Chennai Express

The only time I have ever walked out of a film was 5 minutes into a Hindi film in Southall when I realised there were no subtitles. Luckily my Hindi speaking companion was sympathetic. Even now I am rather tense watching the first moments of a Hindi film until the subtitles appear on the screen. I bring this up because had Sue suggested we leave at the interval I would have been out of my seat like a shot. I think we stayed partially because we were already there and, for me, to see if the second half could be worse than the first.

Chennai Express is one of the fastest grossing Bollywood films of all time. It’s already a member of the 300 Crore Club ($48m) worldwide, one of only four films to do so, and broke box office records in the weekend of its release in India. While the public have flocked to the film the critics, both in India and abroad (the film was released worldwide almost simultaneously) have not been so impressed.

So to the movie: Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan (SRK)) is the scion of a well-to-do sweet seller’s family in Mumbai, raised by his grandparents after his parents’ deaths. After an indulgent and spoilt childhood Rahul (SRK) is seemingly prevented from meeting women because he’s so committed to his grandparents and the business. At the time of his grandfather’s death Rahul is planning a “boys’ “ weekend in Goa but plans are complicated by having to dispose of the ashes near Chennai. Getting on the Chennai Express Rahul helps a running woman, Meenamma (played by Deepika Padukone) onto the train, but finds she is pursued by a number of non-Hindi speaking brutish men. Then Rahul finds they are her father’s henchmen who have found her after she ran away. Some comedic moments follow with lyrics from songs from SRK’s films changed to confuse the Tamil speakers. But escape attempts are futile and they arrive at her father’s “territory” and Rahul finds he is a local underworld chief who has promised his daughter to a friend’s gigantic son, Thangaballi. Rahul and Meenamma escape spending time at another local village, are found and escape, but Rahul returns to the mafia village to fight the brutish Thangaballi. Rahul says he fights for the “common man”. Love conquers all and her father accepts Rahul as her husband.

The first half was fairly pacey establishing Rahul as restricted by family issues, a familiar theme in Bollywood. But that was just to set the scene. The “boys” again were just thrown in for effect. The Hindi songs bastardised on the train were an in-joke taken from SRK’s previous films – along with a number of other references to other Bollywood films (Dilwale Dulhania le Jayenge; My Name is Khan; Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara; Khabi Khushi Khabie Gham). But beyond that there was very little characterisation, particularly of Meenamma. There were hints of racism - Indians are racist too - in the portrayal of the darker South Indians as large unintelligent brutes. There were a couple of dance numbers in the first half but they were simplistic dances and songs, often childish and facile.

The second half was actually a bit better, but that’s not saying much. A couple of the dance numbers, particularly set on the South’s tea estates, were actually quite entertaining. A car chase followed but for someone raised on Bond and Bourne the chase was fairly tame. But then a quite brutal fight scene between Rahul and Thangaballi.

None of the characterisation was strong. Rahul’s invocation of the “common man” was quite unexpected, and the love between Rahul and Meenamma was just not believable, certainly not compared to some of the couples in SRK’s previous films.

The hints of racism were added to by confusion between Hindi and Tamil, and just made one very uncomfortable. In addition, a scene when Rahul is on the run and comes across a man with dwarfism and a speech impediment is meant as a comic interlude partially but is gratuitously exploiting a dwarf and added nothing to the plot. But the Hindi speaking families behind us found it quite amusing.

The film also featured pure unreconstructed sexism of the type ingrained in Indian culture, but also of the type you hoped an international Bollywood film might manage to transform a little. Instead, we had a fairly assertive Meenamma on the run from an arranged (perhaps forced) marriage to Thangaballi, being captured and brought back to her domineering father by his henchmen. She seems to have no choice but to go through with the marriage to her father’s chosen partner before Rahul comes to her rescue. Rahul eventually ‘wins’ and is granted his chosen bride by Meenamma’s father – but only after the classic punch-up between the two would-be grooms over who gets the ‘girl’. Despite her feistiness, and constant attempts to escape, Meenamma returns to the passive bystander while the men fight over who gets to marry her. Hardly a promising role model for a 21st century woman – one in control of her own destiny - in whatever country – or indeed for her father or potential husband.

Brought up on the best of modern Bollywood and starring SRK we were expecting a lot better both in terms of the plot, songs and dances. The racism, sexism and casual treatment of the dwarf detracted considerably from the film. We didn’t find the comedy scenes funny at all – perhaps something was lost in translation.  If the film was meant as a parody of your classic Bollywood romance or Tamil action movie, then it wasn't a very good one and the in-jokes and references may well have been lost on an international audience. We do wonder if Bollywood tries too hard to combine what would normally be separate genres in its films from rom-com, to thriller to social commentary, and this was just a step too far.

Sue and I both evinced some concern for SRK’s continuing career. As we have noted before despite the fact he is good shape he can’t continue to play action roles, dance, and play the romantic partner of an actress in her 20s. Bollywood doesn’t appear to have the range of genres and movies that would be available to a leading actor of SRK’s age in Hollywood. But with SRK’s star power he can surely mould the industry to suit himself. Perhaps his wife’s involvement as a producer of Chennai Express skewed his judgement. Almost incidentally SRK and Padukone appeared on breakfast television in the UK, Daybreak, to help publicise the film. But the appearance was cringeworthy; the presenter had no idea that she was in the presence of a movie superstar, nor about the Indian film industry.

Overall 1 out of 5 and that’s mainly for the rather expensive popcorn we devoured.

 

Jab Tak Hai Jaan (English: As Long as There is Life)

Seemingly for months now, the Indian film listings at Feltham cineworld have seemed to consist mainly of Tamil action or thriller movies which have never quite appealed. Last Sunday, however, we found Jab Tak Hai Jaan in the line up. Directed by the late Yash Chopra (of Veer Zaara fame), starring Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) and music by A.R.Rahman – it was a must. It had already achieved ‘blockbuster’ fame in the overseas market – opening at no.5 in the US and no.4 in the UK, becoming the highest midweek and weekend grossing Bollywood film ever in both countries.

It was a lengthy 3 hours long, so we settled in for the duration armed with diet cokes and popcorn. It started with a tribute to the director Yash Chopra, who sadly had died only weeks before the release of the film. The tribute was in Hindi, no subtitles, so I was slightly anxious the film would carry on in this way – fortunately (for both me and Susen), English subtitles appeared once the film started.

The first scenes were of SRK, playing Major Samar Anand in the Indian Army, a brave bomb disposal expert who refused to wear body armour whilst disabling the bombs. The location was Kashmir – in Pahalgam. This was sad to see, as I backpacked in Kashmir and stayed in Pahalgam back in 1987 – before any particular threat to Westerners and ongoing violence pretty much made it off limits to tourists. Now, the beautiful landscape was just a backdrop to bomb disposal efforts from terrorism in a Bollywood film.

Jumping back in time: Samar is trying to make his way in London. We see him sweeping snow up outside a church, where he first encounters Meera, the inevitable love object. For once, he has not inherited or made vast wealth (at least not initially) and is sharing a very basic flat with a friend (or possibly relative) from Lahore. A welcome reality check to the lives of most average people in London. His success as a fishmonger, however, earns him a job in a restaurant owned by a customer, at which he excels.

But Meera (played by Katrina Kaif, of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara recent fame), as befits the beautiful heroine, has just graduated cum laude from university and is about to be set up for life – to marry the eligible Roger, her father’s choice - and continue in her father’s successful business. Until she meets Samar that is. Then an interesting twist on the classic Hindi duty-over-love dilemma occurs – where she feels obliged to marry Roger, who is English, (the safe choice and her father’s choice) as compared to Samar, from India, (the exciting but lower class choice). Here, the story is subverted in that the English man is the ‘safe’ choice, whilst the ethnically similar choice is the risky choice. Hence, class is privileged over ethnicity – an observation I have been making for the best part of two decades now.

But a car crash witnessed by Meera makes her do a deal with God: if his life is saved, then she will have nothing more to do with him (a scene reminiscent of ‘The End of the Affair’ based on Graham Greene’s novel). The ambulance scene is so unbelievable – I am being slightly pedantic here in that he is rolled onto the stretcher into the ambulance, despite having a head injury. I am literally crying out in my head ‘put a neck brace on!’ – to no avail.

He lives – and cut to Kashmir where he is prepared to dice with death every day as a bomb disposal officer in the Indian army. Akira appears (played by Anushka Sharma), to make a documentary of his life for Discovery Channel. This again leads to an unbelievable, cringe-worthy dance sequence of his new potential beau – Akira: doing her hip-thrusts in very short shorts with locals joining in the dance sequences. What a conservative local Muslim population must have made of this stick-thin Bollywood actress in shorts and gyrating hips, goodness only knows. I am assuming they were paid for their time and attention.

The plot winds on, fairly predictably – with echoes of Veer Zaara in the long absence, the love relinquished to become reunited decades later. Inevitably, the setting both in London and India will draw audiences from both India and the diaspora. I found myself recognising London backdrops – from Chiswick Park (near where I used to live), Trafalgar Square, Borough Market and Hay’s Galleria (near where I used to work). Man! – if I had known SRK was filming right outside, I would have been straight down there with my pen and autograph book.

Altogether an entertaining 3 hours, though any good editor could have cut it to 2 hours or under without losing meaning. Music was unfortunately forgettable, despite the promise of A.R.Rahman. Some of the scenes were poignant – most notably when Meera meets her mother and her partner (played by Bollywood stalwarts Neetu Singh and Rishi Kapoor) for the first time in 10 years. SRK was good, professional but slightly predictable. It remains to be seen how credibly SRK will continue to be as a man in his later 40s partnering women in their early and late 20s. Overall a 7/10 I think. My son rated it 4-5/10. This might have been because of the love interest and (forbidden) kissing – a real turn-off for pre-teen boys more into video games. Worthwhile, but come on SRK – we are waiting for the next wow factor.