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Ghai returns with a different shade Cinema

ZIYA US SALAM

COLOURS OF LIFE: Subhash Ghai’s “Black and White” and Roland Emmerich’s “10,000 B.C.” offer a nice mix of brightness and sobriety this week.

COLOURS OF LIFE: Subhash Ghai’s “Black and White” and Roland Emmerich’s “10,000 B.C.” offer a nice mix of brightness and sobriety this week.

BLACK AND WHITE

(At Golcha and other theatres in Delhi and elsewhere)

For all those armed men who traffic in pain, Subhash Ghai’s new film is an eye-opener. For all those who believe that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter, it could not have come a day too soon. And for all cinemagoers ready to accept an emerging Hindi film industry stepping beyond the formula, “Black and White” gladdens the heart and provides food for thought. Also in these days of post anti-fidayeen dictates from Deoband, the film speaks a politically correct language too. There are Arabic verses from the Quran against killing the innocent even in retaliation which would find favour with the Muslims; there are translations that would remove a few cobwebs from the minds of others. Not likely to be a box office winner, the film, despite its flaws, has much to recommend itself.

First is the intent. Ghai steps beyond his larger than life image and pieces together a film that is distinctly multiplex-oriented. The cinema these days is speaking the urban language, and Ghai, even when he talks of angst, knows that a single multiplex ticket is equivalent of ten ordinary stall tickets in the single-screen theatres. So he targets an educated audience that does not openly root for his usual “Choli ke peechhe” kind of cinema. Then the film, despite its preachy overtones, scores reasonably with its content. The director does away with mandatory romantic ditties, even making half an effort to get rid of the traditional heroine in what is essentially his take on the root of terrorism.

Ghai’s anti-hero – or is it hero, in these days of flexible terminology? – sets out to right the Gujarat wrongs. He has had his parents burnt alive in the genocide. Now alone and jobless, he drifts to Delhi to do what comes immediately to the one so deeply and personally affected: attack the first man he comes across. But it is not so simple. The man is a suicide bomber who wants to kill hundreds, and is just a pawn in the hands of those who want to foment trouble in the motherland. And victims of domestic strife are the easiest preys.

Therein lies the strength as well as the weakness of Ghai’s film. For one, it gives the film a greater identifiable feel. But it also means that Ghai is essentially walking the lane populated by other film-makers earlier. Where he scores a point is in the handling of the script. His anti-hero comes in touch with the hero – Anil Kapoor as a Hindu professor of Urdu who quotes from the Quran and in his own innocent ways is not bereft of hope yet.

With a gently flowing performance, he is not just a good foil for the nicely dramatic Shefali Shah, but also reminding us that, yes, once he did give his “Eeshwar”. Given a good hand by his biggest supporter in the industry, he delivers.

As does vintage Habib Tanvir who brings all the years of experience into his portrayal of a seasoned poet who still lives by the mantra of secularism. He is simply brilliant. And young Anurag Sinha, without ever threatening to set the screen ablaze with his intensity, is adequate too.

That brings us to the film. Yes, “Black and White” is adequate without being really good. The pace slackens every now and then. The editing is not sharp enough with a little monotony creeping into the film unannounced. Some of the dialogue could have been more subtle, and a more focused narration would have imparted a greater punch.

The music is not much to write home about: a bit unusual for a Ghai film right from the time he gave us “Hero”.

The pluses? Well, besides the cast, the film scores because of the seasoned director’s attention to detail. Largely based in Old Delhi, almost all the characters here speak the Urdu/Hindi typical of that part of the world. Location shots add to the authenticity. A lot of symbolism is used with glimpses of the good old Jama Masjid, Lal Quila, Gurdwara Sis Ganj and the like. And the references to different parts of the Walled City being populated by members of different religious affiliations are accurate too.

Also, despite a couple of devotional songs, the film does not digress too much. There is no jingoism, no Pak-bashing. No finger-pointing with “we” and “they” kind of dialogue. In other words, a film that scores good marks with intent but only reasonably with the content.

Go for “Black and White” as a mark of support for socially responsible cinema. Ghai may not offer panacea for all the pain; he at least focuses on the ailment.

10,000 B.C.

(At PVR Saket and other theatres)

Dream merchants dabble in history and fall short. Director Roland Emmerich’s film here now seeks to talk of the age of transition but the way things devolve the film becomes just a nice fantasy. He peddles in drama, occasionally evoking the spirit of heroism and adventure. But nowhere is the film honest to its name.

It is ostensibly based in the Mesolithic Age when man was evolving in the struggle with other inhabitants of this world. Centred round the Black Sea, human beings were able to make better, sharper weapons and tools, domesticating certain animals and starting on food storage.

All this seems a world removed from this film where spirits rule the land and mighty mountains often resemble modern-day construction sites! The characters wear leather, even gumboots. To compensate, there are necklaces of claws and the like!

That is a half-hearted concession to authenticity. However, if you are prepared to ignore this lack of exactitude and treat it as just a work independent of history, “10,000” is quite an engrossing film. Revolving round the age-old fight of man over woman, it tickles at the right places. Just take a plain look and you will realise the film has a storyline that countless films of any and every era have recycled: a beautiful girl called Evolet – Camilla Bella – is sought by a young hunter D’Leh.

All is well, but too well for the story to proceed. So the director throws in a kidnap drama with the lady being taken away by warlords who raid her village. The search for the girl leads the guy to newer places. And there unfolds before him a new world, another civilisation beyond the shores of their tried and tested lands.

It is quite a simple formula: how the man fights natural forces, local customs, even both the hero and the heroine defy death makes for quite interesting fare that temporarily makes you forget that the film is set in another day and another age.

Good emotion, reasonable performances and a smooth pace mean “10,000 B.C.” is not a bad film to while away moments of loneliness on a sad afternoon. Some excellent long-distance shots and some not-so-good technical work combine to make “10,000 B.C.” the kind of cinema that falls short of the good without being in the bracket of bad. You won’t remember it at this time next month if you watch it this weekend. And if you don’t, you won’t really miss much either.

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