasions, but not bad for the role. Devgan is no where as idiotic as the reviews made him out to be. Sushmita Sen takes herself more seriously than anyone else does, which she can't help really. And Prashant Raj is really good. If he takes care to have a proper hairstyle in his subsequent roles and if he chooses those roles smartly, he can be a big star. Mohanlal, despite the pronunciation and some funny expressions (which Sanjeev Kumar was guilty of to a greater degree), is eminently watchable.
Which brings us to Mr Bachchan. He is pretty much the worst thing in the film. He is among the worst hammers in the industry. And that is why I hate it when people criticise Shah Rukh Khan on the pretext that "he hams a lot". Probably all great actors ham on some occasions. I think another reason why Bachchan fails to generate the same fear is because Gabbar Singh was played by a rank newcomer. Hardly anyone knew Amjad Khan then, and no matter what role he played after that, he never got over the shadow of that character. Things are obviously different in this case. It's not that Bachchan does not do a great job in unconventional roles. One of his most interesting performances according to me was in Boom, which was delightful for the sheer irreverence of it. I respect the man for having done a role as interestingly disgusting as that. And he tries hard here too. Too hard at times. But, that is the price one pays for being the biggest star ever in Hindi films. One can't not see Amitabh Bachchan in Babban Singh. Which doesn't mean that there are no scenes where he does great.
The music is passable. The background score is actually good, especially when you realise that Amar Mohile is the same man who gave that jarring score for Sarkar. The supporting cast is competent. And again, do not compare it with Sholay for heaven's sake. You can't have Soorma Bhopali and the Jailer and the Mausi and the Imam Sahab and Hariram again. Learn to live with that.
Ram Gopal Varma is a very over-rated film maker anyway. Apart from Satya and Shiva (which worked mainly because of Nagarjuna and the time it was made in), he hasn't done a great job with any of his films. No, I don't think Rangeela or Kaun or Bhoot or any of his other films are all that great. They have great plots, which is a fraction of what a good movie ought to be. Sarkar, which many claim to be his last great outing wasn't all that great if you compare it with The Godfather.
So do the film and Varma some justice. Watch it. And enjoy for all the subtle (ok, not so subtle) references filled in the movie. It is a lot better than what we churn out normally.
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1 Comment:
I agree and disagree with many things in your post.
1. Amitabh Bachchan hams occasionally. True. One only has to watch Shahenshah and his other misguided capers from thereon till perhaps KBC happened to know it. And he's rather insufferable in most of the new Yashrajland films. However, his early roles - the ones that made him the greatest star of Bollywood - in Deewar, Don, Sholay etc are perfectly done.
2. I mention Don because you mentioned SRK. He played Don in a different way and which works well. My Don for him would have been a little more unconventional. I think SRK's energy and charisma can be properly tapped by giving him a role like Gary Oldman's in Leon, one that not a lot of stars can pull off. Can one imagine a clean-cut hero like Hrithik Roshan pulling it off? Bachchan's Don, on the other hand, was suave, sure and laconic and no one's done that better.
I too think SRK is a good actor. I think he did what no one else could in films like KKHH and DDLJ but perhaps because his style is so unique, he has tended to repeat himself. It happens to all stylised acting/writing/direction. Add to that his exposure on TV and the result is that I can now predict every little turn of his mouth and every small and big sigh before he's actually started. The range of expressions Aamir Khan uses is limited too but his underexposure doesn't let us see that.
3. About Sholay being that fortuitous event when everything came together and never will again - reminds me of a tornado going through a tool shop and assembling a jet plane at the end - I think Sholay is overrated. It must be a great film because everyone seems to be a fan but it leaves me cold each time I try to watch it. My analysis of my inability to go orgasmic over Sholay goes like this:
i. Neither Gabbar nor Amjad were newcomers to me when I watched Sholay for the first time. I had high expectations from the film (even as a ten year old) that was the definitive achievement of popular cinema of my parents’ times and I was disappointed at the mere above-averageness of it all.
ii. I had already been, and have certainly now been, exposed to a lot of violence in films. The novelty of a villain who shoots his own henchmen when they fail him wears off with repeated viewings of Mogambo’s soldiers becoming instantaneous skeletons by jumping into his acid pool for his khushi. Much later, I realized just how completely violent the scenes in which Gabbar chops off the Thakur’s arms in or executes his entire family minus the bahu in are. Hats off to the Salim-Javed who had the imagination to write these and to Ramesh Sippy for having had the courage of conviction to incorporate them in his film. The scenes, however, did not affect me then and they don’t affect me now like they must impact everyone else.
iii. Sholay’s dialogues have been imitated and mimicked and parodied ad infinitum and that is the reason the original lose their punch. No doubt it’s true that hearing “Yeh haath hamko de de Thakur” must have been a goosebumps inducing event for the entirely unprimed viewer and it isn’t for me. I watched Deewar a couple of years back and although it’s dialogues made an impact, the priming does take away much from the fun of disovering a gem by yourself.
iv. Sholay’s humour is legendary (along with everything else). However, I just found it slapstick. The scenes with Bachchan’s sardonic witticisms, especially the ones with Basanti are great but the Surma Bhopali scenes are merely okay.
I'd have loved to have an opinion on RGV ki Aag but I don't because I haven't watched it. I watched Papillon instead!
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