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JAANWAR (1999)
Produced and Directed By Suneel Darshan Music: Anand - Milind Starring: Akshay Kumar, Karisma Kapoor (aka Karishma Kapoor), Shilpa Shetty, Mohnish Behl, Shakti Kapoor, Ashutosh Rana, Aditya Kapadia, Johnny Lever, Ashish Vidhyarthi
Running Time: 175 Minutes
CineRating: 3 out of 10 |
"For a loaf of bread, the innocent Babu turned into an animal."
-- Badshah
There's a sequence in the second half of Suneel Darshan's action-packed melodrama Jaanwar that pretty much sums up just about everything you need to know about this remarkably absurd film. In it, our heroic but financially-strapped protagonist "Badshah" (who hides a criminal past) has just been chewed out by his adopted young son because he can't provide for him the kind of expensive toys he desires. The inflamed Badshah vows that his son will never have to accept sweets from strangers. Cut to a movie-set where the lead stuntman informs the filmmakers that he refuses to do the film's major stunt scene because it's too dangerous. As the director bemoans the situation at hand, we suddenly hear a commanding voice from the background bellowing, "I can do it." Yes, it's our man Badshah, who, despite having exhibited no prior experience in the movie business before this scene, asks the filmmakers for one chance to prove himself. In the time-honored tradition of John Landis and Luc Besson, the director throws caution to the wind as he informs his associate, "I think you let him do it."
Talk about being put on the spot! Without even the benefit of a practice run, Badshah is quickly strapped into the stunt car, which he proceeds to drive up a ramp and through a bus that explodes upon impact. As Badshah stumbles out of the burning car and collapses on the ground, the film crew is apparently so in awe of his extraordinary feat that they give him a standing ovation rather than a helping hand. When Badshah looks up, he is surprised (though we aren't) to see the teary-eyed expression of his son, who now deeply regrets his selfish whining. "I want nothing," he implores of his father. As the two embrace in a tearful reconciliation, a face from Badshah's criminal past suddenly pops out of the background. The vengeance-seeking ex-con kneels down next to the embracing pair and examines the father's features carefully -- before he snidely proclaims, "I knew it. Only Badshah could perform such a death-defying stunt."
If Jaanwar was intended to be a satire of Hong Kong action movies and Bollywood melodramas than it could very easily be considered the best of its type. It's the kind of film that is staggeringly awful in just about every conventional manner possible (although it does look good), yet somehow brilliant for the perverse way it manages to get progressively stupider with each passing second. With its relentlessly maudlin music and a cast that does wonders at maintaining a straight face amidst the plot's hysterically overwrought theatrics, the movie dares you to read it as anything but an earnest if incredibly schlocky ode to the redemptive powers of love and an unselfish heart. It isn't until the film's final scene that the director throws a possible wrench into this reading by serving up a tongue-in-cheek denouement and coda that almost seem to wink at the audience and say, "Ha ha, I fooled you. What? Me serious?"
The film's opening scenes provide an indication that we're in for one hell of a bumpy ride, but in no way prepare us for the rollercoaster of inspired absurdity to come. A poor young boy named Babu seeks food for his deathly ill mother, but finds no givers until he opens the front door of the villainous Sultan (Shakti Kapoor), whose two vicious dogs battle Babu for a lone piece of bread the Sultan has tossed up for grabs. Babu wins the battle and rushes home with the dog-slobbered-on bread, only to find that his mother has kicked the bucket. The Sultan suddenly appears beside the grieving boy and takes him back to his "factory," where he uses orphans as slave labor. But the Sultan can see that Babu is no ordinary tyke. He hands the boy a gun and boasts, "My wisdom and your courage...will take me to the peak of success!"
Several years later, Babu, who is now known by the more formidable moniker "Badshah," has become the centerpiece of the Sultan's criminal empire and has grown up to look just like actor Akshay Kumar (apparently on break from his never-ending series of Khiladi movies). Now, Kumar is not necessarily a bad actor, but you could hardly tell that from the ferociously awful performance he supplies here, which consists of basically two modes of acting: blankly minimalist or completely over-the-top. Kumar either stares ahead in a grimly serious way that's meant to convey deep-seeded thought but more often suggests facial paralysis, or he raises his voice and goes ballistic in a grossly overblown manner that suggests he's been studying far too many Tom Cruise tapes.
At least Kumar begins to look the role of a ruthless criminal in the film's second half, when he grows out his perfectly-styled hair and goes from resembling a GQ model to a cross between a young Sam Elliott and Fabio. However, by then Badshah has given up his criminal lifestyle in order to secretly adopt an infant boy who just happened to stumble upon his path one night while he was alone on a beach. Badshah tried to abandon the boy at a place of worship, but was thwarted by one of those lengthy song-and-dance numbers that forced him to agonize over the lawless path his life had taken. So, Badshah sets up shop as a blacksmith, takes back his original name of Babu, and makes the boy the focal point of his new law-abiding life. There's only one problem: the boy's real mother (Shilpa Shetty) is the superintendent of the school he attends and she quickly takes a fancy to the child, not realizing, of course, that he's actually the son she's been grieving for since he disappeared in a train wreck seven years ago. Faster than you can say "Kramer vs. Kramer," the boy's real mother and adoptive father are at odds over who the child really belongs to.
As Badshah's love interest, poor Karisma Kapoor (Dil To Pagal Hai [1999], Fiza [2000]) is saddled with one of the more thankless roles of her prolific career. Contrary to what her first name might indicate, Kapoor is far from the most charismatic of Bollywood actresses, but she does have a reputation as being a hard worker and clearly gives her all here despite receiving next to nothing in return from the unresponsive Kumar. Unfortunately, she's not the only one who suffers for her art, as both Ashutosh Rana (Raaz [2002]) and Shilpa Shetty (Dhadkan [2000]) are left high and dry by the director's hilariously overblown attempts at melodrama. This is the kind of film in which one comes to expect the sound of thunder or lightning to fill the screen whenever a character has something highly dramatic to say, and, not surprisingly, one's expectations are soon fulfilled. Only Ashish Vidyarthi (Kaho Naa...Pyaar Hai [2000]), who plays the honest officer who refuses to give up on Badshah's trail, comes through with an understated portrayal (in a relative sense, of course) that leaves his dignity intact. Annoying comedian Johnny Lever is on hand to provide his usual intermittent doses of comedy relief...as if this film really needed any.
The DEI DVD looks colorful and sharp, but the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio is presented here at 1.85:1 with sometimes obvious but not-too-harmful picture loss on the sides. The disc includes the film's amusing trailer, in which the opening titles proclaim: "When did you last see a film that combats (sic)...A story of love and a love story."
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DVD Specs:
DEI DVD
All Regions
Removable English Subs (none for the songs)
Jaanwar Trailer
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