There's hope for hindi films

I have a principle rule in life (actually I have lots of them, but this is one of the few that applies to hindi movies).

It states that if I watch a hindi film that has fewer than three car/plane/building explosions, I'm going to like it. Rule number two says that "If Mustafa watches a hindi film that does not contain any stupid vulgar jokes that have been made the de facto standard by Johnny Lever and Co, then he is going to like it." Another rule states that if I watch a hindi film without the hero baring his torso, I'm going to like it. A closely related rule states that if I watch a hindi film that has the heroine >ahem, ahem< baring her torso >cough cough< then I'm going to like it.

Zubeida features only one plane crash, which, I might add, is integral to the story. It does not contain any Johnny Lever type jokes. It does not require any of the male leads to bare their torso's. (None of the female leads do that as well, but I'm willing to overlook that minor flaw ;-)

At long last. At long last a hindi movie that is subdued. A hindi film that does not degenerate into excesses. A hindi film that tells it story and then gets the hell out. No stupid fight scenes. No stupid comic sequences. No stupid rain songs. No stupid fairy tales. No stupid body shows (and I'm talking about males here). Just a simple, well written story.

Say hello to Zubeida (Karisma Kapoor) then. A Muslim girl in India in the early 1940's. Raised by an orthodox and strict father, who owns a movie studio. Young Zubeida aspires to be a movie star. She has the looks and the talent. But she also has an asshole of a father (Amrish Puri). Papa dearest finds out her daughters ambition, disapproves of it (as he must) and gets daughter dearest married off to his best friend's son without her consent. The fate of many girls all over India.

But Zubeida is free spirited. Can't be tied down. The marriage ends in divorce. Zubeida then meets the Prince of Fatehpur, Victor (Manoj Bajpai). Gets swept off her feet by his charm. Defies convention and marries him. But alas, it turns out that she is the second wife, and must always come below in the pecking order. Below Mandy (Rekha), who is the first wife. And Zubeida finds out that though she may have run away into a royal family, orthodoxy prevails everywhere.

The rules and customs of the palace stifle and choke her. Unable to take it anymore, she causes the plane in which she and Victor are travelling, to crash. Death. And freedom. Forever. End of story.

The entire tale is narrated to us by her son (Rajit Kapur) in the form of a flashback. This is the form taken by Shyam Benegal's other films as well, of which Zubeida is the trilogy (The other two are Mammo and some film which I watched but can't remember the name.) The acting is generally good. Rekha is excellent. God knows how many years shes been in the film industry, but by now shes definitely perfected the art of acting. Amrish Puri, short but nice role. Karisma Kapoor. Well, what can I say. Perfectly cast. Shes supposed to play a free willed, spoilt, selfish brat, and I really can't think of anyone else amongst Indian actresses who can fit that description. Nice acting. Rajit Kapur and Farida Jalal, they bring the spotlight on their characters and not on them. Which says enough about their acting skills.

The only fault I could find was with the casting of Manoj Bajpai as the Prince of Fatehpur. I know its unfair and incorrect to disown an actor simply because of his looks, but Manoj Bajpai does not look like a prince. And therefore cannot be cast as one. He's a good actor, I like him a lot, but he does not look like a prince. He looks odd in rich clothes. Out of place. And even worse, surprisingly, his acting is not very good either.

The other fault with the film is that it is not very clear about what its trying to achieve. It starts out trying to portray Women's Liberation, but ends up showing its primary character as selfish and slightly weak willed. Had they just handled this issue a little bit better, it would truly have been a very good film. I was going to give Zubeida a 3 star rating, but I was so impressed by the simple fact that they've kept it realistic (no crashing cars, you know what I mean?) that I decided to give it a four star.

This is what movie making should be all about. Forget short mini skirts and rain sequences and 2 planes crashing in mid air and one person fighting against hundred and winning.

And while we're at it ....

COULD SOMEONE KILL JOHNNY LEVER PLEASE?