Thikana (1987)

There was a time when Mahesh Bhatt used to make films. Good, bad, ugly- whatever- but they were never business projects, just stories that he used to put to life on celluloid. And more often than not they were stories that emanated from the heart that aimed to strike a cord with the hearts of the patrons. Strike a cord with hearts. Nothing above. Nothing below!

Thikana is one such story that is quintessential Mahesh Bhatt of the 1980s. Emotionally verbose, melodramatically intricate, perfectly imperfect, and remarkably sinuous. And yet at the core the film’s simplicity is akin to a child bawling in pain in front of his mother. Save the last thirty minutes when it deep-dives into the pits of mediocrity, the film could have been a well remembered one.

The genre of the movie can be defined as pulp fiction at best- the kind which is available in abundance in the bookstalls of the railway stations across the country. The sub-genres can be described as concentric circles- with mystery forming the outermost circle, and drama forming the central core. The story is woven around the travails of an idealist lawyer, Ravi, who is also unabashed drunkard. Anil Kapoor plays this wasted young man who is pitied, detested, and admired in equal measure. This is established by scene early on in the movie when an inebriated Ravi returns home one night to the caustic remarks of his widowed mother and the comforting presence of his elder sister Shashi (essayed by Smita Patil). What follows next is a full blown melodrama where a semblance of sobriety is incorporated through some wonderful dialogue. The very next morning, however, normalcy is restored, acting as a subtle metaphor to the new day and the fresh start it indicates.

Some other powerful scenes follow, one in which when Ravi’s self-respect is questioned he decides to do away with the ideals he had inherited from his father. In the court of law, he is asked to prove that a young girl is of legally marriageable age, when she clearly looks like being years away from that. How Ravi’s hands waver while signing the testimony and how he admits to have been led astray by his own insecurities, is a study in how a single powerful scene can etch out a characterization that in most movies a series of scenes cannot. Some remarkable scenes between Shashi’s fiancé Ranbir Singh (a police officer- enacted by a superb Suresh Oberoi) and Ravi follow. In fact it is the relationship between these two men and their confrontations constitute the most emphatic part of the movie. A cameo by Anupam Kher is worth mentioning, but just like the movie- it is overstretched and redundant beyond a point.

The most striking part of this movie however is that each and every character has grey shades. And thus the dialogue is so forthright that it gets uncomfortable for an average Hindi movie watcher after a while. But what’s not unusual here is the generous use of songs, and none of them worth a mention. And neither the unnecessary and completely headache inducing last part of the movie, which kind of overshadows the merits of the first three-fourth of the movie to a certain extent. It looks like a lot of it shot keeping the commercial prospects of the film in mind. But in retrospect it might have just backfired.

Performances from Anil Kapoor and Suresh Oberoi are the highlights. Smita Patil is her usual poor weepy self and Amrita Singh (who plays Ravi’s love interest) is in her usual flashy yet lost avatar.

Parting Note: The film is engrossing for most parts and has some remarkably well-written moments of drama. However the last half an hour prevents this movie from being a fondly recalled one.

Trivia: This film was released after Smita Patil's demise and thus its release was dedicated to her.

Kaash (1987)

There are slight similarities between the basic thread of Aamir Khan starrer Akele Hum Akele Tum and Mahesh Bhatt's Kaash. Both deal with an estranged couple and are largely centered around a father-son relationship. Also, both the movies are set in the world of showbiz.

This is the age for action. Not just the dishum-dishooom kind. The word of movies has become fast paced- see any new trailer- twenty random shots will pass your eyes even before a single second is registered in your mind. Of course, the editing would be slick- people are hard pressed for time anyways- and it makes sense to cram in as much as possible within as less time as possible. Another explanation for it can be that “Hey, let’s not let them make any sense of it... just pack in some great shots and back it with a zany background score and they will be sold to our film”. It is not just our trailers, but even our films are becoming more ambitious in terms of the expanse of time and space they depict. Today, the camera hardly lingers on the face of an actor when he or she is done with the dialogue. It’s pertinent, for impatience is something which is now a virtue. The more impatient you are, the more you will achieve.

In such time and age, watching a film like Mahesh Bhatt’s 1987 feature Kaash can be an extremely novel experience. The film boasts of just four lead characters and almost no one else. The story is simple; the narrative is singularly linear (apart from a few discernable flashbacks). But more than anything else, the most unique thing about the film is that the camera is in no hurry and has a lot of time to capture what the characters feel and what they do. It is an extremely performance oriented movie that tells the story of a dysfunctional couple- a man who has seen the highs of stardom but is now experiencing the lows of obscurity, and a woman who cannot bear to see her once full of life husband taking to the bottle and giving up on life. Caught between them is their school going son; grappling with the acerbic tension between his parents. The story takes a turn when the kid is diagnosed with a terminal illness.

The film basically is a deeply moving account of a father-son relationship. Said to be inspired by a few moments from Mahesh Bhatt’s personal life, the film has been made with a lot of love and effort. That love and effort is visible through the dialogues and the performances that the writer/director has extracted from his two leads- Jackie Shroff and Dimple Kapadia, as well as from the actor playing their son. Some of the scenes are heart-breaking and it would be tough for even the most stubborn hearts to sit through them without getting moist-eyed.

The songs of the movie are innocent- there is no other word to describe them. If seen in isolation however, they might seem childish- but that’s the intention, for more than just songs, they are playful interactions between the young kid and his doting father. The mother, for most parts, is in absentia owing to her quest for being independent and not compromising on her self-respect, and understandably so as her husband becomes a terrible alcoholic loser post his fall from fame. The performances from both Jackie and Dimple are worthy of being described as textbook ones amongst their class. The former, in my opinion is a mightily underrated actor who is amongst the best in carrying off intense roles- at par with Nana Patekar (who being more theatrical grabs more eyeballs). Of course, the fact that Jackie has done innumerable inconsequential films (including B and C grade ones) goes against him. Anupam Kher plays an important role and the fourth lead (albeit peripheral). Despite him having a largely positive role, he strangely comes across as a grey character with the kind of look that he is given. 

After watching this movie, I was going through the filmography of Mahesh Bhatt- and wasn’t he prolific! So many movies and such well remembered ones too. I haven’t seen a lot of them and will watch the better ones soon.

Parting Note: There are a lot of movies made for making you laugh- but here is a semi-autobiographical (allegedly) movie by Mahesh Bhatt that looks like it was designed as one that intended to make people cry. The strong performances and emotional storyline makes it a good watch. Akele Hum Akele Tum (starring Aamir Khan and Manisha Koirala) shares slight similarities with this movie.