Himmatwala (2013)

I request the film fraternity to seriously consider some stringent rules for remakes.  There is an effort that has been put in by someone and that effort should be respected.  Creative liberty and freedom doesn’t mean that you can convert the effort from anyone into a piece of crap work.  Sajid Khan has done exactly that with K. Raghavendra Rao.

It is people like Sajid Khan, who, under the pretext of remakes and comedies insult the intelligence of the audience.  The disappointing part is that a certain segment of the audience laps up this piece of crap slapstick work like it is the last bag of food in  refugee camp for drought hit victims.

 

The story of the version that hit the screens a few hours back and the one that did so30 years back are almost identical with a major twist that will appear half way down and some minor changes.  So for e.g. Dharam Murthi (Anil Dhawan) kills himself and doesn’t just leave the village. 

 

There is a mockery of a fight between Ravi (Ajay Devgn) and a Computer Generated Tiger.  I felt sorry for the CG image.  Tight pants have made way for bell bottomed jeans.  Thunder thighs has been replaced by an excuse for an actress who cannot come remotely close to the moves that Sridevi generated on screen.

 

There are some songs added including a couple of item numbers.  So insecure was Sajid Khan that one of the item numbers had not one, not 2, not 3 but 5 item girls.  Even they could not save this movie from disaster.  Moves from Taaki Taaki (1983) were used in Nainon mein Sapna.  The classic Bappi Da song Aa Aa Oh Aa Ae Ae Ae has been replaced with Taaki Taaki.

 

The dialogues make you cringe.  While most of them have been taken from Kader Khan’s priceless one liners there are some which are new and disastrous.  Like, “Aap gutter ho toh mein us gutter ka paani hoon” (if you are a gutter then I am the water that flows in the gutter). There are other unmentionable ones as well. 

 

The casting was oh so wrong.  Ajay Devgn can barely move.  How can you replace Sridevi with Tamannah? Tamannah who? Mahesh Manjrekar in place of Amjad Khan? Adhyayan Suman in place of Shakti Kapoor – I am not sure who was desperate here? Paresh Rawal – why did you have to accept the offer? And Zarina Wahab looked like she had a fight with Aditya Panscholi an hour before every shot.

 

While some of you may have better sense and not go for the movie at all, some others may not be that lucky.  Even if you were to not take the original into consideration to try and be fair, Himmatwala is one of the worst movies of the year.  Saying that the movie was set in 1983 is no excuse.  1 on 10.

 

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neqBc-8f4tY