A revolting experience

Film: Satyagraha

Director: Prakash Jha

Satyagraha, Prakash Jha's recent endeavour to take up a socially relevant topic and make a film about it, raises the same question as his previous films Chakryavyuh and Aarakshan did. Why? An overburdening series of topical events woven haphazardly into a dramatic narrative, Satyagraha too trivializes a rather deep issue of revolution.

The charges against the film are similar to his previous films. Watering down the intensity for the masses, the film further dilutes its contexts with unnecessary item numbers and romantic scenarios. Set in a town called Ambikapur, somewhere in Central India, the film addresses the rampant corruption that exists in the system and how the people's representatives are detached from the common man himself.

Jha uses his technique of archetypal characters, each of whom stand for a section of society and takes the story forward. Amitabh Bachchan plays Dwarka Anand, an idealist, fondly referred to as Daduji. Ajay Devgan is Manav Raghavendra, an opportunist and the face of modern India. Kareena Kapoor plays Yasmin Ahmed, a tough spirited TV journalist and Arjun Rampal plays Arjun, a youth icon committed to becoming a leader. Manoj Bajpai, who plays Home Minister Balram Singh (the nemesis), is a personification of all the corrupt practices in politics.

After a half-decent build-up in the first half of the film, the film ends up being a victim of some rogue screenwriting. The satyagraha itself, falls on the backdrop of a series of political moves which turns this film into yet another Rajneeti without the obvious parallels to Mahabharat or The Godfather.

The multi-starrer film has some unintentional moments of irony. Amitabh's opening scene in the film sees him curse the officers of 'Alliance Power' a private company that provides electricity. And Ajay Devgan, who in Yuva fought the misgivings of the system by entering it, comes to that very conclusion at the end of this film, after all is lost.

With a loose narrative which doesn't engage you, the film fails on multiple levels. It fails to reflect the gravity of the situation; it fails to put forth the commandments of the philosophy of satyagraha (aside from a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the town's main circle and a fast-unto-death plot point) and it fails to create the atmosphere of urgency, by lingering on the unimportant scenes longer. Let alone the story, the setting of the film lacks cinematic singularity, which we more recently saw in Dibakar Bannerji's Shanghai.

The film has to be discarded primarily for its immature stance and secondly for it being titled Satyagraha. If someone wishes to watch this film to learn about the spirit of non-violent revolution, they'd gain more knowledge by simply looking up the word on Wikipedia. If films could change society instantly, this film would take us one step closer to being naive.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Published in DNA (Pune) on  August 31, 2013

Alternative history enters Hindi cinema

Film: D Day

Director: Nikhil Advani

Let us keep aside the coincidence that D Day released on a dry day, and focus on the coincidence of how Rishi Kapoor's character of Goldman resembles Dawood Ibrahim. But apart from playing it safe by not naming the character after the real life kingpin, Nikhil Advani gets his basics right. From using verbal and non-verbal codes that convince you who the man really is, D Day takes you on a journey no Hindi film has embarked upon.

The film opens with a R&AW team consisting of Wali Khan, Rudra Pratap, Zoya and Aslam (Irrfan, Arjun, Huma and Akash Dahiya) undertake the cohort mission (Operation Goldman) of striking at a wedding to seize India's most wanted criminal. The film then takes you backwards and counts down to how they all came to be in one place. Developing every character's back story without playing to the gallery at any given point, the film makes you root for the foursome.

Why D Day is an important film is that it introduces a genre in Hindi cinema previously unknown. Although we have had plenty of historically inaccurate films, cinema about alternative history (like Inglorious Basterds) has never really been made. In doing so, the film shows you things you had never dreamt of seeing.

Unlike Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai and Shootout At Wadala, where we are indirectly introduced to the Bhai in the past, and unlike films like D, Shootout at Lokhandwala and others, where he is simply shown as a shadow who runs the show while safe in his house in Dubai; D Day imagines Goldman as he is today - wise and frail with age. From the red aviators that never leave his face to each and every dialogue he mouths, the film tries to give an insider's perspective on the don.

The complex flow of events is simplified, but not over-simplified and keeps you interested in the proceedings. Huma Qureshi and Arjun Rampal stick to their characters and are pretty convincing. Irrfan Khan as Wali Khan would steal the show on any given day, but comes second to a phenomenal show put up by Rishi Kapoor. Adding a little royal demeanour to his Rauf Lala from Agneepath, he (with a decent contribution of the makeup) has you convinced that you are seeing the man who has terrorised this country for over two decades.

Playing to its strengths, the film is entertaining through and through. A few action sequences are very well choreographed but there are some that appear just too choreographed and leave a scratch on an otherwise job-well-done.

Now that this weekend has you spoilt for choice, this would be a safe bet to take. Because White Houses will be blown many more times and producers will introduce their sons again, but India will only strike back once in a while. Make the most of it.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Published in DNA (Pune) on July 20, 2013

Refusals Of An Escapist

Unlike the promotional material suggests, Sudhir Mishra’s Inkaar isn’t as confusing with its premise. No, it’s not about sexual harassment at work; it’s not about the dark practices inside an advertising agency; and it is definitely not about giving a message. Inkaar boldly tells a tale of love that is hurdled only by strong ambition. It sees the return of Mishra’s muse Chitrangda Singh along with a surprising male lead in Arjun Rampal.

Through a non-linear narrative that oscillates between a sexual harassment court hearing in the present and several instances from the past that are referred to by those involved. Yes, reminds you instantly of what you saw in Social Network, a couple of years ago. But the flow of the screenplay keeps you glued to it without focusing on the inspiration. The treatment fits the plot very well, especially the element where the audience isn’t exterior to the film, but a part of it. Deepti Naval, who plays a social worker who is presiding over the case, becomes the representative of the audience. Her roles and responsibilities where she has to process all the facts before passing a judgment makes you do the same and her dilemma is your dilemma. Inkaar forces you to think and judge the characters’ actions and makes you take sides before ultimately ridding you off all those responsibilities by dumping a conclusion upon you.

Arjun Rampal plays Rahul Varma, a CEO of an advertising agency and recruits Maya Luthra (Chitrangda) who is a prodigy. He trains her, makes her able and while their professional relationship grows, romance also grows under its skin. But Maya’s ambitions exceed all other priorities and the couple fall out of favour with one another. Then begins a saga of bitterness where both parties get hurt and just when the situation reaches boiling point, the film turns off the stove. Mishra builds a strong plot, strong characters and takes the story to a high point, but ends it like an escapist. An ending that might not appeal to a lot of people, Inkaar leaves you wanting a different conclusion to a problem that demands more than a passive submission. The battle between love and ambition, at least in the context of the film, should not have ended in a ceasefire.

Chitrangda Singh shows glimpses of her potential in certain scenes. Her character of Maya, whose journey through seven years is shown in the film, ages well and portrays a 22-year-old girl with equal conviction as a 30-year-old-woman, who is a national creative director of an ad agency. Sadly for Arjun Rampal, the aging through years happens only on paper. He fails to bring the necessary changes in his body language in an otherwise satisfactory performance. With Vipin Sharma and Deepti Naval in important supporting roles, the overall cast ensemble does a good job.

With a terrific first half, Inkaar takes you into the interval on a high, it raises your hopes and makes you wait for an equally intense second half. Unfortunately, the second half only begins where it left and ends up like a completely different film. The typical Sudhir Mishra twist does provide a satisfactory solution which is a grammatically correct full stop for a film. However, as a viewer, one might feel that Inkaar is a sentence that is correct, but just doesn’t sound right.

Rating - 2.5 out of 5

Published in DNA After Hrs (Pune) on January 20, 2013

Naxalism for Dummies

Prakash Jha returns with yet another political thriller, but this time, the product lacks steam. Chakravyuh, based on the naxalite activities in central India is a dilute potion which offers no deep perspective from any vantage point on an issue of large concern in today’s scenario.

The exterior composition of the plot loosely resembles James Cameron’s Avatar, save for the high end 3D graphics and the blue creatures, and ends in a tragedy. Adil Khan (Arjun Rampal) is a police officer who is posted in Nandighat in order to put an end to the armed rebellion that is preventing the Government’s steel project led by a huge business corporation. Nandighat is the proverbial Pandora in Jha’s film and the naxals are the Na’vis. In order to gain access to their plans, Adil plants his close friend, Kabir (Abhay Deol), among the naxals. However, as one can guess, once Kabir gets into the “chakravyuh”, he sees the other side of story – the injustice, oppression and exploitation that the tribals have gone through. He has a change of heart and joins the movement extensively. This is conclusive proof to state that the plot structure has Avatar written all over it.

The film explores the themes of political lobbying, corporate bullying, henpecked police force, oppression of the weak and the poor, naxalism, Salva Judum’s terror, armed rebellion and a lot more. But in an attempt to incorporate all of this, the script fails to significantly establish any of the above. What we get to see is a fleeting glimpse of all of this and are expected to take one-off incidents as the general truth.

The screenplay is unimaginative and in-your-face. After a point, one gets fed up of the deliberate spoon feeding of ideologies and moral side-taking. At several points, one feels as if the scenes are loosely tied together and have abrupt ends. After Gangaajal, Apaharan and Rajneeti, we are used to a certain style of cinema from Prakash Jha where he delves into an issue of socio-political significance and brings the drama on screen radically simplifying it for the masses. Chakravyuh, however, is a step too far in dumbing down a particular issue. The only people who would find this film intriguing are those who have never read a newspaper in the past few years and those who have absolutely no idea about Naxalism and Naxalite activities in the country.

In terms of the artistes’ performances, the film is a mélange of good actors being cast in insignificant roles and bad actors trying hard to make you hate them even more. Abhay Deol and forests don’t go really well together, however, he does quite a convincing job. Om Puri, like Naseeruddin Shah in Rajneeti, appears for a couple of scenes at the start and you begin to fear that was it for him; but he returns in the final third for a couple of important sequences. Arjun Rampal’s Adil Khan keeps you guessing what the prevalent emotion is; for, his face is perpetually angry, or constipated. Esha Gupta (Adil’s wife) cannot act if her life depended on it and her tight little flattering Police uniform resembles that of a stripper more than a real cop. Anjali Patil – who plays Juhi is the only positive talking point of the film. In her role as the secondary chief of the movement, she shows great potential as an actor in an otherwise two dimensional role.

Chakravyuh has all the elements of a Prakash Jha film, except intrigue. An unnecessary item number with Sameera Reddy, a tribal dance number with imprecise costumes and poorly crafted action sequences – this film is a letdown of sorts. With archetypal characters representing various institutions, Chakravyuh is merely a Guide for Dummies. Watch it if you don’t mind an inaccurate beginners’ lesson in Naxalism.

Rating: 1 out of 5

Published in DNA After Hrs (Pune) on October 27, 2012