 |
RAM-JAANE ("God Knows") (1995)
Director: Rajiv Mehra Music: Anu Malik Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Vivek Mushran, Pankaj Kapur [Kapoor], Puneet Issar, Tinu Anand, Deven Verma, Gulshan Grover
Running Time: 158 Minutes
CineRating: 5 out of 10
|
As, arguably, the premier male movie star in Hindi cinema of the '90s and well into the current decade, the 37-year-old Shahrukh Khan has carved out a lengthy career that puts to shame most Hollywood thespians by the sheer force of its star's relentlessly energetic presence in an impressive collection of disparate roles. Running the gamut from cold-hearted villains (Baazigar [1993]) to bare-chested warriors (Asoka [2001]) to the legendary romantic drunkard Devdas [2002], Khan has become as much an icon as fellow heavyweight Amitabh Bachchan. Even so, Khan's merits as an actor are usually ripe for debate, as he tends not to disappear into a role, the way an Ajay Devgan or Amir Khan are prone to. More accurately, one might say, the role usually disappears into Shahrukh -- consumed by the actor's overpowering screen persona.
Of course, this is far from a bad thing, and can be a very good thing when one has to sit through films like Ram-Jaane -- a mostly mediocre remake of the Hollywood classic Angels with Dirty Faces [1938]. As with Ti Lung in the similarly forgettable Hong Kong version (True Colours [1986]), Khan takes over the James Cagney role and, for better or for worse, it's pretty much his show all the way. I say "for worse" because the character that Shahrukh portrays is far from appealing by typical Hollywood standards (although by Bollywood standards he's your typical lovable brute), and some viewers will undoubtedly find Shahrukh's overwrought theatrics grating. In the film's second half, Khan is so bursting with energy that he seems to be playing his role while jacked up on a year's supply of speed. With his fidgety mannerisms, frequent emotional outbursts, and daredevil-like dance moves, he makes Al Pacino's descent into drug-induced madness in Scarface seem positively morose by comparison. Suffice to say, this movie might be damn near unwatchable without him.
Raised on the streets after being abandoned in a trash bin as an infant, Shahrukh's character is known as "Ram-Jaane" ("God knows") because this was the reply that he received when he asked the befuddled bread vendor to tell him his real name. While his childhood pal Murli is forced to go to school and get educated, the young Ram-Jaane (ie. pre-Shahrukh) escapes from a reformatory and then eagerly falls in with a sympathetic underworld don who, years later, is murdered by the corrupt Inspector Chewte (Puneet Issar, who chews up the scenery like a starving T-Rex). After being put behind bars, Ram-Jaane hands over control of his business dealings to his slimey associate Pannu (the hilariously comical Pankaj Kapur/Kapoor), who is only too eager to plot Ram-Jaane's demise.
Murli (a subdued Vivek Mushran) now spends most of his time running an orphanage while his free time is used to thwart the advances of the love-smitten Bela (Juhi Chawla), who just happens to be Ram-Jaane's unrequited childhood love. When Ram-Jaane is released from prison and taken in by Murli, the film's requisite romantic triangle is firmly in place (although you might have a hard time realizing it due to Murli's feeble responses to Bela's passionate declarations of love). As Ram-Jaane continues on his increasingly lawless path, Murli willingly gives up Bela in hopes that her love will help transform Ram-Jaane into a good man. Unfortunately, because of her underwritten role, even the beautiful Juhi Chawla cannot transform Ram-Jaane into a good film.
Those expecting a semi-serious portrayal of the Indian underworld can hastily shove those Ram-Gopalian expectations aside once Shahrukh Khan appears onscreen and proceeds to mow down a host of gun-toting gangsters in a cartoonish scene that could have come straight out of Dick Tracy. The film's comicbook-like tone is further enhanced not only by director Rajiv Mehra's heavy use of brightly colored clothes and blue and red lighting, but also by a subsequent skirmish in a nightclub, where the walls are decorated with drawings of Batman and Two-Face. As such, Shahrukh's over-the-top performance fits in quite nicely with the patently artificial setting, which includes Gulshan Grover as a quirky villain whose "crooked" neck makes his head look like a facsimile of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Unfortunately, the lack of gravity supplied by the cliche-ridden gangster subplot extends to the perfunctory love triangle, which completely misses whatever emotional power the film was striving for. While the horribly generic background music only adds to the film's cheesiness, the songs by Anu Malik are, thankfully, catchy and colorfully picturised, with Shahrukh demonstrating just how acrobatic a dancer he was before age and back problems curtailed his mobility. In fact, the title song-and-dance number is not merely great, but transcendent -- conveying the humor, conflict and dramatic power of the story's love triangle in a genuinely compelling manner that the rest of the film sorely lacks.
DEI's DVD does an effective job of bringing out the movie's vivid colors, but the film is presented in the wrong aspect ratio (1.85:1), with occasionally distracting picture loss on both sides. There are also scattered instances of skipped frames, which mar this otherwise decent presentation.
|
|
|
DVD Specs:
DEI DVD
All Regions
Removable English Subs (None for the songs)
No Extras
|
|