Masala Madness! DARR: A Violent Love Story For The Ages
The first question is usually get, "how did you get into Bollywood?" That answer is pretty easy. Like many of you, I've spent years seeking out films from all over the world; Asia, Europe, South America, you name it, I was trying to find the local flavor. One day it occurred to me that the one nation on Earth with the biggest film industry was completely foreign to me, so I popped in a film called Om Shanti Om and I was hooked. Since then I've been digging deeper and deeper into the cinematic culture of India. There are thousands of gems waiting to be discovered by film fans in the west, and I've only scratched the surface myself. This column seems like a good way to explain why I love these films so much, and also, a way to help answer the second question I get most often.
"I've always wanted to check out Bollywood, but there's just so much, where do I start?" Well, you can start here. I was a reader of ScreenAnarchy long before I was a writer for the site, so I think I have a pretty good grip on what we like. The films I feature in Masala Madness will be the best, craziest, most absurd and/or best of Indian cinema. Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood, they'll all be represented here. I'll try to seek out the best of all of the industries, and highlight independent films when appropriate. India cranks out upwards of eight hundred films every year, so I know it can be intimidating, but let me be your guide, and I'll help make the impossibly overwhelming a bit more doable. If you're avoiding Indian cinema, you're missing out on a wealth of fantastic film, and I can't have that.
I'm starting off with one of my favorite Bollywood films of the very fruitful '90s, Darr. This film has everything, and it is a perfect example of why I love Indian cinema. These reviews will be peppered with editorializing, photos, video clips, and less than formal writing, but I hope that I can convey the joy that Darr gives me. Enough explanation, ladies and gentlemen, I bring you DARR: A Violent Love Story!
Kiran (Juhi Chawla) is a college girl who is on her way home for Holi break one year when she hears a man serenading her across her campus in Simla. Her heart swells as she assumes that her boyfriend, Sunil (Sunny Deol), has come to meet her and escort her home. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't Sunil, but Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan), a classmate with an overdeveloped crush on her. This opening number, Jaadu Teri Nazar, sets the tone for Darr, in which Rahul pursues Kiran with increasingly desperate vigor, much to the chagrin of Kiran, Sunil, and her brother Vijay (Anupam Kher) and his wife Poonam (Tanvi Azmi) which whom Kiran lives. Jaadu Teri Nazar is a beautiful song, which is part of the reason it is so creepy when sung to the confused Kiran on her campus. However, those keeping a close eye on the lyrics will be able to tell that they are in for a ride...
Kiran boards the train back home, disappointed that her Sunil didn't show up to escort her, but we soon learn why. Sunil is a Navy hero, a proper badass, and to illustrate this point, he's sent on a mission to free a child hostage from some unnamed terrorists on the high seas. With the help of a badass doo-rag, a couple of guns, and a big fucking knife, Sunil manages to take out at least a dozen machine-gun toting terrorists without breaking a sweat. His actions are accompanied by some tasty guitar licks and and a couple dozen lackies who appear to be attached to this mission solely to cheer Sunil on. The end result is that Sunil is put forward as the ultimate macho man for whom a pesky little thing like a stalker should be a piece of cake, and watching this video, you can see why...
When Kiran reaches her brother's home, she is immediately accosted by a flashlight wielding Rahul, who stops her from entering with what will become his signature line, "I love you, K-k-k-k-k-kiran". That terrifying stutter becomes Rahul's calling card, literally, as he continues stalking her over the phone, causing much stress among the family. In order to calm her nerves, Sunil takes Kiran out to visit the small home which has has bought for them to live in once they are married. For Sunil and Kiran, marriage is the solution, because no stalker could possibly be crazy enough to continue making threatening phone calls after the object of his affection is off the market, right? As ludicrous as that may sound, the idea is quite comforting to Kiran, who bursts into song at the new crib with a tune all about fucking titled, Darwaza Band Kar Lo, which is all about getting it on but forgetting to close the door.
Rahul longs to be close to Kiran by any means necessary, and constantly schemes to make that happen. When he learns that her family will be celebrating Holi at their home with some friends, he decides to crash the party incognito as a member of the band. The only problem with this plan is that his demeanor as the hammers away on the dhol is clearly 180 degrees away from everyone else in the place. This scene has come to be known as "The Angry Dholi" sequence of Darr in my house, and with good reason. The song begins without a band in sight, but Rahul's troupe shows up pretty quickly, and his angry face is fucking INTENSE. I'm a sucker for a good Holi song, and this is one of the better ones, along with the very similarly stylized Rang Barse from Silsila, but, for now, I give you, Ang Se Ang Lagana...
They don't show it in this video, but after the song, Sunil prompts Kiran to go offer the band a few rupees for their performance, at which point Rahul, disguised in Holi colors and with an unshaven face, creeps Kiran out with one of his "I love you, K-k-k-k-kiran" outbursts. Kiran shrieks and sends Sunil off to take care of this hooligan who has invaded their home, which leads to a fantastic foot chase for which I could not find a Youtube video, however, lucky for me, Rahul was just beginning to bring the crazy.
When Rahul hears that Sunil and Kiran are engaged, he doesn't take the news well. One day when they are out ring shopping, Rahul takes a shot at Sunil from what he believes to be a safe distance. Unfortunately for Rahul, he misses, and their are, once again, off to the races in one of my favorite cinematic chase scenes from any film, ever.
Of course, up until now Sunil and Kiran's relationship is a chaste one, no sex before marriage here! However, once they've taken their seventh trip around the fire, it's time to get it on! But wait, we haven't forgotten about the lovelorn Rahul, and nor has he forgotten about his beloved Kiran, in fact, in the interim he's been talking to his mother on the phone about the lovely girl he's going to take for his bride. Oh, did I mention his mother has been dead for 18 years? Yeah, so there's that. Rahul has 8 foot photographs of Kiran projected on every wall of his bedroom at home, and he sings to them, he puts lipstick on them, and he promises her that whether she likes it or not she will be his.
In order to get as far away from the drama as possible, Sunil has taken Kiran on a surprise honeymoon to the most Bollywood of all places, Switzerland. The land of good chocolate and precise timepieces has long been a staple of Bollywood romance, and it is no stranger to see a couple frolicking among the flowers in the Alps than it is to see them in their native land. Once the happy couple lands, they decide it's finally time to loosen up and have some fun. What better way to have fun than to take a nice relaxing swim...
Oh Sunil, you're such a kidder. There's certainly no better way to relax a woman in fear for her life from a faceless stalker than to scare her shitless by fake-drowning her in the hotel pool! You definitely have her number, that's for sure. So, by way of thanks, Kiran decides to reward him with a sexy little striptease after she catches Sunil watching the strip scene in 9 1/2 Weeks on TV. Miraculously, Kiran appears to be wearing more clothes at the end of her striptease than she was at the beginning, but I suppose it is all about the mystery, right?
While the happy couple has been off forgetting their woes, Rahul has been back at home trying to figure out where exactly they went. He befriends Kiran's brother and through some rather devious means he learns of their honeymoon in the Alps and decides to join them. When he turns up at their hotel, he is surprised to find that Kiran recognizes him from school and welcomes him to join in some of the festivities. His identity safe so far, Rahul decides to take a chance and ask Kiran to dance, a request to which she happily acquiesces, resulting in the most famous piece of music from the film, the delightfully creepy Tu Mere Samne. On its own the song is simply an upbeat romantic tune, but when you realize it is sung from the point of view of a murderous crazed stalker fantasizing about the object of his obsession it takes a distinctly icky turn. As the voices of Udit Narayan and Lata Mangeshkar echo through the Alps, we are treated to a stunning array of vistas, not to mention the remarkable wardrobe for this song which includes at least a dozen beautiful gowns for Kiran, one knee-length Betty Boop sweater, and Rahul's eye-melting technicolor dreamblouse that has come to be known in my home simply as "The Shirt".
Soon after this little number, Sunil begins to get suspicious and starts to question Rahul's alibi for appearing unannounced in Switzerland. Obviously, once he finds the truth, there will be no police called, Sunil is out for blood. Rahul messed with his woman, and Top Gun will be having none of it. Thus begins the final battle. Rahul takes off but Sunil catches up with him in the forest where they go at it. Surprisingly, Rahul is able to get the jump on him and leaves Sunil for dead before abducting Kiran on a boat and forcing her to marry him in a Cape Fear sized maelstrom. Luckily for Kiran, Sunil comes back from the dead and takes care of Rahul with a few choices throws and a couple of gunshots. All is well, the end.
To read my description, you might not think much of this film, but it is so incredibly good, that my words can only hope to do it justice. Darr is a milestone in many careers, and one that everyone involved can look back on with pride. The film has everything a Bollywood masala feature needs to succeed. It has strong leads, fantastic songs, beautiful locations, action, romance, violence, and plenty of sex and blood.
The success of Darr helped to turn Shah Rukh Khan into Bollywood's biggest star, and began a run of mega-hit collaborations between Khan and Yash Raj films that includes Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and a new film coming in 2013. Khan's lovelorn Rahul was a strange character in that he elicited more sympathy from viewers as a starstruck, sad, lonely boy in love than Sunil's hero did. This was among Khan's final villain roles in the '90s before he took on the mantle of full-fledged film hero. Khan's success was a big bummer for Sunny Deol, who was supposed to be the sympathetic character, but Deol's wooden delivery and inability to emote sunk his performance in Darr, leaving him stuck in action films over the next couple of decades.
Juhi Chawla as Kiran has never looked more beautiful than she did in Darr, and it marked the first of many collaborations with Shah Rukh Khan. None of the subsequent films with Khan were anywhere near as successful as Darr, but their relationship from Darr forward was strong enough that they formed a joint production company which had little success with it's first two films, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, and the period epic, Asoka, but hit paydirt with Chalte Chalte, starring Khan and Rani Mukherjee. She went on to a very successful career in Bollywood thorughout the '90s and early 2000's. Unfortunately, India is even less tolerant of casting middle aged women as leads than Hollywood, and now that she is in her mid-forties, she rarely appears on screen anymore.
Darr is a brilliant film than anyone can enjoy, and is easily among my top five favorite Hindi films of the '90s. It may not be the craziest, it is actually very well put together and avoids some of the more hyperbolic Indian action I'll tackle later in the column, but it is certainly one of the most engaging and entertaining films I've seen from India. Darr is also very easy to find, as the film is available via the streaming service Mela, on Youtube for a small rental fee, and also on Netflix streaming in the US. Pretty much everyone has access to one of those, I'd think, and if not, just buy the damn thing, Bollywood DVDs are super cheap. I will, however, suggest that if you want the full experience, Yash Raj released Darr on Blu-ray earlier this year and it is a stunning disc, well worth owning.
I hope this encourages some of you to dip your toes into the Indian cinematic ocean. I know it is far and wide, but if you take it one step at a time, you'll be swimming like a fish in no time. Go watch DARR!
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