Random DVD Round-Up 1 - HALLA BOL / RAISE YOUR VOICE - Paisa Equals Power

HALLA BOL is an Indian drama that asks whether justice can prevail in an unequal society where the rich dominate power structures, and demands that typically self-interested people put their safety and reputations on the line to ensure that it does. The movie features a strong performance from Ajay Devgan as a callow film star struggling with his conscience to stand as witness to a murder loosely based on the infamous Jessica Lal case. For a Rajkumar Santoshi film I found the direction uneven; the moral message a little naive; the dialogue stilted; some of the action just ludicrous; and the first half slow. Indeed, this three hour movie should have been a much tighter one hour fifty. This is not a movie that lives up to the high standard of similarly-themed films like DAMINI. On the plus side, the second half is genuinely gripping and I loved the score from Sukhwinder Singh - who is no longer a particular type of voice but a good Music Director in his own right. But perhaps the best reason to watch this is to see the strong performance from Pankaj Kapoor as Siddhu - the moral heart of the film.

HALLA BOL was released in summer 2007 and is available on DVD.

RAB NE BANA DI JODI / A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN - a refreshingly old-fashioned Bollywood romance

A few weeks ago I was praising DOSTANA for tackling contemporary sexual morality and pushing forward the boundaries of Hindi cinema. By contrast, RAB NE BANA DI JODI is a rather old-fashioned Bollywood weepie that espouses the virtues of integrity, loyalty and selflessness over hot dance moves and good looks. Both movies have their strengths and, in some ways, I rather preferred RAB NE BANA DI JODI precisely because it's a throwback to simpler, more straightforward times.

In contemporary Punjab, Surinder Sahni (Shah Rukh Khan) is a geeky, hard-working, quiet man. He attends the wedding of his professor's daughter, Taani (Anushka Sharma) only to fall in love with her at first sight. She's a vivacious, beautiful much younger girl - they seem to be chalk and cheese. When the groom party is killed in an accident, and the professor dies from grief, Surinder does the honourable thing in marrying Taani, giving her a home. He doesn't press his marital rights - rather waiting for love to grow slowly ("Haule Haule"). She promises to be a good wife, but claims she can never love him. In order to cheer her up and spend time with her, Suri decides to enter a dance contest with her, under the guise of a cool, confident guy called Raj. The make-over is so dramatic that Taani doesn't even recognise him. Soon, Taani is having a wonderful time with Raj. So much so that Suri is wondering if he'll lose her to his alter-ego. Or will Taani learn to appreciate Suri's quiet goodness? Well, this is Hindi cinema, so you can guess the ending!

The success of the movie hinges on the performances of the two leads. Shah Rukh Khan is marvelous as Suri/Raj. As Suri he is suitably self-effacing and nervous - and takes immeasurable delight in small triumphs - such as when his new wife prepares his first tiffin! As Raj, Shah Rukh beautifully satirises ridiculous Bollywood Heroes - complete with camp outfits and cheesy one-liners. Model slash actress Anushka Sharma does a good job in the harder role - she has to express the conflict of a well-brought up girl who considers leaving her husband for another man. Still, she doesn't have the screen presence of a Shah Rukh (who does?) or of legendary Bollywood actresses such as Kajol and Madhuri.

Behind the screen, Ravi K Chandran shoots Punjab beautifully and the Merchant brothers have produced a beautiful score. I particularly liked the sweet love song "Haule Haule" - nice to see Sukhwinder Singh singing a slower, softer number. And the lyrics to the song "Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai / I see God in you" are deeply moving. But by far the most entertaining and intellectually interesting number is a song called "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte". It's a dream sequence in which Shah Rukh Khan sings himself through the history of Hindi film - pastiching the hit numbers of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. It's a tremendous set-piece - exuberant, cheeky but fundamentally nostalgic for a shared heritage. And if anyone's still in doubt about who really has the heart of India, wait for the reaction when the first "item girl" appears on the screen!

RAB NE BANA DI JODI is on global release.

OMKARA - stunning Indian Othello

OMKARA is a stunning new version of Othello. It is set in a rural outpost of contemporary India where elections are determined by political hooligans - bribes, assassinations and threats. In this world of inverted morality, Omi (Othello) is a powerful man, second only to Bhaisaab (Brabanzio). These men wield so much power that Bhaisaab can have a public train stopped and run back to the station it has long since left because Omi needs to get off and perform a task. However, in a move as improbable as the Shakespeare play, Omi - the low-born, half-caste, thug, habitually dressed in black - attracts a young, innocent, well-born girl called Dolly (Desdemona). She leaves her family to live with Omi even before they are married much to eveyone's shock, not least Omi. Even his sister Indu (Emilia) laughs at his good fortune. Indu is married to Omi's second-in-command, the scheming bastard, Langda Tyagi. At least, Tyagi thinks he's second-in-comand until Omi complacently hands this role to the dashing womaniser Kesu (Cassio.) Kesu will deliver more rigged votes, and Omi foolishly believes that Tyagi will "understand". So begins the Shakespearian tragedy. The morally bankrupt Tyagi sets out to put Omi in a murderous, jealous rage - using his unwitting wife Indu to frame Dolly for sleeping with Kesu.

The movie is co-adapted, scored and directed by Vishal Bharadwaj and he deserves much praise. He has created a movie of rare intelligence and beauty. The camerawork is fluid without calling attention to itself. The production design is stunning - India is all rugged hills, dust, dirt and cell-phones. The music makes good use of Sukhvinder Singh's unique voice. Admittedly, I do not think the two "item numbers" featuring Bipasha Basu as the lewd dancer in a road-side inn can compare to last year's hit from BUNTY AUR BABLI, Kajra Re. However, the love song O Saathi Re is absolutely beautiful. I loved the script with its fiercely crude language and occasional flashes of dark humour. And most of all, I loved the acting performances. All these actors have form - appearing in small budget art movies alongside the bigger budget Bollywood hits. Ajay Devgan (Omi) was remarkable in RAINCOAT. Kareena Kapoor (Dolly) showed her range in CHAMELI. Saif Ali Khan (Tyagi) and Naseerudin Shah were hysterical in BEING CYRUS. Finally, Konkona Sen Sharma showed her class in last year's PAGE THREE.

I have a couple of quibbles with the precise details of the adaptation of the ending, for which read on underneath the release date stuff. Other than that, if you have two and a half hours to spare and fancy a thorough work-out of heart and mind, you should check OMKARA out.

OMKARA is currently on cinematic release in the UK, US and India.

Spoiler alert.....

Okay, so there are two major departures from the source material. The first is that the Othello figure doesn't start off as a great and noble general with stories of the wars with which to dazzle Desdemona. He's a crook. This makes the already improbable love even more improbable. It also means the tragedy is not your classical fall from grace kind. I mean, Omi is no scumbag. He always intended to marry Dolly not just to have his way with her. But he is no Great Man fallen. I suppose his tragedy is that he only becomes noble after murdering his love: in leaving Tyagi alive. My other niggle is that while I loved that the female characters are a lot more feisty in Omkara than in Othello, why does Indu have to kill Tyagi? It makes the ending of the movie rather neater than the play, which to my mind contradicts the gray-scale morality of the piece. This should not be about apportioning blame neatly. In the Shakespeare, Iago stabs Emilia and then absconds, to be caught and brought back in by the Law. Othello has a swipe at him, but Iago is left to face the courts, vowing never to speak again. I rather liked that. The innocent is dead, the murdering husband a suicide, but evil exists still.