My tryst with the violent real world. Review on Mohra

I have seen my dad go misty eyed at the mention of ''Sholay'', unfortunately I grew up when the euphoria of the mega-hit had died down. But the array of self-proclaimed illegitimate violent descendants of ''Sholay'' ruled the roost in the '80s and early '90s. ''Mohra''was perhaps the last one in the series; the non sensical bloodshed was to be wiped out forever with mushy buffoonism the very next year as DDLJ ran supreme in our theatres. However, for us, a bunch of 13 year olds, Mohra marked our entries into the real world, into a phase where family members were no longer a requirement for accompanying to movies, of times when we started believing that for every problem in the world there was a violent solution and an even more violent solution.

I still remember those 50 bucks I had saved for weeks go into the hands of the blacker, despite our violent (like climbing on top of the guy in front of you and belting and kicking everyone in front, so that they give way) attempts at the ticket counter (and mind you, 10 years back that was a pretty normal method of obtaining tickets at my place). Like a blindfolded man, amidst thick fogs of tobacco, obnoxious urinals and creepy walls made moist by Paan spits, I entered the theater, too pride at my first solo outing. Three hours later, it had changed my life.

The Film:

Mohra, means pawn in colloquial Hindi and it was director Rajiv Rai?sthird attempt at the marquee (remember Sholay too was Ramesh Sippy?s third). Ironically both their fathers were huge producers, G P Sippyproduced some blockbusters of '60s like ''Bramhachari'', ''Mere Sanam'' etc whilst Gulashan Rai owned Trimurti Films which was behind ''Johny Mera Naam'', ''Deewar'', ''Blackmail'' and host of huge hits of '70s.

The film figured an ensemble of big names of the industry (especially all big villains, Rajiv Rai had developed a liking for villains; so much so that he had to flee because of the underworld post Gupt). It made few names bigger post the release, including all the lead actors, Akshay, Raveena and Suneel Shetty. Akshay Kumar had an uninhibited tendency of splitting his legs high on air, and had by now developed the alter ego of the police officer.

For a pretty young thing (PYT) called Raveena Tandon, the film served to boost her dominance in arousing wet feelings for the male kind. Suneel Shetty bettered his reputation from being a municipality Lamp post (danced around by skinny PYT's in Balwan- do any of you guys remember this film) and proved to the world that his muscles expressed more fluently than his face.

And the villains: I just love all of them. Gulshan Grover (Tyson)was terrific in his wigged blonde looks, looked insanely devilish and what dialogues ? ''Diiiirty Mind'', ''Tum to bomb nahi sex-bomb ho''. Then Raza Murad as Zibran gave able company, rabbit-teethed and extremely mean. Sadashiv Amrapurkar (I reckon another excellent actor) appeared as the Police DIG, frustrated at his role as law enforcer sans any power.There's Paresh Rawal,lazy good cop turned bad cop, with usual tongue-in-cheek humour. And then there was this coterie of side kicks (did they kick some butts in this brand of movies), from the four skin heads who rape Shetty's sister to Tyson's vamp Kunika, everyone looked stupidly wicked (as they are meant to be) mouthing dialogues like ''Maar daalo sabko'', ''Zinda mat chhorna'', ''Izzat loot lo saali ki'' (pity probably those are the only lines they get in the entire movie).

And then there's Nasiruddin Shah,the one and the only one. His revelation is probably the best cinematic twist I have seen in my life and the way he squished two buffalo like brawny heroes in the finale just got me into shivers (validating my hypothesis of violent solutions). His dialogues are impeccable, classy yet extremely effective; at no point of time you start doubting his disability (at least 13 year old teenager minds could not). He carried the film single handedly on his shoulders, and became my acting god there on.

Analysis of the Plot:

Mohra had an unusual theme, the usual cop versus bad guys story interspersed with some interesting twists and turns. For most part, it had gibberish-like insensitivity to the audience's finer tastes. So by the end of the film, you just lose count of fake bullets, sprayed tomato ketchups and wet saree pallus that the silver screen threw upon you. But for most '90s madcap violent flicks, class and norms meant very little, and every one pulled the levels down for the succeeding ones to follow. So the word ''Cheap'' actually should be removed from your sub-consciousness and probably you'll start enjoying the fare.

The story moves along with the good cop, Amar (Akshay) and the bunch of above mentioned villains. And yeah, clichéd but like all madcap movies, his father, another police inspector was shot down by the bad guys. In comes Vishal (Shetty), bereaved of his sister who was cruelly raped and murdered by the goons. The daughter of the Jailor, Roma (Raveena) supposedly does journalism whenever she gets time-off from dancing in wet sarees.

Jindal (Nasiruddin Shah), the blind bohemian news paper owner encourages Vishal to revenge his sister's death by eliminating the crime from its root. Vishal obliges, the dons retract and interesting Cat and Mouse brawl ensues. In between there are clichés and hyper clichés which intensify your mundane intellectual experience. Like Suneel Shetty meaninglessly shooting down every one at sight (including researchers inside the drug factory- these guys might've been doing it out of pure need for survival) without thinking twice (the gun wins after all). To top it all, the rape scene is grotesque and the way she is murdered is appalling.

The Music:

Viju Shah probably delivers his career best soundtrack. Despite cogging ''Cheez badi hai mast mast'' , most of the other tracks are immensely likeable. Especially the opening Piano piece of ''Ae kash agar aisa hota'' which moves in the background in the entire film, is a riveting piece. ''Tip tip barsa pani''- extremely well picturised, and a captivating, foot-tapping track. My favourite is however ''Na kajre ki dhaar'', really well sung by Sadhana Sargam and Pankaj Udhas.

Conclusion: