.......................................................................................Film Review

 What happened Mr Roshan ?  

If you think Koyla is the worst film that Rakesh Roshan has made, you have another think coming. Karobaar, credited to Rakesh Roshan makes Koyla look like a piece of art.

In fact, though Karobaar may be the latest release, the film itself is quite stale. It was in the making for some time, almost

canned, and now seems to have been resurected on account of the success of Kaho Na... Pyaar Hai. Considering the poor response from the audience, the strategy does not seem to have worked.

Karobaar, the Business of Love, is based on the Hollywood movie Indecent Proposal. The film begins with Amar (Rishi Kapoor), a drunken, unkempt public prosecuter being given charge of the case of the son of media tycoon Rajiv Sinha (Anil Kapoor), who has been caught with a consignment of drugs. The film then flashes back to the time when Amar is a poor student of law in love with Seema (Juhi Chawla) and friends with Rajiv. Rajiv, proud of his wealth, is used to wielding it to get what he wants. He meets Seema and is obsessed with her. He spends big in order to woo her , but when spurned, offers to pay her Rs. 5 lakhs for one night. She refuses, and marries Amar. Rajiv however continues to hound the couple. Seema is steadfast in her refusal of the offer, till Amar meets with an accident and the hospital bill for the operation is estimated to be Rs 5 lakhs...

The performances in the film are uniformly unconvincing. It is sad to note that age has finally caught up with Rishi Kapoor - he falters, for the first time perhaps, as the young romantic. Primarily because he does not look the student that he supposed to be. He is more believable as the drunken wreck of a prosecutor who is wasting himself away. Juhi Chawla, inspite of having played the object of obsession so many times (Darr, Daraar), is uninspiring. Anil Kapoor as the super rich tycoon delivers a somewhat convincing performance (especially if you consider that he is playing Robert Redford).

There are some boldly picturised songs in a swim suit and saree clad Juhi Chawla. Rajesh Roshan's music has one hummable number. The dialogues by Sagar Sarhadi has gems like "jab qayamat aati hai tab tasveer ban ke aati hain!"

There is also the very young Rishi Kapoor, a computer generated image. The effects are from the neanderthal age and seem to have been generated from a still photograph. It blinks!

Karobaar stands out as film where a lot of talented people have come together only to make a less than mediocore film. If you disregard this review and do catch the movie, you will realise why the film found it so damn difficult to see the light of the day.

Tushar Uchil

Colossal  

Remember films like Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, Cleopatra ? Lavishly mounted costume pieces with casts of thousands, violence, spectacle, charismatic actors, stunning effects and heightened drama - all the ingredients that a film would require to be a success. And just when you thought that the genre is over and done with, comes Gladiator, a well made variation of the theme.

It is an expansively visualised film of almost epic proportions. There are well orchestrated battles with fierce barbarians, prize fighters slugging it out in the ring, emporers with noble ideals, diabolical plotting by lesser pretenders, the fall from great heights, and the final battle in the Colosseum. But the film also offers much more than the rather one-dimensional films that it is obviously influenced by. There are elements in the narrative, charecterisation and visualisation that are out of the ordinary, that go into making Gladiator one of the more complete films in recent times.

The film, directed by Ridley Scott is based in the time Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) was Ceasar of Rome. He is leading his last campaign against the barbaric Goths in the north. His general Maximus (Russel Crowe) wins him the battle and ensures peace throughout the empire. The dying Aurelius decides that Maximus, and not his son Commodus (Joaquim Phoenix) is his worthy successor and entrusts the reluctant Maximus the task of giving the reigns of power back to the Senate of Rome. The ambitious Commodus finds that he has lost his father's favour as well as his sister, Lucilla's (Connie Nielson) love to Maximus. He kills his father and arranges for the execution of Maximus and his family. Maximus manages to escape but is unable to save his wife and son. He is forced into slavery as a gladiator. His success as a gladiator gets him back into Rome, to the Colosseum, where he plans his revenge and the salvation of Rome.

Russel Crowe, surprisingly cast as Maximus especially if you have seen him in The Insider, is as good as one expects him to be. The more challenging role is that of Commodus, the jealous son and brother, driven by ambition, insecure and unable to accept rejection from his father and sister, a sister who he is in love with and wants to possess. Joaquim Phoenix looks the role, debauch, every inch a hedon. His performance is good, though patchy, brilliant in parts, not so brilliant in others. The rest of the cast like Richard Harris and Connie Nielson come good.

Gladiator is unapologetically violent. And, one thinks, rightly so as the story and the entire feel of the movie demand graphic depiction of violence. There are some gripping action sequences. The incestuous sexual tension between Commodus and Lucilla is well brought out. The sets are spectacular though some are more convincing than the others. The attempts at surrealism sometimes works, sometimes are just so much special effects with cliched imagery.

Easily one of the best films running in the city. Catch it.

Tushar Uchil

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