Jul 09, 2005 12:16 PM
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(Updated Jul 09, 2005 12:22 PM)
(I am back. After a long period of self imposed abstinence from Mouthshut followed by a period of floods in Gujarat when Baroda was cut off from the rest of the world…I am back. Although I wanted my experiences with the floods to be my first review on my comeback….the topic is still stuck with MouthPad….and I cant wait anymore to get to writing….so here is what you all have been waiting for….a review by ‘activeace’)
From ‘Godfather’ to it’s Indian counterpart ‘Sarkar’ it has been a long journey of Gangster flicks for Indian audiences. A genre always thought to be boring…passé and off beat suddenly came back in style when a critically acclaimed writer swore to write a bestseller and took this very unusual topic to do the same.
When Mario Puzo first started writing ‘Godfather’ everyone told him it would meet the same fate as his earlier novels…a bagful of critical acclaim and not much of dough to accompany it. The book barley made it to print and yet became a phenomena, a mania, Mafia came back to style.
When Paramount decided to make a flick on the book they decided to make a cheap Gangster flick set in that time just to capitalize on the Mafia fever. It was the persistence of Francis Ford Coppolla and Mario Puzo that it went way over budget, was made as a period flick shot at real locations in Sicily and New York and cost around 6 million. When it was released it garnered a slow opening at box office of only 300 thousand dollars….when last estimated in 1997, the Godfather has made 138 million dollars !
When ‘arty’ director Vidhu Vinod Chopra decided to make ‘Parinda’ or when ‘eccentric’ Ram Gopal Verma decided to make ‘Satya’ written by even more eccentric Anurag Kashyap…..people said it wouldn’t work...just like they told Mario Puzo. Now after 4 movies from the Factory based on the underworld the last one involving the ruling Don of Film industry Amitabh Bachan himself, RGV is laughing at his critics, laughing a Peter Clamenza laugh, laughing a laugh of a man with a ‘belly’ , laughing that he can now call himself as the Consilgere of Gangster flicks. Whether these movie make a lot of money or not …one thing is certain all Gangster flicks are treated with ‘respect’ and the critics ‘reason’ with it…let us move in the memory lane to take out few of the best Gangster flicks made in Bollywood. Here are my favorite flicks of my favorite genre…
7. Vaastav
In the world of Gangster flicks there is an order, a rank among the directors. Indian Gangster flicks unlike in the west actually stem from the art film movement of the 70s and 80s. Slowly it has migrated to the mainstream cinema. Ram Gopal Verma was inspired and blooded in this genre inspired by Vinod Chopra. (he even claimed this in his interview for the later in ‘Jeena Isi Ka Naam hai’). Vinod Chopra is again inspired by the king of art films of his time Govind Nahlani. But when Mahesh Manjrekar broke onto this regime with a bang with a film called ‘Vaastav’ people were in for a shock. Memorable performances by Sanjubaba and an interestingly realistic supporting cast Manjrekar made a flick that has come the nearest to represent the true picture of Mumbai crime scene. The movie was so real that it could have happened in real life. Loosley inspired by the making of Vito Corleone in Godfather II it shows how a normal Mumbai ‘Chaal’ boy becomes a ruthless underworld Don. Number 7 on my list for the realistic Vaastav.
6. Waisa Bhi Hota hai part II
Never heard of this one ! Surprising this strange comedy with a strange title is a pretty interesting Gangster flick. A yuppie copywriter makes friends with a young button man with a promising career in the underworld, by saving his life. What follows is a friendship between two men who come from completely different background and respect and understanding of each other’s profession. The character of the young gangster shows that they too are normal young men just like us….who like to have fun and yet make a living by killing people. At the end of the day crime is just another profession….
5. Thaakshak
It was surprising that Govind Nahilani decided to make a commercial film…what was not surprising was the topic he choose. Thaakshak is a again a story of two men both born in a gangster family …one the grandson of Don himself played by Rahul Bose and the other the son of his advisor played by Ajay Devgan. The movie tracks how the friendship between them and the pledge of ‘omerta’ taken slowly breaks away and turns into rivalry due to entry of a woman in Ajay Devgan’s life. This one is a really good movie with an extraordinary performance by Rahul Bose. A Must watch if you like this genre.
4. Parinda
Vidhu Vinod Chopara’s best picture till date, this is the film that made Nana Patekar famous. A breakthrough film in Indian Cinema, a landmark picture. Though when you see this movie today you find it has nothing new to offer but the fact is that in it’s time it was a daring work….something not all directors had the balls to try. And surprisingly it was a big money spinner too…was it due to Nana’s madness…or the famous lovemaking scene of Madhuri Dixit ?
3. Satya
‘Satya’ in it’s equal terms is a ‘Godfather’ of Indian cinema. If Parinda was a first step in the underworld….Satya was a huge leap. It’s surprising how these gangster flicks give birth to new stars….people who may not be goodlooking enough to make it as male leads in other films. If Parinda was Nana’s best performance….Satya gave birth to Manoj Bajpai….if Bollywood had only Mushy love stories ….we would have never seen such fine actors on the silver screen.
2. Sarkar
Though not strictly an underworld flick when you see it…Sarkar is RGV’s best work in terms of him as a technician, or a true blue director or a story teller. For the first time you feel a RGV movie is complete …not a half baked plot like all the other movies from his factory that start well but end in a whimper. Mindblowing performances, excellent dialogues and wonderful background score make Sarkar a winner all the way. Eventhough it is loosely inspired by the Godfather believe me it a different movie in its own merit. You should watch it if you have not seen or read the Godfather and you should especially see it if you have seen or read the Godfather !!
1. Company
Mario Puzo would be proud of this work. From his very start Puzo wanted to show that the Mafia operates like any other business organization. It has a CEO, an MD, board of directors….hires and fires people….tries to expand it’s business and it’s chief aim is to make profit not terrorize people. Company takes this organizational bit in the underworld a step further and shows other aspects of a firm… mergers between big firm and small ones (Vivek’s gang joining Ajay’s) , killing or buying out competition, retiring old the old Moustache Pete boss with hernia and working with a remote control from a remote location. Company is truly a film on business aspect of the underworld, maybe they were one step away from hiring young MBA’s fresh out of the IIMs...like they say ‘Ganda hai per dhanda hai ye’.
