Friday, September 30, 2011
Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster
Hinterland Hijinx
Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Haasil proved that he has a feel of the pulse of small town India, the part of the country almost forgotten by Bollywood, and glimpsed occasionally through the cinema of Prakash Jha or Vishal Bharadwaj.
Now he reworks Bimal Mitra’s classic Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam the way Vishal Bharadwaj adapted Shakespeare in Maqbool and Omkara or Anurag Kashyap reworked Devdas as Dev D. He sets his film in a fictional ‘kingdom’ still under the control of the erstwhile ruler (Jimmy Shergill), whose fortunes have depleted, and he now has to compete for crumbs of government contracts and other unsavoury work with the nouveau riche upstarts like Gainda Singh (Vipin Sharma). His once glorious army of loyal foot soldiers is reduced to one, Kanhaiya (Deepraj Rana).
He has to beg his stepmother for funds to keep his mistress Mahua (Shreya Narayan) in comfort, while in his crumbling haveli, his wife (Mahie Gill) is literally going nuts. Into this already simmering cauldron enters Babloo (Randeep Hooda), as a driver to replace his wounded uncle. He is Gainda Singh’s plant—a cocky, English speaking, guitar strumming man, who was dumped by his girlfriend because he has no class.
Babloo and the wife quickly start an affair, while around them politics, corruption and bloodshed colour the landscape. The ‘Saheb’ losing his prestige and the loyalty of a minister (Rajeev Gupta), needs Babloo as an amoral henchman, and the guy moves around everyone like an expert chessmaster.
Dhulia layers the story with an observant, if not always disapproving look at how the other India lives—lawless, hypocritical, greedy and brutal.
Babloo is the classic opportunist, “mauka-terian” as he calls himself, but also a reckless fool in love. The wife gets a contemporary makeover in this film, and even though Mahie Gill is not able to do justice to the complex character, she is an unusual woman. Jimmy Shergill brings dignity to his part by underplaying to the right degree and he is supported by a cast of wonderful actors, even in small parts. But the film belongs to Randeep Hooda, hovering on the fringes of Bollywood for so long, and giving such a fantastic performance when he gets the chance, that he should now get his due.
Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster is not a mindless entertainer, and is quintessentially desi, full of heat, dust and colour.
Labels: Cinemaah
Force
All Brawn
Most movies end with a cliffhanger scene, Force begins with one—a badly wounded man thrown off a cliff, grabs an overhanging rock and climbs his way up. Is he human? Or is all that blood on a white vest just ketchup?
One shouldn’t be complaining…here’s a good looking movie, with a Greek God gorgeous hero, a cute heroine, great action, kind-of-okay plot; why then does it not grab the audiences and keep them there. It’s too violent, very predictable and lacks a certain something that stops a well made movie from being a must-watch.
With Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgan flexing their muscles, action films are back, and many of them are remakes of Southern films. In the South, they have captured the market on jaw-dropping stunts, and are passing on the content to us. Salman Khan’s current career high is thanks to those Tamil actioners. Nishikant Kamat’s Force, a remake of Kaakha Kaakha makes you think about why Salman’s films are monster hits and why John Abraham doesn’t quite pull it off. Salman adds a bit of tongue-in-cheek to his portrayal of muscular hulks. When the fight in the climax has varied ways of getting his shirt off, the audience is in on the joke. His directors also see to it that there is other masala— popular songs, an item number or two, at least one quotable dialogue and a sprinkling of humour. If those films are fairy tales of a kind, so is Force. In reality, cops from the Narcotics Control Bureau aren’t incorruptible hunks. And John Abraham with those sculpted muscles and no expression, could pass off as an android without any CGI help.
He plays ACP Yashwardhan, the kind of cop who likes darkness and silence, does not like dance and drama, has no back story and no life outside of work, till chatterbox Maya (Genelia D’Souza--annoying) turns up to distract him. Still, he and his handpicked team of devoted officers go about eliminating drug dealers from Goa to Rajasthan to Manali and then come up against Vishnu (newcomer Vidyut Jammwal—terrific screen presence), who is a total savage.
The action sequences are superb (Allan Amin), but there’s still a seen-that quality to them (the scene in the meat locker for instance). Also on the plus side, the cinematography (Ayanaka Bose), editing with its painstaking intercuts; on the minus side, music, choreography, plot holes and most performances.
The ending of the film hints at a sequel…hope they get a better script. And a sense of humour.
Labels: Cinemaah
