Category Archives: Sandalwood

Operation Diamond Racket

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Operation Diamond Racket

Operation Diamond Racket was re-released in Karnataka theatres last year, and that may be the reason why this 1978 film is actually available on DVD with English subtitles. The duo of Dorairaj and Bhagawan produced and directed a number of Bond-style films starring Dr Rajkumar as Agent CID 999, with Operation Diamond Racket being the last, and possibly also the most successful one they made. The story seems to be very loosely based on Diamonds are Forever but is more choppy action and less actual plot than either the Ian Fleming story or the Sean Connery film. Still, Agent CID 999 lives up to the suave spy image and manages to romance several ladies as he fights his way through numerous villains in a diamond smuggling operation to reach the secretive man at the top. The styling and fashions are definitely part of the reason to watch this film, but the best motive is Dr Rajkumar – he is totally awesome! Whether he’s fighting hoodlums, lounging by the pool or fixing up his hair mid-biffo, he does it all with fabulous style and panache! I am totally hooked and have been looking out for more of his films, which seem to be sadly unavailable subtitled. Still, this is a great place to start and even if the film itself isn’t brilliant it does have plenty of spy gadgets and a couple of great songs to help matters along.

The film starts with CID 999 aka Prakash breaking into a safe (after defeating the obligatory bad guy) and taking pictures of the contents using an advanced technology device – a camera with a flash cube attachment. I clearly remember these since I was around in the seventies, and it’s a nice nostalgic moment to see something practical as an essential part of Agent CID 999’s inventory.

Presumably this was the conclusion to Agent CID 999’s previous case as his subsequent meeting with his boss warns of a new danger. Someone is smuggling diamonds, and there are reports of numerous scientists disappearing. Obviously these are connected and Prakash picks up some clues from Sardar, a delivery guy for the smugglers who tries to extort more money from the criminals and is dealt with appropriately. However, before he dies he manages to impart a few words, which are dutifully noted down by marine branch officer Madhu and passed on to Prakash. Luckily for Prakash, Madhu has a very pretty sister Meena (Padmapriya) who turns out to be useful as a sidekick as well as the main romantic interest for the rest of the film. Although she does have plenty of competition as it turns out!

Once Prakash is on the case events move quickly and after tracking down David to a hotel, Prakash cunningly places a listening device on his table under the guise of singing a song. This is awesome for so many reasons. The outfit! The lyrics!! The surreptitious placing of the listening device!!! It just gets better and better and of course during the course of the song, David gets his next set of instruction, just as Prakash and his trusty assistant are listening in.

There are plenty of fights, interludes with various women and Prakash moonlights as a pop singer at a hotel to infiltrate the next part of the gang. I have no reason why this smuggler has a small stuffed bird on his desk, or why he rejoices in the name of Golden Crocodile although it does fit in with the general rather opulent décor of the hotel. He also has an ‘electric chamber’ to dispose of unwelcome guests, but despite all this he’s just one of the many minions involved in the smuggling ring. The various clues lead Prakash to a discovery of diamonds concealed in a shipment of masks and after fighting off yet another bad guy, Prakash heads off to Nepal with Meena on the track of the mysterious head of the diamond smuggling organisation.

Once in Nepal there are car chases and yet more fights, all with the beautiful backdrop of the Himalayas and stunning Kathmandu. Cinematographer P.S. Prakash does a fantastic job of capturing the mountains and the storyline allows for numerous reasons for Prakash to go running off into the hills and into all that gorgeous scenery. Including more songs of course.

I love this part of the film and there are so many places I recognise in and around the Kathmandu valley from my visits to Nepal. Hence the larger number than usual of screencaps, but really this is a beautifully shot film with some wonderful views of the Himalaya.

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After numerous excursions into the hills around Kathmandu, Prakash finally manages to track down the mastermind behind the smugglers and foil his fiendish plot to rule the world using a remote control beam thingy that can turn everything to ashes. Apparently. The test runs shown didn’t particularly convince me and Prakash managed a better explosion with his handy pocket-sized bomb, but megalomania is apparently blind to these little issues. Prakash does seem rather indifferent to the fate of all the scientists who were after all working with the smugglers involuntarily, but he saves Meena and the world from being ruled by an evil mastermind in a violently red suit, so I guess that was enough for one day.

Overall Operation Diamond Racket is a fair attempt at re-creating a James Bond film and does add in plenty of gadgets, an adequate villains lair and a number of 007 references to add to the fun. Considering the era, most of the special effects work well, and there are only a couple of times where the directors resort to the use of small model cars for the crash scenes – a major improvement over the likes of Surakksha for instance. Dr Rajkumar makes a very charismatic spy, while Padmapriya is more than just a pretty face to be rescued at the end, and holds up her own end of the investigation pretty well. The support cast is also good, although being an assistant to Agent CID 999 does seem to be a risky proposition considering most don’t make it to the end of the film. There are also some wonderful sets which add to the lavish feel and fit into the James Bond styling of the film.

The only problem I have with Operation Diamond Racket is that there are possibly too many fight scenes and diversions in the path to the evil mastermind. The film could easily have been half an hour shorter without losing anything major from the story and cutting a few of the fights would have helped move the plot along. However there is still plenty to enjoy and Rajkumar is the absolute star of the show. Definitely an excellent introduction to his films and one I recommend. 4 stars.

 

Bachchan (2013)

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Bachchan

Bachchan was recommended to me by numerous people when I went to watch Ugramm a few weeks ago, and since I read that the film had won a number of awards in India plus it starred the usually pretty awesome Sudeep Kiccha I thought it would be worth tracking down on DVD.  But when I started to watch it I was very disappointed.  After about 20 minutes I just couldn’t watch any more relentless and seemingly pointless violence or blatant sexism and had to give up.   It took another two attempts before I managed to get more than 30 minutes into the film, and I spent most of that time wondering why this film had been recommended to me! But then I got further in, finally reached the excellent second half, and realised exactly why this film had appealed to so many people – even me eventually.  It does get immeasurably better in the second half, and looking back the opening scenes make more sense in retrospect, although I still feel a less chauvinistic approach would have made them easier viewing. However, if you can make it past the first thirty minutes, there really is a lot to like about Bachchan.

The film opens with a slugfest between Bharat (Sudeep Kiccha) and various members of the police force in a small police station. No-one is able to stop him as he smashes his way through the police station and ultimately kills Inspector Mahesh Deshpande (Ashish Vidyarthi) before escaping on a police bike.  Bharat then easily outwits the chasing police cars and heads to a hospital where he proceeds to defenestrate one of the doctors, Dr. Srinivasa Iyengar (Nasser) and escapes yet again.  This time though, we know he is going to get caught just as soon as a lorry full of water bottles appears in the middle of the shot.

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So once in custody for committing two murders (no mention of the destruction to property and general menace to society he represents) Bharat proceeds to tell his story to the investigating officer Vijay Kumar (Jagapathi Babu).  Seen in flashback, previously Bharat was a nice, happy (although rather patronising) real estate agent who was trying to be a force for good in the world, when he found himself hounded by a superstitious police officer and an obsessive doctor.  Inspector Deshpande fuelled jealousy in Bharat’s fiancée Anjali (Parul Yadav) by pointing out Bharat’s interest in a client’s daughter at every opportunity.  To be fair, Monica (Tulip Joshi) does seem to turn up everywhere and does show an unhealthy interest in a man whose attentions are otherwise engaged, but Bharat claims that this harassment was his motivation behind killing Despande.  Meanwhile Dr Iyengar sealed his fate when he refused medical assistance to Anjali and Bharat decided that he too had to die.

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The problem I have with these opening scenes isn’t that the story is trite and clichéd, but that it’s all so completely overdone.  Both Despande and Iyengar are terrible caricatures while Anjali appears as a woman with absolutely no self-worth.  Bharat bribes her with chocolate when she accuses him of being rude to her at work (which he was), and when she accuses him of spending time with Monica, he has only to click his fingers and she immediately forgives him all.  There is a reason behind all of this but since it’s not explained until much later in the film, it does make for uncomfortable viewing first time round.

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The first half isn’t all bad though.  There is a novel threat to a collection of flower pots, which is a welcome touch of humour and Sudeep is eminently watchable even when he’s being a complete pillock.  P. Ravi Shankar is also mildly amusing as the thug attempting to muscle in on Bharat’s business, and there is also plenty of excellent dorky uncle dancing in this song.

The film starts to improve when it’s gradually revealed that the story Bharat has told the police is a complete fabrication – hence the terrible characterisations in the first half.  The real Anjali proves to be a perfectly sensible and normal woman, while the other characters are nicely ambiguous until the real truth emerges.  There are plenty of twists and turns before we get there though and the second half turns out to be the out and out action thriller I was expecting from the start.  Throughout it all, Sudeep outclasses everyone else with chameleon-like changes of his character, and his performance is just enough to make up for the dodgy dialogue in the first half.  He does bring to life the film’s ‘Bachchan’ in Big B angry young man persona, although there is more to his character than just a generalised grudge against the world.  I’m presuming that director Shashank wanted to make a kind of homage to Amitabh Bachchan as there are many mentions of Big B and his films throughout, but he’s probably most referenced in this song with the bewilderingly badly dressed Tulip Joshi.  Poor Tulip – she really doesn’t come out of any of this well at all.

Bhavana makes a brief appearance as Anjali’s sister Ashwini, but probably the best performance from the three romance interests is from Parul Yadav.  Her character is more developed and despite the terrible beginning she does make a better showing in the second half.  Most of the rest of the support cast are fine but they are mainly there either to provide fodder for Bharat’s rage or to add layers of confusion to the plot, and are never any more than two-dimensional at best.  However the fight scenes are well choreographed even if they lean heavily towards standard Southern Indian tropes and the climax is satisfyingly OTT.

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The concept of Bachchan is good, but it is let down by the script in the first half (or perhaps just very bad subtitles) and a tendency to rely on standard filmi clichés.  Although the second half of the film is entertaining and very watchable, sitting through the first half to get there requires patience and perseverance.  Still, if you can make it through the first half hour, the rest up to the interval is ridiculous enough to be amusing and it is worth hanging in there to reach the excellent second half if you can.  I’d give the first half of Bachchan 2 stars and the second half 4 stars which gives an average of 3 – that seems about right overall.  Worth watching for Sudeep but I’d recommend leaving your brain behind for the first hour.

Gajakesari

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Gajakesari

A very big ‘thank-you’ to Roopesh and Kannada Movies Melbourne for the opportunity to see Gajakesari in the cinema here in Melbourne.  This is the first time I’ve seen Rocking Superstar Yash, and I have to say he is pretty rocking!  However the real star of the film is an incredibly well trained elephant called Arjuna, who not only steals every scene when he appears but also perfectly defines the meaning of ‘on-screen chemistry’ with his co-star.  Noted cinematographer Krishna has stepped out from behind the camera to write the screenplay and direct this action adventure, which does mean that there are beautifully framed shots throughout even if the screenplay does drag a little at times. On the plus side there is an excellent flashback to a past life which helps lift the film out of the ordinary, and the combination of good fight sequences, an entertaining storyline and a charismatic elephant make Gajakesari better than average.

Gajakesari

The story opens with the introduction of chief villain Rana (John Vijay) who intimidates the local politician into giving him the right to develop a tribal area somewhere in Karnataka.  After establishing that Rana has the nastiest henchmen and also the most googly eyes in SI cinema, the film moves location to a temple in Mysore to introduce Krishna (Yash).  Krishna is a modern guy who rides a Royal Enfield and likes to hang around with his two friends, but is about to discover that his freedom is coming to an end.  As a child Krishna was promised to the temple and is supposed to take over leadership from the current Mutt (Anant Nag), not something he has any real desire to do.  However there seems to be an escape clause – Krishna just has to donate an elephant to the temple and will then be free of his obligations.  Now I can see some of the logic behind this since an elephant would no doubt be much less trouble than a rowdy young man.  Still it seems to me that a herd of goats would possibly be more useful and easier to house than an elephant.  Regardless of convenience, the temple wants an elephant, so Krishna obediently heads up into the hills to find his pachyderm.

Gajakesari

Luckily for Krishna he easily finds a small tribal village where there are plenty of elephants and the villagers are keen to help him in his quest.  However the local elephants don’t appear to want to leave their cosy jungle and since their leader is the particularly angry and intractable Kalinga (Arjuna!), it seems likely that Krishna may have to enter the temple after all.  Krishna though, is a man who seems especially blessed by his temple gods and he manages to calm Kalinga just in time to enlist his aid in fighting off Rana’s thugs.

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This is the start of a beautiful friendship, based (according to the village shaman) on the circumstance that Krishna is the reincarnation of hero Baahubali and Kalinga the reincarnation of his elephant.  This leads into an excellent historical flashback with plenty of heroism and action, although the low budget costuming for the attacking army is a little disappointing.  Baahubali and his elephant look awesome though!

In the village Krishna also meets Amoolya, who ostensibly is there to record birds but really just seems to be looking for trouble.  She has a tendency to wear inappropriately short shorts around the village and while tramping around the jungle, and to add further insult indulges in patronising photography of the villagers.

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Sadly her character is poorly conceived as she looks nothing like the scientist she is supposed to be and instead is a 2 dimensional throwaway heroine with little apparent rationale for her romance with Krishna.  Amoolya does her best but there is very little she can do in such an unconvincing role while looking uncomfortable in most of the outfits.  Her best moments are in the songs where she does get the benefit of pretty and dance-friendly shoes, but it’s not enough to justify her presence in the rest of the film.

This really is Yash’s film and he is excellent in his role as Krishna.  He’s lackadaisical and perfectly casual as Krishna but takes on a completely different and more martial role when we see him as Baahubali.  The relationship between Krishna and Kalinga is the lynchpin of the plot in the second half and the two carry it off perfectly – excellent acting by Yash and great screen presence by the elephant combine to make an impressive duo.  Forget Amoolya, this is the real relationship that matters in Gajakesari!

Yash also looks great in the songs, and not just because he always matches his shoes to his outfits.  He has plenty of charm and while his Krishna appears to be a lovable rogue, he also manages to convey an innate honesty and sense of moral integrity.  No wonder his elephant loves him and the villagers rely on him to defeat Rana and save their village.

Gajakesari

Overall Gajakesari works due to Yash’s strong screen presence and a good story.  It doesn’t need the added burden of a romance, particularly when it fails to ignite and the heroine seems so completely out of place.  The scenes set in the past are definitely a highlight, but the action in the present day is almost as good, and the inclusion of an elephant as a fighting partner is inspired.  Definitely one to catch in the theatre if you can and appreciate just how much star quality one elephant can bring to a movie.