Monday, November 09, 2009
Ajab+Jail
Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani
This Rajkumar Santoshi film is neither ajab nor ghazab, just a throwing of tested old ingredients into a pot, and hoping the stew that emerges is palatable. It may just be, because the staleness is disguised by the super energetic performance by Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif’s cheery presence.
Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani has elements of so many films it’s difficult to start listing… how many films are there that follow this formula:
1) Nice boy loves girl
2) Girl loves someone else
3) Boy helps girl to reunite with her guy
4) Girl realizes she loves boy
5) Girl runs away from wedding to guy
Must be at least a thousand at last count. Then Santoshi adds corny spoof scenes like a statue playing narrator, of a bunch of gangsters dressing in identical black, suits, hats and glares. And what can be said about the hero’s many sidekicks, except : where did he pick these specimens from?
Prem (Kapoor) and his vagabond friends run a Happy Club, with him as the president. He falls in love with Christian girl Jenny and does all he can to win her over (including eating non-veg food), but it turns out that she loves Rahul (Upen Patel). Because Rahul is a beefy and moronic character, the spineless son of an opportunistic politician, you know that he is really no competition for the perpetually sunny Prem.
Ranbir Kapoor goes at the role like he overdosed on uppers, if he keeps at it like this, rescuing dumb films with his hyper energy and charm, he will soon run out of tricks. There is a scene where he wears a women’s strappy top and pretends it is high fashion for men—and he does it without any discomfort showing on his face!
The gags here are of the incredibly silly variety, like a minor villain being made to sit on a cake, and then having his trousers stolen by Prem’s cronies; or a bunch of villains bouncing up and down in a pool when a live wire is thrown into it. If you can forget this is all so hackneyed, and coming from a veteran director like Santoshi, a bit desperate, then the film can be enjoyed to an extent. Otherwise it is a headache inducer.
Jail
Madhur Bhandrakar, known for making dark slice-of-life films, going where no filmmaker has gone before, falters this time. Not only does Jail have a plot inspired by The Shawshank Redemption, it presents view of prison life that has been seen already in many films, and doesn’t add anything to the perception of prisons gained from watching films like Satya, Ek Haseena Thi, Gumrah (which was Bangkok Hilton Indianised) and Teen Deewaren.
What he does succeed with, briefly, is creating a scenario that is every middle-class, law-abiding citizen’s nightmare—being thrown into prison, and nobody to heed their protestations of innocence. Those too powerless or two poor to get legal help can languish all their lives as undertrials, in the filthy hell holes that Indian prisons are. Parag Dixit (Neil Nitin Mukesh), a young professional with a good job and pretty girlfriend (Mugdha Godse), has the misfortune of offering a lift to his roommate, who, unknown to him is a drug dealer. Cops find a stash in his car, the roomie is injured in a shootout and Parag thrown into prison. He is unable to prove his innocence and after every hearing, chances of reprieve dim.
Bhandarkar’s depiction of prison life is a bit too sanitized, the only problem being overcrowding and open bathrooms with inadequate water. There are corrupt cops and ‘bhais’ ruling inside, but otherwise it is a fraternity of friendly guys, helpful and sympathetic. There is an avuncular fellow prisoner (Manoj Bajpai) who offers wise counsel, while a brash gangster (Arya Babbar) offers hope of escape. There are a couple of real life characters too thrown in for effect—like a professor accused of Naxalism and a rich brat whose drunk driving killed pavement dwellers.
Initially Parag tells his loyal girlfriend and loving mother (Navni Parihar) that he will go mad inside, but Bhandarkar is unable to convey the brutality of jail life, or even show, how—if at all—it scars Parag. His incarceration in the notorious ‘anda cell’ (solitary confinement) is just brushed aside as an ordinary happening. Newspaper reports give out more details of what goes on inside prison walls (the unshakeable hierarchy, sexual exploitation of the weak, a crushing of the psyche) than Bhandarkar, whose research is clearly inadequate.
There are some well done portions like a man’s quick escape in a garbage truck and another’s trauma at losing his family, but mostly Jail is dull, repetitive and, for a Bhandarkar film, much too mild. Neil Nitin Mukesh has the unenviable task of lugging the heavy film on his back, and though he does well, a more varied cast of characters would have given the film a much needed heft.
This Rajkumar Santoshi film is neither ajab nor ghazab, just a throwing of tested old ingredients into a pot, and hoping the stew that emerges is palatable. It may just be, because the staleness is disguised by the super energetic performance by Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif’s cheery presence.
Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani has elements of so many films it’s difficult to start listing… how many films are there that follow this formula:
1) Nice boy loves girl
2) Girl loves someone else
3) Boy helps girl to reunite with her guy
4) Girl realizes she loves boy
5) Girl runs away from wedding to guy
Must be at least a thousand at last count. Then Santoshi adds corny spoof scenes like a statue playing narrator, of a bunch of gangsters dressing in identical black, suits, hats and glares. And what can be said about the hero’s many sidekicks, except : where did he pick these specimens from?
Prem (Kapoor) and his vagabond friends run a Happy Club, with him as the president. He falls in love with Christian girl Jenny and does all he can to win her over (including eating non-veg food), but it turns out that she loves Rahul (Upen Patel). Because Rahul is a beefy and moronic character, the spineless son of an opportunistic politician, you know that he is really no competition for the perpetually sunny Prem.
Ranbir Kapoor goes at the role like he overdosed on uppers, if he keeps at it like this, rescuing dumb films with his hyper energy and charm, he will soon run out of tricks. There is a scene where he wears a women’s strappy top and pretends it is high fashion for men—and he does it without any discomfort showing on his face!
The gags here are of the incredibly silly variety, like a minor villain being made to sit on a cake, and then having his trousers stolen by Prem’s cronies; or a bunch of villains bouncing up and down in a pool when a live wire is thrown into it. If you can forget this is all so hackneyed, and coming from a veteran director like Santoshi, a bit desperate, then the film can be enjoyed to an extent. Otherwise it is a headache inducer.
Jail
Madhur Bhandrakar, known for making dark slice-of-life films, going where no filmmaker has gone before, falters this time. Not only does Jail have a plot inspired by The Shawshank Redemption, it presents view of prison life that has been seen already in many films, and doesn’t add anything to the perception of prisons gained from watching films like Satya, Ek Haseena Thi, Gumrah (which was Bangkok Hilton Indianised) and Teen Deewaren.
What he does succeed with, briefly, is creating a scenario that is every middle-class, law-abiding citizen’s nightmare—being thrown into prison, and nobody to heed their protestations of innocence. Those too powerless or two poor to get legal help can languish all their lives as undertrials, in the filthy hell holes that Indian prisons are. Parag Dixit (Neil Nitin Mukesh), a young professional with a good job and pretty girlfriend (Mugdha Godse), has the misfortune of offering a lift to his roommate, who, unknown to him is a drug dealer. Cops find a stash in his car, the roomie is injured in a shootout and Parag thrown into prison. He is unable to prove his innocence and after every hearing, chances of reprieve dim.
Bhandarkar’s depiction of prison life is a bit too sanitized, the only problem being overcrowding and open bathrooms with inadequate water. There are corrupt cops and ‘bhais’ ruling inside, but otherwise it is a fraternity of friendly guys, helpful and sympathetic. There is an avuncular fellow prisoner (Manoj Bajpai) who offers wise counsel, while a brash gangster (Arya Babbar) offers hope of escape. There are a couple of real life characters too thrown in for effect—like a professor accused of Naxalism and a rich brat whose drunk driving killed pavement dwellers.
Initially Parag tells his loyal girlfriend and loving mother (Navni Parihar) that he will go mad inside, but Bhandarkar is unable to convey the brutality of jail life, or even show, how—if at all—it scars Parag. His incarceration in the notorious ‘anda cell’ (solitary confinement) is just brushed aside as an ordinary happening. Newspaper reports give out more details of what goes on inside prison walls (the unshakeable hierarchy, sexual exploitation of the weak, a crushing of the psyche) than Bhandarkar, whose research is clearly inadequate.
There are some well done portions like a man’s quick escape in a garbage truck and another’s trauma at losing his family, but mostly Jail is dull, repetitive and, for a Bhandarkar film, much too mild. Neil Nitin Mukesh has the unenviable task of lugging the heavy film on his back, and though he does well, a more varied cast of characters would have given the film a much needed heft.
Labels: Cinemaah
