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JOSH (2000)
Story and Direction: Mansoor Khan
Music: Anu Malik Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Chandrachur Singh, Sharad Kapoor, Sharat Saxena, Vivek Vaswani, Anjan Srivastav, Kumar Bharadwaj, Suhas Joshi, Nadiraji Running Time: 157 Minutes
CineRating: 6 out of 10
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Years in the making and perhaps too over-hyped to live up to the blockbuster status it was seemingly destined for, Mansoor Khan's lively gangland extravaganza Josh reaches for the melodramatic heights of West Side Story and The Outsiders, but its choppy storyline barely cuts beneath the surface of its tangled subplots. Still, there's much to like here, not the least being the vibrant Shahrukh Khan and the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai, cast in the rather offbeat roles of twin brother and sister (yeah, right).
Khan portrays Max ("Maxi" to his friends), the cocky leader of the Eagles gang that rules one half of Vasco -- a town located in Goa, which was under Portuguese rule until 1961. The other half of the town is patrolled by the Bichhu ("Scorpion") gang, lorded over by Prakash (Sharad Kapoor), who also works as an enforcer for a shady contractor who buys up properties at will because no one knows who owns Vasco's real estate. The two gangs are forbidden from crossing over into each other's territories and anyone who violates this rule risks receiving a lethal beating (though this doesn't prevent characters from sneaking in and out of enemy turf at will).
Prakash's educated younger brother, Rahul (Chandrachur Singh), arrives from Bombay hoping to take Prakash and their mom back to the city in order to start up a fastfood business. Rahul's plans change, however, after he ventures into Eagles territory and meets the luminous Shirley (Aishwarya Rai). She initially thinks that Rahul is just another shallow suitor whom her overprotective brother will soon beat to a pulp. However, when Rahul proves by his integrity and goodwill that he's quite different from his boorish sibling and not all that afraid of Max, Shirley begins to visit with him regularly behind her volatile brother's back.
Although the main story is set in 1980, the rather innocuous behavior of the two gangs suggests something more akin to the 50s. No onscreen sex or drugs is par for the course for a Bollywood film, but it seems rather unlikely that two youth gangs from the 80's would so gleefully involve themselves in a war of sweets between competing bakeries. Then again, director Mansoor Khan (Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak [1988]) is hardly aiming for the gritty realism of Boyz in the Hood here, and much of the pleasure of Josh derives from Khan's colorful mise-en-scene, which fills the screen with an assortment of bright hues, vividly photographed sets and locations, and energetically staged gang rumbles. Of course, the screen is also filled quite frequently with the mise-en-face of Aishwarya Rai, which holds its own special place in the Bollywood directors' handbook of cinematic fetishes. Needless to say, Ash looks exquisite throughout, though her lack of a showcase solo song-and-dance number is undoubtedly one of the film's major miscalculations.
There's obviously more on Mansoor Khan's mind than simply replicating the plot of West Side Story as the movie dwells quite heavily on religious imagery -- all of it, suprisingly, of the Christian and Catholic variety. Unfortunately, the movie's themes of sin, repentance, mercy and enlightenment are conveyed by having the storyline deteriorate into a soggy courtroom melodrama that wraps up the plot in a manner which feels both rushed and unconvincing. There's also a subplot involving the ownership of Vasco's land, which leads to an intriguing revelation that doesn't have much of a payoff other than to provide Prakash a convenient motivation to scheme Max's murder. Up until that point, however, Mansoor Khan does manage to serve up an engaging mixture of light-hearted romantic comedy and tense gangland confrontations that fritter away the time with just enough style and verve to keep you from lingering over such questions as to what exactly Max does for a living to keep him and his sister in such comfortable living conditions, why he has such a huge chip on his shoulder, and why all the gang members look to be in their mid twenties and thirties.
Shahrukh Khan is a little old to be essaying the role of a delinquent motorcycle gang leader, but it's a relief to see him playing something other than the bland nice guy roles he's been saddled with in recent years. Returning to his bad boy roots, Khan is easily the most focused and dynamic performer here -- so much so that it's a shame the storyline goes soft and drastically de-fangs his character by film's end. On the other hand, Aishwarya Rai is primarily required to smile radiantly, frown vivaciously, and look sumptious in the song-and-dance numbers -- all of which she does quite splendidly, thank you.
I've never been much of a Chandrachur Singh fan, and he clearly lacks true movie star charisma, but he makes for a surprisingly viable romantic lead here, even if he and Ash never really come close to heating up the screen via their illicit romance (she has much more chemistry with Shahrukh). Playing Rahul's wayward brother, Sharad Kapoor is given a better showcase for his talent than the psychopath he portrayed in Dastak [1996], and he fills in his largely villainous role with a few effective shades of gray. Priya Gill receives "special appearance" billing as the straightlaced Rose Anne, the woman whom Max carries a torch for, but there's nothing special about her thankless role, which provides the story with a few silly comical interludes, but gives the audience little if any reason as to why Max would be so infatuated with her dull character.
Prolific composer Anu Malik turns in a pleasingly melodic and diverse set of tunes, with the intense lead-off track, "Sailare Sailaru," providing a compelling intro to the standoff between the two warring gangs, while the jazzy rap of "Apun Bola" features Shahrukh's own vocals, allowing him to become a playback singer for the first time in his career much the same way that Aamir Khan did with "Aati Kya Khandala" from Ghulam [1998]. There are also the conventionally sappy but pleasant love songs, "Mere Khayalon Ki Malika" and "Hai Mera Dil," the latter of which is often cited as having been lifted from the American pop standard "Sealed With a Kiss." The songs are nicely if unspectacularly picturized, though Mansoor Khan does finally pull out most of the stops for the movie's rollicking grand-scale showstopper, "Zinda Hai Hum To," which is as dazzlingly colorful as just about any Bollywood film could hope to be.
The Eros/B4U DVD features a relatively clean and vivid picture (compared to their other releases), but contrast levels are a bit too high, making scenes overly bright or overly dark. Presented in an anamorphic 2.35:1 aspect ratio, this is a rather decent DVD for a more than decent movie.
DVD Specs:
Eros/B4U DVD
All Regions
Removable English Subs (songs included)
Making of Josh (22 Minutes 46 Seconds)
Josh Theatrical Trailer
Trailers for Jungle; Dhadkan; Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega...; Beti No. 1; Karobaar; Split Wide Open
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