A filmmaker with a distinctive style
By Abhilaksh Likhi

THE versatility of Indian cinema is now well acknowledged. Its range covers many styles, themes and language — both spoken and cinematic. Within this range, Indian filmmakers have evolved and crystallised various genres. In our socio-cultural context, whether the film is realistic or a fantasy it remains essentially a musical melodrama. This provides a vast majority of filmmakers, with an ideal framework to weave various genres. Be it an action, comedy, romantic or social film, the audience deeply identifies with it. Within this process of identification, occurs fashioning or refashioning of social mores, attitudes and values.

Most filmmakers in India have steadfastly glued themselves to either one genre or the other, few have attempted to be creatively different. The 1990s heralded the emergence of Raj Kumar Santoshi, son of veteran director PL Santoshi. A former assistant director to Govind Nihalini in the 80s, Raj Kumar Santoshi directed four successful films in six years and, surprisingly, all these belonged to different genres.

His debut film Ghayal (1989) was an action film. It was a moving story of an individual’s fight against an unjust, corrupt system. At another level it was also a striking portrayal of a youth victimised by the police system. The engrossing plot construction uplifted an otherwise oft-repeated vendetta story laced with dazzling action and violence. With Santoshi’s treatment, even an average actor like Sunny Deol excelled. Sunny’s anger (controlled, precise and grim) was almost like the energy of a machine, well-timed and destructive.

In the same style and with consistency, Santoshi directed Ghatak (1995), an action melodrama set against the back-drop of urban landgrabbing and extortion. The film explored the victimisation of ‘Kashi’, a simpleton from Banaras in the criminal-infested city of Bombay. At another level, the film delved deep into the realms of the father-son relationship in a fiercely competitive, inhuman urban milieu. The film was briskly paced without however sacrificing an inner core of earnestness in a theme that was so hardhitting and explosive.

Both Ghayal and Ghatak dealt with politicians, criminals, their nexus in a corrupt system and battling individuals. Both films had an overdose of violence. But what made these films sensitive yet popular was their mooring in the edifice of the family. While Ajay in Ghayal conjoined with his beloved, brother and sister-in-law to grapple with the system. Kashi in Ghatak faced simmering tension between himself, his father and brother in new urban setting. What then followed was a smouldering volcano of violent situations that arose not from an alienated existence but from a personal factor — the hero’s involvement with the forces of good and evil.

Raj Kumar Santoshi also successfully exhibited his craftsmanship in dealing with a social film. Damini (1992) was a conscience-raising exercise of waking the middle class out of its congenital apathy to injustice. The heroine in the film is uncomfortably committed to speaking the truth even when this endangers the reputation of her rich in-laws. Crucial to the plot construction is Damini’s witnessing of the maid’s gang rape by her brother-in-law during Holi. Her lower middle class values subdue her conscience for a while as she gives in to the combined persuasions of her inlaws and the dilemma that her husband, a decent man, is caught in.

The real heart of the conflict — a traditionally brought up Indian woman’s dilemma when her principles clash with family royalty — does touch a responsive chord at Santoshi’s hands. The mythological reference, for instance to the drum beats of Durga Puja during the rape scene, soul rendering melodies like Jab Se Tujko Dekha Hai Sanam and a convincing screenplay that unfolds the politics of rape, convey an exceptional command over use of cinematic devices that enhance a film’s appeal.

A stark contrast to the above was Andaz Apna Apna (1995), a comedy about the escapades of two small time tricksters out to woo a rich heiress. The tomfoolery, slapstick and bonhomie however had a finesse that made the melodrama breezy. What was distinctive was the manner in which Santoshi skilfully structured Paresh Rawal’s villainy in the plot that was otherwise a gagbag of mischievous and belly tickling humorous situations. And at no point did the comic motif become either suggestive or vulgar.

Stylistically speaking, in all the above films, Raj Kumar Santoshi uses the non-linear narrative with extensive dependence on the flash-back and fade-in/fade-out technique. While Ghayal’s first shot opens with Ajay being driven to the prison, Damini begins with shots of a frenzied Meenakshi Seshadri being questioned in a mental hospital. Coupled with slick editing and meaningful punch lines, the narrative progresses to engage the audience emotionally.

His latest film China Gate (1998) is in the genre of a curry western. Made at a staggering budget of 20 crore, it is a magnum opus that Santoshi calls a tribute to the Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. It is a gripping story of 10 exservicemen who liberate village Devdurg’s terrorised inhabitants from the depredations of Jageera, the vicious dacoit.

At one level, it is an extravagant adventure as the ex-soldiers skirmish with Jageera. At another level, it is a sympathetic exploration of the psyche of a group of over-the-hill men fighting their past humiliation and private demons.

Comparisons with Sholay are inevitable, nevertheless, Santoshi excels in his remarkable style of presenting dramatic sequences. Watch, for instance, the shots of feeding vultures metaphorically outlining Jageera’s dirty, and devilish character on the histrionics of Om Puri, whose furrowed face oozes hurt and determination.

China Gate’s physical canvas — a rugged, dusty and rocky terrain is reminiscent of the decadent feudal rural setting of ‘Ramgarh’ in Sholay. The canvas is sweeping in terms of its expanse and setting. But it is to Santoshi’s credit that his film craft does not let the vastness overpower his plot, story or characters.

For a filmmaker who has successfully attempted to film various genres, the danger that lurks is how overpowering of filmic expression could dwarf convincing plot construction and well-etched characters. Santoshi has just completed filming an espionage drama Pukar and is currently scripting Ramayana which he plans to shoot this year. It is as his ambition soars with every successive film. As of now, Raj Kumar Santoshi remains a filmmaker with a distinctive style who dares to handle different genres with elan.