India Masala

Agneepath: Revenge re-packaged

While watching Katrina Kaif gyrating to “Chikni Chameli”, more than halfway through Karan Malhotra’s “Agneepath”, I couldn’t help but wonder about the similarities between the song and the film. Both are adaptations of an original product (“Chikni Chameli” has been adapted from a popular Marathi song), both have ample production value and some great moves, but they are also ample proof that remaking an original may not always work.

Malhotra’s version of “Agneepath”, to be fair, is not a direct copy and is quite different from Mukul Anand’s 1990 version. A lot of the plot points of the original film have been swapped for newer stories, but the gist of the story remains.

Hrithik Roshan plays Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, a gangster from the Mumbai slums, who is obsessed with killing Kancha (Sanjay Dutt), the man who killed his father over a dispute more than 15 years ago.

Vijay feeds his revenge, joining a rival gang and rising to the top quickly, but in the process alienates his mother (Zarina Wahab), who cuts off all ties with him. To his credit Roshan portrays that angst and that loneliness beautifully and in one particular scene, where he eats at his mother’s house after fifteen years, you do feel for him.

There are some moments, like the scene where Vijay meets his sister for the first time, which are well done, as is most of the action. The palette of Mandwa, dreary and dark, lends very well to the personality of villain Kancha, and the fight scene at the end will keep you hooked, even though you know how it’s going to end.

What brings this film down is its unnecessary length. There are too many songs, and too many inane dialogues at crucial points that will make you laugh out loud. Om Puri, playing a police officer who looks out for Vijay, has the bulk of these lines. Malhotra’s script isn’t as tight as it should have been and the central theme of the film — revenge — gets diluted.

On the plus side, there are some good performances — Hrithik Roshan, Rishi Kapoor (playing Kancha’s rival and Vijay’s mentor Rauf Lala) and Sanjay Dutt (who looks creepy enough to scare most people except when he’s speaking lines in Sanskrit) are all exceptional in the film. Roshan uses his eyes to express the turmoil his character goes through in the film, delivering a powerful performance.

Don 2: Don’t expect too much

It’s been a while since Bollywood dished out a slick, fast-paced action film. Wait, who am I kidding? Bollywood doesn’t do fast-paced action films any more, we just turn to Hollywood to get our share of those. So kudos to Farhan Akhtar that he thought of attempting it — not once but twice.

While the first was a remake of the 70s hit “Don”, the sequel is an entirely new story, and doesn’t have too many connections with the previous film, except for some of the characters who make a comeback.

We are introduced to Don (Shah Rukh Khan), five years after he escaped from the clutches of police — with longer hair and the entire Asian drug trade at his command. When he decides to move his trade to Europe, drug lords there decide that Don is better off dead. To escape from their clutches, and hoping to stay safe in prison, Don surrenders to Interpol officer Roma (Priyanka Chopra), who till 5 years ago, was part of his gang. How she makes that switch, we are never told.

Inexplicably, the minute he gets inside prison, Don makes a plan to escape. If all he wanted to do was escape immediately, why surrender in the first place? And that’s the first of the plot holes. Unfortunately, Akhtar makes no attempt to plug any of these holes — they only grow larger as the film progresses.

Don escapes with Vardhan (Boman Irani) and plans for a daring heist in Berlin with Roma hot on his trail.

Akhtar channels his inner Steven Soderbergh and a lot of the plot sounds similar to “Ocean’s Eleven”. However, what’s missing from this action film is some pace. If an action film begins to drag and you lose interest in the plot halfway, you know something’s wrong. By the time the climax rolls around and shows no sign of ending, you are squirming in your seat. In the last ten minutes, I had no idea why the characters were doing what they were doing.

There are plot holes the size of craters. The Interpol is shown to be as clueless as the audience, which I refuse to believe. On the plus side, the film is packaged very well and there are some sequences which make sure you are on the edge of your seat, especially the car chase sequence through the streets of Berlin.

Agneepath: 20 years later?

More than 20 years after he first mesmerised an entire generation with his baritone and signature dialogue, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan is going to be back on celluloid, but this time in a different avatar.

Producer Karan Johar said the original film which was produced by his father didn’t “meet commercial expectations” and he thought this one would hit bull’s eye. Directed by debutant Karan Malhotra, the film stars Hrithik Roshan as Chauhan while Sanjay Dutt plays dreaded villain Kancha.

“This isn’t a remake, it is more like a tribute to the original film, which has now achieved cult status,” Johar said. At the launch of the teaser trailer on Monday, the entire cast was at pains to explain that the new “Agneepath” wasn’t a “remake” of the 1990 film, saying there were a lot of structural changes in the story.

One of those changes is that Mithun Chakraborty’s much loved Krishnan Iyer M.A. character won’t be seen afresh. Also Priyanka Chopra doesn’t play a nurse in the film and according to director Malhotra, “the only similarity is that the film begins and ends in Mandwa” (a port town near Mumbai).

After Chandra Barot’s “Don” (1978), which was re-made by Farhan Akhtar and “Umrao Jaan”, which was re-made by J P Dutta, this is the third major Bollywood film which is being looked at anew. While the first two weren’t big hits (“Umrao Jaan” wasn’t even a hit), Akhtar’s sequel to the new “Don” is one of the big releases this year, scheduled for a Christmas release.

“Agneepath” releases in January 2012, but Johar is already keen on building a buzz around the film, and says he is feeling his way around it, because he isn’t used to violence in his films.

Shah Rukh Khan’s new look in “Don 2″

It’s been a little more than a year since the last Shah Rukh Khan movie released but this year the star has two big releases — “Ra One” and “Don 2″.

“Ra One”, starring Khan and Kareena Kapoor, is set for a Diwali release while “Don 2″ is releasing on the Christmas weekend.

Given his long absence from the silver screen and the muted response to his new TV show “Zor Ka Jhatka”, Khan will be banking on these two projects to do well.

“Don 2″, directed by Farhan Akhtar, is the sequel to his 2006 remake of “Don”, and stars Khan along with Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani and Lara Dutta.

The film was shot in Berlin and the cast is currently shooting in Malaysia. Here’s a picture of Khan’s look in the film. What do you think? Which avatar of Shah Rukh Khan have you liked the most?

7 Khoon Maaf: Enticing premise, lacklustre execution

The basic premise of Vishal Bhardwaj’s enticingly titled “7 Khoon Maaf” is enough to generate excitement about the film. A woman marrying several times and killing off each of her husbands is the kind of story you don’t get to see too often in Bollywood, and if anyone can do justice to that kind of a dark theme, it has to be Bhardwaj. There wasn’t much that could go wrong with this one.

That’s exactly what I thought when I entered the theatre, more than seven months ago, to watch a movie called “Raavan“. And we all know what happened with that one. I might be accused of being a little harsh here but this film might be Vishal Bhardwaj’s “Raavan”.

In what is his weakest film yet, Bhardwaj takes the tantalising prospect of a “black widow”, and turns it into a haphazard story of a woman who seems to have a fetish for murdering her husbands, even when just leaving them would have been enough.

Priyanka Chopra plays Susanna Marie Johannes, going from a coy-20 something to a crazy-50 something during the film. As she tells one of her husbands, there’s no worse accident than marriage in a woman’s life. But she herself suffers that accident several times and when her husbands don’t turn out to be what she thought they would, she kills them off without batting an eyelid, and flits to the next one within the blink of an eye.

Bhardwaj skims the surface of each of the characters, and we never get a sense of the desperation, and later the madness that Susanna’s character should have displayed to be capable of multiple murders. In the end, you don’t feel for her character or any of the men she killed.

There is not much action and the murders get repetitive, especially because you know they are all going to die in the end. In fact, the last one seems hurriedly inserted just to make up the right number. Of the performances, Priyanka Chopra tries her best to be Susanna, but is hampered by a lacklustre script and even worse make-up. Her face in the last few scenes looks like a wall with peeling paint. That is not how women look in ther 50s. Vivaan Shah, as her admirer is restrained and does his part well.

What is it with some of our best directors making such duds these days? There was Mani Ratnam, Ashutosh Gowariker and now Vishal Bhardwaj — the latter being someone who has always delivered brilliance in almost all aspects of storytelling. We should perhaps overlook this one as a weak link in an otherwise great career and move on. ‘Ek film maaf’.

Anjaana Anjaani: Suicidal story

Making a film with just two characters and about their journey towards love is a concept that has worked quite well in the past.

The Ethan Hawke starrer “Before Sunrise” and its sequel “Before Sunset” come to mind immediately. These films had at their centre a great love story between two very interesting people and their interaction with each other itself was enough to take the story forward.

It is of course entirely to the credit of the director and the scriptwriter that he can achieve that.

And no matter how many foreign locales director Siddharth Anand shoots in and no matter how American his characters talk and act, he doesn’t come even close to creating that kind of interest and sympathy for them, or his film for that matter.

“Anjaana Anjaani” is about Kiara and Aakash, two very whiny people who meet each other when they are trying to kill themselves but by the time they change their mind, you might want to do the deed for them.

They spend the two-and-a-half-hour film driving around the desert and swimming in freezing water, pretending they are friends, when you could have saved them that trouble and told them they were going to fall in love in the first five minutes of the film. Their exchanges are childish to say the least and have none of the freshness and originality you might expect from a film that is anyway re-hashing an old formula.

Both Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra share a good chemistry on screen but give the sense that they are trying too hard to make up for the listless script. The last scene especially is so bad it is cringeworthy and both actors ham it up like there is no tomorrow.

What’s Your Raashee: Celestial Disaster

Ashutosh Gowariker’s “What’s Your Raashee” is supposed to be a light, romantic comedy about the search for a perfect bride.

It stars Priyanka Chopra in twelve different avatars, playing a girl from each zodiac sign and Harman Baweja as Yogesh Patel, the eligible groom who has to choose one of those girls.

When I heard the premise, I must admit I was intrigued. It sounded interesting, and given Gowariker’s reputation, I went in expecting a good film.

Almost four hours, numerous songs and twelve mini-stories later, I came out with a headache.

Patel, who lives and works in Chicago, is tricked by his parents into coming down to India and getting married.

Given that he doesn’t have much time, Patel decides to see twelve girls only, each one from a different zodiac sign.

Of course, as you know, Priyanka Chopra plays each girl, albeit in a different avatar.

Dostana: A spectacular first half but nothing great overall

‘Dostana’ is a path-breaking Bollywood film alright. Maybe not for gay rights but certainly the number of times the word ‘gay’ has been used in a single film.

Indians hoping for a “Brokeback Mountain” may do well to stay away from this slapstick comedy about two men pretending to be a gay couple in order to lay hands on a top-notch condo overlooking the sun-kissed sands of Miami.

The opening shot of John Abraham emerging from the sea sets the tone for the film, with the camera lens lingering a tad too long on his bright yellow trunks.

The latest offering from filmmaker Karan Johar features the usual mélange of romance, snazzy designer wear, exotic locales and foot-tapping numbers.

But writer-director Tarun Mansukhani plays a masterstroke with the ‘gay’ plot, setting the stage for a hitherto unused treasure trove of witty one-liners and bawdy humour.

But why do the leading men pretend to be gay?

Well, photographer Kunal (John Abraham) joins male nurse Sam (Abhishek Bachchan) in the hunt for an apartment, destiny taking both to the abode of (Neha) Priyanka Chopra.

Fashion — clichéd, but watch it for Priyanka

Fashion is suddenly a huge part of our lives. Models, fashion shows, haute couture, prêt and wardrobe malfunctions are dominating news headlines and beauty contests are springing up even in small towns across India.

That is why Madhur Bhandarkar’s “Fashion”, which makes an attempt to take a long hard look at the world of fashion, with its pressures and pitfalls, is a topical film.

Priyanka Chopra plays the part many girls must be living out at this very moment — a small-town girl who wants to make it big as a model. She rebels against her parents and comes to Mumbai.

She makes the rounds of auditions, parties and photographers, gradually realising the fashion world was not as glamorous as she imagined.

But her ambition is far too strong to let her take notice of these minor glitches. She is determined to make it big. Along the way, she makes friends with Rohit, a designer’s assistant and Janet (Mughda Godse), a small-time model.

She also falls in love with Manav (Arjan Bawa), a fellow struggling model, but the relationship can’t stand the pressures of their careers. Her big moment comes when she catches the eye of Abhijeet Sarin, the owner of a big fashion brand. She moves to the top league but loses out on friends along the way.

Director Bhandarkar has his intentions in the right place and from the first few frames, I thought I’d get to see a hard hitting, no holds barred look at the world of fashion. What I did get though was a whole lot of clichés and a predictable storyline. Bhandarkar includes a whole lot of subplots, introduces a whole lot of characters, but unfortunately, tells us nothing new.

Drona — more flaws than fantasy

 My most reliable test of judging a fantasy film is whether I notice the person sitting in the next seat – if I do, that means the film wasn’t gripping enough for me to be totally absorbed in it.

That’s what a fantasy film should do – transport you into its imaginary world and haul you back only when the end credits roll – for that matter, any film should do that.

Drona didn’t pass the test.

That said, director Goldie Behl must be at least acknowledged for making the film – Drona is India’s serious attempt at making a fantasy flick with spectacular visual effects, unless we have Hatim Tai, starring Jeetendra, and a whole host of other tacky B-Grade Bollywood fantasy in mind.

Drona is certainly not in the line of Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter series, at least some one tried something different, and that needs to be lauded.

Not that this is to overlook the flaws in the film – especially when it actually starts off quite promisingly. We are told of an age old tale – the Gods nominate a particular king and his inheritors (Dronas) as the protectors of the precious amrit (nectar), which is sought by the asuras (demons).

We are introduced to Aditya, (Abhishek Bachchan) an orphan who grows up lonely and neglected in the company of grouchy aunt and her spoilt son (a la Harry Potter?).