The Hindu : New Delhi News : A taste of good old Hollywood and brand new Bollywood

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 01, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

New Delhi

New Delhi

A taste of good old Hollywood and brand new Bollywood

ZIYA US SALAM

THE OLD AND THE NEW: If Steven Spielberg’s “Indiana Jones-4” is an exercise in nostalgia, Hansal Mehta’s “Woodstock Villa” is a harbinger of the shape of things to come.

THE OLD AND THE NEW: If Steven Spielberg’s “Indiana Jones-4” is an exercise in nostalgia, Hansal Mehta’s “Woodstock Villa” is a harbinger of the shape of things to come.

INDIANA JONES-4

(At PVR Saket, Shiela and other theatres in Delhi and elsewhere)

This one comes soaked in the colours of nostalgia. The first of the much talked about “Indiana Jones” series came a little under 30 years ago. Life was young and dreams innocent. In the intervening years since then we might have forfeited our right to easy wonderment but director Steven Spielberg revives those boyhood dreams, dusted and daring. The fourth in the Indiana Jones series here now does not so much feed off the past as it borrows. Partially with the i dea of reviving fading memories, partially to fill in the details, Spielberg keeps a good thing going.

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” comes packed with all the reference points – hey, the spoilsports, those kids born after Indiana Jones last undertook an assignment some 18 summers ago will call them clichés – and loses none of its appeal, little of its charisma.

Harrison Ford is 60-something and up to something clearly big here. All the identifiable elements are in place: when he turned up the last time, the world was on the verge of a war and the villains did not have a hiding place in the irrepressible hero’s noble search.

Now Jones does more of the same: the world is still in danger! See, the past never goes away, just comes back to haunt all of us; even somebody as fictional and formidable as Ford as Jones!

Our man has to tackle the challenges afresh: this time there is a threat of nuclear annihilation. And there is that crystal you just cannot look in the eye. That needs to be protected. A bit farfetched? Yes, but when was simple logic a part of the Indiana Jones curriculum? Add the usual clichés of painted tribals seeking to kill, KGB on a roll, the FBI in hot pursuit, and you have the body of the new film ready.

What about the soul? That comes from a little emotional sub-plot of a long forgotten wife and a son the father did not know he had.

It is this addition that adds real value to the film: the parting shot where the son is about to put on the hat of the ageless hero gives us hope that maybe he might just take over. Not to be, though.

Fine, yes, with flesh and soul, but what about the kiss of life?

Well, that comes, as it inevitably does in a Spielberg film, from the special effects, the action sequences. The waterfall chase is spellbinding, the attack of the ants evokes a puking feeling: just as it is supposed to. Then the jeep chases, the hanging of men and women by the branches of the tree….all expected, yet delightful in their own ways.

In some ways, the film is a throwback to the times when films carried a bit of everything. In some ways, the latest version makes some concessions to the wheel of time. Our hero has aged and is not uncomfortable with his age-lines. And his weapons of destruction – or is it defence? – are more sophisticated. Among the less heavy films of the famous director, “Crystal Skull” is not as mesmerising as, say, “The Temple of Doom” or “The Last Crusade”. It cannot be. Also, it does not need to be. But you would still like it.

GenNow owes more than a thing or two to the past. The father’s hero is still a hero. All that the cinemagoers are required to do here is carry the eye of an archaeologist, the heart of a young boy, and the uncomplaining attitude of the layman.

A light film for a breezy weekend.

WOODSTOCK VILLA

(At Spice, Noida, and other theatres)

Bollywood is turning over a new leaf. Moving away one step at a time from the days of three-hour sagas, the brave New Age filmmakers are daring to make films that would slot in easily at multiplexes thanks to their under two-hour duration. The characters, the music, the feel, everything is urban. And the lead characters no longer have to be pristine pure. Or the villains unappetising, garish, melodramatic. Hansal Mehta, who has hitherto been noticed more for his promise th an performance, adds another chapter to the still evolving book here with “Woodstock Villa”.

What’s more, the film introduces two youngsters who with the right guidance and better grooming might just make a mark. Both Sikandar Kher, who has acting in his genes, and Neha Uberoi, who has no such benefit yet is none the worse for it, come through the opener with decent marks.

They are expected to do what every newcomer does: the guy rides a bike, downs a drink, holds a pistol and plays that mix of black and white that makes grey an inviting shade. The girl shakes a leg, hops into the bed, and then at the end of it all, proves a smart girl! Sikandar plays a young guy who has borrowed lots of money with no avenue for return. He needs to make a few bucks fast. What that translates into Bollywood parlance is anybody’s guess but sufficient to say in a whodunit it is even easier.

Neha plays a rich girl who loves her hubby. But there is something she loves more. And that draws the hero and the heroine closer in this kidnap drama with shades of Stockholm Syndrome.

Enough said about the kids. The film could have been better. The director’s grip loosens every now and then, though he redeems himself with a shocking end. The dialogue is forgettable. And the screenplay does not offer too much novelty. The songs are typical of a Sanjay Gupta-Sanjay Dutt union -- the latter, incidentally, is a producer here – and with their mish-mash of lights and shadows only impede the flow of events. And Dutt himself comes across as a mockery of a rock star he plays in a cameo. All said, “Woodstock Villa” can be seen. For the newcomers’ promise -- and another step, even if somewhat faltering, in Bollywood’s evolution.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi