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Controversy threatened to derail Mumbai Xpress. Now that it's hit the cinemas, ANAND SANKAR listens as Kamal Haasan defends his film
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Family fun Mumbai Xpress almost got an A certificate because it included a raunchy number featuring bombshells Rakhi Sawant and Mun Mun
Kamal Haasan is back. This time with yet another of his comedies, Mumbai Xpress. The movie generated enough firepower and controversy and Kamal is clearly relieved that it's out on time, to coincide with the Tamil New Year.
I did check out Mumbai Xpress the first day itself and found it quite funny. So funny in fact that after it was over, I found it funny I paid good money to watch it.
The script revolves around a kidnapping plot gone hilariously wrong, but very soon into the movie you realise it wasn't the kidnap that went awry, but the script itself. After a series of frothy rib-ticklers like Avvai Shanmugi, Thenali, Pammal K Sambandam and Panchatantram, Kamal seems to have overcooked this one. The jokes are mostly centred on the main protagonist, a hearing-impaired Avinash alias Mumbai Xpress, who is a bike stuntman. The stunts performed by Avinash aka Kamal are hailed as `stunning' (by the makers, of course), but the action in the `technically acclaimed' Alavandan can be said (by the viewers, of course) to be better.
No finesse
Viewers streaming out of theatres pronounced the stunts in Mumbai Xpress as crude and lack the sophistication expected from a guy like Kamal. The movie was shot in 50 days with Kamal writing the story, screenplay, and dialogues. Looks like the hectic schedule seems to have caught up with him and the usually presentable Kamal looks a bit green about the gills in a few scenes.
By the way, this is yet another movie billing itself as a `family entertainer'. With almost every new film branding itself with the big F, it is best left to Kamal himself to describe what a good family entertainer is.
"There are entertainers in every family. My father used to entertain us with his jokes. But you can't use the same words you use in the midst of friends in the presence of your family. Mumbai Xpress is one that entertains without much effort. It is designed to suit the ethics and morals of older people while also keeping it interesting for the younger generation," Kamal told MetroPlus.
Ethics and morals are often open to varied interpretations and Mumbai Xpress is a good example of that. The film almost got an A certificate because it included an item number featuring bombshells Rakhi Sawant and Mun Mun. The number had to be lopped off in the last minute to get a U certificate from the Censor Board. In addition to the raunchy number, the movie is strewn with double entendres that could curl your toes a bit if your 10-year-old demands an explanation after due digestion.
But, let the man himself explain: "Rakhi and Mun Mun play two sutradhars. They represent greed and lust, which is the underlying theme of the movie. They wear outfits that trapeze artistes wear in a circus. Don't children see that? The Censor Board is too politicised. It is sad and tragic."
But in an industry that now considers it mandatory to have an item number and a loud youth- oriented script, is it possible to recreate the magic of a movie like Pushpak, which used silence to great effect? (Kamal and director Singeetham Sreenivasa Rao who came together for Mumbai Xpress, also made the brilliant Pushpak and Pesum Padam, both of which haven't dated at all.)
"Why not?" riposted Kamal when asked about the loudness of the film. "A sequel is possible for Pushpak. Singeetham and I have been discussing it for some time now. But I don't want to put too much pressure on him at this age. I don't think the song and dance routine is necessary. Did anyone complain about the lack of songs in Deva (1993)? Apart from the intellectual take, the movie was a big hit. Sir Donald Bradman once said, `Watch the ball and not the bat'."
Hits and flops
Kamal has often been accused of following up one box-office hit with a film for himself which doesn't do well at all. Alavandan and Anbe Sivam are good examples with Virumaandi being the only exception. And surely all the hype (and loads of free publicity) generated by the controversial title didn't hurt at all... Virumaandi was a runaway hit.
"All my movies are for the audience and for myself. I have set myself aside from the rest. Once in a while I do get dragged in because a hell of a lot of money is offered. But I am often left to my own devices," he says.
In a particularly memorable case when Kamal was left to his own devices, the movie never got made. He actually managed to get Queen Elizabeth to visit the set of his superbly ambitious Maruthanayakam. And that was it. But back to Mumbai Xpress...
It was not just the item number which sent eyebrows crawling up foreheads, but even the title Mumbai Xpress also attracted some strange polemics. There were some linguistic groups that warned of dire consequences ithe movie's name wasn't changed into one in the local language. But Kamal stuck to his guns and instead asked state governments to offer protection to cinemas screening the movie.
The actor had this to say: "You cannot generalise silliness. It is widespread. It jumps borders, states, communities, and languages. Bangalore was in the thick of it some time back. You should know it better." And laughed.
What next? "I'm doing another movie with director Gautam Menon (of Kaaka Kaka fame). I'm also thinking of doing a period film from the 10th Century. It's nothing serious right now but looking at it helps me generate new ideas."
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