Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap (2011)

I’ve never been a stickler for action movies – particularly the dishum-dishum one-man army variety Bollywood serves on a blood-stained platter. The one exception, though, remains Indian cinema’s proverbial ‘angry young man’, Amitabh Bachchan: superhero for the masses eons before a shirtless Salman Khan became all the rage. Zanjeer. Deewar. Sholay. Trishul. Muqaddar ka Sikandar. Lawaaris. Shakti. Coolie. Shahenshah. Mai Azaad Hoon. Agneepath – I’ve grown up to his cult-classic one-liners, his bravura, his passion, aggression, and of course, that trademark Bachchan baritone. Now 68-years… young, one thought he’d long since abandoned that larger-than-life persona in favor of stern patriarchal figures, occasionally reinventing himself with gems like Black, Cheeni Kum and Paa.

Of course, then came along Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap. The ‘one-man industry’ [as billed by French director François Truffaut] strikes again in the avatar his ardent fans love most: the one where he kicks major ass.

Let me get this out of the way at the onset: this is masala filmmaking at its finest, read: thin-to-the-point-of-emaciated plot. For example, here are some of the characters: a conscientious cop so ‘straight’ he could convert an army of little monsters, re: Lady Gaga [Sonu Sood], his doting single sati-savitri mom [Hema Malini] and blink-I don’t love you-blink-but now I do love interest [Sonal Chauhan], a moist toilette mafia mogul [Prakash Raj] and his army of womanizing goons… and Raveena Tandon, who replaces Johnny Lever as the movie’s staple over-the-top comedienne. You’ve seen them all before; these cardboard-cutout characters predate cinema of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Then there’s the plot itself: following a perceived terrorist attack – calm down, the antagonist isn’t Muslim – ACP Karan [Sonu Sood – a dead ringer for a young Amitabh] avows to rid Mumbai of its mafia kachra within two months [sigh, only in Bollywood]. Naturally, Kabir [Prakash Raj], the contractor behind the attacks is a bit peeved and hires the baap of all contract-killers to off our righteous cop. Enter Viju [Amitabh Bachchan], who has as much aversion to being called ‘bbuddah’ as Pamela Anderson had on being called ‘babe’ in Barb Wire [did you know the movie was a reimagining of Casablanca?! But I digress.] With several botched up operations under his belt 45 minutes into the movie, just when you begin to think ‘whoa, he’s really not the best in the business, is he?’ or ‘whoa, why am I watching this movie?’ comes a twist in the tale that pulls the rug from right under you. Where the first half is really bbuddah wine in new bottle, it’s the second half that really brings on both action and emotion. And those wolf-whistle inducing one-liners.

Seriously. The first hour or so is mild torture, mostly because of infuriating subplots. ACP Karan is head-over-heels over Sonal Chauhan’s character [I forget her screen-name]. Yawn. Raveena Tandon is reunited with old flame Viju and must express her lust via million-expressions-a-minute. Fast-forward to the good stuff, please. Even Amitabh Bachchan channels less of his Zanjeer/Deewar namesake’s [Viju/Vijay] firepower and gusto in the first half: his character is more reminiscent of womanizer Sam from Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. Yes, he’s riding a Harley, and rocks Aviator sunglasses whilst aiming a sniper rifle, but you’ve seen him angrier, you’ve seen him more irreverent. Where’s all the ‘thodi thodi seena zori, thodi thodi maatha phori, thora action, thora Jackson’ we were promised? I don’t want to see Amitabh playing matchmaker, doling out marriage-advice, DJing at a club – I want to see blood, guns, explosions, the frikkin’ works! Director Puri Jagannadh reserves all the good stuff for the second half, and we’re reduced to watching more a display of the South Indian cinema aesthetic – choppy editing, disjointed scenes, several thousand camera angles for a single shot… in essence, everything you hated about Salman’s Wanted – than an ode to brand Bachchan. And that’s really where you feel letdown; we all knew this wasn’t going to be a National Award winning screenplay, but we did hope the director would keep that camera lens focused firmly on its protagonist. Dare I say it: Jagannadh doesn’t exploit AB enough; as critic Deepauk Murugesan puts it: ‘unsuggestive background music clouds the reticently used baritone and designer sunglasses mask the smoldering anger in those eyes.’ One wishes as much effort had been put into the screenplay and dialogue as was into Bachchan’s eccentric wardrobe.

But fret not, for whilst the first half boasts of mediocrity, the second – minus that one unwarranted subplot featuring a father who hates love marriages [massive eye-roll] – is where both director and Bachchan really come into their element. The action sequences work – Amitabh even gets to bend a bullet a la Angelina Jolie from Wanted!, as does one brilliant comedic sequence [read: background music war] involving Amitabh, Hema Malini and Raveena Tandon caught in lovers’ crossfire at a café. The emotional element, the little of it there is, packs an equal punch. But it’s the climax sequence, beginning from Bachchan the storyteller to Bachchan the destroyer of all, that takes the cake. There he is. This is what I’d been waiting for. And man, was it worth sitting through half-a-dozen characters and their half-baked stories for. AB really does reign supreme; he makes even the most ludicrous sequences work because, well, he’s Amitabh Bachchan. And here’s a legend that’ll never really grow old.

In its finest moments, Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap brings on the nostalgia, and then some. So if, like me, you’ve grown up watching AB deliver one electrifying performance after the other in reverent awe, watch BHTP and then make a trip to your local DVD shop and bring home his classics. Because there never was, and never will be, another Amitabh — Osman Khalid Butt

Rating – 3 out of 5

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 2011, Genre – Action, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, AB Corp AB Corp, Director – Puri Jagannadh, Music Director – N/A, Cast –
Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Sonu Sood, Sonal Chauhan, Prakash Raj, Makrand Deshpande, Vishwajeet Pradhan, Charmee Kaur, Mahie Gill, Subbu Raju, Shahwar Ali, Rajeev Verma, Rajiv Mehta, Atul Parchure, Raveena Tandon

Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan has no ‘special’ plans for his 68th birthday and doesn’t believe in making resolutions either. “Birthdays come and go every year. And for me, every day is special. A resolution may force something on to a day which I don’t want,” he reasons. “I’m nearing 70 now. Sometimes, my knees and other joints ache and I know that I’m growing old. But I want to continue to work for as long as my body will allow me.”

Birthday celebrations were limited to a simple havan (ceremony) at home when he was a child. “Now, I usually spend time with my family and fall in with their plans,” he says.

This year, he has a special birthday gift from Sony. KBC 4 will launch on October 11 and the channel is hosting a bash for Bachchan who returns to the game show after six years. His family, actor friend Rajnikanth and Team India’s cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, among others, are expected to be present at the gala and the screening of the first episode.

On his blog Bachchan has been expressing his excitement over the fact that his grandchildren, Navya Naveli and Agastya Nanda, his daughter Shweta‘s kids, are with him. Nothing makes him happier than returning home to his grandkids: “They bring joy to my life. I can’t express in words how happy a grandfather feels to bring in his birthday, actually, just any day, with his grandchildren around him,” he writes.

The actor, over the last few weeks, has been extremely busy, shooting ad commercials, canning episodes for KBC 4 and ‘getting into shape’ preparing for Rajkumar Santoshi action thriller, Power, in which he plays a vigilante and has promised to do his stunts choreographed by a Hollywood action coordinator without a double.

Later in the year, he will start work on Prakash Jha’s Aarakshan, R Balki’s next film for AB Corp and Buddha. The four time National Award-winning star also walked the ramp last Thursday for Karan Johar and Varun Bahl at the Couture Week with Hrithik Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan – Rachana Dubey

Rann (2010)

Amidst the abundance of directors vying for mainstream success in Bollywood, Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) is a rare breed. He directs movies that fall out of conventional Indian cinema and it seems he does it for the art of storytelling rather than aiming at box-office success.

Since the critical success of the resounding Rangeela, RGV has ventured into crime, horror and previously untouched topics such as adultery. His recent foray in telling tales of the underworld in particular seemed to have served him well, as evidenced by the well received Company, D, Satya and the Sarkar movies.

In Rann he has taken on a new, perhaps bold, tale of media manipulation, principally focusing on politics and sensational news items. The film brings out the evils in society when striving for success pushes people to extremes, sounding out a sentiment that media has sidelined any moral code of ethics in present times. It may tend to lean towards an idealistic point of view at times, but the requisite of a serious tone makes Rann perfect for a thinking audience.

One of the film’s protagonists, Harshvardhan Malik (Amitabh Bachchan) owns a news channel which operates on the basis of strong moral codes and ideals. Malik believes in presenting honest, factual news and not generating news just to win an audience.

Jai Malik (Sudeep), Harshvardhan’s son, runs with the trend and sees media as a cash-cow. When their channel is under threat from competition, Jai becomes allies with politician Mohan Pandey (Paresh Rawal) and uses his channel to conspire against the ruling Prime Minister.

Enter aspiring journalist Purab (Riteish Deshmukh) who steps in to get to the truth of the issue. The story starts to show some elements of suspense, which seems to diminish as the film progresses, due to an increasingly predictable ending.

The script is almost written and acted out to perfection. Amitabh Bachchan, and more surprisingly Riteish Deshmukh and Sudeep deliver their crisp dialogues effectively. The menacing rather than comedic performance of Paresh Rawal is refreshing, while the support of Mohnish Behl as the competition is solid. Gul Panag brightens the screen with her smile in her limited role.

The one strong point of the film is the cinematography as it is clearly evident that Amit Roy has studied the art. The camera angles, panning shots and placement of actors on the set is well thought out and conducted. The fact that there finally seem to be cinematographers who take initiative and are innovative bodes well for the industry and future films.

To sum up Rann is one movie you do not want to miss. It displays many aspects of filmmaking that are often absent in Indian cinema, such as using music to support the story rather than throwing in inane dance numbers. The film may have some shortcomings but the message it delivers, combined with its uniqueness makes it a must-watch – Amar Ayaz

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 2010, Genre – Crime, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Sheetal Vinod Talwar, Madhu Mantena, Director – Ram Gopal Varma, Music Director – Amar Mohile, Bapi – Tutul, Sanjeev Kohli, Jayesh Gandhi, Dharmaraj Bhatt, Sandeep Patil, Cast - Amitabh Bachchan, Paresh Rawal, Riteish Deshmukh, Sudeep, Manisha Koirala, Rajat Kapoor, Gul Panag, Raima Sen, Mohnish Behl, Rajpal Yadav, Suchitra Krishnamurthy, Alok Nath, Neena Kulkarni, Simone Singh, Neetu Chandra, Rahul Pendkalkar