Tashan’s got guts. I never thought I’d actually be sitting and writing this in a review, but I am- and not without reason. It’s a brave (albeit, foolhardy) film because it apparently doesn’t want to please everyone, or actually anyone. You either accepts it for what it is, or totally junks it.
Or maybe it’s just plain stupid. Maybe it does try to please, tries too hard- and falls quite flat on its attractive face. Whatever may be the case, I am going with the former (and probably lot less agreed with) discourse on the film. Maybe it’s because after being subjected to weeks of mostly pure torture at the cinemas, I have actually managed to come out half alive out of a film.
Maybe because reactions to this film remind me of the ones that greeted another strangely similar film from the ‘prestigious’ Yash Raj banner last year- yes, Tashan is already being talked of as the Jhoom Barabar Jhoom of this year- ‘all style, no substance’. Or maybe it’s because I’ve gone soft, or because I’ve run out of polite expletives, or because I’m fed up of being cynical. This is my review, and I’m going to say what I want to- take it, or junk it.
No, it is not a very good film- please, I mean well, and thus what I say must not be misconstrued to mean that Tashan should pull you into theatres and into buying tickets for obscene amounts of money. I don’t think too much of the film, but I can’t say I didn’t like its spirit and attitude- or its Tashan, if you please. This is refreshingly unpretentious filmmaking from Vijay Krishna Acharya- eccentric, outrageous and zanily over-the-top. And that is why despite acknowledging that the film ultimately works only because of its pure-dynamite cast, what I admire is the fact that this film makes no bones of what it’s really about- which is The Ishtyle, The Goodluck, and The Pharmoola (as its posters brazenly declare).
Need I mention that the film’s unabashedly bizarre story is also as thin as its leading lady? Not that the story really matters, and hence all I’m telling you is that yes, Kareena Kapoor did sport a two-piece bikini (hush-hush!), and no, she didn’t tragically die of malnutrition in the end.
Tashan begins with quite a bang, with stylish graphic novel-like credits and a riveting, fast shot opening sequence involving a red Mercedes convertible fashionably skidding across the sands of Ladakh, set to a soundtrack that crazily alternates between Highway to Hell and Kabhie Kabhie. That quite cleverly manages to set the tone for the rest of the film- go-for-broke, giddy, even bumpy, but never quite boring, captured wonderfully in bright Technicolor hues by cinematographer Ayananka Bose.
Why I enjoyed Tashan is not because Acharya succeeds at fulfilling his mad, almost impossible ambition of making a spectacle without a script- he doesn’t, and just as well- but sometimes it’s fun to see a filmmaker dare to make something so whimsically indulgent, so what if all the (over) confidence is actually quite misplaced. That’s what endeared Tashan to me personally, the fact that Acharya tries to take a bite at a hugely audacious idea, even if he doesn’t manage to chew it ultimately.
But even if the film is a let-down in terms of writing, which is mostly clumsy and inconsistent, lacking any real wit or inventiveness, the cast does manage to keep things somewhat upbeat throughout the film’s moderate length- well, almost. Akshay Kumar is the undoubtedly single-most popularly appealing factor in the film, and it’s no surprise he steals the show and walks away with loudest applause, drawing louder hoots and whistles than even his ’size-zero’ co-star. The comic timing- even if over familiar by now- is good as gold, and Kumar makes the most of his immensely likeable character. Anil Kapoor manages to get guffaws at first, that with his superb ‘Inglish’ rendition of Deewar’s cult dialogue, but his increasingly bizarre (mis) use of the Queen’s language means that the laughs get fewer with time and his speech more and more incomprehensible. Nevertheless, Kapoor pulls of the loud role and accompanying gaudy costume like only he can, with his trademark ‘jhakaas’ flamboyance. Saif Ali Khan plays the cool dude for the umpteenth time, but yet is surprisingly engaging in a film that really relegates him to the backseat, while his now-emaciated current girlfriend Kareena Kapoor has the least to do here, ranging from being effectively enticing to completely bland, her often over-the-top dialogue delivery making it seem that she forgot she was no longer playing Jab We Met’s Geet.
Vishal and Shekhar’s music fails to really work, a failed fusion of elements as eclectic and diverse as Sufi, rock and Bhojpuri music, but comes off as pretty bouncy set against some energetic cinematography. However, it still stands quite unwanted in a film that clearly doesn’t need any songs. Or, then again, perhaps it is kind-of apt that Tashan has songs, despite their constantly interrupting presence in the film.
For it isn’t hard to see Tashan is- after all- an unapologetically true-blue Bollywood film. There’s the sometimes almost Rajnikanth-like action, (pretty well orchestrated by Peter Hein) and lots of it indeed- with bullets flying everywhere but never hitting the lead characters (except once, to give vent to some romance, but that wound is soon forgotten) and wild stunts that are eye-popping not so much in scale as they are in exuberance and exaggeration. But more importantly, underneath the entire seemingly jazzy and badass exterior lays a very Indian heart and a tale of love, revenge and good over evil. And therein for me, lies Tashan’s appeal- in its sheer honesty, one that isn’t ashamed to show us what it really is, in The End.
Cast & Crew:
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Sanjay Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Yashpal Sharma
Director & Story Writer: Vijay Krishna Acharya
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Lyrics: Piyush Mishra, Vishal Dadlani, Anvita Dutt Guptan
Editing: Rameshwar Bhagat
Art Direction: Sukant Panigrahy
Action Direction: Peter Hein
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Tags: Aditya Chopra, Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor, Anvita Dutt Guptan, Kareena Kapoor, Manoj Pahwa, Peter Hein, Piyush Mishra, Rameshwar Bhagat, Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Mishra, Sukant Panigrahy, Tashan, Tashan - Hindi Movie Review, Tashan Movie Review, Tashan Review, Vijay Krishna Acharya, Vishal Dadlani, Yashpal Sharma | Filed in Bollywood
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