If I ever become a Bollywood villain with bulging eyes and a
fanatical devotion to Kali (and believe me, there are days when I am this
close,) I hope I have the good sense to avoid courting unnecessary
irony. When you believe in a goddess who is known for protecting women
and children and the poor, and especially for avenging wrongs done to
mothers, you really should be careful about how you treat the assorted
mothers who cross your path. Otherwise, you wind up like Kooka Singh,
the villain of Trimurti (1996).
Kooka (Mohan Agashe, doing a very good Amrish Puri impression) really loves the goddess. He loves her so much that he spent a great deal of money renovating the local temple. Being a villain, he now considers the temple to be his private domain, and orders his goons to keep the local populace away. However, heroic (and pregnant) policewoman Satyadevi (Priya Tendulkar) stands in his way.
Kooka has an astrologer on his payroll who gives him very useful and specific advice; none of this “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until/Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill/Shall come against him.” business; the astrologer tells Kooka, in very specific terms, that messing with Satyadevi and her family will lead to destruction. Kooka thinks he can weasel around the prediction, however, and so the conflict escalates until Kooka frames Satya for murder, and she is sent to prison.
While in prison, Satya gives birth to her third son, Romi. She instructs her brother Bhanu (Saeed Jaffrey) to take the baby to be raised by her other sons, Shakti and Anand, and to tell the boys that she has died; she very sensibly believes that the boys need to live their own life rather than devoting themselves to her vengeance. (I like this woman.)
Giving two preteen boys responsibility for raising their baby brother can lead to problems down the line. The two brothers have very different views of their situation; Shakti is fiercely traditional and moralistic, while Anand wants to improve their situation, and is willing to sell black market liquor to do so. Shakti finds out, there’s an argument, and Anand leaves home to work for Peter, one of Kooka’s henchmen. When Kooka discovers who he has working for him, he offers Peter an enormous amount of money to kill the boy, but Anand is bright and charismatic enough to convince Peter that ultimately letting him live will be a better investment.
Time passes. Anand is presumed dead (though we know he really isn’t.) Shakti (Jackie Shroff) is a truck driver in the army, still traditional and moral, and the kind of guy who will stroll into a factory that is in the process of being evacuated due to a bomb on the premises, grab the bomb, and carry around until he finds a convenient cliff to throw it off of. Shakti loves Jyoti (Guatami), but won’t marry her until he’s gotten Romi settled in life.
Romi (Shahrukh Khan) has just returned from college, and isn’t interested in anything other than his childhood sweetheart, Radha (Anjali Jathar). Since Radha’s family is rich and evil, while Shakti and Romi are poor and good, no one approves of the match and Romi is forced to use a variety of tricks in order to get into the house to see her, including resorting to unconvincing drag.
Finally, Romi convinces his brother to go to Radha’s family and formally ask for her hand. It does not go well; Shakti is casually humiliated, and the family arrange a match between Radha and the son of a rajah instead. The match is above their station, and the rajah’s family demand an exorbitant dowry, but Radha’s uncle Himmat (Tinnu Anand) has a cunning (and evil!) plan. he convinces Romi that the only way to win Radha is to become rich, and the only way to become rich in a hurry is to become a criminal. Himmat introduces Romi to Kooka’s organization, and in the process makes sure Kooka knows exactly who Romi is.
Displaying his usual foresight, Kooka takes the boy into the organization rather than, oh, shooting him. He has Romi apprenticed to the coolest of his henchmen, Sikander (Anil Kapoor). Sikander is, of course, secretly Anand and has a heart of gold. He takes Romi under his wing even before he realizes who he is, and once he makes the connection, he forges a very close bond without revealing the nature of the relationship. He also gives Romi some spectacularly bad advice about Radha that turns out very well. Soon the young lovers are united, and Shakti and Romi’s new boss are bonding. The future looks bright, as long as Shakti doesn’t find out who Sikander works for and what he does for a living.
Shakti finds out. Soon more secrets are revealed, driving a further rift between the brothers, leaving Shakti devastated and driving Romi even further into Kooka’s organization. Kooka takes Radha prisoner, and tells Romi that the price for her life is that he kill an old woman who has just been released from prison . . .
Trimurti is a very straightforward film. While it’s three hours long, a good pace is carefully maintained throughout, and it never drags. The performances of the three leads, though, really make the film. Shroff is very good as the straightforward and admirable (but not terribly bright) Shakti, and gets to display most of the angst. Shahrukh is as charming as ever as the bumbling but sweet Romi, and gets beaten up a lot. And Anil Kapoor steals the show as the dapper, brilliant, and charismatic Anand. He’s like a Bollywood Han Solo, only with a mustache and impeccable dress sense. Great performance, very entertaining movie.
Kooka (Mohan Agashe, doing a very good Amrish Puri impression) really loves the goddess. He loves her so much that he spent a great deal of money renovating the local temple. Being a villain, he now considers the temple to be his private domain, and orders his goons to keep the local populace away. However, heroic (and pregnant) policewoman Satyadevi (Priya Tendulkar) stands in his way.
Kooka has an astrologer on his payroll who gives him very useful and specific advice; none of this “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until/Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill/Shall come against him.” business; the astrologer tells Kooka, in very specific terms, that messing with Satyadevi and her family will lead to destruction. Kooka thinks he can weasel around the prediction, however, and so the conflict escalates until Kooka frames Satya for murder, and she is sent to prison.
While in prison, Satya gives birth to her third son, Romi. She instructs her brother Bhanu (Saeed Jaffrey) to take the baby to be raised by her other sons, Shakti and Anand, and to tell the boys that she has died; she very sensibly believes that the boys need to live their own life rather than devoting themselves to her vengeance. (I like this woman.)
Giving two preteen boys responsibility for raising their baby brother can lead to problems down the line. The two brothers have very different views of their situation; Shakti is fiercely traditional and moralistic, while Anand wants to improve their situation, and is willing to sell black market liquor to do so. Shakti finds out, there’s an argument, and Anand leaves home to work for Peter, one of Kooka’s henchmen. When Kooka discovers who he has working for him, he offers Peter an enormous amount of money to kill the boy, but Anand is bright and charismatic enough to convince Peter that ultimately letting him live will be a better investment.
Time passes. Anand is presumed dead (though we know he really isn’t.) Shakti (Jackie Shroff) is a truck driver in the army, still traditional and moral, and the kind of guy who will stroll into a factory that is in the process of being evacuated due to a bomb on the premises, grab the bomb, and carry around until he finds a convenient cliff to throw it off of. Shakti loves Jyoti (Guatami), but won’t marry her until he’s gotten Romi settled in life.
Romi (Shahrukh Khan) has just returned from college, and isn’t interested in anything other than his childhood sweetheart, Radha (Anjali Jathar). Since Radha’s family is rich and evil, while Shakti and Romi are poor and good, no one approves of the match and Romi is forced to use a variety of tricks in order to get into the house to see her, including resorting to unconvincing drag.
Finally, Romi convinces his brother to go to Radha’s family and formally ask for her hand. It does not go well; Shakti is casually humiliated, and the family arrange a match between Radha and the son of a rajah instead. The match is above their station, and the rajah’s family demand an exorbitant dowry, but Radha’s uncle Himmat (Tinnu Anand) has a cunning (and evil!) plan. he convinces Romi that the only way to win Radha is to become rich, and the only way to become rich in a hurry is to become a criminal. Himmat introduces Romi to Kooka’s organization, and in the process makes sure Kooka knows exactly who Romi is.
Displaying his usual foresight, Kooka takes the boy into the organization rather than, oh, shooting him. He has Romi apprenticed to the coolest of his henchmen, Sikander (Anil Kapoor). Sikander is, of course, secretly Anand and has a heart of gold. He takes Romi under his wing even before he realizes who he is, and once he makes the connection, he forges a very close bond without revealing the nature of the relationship. He also gives Romi some spectacularly bad advice about Radha that turns out very well. Soon the young lovers are united, and Shakti and Romi’s new boss are bonding. The future looks bright, as long as Shakti doesn’t find out who Sikander works for and what he does for a living.
Shakti finds out. Soon more secrets are revealed, driving a further rift between the brothers, leaving Shakti devastated and driving Romi even further into Kooka’s organization. Kooka takes Radha prisoner, and tells Romi that the price for her life is that he kill an old woman who has just been released from prison . . .
Trimurti is a very straightforward film. While it’s three hours long, a good pace is carefully maintained throughout, and it never drags. The performances of the three leads, though, really make the film. Shroff is very good as the straightforward and admirable (but not terribly bright) Shakti, and gets to display most of the angst. Shahrukh is as charming as ever as the bumbling but sweet Romi, and gets beaten up a lot. And Anil Kapoor steals the show as the dapper, brilliant, and charismatic Anand. He’s like a Bollywood Han Solo, only with a mustache and impeccable dress sense. Great performance, very entertaining movie.
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