13.3 - No Duvidha here - Batman Begins pounds Parineeta and Paheli
This was published on 03 Jul 20o5 in the Mumbai Mirror and on my site www.manfrommatunga.com.
After a long, long time, I actually managed to squeeze in three current films within one week.
My wife and I saw Parineeta at the Wadala IMAX late Saturday night. The next Thursday, I went with a gully friend of mine to see Batman Begins, at CineMax in Sion, and the next night, a few of us went to see Paheli at Central Plaza, in Girgaum.
I remember going to Eros to see Batman, in 1989/1990. We didn’t have tickets that day, but since we usually managed to get extras (all my wife had to do was to put on a “hopeful” face, outside the entrance), we took a chance. I specifically remember that day, because we first got extras for the stalls and then held on for balcony extras, which we eventually got as well, and then sold the stalls extras to some other hopefuls who had been milling around us.
Batman was and still is a great film. Tim Burton used Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Kim Bassinger to give us an unexpectedly Blade Runnerish, dark, non-cartoonish film. Compared to the Superman movies, which were more bubble-gummy in nature, Batman was the first proper adult comic-book adaptation that I had seen…much like Daredevil and the Hulk in the last few years, it was brilliantly nihilistic. Batman II was pretty good as well, but when Joel Schumacher took over for the next two, he went the bubble-gummy way (Robin with nipples) and screwed up the series.
Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins is a tribute to Tim Burton’s vision. The last scene is a gem – making sure there will be a sequel, which however has already been made. I felt disappointed just once…when Bruce Wayne enters the Chinese house at the top of the mountain, I really thought I would see David Carradine turn around and talk to him. Liam Neeson is brilliant as well though, but Katie Holmes’ role could have been played by anyone. After a long time, with Batman Begins and Revenge of the Sith, in the last month, we have had two seriously great prequel films. Both films, especially Batman Begins, have extremely strong story lines and characterizations. Even better than Tim Burton’s Batman and the first two Star Wars prequels, respectively.
And there lies the problem with Parineeta and Paheli.
Parineeta is a film with lovely production values and music and a beautifully cast Vidya Balan. Equally miscast however is Sanjay Dutt. The biggest problem lies with the way the story is filmed. The whole movie hinges on a misunderstanding, which intuitively just doesn’t ring true. And in a serious film (we are not talking Amar Akbar Anthony here), even the slightest dishonesty in the story affects the credibility of the film. From the time the audience, along with Saif Ali Khan, understands the so-called goof-up that led to all the angst and tear-jerking, everything feels contrived. And from then on, it is a downhill slide to a silly, childish ending, completely out of sync with the film and more evocative of a Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander bicycle race ending. What were they thinking of!
Why do so many of our films do this? They start so promisingly, but then ejaculate prematurely! As Black did earlier this year and Devdas before that.
Paheli lives up to the Parineeta tradition. When a one paragraph story needs to be filmed, obviously, the staging has to be colorful and grand. But the film is a half an hour too long with three songs too many – maybe with some really tight editing and a shorter length, like Black, it might have just worked. But, despite the really great ensemble cast (Juhi, Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav) and Shahrukh Khan in a double role, Amol Palekar, just can’t save the film. And it is his cross to bear.
Most importantly, the credibility issue rears its head here as well. The film’s basic premise rests on the fact that the husband is going to be away for five years in “pardes”. Pardes is eventually Jamnagar, which is really just that much far away or not, from any corner of Rajasthan. Do you really believe, that a husband who actually misses his wife and family would wait for four years, before going home, especially when he has received no news from home. Four years? Jeez! It is one thing to suspend belief in films like Main Hoon Na and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, but in a film, which hinges on its story, discrepancies such as these, consciously or subconsciously, contribute to the film’s eventual demise.
Take Black for example, where Amitabh Bachhan is supposed to have Alzheimer’s but behaves as someone who has Parkinsonism. Or the fact that the parents who are rich and educated actually did not get special tutoring and rearing for their daughter from the first year? Honestly, do you really think this would happen in real life, in a family such as the one shown by Sanjay Leela Bhansali? Which is why, though Black is well made and has some terrific acting, it failed to get under my skin - it’s a good film, but highly over-rated as a great film!
In the end I will remember Parineeta and Paheli for entirely different things.
I overslept after Parineeta and woke up at 6.30AM for a 7.00AM flight to Nagpur. I made it to the airport from Matunga, within 12 minutes, having had just enough time to dump some clothes in a bag and pull on a pair of jeans. For some reason (and yes, we begged), Jet Airways really came through for me – we had called them on the way and they actually had the boarding pass ready for me at the standby counter, despite the check-in counters having closed at 6.30AM sharp.
As for Paheli, the couple we went out with, dropped us back in their new Toyota Innova, which I promptly thought we should get as well. If we do, Paheli’s place in my consciousness will be assured…if not…that’s not a “duvidha” to figure out anyway, is it!
Addendum: I talked about this piece in my 1539 write-up about the IMAX theatre in Wadala
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