What Ails Mr Bachchan?

Bad judgement, arrogance or twilight years – what ails the star who re-defined Bollywood cinema as it is today? Jackass is not a word one normally associates with Amitabh Bachchan. But this innocuous noun is the latest peeve in a list of peeves Mr Bachchan has had for some time now.  So in the Masand vs Bachchan brouhaha, Bachchan missed out the crass gimmickry of Akshay Kumar posing with the seriously ill R K Laxman at Breach Candy hospital. The usually erudite star didn’t question who came up with this ill-timed stunt? Who allowed Akshay Kumar to preen in a hospital? Oh wait…isn’t there some mega crores riding on Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s back this year? Some of those depend on Akshay Kumar, her next co-star in Action Replayy.

So why has Amitabh Bachchan metamorphosed to Albert Pinto and imbibed the trademark gussa?  When he’s not playing cop on Twitter, Bachchan Senior takes time out to take pot-shots at the media on his blog. I am losing count at the number of petulant outbursts ‘rebutting’ yet another ‘biased’ media story. Honestly, why does Bachchan think he is always at the receiving end of media prejudice?

Amitabh Bachchan’s peevishness at the media didn’t really begin with his clashes over the Bachchan family’s reported superstitions at the time of Abhishek’s wedding. Or at the time of his 6-page letter trashing Jug Suraiya’s column in The Times of India for questioning Bachchan’s comments on Slumdog Millionaire. It’s always been there, as far back as the 80s.

Read Jug Suraiya’s column here.

The 15-year Stardust ban on Bachchan.

What began in the 80s carries on. So woe betide anyone questioning why the Bachchan family zips around in SUVs while expressing concern over the environment. Or were those endorsements? Paid spots? Amitabh Bachchan will rake up Dr Manmohan Singh, Ratan Tata, the Ambanis and anyone else with a gas guzzler in their vicinity.

Did Aishwarya Rai marry a peepul tree in Varanasi, a banana tree in a Bangalore temple and a god’s idol in Ayodhya, before she married Abhishek Bachchan? Is Amitabh Bachchan pressuring the couple to have a child?  Who knows? None of us can claim to be privy to information within the four walls of the Bachchan home or wherever they hold their family conferences.

Who cares? That’s just the point – several million.  Amitabh Bachchan has had a huge influence on the cultural zeitgeist. He’s been a superstar for a lifetime. Surely that’s enough time to know the objectification that goes with it. Stars are put on a pedestal and routinely brought down so for the general public, larger-than-life figures have a more vulnerable face as well. These aren’t lessons Amitabh Bachchan needs to learn or pointed too. He’s no novice.

Unless, the pressure is telling on Amitabh Bachchan. When Aishwarya Rai, joined the family, the valuation of Brand Bachchan was estimated to be at Rs 700 crore. Amitabh Bachchan endorses a multitude of products. So does Aishwarya. With the recession hitting full on, the endorsement space is shrinking. Towards the end of 2008, Cadbury dropped Amitabh Bachchan from its commercials. At a reported Rs 3-4 crore per ad, Amitabh Bachchan does not rule the roost anymore. Box office duds and controversial political rows and cronies have cost him.

So here comes frustration point 2. There is no one to pass the baton to. In the age of instant gratification and youth driving consumerism, Aishwarya Bachchan has younger actresses sniping at her heals. At 36, she may be touted as India’s crossover queen but others like Frieda Pinto and Mallika Sherawat are pretty darn close.

Ash with Eva Longoria on the Cannes Red Carpet this year, for L’Oreal – would Sonam look better?

Abhishek Bachchan is nothing to write home about – in films or Bollywood. In February this year, LG picked Akshay Kumar as its new face. Apparently Abhishek wanted Aishwarya to be part of the campaign as well, which didn’t fly with the bosses at LG. Now why would he do that?  If he thinks they look better together, I am not disputing that. But for the record, MS Dhoni has a good-looking wife too. They look great together and she loves the camera – unabashedly. Besides, there’s something very real about the Dhonis – not icy and artificial.

Mrs Dhoni preens for the camera.

Whatever the pressures on the Bachchan family -Brand Bachchan losing sheen, health issues, flop films, rivalry, envy (India’s biggest star did not bring home the Oscar) bad friends and political choices – Amitabh Bachchan cannot get personal.

The 100 Crore Lemons

The janta review of Kites and Raavan was swift and cruel. F-L-O-P. Flop. That’s real bad news for the common producer of both films – Reliance Big Pictures. Sources say the company has lost upwards of Rs 100 crore on these films. By its current scale of performance, Raavan looks to sink lower than the other mega-budget dud – Kites.

Both films had extensive pre-launch promotions. Alas – promotions ensure that a film has a good opening over the weekend. That’s it. After that, it is the content of the film itself which will make it swim or sink.  Beating poor reviews and word-of-mouth ratings, Kites managed a good opening weekend, netting in Rs 30 crore.

Raavan has collected less than Rs 20 crore at the close of its opening weekend. This week onwards, Raavan has a clear run with no competing releases. Yet, analysts predict it will sink further.  Nothing can salvage Raavan with its below average opening of 50% across the country.

Kites and Raavan were expected to follow Raajneeti’s rocking show at the box office.  Instead, the films have become Bollywood ki Aag. That’s something, even by Bollywood standards of expecting the most unexpected.

Was it the actors?  Raavan is Abhishek Bacchan’s third film with Mani Ratnam. After Yuva and Guru, expectations were sky-high from Abhishek Bachchan. (We tend to dismiss Delhi 6). What the janta saw was largely dismissed as hamming and posturing, amateurish and naive.  Questions raised on faking the much-vaunted dive didn’t help.

Hrithik was appreciated in Kites for his good looks (which the camera made love to, framing him in tight close-ups and bare torso scenes). Jai faltered, Hrithik didn’t.

Scintillating Barbara Mori looked pretty in Kites. So does Aishwarya in Raavan. Luminous, floating around in the forest, long curly drenched hairpiece and carefully crafted no make up look.  So we’ve heard of the chemistry between the stand-in Sita and the shrieking baddie. We think back to the mock fight when the same pair landed on a bed in Guru and phuuuuuus- zilch. Aishwarya, I suspect, still looks hottest with Hrithik.  Hrithik and Barbara’s crackling chemistry and smouldering looks kept Kites ticking.

Both films are richly crafted and produced – sweeping shots, stunning locales, jungles, waterfalls, but where is the story? So Kites was painful and downright silly in the second half. With Raavan and its confusing plot (Beera is Raavan, Robin Hood or Veerappan), why does Vikram wear aviator glasses in the jungle (he’s a cop, they cost a lot, no?) and run slo-mo, etc, etc. The plot rests mostly in Mani Ratnam’s head.

To sum up, here’s what I am saying other filmmakers should avoid like the plague:

• Avoid bumbling actors who ham for the camera
• If your film is titled Raavan, don’t hope that Sita will see it through
• Get a lead pair who look hot together
• Let the story out of the director’s head and out there for the audience
• Acknowledge the use of stuntmen/women
• Don’t get Ma and Pa to defend your film
• Think of a strategy to counter word-of-mouth ratings and reviews
• Don’t let others in Bollywood poke fun at your expense and ask RGV and KJo to take their tweet battles offline

Read my colleague Rummana’s review of Raavan here. ‘Abhi-Ash are insufferable’, she says. And here’s the trailer.

Now vote here and tell me what you think is the reason for Raavan’s no-show:

Raavan – Y! Meta Review

So, this year’s most awaited bilingual film has opened to mixed reviews leaning heavily towards the negative. Coming from a director who broke away from the fetters of commercial cinema to making “telling it as it is” an art from, this one comes as a bit of a shocker.

Mani Ratnam, arguably Indian cinema’s original maverick filmmaker, got people to sit up and take notice with his directorial debut Pallavi Anu Pallavi in 1983, which was in Kannada. The story might be credited with setting off a  “younger man loves older woman” formula in all the woods we inhabit – Sandalwood, Tollywood, Kollywood, Bollywood, what have you. This also was the debut of Anil Kapoor and is remembered more for its soundtrack by the incomparable Ilaiyaraaja, who to me is the one and only Mozart of Madras, if such an epithet can be allowed. But more on that later. (On an aside, S Janaki’s Nagu Endhidhe is the lesser-celebrated but far more superior song from this soundtrack, when compared to the eminently hummable and more remembered Naguva Nayana.)

His next hugely hailed (correct me if I’m wrong) film was in Tamil, Mouna Raagam, which Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is loosely adapted from. The critically acclaimed and hugely successful Nayagan came next, a cinematic homage to Mumbai underworld don, Varadaraja Mudaliar, earning Kamal Haasan, who plays the protagonist, an award and overnight stardom for its maker. This set off another trend in the woods that I mention – gangster movies. Till date, not one has come close to the original, and let’s be honest, no movie, made or imagined, can aspire to. (Our desi so-called Clint Eastwood *shudder* Feroz Khan remade it in Hindi, called Dayavan – with disastrous results.)

The world sat up and took notice. Here was a man who did not mince words or sugarcoat certain home truths in his movies. Here was a man who toed the line that separated commercial cinema from its artsy sibling – and by jove, did he own it. Next came Agni Natchatiram, another hard-hitting movie about rebellious half-brothers (Kane and Abel?), followed by a romance, Geetanjali, in Telugu. (I strongly suspect Nicholas Sparks was inspired by this to write ‘A Walk to Remember‘.)

Then came Anjali, the story of a mentally disabled child, and the performance he’d managed to elicit from young Baby Shamili became the talk of tinsel town. (Another parallel: Kim Edwards’ The Memory Keeper’s Daughter – just saying.) Thalapathi, his next offering, the retelling of the story of Karna and Duryodhana in a current day rural scenario, followed by Roja, his most successful so far, sealed his fate in Indian cinema and earned him recognition in film-making circles all over the world. (This is also A R Rahman’s highest-selling film score of all time, but performance, music and locales aside, this movie has to be seen for Pankaj Kapur. Enough said.)

All the way from Thalapathi to now, his ventures have been epic in terms of budget, star power, storytelling, locales, music and don’t really need much hype pre-release other than the announcement of their release dates. However, of late, he’s been criticised for relying heavily on star power and formulaic storytelling to propel his movies at the box office. Where is the auteur who took chances? Where is the mad streak that was the trademark of his earlier films? Where is the filmmaker who threw caution to the winds to tell his stories HIS way? Where is the Mani Ratnam of afore-mentioned movies’ fame?

This seems to be the collective sentiment among the Indian critics about Raavan; so much so that even Vikram, whose performance was touted to be the one to look out for, has received very lukewarm accolades. This “demonised” version of the Ramayan, with role reversals of Ram and Raavan, has so far not managed to impress those who review movies for a living, for the pleasure of it or both.

Raja Sen of Rediff (who in my opinion usually hits bulls-eye in his reviews, i.e., whose ‘views’ usually mirror mine after the movie has been viewed) has this to say about the lead performances:

There is one scene when Bachchan, speaking of burning with envy, transcends this poor picture and shines on his own, but outside of that this is a squandered vanity project for the actor. Aishwarya Rai — her alabaster skin muddied and bruised, her eye makeup crucially immaculate — screeches her way through the proceedings, contorting her face as if to convince us it has something to do with histrionics. As for Vikram, the National Award-winning actor we all expected great things from, he gets the rawest deal of the lot, a cardboard cop who scowls, runs in slow-mo, and models Aviator sunglasses.

Sanjukta Sharma of LiveMint weighs in on the script/screenplay:

The screenplay and performances, the two pillars of a good film, are poor and confused. The scenes have none of the gravitas and magic that define the best of director Mani Ratnam’s work. Here, he is too caught up in the spectacle. The idea, that of the myriad, contradictory qualities of the archetypal villain of Hindu mythology, Raavan, never really takes off in the film. Ratnam was concerned with who Raavan is and why he is what he is. In execution, the villain is a caricature.

Rajeev Masand of IBN is not pleased with the romance angle between Beera (playing Raavan) and Ragini:

But what might have truly turned this film into a brave, daring effort is a less ‘darpok’ handling of Ragini’s change-of-heart towards Beera. While she does soften considerably when she understands his provocation for revenge, Ratnam never quite turns it into a Stockholm-syndrome situation that might have made for a far stronger central conflict. As it currently stands, “Raavan” is a predictable revenge drama that stays too safe to ever surprise you.

So much for the coming together of the three most ‘bankable’ factors in Indian films – the stars, the director and the music composer. In fact, A R Rahman’s score for Raavan is said to be a rehash of Guru‘s score – almost like a twin that was an afterthought. It’s been described to be lacklustre at best. I haven’t heard it – A R Rahman, in my opinion, needs to get out of this ‘Jai Ho’ phase.

Have you seen the movie – either the Hindi or the Tamil version? What is your take on it? Will this start another spate of “Stop tarnishing Lord Ram’s character” debates online? Share your thoughts with me in the comments.

In related links, here are Abhi-Ash’s top 5 songs (one of them has only Ash in it, and maybe, the green monster that sits on Abhishek’s shoulders). Here’s also a look at the Bachchans’ boycott of the IIFA.

Read our meta review of Raajneeti here.

TGIF: Abhi-Ash’s Top 5

The much awaited Raavan releases today. Will the Abhi-Ash magic work at the box office?  Well, while we wait for the viewers’ verdict, a look at a few memorable songs from their movies:

Guru (2007): Tere Bina

Mani Ratnam’s Guru is bound to be the one closest to their heart, for not only was it the first Bollywood film to have its world premiere in Canada, it was two days after its release that Abhishek and Ash announced their engagement. Rahman dedicated this melodious song to Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Bunty Aur Babli (2005): Kajrare kajrare

While Aishwarya Rai had just an item number in this film, this song was a huge hit featuring both AB Sr and Jr. Sushmita Sen had been earlier considered for this song. Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy’s number had the nation tapping its feet to their tune.

Dhoom 2 (2006): Crazy Kiya Re

A lot was said about the sizzling chemistry between Hrithik and Ash in Dhoom 2. The kissing scene between the lead couple raised quite a few eyebrows, especially because rumours of the Abhi-Ash romance were doing the rounds then. However, no one can deny how good Hrithik and Ash look together in this song.

Umrao Jaan (2006): Salaam

A lot was expected from this Abhi-Ash starrer but the film failed to ring at the box office. Anu Malik’s music couldn’t contribute much to the film but a song or two were hummable.

Kuch Naa Kaho (2003): Kuch Naa Kaho

Well, Kuch Naa Kaho is from the days when Abhi and Ash were ‘just friends’. While Abhi was nursing a broken heart after his engagement with Karisma broke off, Aishwarya was dating Vivek Oberoi after a bitter breakup with Salman Khan. While the film didn’t spark any romance between the lead couple, it is remembered for its melodious title number.

Let us know how you like Raavan. You can share your reviews on Twitter too.