Delhi Safari

I must admit first of all that a few minutes into Delhi Safari, I started losing interest and my ability to stay awake for too long. I, however, managed to stay awake all the way through using quite a bit of my will power in the process.

Now, Delhi Safari is not just an outright bad movie by any stretch of imagination. It is just that we may be the biggest suppliers for animation world over but when it comes to creating animation movies ourselves, we fall woefully short. I wonder why?

Delhi Safari tracks the story of a bunch of animals who stay in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivili, Mumbai. Thankfully, the animals are the same ones that are found around this area. A family of leopards – Sultan (Suniel Shetty), Begum (Urmila Matondkar) and their cub Yuvraj (Swini Khara).

Then there is the laid back and sensible Bagga the Bear (Boman Irani). But the chief mischief maker and the grey character is the monkey – Bajrangi (Govinda) who harbours hopes of ruling the jungle because as per him – the monkeys used to rule the world much before man came in.

Trouble starts brewing when rampant construction starts moving into the park and in the bargain, Sultan gets killed. The rest of the animals, pushed by Yuvraj’s innocence and confidence decide to take their voices all the way to Delhi – to the powers that be. Accompanying them is Alex (Akshaye Khanna), a parrot – who is the only animal who can speak the language that us humans understand.

Now, here was a superb opportunity to pivot India into the fascinating world of animation. There was a story that had a strong social angle. There were characters which were created quite well and true to the local landscape. The voice overs were to be done by a bunch of really talented people – Govinda, Boman Irani, Sanjay Mishra, Saurabh Shukla and even Prem Chopra were really good with their voices.

But there were the tacky dialogues and weak one liners that fall flat. And most importantly, when you feel that the paws of the animals don’t look like they are touching the ground – you feel the disappointment. Why not spend that extra bit of money to get the end product finished well. Always the case with Indian animation – penny wise, pound moronic – not just foolish. 5 on 10. Watch on TV if ever it comes up there.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMem1yAmAQw

Not a Love Story

Ram Gopal Varma could not have picked up a better time for the trailers of his movie to be released and then the eventual movie release. It was bang at the time when the verdict on the Maria Susairaj case was about to be announced. A couple of weeks into the trailer and one of the most absurd verdicts (that’s what I believe – it is totally personal) ever by the Indian judiciary was announced. I guess it has been a little under a month since the verdict and unfortunately for RGV, Anna and the World Champions, for totally different reasons, have hogged the lime light. As of now, everyone in this country is interested only in the Jan Lokpal Bill. And maybe a few would be interested in knowing the build up of the Susairaj case and where it finished.

And why in the blazes would RGV start the movie with a disclaimer that this is a work of fiction. Surely all of us know that the movie is about the Susairaj case and it would only mean that Maria Madam and Jerome Sir refused to co-operate with the RGV Factory in terms on the money that was offered. Maybe they will cash in on it over time at a much higher level – crime is after all a very lucrative profession as has been proved in the past in more developed economies.

That being said, RGV also ends the movie with 4 dramatic statements – please don’t hold me to this because it may not be verbatim but I am quite certain it was something to this extent.
“The Prosecution wanted both of them to be killed
Their lawyers wanted them to kill each other
The two of them wanted to die together
Finally the verdict is still awaited”
RGV Sir – Gross!!!! How much cornier do you want to get?

The movie starts off with great promise and intensity thanks to Deepak Dobriyal who has put up another stellar performance and kind of keeps the movie alive. I was quite intrigued though with the choice of Dobriyal for this role but he comes out on tops. RGV uses his signature camera angles which are a bit off beat and it does make you think that RGV is back. But then one starts feeling a tad giddy in a bit. But for a couple of specific shots which gave the output that was desired, the other angles only made the movie look more like a horror story and not one that was based on a crime of passion. Mahie Gill has never been able to get back to the near perfect performance she gave in Dev D. I guess it will continue to be her nemesis in a manner of speaking. Needs to stop trying too hard to get there. The same syndrome as Jr. B after Yuva. Not much of a support cast with the exception of Zakir Hussain (remember Rashid in Sarakar) who is the only person who comes close to Dobriyal’s performance.

Overall disappointing. I was so hoping that RGV was back. I really like RGV and find it quite sad that he seems to have gone onto a different planet. Either we need to join him there or he needs to get back to Mother Earth. 5 on 10 is what I would give NALS. Watchable but don’t expect too much.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrbcn2k-FMI