Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag

Bad but not intolerable !

I wanted to watch this film just to see how bad it was. Every single comment I heard about it was oscillating from Bad to Worse. That made me wonder – I have seen the best he can be when he is good, why not see how good he is when he is bad.

So I watched it and in the initial 10 minutes I thought I might end up writing a positive review. But the euphoria didn’t last beyond that.

What I didn’t like:

1. The story, screenplay and the script. The biggest culprit of all. I had read the sequel the Sippy family was planning. Ramu’s version was definitely much better than the fiasco they were planning. Yet the story failed his vision. The insignificant tweakings made a significant damage to the script. Sachin’s character was an unwanted twist and should have been avoided.
2. Nisha Kothari as Gungroo was a misfit for the role. I would believe she was selected because no one else was ready to play the role. She was a total turn-off.
3. Prashant Raj as Raj was another mistake. Though he put in a decent effort as compared to Nisha, his inexperience worked against him. He wasn’t convincing enough.
4. Ajay Devgan as Heero was reduced to playing Prashant’s sidekick. This was another big mistake. In the original Sholay, there was a balance between the two protagonists. But this movie seemed to be biased towards Prashant. There was no meat in Heero’s character.
5. And the worst casting mistake was having Amitabh Bachchan as Babban. He is clearly not cut out to do “baddie” roles played by Amjad Khan and Pran. When the original Sholay script was written, the writer was focused on sketching out a villain, audience would love to hate. The characterization was so good that even today when someone mentions Sholay it is Gabbar who is remembered more often than Jai and Veeru. In Raamu’s Sholay, it was pre-decided that Amitabh would play the role. Amitabh’s legendary status impaired the creative imaginations of the writers, who ended up writing a role that would please the legend. As a result, Babban turned out to be a character, whom you would love to ignore.

What I did like:

1. Suchitra Krishnamurthy! In whatever small role she got, she charmed me. She was so impressed that I started wondering why she is not actively pursuing the acting career. At least I would love to see more of her.
2. Besides her, Sushmita’s character was well sketched out. Whatever small changes made to her role seemed good.
3. Mohanlal’s intense portrayal of an ill-defined character. This guy has the ability to make a mark even if he is given just a minute-long role in the film. Whether it is his weird dancing style or uncanny giggle, he keeps your eyeballs glued to the screen.

So, given that the script and the characters failed to do their job, the onus was on the direction to hold the fort and save the film from its destined disaster. And need I say there was no flaw on that front. Raamu’s signature style was clearly visible throughout the film. There were certain areas where he toyed with the script and failed miserably and then there were these few fine pieces of excellences that only he can offer.

If this is his worst movie, then I would be still glad about it, for I kinda liked his worst performance too.