By Devang Ghia • May 19th, 2008 • Filed under: Film Review, Highlights, Movies, Review Contest, featured

Devang Ghia wins DearCinema review contest for the week with his Tashan review. Devang wins a 5 DVD world cinema collection.

For years together, certain plot elements have been regular fodder for Bollywood. These elements have spawned countless spoofs are probably the reason why Bollywood is the subject of ridicule at coffee machine conversations. Take for instance the case of the heroine whose father is killed by the villain when she was a very young girl. She plots her elaborate revenge for a very long time (when a simple gunshot would do the trick). Towards the end she turns avenging angel and the movie ends with her (finally) giving the villain his come-uppance. Often, the father’s ashes are kept in limbo for all these years and they meet with the holy water of the Ganges only after justice is served.

Then there is the bit about the childhood sweethearts who are separated at, well, childhood. They meet again in their raring youths only to sing romantic songs. It takes a while for them to identify each other but after the initial bickering, a relic or a memorable incident from their childhood puts an end to it.

So many Hindi movies have ended with that one big ultimate action sequence. Lasting for close to ten minutes, it plays with a studied precision. All henchmen are to be disposed off first. They will fire countless bullets at our heroes but all will miss the target. The heroes will be much luckier in this respect. After the henchmen comes the sidekicks’ turn to meet their maker. And lastly the main villain. His death will be the most dramatic of all. He is most likely to mouth some catch-line which he already has used ad nauseum throughout the film, as his entire life flashes before his eyes.

If you think I am giving you a refresher course in Bollywood, think again. This is actually the narrative structure of Tashan. Just when we have started believing that the Indian film industry has come of age, along comes a film which takes you back to the formula, or ‘the pharmoola’, if you prefer. The style may have changed but the substance the same substandard stuff.

Vijay Krishna Acharya, who has earlier proved his lack of worth by scripting the two Dhooms had probably the best cast he could have imagined. The Akshay Kumar - Saif Ali Khan pair which has never failed to tickle your risible faculties, Kareena Kapoor, fresh from the success of Jab We Met and the ever green Anil Kapoor. But what a waste of talent this has turned out to be.

Anil Kapoor hams as only he can. Just because it worked in Taal, doesn’t mean that we like to see you going over the top in all your films. Towards the beginning of the film he is a character learning to speak in English, which probably justifies the annoying Hinglish that he uses. But then he clings on to it right till the end, much to the viewer’s disgust. Saif Ali Khan has been sidelined off and on. This is not his day. Kareena seems to have perfected the bindaas babe routine. And what’s more, the new look works well for her. Akshay being Akshay can steal his pound of flesh from the most skeletal of scripts. And he does just that here. No matter how bad the film is, you can be assured he is going to have his moments. Of course there are some Akshay-cliches to be spotted too. Consider for instance his favourite style of bashing up the baddies. After a few regular kicks and punches he finds himself at the centre as the baddies surround him one after another. He sizes up the situation by concentrating on their foot movements. And then in a flurry of kicks takes the baddies to task. Started this in Khiladi, still has persisted with it.

While Vishal-Shekhar’s music may not be the chartbusting type, Dil Hara, Chaliya Chaliya and the title track are songs you will want to keep revisiting, for some time at least. But what’s with the hand-held camera? Since everyone is the west is hooked on to this technique, it has to be used right? Whether or not it suits the story.

Despite its positives, Tashan is quite a bad film. I generally am generous with a film with decent music and some good scenes, awarding it an extra star or half. But I think I’ll hold back this time. For Tashan doesn’t pass the litmus test of giving you a sense of enjoyment once it gets over.

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