Viruddh - Against all odds
Published by Mysorean on Saturday, July 30, 2005 at 11:59:00 am.
Amitabh Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan & Amitabh Bachchan. How many movies does this 64-year old sign in a year? He must have lost count. If I attend all working days of my office, I might sign 20 times in the register. And I get paid only once mind you for all that daily effort! And here is an old man, who signs more than I do and gets paid in crores (in all likelihood!) for each such sign! Is he worth all this? Why so much fuss about this old man? Why does it look like the directors of today aren’t having enough of this man? To top it all, we have scriptwriters still writing stories with this man in mind. BLACK. Isn’t this a case of “too much” as a chennaite would put it? Konjam over aa therilaiye? Swalpa jaasti ne ee mudukanige praamukhyate kodtidaare ansallva? Endukuandi prati movie lo ethanni sign chestaru? The bottomline: Is this old man worth all this?
I believe Amitabh Bachchan is worth all this and in fact much more. He is running the best phase of his career. Well, that best phase has been running since the 1970’s! Except for a few glitches here and there, he is really been around for a long time. Rajesh Khanna ended his super streak when the Amitabh began, Anil kapoor came and went, the Khan trilogy rose and they rule in patches now, papa’s son Hrithik flattered to deceive, Amitabh rules over all of them. Even collectively.
“Is Sunil Gavaskar (SG) better or Sachin Tendulkar (ST)?”, “Is Illayaraja better or A R Rahman” are oft-heard topics for informal debates. Have you ever heard a debate on “Is Amitabh Bachchan better or Shah Rukh Kan or Aamir Khan or whoever?” In all likelihood you will never hear it in your lifetime. Reasons being: SG and ST were not contemporaries and hence the debate always continues since you cannot equate them on that platform. Same thing holds good for AR Rahman and Illayaraja. But Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, etc. have all been contemporaries of Amitabh Bachchan. And in Aamir Khan’s case, his debut was as a child star in “Yaadon ki baraat” which was released in the same year as Amitabh’s “Zanjeer” – 1973. So, essentially there’s no comparison between these actors. Let’s move on, before I get stuck on this wasteful comparison exercise.
This article started as a review of the movie “Viruddh”. But see where it is going?! I think this is natural. I don’t think it’s a digression at all. If you see “Viruddh” you will understand what I am saying. Amitabh makes you laugh, giggle, jump, cry, sit back, tense, thoughtful and agree with whatever he does on that 70mm white spread. You flinch when he gets hurt. You cry for him when he is pained. You feel sorry for him when he is teased. You feel more helpless than him, when he can’t stand up to people teasing him. You feel his anguish when the police just brush his case away like a pile of dirt. But Amitabh’s greatness lies not only in helping you feel the pain, but he shares his happiness with you with equal intensity. You burst out laughing for those jokes he cracks with his wife Sharmila Tagore. You appreciate his sensibility in handling the situation where his son comes back with a foreign bahu! You stand up to his greatness of comic timing in the scene where they drink wine. But there’s one scene which only Amitabh could have done and not anyone else. Anyone. He watches through the door of the operation theatre with his son dying. The expression that he shows was enough to help the audience understand the result of the operation. There was no necessity to show his son closing his eyes. That’s Amitabh for you. At 64, he seems to get a better understanding of your pulse than your doctor!
You have heard Amitabh speak English in BLACK. He speaks English in “Viruddh” too. And let me tell you, not once during the entire movie did I even think that this could be the same man who was in BLACK. Here he is a typical Marathi speaking retired old man. In BLACK he was the sophisticated, refined, magician who could make the impossible possible. And as only he can do it, he has clearly shown how he differentiates between characters (among so many signatures!). Getting under the skin of a character means what? To understand the question watch Amitabh perform.
Mahesh Manjrekar proves he can come up with classics at will. “Astitva” showcased Tabu, and here he tells a story as a tribute to the Great Amitabh. The story of triumph of the truth over deceit, grit and will over political pressure and corruption. If Mahesh Manjrekar can keep away from fare like “Padmashri Laloo Prasad Yadav”, he would be doing all of us such a big favour! He would rank right up there among the best directors of today if he made such movies!
Sachin Khedkear and Sanjay Dutt find themselves in because they are a part of Mahesh Manjrekar’s team. Sanjay Dutt also has a fight (Or should I call it simple violent?) scene to go with his image I guess! It was not necessary. The movie dealt with having common sense and a no-complaints attitude. And that scene was a spurt in the proceedings!
Sharmila Tagore was good as the mom. She is not as plastic as she was in her younger days. John Abraham is good as the son-cum-narrator. Using the son as the lens to view the movie was again a fantastic move of direction. It helped to show the unique mesh of relationships in new light. And can you believe this? There is a wedding that happens in the movie with only the parents of the bridegroom, the bride and the bridegroom, two pujaris (priests) and three Gods! The Johars and Chopras should learn from this to give a storyline more importance than shooting marriage videos.
“Viruddh” is an under-rated movie going by the other reviews I have read. Similarities to “Saaransh” and other such storylines seem to be there. But you will not repent having watched this movie. And as I said before, you can watch it for one man - Amitabh Bachchan.
I believe Amitabh Bachchan is worth all this and in fact much more. He is running the best phase of his career. Well, that best phase has been running since the 1970’s! Except for a few glitches here and there, he is really been around for a long time. Rajesh Khanna ended his super streak when the Amitabh began, Anil kapoor came and went, the Khan trilogy rose and they rule in patches now, papa’s son Hrithik flattered to deceive, Amitabh rules over all of them. Even collectively.
“Is Sunil Gavaskar (SG) better or Sachin Tendulkar (ST)?”, “Is Illayaraja better or A R Rahman” are oft-heard topics for informal debates. Have you ever heard a debate on “Is Amitabh Bachchan better or Shah Rukh Kan or Aamir Khan or whoever?” In all likelihood you will never hear it in your lifetime. Reasons being: SG and ST were not contemporaries and hence the debate always continues since you cannot equate them on that platform. Same thing holds good for AR Rahman and Illayaraja. But Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, etc. have all been contemporaries of Amitabh Bachchan. And in Aamir Khan’s case, his debut was as a child star in “Yaadon ki baraat” which was released in the same year as Amitabh’s “Zanjeer” – 1973. So, essentially there’s no comparison between these actors. Let’s move on, before I get stuck on this wasteful comparison exercise.
This article started as a review of the movie “Viruddh”. But see where it is going?! I think this is natural. I don’t think it’s a digression at all. If you see “Viruddh” you will understand what I am saying. Amitabh makes you laugh, giggle, jump, cry, sit back, tense, thoughtful and agree with whatever he does on that 70mm white spread. You flinch when he gets hurt. You cry for him when he is pained. You feel sorry for him when he is teased. You feel more helpless than him, when he can’t stand up to people teasing him. You feel his anguish when the police just brush his case away like a pile of dirt. But Amitabh’s greatness lies not only in helping you feel the pain, but he shares his happiness with you with equal intensity. You burst out laughing for those jokes he cracks with his wife Sharmila Tagore. You appreciate his sensibility in handling the situation where his son comes back with a foreign bahu! You stand up to his greatness of comic timing in the scene where they drink wine. But there’s one scene which only Amitabh could have done and not anyone else. Anyone. He watches through the door of the operation theatre with his son dying. The expression that he shows was enough to help the audience understand the result of the operation. There was no necessity to show his son closing his eyes. That’s Amitabh for you. At 64, he seems to get a better understanding of your pulse than your doctor!
You have heard Amitabh speak English in BLACK. He speaks English in “Viruddh” too. And let me tell you, not once during the entire movie did I even think that this could be the same man who was in BLACK. Here he is a typical Marathi speaking retired old man. In BLACK he was the sophisticated, refined, magician who could make the impossible possible. And as only he can do it, he has clearly shown how he differentiates between characters (among so many signatures!). Getting under the skin of a character means what? To understand the question watch Amitabh perform.
Mahesh Manjrekar proves he can come up with classics at will. “Astitva” showcased Tabu, and here he tells a story as a tribute to the Great Amitabh. The story of triumph of the truth over deceit, grit and will over political pressure and corruption. If Mahesh Manjrekar can keep away from fare like “Padmashri Laloo Prasad Yadav”, he would be doing all of us such a big favour! He would rank right up there among the best directors of today if he made such movies!
Sachin Khedkear and Sanjay Dutt find themselves in because they are a part of Mahesh Manjrekar’s team. Sanjay Dutt also has a fight (Or should I call it simple violent?) scene to go with his image I guess! It was not necessary. The movie dealt with having common sense and a no-complaints attitude. And that scene was a spurt in the proceedings!
Sharmila Tagore was good as the mom. She is not as plastic as she was in her younger days. John Abraham is good as the son-cum-narrator. Using the son as the lens to view the movie was again a fantastic move of direction. It helped to show the unique mesh of relationships in new light. And can you believe this? There is a wedding that happens in the movie with only the parents of the bridegroom, the bride and the bridegroom, two pujaris (priests) and three Gods! The Johars and Chopras should learn from this to give a storyline more importance than shooting marriage videos.
“Viruddh” is an under-rated movie going by the other reviews I have read. Similarities to “Saaransh” and other such storylines seem to be there. But you will not repent having watched this movie. And as I said before, you can watch it for one man - Amitabh Bachchan.
