Champion
Little cause for celebration
Director Padam Kumar enters the Hindi film arena but not on a winning note. SSB Films’ Champion doesn’t have anything new to tell and so falls back on action that may go down well with the frontbenchers in the interiors, but wouldn’t appeal to a more elitist audience.

Rajveer Singh’s (Sunny Deol) dream is to become the super cop of Mumbai. He gets a ‘special posting’ to the city to guard the life of Abbas (Master Abhishek of Kaho Naa...Pyar Hai fame) whose father, a rich businessman, Mansoor Ali Khan (Deepak Parasher) has just died in a plane crash. The boy is in danger of being attacked by a psychopath, Nazir (Rahul Dev) who has escaped from an asylum with the intention of killing Abbas. Nasir is the son of the Khan’s estranged business partner and has turned into a killing machine following the deaths of his family members who have been driven to commit suicide by Khan. It doesn’t take Rajveer Singh long to fall in love with Sapna (Manisha Koirala), a regular visitor of the Khan household. Their romantic duets across the seven seas are interrupted by Nasir’s unsuccessful attempts on the life of the boy. Finally, fed up of fending off the killer, Rajveer slays him in a blood splashed climax.

Sunny Deol is let down by a sketchy role, but he still manages to hold you enthralled by his terrific screen presence. Manisha has little scope to showcase her histrionics. She is like a glamourous showpiece who’s only been brought in to sing and dance and shiver through stress and distress. Rahul Dev makes an impressive debut even though his role has been unnecessarily stretched. Master Abhishek also makes an impression.

Padam Kumar in his debut Hindi film is let down by a wafer thin, oft-seen plot. Since he doesn’t have much of a story he uses naach gaana and violence to sell his film. The film is technically slick but dialogue writer, Sanjay Masoom’s frequent use of double entendres jars considering the film has a child as its central character. Music is by Anu Malik, Anand Raaj Anand, Vishal and Shekar. The songs though lavishly shot, appear like item numbers that have been inserted into the narrative at regular intervals. S Thiru’s camera work is imaginative. Wish we could say the same for the film.

Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya
An elephantine blunder
Shogun Films Ltd.’s Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya is a perfect example of a bad film. It’s difficult to fathom why a filmmaker would want to invest in a film that defies every law of logic. It has no storyline. The performances of the lead pair are well below average. The film has a dated look thanks to all those months in the cans. This animated fairytale has little to recommend it even to its target audience, the kids. Result: No show even on the first day.

Mohit (Arvind Swamy) dreams of a princess coming into his life and his dream comes true when Manisha (Manisha Koirala) on a visit to his village falls into a pond. Mohit saves her life and its love-at-first-dive for him. When she returns to Mumbai he follows her to the city. When he finds her he presents her with a clay model of an elephant he’s brought for her from the village. Unfortunately, it slips from her hands and shatters. To make amends Manisha presents him with a real baby elephants and the rest of the film is all about Mohit’s bumbling efforts to keep his big “gift” in his small apartment. He’s rewarded for his attempts at the end of 17 chaotic reels when Manisha accepts his proposal.

Arvind Swamy is unconvincing and a far cry from the charmer of Roja and Bombay. Manisha finds it hard to build an aura of mystery around her character. And why does her voice sound so unlike hers? Dina Pathak, Goga Kapoor and Priya Tendulkar try to bring some semblance of order into the disorder but the real raja and rani of this pyar kahani is Appu, the baby elephant who has to be commended for doing a good job in this elephantine blunder of a film. But hey, even his grunts sound very unelephantine!

Director TK Rajiv Kumar’s entry into Hindi film is easily forgettable. His shot composition may be perfect, but he lacks the ability to tell a good story. Not that RKRSPHG has much of a story to tell. From the very first reel it just meanders through a host of inane situations failing miserably in its attempts to hold the interest of the audience for even a minute. Ravi K Chandran’s cinematography is the only saving grace in this otherwise sad film.

Padmaraj Nair


More...