Movie: Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag
Rating: *
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan (Babban Singh), Sushmita Sen (Deviji), Nisha Kothari (Ghungroo), Ajay Devgan (), Prashant Raj (Raj), Mohanlal (Narsimha)
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
It’s nothing but Ram Gopal Varma Ki ‘bhool’? unforgettable, unreasonable and unforgivable.
Much after the reel begins to roll, you would still be kept wondering as to what’s so Sholay about it?
The script first.
Yes, the director has given a different tone. But the difference gets a bit difficult.
In a bid to dramatize Bollywood’s epic cinema in today’s frame, the script becomes a victim of time.
Picture this for example? the terror creator is Babban Singh, a dacoit like the original Gabbar. But his approach and mechanism is more like that of an underworld don ? a transition which takes away the credibility factor of the entire film.
From roping in big names to highlighting new faces? From adding the extra bits of comedy and circus and yet ensuring the sanctity of original? From hand-picking famous lines to painting them afresh, RGV just does not get it right at any point.
The plot begins abruptly, goes on to become weak and then falls flat.
The dialogues too are dreadful. The original chup ho jaao wana Gabbar aa jayega has been replaced with lines like “apne pati ki raksha chahti ho to Babban ki puja karo?“!
Another unwanted insertion is the repeated use of America? Iraq War? al-Qaeda. No connection, no significance and no logic. Perhaps these issues are close to the director’s heart?!
Even the performances could not sustain the fire lit by the director.
First the most prominent face ? Amitabh Bachchan. In an attempt to look and sound devilish, the legend has done everything ? sported a deep-scar on his nose, carried a green-eye and brown-eye together, growled like a tiger and hissed his tongue like a hungry snake.
Yet he fails to come anywhere close to Amjad ‘Gabbar’ Khan.
Perhaps the homework was not rightly done. For even a child can tell you that it was Gabbar’s attitude that stirred fear and not his attire and makeup. The acting is not questionable but when it goes off track, what’s the point anyways?
Coming to Nisha Kothari, the original Basanti. The lady has it all wrong. She perhaps equates Basanti’s bindass character to a tomboyish-rowdy individual. In an undying effort to step into the footsteps of Hema Malini, all Kothari does is flexes the muscles of her faces in over a dozen directions and speaks in a Mumbaiah fashion. Now folks, isn’t that being a bit too unfair to the mastmauji original character?!
Ajay Devagn gets lost in transition. He may have tickled you with his good comic timing and may have been intensely impressive too, but Heeru the modern-days tribute to Veeru does not have the spark of spontaneity or subtleness. The actor leaves his character quite tasteless.
All that Prashant Raj and Amitabh ‘Jai’ Bachchan share in common are the character space. Otherwise Raj is an insult to the extremely intense Jai. His performance comes out to be more of a spoof on Jai.
Mohanlal has done a decent job. Perhaps a better command over the language would have helped him do more justice to the role.
Sushmita fails to portray the passion with which Jaya Bachchan had enacted her part.
The songs are irrelevant and in no way contribute to the films story. The music is nothing outstanding. Urmila’s Mehbooba number is decent and perhaps the only time when you would feel that deviations are acceptable!
The editing is extremely poor. The screenplay runs in all direction. The cinematography is horrid. Time and again one single character continues to occupy the entire screen and the camera just captures them from different positions ? up? down? upside down? The impact is so irritating that it gets mandatory to take your eyes off the screen for a second (at least)!
Another factor which is a big let down is RGV’s obsession for darkness, less light, the blue-black background. Perhaps it’s his idea of portraying the darker side of life or the gory system of the society. But it’s been overdone so much so that you shouldn’t be surprised if you wanna get up and go in search of some sunlight.
RGV’s attempt is a failure and puts a scar on his credibility level.
Perhaps the best way to pay tribute to such wonderful piece of work is by leaving it untouched. Certain things are never meant to be remade!