Saturday, April 12, 2014
Bhootnath Returns
Ghost Leader
Nitesh Tiwari’s Bhoothnath Returns works with an idea that makes you wish were possible—letting a ghost stand for elections.
With perfect timing, this witty satire releases when the country is going through its most important election yet—the ugliest and the most keenly fought.
Bhootnath (Amitabh Bachchan) is sent back to earth from the bureaucratic ‘Afterlife Department’ because he turned out to be an ineffectual ghost in the last film. This time, he lands in Dharavi and befriends a chatterbox urchin Akhrot (Parth Bhalerao), who lives with his widowed mother (Usha Jadhav—likeable). While making some ‘legit’ money by ridding haunted buildings of ghosts with the help of Bhootnath, and giving corrupt bureaucrats a fright, Akhrot runs afoul of evil politician Bhau (Boman Irani--overacting).
On checking with a lawyer (Sanjay Mishra), they find that there is no rule that prevents a dead man from contesting elections, so Bhoothnath stands against Bhau.
It is clever-- one would have imagined Raju Hirani to come up with something as wacky as this—crackling with chuckle-worthy lines and a perfect logic that can’t be disputed, at least in a piece of fiction.
Of course, Bhau fights back with all the dirty tricks at his disposal, but he is no match against the wisdom of the ghost and the pluck of little Akhrot. The chemistry between the two is wonderful, and not once does the kid look intimidated in the presence of a great star like Bachchan, who in turn, doesn’t try to steal scenes from any of the other actors. Everyone gets to play their part convincingly —whether it’s the lawyer, a sceptical cop or Anurag Kashyap as himself.
It is always difficult to carry an idea through to a plausible conclusion, and Tiwari can’t resist the temptation of putting in a public service message exhorting people to vote. As Bhootnath says, because so many people do not vote, the candidate who gets elected is not the best one, but the least bad one. That’s not saying much, but still Bachchan’s monologue of hope and patriotism hits the spot. (There is also the distinct possibility of a Part 3)
With some editing, and control on the second-half melodrama, Bhootnath Returns would have been even better. It is admirable that Tiwari does not try to fit in romance and item songs to attract a mass audience; he keeps the flying objects kind of silly special effects to a minimum, speaks to children as intelligent humans and also addresses grown-ups in a persuasive way. Worth a look.
Labels: Cinemaah
Sunday, April 06, 2014
Main Tera Hero
Baap-Beta No 1
Without Govinda, David Dhawan’s films had lost their zing. And what d’ya
know, the director discovers a suitable replacement right at home!
Varun Dhawan has the mad-cap energy Govinda had in his heyday; he can
dance, he can ad-lib, he can do the most outrageous things with an innocent
look, plus he has six-pack abs and a better stylist.
Dhawan can never change his spots, he picks up a Telugu film (Kandireega)
that can be adapted to suit his style, and just replaces his old faithful with
new actors. Kader Khan with Anupam Kher, Johnny Lever with Rajpal Yadav,
Satish Kaushik with Saurabh Shukla, Shakti Kapoor with Arunoday Singh and
interchangeable skimpily clad bimbettes. This one’s vintage David Dhawan, but
surprisingly, almost smut-free. His writers using up all their humour thinking
up rhyming dialogue and Bollywood tributes must be too tired to slip in more
than a handful of double-meaning lines. There was a time when every other line
and song in a Dhawan film could make a sailor blush (Sarkailo khatiya,
remember?)
Seenu (Varun Dhawan) is a duffer, who, at age 25 is still in college. But
he says, “Lagta hoon sweet, innocent swami type ka, but hoon main harami
type ka,” as he bashes goons twice his size and has two girls (Illeana
D’Cruz - Nargis Fakhri) waiting to marry him. (He is brainless, they are
dim-witted, what would they live on? Halt such thoughts, this is not the
film for asking how and why?)
The plot is so flimsy it hardly matters, the film is clearly meant to
revive Dhawan Sr’s career with Dhawan Jr’s residual Student of the Year fan-following.
But look for the typical touches: a gangster (Kher) was born in Manali so his
thundering words echo. Or that hilarious kissing demo, that is pucca Dhawan.
There are too many humourless stretches in Main Tera Hero—it
is not the guffaw-inducing type of film, but a few scattered chuckles type.
Arunoday Singh’s comfort level in a film which should have been out of his
range is remarkable—he fits right into the D-world craziness. After this
boisterous all-rounder performance, what Varun Dhawan does next would be
interesting to see.
Labels: Cinemaah
Jal
Water Woes
Jal takes up an issue that should concern everybody, if it doesn’t already--
the water shortage that has started killing animals and will soon affect human
life in parts of the country (and the world).
But Girish Malik’s film set in the arid Rann of Kutch, cannot settle on
the right tone. It’s neither serious enough to be disturbing, not interesting
enough to be engaging. It tries for a mix of exotic and realistic, which
simply doesn’t work. It also throws too many strands into the air, and can’t
get a proper hold on any.
Bakka (Purab Kohli) is a water diviner in a tiny, parched desert
village. The inhabitants claim to be starving, but are dressed in
gleaming ethnic costumes and all look well-fed. For a film taking a
mostly realistic approach,Jal glosses over details like how the
villagers make a living. They drive chhakdas, talk about blue
CDs, but there is no evidence of that kind of progress.
When a foreigner (Saidah Jules) arrives to study flamingos, she is
shocked to find many dead chicks. She is able to pull enough strings to
get a government team to fetch a huge drill to find fresh water for the birds,
but is curiously apathetic towards the villagers—maybe because all they do is
leer at her and make crass comments.
In between the water woes, there’s a love story between Bakka and a girl
from an enemy village (Kirti Kulhari), the machinations of her thwarted suitor
(Mukul Dev) and the heartbreak of his childhood sweetheart (Tannishtha
Chatterjee). A very contrived plot twist hurtles Bakka into tragedy.
No matter how much one tries to empathise with the characters, Malik’s
treatment just never manages to draw the viewer into the desperate world of
these neglected villagers. The location is captured beautifully, though, even
if it’s all gleaming and touristy with CGI twisters and storms showing up at
regular intervals.
Labels: Cinemaah
