In Dance Party (1995), Shakti Kapoor plays Rocky, a pop
star with a tragic past and his own private island. Rocky’s beloved
girlfriend Julie died because of drugs. We know it was drugs because
the movie tells us so; she doesn’t die of an overdose, she just
collapses onstage after a spirited dance number, and the doctors shake
their heads sadly and say, “drugs.” Julie lives just long enough to
make Rocky promise not to give up his music, and to keep on crusading
against drugs. She lives just long enough for a heartfelt “Gee, I wish I
hadn’t become a drug addict,” and then expires.
Rocky’s plan for honoring Julie’s memory and combating the spread of drug addiction is to invite a chosen handful of wholesome Indian teenagers to a three day dance party on Rocky Island. (I’m not sure how this is supposed to help, but Rocky seems to think it will help, and who am I to argue? The island has a pool, at the very least, and it’s a proven fact that nothing keeps teenagers off drugs better than a swimming pool.)
One of the wholesome teenagers invited is Sanju (Raman Trikha), layabout son of wealthy businessman Rajaram (Tiku Talsania). On the way to the party, Sanju meets and falls for the extremely wholesome Sweety (Aakruti). Along the way, Sanju and Sweety are attacked by goons in the employ of Peter “the Cheater” (Anand Balraj), a fashion photographer and drug lord with a grudge against Sanju’s father. Just when all hope seems lost, a mysterious man dressed as Zorro rides to the rescue and saves the young lovers. (The mystery man is obviously Rocky, and it wasn’t until very late in the film that I realized that the other characters didn’t know that. Even apart from the fact that it’s obviously Shakti Kapoor behind the mask, they’re on Rocky Island, and most private celebrity resorts don’t have enough of a crime problem to warrant a full time superhero on staff.)
Sweety has a rival for Sanju’s affections. Poison (Deepshika) is rather less wholesome than the other youth on the island, and has an unspecified connection to the nefarious Peter, but she has known Sanju for years and isn’t about to let some Jenny-Come-Lately stand in her way. She’s also not about to let Sanju’s complete indifference stand in her way, and after failing in all her efforts to attract him, she lures him to the poolside and drugs his drink. Since this is a movie, he hallucinates that she is Sweety, and we have a dance number which ends with the two of them in a compromising situation just as the real Sweety arrives.
It’s clear that the makers of Dance Party didn’t have a lot of money to work with; Shakti Kapoor is the film’s big name star, after all. This is a cheap film, with bad dancing and a plot that makes very little sense. What the film does have, though, is conviction, and dedication to its message; drugs will kill you! Nobody involved seems to know exactly how the drugs will kill you, but the film doesn’t let that stand in its way. There’s a relentless naivety to the whole proceeding; most films which deal with the drug trade are not so wholesome,. While this isn’t a good movie by any stretch of the imagination, I found it hard not to like.
On the other hand, does this man look like a beloved pop idol to you?
Rocky’s plan for honoring Julie’s memory and combating the spread of drug addiction is to invite a chosen handful of wholesome Indian teenagers to a three day dance party on Rocky Island. (I’m not sure how this is supposed to help, but Rocky seems to think it will help, and who am I to argue? The island has a pool, at the very least, and it’s a proven fact that nothing keeps teenagers off drugs better than a swimming pool.)
One of the wholesome teenagers invited is Sanju (Raman Trikha), layabout son of wealthy businessman Rajaram (Tiku Talsania). On the way to the party, Sanju meets and falls for the extremely wholesome Sweety (Aakruti). Along the way, Sanju and Sweety are attacked by goons in the employ of Peter “the Cheater” (Anand Balraj), a fashion photographer and drug lord with a grudge against Sanju’s father. Just when all hope seems lost, a mysterious man dressed as Zorro rides to the rescue and saves the young lovers. (The mystery man is obviously Rocky, and it wasn’t until very late in the film that I realized that the other characters didn’t know that. Even apart from the fact that it’s obviously Shakti Kapoor behind the mask, they’re on Rocky Island, and most private celebrity resorts don’t have enough of a crime problem to warrant a full time superhero on staff.)
Sweety has a rival for Sanju’s affections. Poison (Deepshika) is rather less wholesome than the other youth on the island, and has an unspecified connection to the nefarious Peter, but she has known Sanju for years and isn’t about to let some Jenny-Come-Lately stand in her way. She’s also not about to let Sanju’s complete indifference stand in her way, and after failing in all her efforts to attract him, she lures him to the poolside and drugs his drink. Since this is a movie, he hallucinates that she is Sweety, and we have a dance number which ends with the two of them in a compromising situation just as the real Sweety arrives.
It’s clear that the makers of Dance Party didn’t have a lot of money to work with; Shakti Kapoor is the film’s big name star, after all. This is a cheap film, with bad dancing and a plot that makes very little sense. What the film does have, though, is conviction, and dedication to its message; drugs will kill you! Nobody involved seems to know exactly how the drugs will kill you, but the film doesn’t let that stand in its way. There’s a relentless naivety to the whole proceeding; most films which deal with the drug trade are not so wholesome,. While this isn’t a good movie by any stretch of the imagination, I found it hard not to like.
On the other hand, does this man look like a beloved pop idol to you?
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