Out of India, GAUTAMAN BHASKARAN considers the current Indian and Bollywood Cinema.

BHARATH GOPI (1937-2008), who died a few weeks ago, was a brilliant Malayalam actor, who owes his screen career to Adoor Gopalakrishnan. He discovered him in his first film, Swayamvaram (One’s Own Choice, 1972). Many people may not remember him as the clerk in a timber shop who loses his job, and later confronts the new employee, played by Madhu. It was in Adoor’s second movie, Kodiyettam (The Ascent, 1977), that Gopi burst into prominence. As the protagonist, a drifter, he was the hero without looking an inch of it. The role fetched him his first National Award, and Gopi went on to become one of finest actors the world has ever known. His intense role in G. Aravindan’s Chidambaram, opposite no less an actress like Smita Patil, will go down the annals of cinema history as something magnificent. As a loving father, a passionate lover or a village simpleton, he broke the stereotype image of a hero with his dark complexion and almost bald head. It is tragic that Gopi always had a bad health. Some years ago, a stroke at the peak of his career left him handicapped, but after a long gap of eight years, he came back to the screen, taking up parts that suited his physical condition. And he was as great as before.


I saw Raj Kumar Santoshi’s latest Halla Bol, and what I liked best in it was its social message. Inspired by the Jessica Lal episode in New Delhi – where the murder case of a model was reopened after massive public protests – the film focuses on a movie star, played by Ajay Devgan, and his dilemma. Witness to the murder of a starlet, he is too frightened, too conscious of his status and stardom, to disturb the apple cart by identifying the villains. But it takes wife (Vidya Balan) and a mentor (Pankaj Kapur) to shake him out of this irresponsible state. Devgan and Kapur perform street plays to arouse public consciousness and ire.

The movie’s high point is a superb piece of acting by Kapur, who as a reformed convict is miles ahead of Devgan, who continues to be his old wooden self. There is one great scene where Kapur mollycoddles a man trying to bribe him. It really is brilliant. Balan is not too bad either.

I have, however, one quarrel with this film: it is badly scripted. Can anyone imagine, for instance, a superstar being beaten black and blue on a public beach with the crowds mutely looking on? Does Mr Santoshi seriously believe that viewers are so dim witted?


Bhavna Talwar has been vindicated. Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s big banner, Eklavya: The Royal Guard, with the almighty Amitabh Bachchan himself playing the title role, was sent up from India for a possible Oscar nomination. It failed to be shortlisted.

The writing was on the wall when Eklavya was chosen despite the fact that there was a more deserving Talwar film, Dharm (Religion).“My movie was extremely relevant as it showcased the turbulent times we are living in. It depicted the vicious atmosphere created by communal fundamentalism. Yet it was overlooked in favour of a big banner film. The result is for everyone to see,” she said.

Talwar went to court last year contending that the Film Federation of India, in charge of selection, had turned down her movie in favour of a big banner and Big B. But she was not successful. “It is all about personal agendas and string-pulling”, she had fumed.

She is not off the mark. For years, money power and star status have ruined India’s reputation at the Oscars. Rumours had it that Bachchan had a hand in getting Eklavya selected as the country’s official entry.

Admittedly, there have been exceptions, like in the case of Lagaan, which made it to the nomination stage. Otherwise, some of India’s best talents, like Bengal’s Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Kerala’s Adoor Gopalakrishnan, have been ignored by the Film Federation, controlled by Bollywood bucks and mafia. In fact, both helmers made a movie each last year that could have been easily sent up to the Oscars, with excellent chances of being nominated among the five.

Gopalakrishnan’s Four Women premiered at Toronto last year, and Buddhadeb’s The Voyeurs was part of the Masters Section in the same festival. Talwar’s Religion went to Palm Springs, and was also shown at Cannes last year. Yet, the Federation sent a rather weak film like Eklavya, obviously for considerations other than strictly merit, and with shameful consequences. Talwar stands justified.


Two Indian movies are on their way to the Berlin International Film Festival in February: Ameer Sultan’s Tamil entry Paruthiveeran, and Farah Khan’s Hindi language Om Shanti Om. At the time of writing, there could be more entries from India, because the Berlin list is not yet closed.

Khan’s work works at one level, and fails at another. As a spoof of the 1970s Bollywood with its star tantrums, weak directors, rank indiscipline and moral decay, Om Shanti Om is well executed and powerful enough to make an impression. But the story of rebirth that Khan uses to push her message is old hat. It has been beaten to death over the years, and despite Shahrukh Khan’s shirtless appearance and Deepika Padukone’s debut, the movie is not much to rave about.

Ameer Sultan’s film is set in the Tamil Thevar community heartland of Madurai, and is again an old story of a Romeo and Juliet like doomed love. Family feud, caste clashes and suicidal lovers have been around since the days of Shakespeare, and despite Sultan’s detailing of rural life with all its rustic charm, conveyed wonderfully by newcomer, actor Karthi, and actress Priyamani, Paruthiveeran works, again, only up to a point.

Berliners are going to be wondering whether India makes only this kind of cinema.