Mithun Chakraborty in Disco Dancer (1982)

Disco Dancer is one of those films that I had known about for years before I saw it. People often quoted it as a truly kitsch film and I had heard the songs (by Bappi Lahiri, ‘the R. D. Burman of the B-movies’ according to the Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema) and seen them as clips on television featuring Mithun Chakraborty, dressed in white trousers and lame, certainly a different image from that I knew from his work in ‘art’ cinema. He has subsequently become king of the B-movies, taking only the occasional small role in mainstream films. The songs were catchy enough but already dated when I heard them, the disco era being well and truly over in London by the 1980s. Aware of the film’s cult status as a B-movie, I initially viewed it to consider it as one of the few items for inclusion that are not from the A-list.

The film’s story is by the respected Dr Rahi Masoom Reza, whose credits include B. R. Chopra’s television serialisation of the great epic, the Mahabharata, as well as several other films. Following the revenge theme of many post-1970s’ movies, the child Anil, a budding musician, and his mother are framed for stealing by a wealthy neighbour, Mr Oberoi (Om Shivpuri). Anil vows to exact his revenge through his music and as an adult (Mithun Chakraborty) soon displaces Oberoi’s son, Sam, as the King of Disco. He meanwhile falls in love with Oberoi’s daughter, Rita (Kim), with whom he played as a child. His manager David (Om Puri) changes Anil’s name to Jimmy and he becomes a national phenomenon. Oberoi keeps trying to have Jimmy killed but Jimmy is also a kung fu (if his moves can be called that) expert. When Jimmy’s mother dies, electrocuted by a guitar intended for him, he gives up his music (he is said to be suffering from ‘guitar phobia’), but his uncle (a guest appearance by 1970s’ superstar, Rajesh Khanna) persuades him to take it up again and he and Rita dance into the future.

After the titles play out on a glitter ball, the songs include Kishore Kumar’s ‘Ae oh aa zara mudke’ and the memorable ‘Auva auva koi yahaan nache’ (sung by Usha Uthup and Bappi Lahiri), with Kalpana lyer shimmering in shorts, ankle boots and what only can be described as Christmas-tree tinsel. The picturisations are nearly all set in discos with underlit floors and feature ungainly backing singers, while the lead dancers also make some odd moves. The title track, ‘I am a Disco Dancer’, is better seen than heard, with Mithun dressed in a very strange outfit (part-Donny Osmond, part-Elvis) performing fancy footwork. In ‘Krishna dharti pe aa jaa tu’, the male and female dancers appear to be dressed as angels for a school Christmas pantomime.

There are some strange touches, such as the depiction of the romance between Rita and Jimmy as a series of photomontages and the scene showing how, when Jimmy’s mother dies, his photograph cracks and dissolves to the burning of her pyre.

So is this film more than just a piece of 1970s’ (even though made in the 1980s) nostalgic kitsch? I think it typifies a move into the low-budget B-movie that finds its own audience during the 1980s, as the middle classes leave the cinema halls for the VHS and color television. It is also worth watching for Mithun. Initially a serious actor, and one who could have pursued a successful career in A-grade Hindi movies (he landed major, though supporting, roles in films such as Agneepath [1989]), he chose instead to live in Ooty (Ootacamund, a hill station in south India) and appear in low-budget movies that produce good returns from the B-circuit. He turns in a good performance in the film and possesses a physique that makes him a convincing dancer and fighter.

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 1982, Genre – Drama/Musical, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – B. Subhash, Director – B. Subhash, Music Director – Bappi Lahiri, Cast - Geeta Siddharth, Om Shivpuri, Mithun Chakraborty, Kim, Om Puri, Kalpana Iyer, Rajesh Khanna

Luck (2009)

If there’s one thing that writer-director Soham Shah got right, it was to name his film in the hope that like some magical charm it would transfuse the power from its name onto the object itself. Luck is precisely what he needs to make this venture work. Half-baked characters in a half-baked plot with lots of daredevil stunts make for a good AXN reality show but hardly ever for Bollywood filmi success. Particularly for a movie whose central theme revolves around renting people’s luck (and a nauseating overuse of the word luck). Or maybe Shah presumed that since Luck was releasing at the time when Transformers fever is raging high, he could ride on the same wave and lots of stunts, jumping of cliffs and catapulting through the air, could garner him the same kind of glory and fame. Dead wrong. Worse though is the fact that it’s been shamelessly plagiarized (not that its Bollywood’s first time at that) from an acclaimed French Georgian film Tzameti.

Luck takes the form of tiny vignettes with the first half of the movie serving as a short intro to all the characters: Ram (Imran), Ayesha (Shruti), Major (Mithun) – and two most interesting condiments in this otherwise vapid offering: Shortcut (Chitrashi Rawat) and Raghav (Ravi Kishen) and their respective place in the movie: i.e. how they all become pawns in this scheming death trap of a betting game orchestrated by the infallible Moosa (Sanjay Dutt) whose mad psychotic fixation with playing with people in the most inhumane bizarre way and simultaneously generate billions propels the movie.

In the last few years it seems that Sanjay Dutt has been permanently cast in the ghunda/bhai log stone, and true to form, he plays the Muslim godfather even in Luck. As he’s growing older Sanjay’s roles are either variations of the badmash or sequels of Munna Bhais (which is just a comic loveable don so not much difference there).

Mithun Chakraborty though, an actor known for his sleazy 1980s films, cringing pelvic thrusts and ludicrous action sequences in his youth, has been garnering small but respectable and dignified roles with age. He certainly embodies the adage of aging gracefully by delivering poignant performances each time: whether it’s his role as a principled editor in Guru or the valiant soldier in Luck its good to see Mithun-da back on the silver screen creating a legacy.

Speaking of legacies though, the veteran theatre and film South Indian actor Kamal Hassan’s rock star daughter, Shruti pulled a discreditable Megan Fox in her debut with Luck. With genes like hers, one expects a solid performance and an acute sense of scanning out powerful scripts. Shruti disappoints on both accounts; stilted dialogues albeit with great chemistry with Imran cannot generate enough heat to sustain her character (or lack thereof) or the film. As for Imran, he clearly must have been on loggerheads with dearest mamoo-jan Aamir Khan on this one.

All said and done though, action films are fun to do and watch if you are into stunts and dare devil acrobatics, so it is understandable why the cast of Luck signed up for it. Very few Bollywood movies, even at this mature stage in the Indian film industry have a decent plot so one cannot really discredit Luck on that account. Yet as many Indian film critics have also noted, Luck doesn’t offer anything new to a generation that is addicted to high tech video games and action reality shows. How the film does at the box office will certainly test the combined luck of all the cast and crew concerned – Hani Taha Salim (Rating – 2 OUT OF 5)

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 2009, Genre – Action, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Dhilin Mehta, Director – Soham Shah, Music Director – Sulaiman Merchant, Salim Merchant, Cast – Sanjay Dutt, Imran Khan, Mithun Chakraborty, Shruti Haasan, Danny Denzongpa, Ravi Kishan, Chitrashi Rawat