January 07, 2007

Bhagam Bhag - just what the doctor precribed

What was that?!
Thank god I checked my brain at the entrance (a security measure I took up for watching all Priyadarshan movies nowadays). Priyadarshan and I share a love/hate relation. I love Virasat. What I thought of Kyon Ki you can read
here. And I can, lets say, tolerate Hulchul and Garam Masala.
Last sunday marked the end of my waaaaay to long filmi dry spell. Yes. I know. Sorry. I wrote that I already would be back by last week. But that was before three of my staff opted out of the remodeling of our Film/Animation/Webdesign Student Lab and so I spent the last of my holiday vacation weeks removing drywall, building workstations and rewiring our network. And had another reason to fall flat on my bed each night without watching any movies. Not one film between Dec.18th and Jan.7th!

So by Sunday I was willing to take any chance to get back to meri nice shiny filmi ke duniya. And if it meant watching Bahgam Bhag. Good thing I did. What didn´t we laugh.

Indian theatre company led by Paresh Rawal gets an engagement in London.













Choti problem hai. The testosterone overdosed heroes (Akshay "I´m in dire need of a shave" Kumar and Govinda) of said company scared away the heroine. Not a big problem it seems though. London, as we all know, hosts a fairly big desi community and somewhere there eki nai khoobsurat ladki should easily be found. You´d think.













First obstacle. The heroes, who of course fight each other for everything from girls to roles, get in each others way constantly. Second, the word heroine resembles the word heroin. Enter Sharat Saxena and Manoj Joshi. And London Policewala Jackie "Woohoo" Shroff.













Third, in their pursuit of their still nonexistent heroine they find the wrath of Shakti Kapoor and Razzak Khan and their very strange gang of thugs. One positive aspect though, while angering these guys Akshay also encounters a very beautiful, if fairly suicidal, Lara Dutta.













Who of course is A) perfect heroine material and B) not who she pretends to be. Btw. somewhere on the line we also have Arbaaz Khan coming in as the husband of Lara and then we can finally start with the story. And our guys can start to bhag.
The storyline starting with the intermission actually could work as a nice episode of "
Murder, She Wrote". Only a slightly bit more chaotic. And hysterical. And loud. And ultra. And weird. And so very much away from a realistic story. Whatever.













Everybody and their grandmother turned up in this film. Whenever you thought, ok, now we have 3 storylines and 7 main characters another one (of either) turned up. Bahut masti.
My biggest regret is that Govinda had so little to do. And dance. I hope he´ll get more significant screentime in Salaam-E-Ishq. Bhagam Bhag is clearly an Akshay Kumar solo vehicle.













Which in itself is not a very bad thing, especially since he´s good here. But as one can see in the absolutely hilarious climax there are so many deserving characters and storylines in this film, there just was no prominent screentime left for anybody else but him.

So you´re looking for a well thought out and stringent executed storyline? Don´t. Watch. However if you you´re game for a totally crazy comedy with over-the-top overacting and stupid jokes, check your brain at the entrance and enjoy the ride.
Even lame jokes work if they come in rapid fire succession. Especially if they are shouted at you by a hysterical Akshay Kumar. Kasam se.














PS: See, that movie has so many people in it I forgot one I really liked. Rajpal Yadav. Very cool taxiwala. Whose life would be so much easier if he was a few inches taller.














PPS: All pictures courtesy of the films official website.

13 comments:

Beth Loves Bollywood said...

This sounds fun! I have a similarly mixed relationship with the director (although I Hulchul a lot). And I've been waiting for a good heroine/heroin joke for aaaages - I think I saw that mistake in a subtitle somewhere and knew someone would put it to good use. You know, I don't tend to like Govinda much, but something about how he looks in this movie is already drawing me into his character.

Anyhoo, welcome back! You were missed.

DC said...

Nice review. I'm am eagerly trying to return to my own "filmi ke duniya"!

Aparna said...

Yay...finally a fun review of Bhagam Bhag!
I liked the movie though my hubby, who is also my partner in watching movies, did not.
A few observations:
1. Lara looked good, almost every frame
2. Akshay should shave, he would look much better and ruffled
3. Govinda needs to lose some weight, specially with Akshay and Lara around
4. Paresh Rawal should have been used some more

Welcome back, and to quote Beth - you were missed!

Beth Loves Bollywood said...

Note to self: Hulchul is a movie title, not a verb.

Anonymous said...

I could only watch it for 30 minutes. Was really bad for my taste. Sorry guys.

babasko said...

@007: LOL. Believe me, even if it sounds different in my post, I can totally understand that.

Maja said...

I thought I might watch this, but it premiered after I'd already gone home for the holidays, so I missed it. But I saw the trailer before Kabul Express and it made me laugh quite a few times, even though it wasn't even subtitled! I guess that leaves Salaam-E-Ishq as my introduction to Govinda, I'm looking forward to it.

What does 'Bhagam Bhag' mean? I know I've heard 'bhag' in a movie before, but I don't remember what the subtitles said.

babasko said...

Bhag is the imperative of run or flee.
Bhagam Bhag might (and I´m by far not sure about it) mean something like "run fast, head over heels like"

Anonymous said...

Guru reviews from people who saw it in Dubai and NZ are on naachgaana.com

Everyone said it's a great movie and Abhishek's performance is out of this world.

Babasko: Are you planning to watch Guru soon. I am going to watch it tonight in NY.

Maja said...

Thanks babasko!
Ooh great news about Guru, I'm so excited about it but I won't have time to watch it until next week :( Lucky you, 007!

Anonymous said...

hi babasko,
first time reader.Saw the sidharth pic on top of the page& read the nuvvustanante nenvodhanthaana review.Am guessing u r a sidharth fan.
I too dont speak the language but enjoy telugu movies.If u thought sidharth was cute, check out the handsome hunk prabhas in the movie 'VARSHAM'(am guessing u havent seen the movie yet).It is one of those feel good love stories. Trisha is the heroine.Cant get over the guy, ever since i saw the movie.The guy acts prettty well, too.Check out the movie if u have the time.The name of the movie"nee vusthananthe nenvodhanthaana" was taken from a song in the movie varsham.

Anonymous said...

hi babasko,
it is me again. read 1 of your comments asking for suggestions for malayalam movies."MANICHITHRATHAAZHU" is a good malayalam movie to start with.It has been remade into all the other south indian languages like tamil, telugu and kannada and now it is being remade into hindi by priyadarshan.I have watched the original version in malayalam. The beautiful lead actress shobana in all her glory in this movie, that won her a national award for the best female actress of the year.
It is a suspense thriller, so doesn't wanna give away the story. The beginning of the movie is a bit ordinary,but then it gains momentum and the spectacular climax sequences r breath taking.
So check out "manichithrathaazhu" if u got time.U wont regret it.

babasko said...

@007: Buhuuu, I don´t think I will get a chance to see Guru before it comes out on DVD. So far there is no word on any theatrical release here. And means waiting. Sigh. But I´m curious as hell. Did you like it? And the newly engaged couple?

@rain: Welcome. Vanakam. Namaste.
Yup. I think Siddarth is a cutie, with a lot of potential (e.g.Aayutha Ezhuthu)but Prabhas hmmm looks nice. Will need to give him a chance. But first in line is Surya at the moment.LOL
And thanx for the malayalam suggestion. goes straight to my list.