Well the blog is finally up but as expected I am quite at a loss on what to put up next. But as I have spent some 50% of my life watching Bollywood movies, that seemed to be a good place to start. And since quite a large proportion of that 50% was devoted to movies that most people have not seen (or heard of) I thought that I shall share my experiences of a few of these lost celluloid wonders, these classics of camp etc etc….
One such unforgettable experience is Jaani Dushman – Ek Anokhi Kahani, the magnum opus of Raaj Kumar Kohli – veteran Bollywood director & greatest daddy in the world. After three crash-landed launches for son Armaan Kohli the never say die doting daddy; to ensure Armaan’s rightful place in the echelons of cinema rehashed his 70’s hit Nagin, named it after another of his 70’s hits Jaani Dushman, added the ‘Ek Anokhi Kahani’ to patent the originality of the story and pulled in every struggling/ wannabe/ semi employed star(let) in Bollywood (Sunny Deol, Manisha Koirala, Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Arshad Warsi, Sharad Kapoor, Aditya Pancholi, Aftaab Shivdasani, Sonu Nigam, Atul Agnihotri, Raj Babbar, Rambo…oops Rambha, Rajat Bedi, Siddharth, Raj Babbar and last but not least several aspiring Dev Anand discoveries) and had beta dearest bash all of them up.
The movie begins long long long ago in a land far far far away with two icchadhari naags Vasundhara & Kapil (Manisha Koirala & Armaan Kohli), dancing around as madly in love people and snakes generally do in Bollywood. Getting a bit overenthusiastic in her prancing Manisha causes a mountain (or is it a molehill) to cave in on a meditating ascetic (Amrish Puri) just as he is about to achieve his life’s goal – nirvana, omnipotence, divine procurement of weapons of mass destruction whatever. Anyone looking at Manisha’s bulk in this movie would realize this was an honest mistake but not the old acerbic ascetic who curses Manisha to die that very evening. A very horrified Manisha and Armaan then proceed to bang their heads on the rocks chanting “Hame kshama kar dijiye maharaj” till Amrish (probably terrified that the ground would cave in like the mountain) agrees upon a compromise formula.
The curse cannot be taken back but Manisha would be reborn in the 21st century as a woman while Mr. Kohli would turn into a tree waiting for her to be reborn and then they can well presumably take things off from where they left. Manisha is accordingly reborn as Divya, thunder thighs intact, but by the time Mr. Kohli sheds his bark and reminds here of her prancing snaky past she already has a 21st century fiancée in the form of Sunny paaji.
While Divya is battling the moral dilemma of choosing between her two loves past and present murkying the waters are two of her class mates (yes yes she is in college) Rajat Bedi & Siddharth, who attempt to rape her. After one foiled attempt Manisha’s entire group of friends (Akshay, Sunil. Sonu, Arshad, Pancholi etc - all students on the wrong side of 30 a la Dil Chahta Hai - and hereafter referred to as the gang), in a scene which has to be seen to be believed, plead with her to forgive the two rapists. Faced with dialogues of astounding originality like “Tum ho hi itni khoobsoorat ki koi bhi bahek jaayega” and “Divya, jahan sab log tumhe itna mana rahe hain, tumhe man lena chahiye. Naheen to hum samjhenge tumhe apni khoobsoorati pe kuch zyada ghuroor hain. please…maaf kar do unhe” our Divya is left with no choice but to grant the required forgiveness.
However since bad boys will be bad boys, our serial rapists through the ploy of imitating the voices of all the above mentioned ‘friends’ entice her to a party an hour before the party begins and proceed to well consummate their plan. Since this is an occult movie Manisha promptly proceeds to commit suicide and become a powerful ghost but not before cursing the entire gang with gruesome deaths for being part of the attempt to ravish her.
Now reunited with Kapil, who proceeds to inform her that as a ghost her powers are limited but as a snake he is omnipotent (!!) the two merrily set about killing the gang one by one in multiple innovative ways. How the clueless gang gathers their wits and combats the deadly duo the ghost and the shape-shifting snake while trying to stay alive forms the thrilling core of this movie.
Arming the gang with a staple diet of occult weapons including magical lockets which render the wearer immune to ghost or snake attack, is Raj Babbar, Professor of Paranormal Studies in their college (no tantriks, this is the 21st century you see) who can summon ghosts & heavenly bodies at will. Why despite such all encompassing powers he is content being a simple professor teaching louty students is one of those mysteries that only a sequel can answer.
Not to be left behind our snake - ghost duo seamlessly change shape transforming themselves not only into other people but also inanimate objects such as motorcycles and weapons. Transcending physical laws they even dissolve into liquid and rematerialize, move through walls, possess people and generate force fields.
A story like this requires immaculate special effects and flawless performances from the cast to keep the incredulous viewer glued and on both counts the entire team rises to the occasion. The special effects are truly path breaking and have been shamelessly aped in Hollywood movies as diverse as The Matrix, Mission Impossible 2, Terminator 2, The Mummy & Anaconda. That some of these movies were released before Jaani Dushman is not relevant because as the astute reader has already deciphered, concepts like time and space hold no relevance for such a monumental path breaking work.
One such unforgettable experience is Jaani Dushman – Ek Anokhi Kahani, the magnum opus of Raaj Kumar Kohli – veteran Bollywood director & greatest daddy in the world. After three crash-landed launches for son Armaan Kohli the never say die doting daddy; to ensure Armaan’s rightful place in the echelons of cinema rehashed his 70’s hit Nagin, named it after another of his 70’s hits Jaani Dushman, added the ‘Ek Anokhi Kahani’ to patent the originality of the story and pulled in every struggling/ wannabe/ semi employed star(let) in Bollywood (Sunny Deol, Manisha Koirala, Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Arshad Warsi, Sharad Kapoor, Aditya Pancholi, Aftaab Shivdasani, Sonu Nigam, Atul Agnihotri, Raj Babbar, Rambo…oops Rambha, Rajat Bedi, Siddharth, Raj Babbar and last but not least several aspiring Dev Anand discoveries) and had beta dearest bash all of them up.
The movie begins long long long ago in a land far far far away with two icchadhari naags Vasundhara & Kapil (Manisha Koirala & Armaan Kohli), dancing around as madly in love people and snakes generally do in Bollywood. Getting a bit overenthusiastic in her prancing Manisha causes a mountain (or is it a molehill) to cave in on a meditating ascetic (Amrish Puri) just as he is about to achieve his life’s goal – nirvana, omnipotence, divine procurement of weapons of mass destruction whatever. Anyone looking at Manisha’s bulk in this movie would realize this was an honest mistake but not the old acerbic ascetic who curses Manisha to die that very evening. A very horrified Manisha and Armaan then proceed to bang their heads on the rocks chanting “Hame kshama kar dijiye maharaj” till Amrish (probably terrified that the ground would cave in like the mountain) agrees upon a compromise formula.
The curse cannot be taken back but Manisha would be reborn in the 21st century as a woman while Mr. Kohli would turn into a tree waiting for her to be reborn and then they can well presumably take things off from where they left. Manisha is accordingly reborn as Divya, thunder thighs intact, but by the time Mr. Kohli sheds his bark and reminds here of her prancing snaky past she already has a 21st century fiancée in the form of Sunny paaji.
While Divya is battling the moral dilemma of choosing between her two loves past and present murkying the waters are two of her class mates (yes yes she is in college) Rajat Bedi & Siddharth, who attempt to rape her. After one foiled attempt Manisha’s entire group of friends (Akshay, Sunil. Sonu, Arshad, Pancholi etc - all students on the wrong side of 30 a la Dil Chahta Hai - and hereafter referred to as the gang), in a scene which has to be seen to be believed, plead with her to forgive the two rapists. Faced with dialogues of astounding originality like “Tum ho hi itni khoobsoorat ki koi bhi bahek jaayega” and “Divya, jahan sab log tumhe itna mana rahe hain, tumhe man lena chahiye. Naheen to hum samjhenge tumhe apni khoobsoorati pe kuch zyada ghuroor hain. please…maaf kar do unhe” our Divya is left with no choice but to grant the required forgiveness.
However since bad boys will be bad boys, our serial rapists through the ploy of imitating the voices of all the above mentioned ‘friends’ entice her to a party an hour before the party begins and proceed to well consummate their plan. Since this is an occult movie Manisha promptly proceeds to commit suicide and become a powerful ghost but not before cursing the entire gang with gruesome deaths for being part of the attempt to ravish her.
Now reunited with Kapil, who proceeds to inform her that as a ghost her powers are limited but as a snake he is omnipotent (!!) the two merrily set about killing the gang one by one in multiple innovative ways. How the clueless gang gathers their wits and combats the deadly duo the ghost and the shape-shifting snake while trying to stay alive forms the thrilling core of this movie.
Arming the gang with a staple diet of occult weapons including magical lockets which render the wearer immune to ghost or snake attack, is Raj Babbar, Professor of Paranormal Studies in their college (no tantriks, this is the 21st century you see) who can summon ghosts & heavenly bodies at will. Why despite such all encompassing powers he is content being a simple professor teaching louty students is one of those mysteries that only a sequel can answer.
Not to be left behind our snake - ghost duo seamlessly change shape transforming themselves not only into other people but also inanimate objects such as motorcycles and weapons. Transcending physical laws they even dissolve into liquid and rematerialize, move through walls, possess people and generate force fields.
A story like this requires immaculate special effects and flawless performances from the cast to keep the incredulous viewer glued and on both counts the entire team rises to the occasion. The special effects are truly path breaking and have been shamelessly aped in Hollywood movies as diverse as The Matrix, Mission Impossible 2, Terminator 2, The Mummy & Anaconda. That some of these movies were released before Jaani Dushman is not relevant because as the astute reader has already deciphered, concepts like time and space hold no relevance for such a monumental path breaking work.
Among the cast Sunny paaji bends iron bars, hurls javelins and fights 10 people at a time like never before, Sonu Nigam plays a irritating spineless pansy to such perfection that the entire audience roots to kill him themselves and Akshay and Sunil are so aptly cast as the brawn of the gang that no viewer could ever suspect the existence of a brain. Special mention must be made of Sunil Shetty’s perfect expression of acute constipation when, possessed by the ghost of Manisha, he attempts to prevent himself from being hurled off a building. A Kodak moment if ever there was one! And towering above all is the re- re- re launched star son Armaan, in a towering performance blatantly mimicked by Keanu Reeves in the Matrix from the costume to the utter absence of expression; he undoubtedly lays to rest all doubts as to his acting prowess.
But in the end the movie belongs to Daddy. Combining a variety of genres from horror, action, fantasy, science fiction, romance and comedy Kohli senior drives home his mastery of the medium transfixing the audience to their seats, holding them in utter suspense as to who and how the next person will be killed, confusing and enlightening the viewers at will but never boring them for even a second. That this movie did not get the audience it deserved upon release is one of the great tragedies of Indian cinema though repeated TV viewings have increased its popularity. However let nobody doubt that Daddy is already planning the next launch for Armaan. We wait in rapt anticipation…..
But in the end the movie belongs to Daddy. Combining a variety of genres from horror, action, fantasy, science fiction, romance and comedy Kohli senior drives home his mastery of the medium transfixing the audience to their seats, holding them in utter suspense as to who and how the next person will be killed, confusing and enlightening the viewers at will but never boring them for even a second. That this movie did not get the audience it deserved upon release is one of the great tragedies of Indian cinema though repeated TV viewings have increased its popularity. However let nobody doubt that Daddy is already planning the next launch for Armaan. We wait in rapt anticipation…..
1 comment:
relived the entire viewing experience. did not know/remember about armaan kohli. but that goes without saying.
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