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Tuesday, April 23, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD ZANJEER
EDITOR'S PICK
`Zanjeer`
- at last, a Big B remake that gets it right
Rating: 4/5
Let`s not get carried away. Every time a remake comes along, we get gooey-eyed
and nostalgic about the original. The "Zanjeer" remake gets it right.
Dead right.
Unlike Ram Gopal Varma's remake of "Sholay", which was purely
misguided, and Karan Malhotra's "Agneepath", which was unnecessarily
brutal, "Zanjeer" is just what a remake should be. It's respectful to
the original material which, let me hasten to add, was no masterpiece, and
suspiciously similar to a 1967 film called "Death Rides A Horse".
In fact, a similar film "Yaadon Ki Baraat", written by Salim-Javed and
released during the same year 1973 as "Zanjeer", was far superior.
Providentially, Lakhia's "Zanjeer" is neither slavishly reverent to
the original material nor does it take off into weird wild and wacky tangents --
like the Rohit Shetty's recent remake of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's "Golmaal".
Rather, the new "Zanjeer" opens up the original plot, weeds out the
humbug and preserves the core of the revenge saga of an angry cop whose ire
grows progressively higher as the plot moves through a series of cleverly
conceived conflicts that accentuate his alienation from his khaki-coloured line
of duty.
No one can do to the sullen cop's role what Mr. Bachchan did. But yes, even in
his new avatar, Inspector Vijay Khanna seethes, simmers and boils over with an
indignant rage. Everything about the festering rotten 'system' makes him annoyed
and churlish.
Since "Zanjeer", and its more serious-toned country-cousin "Ardh
Satya", numerous cops have vented their cinematic spleen in films as
far-ranging in quality as "Singham" and "Policegiri".
What makes Vijay Khanna in the new "Zanjeer" special is the
plot-mechanics which put him in time-worn situations, but subject him to
dramatic dynamics that give the prototypical Angry Cop a renewed riveting life
of violent score-settling.
That this time the Angry Cop, who was played with such compelling candidness by
Amitabh Bachchan in the original "Zanjeer", is played by Ram Charan
Teja is just a huge stroke of luck for the remake. Ram Charan brings in an
entirely unique brand of silent satyagraha to his character. When we first see
him on screen, he wallops a goonda-politician on a busy road of Hyderabad as a
hoarding of Ram Charan's father Chiranjeevi's film looks down on the chaotic
scene.
A version of "Raghupati raghav..." plays in the background as Ram
Charan lets us know without wasting time, that he means business.
The pace from that hard-hitting moment is relentless. The momentum never
slackens even when Vijay Khanna gets down to expressing tender thoughts for the
fast-talking befuddled and disoriented NRI girl Mala. Playing Mala, Priyanka
Chopra seems to have a whole lot of infectious fun. She spells joie de vivre and
looks gorgeous. Priyanka is the comic relief in this fast-paced actioner where
fists and the background point out an ominous warning.
Lakhia paces the proceedings as a rush-hour traffic of bustling events. No one
has the luxury to stop and think as the narration gathers up a storm of pulpy
conflicts building up to an exceptionally staged climax filmed amidst the
volatile proceedings of a crowded Moharram event.
From the Ganpati Viasarjan to the Moharram, Lakhia's interpretation of "Zanjeer"
traverses a mammoth canvas of rapid-fire images. Gururaj Jois's camera moves
dexterously, but never to divert our attention from the central conflict. And
Chintan Gandhi's dialogues use one-liners judiciously, never over-doing the
smart-alec retorts.
The film's action, by Javed-Ejaz, feels and looks right. The attention paid to
getting the action sequences right is highly commendable. There is an
elaborately staged multiple-explosion sequence in a huge Dharavi-like slum which
belongs to a Vin Diesel-starrer.
Sanjay Dutt steps splendidly into Pran's part. His sequences, though limited by
the actor's physical unavailability, show the sensitive side to his aggressive
personality. The bonding between Ram Charan and Dutt comes across as effectively
as the one between Ram Charan and Priyanka and Prakash Raj and Mahie Gill.
And the momentum never slackens.
Fast-paced, and forever furious, "Zanjeer" also finds space to be
excruciatingly funny. In fact, the whole villain-vamp equation between Teja (Prakash
Raj) and Mona Darling (Mahie Gill) is here subverted to a kind of comic coitus
interruptus where Prakash Raj repeatedly keeps talking about sex without getting
down to it while 'Mona' Mahie Gill purrs and moans and pouts -- not out of
passion but for just the opposite reasons.
The most tongue-in-cheek homage I've seen in a remake occurs in this film when
we see the new Teja-Mona pair watching actor Ajit and Bindu in the original
"Zanjeer" on a DVD. The sequence is irreverent without appearing to
belittle the original. It reminds us of the renewed cycle of art and individual
talent.
Throughout the film, we sense the director's immense affection for the original
"Zanjeer", a reverence that never clouds his judgement.
This is one remake that stands tall and lithe. It is manned by a manful supply
of action and yet manages to keep the machismo understated. Breakneck-paced,
adrenaline-pumping, pulse-pounding -- Lakhia's deconstructed version of the
Prakash Mehra film is a full-on pacy paisa-vasool entertainer with brio and
balls.
Ram Charan Teja makes an impressive Bollywood debut. We can safely say he is the
man among the boys.
Go for it!
Vijay is a brutally honest police officer who has been transferred yet
again by the system for chasing the corrupt underworld goons. He is in
charge of a case where the key eye witness [Ria] has seen a murder by [Teja]’s
Gang and refuses to co-operate. Teja is the head of a Oil Mafia
operation and doesn’t want Ria alive. Vijay manages to convince Ria to
give a statement which makes her perpetrators come after her.
He gives her shelter in his house to protect here and soon realizes that
she is slowly becoming an important part of his life. He also encounters
[Sher Khan] who is into buying and selling of illegal cars. Seeing
Vijay’s honesty and determination, Sher Khan turns over a new leaf and
mends his ways to transform into a person who now only goes by the book.
He has made Vijay a friend for life and will do anything to help him
out.
Vijay on the other hand is also battling his inner demons where he is
searching for his parents killers. He witnessed their cold blooded
murder as a child and the nightmares continue to haunt him till date...
The film revolves around Vijay’s struggle against the system, his
battle against his inner demons and the his chase after Teja.
Promotion of movie Zanjeer Stills
Ram Charan and Priyanka promote their film Zanjeer Stills