My opinion. Review on Company

Ram Gopal Varma's underworld saga finally unfolded last Friday. Several film buffs hoped that this would be the Great Indian Gangster Movie, our answer to The Godfather. But it lets down all those hopes. My take on the movie and its effect --

THE PLOT -

The film chronicles the rise of two gangsters from being everyday conmen to mafia dons. They dominate everything from the Home Ministry to the stock market to the latest Bollywood flick . Then it heralds their fall from that powerful pedestal to a life of punishment and remorse...and in one of the cases, no life at all. Moral of the story : crime never pays.

Yes, it is a fictionalized document on the lives of two real-time gangsters Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan.

WHATS GOOD ABOUT COMPANY -

The direction by Ram Gopal Varma is full of aplomb. Varma has more style and talent than the bimbos and bimbettes of half of Bollywood put together. All the actors pitch in first-rate performances. Ajay Devgan, Mohan Lal and Vivek Oberoi are splendid. One can't overlook Sandeep Chowtha, who should be proud of his excellent background score.

WHATS NOT SO GOOD ABOUT IT

At the end of the movie, I was not all that satisfied. Movies can be judged by the impact they have on you while watching them, or after watching them.

Most films, like novels, largely depend on their characters to arouse the required emotions in the reader / viewer. The direction, the cinematography, the music and all the other cinematic ingredients create the mood and accentuate the emotions. In a conventionally scripted movie, they exploit the base laid by the script. Great direction without fleshy characters is like a strong building on a weak foundation. Bound to crumble.

When I saw Lagaan, I rooted for the village team, clapped at every boundary and was almost bouncing on my seat when 'we' won. After the movie ended, I felt upbeat and happy for some time. I marveled in its ebullient and inspirational spirit. When I watched Satya, I was often thrilled and astonished during the course of the film. But more importantly, I felt pity, wonder, fear and awe for its characters.

What impact did Company have on me? No substantial impact. While watching the movie I did not get bored. It is indeed tightly paced. I was also taken aback a few times by the dramatic twists in the story. But thats about it. At the end of the day, Company is a realistic crime drama that fails because of characterization too cold and weak to incite strong feelings in the audience. In Company, you may feel different things about the characters at different places in the movie, but not one of those feelings is strong enough to help the movie leave a long-lasting impact on you. The film-makers have failed to create an ambience where, amidst all the tension and ruthlessness, the humane touch holds you to the narrative like the quintessential umbilical cord. Ajay Devgan'ss character needs awe and wonder. Vivek Oberoi'ss character should be the one we can directly identify with. Human, natural, just one of us. Antara Mali needs to be adorable and cared for. For instance, had this been achieved, the scene where she dies would have worked better. Both the script and the direction disappoint at this aspect. It ends up as a flamboyantly stylized documentary on organized crime.

At best, Company is an important movie because it clears the way for masterpieces in this genre. But the movie itself is far from a masterpiece. It is viewable, not boring...but also not excellent.

However, even before the release of the movie it was expected that it will go down well with a lot of people. A large section of the audience will appreciate it because is is realistic, ''hard-hitting'' cinema. Many of these people will be those who, in a holier-than-thou attitude, love Lagaan and paradoxically, look down disdainfully upon K3G. As if Lagaan is a solemn work of a socially and philosophically concerned Bergman-like genius while K3G is another ineffectual manifestation of our pathetic movies like Kya Yehi Pyar Hai, Kahin Pyar Na Ho Jaaye, Pyar Ishq aur Mohabbat and the like (only, for some very weird reason, it is more successful than all of these taken together).

To make my point clearer, lets consider some movies released in the past couple of years that have taken up realistic themes - Zubeidaa, Fiza, Chandni Bar and Filhaal.

In my opinion, none of these movies is a great movie. They are all watchable at best, good in parts. Yet, they get a lot of appreciation. The more offbeat you are, the more appreciation you are going to get ( Chandni Bar has got many 5 star ratings here..its also the least mainstream of these movies ). Of course, there are exceptions. I remember Farid loved Fiza much more than we all did. That was clearly an exception. For every average movie, you have some people who genuinely think it was better than average.

There is a tendency to overrate offbeat movies. People applaud them because it means appreciating serious, realistic and progressive cinema.... cinema that is away from the gauche, dreamy bollywood movies. Appreciating it makes them feel sophisticated and smart. Its a shot in the arm to their self-esteem and their image among all they know. (God only knows why, but intelligence and sophistication have always been in fashion. And the world has never been short of fashion victims. )

These people might not be as wicked as I make them sound, they may do this in a naive and subconscious manner. They probably don't bother about being hardcore conformists. I don't hold any grudges against them...but I write this because I love writing and commenting on things I feel strongly for.

CONCLUSION -

Company is a watchable film.It is also a landmark film that needs to be lauded with a certain degree of appreciation for being one of the first films that experiments with a subject that holds considerable potential. But it is also evidence of the 'pseudo-connoisseurism' that is prevalent in art.