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28 May 2005
Bunty Aur Babli
In an interview a long time ago, Amitabh Bachchan was asked what he would have ended up as had he not become an actor -- he wasted no time in replying "Allahabad mein doodh bech raha hota". As good an actor as he has been in all his roles as the angry young man, the tall and lanky romantic hero or the greying sage, none of them would have made anywhere near the iconic impression on a country of a billion had it not been for Amitabh Bachchan's penchant for humour aided by his ripe baritone laden with tart and sharp one-liners. That was what endeared him to us; we identified with his self-effacing, quick-witted, fun-loving persona. Bunty Aur Babli is a happy, engaging throwback to that part of Amitabh Bachchan that has sadly eluded us all these years. But what is more good news: his flair to make us laugh thrives and is equally alive in Abhishek Bachchan whose performances in recent movies (Yuva, Naach and now Bunty Aur Babli) have filled me with a sense of contentment and relief knowing now that he is more than equal to his grand lineage. Of course, for that personal charm and comedic sense to work in a movie one would require that the script itself be well-imbued with the Bachchan flavour of wit and Bunty Aur Babli is a shining exemplar to this. Coming away from the movie, I was so impressed with the script that I was tempted to write a personal note of appreciation to Jaideep Sahni who is credited with the screenplay and the dialogue.The plot scarcely matters when the script and dialogue are this good, but if it must be mentioned Bunty Aur Babli is loosely an amalgam of Bonnie and Clyde (albeit a Bollywood-harmonised version) and Catch Me If You Can. More than the storyline, what works so well for the movie in addition to the superb performances and dialogue -- which I shall return to soon -- is how well the movie absorbs and portrays the classic, rustic elements of small-town life in Northern India, and Uttar Pradesh in particular. For people that hail from that area, this movie is sure to hit the bulls-eye. At a time when rampant corruption and shameless politicking are what spring first to mind at mention of UP and Bihar, this movie tells us of people simple-minded, laidback and ingenuous in their thaat-ravaiya, of their immeasurable contributions -- counting great stalwarts like Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Mahadevi Varma, Premchand not to mention humorists like Bedab Banarsi -- to Hindi literature and popular culture.
Returning to the specifics of the movie itself, the Abhishek Bachchan-Rani Mukherjee combination now is beginning to assume the mantle that was once occupied by great screen pairs of yesteryears. Rani Mukherjee is effervescent and, well, bubbly. Abhishek Bachchan is a chip off the old block. He manages to retain all the mannerisms of his father's. And then, of course, there was the man himself. His disguise reminded me more of his turn as the dock-worker in Hum and he looked definitely much older than the regular Deputy Commissioner of Police but when you have Amitabh Bachchan in a role that requires him to revisit his roots, such trifling non-details are not worth more than a second's thought. The support cast was great and distinguished although they were only support cast -- Prem Chopra, Raj Babbar, Rameshwari and Kiron Juneja "Sippy" -- the last two re-emerging from hibernation. The singularly most spectacular moment of the movie though was, surprisingly for me, the Aishwarya Rai item number. The song was a typical UP folksong with Rai as the foxy naachnewaali and the Bachchans, inebriated with cocktails and liquor (I wish they had used Bhang instead!), joining her in the song-and-dance. As much as it pains me to say this, Rai was quite good in her short stint and thank goodness for that -- there was every danger of her five minutes in the movie threatening to spoil three hours of the most enjoyable Hindi cinema I have watched in a long time. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music, with the minor exception of Nach Balliye was brilliant and made good use of Gulzar's native lyrics, the central highlight being the Rai number -- "Kajra Re". The one thing the movie could have done without was the irritating last-minute solo slow refrain after the end of the song -- brainless and vexing.
