Friday, April 09, 2004
Masti
Indra Kumar’s Masti has the have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too attitude of a typical commercial potboiler— unleash a crude sexual barrage and then wag a moralistic finger as well.
Unlike last week’s Murder, the sex here is not of the heavy breathing in bed variety, but in the form of crude double meaning dialogues and vulgar gestures. Not to mention a far-fetched plot, idiotic characterization and blatant sexism. Unfortunately, for want of a better quality of comedy, this puerile nonsense is just the kind of film that will attract mass audiences.
The writers and director of this 1940s style farce, start with the premise that marriage destroys a man, still all three ‘heroes’ of Masti marry rich girls and then crib about boredom in just three years. The wives, of course, are specimens who ought to be displayed in a zoo. One (Genelia) beats her husband, the second (Tara Sharma) worships him, and the third (Amrita Rao) keeps strict tabs on him.
Frustrated with his devout wife, Prem (Aftab Shivdasani) comes up with the idea of having an affair and convinces his friends Meet (Vivek Oberoi) and Amar (Ritesh Deshmukh) “to taste outside biryani.” After a few misadventures with women, all three fall for the same girl Monica (Lara Dutta), who turns out to be a blackmailer.
Since all three are scared of their wives, they cough up the money, only to find the girl dead and a cop (Ajay Devgan) on their trail.
The film might actually have been funnier if the comedy hadn’t been so over the top, with cringe-making dialogue and very crass gay gags. Because the tone is loud, the actors are made to roll their eyes, contort their faces and ham away. Still the three leading men have fine comic timing and some truly funky lines, but you have to have taste for smuttiness to enjoy this kind of humour.
Unlike last week’s Murder, the sex here is not of the heavy breathing in bed variety, but in the form of crude double meaning dialogues and vulgar gestures. Not to mention a far-fetched plot, idiotic characterization and blatant sexism. Unfortunately, for want of a better quality of comedy, this puerile nonsense is just the kind of film that will attract mass audiences.
The writers and director of this 1940s style farce, start with the premise that marriage destroys a man, still all three ‘heroes’ of Masti marry rich girls and then crib about boredom in just three years. The wives, of course, are specimens who ought to be displayed in a zoo. One (Genelia) beats her husband, the second (Tara Sharma) worships him, and the third (Amrita Rao) keeps strict tabs on him.
Frustrated with his devout wife, Prem (Aftab Shivdasani) comes up with the idea of having an affair and convinces his friends Meet (Vivek Oberoi) and Amar (Ritesh Deshmukh) “to taste outside biryani.” After a few misadventures with women, all three fall for the same girl Monica (Lara Dutta), who turns out to be a blackmailer.
Since all three are scared of their wives, they cough up the money, only to find the girl dead and a cop (Ajay Devgan) on their trail.
The film might actually have been funnier if the comedy hadn’t been so over the top, with cringe-making dialogue and very crass gay gags. Because the tone is loud, the actors are made to roll their eyes, contort their faces and ham away. Still the three leading men have fine comic timing and some truly funky lines, but you have to have taste for smuttiness to enjoy this kind of humour.
Labels: Cinemaah
Murder
Heck, why must our filmmakers first borrow Hollywood hits and then make a right royal desi hash of them. Murder, produced by the Bhatt camp and directed by Anurag Bose, borrows liberally from Adrian Lyne's Unfaithful, and in the process of attempting to Indianise the characters, turns the story into a morality tale about what happens to women who cross that invisible Laxman Rekha. Which was a major objection with Arunaraje's Tum as well!
Simran (Mallika Sherawat, over made up, under-dressed) has married her dead sister's husband Sudhir (Ashmit Patel) to look after his child. Shades of B.R. Chopra's Gumraah here. It is a loveless marriage so when Simran runs into former boyfriend Sunny (Emraan Hashmi), she embarks on a torrid affair with him. Hilariously kinky scenes of the two making out on a building parapet and other odd places. A more passionlessly filmed affair would be hard to imagine!
Why take such great pains to establish sterile marriage and justify the affair by making the man an obsessed lover from the past? Why proclaim boldness on the one hand and then chicken out over the morality? Does Mahesh Bhatt's take on contemporary female sexuality stop at such cliches?
The film is set in Bangkok, more excuses for Simran's loneliness and 'straying'. In Bangkok there is a Sikh cop (Raj Zutshi wearing what looks like a plastic bandage on his head) and even the cabaret girl in a restaurant sings in Hindi! Our film-makers won't, grow up will they!
At some point Simran starts having guilt pangs, Sunny won't let go so easily, Sudhir gets suspicious and hires a detective, and Sunny turns out to be a two-timing skunk. All so pat and convenient. Like in Unfaithful, the husband is taunted by the lover and kills him. Murder takes it further to a climax so absurd, you don't know whether to laugh or weep with irritation.
The three actors are all expressionless, but almost bursting out of their skins trying to be intense. Fuwad Khan's camerawork, inspired by Unfaithful is nevertheless evocative. Anu Malik's music is pleasant.
The really frightening thing is that there are more Unfaithful rip-offs coming up! All we can expect is women stripping while spouting old-fashioned bhartiya nari stuff like Simran in Murder saying. Mere jism pe sirf mere pati ka haq hai.
Simran (Mallika Sherawat, over made up, under-dressed) has married her dead sister's husband Sudhir (Ashmit Patel) to look after his child. Shades of B.R. Chopra's Gumraah here. It is a loveless marriage so when Simran runs into former boyfriend Sunny (Emraan Hashmi), she embarks on a torrid affair with him. Hilariously kinky scenes of the two making out on a building parapet and other odd places. A more passionlessly filmed affair would be hard to imagine!
Why take such great pains to establish sterile marriage and justify the affair by making the man an obsessed lover from the past? Why proclaim boldness on the one hand and then chicken out over the morality? Does Mahesh Bhatt's take on contemporary female sexuality stop at such cliches?
The film is set in Bangkok, more excuses for Simran's loneliness and 'straying'. In Bangkok there is a Sikh cop (Raj Zutshi wearing what looks like a plastic bandage on his head) and even the cabaret girl in a restaurant sings in Hindi! Our film-makers won't, grow up will they!
At some point Simran starts having guilt pangs, Sunny won't let go so easily, Sudhir gets suspicious and hires a detective, and Sunny turns out to be a two-timing skunk. All so pat and convenient. Like in Unfaithful, the husband is taunted by the lover and kills him. Murder takes it further to a climax so absurd, you don't know whether to laugh or weep with irritation.
The three actors are all expressionless, but almost bursting out of their skins trying to be intense. Fuwad Khan's camerawork, inspired by Unfaithful is nevertheless evocative. Anu Malik's music is pleasant.
The really frightening thing is that there are more Unfaithful rip-offs coming up! All we can expect is women stripping while spouting old-fashioned bhartiya nari stuff like Simran in Murder saying. Mere jism pe sirf mere pati ka haq hai.
Labels: Cinemaah
