Sunday, February 22, 2004

Reel rewind
Of romance & political dramas
M.L. Dhawan

VINAY Shukla’s Godmother revolved around Rambhi Ben (Shabana Azmi) who belonged to a despised ethnic group driven to the city by a drought in their village. Rambhi watched the political game silently from the sidelines but became an independent player after the murder of her husband. Before power corrupted her to fit in and exploit the system of kickbacks, Rambhi kept alive the spirit of humanism and sense of compassion when something as essential as water was denied to the rural masses. Rambhi’s characterisation was fascinating — her compassion, ruthless cunning, her lust for power, the dulling of conscience and its final awakening. The thoughtfully constructed script, the impeccable direction and beautifully fleshed out performances made Godmother a film to watch out for. Shabana won a national award for her role.

Deepa Mehta’s 1947-Earth, based on Bapsi Sidhwa’s book TheIce Candy Man, was a sensitive portrayal of the turmoils and tribulations of Partition. The film gradually built up to the drama of mob frenzy and killing, meshing individual destinies with the nation’s destiny. The film alternated between the romantic rhythms of Shanta’s (Nandita Das) life, her pursuit by two suitors Dil Nawaz and Hassan (Rahul Khanna), and the quick flashes of mob frenzy. Aamir Khan as Dil Niwaz was sheer magic, especially in the scene when he awaited his sisters arrival from India and a train came packed with two sacks full of women’s breasts. 1947-Earth was a masterpiece in which A.R. Rahman’s music complemented Mehta’s controlled craftsmanship.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam had a gigantic visual and emotional canvas. Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) fell in love with Sameer (Salman Khan), who came to India from Italy to learn music from her father. Nandini was married off against her will to the silent but besotted Vanraj (Ajay Devgan). The twist in the film was how the rejected husband reunited his aloof wife with her first love. The final choice was ostensibly left to the woman. True love triumphed when Nandini settled for her noble, self-sacrificing husband. Salman lived up to his lover boy image and Ajay Devgan smouldered effectively. Ismail Darbar’s nimbooda nimbooda number was a runaway hit.

Inder Kumar’s Mann, based on An Affair To Remember, delineated the reformation of a cogenital rake Dev (Aamir Khan). He met Priya (Manisha Koirala), an orphan, aboard a luxury liner. Love bloomed between them during their journey from Singapore to Bombay. As the ship docked, they gave themselves six months to sort out their affairs and promised to meet on Valentine’s Day at the Gateway of India. There was to be no communication in-between. Destiny played a cruel prank on the lovers. Priya met with an accident and was disabled on her way to keep the tryst. Finally, Raj (Anil Kapoor), the self-sacrificing fiancee of Priya, united the two in a weepy climax.

John Mathew Mathan in his directorial debut Sarfarosh directly pinpointed the dreaded ISI of Pakistan as chief abetter of terrorism in India. It was a film with political overtones in the guise of a police thriller. Ajay Rathod (Aamir Khan), ACP was a devout fan of Gulfam Hasan (Naseeruddin Shah), a ghazal singer from Pakistan. His image of the maestro was dramatically shattered in the climax as Rathod found Gulfam to be an agent of the enemy. More than being a no holds-barred expose of Pakistan’s ISI waging its proxy war, Sarfarosh questioned our attitude towards Muslims. Naseeruddin was at his brilliant best. Aamir’s intensity, Surekha Sikri’s deeply cameo and Mukesh Rishi as inspector Salim contained a rare degree of conviction.

Govind Nihalani’s Takshak exposed a nexus between the politician, mafia and a builder. Ishaan (Ajay Devgan) inherited from his father Nahar Singh (Amrish Puri) an almost feudal oath of loyalty to Sunny (Rahul Bose). Suman (Tabu), a poet and dancer, came into Ishaan’s life and liberated him from his burdensome legacy and made him realise the need to understand himself and the society around. Tabu’s rung de rung de number was a hit.

Mahesh Manjrekar’s debut film Vaastav suffered from the Satya hangover. Starring (Sanjay Dutt) in the lead, the film highlighted the fact that conflicts involving the conscience are the most difficult to resolve.

Gulzar’s Hu Tu Tu was a nice study of human relationships. The film presented a conflict of ideologies between Panna Barve, Tabu and her politician mother Malti Barve (Suhasini Muley), Chief Minister, on the one hand and Aditya Patel (Sunil Shetty) and his corrupt businessman father P.N. Patel (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) on the other hand.

Vishal Bhardwaj used Maharashtrian folk music in songs like ghapla hai bhai ghapla, jago jago jagte raho.

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