The Hindu : New Delhi News : When Bollywood is not on the go, it’s worth waiting for the next Cinema

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Sunday, Oct 07, 2007
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New Delhi

When Bollywood is not on the go, it’s worth waiting for the next Cinema

ZIYA US SALAM

LEAN PICKINGS: The bleak phase continues in Bollywood with films like “Go” (middle) and “Chhodo Naa Yaar” (right) disappointing. However, Nicolas Cage’s “Next” (left) from Hollywood is on target.

NEXT

(At PVR Saket and other theatres in Delhi and elsewhere)

Count your blessings, name them one by one. Among them will be Nicolas Cage, an actor so skilful that he can breathe plausibility into the most incredible of roles. Also an actor so seasoned as to know when to impart a touch of class, when to reserve his best. This Lee Tamahori film falls in the second category, but still has enough gumption to keep the viewers in their seats till the end.

Of course, Tamahori’s task is made easier by Cage as the man better than a soothsayer, and more unassuming than any sorcerer. He may not be able to see tomorrow but he has a rare gift: he can see the world a few seconds, no, a couple of minutes ahead of the rest. And that means he is worth every drop of blood for the FBI, now desperately in need of help post-9/11. Gosh! How many times have the Hollywood dream merchants used tragedy as a flimsy excuse for a movie! Now the excuse runs flimsiest. But that is for another day.

Here in this film Cage is in control of the proceedings, even if he does not dish out a performance one would call memorable. As a harmless magician he is competent all right. As a moony-eyed man with an eye on Jessica Biel he is strangely aloof.

As a man in hot pursuit, he is more adept.

Tamahori’s film scores on another count: Julianne Moore as the FBI lady is in her element too. One moment she is commanding, next she is powerless, depending on Cage to save her life. And all along, she stays focused on the larger purpose: use the man for her goal. Just like the film where Tamahori maintains a brisk pace, uses no sub-plots, stays loyal to a simple storyline but packs in a punch in narration.

The soundtrack helps, and some of the scenes of devastation seem identifiable. The chase scenes are handled with aplomb, and the director plays a smart card: no, there is no New York in the climax but in Los Angeles where the hero finally gets a chance to show who is the boss.

The film, with a neat mix of action and intrigue, has arrived without too much hullabaloo that often surrounds a Cage film. That should actually work out in its favour. So next time you feel inclined to spend some time at a cinema near you, you don’t have to go too far away from “Next”. Well worth a visit.

(At Delite and other Delhi theatres)

In this age of dumbing down, movies just got a tad dumber. And Ram Gopal Varma proves the dumbest of the lot. With “Go”, he completes a hat-trick most ignoble: remember over the past few weeks he has tested our patience with “Aag” and “Darling”. This time round we fail the test of patience: I had personally entered the movie hall with zero expectations. And the film lived up to them!

It is a big zero: probably not as embarrassing a movie as “Aag” in Ram Gopal Varma’s resume but one he would like to forget double quick.

Whether he is suffering from amnesia or plainly needs a long holiday from work is open to debate. What cannot be debated is that today he is a pale, no, the palest shadow of the man who gave us such engrossing films as “Rangeela” and “Company”. Without the poise, the restrain of old, he is like a magician who has forgotten his wand at home.

So, what is “Go” all about? Nothing, really. Don’t believe me? Well, ask Mr. Varma. In a candid moment he would probably agree. Here he takes two youngsters – his favourite non-actress Nisha Kothari and new boy Gautam Gupta – and makes them run, no, elope. Is it for love that they are running? One would think so. Both are blessed with families constantly involved in a screaming match. But then the director thinks he has not quite exploited Ms. Kothari’s perceived sensuality. So Nisha gets into costumes that keep getting tinier and tinier. In between she shows a penchant for walking down Mr. Varma’s lane of amnesia. So in one shot she forgets to put on her pants. In another she forgets to put on her shirt. And almost all through, she wears almost nothing. Still she leaves the viewers cold. That is a sad commentary on a desperate actress trying to be the next sex symbol.

If she is awful, new boy Gautam is a shade better. He just looks ordinary, but at least does not get on your nerves as his companion here.

So, is “Go” yet another love story? No, far from it. There are evil politicians involved in their game of one-upmanship. There are cops in a hot pursuit of a henchman who is holding the Chief Minister to ransom. Not to forget their nexus with the evil side of life. And our little lovebirds – whose passion reminds you of a pressure cooker after the last whistle – are just caught in the crossfire!

Add to that a music score that is made from leftovers. And a sound track that does nothing to heighten the viewers’ interest. Then there is a pace of story-telling that makes frequent allowances for song and dance detours! Phew! Isn’t that too much to digest? Yes.

One simple piece of advice: Don’t even ask if you should go to watch “Go”. Just let it go. In ignorance and distance lie peace and contentment.

CHHODON NAA YAAR

(At Spice PVR, Noida and Delhi theatres)

With the big cats reserving their films – “Laaga Chunari Mein Daag” and “Bhool Bhulaiya” – till next Friday, mice continue to have a free run. Joining the fun is Deepak Sood’s “Chhodoon Naa Yaar”. Well, actually no fun considering the film has opened to a tepid response and, from the content on offer, is unlikely to get any better. Which is just so sad for Jimmy Shergil, the modern-day Vinod Mehra, who continues to game fully illumine dark, forgettable films.

Here he adds to the numbers with a film that is dishonest to its name, and quite disappointing in its wares. We have three mass communication students – hey, Jimmy look up the mirror, the time clock for student age just ticked over – who make their diploma film about a myth prevalent in the anonymous hills of our country. One knows from the beginning that it is unlikely to be a routine shoot-and-save venture for the wannabe filmmakers, but the way the movie turns from a youthful feel to a horror, leaves you, well, in a state of horror. The temple in the forest is visited, there is an “atma” at large, and the spooky sounds one associates with the Ramsay films of old. Does the film get made? And how!

Never mind. Much before the final denouement many would have ventured out. Can’t blame them. Chhodono naa yaar. Better luck next time, Jimmy.

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