The 80s Are Back(stabbed)

The film opens with the disco number Thank God It's Friday with Sonakshi Sinha doing her best to appear graceful. Sajid Khan's inability as a director to introduce the time period in which his film is set, couldn't be more visibly stated. And five minutes after the shabbily choreographed dance sequence turns into a street fight, the film fails in recreating the 80s, like the promos promised.

Ajay Devgn is Ravi, the Himmatwala, who is the strongest man in the universe, which is established by his fight with Russia's strongest street fighter -- a feat that even Rocky Balboa required 12 hard-fought rounds to achieve. 

Then, Ravi returns to his village where he reunites with his family and revisits the old wounds and the atrocities that his family faced at the hands of the evil sarpanch Sher Singh (Mahesh Manjrekar); quite similar to Vijay Dinanath Chauhan's return to Mandwa, only more pathetic. And then, with one insignificant twist in the tale, the story unfolds just like it did 30 years ago with Jeetendra and Sridevi.

In a superficial effort to recreate the 80s, Sajid uses the hyper-reality which was an involuntary reflex back then; but ends up making a mockery of everything. If all the dialogues in the film were spoken only once, the film would be cut down by two-thirds.

A sequence where Ravi paints a picture of how he will torture Sher Singh is a re-enactment of the famous shower murder scene from Hitchcock's Psycho. But it all comes across as distasteful and foul; which by the way, seems like the theme of the film.

The only thing Himmatwala has managed to positively recreate is the picturisation of the song Naino Mein Sapna; however, Ajay Devgn's tough-guy physique doesn't allow him to move like the Jumping Jack that Jeetendra was.

The other thing in the film that is from the 80s, is the sense of humour. Most of the punches are just too predictable and jokes that you may have read in a time when forwarding text messages first became cool. Some typical Sajid Khan puns and double entendres, which Paresh Rawal sportingly delivers in his caricature role as Narayan Das, are simply not funny. If you find yourself in a theatre where people are actually laughing at them, then consider it as a sad commentary on sense of humour of the times we live in.

Of all the films that were made in the 80s, Himmatwala was probably the last film that deserved resurrection. Defining a dark phase in the world of mainstream Hindi cinema, the 80s are a thing of the past for a reason.

For a devotee of Indian cinema, the 80s are a fond memory for parallel films like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro and Chashme Buddoor and they would like it if it stayed that way. And with David Dhawan's remake of Chashme Buddoor just a week away from us, we can only pray that it doesn't ruin the image of a timeless classic.

As far as Sajid Khan's deteriorating sense of humour is concerned, Himmatwala hasn't brought back the 80s, but it has, in a way, brought mediocrity and crass back into filmmaking.

Rating - 1/2 out of 5

Published in DNA After Hrs (Pune) on March 30, 2013 

5 Films: That Are Too Bad To Miss

Gunda

The film, when released in 1998, got mixed reactions from the audience. Some found it entertaining, while some found it to be mindlessly violent and explicit. It was even re-released in an edited version which had taken out a few of the objectionable bits. Over the years, the film has gained a cult status, not just among the audience, but even some students and critics. The online debates about this film, where the characters are named Ibu Hatela, Bulla, Pote, Lambu Atta and other unmentionables, have defended, thrashed, glorified and immortalised it. The grotesqueness in portrayal of violence, rapes and even the crass dialogues have made film historic. Love it or hate it, you don’t want to miss it.

Himmatwala

This film could easily be termed as the thesaurus of the 1980s mainstream Hindi cinema. A rich hooligan, a school master who is falsely accused, a son, who will avenge him and a hero’s sister who is vulnerable — this film has it all. There are songs picturised on exotic sets with hundreds of extra dancers dancing while colours explode out of drums and jars and pots. The film is a live example of what was wrong with Indian cinema in the 80s. It is a goblet of crass naive emotions filled to the brim with some spillage. You could take it with a pinch of salt, but that would make it a bit more salty.

Ajooba

Amitabh Bachchan is a crown prince whose father is over thrown by the devil worshipping Vazir. He wears the mask of Zorro, claims a dolphin to be his mother and is an expert in various martial arts. Definitely an ajooba! The film, co-directed by Shashi Kapoor and Gennadi Vasilyev, can be termed as The Thousand and One Nights gone wrong. It comes across as a failed attempt at fantasy, but thanks to Bachchan, has an iconic status. The film, when made, had one of the largest budgets of the period but the graphics and special effects are extremely primitive and hence, it is hard to take the climax, where Vazir’s Faulaadi Shaitan wreaks havoc on the city, seriously. 

Dharam Veer

This Manmohan Desai film was made in the same year as Amar Akbar Anthony, Chacha Bhateeja and Parvarish. The peculiar khoya-paaya theme is omnipresent in all the above films. Dharam Veer, however, crosses the line between implausible and outright bizarre. This Dharmendra-Jeetendra strarrer is a tale of two separated brothers who become friends by chance and later find out that they are blood brothers. The setting is a fabled kingdom where people wear obscure cross cultural costumes and the narrative is driven by loose coincidences. The film was one of the biggest hits of the decade in which it was made but comes across as ridiculous when you watch it today.

Jaani Dushman - Ek Anokhi Kahani

The Icchadhaari Naagin who comes back to avenge the death of her mate is probably one of the most common Indian myths. Jaani Dushman tells a similar tale of Vasundhara (Manisha Koirala), who takes a human form to bring to justice the murderers of her love. The film, intended to be a horror movie, draws laughter at its key moments of intrigue and awe. In a ridiculous wedding night scene, a skeleton more beefed up than Sonu Nigam, who debuted in the film, attacks the couple and kills them. It is as silly as silly gets.



Published in DNA After Hrs (Pune) on August 17, 2012