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Now that the bubbly has been poured, shall we take a reality check on what’s going on around us?
Without a doubt, Raju Hirani has his heart in the right place and combined with Aamir Khan’s effervescence 3 Idiots deserves every bit of its blockbuster status.
But in this atmosphere of celebration and overflowing coffers, may I offer a word of caution?
In the new year, when Raju goes back to the table to finish his script of Munna Bhai Chala Amrika, would he please veer back to the wonderful homespun humour we warmed up to in his first two films? It was alarming to watch bursting bladders, commode comedy and bare bottoms as the sole source of humour in 3 Idiots, with urine splashed all over from start to finish. If this is the only way writers Rajkumar Hirani and Abhajat Joshi could raise their laughs (which they did, as viewers rolled in the aisles holding their stomachs), I genuinely think the two superb writers have begun to scrape the bottom of the barrel, pardon the pun.
Also to watch out for is the repetition of the good-hearted oddball playing his antics on a campus. We’ve wholeheartedly accepted Munna Bhai and Wangdu doing pretty much the same unorthodox stuff, one in a medical school and the other in an engineering college. But remember the wisdom contained in the law of diminishing marginal utility? The same menu served over and over again could lead to a gradual loss of appetite, so be warned Raju. Thank you for all the entertainment but we’d like something different on the table the next time, please.
Sorry, I’m not finished with 3 Idiots. We’ve also had an overdose of speech impediments all over the screen (Hrithik Roshan in Koi...Mil Gaya, Shahid Kapur and Priyanka Chopra in Kaminey, Ranbir and Katrina in Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani), like an ode to Forrest Gump. Surely the Einstein-looking Boman Irani didn’t need to lisp to prove that he can act? One more actor who thinks a speech impediment is proof of his prowess will have me tearing my hair.
Anyway, with 3 Idiots, Aamir Khan has notched up another first in Hindi cinema. He is the first big hero to have smooched two sisters on the Hindi screen (Karisma in her one and only screen kiss in Raja Hindustani and Kareena Kapoor who has done it so often we’ve lost count). By the way, like Golmaal Returns rescued Kareena from a string of flops in 2008, 3 Idiots has wiped out the disastrous Kambakkht Ishqs and Kurbaans of 2009. Lucky girl, she can move into the new decade with her head held high.
January 2010 is definitely a month Anil Kapoor is looking forward to. His first-time appearance on American television in the much-watched series 24 will be telecast from January 17 and he’s there in 16 episodes. “Not bad, from Chembur to LA, huh,” he glowed. Anil Kapoor’s success is a real-life heartwarming tale because he retains his boyish enthusiasm even in his 50s. There was also a certain earthiness about Anil Kapoor as he wisecracked, “The whole world descends on Los Angeles looking for work because that’s where all the action is. It’s tough out there because everybody is looking better and is more talented than you. You find that every waiter is better looking than you!”
Anil has been lucky that he didn’t have to stand in queue in LA. Slumdog Millionaire did that for him. And there is more work coming to him in 2010, it’s only a matter of sifting and making his choice. Anil Kapoor is also sticking to his original accent when he’s working in the west. “Danny (Boyle) told me, your accent is fine, stick with it. That’s what I did for Slumdog and that’s what I’ve done for 24, the TV serial.”
Meanwhile, the West may please note what a peace-loving bunch we are. Years ago, Hindi film producer, Mohan Kumar made an immensely successful film called Avtaar with Rajesh Khanna. It was a forerunner to Ravi Chopra’s Baghban. Ever since Cameron’s promos of Avatar began being aired in August 2009, half the film industry was heard advising Mohan Kumar that he should sue James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox for flicking his title. He didn’t and the film was successfully released without a hitch. James Cameron has much to thank Mohan Kumar for.
