It’s entirely possible that I have no taste. I certainly
spend a lot of time watching and writing about movies which the Indian
film-going public, the Bollywood fan community, and humanity in general
have decided are crimes against the cinema. This week, that means Jaadugar (1989), part of the string of flops that (temporarily) killed the career of superstar Amitabh Bachchan.
Shankar (Aditya Pancholi) has finished his medical training in America. he and his sassy and apparently platonic galpal Mona (Amrita Singh) arrive in the village of Dharampur, only to discover that Shankar’s father (Amrish Puri), formerly a respected if somewhat shady businessman, has become Mahaprabhu Jagatsagar Chintamani, a flamboyant guru who uses an array of magic tricks to rule over the superstitious villagers.
When he sees just how corrupt his father has become, Shankar is horrified, and decides he must take action. On the advice of Gajender (Pran), his father’s former partner in crime from the shady businessman days, Shankar travels to Mumbai to recruit the fabulous Goga (Amitabh Bachchan), the greatest magician in the world, believing that it takes a magician to catch a magician.
The two men settle on a price, and Goga agrees to come to Dharampur. At the airport, though, Goga catches sight of aspiring actress Meena (Jayapradha), and the movie is derailed by a romantic subplot which includes boorish behavior, outrageous coincidences (she’s staying in his apartment while he’s supposed to be in Dharampur!) and some truly unfortunate subtitles.
And after the romance, it’s back to Dharampur and back to work. Goga assumes a variety of wacky disguises in order to test the limits of the Mahaprabhu’s abilities, and then becomes the heavenly sage Gogeshwar in order to steal his followers and usurp his position at the ashram. Of course, what happens when the villagers start worshiping Gogeshwar is sort of an open question.
I am willing to concede that Jaadugar may very well be a terrible movie, but I enjoyed it, for two reasons. First, I am a big fan of Bollywood’s perennial supporting actors, and this movie features several of my favorites, including Pran, Bob Christo, and even a young Johnny Lever. And rather than simply recycling Mogambo or Mola Ram, Amrish Puri creates yet another memorable villain; the Mahaprabhu is certainly corrupt and evil, but he’s also a clueless dad who’s genuinely trying to make a better future for his son, and who is baffled by Shankar’s resistance.
Second, while the script is wildly uneven, the writing does include a very clever bit of sleight of hand. When everything is at its darkest, and our beleaguered heroes have no one left to turn to but God, they are saved by an apparent throwaway character who was briefly introduced at the beginning of the film, but has been offscreen for most of the intervening time. You can’t even call it a Deus Ex Machina, because it was set up almost from the beginning.
Jaadugar isn’t going to top my list of favorite movies, but I had fun. Then again, what do I know?
Shankar (Aditya Pancholi) has finished his medical training in America. he and his sassy and apparently platonic galpal Mona (Amrita Singh) arrive in the village of Dharampur, only to discover that Shankar’s father (Amrish Puri), formerly a respected if somewhat shady businessman, has become Mahaprabhu Jagatsagar Chintamani, a flamboyant guru who uses an array of magic tricks to rule over the superstitious villagers.
When he sees just how corrupt his father has become, Shankar is horrified, and decides he must take action. On the advice of Gajender (Pran), his father’s former partner in crime from the shady businessman days, Shankar travels to Mumbai to recruit the fabulous Goga (Amitabh Bachchan), the greatest magician in the world, believing that it takes a magician to catch a magician.
The two men settle on a price, and Goga agrees to come to Dharampur. At the airport, though, Goga catches sight of aspiring actress Meena (Jayapradha), and the movie is derailed by a romantic subplot which includes boorish behavior, outrageous coincidences (she’s staying in his apartment while he’s supposed to be in Dharampur!) and some truly unfortunate subtitles.
And after the romance, it’s back to Dharampur and back to work. Goga assumes a variety of wacky disguises in order to test the limits of the Mahaprabhu’s abilities, and then becomes the heavenly sage Gogeshwar in order to steal his followers and usurp his position at the ashram. Of course, what happens when the villagers start worshiping Gogeshwar is sort of an open question.
I am willing to concede that Jaadugar may very well be a terrible movie, but I enjoyed it, for two reasons. First, I am a big fan of Bollywood’s perennial supporting actors, and this movie features several of my favorites, including Pran, Bob Christo, and even a young Johnny Lever. And rather than simply recycling Mogambo or Mola Ram, Amrish Puri creates yet another memorable villain; the Mahaprabhu is certainly corrupt and evil, but he’s also a clueless dad who’s genuinely trying to make a better future for his son, and who is baffled by Shankar’s resistance.
Second, while the script is wildly uneven, the writing does include a very clever bit of sleight of hand. When everything is at its darkest, and our beleaguered heroes have no one left to turn to but God, they are saved by an apparent throwaway character who was briefly introduced at the beginning of the film, but has been offscreen for most of the intervening time. You can’t even call it a Deus Ex Machina, because it was set up almost from the beginning.
Jaadugar isn’t going to top my list of favorite movies, but I had fun. Then again, what do I know?
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