The problem with Madhur Bhandarkar films is that they operate on some basic modes and refuse to look beyond. Bhandarkar has been rehashing the same plot and beating it to death. Even his characters are almost the same and so it he narrative; identification with the underdog in the first few reels of the film and after that it’s the same journey laced with realizations that the world isn’t a pretty place. For some reason these half-baked tales of the proverbial underdog in a cruel world really seems to work with people. These would be the only films in the world where the mere setting is enough for people to lap up. Otherwise how does one explain that Bhandarkar’s mediocrity in the name of Traffic Signal, Corporate and Page 3 has won him the National Award in some category or the other?
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Mission Istanbul is about a super TV journo who takes up a job with an Al Jazeera like sounding (Al Johara) news channel in Istanbul only to learn that the channel and its head are funding international terrorists including Abu Nazir, the worlds most dreaded terror monger. This journalist, Vikas, is going through a divorce but can’t get over his wife. Vikas learns of the nefarious doings of the news channel through a shady looking Turkish commando, Rizwan. When Owais, VIkas’ colleague, dies on the job Rizwan tells him that the channel bumps off anyone who wants to leave the job. Rizwan informs VIkas that the reason no one is allowed on the channel’s 13th floor because that is where the terror network operates from. So much so that this is where they make new Abu Nazir tapes and telecast them on their channel when in reality Rizwan killed Nazir in an attack. Things go through the usual motion and in the end Vikas and Rizwan kill everyone connected with Al Johara.
The film is so bad that one would never run of things to cry about. At a script level there is nothing gray in Apoorva Lakhia’s world, either you are good or you are bad. The treatment is so amateurish that your home videos would have more coherence. The script speaks volumes about the people behind it. No research is done and even a student film would try and infuse a little more authenticity in the proceedings. Picture this- a woman reveals her identity and says that she is, ‘RAW…Research and Analysis Wing, Indian Army’. Wow! Or for that matter when Vikas, now a wanted criminal, presents his case to the Indian Ambassador and she suggests that he turn himself in as he is in a foreign country. This conversation takes place inside the Indian Embassy and the guy is telling the Ambassador that the he possesses a data disc on the most wanted terrorist outfit in the world. For a country like Turkey which depends largely on tourism, the local police watches as a bunch of loony Indians run amok!
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Paul Schrader’s two lectures at Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival were clubbed with the screening of two of most well known works. For many of us who had not seen Mishima this was a golden opportunity thanks to the mint fresh print. Schrader was quite excited as he had done some work on the soundtrack as well as added a scene that he had previously edited out for the upcoming Criterion DVD release of the film. The film is a very interesting study of a writer driven by suicidal tendencies. During a Q&A that followed the film Schrader confessed that he wanted to follow up Taxi Driver with a film about a middle-aged man who was fueled by a passion to take his life. He had, in fact, written a film on Hank Williams but couldn’t get around getting it made. He chanced upon Mishima through his brother who was based in Japan at that time. Mishima is a very well crafted character study of the iconic Japanese writer who had more than a handful of demons to tackle. The film is split up into three parts- the last day of Mishima’s life wherein he and his private army overtake an Army garrison in order to inspire the soldiers to take stock of things and bring back the great Japanese past; Mishima’s life story as well as dramatization of his three famous novels. All these plots are inter-cut and work towards a rich climax.
The lecture that followed Mishima was about the New Media and The Death of Cinema. He joked about how the organizers very nattily omitted mentioning the Death of Cinema part on the program! The lecture was supposed to be an insight on the new emerging media trends where in anyone could make a film. I gathered that perhaps Schrader had just used the new technology to color correct a few scenes for Mishima’s DVD release and he might have been mega-impressed with the whole deal. The lecture turned out to be an anti-climax. By the end of it I realized that Schrader was only to pissed off at the big players losing millions of bucks thanks to new media aka piracy. He was impressed by the reach of the Internet but rather than talking how someone like him could adapt this new technology, ended up sounding rather morose at the prospect of people downloading movies and not paying for them. It was a bit of a let down because one expected an old hand like Paul Schrader to talk more about the threat that new media poses to creativity rather than the business angle of it. Isn’t Schrader worried about the fact that now directors could add ‘emotions’ like a tear on a character’s face in post-production (Blood Diamond) or use dead people’s unfinished work (John Lenon and the goodies hidden in his closet) by making computers do the needful and bring them back to life. Or the thing done in Beowulf where muscles were added in post on the main character! Mr. Schrader sounded like a big studio emissary who came to the East to show how worried they were about the threat of a free uncontrolled Internet.
The other lecture was on screenwriting and it was much better. A few minutes into this one I was convinced that the first lecture wasn’t half as interesting because it was delivered by someone who didn’t really understand the subject. In stark contrast if there was someone who knew a thing or two about screenwriting then it would sure as hell be Paul Schrader. The Master Class was a quick run through of what Mr. Schrader teaches at UCLA. It gave a rare insight into the mind and the style of a screenwriter whose credits are nothing short of case studies. Schrader had some very interesting take on writing for screen and one wonders why the hell did he have to deliver the first lecture? he made no qualms about making writing a very personal journey, nothing short of therapy. he came across as a someone who knew his contribution to the world of cinema but didn’t make too much of a deal about it. When asked how different would Taxi Driver be had he directed it? He replied that he was glad he never directed it for he would have made a mess of it. He revealed that his script was tampered around with too much save a few omissions here and there, and was happy when Martin Scorsese decided to cut some bits about Travis talking about loneliness. He said that this convinced him that the metaphor he came up with for loneliness, a big yellow metallic box of a taxicab, worked for the film.
Schrader talked briefly about his new script- a meeting between a CIA agent, who has lost faith in his work and is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and his former interrogator, who, surprise surprise, had lost his will to carry on as a terrorist! He calls this his old man film and is looking forward to starting work on it soon.
The Happening would always be something of a challenge for M. Night Shyamalan. Had he made this film immediately after The Sixth Sense everything would have been different. Post The Sixth Sense, every film of Shyamalan has revealed the chinks in the director’s armor. From being someone who couldn’t make any mistakes and was touted to be the next Spielberg, Shyamalan’s successive films have each shown with increasing efficiency how Shyamalan could goof it up. There was hardly any buzz about The Happening while it was being made and even the pre-release publicity was low-key. Perhaps the director wanted to quietly return to the party he prematurely took off from.
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A few weeks ago the Indian government surprised many by conferring the Padma Shri on M. Night Shyamalan. The Padma awards are one of the highest honors that India bestows upon people for exceptional work done in their fields. While M. Night might be one of the most talked about filmmakers in the recent past, the award definitely shocked many including himself. For starters the Philly based filmmaker had no idea what the hell the Padma Shri meant! It was only after family and friends explained the nature of the honor that Night smiled.
The press went crazy while Shyamalan was in India to receive the award from the President of India. Every newspaper and news channel had him talking about his surprise endings, his forthcoming film and what have you. Shyamalan went to town on how this trip meant a lot to him- his first Padma Award, his visit to India and the both coinciding with the release of his first Indian co-production. Shyamalan came across as someone who wasn’t match-fit for the interaction with the media. Of course, the local press wanted to hear his views on Indian films (he doesn’t watch them), Indian superstars (he had no clue), if he would ever work with Shah Rukh Khan (he couldn’t remember Khan’s name three interviews later) but Shyamalan didn’t say anything that a seven year old wouldn’t. Here lies the dichotomy. Night doesn’t court Hollywood and stays out of the spotlight, his wife apparently knows everything what’s happening in the Mumbai film industry and yet Night claimed that he had no idea about Amitabh Bachchan. Which is strange for he came across as a regular ‘desi’ guy when he spoke of his life and the close-knit ‘Indian’ family that he has.
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