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A film directed by Nishikant Kamat revolving around a frustrated honest man who takes on to the path of violence against the corrupt people around him is a fine attempt by the makers made a few years back. As their contribution towards forming a better society, the team surely comes up with a film which rightly portrays the sad state of the nation where the powerful keeps exploiting the silent public and no one even cares to raise a voice.
In its powerful screenplay, the central character Madhav Apte (played by Sandeep Kulkarni), after getting depressed by all the wrong things happening around him, starts his own violent campaign against corruption, despite of having a small family at home waiting for him. The film also won several prestigious awards including The NATIONAL AWARD for the BEST MARTHI FILM in 1996 because of its relevant subject, brilliant treatment and great performances.
So, as I finished watching the movie, I was pretty much impressed by the film as well its director for its well balanced take on the questionable society around. But the impression was really ruined over when I came to know about another movie made in 1993 called FALLING DOWN directed by Joel Schumacher in which Michael Douglas plays a similar character revolting against the society around him after getting betrayed from all sides. Both the films also have a sincere Police angle too in which the officials keep following the man and then reach the same conclusion in the end.
Hence once again it was just a good inspired version with us called DOMBIVILI FAST (2005) which went on to win several awards for its well thought of, fabulous content which in fact was all taken from a foreign film FALLING DOWN (1993). No doubt, the Marathi version is a well made film which can even be termed as a Better Inspired take from the Original. But still by only changing a Base-Ball bat with a Cricket one doesn’t give you the freedom to call it your own.
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Once I asked a friend of mine about his choice of career in the coming days. He was the son of a successful hotelier with two big hotels in the city. In answer to my question he replied, “From my heart, I want to do something related to books or publishing but if nothing works out then there is always my father’s business to join in anytime”.
I just remembered his words after the end credits of DESI BOYZ started rolling with the caption - Directed by Rohit Dhawan (son of great entertaining director of his times, David Dhawan). But the reference is not given here in order to show any disrespect for Rohit’s sincere efforts in his first directorial attempt. But the point I wish to make here is that it really seems to be very easy for a Star-Director’s son to make his first hugely weak film with all the big stars, but how extremely difficult it is for a talented young director to get his first such directorial break without any family backing in the industry. And the film itself proves my point since it gives you only one question to think after its over that, What was this?
In simple Indian expression, DESI BOYZ has no “Sir-Pair” (Head or Feet) of any sort and has just got few fairly good song tracks to offer in the name of entertainment bought for your 200 bucks. So instead of writing more about the film, I would just like to give its few glimpses here which might be useful for you to take your own decision.
Written around the plot of two unemployed friends (Akshay & John), DESI BOYZ is a pretty bad attempt to make an enjoyable BHELPURI by putting so many elements into it which in-turn results in an utterly distasteful dish. It starts from talking about Recession and Unemployment leading to the profession of GIGOLO adopted by the two heroes (taking its references from “Deuce Bigalow : Male Gigolo” (1999) and “The Full Monty” released in 1997). The concept of GIGOLO is only added to bring in some extra, controversial pull in the project as it is neither shown nor exploited properly in the film. In fact using the sex-plot in such a shying way is just like wishing to take a bath in the swimming pool without taking off your clothes.
In addition, as a typical Bollywood film, an innocent kid and his judicial custody angle is thrown in, just to fulfill the emotional requirement of a Hindi Film which doesn’t work at all. Another veteran senior (Sanjay Dutt) comes in a special appearance as the owner of that GIGOLO firm, degrading himself and his good image. A beautiful girl (Deepika) is right there like a sweet-item on the dinner table since you cannot make a Bollywood film without them. The girl even has a funny father (Anupam Kher) who fulfills the post of a supporting comedy artist with his reputed name. Further some silly jokes and hardly hilarious sequences are forcibly stuffed in its script to complete its first half which regrettably makes you take a look at your watch/phone at least 10 times.
Post intermission DESI BOYZ goes worst from bad with many bizarre kind of inclusions like Akshay taking admission to a College in his over-age. To give him company he even has a lady professor (Chitrangdha) who luckily was his own classmate in the good old college days. So here comes another beautiful lady to entertain you with her great looks, good for nothing. On the other side of this college romance, John is busy pleasing his girl by taking a shelter in front of her house with the help of her funny father. And frankly you can easily fast forward or edit out this unwanted part of the movie as it has nothing to contribute or entertain in any manner whatsoever.
To end it on an emotional note, a more weird kind of Courtroom scene is staged for the child’s custody, wherein Sanjay Dutt enters as if its his own playground, gives a speech and then returns at his own will, while the honorable judge keeps waiting for him to come and go just like that. And then all the viewers are left to decide on their own that whether they want to leave the theater or see if any refund is available from the manager.
In the acting department, instead of commenting upon their performance I would humbly like to ask a few questions from the cast as given below : Akshay Kumar - Do you ever read the script of your movies and see the rushes midway to have an idea of what is being made around your reputed name for the countless fans? And Do you understand that we all are simply waiting for a BIG HIT coming from you from so long?
John Abraham - Why did you do this film or Was your role edited out at a later stage? Because frankly you are simply doing nothing in the film as per your current status or fame.
Deepika & Chitrangdha - The choice of project really doesn’t match the off-screen intelligence and persona of both the ladies as they are not given much to do in the script apart from wearing some cool outfits. I had no great expectations from Deepika but ‘Why you opted for this, Chitrangdha?’, when you only had to enter post interval just to add some more glamour in the film or Was this also a shock for you after its release (The way they treated you in it)?
Anupam Kher & Sanjay Dutt – We would love to see you in some respectable and well written roles please!
Omi Vaidya – Avoid repeating the Chatur accent in every film as it will be great to see some new variation coming from you.
Direction wise, it evidently looks like a first attempt, but I would still like to congratulate Rohit for his hard work and efforts. However there is lot to learn and achieve for the young entrant and luckily he has got one of the best teachers in his own house as his father, David Dhawan.
In all, Who proves to be the Real DESI BOY here in the film?
Its undoubtedly, PRITAM, the music director who at least gives us something to enjoy in this otherwise sheer waste of time. And the Soundtrack surely can be rated much better than the whole film itself.
So, is it watchable?
Yes, you can watch DESI BOYZ, in case there is a delay in your train or flight and the bookstore at the station has left with only Biscuits to sell in the shop.
Rating : 1.5 / 5 (including 1 only for its enjoyable Soundtrack)
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After many requests to comment upon this latest Punjabi film, I finally got to see it and here I am writing my first review of a Regional (Punjabi) film DHARTI, made with a decent budget and a better vision. Now though the film was not able to make any kind of great impact on me, but still I would like to start with all the merits associated with the film, particularly for all the friends who want to listen only good things about the movie.
The best thing about DHARTI is that it has been made with a completely different mind-set moving away from the usual fixed norms of a Punjabi film. And for this Jimmy Shergil has to be the mastermind, since he comes from a Bollywood background and is also one of the producers of the film, quite thoughtfully. Further looking at the current scenario, I strongly feel Jimmy is the only person who can be instrumental in giving a new direction to the Punjabi Film Industry by starting more such products in the near future with the help of his Mumbai experience and team.
So, very thankfully the film is not even close to anything routine and is a hardcore political thriller, which sticks to its subject throughout and doesn’t allow any useless romantic angles or comedy sequences to come in uninvited. The director and the production designer get full support of their producers having a good budget for them which shows on the screen and leaves an impression. As a rare event, the actors rise above their assigned roles and perform exceptionally well, even when the writers do not give them a solid backing. Lead by Jimmy Shergill and Rahul Dev, the film majorly becomes enjoyable due to their most believable and outstanding polished acts. However I would like to rate Rahul Dev’s performance better than even Jimmy Shergill, due to his remarkable dialogue delivery and the laid back amusing style chosen to enact his role. Prem Chopra as the veteran delivers another great Punjabi act after his “Rocket Singh – The Salesman of the Year”. Binnu Dhillon makes his presence felt but only towards the climax. Ranvijay, the famous Roadies Anchor, looks sharp and charming in his limited scenes. Surveen Chawla softly provides the required glamour touch to the movie as required and Japji Khera fills the second heroine place quietly. So from performances point of view, the director Navaniat Singh surely deserves his praises for extracting the best from almost everyone in the cast, which is not an easy task, especially in a regional film.
But that’s all, as far as merits are concerned and unfortunately I have more flaws to mention about the movie which many may not be willing to read or accept in reality.
1. First of all, I couldn’t understand what the title of the movie meant in context of its storyline. The film has neither got any scene or feeling of patriotism shown anywhere, nor does it talk about the farmers or productivity of the region in any sequence as suggested by the title, DHARTI. So the title misguides the viewer completely.
2. Secondly, in the promos we get to see Jimmy as an Air Force Officer and many shots of him flying in a fighter plane suggesting the theme to be related with war, our country’s pride or similar subjects. But very surprisingly AIR FORCE has nothing to do with the actual concept of the film and it has been added only to have some extra grandeur in the final product and nothing else. So all the viewers who are expecting something great to see, written around a War or Patriotism are sure going to be disappointed.
3. Coming to the main storyline of the film, truly speaking it’s the Hit Hindi Film RAJNEETI made in Punjabi minus the illegitimate sons, brutal murders and sensuous scenes. The writers religiously follow the Prakash Jha film giving it a different ending with a suspense element roped in which fails to impress. So if you have seen RAJNEETI, then this has nothing fresh in store for you as far as its subject or plot is concerned. However, if only DHARTI had released before RAJNEETI, (which I seriously doubt), it surely would have become the talk of the town within days of its hitting the screen on a national scale. But for now it can be called nothing more than a good copy.
4. While watching the movie, I seriously wanted to ask the director many straight forward questions which would have given him a real tough time. For instance, how can a respected, responsible Ace Air Force Officer go on the roads like drunk and sing “Gaddi Modhange, Signal Todhange”? That was quite ridiculous watching on the screen being done by an Air Force Officer along with a young college going boy. Next, if a person gets hit by a truck coming at a great speed, gets thrown into the air with full force and then falls down on the road almost dead……..then how can his turban still stick on his head right till the sequence when he is being taken to the Operation theater in the hospital. Come on, I know it’s a Punjabi film and we are dealing with all Sikh characters here, but at the same time we got to be realistic while shooting such scenes too.
5. Apart from the above, DHARTI has one of the most ridiculous, questionable, bizarre and absurd climaxes ever seen, where a Car hits a truck in its back, loaded with long iron rods which get pierced into the car’s front glass hitting both its driver and his companion. Now in the next scene we are shown that the person sitting on the side seat is having 8 to 10 iron rods gone through his whole body, but at the same time the driver has escaped the rods miraculously, may be because he was the hero as well as the producer of the film in reality. And then the film ends silently with the hero coming on the screen without any major wounds. With this climax, DHARTI gives you a feeling of a film made in 1970s or 80s when the people used to get thrilled watching the hero escaping all bullets and wounds by the grace of GOD. But luckily its 2011 now and the viewers have grown up watching loads of International Stuff regularly on their TV sets.
5. Further all the songs featuring in the film are deliberately inserted and have no melody or lyrical value in them of any sort. And I was really shocked to see that the most likable song, which was all written, performed and arranged perfectly by its makers, was used along with the closing titles of the film in a very silly way. In fact, this very song “Sarkaran” could have been easily used repeatedly in the background throughout the movie. The track undoubtedly would have given new meaning and energy to all those political rallies scenes shown in the film and would have added a solid punch to them, as I can visualise.
6. Talking about the creative look of the movie, I really felt that the way “Dharti” was written in its posters and promotional campaigns could have been much better. Along with that I would also like to mention that the promos and (misguiding) posters of this movie were very loosely made which actually demanded to be designed and conceived with more power and impact telling about the real picture in store for the viewers. But here I also sense as if the producers themselves did not want to reveal their actual movie in the promos as they knew that it was a copy of the already Hit “RAJNEETI”. So they very tactfully made all its promos and posters more around the AIR FORCE stuff and other things, which were not even there in the film in reality. So in short they tried to fool the viewers by presenting many different kind of promos giving it a patriotic feel as suggested by its title DHARTI.
7. Lastly the biggest flaw of the film is related with the casting of Ranvijay Singh in the movie in a very underwritten and unimportant role. Roping Ranvijay in a Punjabi film in the role of a College Students Union leader was a real ace in the hands of the director. But I really felt sorry both for the makers as well as for the actor when I saw the kind of treatment given to Ranvijay Singh in a side role having no importance at all in the script. That really made me doubt the intentions of the makers regarding Ranvijay’s appearance in the film. Now, what I feel is that either his role was cut to make any other person look stronger on the screen or he had some problems with the makers which resulted in his fewer scenes in the movie in the end. Whatever may be the case, it is a loss both for the producers and the viewers to see Ranvijay Singh missing the action on the screen in such a wasteful way.
Summing up, I can only say that DHARTI is undoubtedly a brave and much needed, out of the routine attempt made in the PUNJABI FILM INDUSTRY. But I seriously wish it had an original script of its own and was not a copy of RAJNEETI. The film has too many flaws in it to be called as something exceptional. But still it’s a welcome change in Punjab, making way for something more fresh, innovative and original to be made in the near future.
Ratings : 2.5 / 5
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The first movie coming from the Yash Chopra's own production banner, “Daag” was a big musical hit of the year 1973. Though the film was at first released with lesser number of prints due to its dicey subject, but within few days of its release, positive reports started coming in and more prints had to be arranged for all the theaters.
With a brilliant musical score from the team of Yash Chopra, Laxmikant Pyarelal and Sahri Ludhianavi, the film is still remembered for its unusual subject and melodious songs such as, “Ni Main Yaar Manana Ni”, “Ab Chahe Maa Roothe Ya”, “Mere Dil Mein Aaj Kya Hai” and many more.
But very few know that the Hit film was actually based on a novel by British author Thomas Hardy published in 1886 titled“The Mayor of Casterbridge”which was also made into a British film made with the same title in 1921. Later it was also adapted for TV in 1978 and 2003, plus the same subject became the backdrop of a film titled“The Claim”released in the year 2000 too.
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Daag (1973) and The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Inspired Movies, Films made on Novels and Literature, Copied Films, Yash Chopra Directed Films, Inspired Movies, Inspired Cinema, Bollywood Plagiarism, Plagiarism in Hindi Cinema, Copied Movies, Movies Inspired From, Movie is Inspired By, Borrowed Concepts, Inspired Plots, Bollywood & Hollywood, Reviews by Bobby Sing, Bollywood Gets Inspired, Cinema Gets Inspired, Bollywood & World Cinema, Inspiration from World Cinema, Bollywood Movie Inspirations
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