|
|
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: *** 1/2
Folklore has it that wherever the Big B stands, the queue begins. It`s time to
queue up for a film that reads like a running commentary on the Bachchan legend.
Blessed are the generations that get to see India`s most iconic and enduring
screen-hero play a variation on all his most cherished roles.
And then some more. To the angry Vijay persona that the Big B created through
those brilliantly-written films of Salim-Javed in the 1970 and 80s, the actor
still sprightly enough to make all the bachcha-log of Bollywood look like
performing midgets, adds dollops of wry cynicism that goes well with our times.
Make no mistake Telugu cinema`s most successful director Puri Jagannath is not
just a Bachchan fan. He`s also a master storyteller. To the mix `n` match tale
of an Angry Young Man`s journey into his advancing years of unrelenting
lividness and self-mockery, Puri brings a crackling contemporary commitment to
telling a story that has no room for humbug…only space for hectic hijinks.
Written with supersonic dexterity, the screenplay races through numbered days in
the life of a Paris-returned gangster who is called back to Mumbai by a gangster
with a serious concentration problem (Prakash Raj) to finish off a particularly
troublesome cop(Sonu Sood).
It`s a skilfully written yarn that doesn`t stray into the yawn zone for even a
second. Every character, even the relatively minor ones like the Bachchan`s
landlady who keeps jabbering to an unseen husband in Dubai, adds a sheen of zing
to the shindig. Though the narration seems to leap before it looks, the director
actually manages to create a controlled atmosphere of plot development within
the chaos of Mumbai`s streets clogged with scampering gangsters, cops and their
minions.
Jagannath Puri displays a fabulous flair for the funny and the ferocious. The
comic scenes contour the mega-star`s proclivity to laugh at himself and the
self-important world around him comprising gangsters, collegians, cops and other
on-the-move urbanites. Vishal-Shekhar`s austerely-used music creates evolved
rhythms for the Bachchan persona. You can`t miss the insistent beat.
As for the action, the camera (Amol Rathod) moves to the rhythm of the Big B`s
super-controlled body language creating for the assorted villains a kind of
disembodied dynamism that we see in a far cruder avatar in the South, in the
cinema of Rajnikanth.
Here, it is the Big B at work. And boy, that does mean something, doesn`t it!
The iconic super-hero maneouvres through his tailormade role with a devastating
dexterity, creating a celluloid combustion that leaves a trail of smoking guns,
screaming tyres and satiated expectations that audiences felt and experienced in
the heydays of the Bachchan Raj.
The reign never ends…thank God for small mercies! Buddah…Hoga Tera
Baap offers a pleasurable romp into the star-power of the Big B. The
rapport that his character builds up through some lovely actresses of several
generations (Hema Malini, Raveena Tandon, Sonal Chauhan, Charmee) is so bloody
robust and funny, you are left wondering how much of the sly subtle foxy
flirtatiousness comes from the star and how much of it was there in the
screenplay.
Undoubtedly well-written and directed with sure-handedness that cannot hide Puri
Jagannath`s boundless admiration for the Bachchan phenomenon, Bbuddah…Hoga
Tera Baap is one of those garam-masala products that`s far clever than the
outward flamboyance of the main character and execution suggest.
Cut through the blizzard of bravura that the Big B projects so insouciantly and
at heart this is an emotional father-son story. See how cleverly the director
moves from a kind of italicized derringdo to a clamped emotional finale…. See
how skilfully the other actors support the Big B`s towering presence. Prakash
Raj as the arch-villain brings a sense of madness to the proceedings while
Makarand Deshpande as a quiet gangster is a glorious foil to the Big B`s
repartees and rejoinders. Sonu Sood as the cop who keeps running into the
old-young super-hero manages to hold his own in front of the Big B. And Raveena
as the Big B`s besotted bombshell beloved from the past has herself a blast.
So do we. Right to the last frenetic shootout, we are with the director laughing
cheering and saluting the star-power of this super-phenomenon named Amitabh
Bachchan.
And when the Big B does a medley of all his old songs it`s time to forget that
the Bbuddah has just become a grand-baap all over again. Just get up and dance
to the rhythm of the Big B`s star power. Don`t waste time watching the smut.
Bbuddah…Hoga Tera Baap is the past present and future of
mainstream entertainment.
Raveena Tandon who is making a comeback to item songs with her number "Main Chandigarh di star" in "Bbuddah ... Hoga Terra Baap",Read More
Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap marks the comeback of the Amitabh Bachchan…and he is angry! He plays a retired hitman settled in Paris, who comes back to India to do ‘one last job’.
BigB exudes the style and attitude of a flamboyant man, young at heart.
The film is a fast paced action thriller which showcases him in a never seen before stylized avatar with action and masala of a true Bollywood film with the “Original Action Hero”!