Part III?

The trend of making a series of films with same characters or carrying the story forward is very common in Hollywood. The fourth part of Spielberg’s Indiana Jones series released last year after almost two decades. Harry Potter… series is eagerly awaited each time a new installment arrives. The trend of making sequels is very recent in India. The first director who walked on this less travelled path was Mahesh Manjrekar who made Hathyar (2002) as a sequel to Vaastav, his most acclaimed and successful film so far. But the sequel didn’t work and nobody perhaps even remembers it as a sequel.

In the year 2004, Yashraj film’s Dhoom directed by Sanjay Gadhvi became a huge hit. During the promotion of the film the actors were fondly remembering the shooting and wished if a sequel could be made but the culture was non-existent in India. But the idea struck the maverick producer Aditya Chopra and he decided to make a sequel to the film. After the announcement, two other filmmakers whose films had become huge hits in the previous year also chose the path. Rakesh Roshan decided to follow up super hit Koi Mil Gaya with Krrish and Rajkumar Hirani decided to make Lage Raho Munnabhai as a sequel to the cult film Munnabhai MBBS.

All the sequels arrived in 2006. The first one to come and woo the audience the world over was Hrithik Roshan starrer Krrish which became first successful superhero film in Hindi film industry. Though it didn’t receive the same critical acclaim but it went much ahead in box-office collections than the previous one. It was followed by Sanjay Dutt-Arshad Warsi starrer Lago Raho Munnabhai which became much bigger hit than the prequel. Lage Raho… was not a conventional sequel where story is carried forward; rather two most important and popular characters of the first part were kept and a new story was written for the film. Words like ‘gandhigiri’ became a part of popular culture and many incidents happened in real life which was directly influenced by the film. The last film to come that year was Dhoom: 2 starring Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Uday Chopra and Bipasha Basu which went on to become the biggest grosser of the year despite some multiplex chains not playing the film due to revenue issues. These sequels became the top three grosser in the year.

After 3 years, there are no concrete plans to make ‘part three’ to all these successful films though all the makers are very much keen to make their respective films. Post Dhoom: 2, director Sanjay Gadhvi’s contract with Yashraj films got over and he left the production house to make Kidnap with Sanjay Dutt and Imran Khan which was a flop when released last year. He is now planning 7 days in Paris with Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif. It is sure that he is not returning to Yashraj soon and hence the part 3 of this hit franchisee might not be directed by the original director. There were rumours that Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan would come together for Dhoom: 3 which will be directed by Aditya Chopra (who makes only romantic films as a director) himself. But proving the rumours wrong Aditya went on to make Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi with his favourite actor Shahrukh Khan which became a big hit bringing Yashraj films back on track. Though no formal announcement about the making of the film has been made yet, it is highly likely that Shahrukh will play the glamorous and ever elusive thief in the film. Still there is time till we can see the adrenaline pumping action sequences in part 3.

The same delay happened to other two films as well. Vidhu Vinod Chopra announced Munnabhai Chale Amerika and even released a trailer with Eklavya (2007) but the makers decided to go ahead with 3 Idiots with Aamir Khan in the lead. The film will release by Christmas this year and the director can start working on part 3 only after that. Rakesh Roshan announced Krrish 2 but nothing more has been done to it. Meanwhile he produced Krazzy 4 (2008) and Kites (yet to release). Hrithik Roshan who works on one film at a time is shooting for Sanjay Bhansali’s Guzarish which means Krrish 2 is not happening anytime soon. Meanwhile Ram Gopal Varma paid his tribute to The Godfather with Amitabh-Abhishek starrer Sarkar (2005) which became a moderate hit. It was followed by Sarkar Raj (2008) which couldn’t become a huge box office success either. Varma has no immediate plans to make, if at all it happens, the part 3 of his Sarkar series either.

There is no doubt that part three of at least one of the series will release, but it is taking too long a time and it doesn’t seem to happen soon either. As viewers we have to wait for sometime till our favourite Munnabhai-Circuit make us roll with laughter or desi super hero taking on bad guys to save the world or a cool cop with his buffoon assistant chasing the shadows of an elusive thief.

Kaminey

Written, Music, Directed by: Vishal Bhardwaj

Lyrics by: Gulzar

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Amole Gupte

When Vishal Bhardwaj does not make films about children (Makdee, The Blue Umbrella) he ventures into the murkier side of human character and society (Maqbool, Omkara). He doesn’t see world in black and white. His world is grey, so are its characters and its colour. Kaminey is no different.

Charlie and Guddu (Shahid Kapoor) are identical twins with physical disabilities. Charlie lisps while Guddu stammers. But the similarities end here. Both are very different in their characters and outlook towards life. They dislike each other and hence live separately. Sweety (Priyanka Chopra) is a young, headstrong Marathi girl who will go to any extent to get her love (Guddu) even if it means not telling him that her brother (Amole Gupte) is a gangster with political aspirations. The problem is that the brother is contesting election from a party which stands for Marathi chauvinism so he can not marry his sister to a North Indian. On Charlie’s part, he has just lost his entire money in Horse racing because whoever he had fixed double crossed him. Accidentally he lands himself in the middle of a drug deal between corrupt anti narcotics department and Mafia. Now, both have to run for their lives simultaneously. Their paths are inevitable to cross and they cannot escape from revisiting their intertwined history.

The film is essentially a ‘Satire’ with element of ‘Absurd’ throughout the film. It is a satire on the divisional politics, law enforcement departments, inter-racial marriage (there is very witty reference to Rizwanur Rahman case), relationships and above all society’s double standards. The director explores the sibling relationship in different milieus. Apart from Charlie and Guddu, there are three Bengali Muslim brothers who are big bookies, two corrupt brothers at anti narcotics department, the two African brothers who smuggle drugs and of course Sweety with her brother. The dynamics between them actually determines the proceedings of the film.

The lead actors deliver their best performances till date. Shahid Kapoor has done so well in the double role that you will feel that two different actors are playing those roles. Priyanka Chopra is superb and greatly convincing - whether she claims to know “Home Science” or when she pleads to save her husband’s life. Amole Gupte (The writer of Taare Zameen Par) is excellent as the opportunist politician.

But the film belongs to Vishal Bhardwaj. Apart from the credits mentioned above, he has also written the dialogues, co-written the screenplay, done the background score (which is superb) and sung the title track. This is proof enough of his versatility as well as completeness as a filmmaker. The characters are very real yet they are entirely new. His understanding of complexities of characters and society is amazing. The film is like an onion with multiple layers in it. You need to keep all your senses open to explore it. He is arguably one of the best filmmakers in the country we have today.

The person who stands tall to him is the lyricist Gulzaarsaab who never seems to resort to ghisa-pita lyrics that we come across in every other film. His lines are extraordinary as expected from a distinguished poet. The music of the film ably supports the lyrics and takes the soundtrack to a different level. No wonder it is ruling the charts.

Finally, this is amazing piece of cinema which will go into the annals of Bollywood as outstanding work. But the only hitch is that as viewers we are so much fed with escapist cinema that it will take some time till we get the hang of Vishal Bhardwaj’s dark yet real world. But keep patience, the experience will be wonderful.

Rating ****1/2

Goodbye, Sweetheart

When you came you conquered

The damage you did was irreparable

I ask forgiveness

For I failed to resist you

I forgive you

For your unintentional tyranny

As you leave

Pick up every rubble and go

Let no sign remain

Of your footsteps

Home Truths

Recently Emran Hashmi alleged that a housing society in Mumbai didn’t give him a No Objection Certificate to buy a flat because he was a Muslim. A lot of us might find it shocking that why would somebody deny home to a star. But he is not the first case. Earlier it happened with Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Saif Ali Khan and many others who chose to keep it quiet. The reason I am writing this is because the incident has direct echo in my life. Finding an accommodation is indeed difficult for Muslims in India.

In 2003, I went to Delhi for my further studies. The first house I stayed in Hauz Khas belonged to Muslims. They didn’t have any identification issues. In fact they thought we were Hindus until Eid when we went out to pray wearing the traditional attire. After three years, few of my friends came from Assam and we decided to move to a bigger place because the space wasn't enough. We moved to Gautam Nagar just couple of miles away. We went through a property dealer and he had to do the police verification for us. It took unusually long for us and the dealer got frustrated after a point of time, “Otherwise it happens so quickly, they are taking so much time this time”. Soon police landed up in our flat to check our identities. There was perhaps order from top level to check every Muslim who seeks house in the capital. I knew that the whole verification was being done because we were Muslims, so did the officer and he was not at all comfortable doing it. He kept his cool throughout and politely replied despite some of my caustic comments.

That was the only time I changed my house in Delhi. Last year I came to Calcutta and I didn’t need to worry about my accommodation as my cousin was already staying here. He had come to Calcutta a year before. The day he had come to see the present accommodation Calcutta was flooded with rain. They searched the house walking in knee deep water. The landlady was shifting to a new house and she wanted to make her present house a PG for boys. After the initial talk when she learned that they were Muslims, the landlady flatly refused that she can’t rent her house to Muslims. After the intervention of her ‘progressive’ son, they were allowed. Two years hence, my cousin and his friend are the only guys living in the flat throughout and a darling of the landlady. We pay rent on time, we behave well with her. Whenever she comes, she sits only in our room. We are even more favourite with our maid. Many people came and went, but we have been living here without any issues.

Coming back to Hashmi and Co, this is a lesson for them to know that people love their characters on screen, not necessarily their real selves. I also want to point out that I personally don’t have any grudge with the policeman or this landlady. But when such incidents occur with someone else, those not-so-pleasant experiences come to haunt me, or should I say “us”.