Half way through the year already and we can say some films have already set the cash registers chiming. Padmaavat, Padman, Baaghi 2 and the recent Sanju have alone made the industry almost 700 crores already. Like every year we do get the odd few films that go unnoticed but do find a life on television or now we can say the digital platform. Over the years, thanks to the accessibility of 4G, the quality of digital material is marking a new life for films, some already have announced the films to releasing direct to digital in which the medium to small budget films will get a breathing space then rather producers battling for 1-2 shows in multiplexes. So here are some of them films that maybe we have missing throughout the year.
Kaalakaandi
Akshat Verma, of Delhi Belly fame makes his directorial debut set on a monsoon night in Mumbai, dealing with various characters and plots that brings together a wacky black comedy about greed, lust, love and hope. Many of regular cinema visitors missed this one due to lack of exposure it got before its release. It went through a bumpy ride, firstly the film being stuck at the censor board for various issues as it took months for the board to give it a green signal. The second being that the film was supposed to be a direct to digital release but upsetting the feelings of many and to please many, it just had to be released theatrically. Being lost within the hype of Padmaavat and released during the early weeks of January with the working class still recovering from their New Year’s Hangover, Kaalakaandi just missed the bus at the cinemas. One could argue that Kaalakaandi suits the digital life more and will more than likely will build its life there. Despite its issues, the film does make an enjoyable weekend watch.
What works: The humour, punch lines and of course Saif Ali Khan!
What doesn’t: Flaws in the screenplay, runs out of steam in the second half
My Birthday Song
Released a week before the grand Padmaavat, a big section of the audience missed out on this opportunity of watching probably one of the best psychological thrillers in recent years. Sadly over time, we haven’t really seen very many psychological thrillers, films in the genre that have set the benchmark like Kaun, Ugly, Ek Hasina Thi, one can say that My Birthday Song finds its slot amongst these. Made on a very substantial budget with combining energies from actors turned producers Sanjay Suri and Samir Soni, My Birthday song turns out to be very captivating and thought-provoking watch. Interestingly, Samir Soni who is remembered as the ‘bad son’ from Baghban actually has turned out to be ‘good director’ with his directional debut. About an ad agency owner who has a nightmarish-of-a-day on his 40th Birthday trying to unravel the puzzle of the strange happenings in the day but what occurs is him falling into a whirlpool of complexities in which he cannot escape. Sanjay Suri aces as the protagonist as a confused, scared and a person full of guilt. Be sure it’s one on your watch list!
What works: Well executed thrilling plot, well directed, great performances
What doesn’t: deserved a better climax
Mukkabaaz
Anurag Kashyap’s saga about a boxer from Bareilly (no sorry, no barfi this time) who struggles in getting recognition from the Boxing Federation due to his personal issues with the upper caste jatts (Played by a menacing Jimmy Sheirgill) in which then he hires a tough-to-match coach (played by a brilliant Ravi Kissen) who teaches him about the do’s and dont’s of the ring as well as life. The film was the opening film at JIO Mami 2017 at Liberty Cinema which came the source of attention but sadly the film struggled for a theatrical release and even sadly opened to empty halls! But that also could have something to do with the fact that it’s Anurag Kashyap’s longest film he has made and people preferred watching it at home!
What works: Great performances, great narrative, well executed
What doesn’t: Jimmy Sheirgill!
Blackmail
One wonders why it was advertised as Blackmail/Blackmale during the promotions when actually everyone in the entire film including women just blackmail each other! The film was ready for release when it was announced publicly that Irfan Khan has been diagnosed with cancer, despite that there still wasn’t any pity holders who came to the cinema to see the film, maybe a majority of the audience who saw the film just found it too strange or didn’t get the ‘black’ humour, who knows? But we can certainly say it was definitely an enjoyable watch, possible an even be more of an enjoyable fare for married couples! Interesting fact actually – Rakesh Roshan was to produce this film back in 2015 – we kind of know why Roshan senior had backed out as it would have been like eating Sabzi with Chopsticks!
What works: Interesting plot, humorous moments
What doesn’t: Too much Blackmailing to the core!
Missing
Okay, firstly it’s not the best film of the year, nor is it a great film but yes, it certainly is not the worst. Its plot is actually lifted from a Zee TV Episode of Saturday Suspense (Remember? the goody-goody version of Zee Horror Show) which says a lot in its self how illogical things can get but we can say that the director has made a decent attempt at a thriller set in the exotic locations of Mauritius. The strength of the film lies in keeping the audience within the guessing game till the last second of the film. As things begin to unravel, you can say to yourself that it was an entertaining fare despite the 101 flaws in the film. It’s a decent watch for Friday drunk evening with your pals!
What works: Keeps you on the edge of your seat till the end, good performances
Brief: Shree Narayan Singh from Toilet-Ek Prem Katha fame from last year brings us his latest outing, said to be based around the small electricity liability and the overpriced electricity bills given to small businesses in small towns of Indian . Shahid Kapoor plays a small time electricity thief paired opposite Shraddha Kapoor and Yami Gautam plays a lawyer.
Est Budget: 35-40 Crore
Daftest Rumour: In the stages was titled Battiya Bhuja Doh
Believable Trivia: Katrina Kaif, Ileana D’Cruz and Sonakshi Sinha were all approached by the role which was later taken by Shraddha Kapoor
Predicted Box Office Verdict:
7-9 Crore (Opening Weekend)
40 Crore (Total Collection)
Manto
21ST Sept
Brief: Nandita Das’s biopic on the famous Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui set India’s post-independence period, discovers the writer’s life between the years 1946-1950. Selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival
Est Budget: 30-35 Crore
Daftest Rumour: The film was rejected by BJP supporters during the shoot for Manto’s move to Pakistan
Believable Trivia: Nawazuddin only charged Rs.1 as his charge fee
Predicated Box Office Verdict:
2-3 Crore (Opening Weekend)
10 Crore (Total Collection)
Sui Dhaaga
28th Sept
Brief: Sharat Katariya from Dum Laga Ke Haisa fame returns with another drama with Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma. Based in Bhopal, aimed at promoting the country’s indigenous textile industries tangled with a love story between a tailor and an embroiderer played by Dhawan and Sharma.
Est Budget: 25-30 Crore
Daftest Rumour: Anushka Sharma is said to be playing a mother of three children in the film
Believable Trivia: Both the actors had apparently spend days to learn how to sew and embroil, and also operate the sewing machine.
Predicted Box Office Verdict:
8- 10 Crore (Opening Weekend)
50- 55 Crore(Total Collection)
Pataakha
28th Sept
Brief: Vishal Bharadaj’s take on Charan Singh Pathik’s short story, Do Behnein, revolves around two sisters, Badki and Chhutki who grow up in a small village in Rajasthan and are constantly at war but when marriage separates them, they realise they can’t seem to live with or without each other.
Est Budget: 15-20 Crore
Daftest Rumour: Sanya Malhotra was casted only because of her fight attitude in Dangal
Believable Trivia: Was a planned project years ago with Priyanka Chopra and Parineeti Chopra
Predicated Box Office Verdict:
2-3 Crore (Opening Weekend)
20 Crore (Total Collection)
AndhaDhun
5th Oct
Brief: Ayushmann Khurrana plays a blind piano teacher while on a lesson falls into the wrong scenario when a murder occurs which eventually leads to the question of his sight
Est Budget: 20-25 Crore
Daftest Rumour: Said to have some similarities with Kaabil
Believable Trivia:
Originally titled ‘Shoot the Piano Player’
Was planned with Neil Nitin Mukesh post Johnny Gaddar
Predicated Box Office Verdict:
6-7 Crore (Opening Weekend)
30-35 Crore (Total Collection)
Loveyatri
5th Oct
Brief: Salman Khan launches his brother-in-law Aayush Sharma about a fun loving story on love blooming during the days of Navarati. Shot extensively in Gujrat and London, Ram Kapoor and Ronit Roy also star. Arbaaz and Sohail Khan also make cameos.
Est Budget: 25 – 28 Crore
Daftest Rumour: Shooting had stopped several times during the London schedule due to Aayush’s unprofessional attitude
Believable Trivia:
Salman was impressed with Abhiraj Minawala, Ali Abbas Zafar’s assistant that he offered him to direct this film
Said to renamed due the objections against using Navarati to the title LoveRatri
Predicted Box Office Verdict:
7 – 8 Crore (Opening Weekend)
20 – 25 Crore(Total Collection
Helicopter Eela
12th Oct
Brief: Kajol is back with this urban comedy about an over-protective single mother who goes back to complete her education at college only to find out she is in the same class as her son played by Chauranga fame Riddhi Sen. This tounge-in-cheek comedy deals with unfulfilled ambitions and self-discovery. Directed by the Mardaani Pradeep Sarkar.
Est Budget: 10-15 Crore
Daftest Rumour: It was rejected by Rani Mukerjee as she didn’t want to do this film in the same year as Hitchki
Believable Trivia: Based on the Gujarati play Beta, Kaagdo
Predicted Box Office Verdict:
5-7 Crore (Opening Weekend)
15-17 Crore (Total Collection)
Badhaai Ho
19th Oct
Brief: Dealing with the subject of Geriatric Pregnancy in an orthodox Indian suburban family, Ayushmann Khurrana, the new ‘people’s man’ plays the characters where his mother is pregnant when his own marriage is being arranged
Est Budget: 20-25 Crore
Daftest Rumour: During the shoot, locals had pretested about his ill thought of the film
Believable Trivia: Shot in a record time of 30 days
Predicted Box Office Verdict:
7-10 Crore (Opening Weekend)
40-45 Crore (Total Collection)
Namastey England
19th Oct
Brief: Vipul Amrutlal Shah returns to the director seat after years with his sequel to his 2007 hit Namastey London. This time with the fresh pairing of Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra, keeping the flavour of the prequel alive the film has been shot around Punjab, Brussells, Paris and London.
Est Budget: 35-37 Crore
Daftest Rumour: Originally planned as Namastey Canada, due to permissions not being allotted for Canada, the script was changed to England.
Believable Trivia: The film touches on the sensitive issue of illegal immigration.
Predicted Box Office Verdict:
5-7 Crore (Opening Weekend)
35 – 37 Crore(Total Collection)
Bhaiyyaji Superhit
19th Oct
Brief: Been in the making for years, this Sunny Deol starrer is finally making its way to the screens. Started in 2011, the film had drawbacks due over budgeting, financial issues, date issues and of course artist conflicts. The film is about a gangster and his attempt of becoming a movie star. Sunny Deol for the first time in his career plays a double role for the first time
Est Budget: 40-45 Crore
Daftest Rumour: The producer was thinking of replacing actresses Ameesha Patel and Priety Zinta during the making because their dead-out market
Believable Trivia:
Preity Zinta, Arshad Warsi, Shreyas Talpade and Ameesha Patel have all not received their final payment and have refused to promote the film
Sunny Deol has said to give the backing of his production house, Vijeta Films, as distributors for the film
Predicted Box Office Verdict:
3-5 Crore (Opening Weekend)
10 Crore (Total Collection)
5 Weddings
26th Oct
Brief: Nargis Fakhri plays an American journalist who travels to India for a magazine feature on the multiple Indian wedding ceremonies. Film deals with weddings but also the community of transgender people called a Hijra who dance at these Indian weddings.
Est Budget: 25-30 Crore
Daftest Rumour: Rajkummar’s notion to saying yes was a big cheque
Believable Trivia: The film was initially set to be filmed in 2008 with the director Namrata Singh Gujral and Harbhajan Mann in the lead
Predicted Box Office Verdict:
7-9 Crore (Opening Weekend)
20 Crore (Total Collection)
Bazaar (yet to be confirmed)
26th Oct
Brief: Nikhil Advani writes and produces a dark take on a stock market clash in which deals with greed, politics and business. Film introduces ventran Vinod Mehra’s son Rohan Mehra
Est Budget: 35-40 Crore
Daftest Rumour: A take on Oliver Stone’s Wall Street
Believable Trivia: The film was ready and completed a little before Sacred Games had taken off
Predicted Box Office Verdict:
7-9 Crore (Opening Weekend)
30-35 Crore (Total Collection)
Thugs of Hindostan
8th Nov
Brief: This year’s mammoth Diwali release, Aamir Khan returns with Dhoom 3 Director – Vijay Krishna Acharya in this Yash Raj Production based on the novel Confessions of a Thug. About a gang of thugs who are posed by a challenge by the British Empire in India during the early 20th Century. Aamir playing the gang leader, Amitabh Bachchan teams with Khan for the first time who plays his adoptive father. Katrina Kaif and Fatima Sana Sheikh are in the female leads.
Est Budget: 210-250 Crore
Daftest Rumour: Oddly, there were rumours that the film was a biopic on Aamir Khan
Believable Trivia:
Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone initially had rejected the lead roles
There were news of Katrina and Fatima clashing over the extension of their role
Security was complete tight on set so no pictures of the characters were leaked
Predicted Box Office Verdict:
155 – 175 Crore (5 Day Weekend)
350 – 375 Crore (Total Collection)
2.0
29th Nov
Brief: Sequel to the 2010 hit Enthiran aka Robot, Shankar continues the episodes of Dr Vaseegaran and his robot Chitti. Akshay Kumar is said to be playing the role of scientist in the film and the main antagonist, Amy Jackson also joins the cast opposite Rajnikanth. The film has been shot entirely in 3D and said to be Shankar’s most expensive film yet. The film has already changed its release date twice due to its issues in post-production.
Est Budget: 450-500 Crore
Daftest Rumour: Akshay is said to be playing the role of a pigeon in the form of a human
Believable Trivia:
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kamal Haasan, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Vikram Chiyaan were considered the for the role that was later given to Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar is said to have 12 different looks in the film
Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan have cameos in the film
Predicted Box Office Verdict:
15-20 Crore (Hindi Version) (Opening Weekend)
115-120 Crore (Hindi Version) (Total Collection)
Kedarnath
30th Nov
Brief: Abhishek Kapoor after his last disastrous outing Fitoor is back with his favourite hero Sushant Singh Rajput, this time Kapoor launches the daughter of Saif Ali Khan-Amrita Singh, Sara Ali Khan. The film is about the 2013 Kedarnath flood problem in which Rajput plays the role of a person who carries pilgrims to the shrine for money while Sara Ali plays a pilgrim who is stuck in the flood, getting through with the help of Rajput which sparks a romance.
Est Budget: 60-65 Crore
Daftest Rumour: Sushant Singh Rajput is said to be ghost producer of the film
Believable Trivia:
A set built to recreate Kedarnath was built in Film City, Mumbai. Which alone cost 7 Crore said to be one of the biggest sets of recent times
Sara Ali Khan signed Simmba when the shoot halted for this film which resulted to a controversy over dates had threaten to take Sara to court
The film at a stage was to be shelved due going over-budget
Predicted Box Office Verdict:
10-12 Crore (Opening Weekend)
60-70 Crore (Total Collection)
Total Dhamaal
7th Dec
Brief: Indra Kumar returns with the third instalment to the Dhamaal series. The original leads Ritiesh Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, Javed Jafferi (Minus Ashish Chowdhury) return to the series they are also joined with Ajay Devgan, Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit. Indra Kumar promises it to be thrice the fun as the last two films as well as it being family friendly unlike his Masti series.
Est Budget: 80-90 Crore
Daftest Rumour: Story is said to be a piece of rework from Indra Kumar’s Shelved film Happily Divorced
Believable Trivia:
Sanjay Dutt rejected returning to the series after his disappointment with Double Dhamaal
Ajay Devgan was original to do a cameo but his role was later extended
Said to be getting a release in 3D
Ashish Chowdhury could not do the film due to his commitment with his TV Show Dev
Predicted Box Office Verdict:
15-20 Crore (Opening Weekend)
80-90 crore (Total Collection)
Zero
21st Dec
Brief: The most talked about film this year, Aanand L Rai of Tanu Weds Manu fame teams up with Shah Rukh Khan playing the role of a dwarf. The film is about Khan playing a guy of short stature, who falls in love with a superstar played by Katrina Kaif. Anushka Sharma portrays the character of a girl with intellectual disability who becomes his friend during his journey.
Est Budget: 150 Crore
Daftest Rumour: Shah Rukh Khan is playing a double role and the other role is called ‘number one’
Believable Trivia:
The last film appearance of Sridevi who appears in a cameo
Salman Khan, Deepika Padukone, Kajol, Rani Mukerjee, Juhi Chawla, Alia Bhatt, Karishma Kapoor and R.Madhavan also play cameos in the film.
The lead role was offered to Salman Khan in 2012 but wasn’t keen on playing a dwarf
After Kamal Haasan, Shah Rukh Khan is the first lead hero in a commercial film in India to play a dwarf
Predicted Box Office Verdict:
85-100 Crore (5 day Weekend)
200-225 Crore (Total Collection)
Simmba
28th Dec
Brief: Rohit Shetty, Karan Johar and Ranveer Singh come together for this massy action entertainer about a corrupt cop Sangram Balerao played by Ranveer Singh, set in a remote area in Maharashtra who after a mistake attempts to become a sincere cop. An official remake of Puri Jagannath’s Temper. The film also stars Sara Ali Khan who is making her debut 4 weeks before the release of Simmba.
Est Budget: 60-65 Crore
Daftest Rumour: The climax brings in Ajay Devgan as Bajirao Singham who comes to the help of Sangram Balerao which then leads to the next instalment of the Singham series.
Believable Trivia:
The song ‘Aankh Mare Ladki Aankh Mare’ from Tere Mere Sapne has said to be recreated
Suresh Oberoi is making a comeback with the film
R Madhavan was originally to do the main antagonist but due to his back problem he was replaced by Sonu Sood
Manmarziyan Starring: Abhishek Bachchan, Vicky Kaushal, Taapsee Pannu Director: Anurag Kashyap Music: Amit Trivedi Release: 14th September 2018
Anurag Kashyap being the crusader of the darkness for Hindi cinema shifts his motion into brightness with a modern day take on the complexity of relationships. Written by a young creative producer who has her roots in Amritsar, the film is written on her perspective of an ugly take on the complexity . Kashyap adding his sensibilities, the film broadens and takes a trip back Kashyap’s last Punjabi-touch Dev D.
The leading pair, Vicky Kaushal and Taapsee Pannu play two intensive characters who cannot take their hands off each other but the crack of the dream arise when Pannu’s character feeling the pressure of marriage and responsibility decides to settle in the route of marriage but Kaushal’s character not wanting to pick up the responsibility drops out on the relationship.
Enters a mature subtle Abhishek Bachchan becoming the suitor for Pannu begins to complicate issues more. Unsurety and the pressure of responsibility lead the question of the complexity of the spousal bond. Set in the middle class locality of the holy city Amritsar, the film deals with a jet age with melting butter relationships that prioritise relationships on digitally but not in confrontation .
For many, who have seen Kashyap’s last feature Raman Raghav which slotted it as his weakest, we can rightly say this is weakest yet. To begin, the script is its fall back. Kanika Dhillion’s script in the simplest to say does not have anything relevantly new to the consumer, it’s a case of ‘been there, seen that, done that’.
Kashyap’s direction attempts to compliment the half-baked script and does it job to a certainty. The first half of the film of course charms the audience with its unconventional narrative style, melodious music and events of uncertainly amongst the characters. Not doubting Kashyap’s direction, getting the tone and the right positioning of the characters considering his backlog of work doesn’t have an essence of romanticism.
The team behind the film have done a fantastic job, the music plays a large role in the film with the Punjabi tone and the twins brings a nice touch to the narrative. The film has been edited in such a way that it understands the texture of notion of being subtle but the film is too long, the end portion screams to be wanting to get done but unfortunately doesn’t leave wanting to part with the story.
The theme broadens maturity and irresponsibility of relationships with failures of overcoming the complexities where the characters which are structured such flawy, the to-the-face issue is the death of such romance and over essence of selfishness.
Kashyap’s problem is he doesn’t know where to stop. A magical first but a bore of second half doesn’t hold the interest the viewer. Kashyap attempts to hold attention but drops in dragging it needlessly. Previously, Kashyap has had the issue of climaxing his films where he doesn’t know when to pull the leaver. In this case, not only the leaver but the iron becomes rotten.
In terms of performances, Taapsee wears Rumi’s skin as comfortably as a night suit. The character of an outspoken, custom fighter who obliges to speak in what is right for her and what works for her. Vicky Kauhsal, is a powerhouse to say the least. This year the boy alone has managed mark that hes not only a diverse actor but willing to experiment with his appearance for the role. Being a Punjabi, he slips into the character so naturally that one would think it’s based on his actual natural self.
Abhishek Bachchan making a comeback pulls off the character of Robbie with such subtly one is reminded of a Ajay Devgan from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. One can never doubt his skill as actor but can say they are happy to see him returning to the big screen after a hiatus.
Overall, Kashyap as a made a mature attempt on a drama but suffers due to the weak script. Potentially a well diverse story on relationships ends up becoming a bore. The performances and the music adds to the film but sadly does not become its strength. The film has its moments but loses its focus in progression.
The passing weekend, we witnessed the comeback of maverick filmmaker JP Dutta who had been long-out of the scene for almost 12 years. Dutta, an influence today for the new set of filmmaker who is recognised for his grand style, technique in filmmaking and his presentation of narrative. Regardless of the body of work, the current generation remember Dutta for his 1971 Longewala account based film Border, but it seems a lot of the cinema admirers have forgot Dutta’s socially-out-spoken-yet-commercial cinema he made prior to Border.ki
Spanning his career over the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s, Dutta was one such director in which his vision was never refused, being financiers or actors but grandness was never doubted. Filmmaking changes necessary when the taste buds of the audience demand other savouries, the question arises if Dutta had changed his style over his career graph? Lets take a stroll down the maverick maker’s career!
Ghulami (1985)
Dutta’s first commercial release after losing hope on his first venture which never got completed, in a struggle for almost 10 years he got his first work out to the public. Set in post-colonial Rajasthan, the film deals with six characters who deal with their struggle with identity in a caste oppressed culture regardless of their contribution towards the society. The film established Dutta’s love for the landscape of Rajasthan, but deep within in Dutta opened a can of worms of the hush society within the sands of the desert. Dutta explored the harsh reality of the Thakur’s rule over the Chowdhurys, making the authority on-screen look Nazi-like.
Interestingly, Dutta revealed that the film was based on a childhood visit to Rajasthan in a gossip conversation he heard about a school teacher who had rebelled against the landlords of the town by becoming a dacoit. The teacher being the character of Dharmendra, who despite his strong values for education goes rogue for his principals by rebelling against the local Thakurs and forms his battalion of Army returned (without ‘Shaque’) Mithun Chakraborthy and underprivileged police constable Khulbulshan Kharbanda who fight the shackles of slavery. The film put Dutta on the map after receiving awards and rewards at the box office.
Yateem (1988)
The one man army ride. In Dutta’s body of work this actually is a rare exception as it doesn’t have an ensemble cast. An impressed Dharmendra, decided to sign Dutta for his second outing as a solo Sunny Deol starrer. The subject, quite similar to Raj Kapoor’s Awara and Manmohan Desai’s Parvarish, about a son of dacoit who is raised by a police constable begins to find trouble with the local officer and the dreaded dacoit not letting go of the blood that runs in his veins. Yateem follows a very similar Hollywood western style format with the hero cowboy feel, tacklings the dakus in his escape for redeeming his name.
The film on release was not only overlooked but somewhat instantly forgotten. Cinema at the period was commercially changing with successful ventures such as Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Tezaab released in the same year which introduced an entertaining modern form of cinema unlike the daku movies which were dying the death, in the year prior the debacle of Dacait was the first to take the bullet which scarred the minds of the audience with Rakhee’s happenings. One can revisit Yateem today and notice the ‘emptiness’ Dutta had induced in the film.
Batwara (1989)
Salim Akhtar, one of the biggest producers of the time gave Dutta an enormous budget to compliment his vision. Dutta became the favourite for this top line producers like Nadiadwalas, Akhtars etc. Batwara is one of Dutta’s most expensive films for its time which its popularity managed to scrape the producer a profit in bank also. Batwara does not deal with partition of India but begins as a narrative of the fading loss of power of the zamindars and the fast social changes in current India. A royal family which have gradual erosion of power, the Bade Thakur (played by Shammi Kapoor) decides to Batwara his estate with his three sons but the bigger Batwara happens when the entire village splits into two, the Thakurs and the Chowdhurys with Vinod Khanna on one side (Shammi Kapoor’s Middle son in the film) and his best friend Dharmendra leading the other.
Anyone remember Mohsin Khan? Mohsin Khan was a Pakistani cricketer, who opened his innings along with Mudassar Nazar who later married Reena Roy and his good links with the Akhtar’s transformation him into a short period actor. Khan did not exactly become a star overnight as the ones who took the acclaim from the film was Vinod Khanna and Dharmendra.
Hathyar (1989)
Many are not aware but Dutta is actually born and raised in Mumbai which is a revelation as his knowledge of the rural landscape is visible in his films. Hathyar marks his positioning in the city. The film deals with the subject of the use of toy guns. A village-toy maker (played by Khulbulshan Khardanda) shifts with his family from the rural to the city lights of Bombay to discover that his toys are no use, children in the jet age are guns fanatics. Sanjay Dutt plays the son of who ironically begins to play with iron guns for his bread and butter, Dharmendra plays the don who buried his values years ago for crime and his younger principled peacemaker sibling is played by Rishi Kapoor.
Dutta claims this to be favourite film but sadly his least successful one. A lot of critics argued that the rural setting had stuck to Dutta’s name in such a way that trying to take a different route caused an engine failure. Dutta on the other hand felt the film failed because he had stuck realism too close to the consumer’s face, the Bombay audience being his main consumers completely rejected the film not wanting to have a reality check on their home city.
The tones in the film like Amrita Singh calling Dutt’s Bombay home a ‘Kabootar Khana’, Dharmendra teaching the tricks of survival in the city and railway tracks being a source of the grim reaper did portray the city in such a manner. Sadly, the film doesn’t even have a huge cult following due to the film never being released on DVD or hardly ever been shown on satellite television making it almost non-existent to many film buffs.
Kshatriya (1993)
This Magnum Opus takes Dutta back to the roots in Rajasthan with possibly the biggest budget and starcast of its time. A cast of Sunil Dutt (Extended Cameo), Dharmendra, Rakhee, Vinod Khanna, Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt, Kabir Bedi, Meenakshi Sheshadari, Raveena Tandon, Divya Bharti (Phew! That’s not even getting to the supporting cast yet!) The film deals with life of the Kshatriyas, their upbringing, customs, values etc. A story of two royal rival families and their respective younger and civilised younger generation who have spent their life in London begin to question the ancestral customs. Dutt and Deol play the young rebellious Kshatriyas with their wishy washy London accents find it hard to adjust to their home eventually become arch enemies in protecting their family’s honour.
The film broadens male testosterone throughout with the bare chested men sacrificing animals, protecting the family dignity and fighting purely out of ego, Dutta surely showcased the flaws of the ‘he-man’. The film was a commercial setback due to the audience not understanding the basic idea of the film, the boredom of the lengthy run and the of course, the overdose of characters. Dutta on the hand expressed he was happy it did not work. He was making something he did not want to, trying to tell a story at the same time keeping the commercial balance of wooing the girls in a sports car on the motorway while being on a cellphone, was just well….was not him.
Border (1997)
It wouldn’t be wrong to say if Border is possibly one the best film Hindi cinema has seen in the last 50 years, technically and narratively. Border over the years became this definite format of a war film for many makers that attempted to follow the patriotic movement but what followed was a market full of majors, generals and colonels but no stories or techniques. Funny enough, during the first trial show of Border many had told Dutta he had lost his mind, a commercial war army based film that was heading for doom on day one, but the tables turned. Not only did he win hearts, Dutta became an untouchable filmmaker of the country who won hearts commercially and commendably.
Border is remembered for the sincerity of the artists involved, such well written and performed characters that it stuck in the minds of people even 20 years later. Sunny, Jackie, Sunil, Khulbulshan, Punit were all commendable but one has to give a little special credit to a 21 year old Akshaye Khanna, in his debut year gave a performance in which he stood up to season actors like Deol, Khardanda and Punit Issar. Still today being relevant, as a pro nationalist and an anti-neighbour-nationalist, the film still echoes the hardships of a soldier life and the depiction of pointless battles fought on ground.
Refugee (2000)
Bachchan’s son and Kapoor’s daughter began to their journey with maestro Dutta, The story of a family in crisis as they are forced to shift to Pakistan, they seek the help of drifter named Refugee (portrayed by Junior Bachchan) in which they cross the border, Refugee’s closeness with the family’s daughter begins to get him in trouble with the border security forces with Sunil Shetty as the Pakistani soldier and Jackie Shroff as the Indian guard.
This Launchpad was not the definitive venture for any young star kid, as 6 months prior to the release Rakesh Roshan’s launch pad for his son caught the youth with a fever and was still in theatres when Dutta released his saga. A lot could have been better for the film, critics bashed the film for its 3 hour and 20 minute length and chipped at Junior Bachchan with comparisons to his father. Regardless of this, the film managed to get a decent opening became an average grosser at the box office but Dutta had learned from burning his hands at several stages.
LOC Kargil (2003)
The Hindi cinema formula to a successful film is a great starcast and festive release, LOC Kargil had both yet was a huge bomb at the box office. The film had practically almost everyone from the film industry (except the Deols, Amitabh Bachchan & the three Khans) and released on festival of Christmas, despite having a huge opening a majority of the audience couldn’t sit through the 4 hours and 5 minutes of Army jargon, bleeped abusive language and attempting to remember who was who.
An over-detailed account of the Kargil war in which Dutta tried to give scope to every character and their backstory, but unfortunately the audience could not process so much information in way too much time. The larger element for the film was not the battle capturing the Kargil post but its running length, Dutta had refused at many occasions to snip the film as he felt it would ruin the flow of the film. But regardless, the film has found its life on cable television all these years later which is a regular on every 15th August.
Umrao Jaan (2006)
Dutta took a drastic turn the mid-2000s putting aside the war drama, wanting to explore romanticism. Dutta chose Mirza Muhammad Hadi Ruswa’s novel for adaption about the courtesan Umrao Jaan and her series of unfortunate events. Dutta was clear he was not influenced of his contemporary’s, Muzaffar Ali’s adaption in 1981. A huge production, ensemble cast a definitive ‘Jaan’ in Aishwarya Rai, Dutta put together the right components for a contemporary take on the novel but it was audience who was least interested.
Despite Aishwarya being at the peak of her career and getting the international recognition, the audience decided the fate of Umrao Jaan from the first promo. In the same year, films such as Rang De Basanti and Lage Raho Munnabhai which emerged not only becoming successful ventures but highlighted the shift of cinema with the arrival of the new brigadier of contemporary directors. The big scale period dramas were beginning to die a slow death and the three hour plus features were seeing exit signs flashing brighter in the cinema halls. The disastrous fate of the film affected Dutta’s other films in the pipeline in which studios had backed out doubting his vision.
Very few directors of the industry can merge modernity and tradition as effortless as Dutta, his reinvention of the narrative during the 80s barring outside of the commercial cycle of the tried-tested formula. Grand productions and under-the-carpet issues, addressing matters of the less fortunate through the skin of established names. Dutta’s earlier works Ghulami, Batwara, Yateem and Hathyar do seem to be rooted from the same soil with certain layers such as caste, social class, oppression and division.
Its seems colonialism is strong element of Dutta’s features, Ghulami, Batwara, Border, Refugee such titles rewind the mind to the British Raj era. The British Raj and its influence to the country do reflect in his films in a sense of how the country has progressed on since; Ghulami shows that the oppressed are now under the influence of their own kin, Batwara showcasing that division is existent in smaller areas of the country.
Hathyar arguably being Dutta’s best work is still relevant in today’s time; Dutta’s vocals were speaking of a disastrous future which reflected in Bombay riots, the underworld rule in the 90s and the terrorist attack in 2008. Dutta was making a bold statement to the weak of not taking a wrong route, one seeing the consequences in the form of Sanjay Dutt and one become the results in Dharmendra.
A sore thumb Kshatriya stuck out with mixing chalk and cheese in the same plate as an Indian Shephard’s Pie, a mistaken grandeur for storytelling which resulted to a colossal failure. Border and post reinvented the director to something else, his last three features Refugee, LOC Kargil and Umrao Jaan sparked doubts of the director losing his touch.
His recent outing, Paltan which had echoes his 1997 war drama died a fatal death at the box office but Dutta refusing of letting go has already announced his next two features. Refusing to hang up his coat like his contemporaries, Dutta is yet willing to face a long battle but the question is are the audience and the generation still willing to see eye to eye with his vision? Every 3 years the taste of the audience changes and Dutta has been in the industry for 4 decades, reinvention and relevancy in this era is important to the reputable director to keep in the footfalls.
We hope Dutta’s journey continues. Below are the films of Dutta that never made got completed and are in question of a possible revival. Take a visit
Unfulfilled Dreams of JP Dutta
Sarhad
This was Dutta’s first venture as a director, launched in 1977 starring Vinod Khanna, Mithun Chakraborthy, Bindiya Goswami. The film was about two childhood friends who get separated during the partition, leading one to stay in India and the other to leave to Pakistan. Years later, the two meet again during the 1971 war standing opposite sides of the border. The film dealt with issue of prisoners of war, Vinod Khanna playing the one of Indian prisoners out the 90,000 captivated during the war. The film was half done until the producers ran into financial problems, Dutta held production waiting for better days but the bomb dropped when Vinod Khanna quit films and left the country resulting the film being shelved. Dutta recently expressed his desire to revive the film.
Bandhua
Amitabh and Dutta have had a close equation over the years but never got to work with each other, despite give his voice over for a couple of his film he never physically appeared in any of his features. Bandhua deals with the issue of the bounded labourers in Rajasthan leading to unfortunate circumstances of the lead character. The film also dealt with the economic system and the poor farming conditions of the area which lead to high percentage of yearly suicides. After a couple of reels of shooting in 1989, the film was shelved for reasons unknown.
Chooriyan
Originally started with Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit and Raveena Tandon. Started straight after Kshatriya, said to be youthful love story becoming a story about traditional values ran into trouble when Sanjay Dutt was faced with his legal battles just after shooting a small portion for the film. Dutta later had decided to change the cast to Bobby Deol, Mamta Kulkarni and Tabu failed to take off resulting it to be shelved and Dutta moved on to Border. The song ‘Shaire Main Ho Gaya Deewana’ shot for the film was brought by the producers of Vijeta placed in the film.
Aakhri Mughal
Dutta had the privilege of having access to Kamal Amrohi’s script vault in which he came across his unused Aakhri Mughal script which did not take off in the 70s, Dutta was set to revive the film. Originally planned as Abhishek Bachchan’s launch pad in 1998, with Dilip Kumar playing Bahadur Shah Zafar and Junior Bachchan playing his son. After taking off, for unknown reasons it was stalled and shelved. In 2007, Dutta expressed his desire to revive the film but still did not see the light of day.
Border 2
Been in the news for years, Dutta has frequently spoke about making a sequel to his 1997 blockbuster. Originally, LOC Kargil began as Border 2 but Dutta felt it was becoming a commercial campaign to promote a film based on the sacrifices of the soldiers who lost their lives in 1999. In 2013, it was announced in the media that Sunil Shetty and Sunny Deol had been approached for the sequel and the film was definitely on. Jackie Shroff and Akshaye Khanna were rumoured to be approached but later Dutta announced Paltan and made it clear that this will end his war trilogy.
Paltan Starring: Jackie Shroff, Arjun Rampal, Sonu Sood, Harshvardhan Rane, Gurmeet Chadhuary, Sidharth Kapoor, Luv Sinha, Rohit Roy, Esha Gupta, Sonal Chauhan, Deepika Kakkar Director: JP Dutta Music: Anu Malik Release: 7th September 2018
JP Dutta burnt his fingers 12 years ago with his adaption of Mirza Hadi Ruswa’s Umrao Jaan and has been missing from the scene since. The attention came when he announced Paltan, his final instalment to his war trilogy, the preceders being Border (1997) and LOC Kargil (2004). Delighted fans rejoiced on his return in faith of another war epic. Dutta’s career spanning over 4 decades, now brings his feature to new cinema-going generation which have opened arms to patriotic films of recent such as Airlift (2016) Raazi (2018) and Gold (2018). The question is if Dutta has made his film according to the current generation sensibilities.
Exploring the tenacious relation between China – India, the film is based on the 1967 untold story of the Indian Army facing off an intense physiological battle with the intruding Chinese forces at Nathu La pass by the Sikkim Border, leading to the tactics and tricks of the Chinese imposing their power over the India force in to seizing land not rightly belonging to them.
Without doubt, judging from Dutta’s backlog, has been a master storyteller and well-explored researcher who is attentive to the ongoing of the scenario almost as if you were there. As a filmmaker, Dutta has not comprised on the grandeur look brought on the forefront of a largescale, making every frame ‘cinema-worthy’
Sadly, this attempt from Dutta misses the opportunity of arguably being a potential great exposure of an unexplored territory. Dutta has captured the essence of the landscape and the atmosphere of the tensed zone, but as a Hindi feature filmmaker it seems Dutta is still living in era that has gone past its expiry date.
The biggest problem with Paltan is that in a two and half hour film, it only becomes relevant in the final 30-40 minutes. The drama takes too long to build up, the first half has a bland taste with corny dialogues, clumsy flashbacks and awkward quotes that seem to be taken from Instagram memes. Some sequences even becomes unintentionally hilarious such as the army dancing around like bunch of oafs with a red chunni.
The forced and unneeded subplots of the characters backtracks are completely hackneyed attempting building sympathy for the soldier just makes one tempted to check their wrist watch. The relationships of the soldiers seem as unconvincing as Luv Sinha’s dialogues with a tasteless spice of fake Punjabi and tasteless gur.
As the narrative progresses, the dialogues begin to become even more hilarious. In the midst of the drama, during the conflict sequences we hear such dialouges as ‘tumhare neeyat aur geography dono karaab hai’ and ‘hamari maa ki chatti pe tumne kulhari mari hai’. Not only do the dialogues get more cringe-worthy, but the confrontation between both sides seem like a bunch 5 year olds fighting in the school playground mouthing ‘tum beimaan ho’ and ‘kyon kiya aisa’ eventually leading the children to throwing stones at each other, fantastic!
Dutta structures his characters with resentfulness throughout, exaggerated emotions towards the Chinese teleports the audiences back to the 70s. In the past, Dutta has portrayed the enemy, either being Pakistan or in this case the Chinese as an evil and malicious force and not as representatives of the perspective nation. Where the protagonists mouth racist written dialogues in the attempt to provoke cheer in the propagandist script.
The moment of shine for Paltan is the war sequence in the middle of the second half, a moment we begin to have hopes in the build-up of drama. Once the war sequence begins, the excitement levels rise leading to the unpredictability of the execution. The audience become involved in the sequence as the build-up was long awaited and is well executed. The final moments of the film , when Luv Sinha”s character delivers the remains of the soldiers to the families with Sonu Nigam’s Main Zinda Hoon in the background, truly bring a lump to your throat and chills down your spine.
With a large ensemble cast, Dutta is known for milking out individual superior performances in a crowd. In this case, Harshvardhan Rane and Gurmeet Chaudhary are the two who stand the tallest. Rane in his second feature, as well as having a great persona onscreen his character speaks volumes and his tall manly stature showcases his potential for future work. His energy during the action sequences in unmatched and one is reminded of the retro heroes that once ruled on screen. Gurmeet Choudhary drops impact during the conflict sequences, his stance and confidence over the dialogues build his character dominating almost every scene he is in. Regardless of Rane and Chaudhary’s odd bare chested work out in minus 20 degrees rubbing snow over each over, the two do surely bring the house down.
Arjun Rampal as the commanding officer certainly reminds the audience we see little of him nowadays, but the diversity of the actor in recent times shows the growth of him as an actor. His role as the commanding officer brings this big brother feel to the Paltan, which is tackled with complete maturity and sincerity. Sonu Sood comes across as the major quite naturally, the energy he brings to the character makes him look physically attached to the role.
Jackie Shroff looks and seems disinterested throughout and does not have a lot to do. Luv Sinha is extremely poor, one wonders why he was even cast. His dialogue delivery reminds the viewer of such terrible actors we had seen in the 90s, his expression and stance is completely wooden. Siddharth Kapoor doesn’t have a lot to do except for speaking Mandarin. Rohit Roy’s role is confusing as he comes post interval, not a part of most the scenes and then exits very soon.
The cinematography is top notch, capturing the quintessence of the landscape and giving complete justice to the war sequence. Editing could have been worked on, a lot moments could have been shorted or snapped. The DI work is quite mediocre, the colour grading during the film appear too dampened and dark. The Dubbing is completely off, almost looking like a dubbed Japanese film in some scenes.
Overall, Dutta knows how to execute war but struggles to bring together a war film. Dutta’s direction has become quite retro and needs to develop his skills suiting to the contemporary taste. The film exceptionally bores for a majority of the film, the first half doesn’t have anything engaging enough but the second half holds the attention. Dutta had a good idea but bringing it to life in a two and half hour feature fails to hold that grasp. It seems Dutta is following the same template he developed with Border for a war epic commercial feature and the template in being recycled. The film certainly has a Border hangover but can quite happily say the film is more engaging than LOC Kargil. In closing words, a ride that can be taken but surely a forgettable one!
Kismat Talkies 