Gumnaam (1965) bills itself as “India’s first suspense
thriller.” I’m not sure that’s true. First or not, though, the film
features a strong cast, great production values, one of the finest
gratuitous musical numbers in the long and storied history of gratuitous
musical numbers, and a superb central mystery (stolen directly from
Agatha Christie, so it has to be good.) Despite all this, the movie
never quite manages to come together.
As the film opens, the nefarious Khanna (Hiralal) has just organized a drive-by murder. He promptly calls his mysterious co-conspirators with the good news and further instructions, but just when he’s placed a call to console the man’s innocent niece Asha (Nanda), a shadowy figure bursts into the room and shoots him dead, and the opening credits roll.
Time passes. After the aforementioned fantastic gratuitous dance number, seven strangers learn that they have won a free vacation abroad. A free vacation is a free vacation, so the seven, including Asha, sleazy lawyer Rakesh (Pran), slinky bad girl Miss Kitty (Helen), dour doctor Acharya (Madan Puri, Amrish Puri’s elder brother), comic relief and worst dresser in the world Dharamdas (Dhumal), bearded old guy Sharma (Barun Bose), and brutish Kishan (Manmohan), all dutifully board the plane and set off.
Shortly after takeoff, the pilot announces that they are having engine trouble and need to set down. The plane sets down on an uncharted island, and after the passengers briefly disembark, it takes off again, leaving the contest winners, along with Anand (Manoj Kumar), the co-pilot, stranded. Like all random cinematic strangers suddenly thrown into a dangerous situation together, the castaways promptly start bickering.
Soon after Anand returns from a scouting expedition and declares that he’s found no sign of human habitation, the castaways discover a mansion, complete with plenty of food and a goofy butler (Mehmood) who declares that he’s been expecting them. They also find a note left by their mysterious benefactor, declaring that the seven are all murderers, and will be murdered one by one in a variety of horrible ways.
And, bizarrely, the castaways adapt. No one even tries to leave the island. Instead the cast spend their days bickering and fishing and dancing on the beach and (in a couple of cases) falling in love, with only the occasional murder to remind them that they’re trapped on a desert island with a group of strangers, one of whom is secretly planning to murder all the rest. And that’s the film’s real fatal flaw; for a suspense thriller to be thrilling, it needs to be suspenseful, and it’s hard to treat the rampaging murderer as a credible threat when the characters don’t.
That’s not Gumnaam’s only flaw. There are enough plot holes here to fill the Albert Hall, starting with just why the villain is going to all this trouble in the first place, as well as the ongoing mystery of just what they’re doing with all those dead bodies. The basic story is sound, but it was adapted without regard for context, so the movie doesn’t quite make sense.
Gumnaam isn’t terrible. The main characters are engaging, and once the cast is thinned out a little, the survivors clash in interesting ways. Also, Helen gets a rare chance to actually act, and she’s really pretty good. Not much of a thriller, but it’s an interesting, if flawed, movie.
As the film opens, the nefarious Khanna (Hiralal) has just organized a drive-by murder. He promptly calls his mysterious co-conspirators with the good news and further instructions, but just when he’s placed a call to console the man’s innocent niece Asha (Nanda), a shadowy figure bursts into the room and shoots him dead, and the opening credits roll.
Time passes. After the aforementioned fantastic gratuitous dance number, seven strangers learn that they have won a free vacation abroad. A free vacation is a free vacation, so the seven, including Asha, sleazy lawyer Rakesh (Pran), slinky bad girl Miss Kitty (Helen), dour doctor Acharya (Madan Puri, Amrish Puri’s elder brother), comic relief and worst dresser in the world Dharamdas (Dhumal), bearded old guy Sharma (Barun Bose), and brutish Kishan (Manmohan), all dutifully board the plane and set off.
Shortly after takeoff, the pilot announces that they are having engine trouble and need to set down. The plane sets down on an uncharted island, and after the passengers briefly disembark, it takes off again, leaving the contest winners, along with Anand (Manoj Kumar), the co-pilot, stranded. Like all random cinematic strangers suddenly thrown into a dangerous situation together, the castaways promptly start bickering.
Soon after Anand returns from a scouting expedition and declares that he’s found no sign of human habitation, the castaways discover a mansion, complete with plenty of food and a goofy butler (Mehmood) who declares that he’s been expecting them. They also find a note left by their mysterious benefactor, declaring that the seven are all murderers, and will be murdered one by one in a variety of horrible ways.
And, bizarrely, the castaways adapt. No one even tries to leave the island. Instead the cast spend their days bickering and fishing and dancing on the beach and (in a couple of cases) falling in love, with only the occasional murder to remind them that they’re trapped on a desert island with a group of strangers, one of whom is secretly planning to murder all the rest. And that’s the film’s real fatal flaw; for a suspense thriller to be thrilling, it needs to be suspenseful, and it’s hard to treat the rampaging murderer as a credible threat when the characters don’t.
That’s not Gumnaam’s only flaw. There are enough plot holes here to fill the Albert Hall, starting with just why the villain is going to all this trouble in the first place, as well as the ongoing mystery of just what they’re doing with all those dead bodies. The basic story is sound, but it was adapted without regard for context, so the movie doesn’t quite make sense.
Gumnaam isn’t terrible. The main characters are engaging, and once the cast is thinned out a little, the survivors clash in interesting ways. Also, Helen gets a rare chance to actually act, and she’s really pretty good. Not much of a thriller, but it’s an interesting, if flawed, movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment