The Hindu : New Delhi News : Another September, another 9/11, another tragedy... .

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Sunday, Sep 10, 2006
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New Delhi

Another September, another 9/11, another tragedy... .

ZIYA US SALAM

UNITED-93

(At Wave, Noida; and Delhi theatres)

Cinema plays the handmaiden of politics again. The invidious propaganda, the not so subtle association of faith with terror, continues.

We had a brief introduction to it in "Black Hawk Down" a few years ago. More recently, we had "Munich", a take on the Palestine problem that provoked many, assuaged a handful. Now comes Paul Greengrass with "United-93". It is a deeply disturbing film in ways too many to recount: it talks of 9/11, and the fourth plane that landed in Pennsylvania. But the director without ostensibly taking sides in the human tragedy does enough to tell us which side of the divide he stands.

The hijackers are all practising Muslims. Well, so was the case on 9/11. But here they are not Muslims turned to bigotry. They read the Quran with specific prayers to the Almighty to guide them to the right path, to get them victory. There is not a verse from the Holy Book that talks of mercy to the innocent or the fact that the Almighty does not like anarchy on earth. Or even a reference to the fundamental salutation of the faith. Just a selective choice of sacred passages for convenience. Malicious at worst, irresponsible at best.

The film disturbs because it talks of a human tragedy that tore at the heart of politics. It is a tragedy too fresh in memory to need a reiteration. There is nothing new that the director and his crew of new cast members can offer. As the human tragedy unfolds with innocent passengers aboard the plane, we as viewers are reduced to non-participant observers. We want to help the luckless albeit brave men and women but we cannot.

Where Greengrass scores as a director is the restraint he shows in handling the drama. No unnecessary flourishes, no sub-plots. No little heroes, no easy victims. We don't have the ever-present old couple, the odd joker and such add-ons associated with all those movies on hijacking.

Unfortunately, that honesty is at best selective. And despite the straight-laced approach to the cinematic medium that he adopts, the film rankles. It leaves one searching for more answers, feeling uneasy with the questions falling on deliberately deaf ears.

Want to know what happened on 9/11? Watch "Fahrenheit 9/11". It had integrity; it had momentum. This one here now pains, at times with its human element, at others with its inhuman association of faith with terror.

NAKSHA

(At PVR Plaza and other Delhi theatres)

Ah! This was waiting to happen. In this Sunny Deol comeback film, debutant director Sachin Bajaj takes us back to the wonderful world of Hindi cinema, a sphere that is impervious to logic, defeats science. And at the end, leaves you wondering if you inflicted self-punishment by choosing to watch this one.

Here we have heroes - a jaded Sunny and an immature Vivek Oberoi - who are like stuffed toys. They fall from a thousand feet but get away without a broken bone. At times without even a bruise too. Fire cannot burn them; bullets do not kill them. And gushing waters fail to drown them!

We have a heroine, that wonderful expression for a made-up doll with a terrible sense of occasion, who uses pea-sized brains. When the heroes climb the mountains, fully clad from head to foot, Sameera Reddy as the heroine dares the elements in a mini skirt and a backless top. Not always weatherproof, she does feel hot. Alternately she sleeps in a skirt short enough to be revealing, and just about long enough to be merely suggestive.

Then we have the so-called item number girls, again that euphemism for the vamps of yore. They are the bad girls with a heart of gold. They wear hot pants and even shorter tops. And in another wonder of imagination, they get into sarongs, short blouses, etc, at the top of hills with no sign of civilisation in the vicinity. The song completed, and they pick up guns!

Then in a classic case of full-fledged assault, we have tribals, ostensibly from somewhere in Kishengarh, who speak in a language nobody follows, and behave like they have just reported to register for a mental asylum. If anybody has seen such a tribe among the 533 listed tribes across India, he must have done so in a secret pact with director Sachin Bajaj.

Such are the gems of this film, but what's it all about? Well, after "Rudraksha" and, to a lesser extent, "Kaal", here is a film where the cast lives outdoors almost all through. We get more than a peek of the jungles, the hills and the waters as the heroes go out in search of a map -- naksha -- said to be the blueprint for a timeless secret.

With lots of myths, superstitions and a brief dalliance with faith in the form of the Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva trinity, the director hopes to persuade the viewers to believe that somewhere in the Himalayas lies such a secret. The heroes continue their quest and we all know what happens at the end in Hindi films to need a reminder.

Along the way, there are a couple of tiring and tired dance numbers you thought you had seen already and a couple of action sequences with local tribal people, Bollywood style: you see, they still live atop trees, beat drums, wear horns, kill without asking, make friends without invitation!

Yes, "Naksha" is that kind of film. A film that begins to take its toll on you almost as soon as it gets under way.

DIL DIYA HAI

(At Wave, Noida; and Delhi theatres)

This one comes with a lot of lessons. First, you take away Emraan Hashmi from the Mahesh Bhatt camp, and success takes leave.

Proof? His latest film, "Dil Diya Hai", a rare non-Bhatt camp for Hashmi that does not appeal to the heart, or provide a feast for the eyes.

Second, you listen to Himesh Reshamiyya and you enjoy. Proof? Songs of "Aashiq Banaya Aapne" and "Zeher".

You listen to Reshamiyya again and again, and it seems an assault on your ears. Proof? The songs of "Dil Diya Hai" as Reshamiyya bridges the gap between a song and a scream.

Third, you can take any veteran but he cannot save the film unless you give him something to show his worth. Proof? "Dil Diya Hai" where Mithun Chakraborty plays the Good Samaritan to the lovebirds. But all he gets to do is play a guitar, down a couple of drinks.

Fourth, you can take a newcomer from England, a girl who faintly resembles Nandita Das, but you cannot make her act like the lady.

Proof? Geeta Basra here, who as a lovebird flits from one frame to another without catching the viewer's attention.

Fifth, one film's success can often be a fluke. Proof? Aaditya Datt's "Dil Diya Hai", his second after "Aashiq Banaya Aapne". This love triangle - Ashmit Patel is the second guy - set in England has the hero selling the heroine, and the buyer pining for her too.

Confused? So was Dutt. He made the mistake of making this film. Now you don't make the mistake of watching it.

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