TRIMURTI (1995) Produced By Subhash Ghai Directed By Mukul S. Anand Music: Laxmikant-Pyarelal Lyrics: Anand Bakshi Starring: Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Shahrukh Khan, Mohan Agashe, Gauthami, Anjali Jathar, Tinnu Anand, Priya Tendulkar, Himani Shivpuri, Satyan Kapoor Running Time: 172 Minutes CineRating: 3.5 out of 10

"Tears are the jewels of the weak."
-- Satyadevi

If Sholay can be considered the Citizen Kane of India, than surely Trimurti must qualify as that country's Heaven's Gate. Produced by the massively successful filmmaker Subhash Ghai (Khalnayak; Taal) and a partial remake of his own runaway hit Ram Lakhan (1989), this costly, star-studded, and heavily hyped epic was not simply Ghai's first flop in over a decade, but a bomb of colossal proportions -- both critically and financially -- and one which Ghai would later disown by claiming that it was veteran director Mukul Anand (Agneepath; Hum) who was completely at fault for the film's staggering failures, despite the fact that Ghai himself reportedly reshot the film's climax. Even as late as last year, Ghai was still washing his hands of the Trimurti fiasco, asserting in ads for his latest film, Yaadein, that, unlike Trimurti, it was a true Subhash Ghai movie because he had actually directed it. Ironically, Yaadein would end up being nearly as titanic a boxoffice catastrophe as Trimurti.

Perhaps the most distressing thing about Trimurti is that it actually boasts a fairly intriguing premise -- one that might have worked rather triumphantly in the hands of a more gifted storyteller. The early scenes are quite promising as they swiftly establish an escalating feud between the manaical cult leader Kooka Singh (Mohan Agashe) and a headstrong female officer named Satyadevi (Priya Tendulkar), who dares to challenge Kooka's supremacy. Warned by his astrologer that a trio with names bearing the letters "A" "R" and "S" will lead him to his ultimate demise, Kooka comes to believe that Satyadevi is a divine force whom he must defeat (but whom he is forbidden to kill). After she publicly humiliates his son, Kooka responds by leading an attack on Satyadevi's home and personally slaying her husband. At the funeral, Satyadevi overhears a report of Kooka's son going on a wild killing spree; she reacts by rushing off to confront the young man and then fatally shooting him. After vowing revenge, Kooka has Satyadevi framed for the murder of three officers, leading to her arrest and imprisonment.

While behind bars, Satyadevi gives birth to her third child, whom she hands over to her brother Bhanu (Saheed Jaffery) to take back to her sons, Shakti and Anand. So that their lives will not be burdened by thoughts of revenge, Satyadevi has Bhanu tell her two boys that she has passed away and that they must raise their youngest brother "Romi" to join them in becoming the "3 Divine Powers." Soon, however, a bitter dispute erupts between Shakti and Anand over how to raise Romi, leading Anand to abandon his siblings for a lucrative but lawless lifestyle, while Shakti struggles to bring up Romi according to his mother's wholesome ideals. Meanwhile, Kooka, who has been warned by his astrologer of the three boys' imminent role in his destruction, pays a smuggler to murder Anand, but the smuggler decides to adopt the boy instead, keeping his survival a secret from Kooka. Nineteen years later, Shakti (Jackie Shroff) and Romi (Shahrukh Khan) -- who has been studying in America -- happily reunite, but Anand (Anil Kapoor) has remained completely lost to them since the day he first fractured their relationship. While Bhanu has kept the still-imprisoned Satyadevi happy by deceiving her with reassurances that the trio remain close, his lies take on an oddly prophetic flavor when Anand (now calling himself "Sikander") is thrust back into his brothers' lives, only this time as an ally of Kooka.

Director Mukul Anand displays a talent for visually striking imagery, at times evoking the grandiose style of Sergio Leone. Yet for every scene that dazzles the eye there are five others that you leave you stupefied at the narrative's sheer ineptitude. A grotesque combination of shrill melodrama and buffoonish comedy, Trimurti has the herky-jerky feel of a six-hour miniseries that's been hacked down to half that length with only the most overwrought scenes being spared the butcher's knife. The film fails to set up its relationships or conflicts with any degree of believability, making it appear as if each character's actions really are governed by fate and destiny rather than anything resembling credible human behavior.

By far the movie's most glaring miscalculation is the conception of its villain, whose garish make-up, thick eyebrows, hook nose and mane of hair make him look like a reject from Planet of the Apes. Played in a relentlessly over-the-top manner by Mohan Agashe, Kooka is far more ridiculous than loathsome and provokes about as much fear as a Saturday morning cartoon character. I'd suggest that Agashe's acting belongs in a completely different film from the rest of the cast, except that his performance is almost equalled by Shahrukh Khan, who's at his overbearing worst here, giving a loud, goofy and self-aggrandizing performance that's somehow supposed to suggest youthful bravado and romantic charm. Of the three lead actors, only Anil Kapoor seems attuned to the story's mythical overtones, and the film improves slightly after he finally makes his first appearance just before the "intermission." Displaying a cool and understated swagger, Kapoor's larger-than-life portrayal is ultimately sabotaged by the film's recklessly unstable tone, but his scenes with frequent co-star Jackie Shroff provide the movie with its lone glimpses of authentic human interaction.

Despite Ghai's refusal to share the blame for Trimurti's failings, the movie's romantic subplot bears the familiar theme of class conflict found in a number of Ghai movies, and the abundance of soggy melodrama is certainly no stranger to Ghai's filmography. To Anand's credit, he does come up with a couple of rousing song-and-dance numbers, namely "Kahan Gaya" and "Duniya Re Duniya" -- both scored by Ghai's longtime composers, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, whose working relationship with Ghai would end after this film. Mukul Anand passed away in 1997 at the age of 46 while directing the unfinished and unreleased Dus, making Trimurti his last official production.

The Eros/B4U DVD is letterboxed but overmatted and presented in the wrong aspect ratio. The picture is soft, dark and lacking adequate contrast. In short, a mediocre presentation of a very mediocre film.

DVD Specs:

Eros/B4U DVD
All Regions
Removable English Subs (none for the songs)
Trailers for Baadshah; Hote Hote Pyaar Ho Gaya; Sirf Tum; Taal; Hindustan Ki Kasam; Silsila Hai Pyar Ka; Haseena Maan Jayegi; Sarfarosh