So what about DMD? The internet is spewing mixed reviews and results about the film. Though director Rohan Sippy with his trademark handlebar mustache and a strange sense of humor said that it grossed about Rs. 6.2 crores on the opening day and hence will have a great opening weekend. True! Abhishek’s last film “Game” was so ill placed with its release date being 1st April, a day prior to India-Sri lanka world cup final. Not that movie was any great shake to talk about. DMD on the other hand, releases when IPL is throwing surprises and barring a team or two, the tournament is strictly open for the rest.
To begin with, DMD is taut. It is tight as a screenplay. It is entertaining largely and it has some really well shot scenes and a couple of glimpses of good performances. It has Pritam’s music which is (besides the title track) really interesting and popular. The styling of film and the titles is superb and captivating. The back ground music is just fantastic and works for the film. It has Deepika Padukone doing the item number which is so sexy that the film should get A certificate only for the song. That’s about it.
In my opinion, DMD is a classic case of “Replacements”. Anybody could have done anybody’s job yet somebody was taken hoping that nobody will be able to replace them. First thing first. The film could have been directed by Rohan’s assistant as it did lack the panache and the zany feeling of Rohan that we say in Bluffmaster. Shridhar Raghavan’s story has been converted in to a strange screenplay, and could have been written by any desi James Hadley Chase. Everything in the film could have been done by anybody else and therefore has no distinct signature to it. This I think is the reason why film will not be remembered for something. The super-controversial DMD track is not by Pritam, its Pancham so they could have used the original instead.
DMD is not Bluff Master and so all the people who went to watch the movie expecting Rohan and Abhishek will be giving us another con-comic (abhi term banaya baap) movie, they are in for an almost rude shock. Bluffmaster was a clever and present day version of Paul Newman-Robert Redform starrer “The Sting”. Now those who remember Bluffmaster will remember it as a very stylish ubercool con movie with Nana Patekar stealing the limelight and Vishal Shekhar’s sexy music and a lot of mixes of the songs done by various artists. I think, Rohan was under pressure of expectations while making DMD.
In the first half, the film runs very tightly and doesn’t allow you to shift eyes from the scene. Prateik Babbar has a long way to go as far as acting is concerned. In all his films, he has the same confused expression and a half-cocky attitude which originates from nothing. I think he will take some time to realize that both Raj Babbar and Smita Patil were top of the line actors and didn’t do films for jaywalking in them. His role, while being the continuing thread, could have been done by anybody and I mean anybody. There was nothing special in him, a far cry from the role of a loner he played in Jane tu ya jane na. His bohemian streak and various colorful holiday pictures of Goa add nothing to his character. It is in this film, I came to know that India smuggles cocaine to US. Whatever happened to the Cambodian mafia and South American drug cartels? His girlfriend in an almost nonexistent role is played by Anaitha Nair whose role could have been played by anyone else too.
Then comes the role of a 6ft 3 hunk of all muscles called Rana Daggubati. While a lot of tweets and facebook statuses by girls were devoted to him, hoping him to be their arm candy, he has the looks of a star but none of an actor so far. For the lesser informed, both the grandfathers of Rana (maternal n paternal) are famous filmmakers D. Ramanaidu and Nageshwar Rao. His father is another great film producer D. Suersh Babu. Rana is also nephew of filmstars Nagarjuna and Venkatesh. So basically, this boy comes from a totally filmi family and his first film “Leader’ (with fleeting reference to Godfather) was a huge hit. He runs a VFX company and has been trained by none other than Barry John. While he was impressive in Leader as it was a writer backed role, his impressive personality was not put to good use in DMD. I have a hunch that he has more to offer than just a tall and muscular frame.
Aditya Pancholi as the villain called Biscuit, was almost like a “Chai mein dooba”. He was grossly wasted. He was almost pathetic and evoked no fear in anybody’s heart. I believe his character underwent changes due to a lot of after-thought by the writer or I can put the blame on editor who wanted to shorten the film. Biscuita missed the quirks. He did nothing to establish himself of the boss of the cartel. Otherwise a very good looking man with a unique voice quality, Aditya has done some very good roles in the past. This one was totally wasted. Again, any actor could have played the role of Biscuit.
Bipasha Basu’s job was to look sexy and she did. Again, the role is not like what she did in Ajnabi or an otherwise forgettable Corporate. It has no distinct Bipasha angle to it, except for the fact that she looks smoking hot in some of the scenes. But again, there are other girls who can play the same role and yet not get noticed. Apart from that a few forgettable characters like Govind Namdeo, Muzzamil (guy who plays Mercy and cribs about having a shitty job), the latino hottie with a delicious figure, some firang looking dope pushers, Vidya Balan (So much hullabaloo over her miniscule guest appearance) and few more forgettable characters are there in the film, and they can be present in any other film too. The worst part of trying to create an aura around the mysterious character called Barbossa just creates frustration, like any other Abhishek movie.
Now what stands out in the film are a couple of things. Abhishek’s look and intensity on screen. In certain scenes, his face filled with anger and disgust is really likeable. For a change, he has gotten rid of his hip-hop swagger and he acts like a cop. He looks and acts tough and especially in the flea market scene where he nabs the shooters swiftly. His scene while drinking with his colleagues is also impressive and some of the dialogues that he delivered were really show stealers. He looks mean in the interrogation scene. While Bluffmaster was a film made for Abhishek, DMD doesn’t do justice to Abhishek fully and barring the scenes that I mentioned above, anyone could have done the job.
The high point of the film is its music. Leave aside the title track, the song Jiye Kyun by extremely popular Assamese pop sensation Papon (Angarag Mahanta) is a worthy composition and explores the depths and baritone of Papon’s voice. I think he was recommended by the Medival Punditz who did the background score for DMD along with Karsh Kale. Papon’s album Jonaki Raati is a hit with electronic music lovers across India. This song will sustain the tests of time. The other song “Te Amo” is already popular amongst lovers and has been climbing the charts since release. Jaana Kahan is another beautiful composition by Pritam and this time for another Assamese singer Zubeen Garg. The only misfit in the whole album is a quasi hip-hop cum rap song sung by Abhishek which he incidentally lip synced in the film and hence looked totally out of sync in the movie. Story behind the maha-controversial lyrics of Mit Jaaye Gham, I hope will be unveiled some day but till that time, I would say…the guitar riffs and the break rhythm of the original part has been treated amazingly. Despite of being a hardcore Pancham fan, I think Pritam did a good job here.
For those who dig Medival Punditz and Karsh Kale, the background music is a delight and for those who don’t, it’s time to get exposed to the masters of electronica. Such an apt background score and Goa trance played very well. Another mentionable thing here is that Amit Roy captured a new Goa in the movie, which is laced with drugs and not just the beaches where our lead actors keep frolicking, singing absurd songs in non-Goan tunes. Goa seems to be an integral part of the film and hence this one thing that remains irreplaceable.
Despite of all the issues, the film is a good entertainer. It has some really interesting conversations. The velocity of the film is worth the watch. Amazing cinematography and Rohan’s understanding of Abhishek as an actor are things to watch out for. May be Abhishek should stick to sensible directors who can do justice to his abilities and work on his shortcomings as an actor. Its time for him to realize the potential of script otherwise he will meet his “Replacement” sooner than later.
1 comment:
This leaves me confused whether to watch DMD or replace it with some other movie ;)
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