There have been a number of Bollywood tributes to the James
Bond films over the years, ranging from subtle visual nods and unsubtle
lifting of the theme music to full fledged homages like Mr. Bond and Miss 420. Surakksha
(1979) features the Bondiest of the Bollywood Bonds, that disco-dancing
Adonis of justice, master of disguise and fist of fury, Gunmaster G-9.
As the film opens, femme fatale Neelam (Mali Juggi) has seduced airline pilot Captain Kapoor (Suresh Oberoi), so that he will murder an unnamed professor and steal a map to a recently discovered diamond mine. He does so, and is in turn murdered by thugs in the employ of Neelam’s partner in crime, diamond merchant Hiralal (Jeevan). Before the thugs can deliver the map, though, it’s intercepted by CBI agent Jackson (Tej Sapru), who manages to hide the map before being captured by Hiralal’s minions.
And that’s where Gopi (Mithun Chakraborty), code named “Gunmaster G-9.” comes in. Gopi and his sidekick, Kabari (Jagdeep), a devout follower of Hanuman, utter coward, and all around comic relief, fly to Goa to investigate Jackson’s apparent death. Gopi travels to the cemetery and opens the coffin, only to discover that the body within is not Jackson’s. (In what may be the silliest part of an extremely silly movie, Gopi looks at the clumps of modelling clay stuck to the skeleton in the coffin and solemnly declares, “Plastic surgery!”)
Digging further, Gopi learns that Neelam and Hiralal are members of a mysterious criminal organization called SSO, which is controlled by the shadowy Doctor Shiva (K. Balaji). He also repeatedly crosses paths with Priya (Ranjeeta Kaur), daughter of the plastic surgeon who altered the body. Priya initially blames Gopi for her father’s death but ultimately can’t resist his charms.
In a lot of ways Surakksha comes off as Bond on the cheap. Rather than travel to exotic Rio, Hong Kong, and New York, Gopi’s adventure takes him to exotic Goa, Bombay, and New Delhi. It feels smaller; near the end of the movie, when Doctor Shiva invites representatives of foreign governments to see him test out his earthquake ray/weather control machine/Stock Footageinator, he specifically invites representatives from small countries, so rather than selling his machine to Russia or China, we’re left imagining such power in the hands of Lichtenstein.
Speaking of the Stock Footageinator, the special effects in Surakksha are easy to make fun of. Many of the effects, especially during the car chases, are achieved through a combination of genuinely clever editing and unconvincing miniature work, and by miniature work I mean what looks like Matchbox cars. The effects are handled well within the context of the movie, but the limitations of the approach are obvious.
One character detail lifted almost directly from the Bond movies is Gopi’s penchant for womanizing. Unfortunately, because of the different cultural context, Gopi comes off as even more of a creep than Bond does. The women Bond seduces tend to come from his world, the world of a jet-setting international playboy, and for all his faults, Bond doesn’t make promises; it’s very clear what he’s offering and what he’s asking for. G-9′s girls, on the other hand, are, with the exception of Neelam, ordinary Indian women who have to live in the social context of ordinary India, and judging by his behavior with Priya, he woos them in the standard Bollywood manner, with song numbers about love and following your heart and commitment.
In the end, Surakksha is a very good bad movie. The plot doesn’t make an awful lot of sense, but it moves along at an engaging pace, and everybody seems to be having a good time.
As the film opens, femme fatale Neelam (Mali Juggi) has seduced airline pilot Captain Kapoor (Suresh Oberoi), so that he will murder an unnamed professor and steal a map to a recently discovered diamond mine. He does so, and is in turn murdered by thugs in the employ of Neelam’s partner in crime, diamond merchant Hiralal (Jeevan). Before the thugs can deliver the map, though, it’s intercepted by CBI agent Jackson (Tej Sapru), who manages to hide the map before being captured by Hiralal’s minions.
And that’s where Gopi (Mithun Chakraborty), code named “Gunmaster G-9.” comes in. Gopi and his sidekick, Kabari (Jagdeep), a devout follower of Hanuman, utter coward, and all around comic relief, fly to Goa to investigate Jackson’s apparent death. Gopi travels to the cemetery and opens the coffin, only to discover that the body within is not Jackson’s. (In what may be the silliest part of an extremely silly movie, Gopi looks at the clumps of modelling clay stuck to the skeleton in the coffin and solemnly declares, “Plastic surgery!”)
Digging further, Gopi learns that Neelam and Hiralal are members of a mysterious criminal organization called SSO, which is controlled by the shadowy Doctor Shiva (K. Balaji). He also repeatedly crosses paths with Priya (Ranjeeta Kaur), daughter of the plastic surgeon who altered the body. Priya initially blames Gopi for her father’s death but ultimately can’t resist his charms.
In a lot of ways Surakksha comes off as Bond on the cheap. Rather than travel to exotic Rio, Hong Kong, and New York, Gopi’s adventure takes him to exotic Goa, Bombay, and New Delhi. It feels smaller; near the end of the movie, when Doctor Shiva invites representatives of foreign governments to see him test out his earthquake ray/weather control machine/Stock Footageinator, he specifically invites representatives from small countries, so rather than selling his machine to Russia or China, we’re left imagining such power in the hands of Lichtenstein.
Speaking of the Stock Footageinator, the special effects in Surakksha are easy to make fun of. Many of the effects, especially during the car chases, are achieved through a combination of genuinely clever editing and unconvincing miniature work, and by miniature work I mean what looks like Matchbox cars. The effects are handled well within the context of the movie, but the limitations of the approach are obvious.
One character detail lifted almost directly from the Bond movies is Gopi’s penchant for womanizing. Unfortunately, because of the different cultural context, Gopi comes off as even more of a creep than Bond does. The women Bond seduces tend to come from his world, the world of a jet-setting international playboy, and for all his faults, Bond doesn’t make promises; it’s very clear what he’s offering and what he’s asking for. G-9′s girls, on the other hand, are, with the exception of Neelam, ordinary Indian women who have to live in the social context of ordinary India, and judging by his behavior with Priya, he woos them in the standard Bollywood manner, with song numbers about love and following your heart and commitment.
In the end, Surakksha is a very good bad movie. The plot doesn’t make an awful lot of sense, but it moves along at an engaging pace, and everybody seems to be having a good time.
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