Mumbai is often accused of producing escapist cinema. There’s a
very good reason for that, or course; they do. Not all the time, but
for every Maqbool, you get a dozen Main Hoon Na’s.
And really, there’s not a thing wrong with that. Escapism has its
place, and that place is very often in my DVD player. Which brings me
to this week’s film, Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi (2005). The title roughly translates as “Life Should Be This Way,” and it is every bit as fluffy as it sounds.
Adi (Shahid Kapoor, doing his best Shahrukh impression) presides over one of those huge blended families you see in Bollywood from time to time. One brother died in a plane crash, and another (Mohnish Bahl) has been driven to drink by financial failure, so Adi is responsible for an indeterminate number of children, as well as dialysis for Dadi (Suhasani Mali) and the dowry for his sister Anjali (Radhika Apte). Adi is somehow able to support the entire family in their huge bungalow by working at a garage. Still, he is a trained automotive engineer, and apparently a brilliant one, as the solar powered car he designs is not only faster than a gasoline powered car, but manages to run without any visible solar panels. Adi expects that selling the design will solve all the family’s money woes, and he’s probably rights, as the design shown would end all energy problems worldwide. Still, the family is absurdly happy and loving, and the only apparent fly in the ointment is Priya (the reliably gorgeous Amrita Rao), the nanny/tutor, who has a crush on Adi. Still, with a little prodding from the family, even this potential complication is soon transformed into a sunny romance, and all is apparently well.
All isn’t well, really. There are at least four nefarious plots being conducted in the background, the most important involving a wicked uncle (Prem Chopra) planning to sell the family home to an insane land developer (Sharat Saxena). But before anyone’s evil schemes can come to fruition, Adi is killed while saving one of the children from an oncoming car. And the movie really begins.
Adi’s soul is collected by Yamaraj (Sanjay Dutt), the god of death. Instead of the traditional dhoti and buffalo, he has a suit and (awesome) flying car. Because Yamaraj is so softhearted, Adi talks him into letting him return as a ghost for seven days, with five minutes of corporeal existence at the end to say goodbye and clear up loose ends.
So Adi is sent back, accompanied by a recently deceased boy named Shakti (who I was convinced was an orphan throughout the film, until he mentioned his parents just before the end.) Adi and Shakti float around as ghosts and witness just how serious the threats facing Adi’s family are. Of course, as ghosts, they’re powerless to intervene. Fortunately, while wandering the streets despondent, they encounter the obligatory medium.
Even more fortunately, the medium in question isn’t Whoopi Goldberg, he’s Arshad Warsi, and rather than acting on behalf of the ghosts he helps them perform a ritual (and dance routine, complete with a chorus line of wizened sages) to beseech Hanuman to grant them supernatural powers (because, as the medium explains, Hanuman is “the father of Superman, Batman, and Spiderman.” This actually makes a little bit of sense in context.) Hanuman is pleased and grants the ghosts superpowers, the ability to affect the physical world, and a nifty black wardrobe. And from there, the movie practically writes itself. Cute kids, ghosts playing pranks on the villains, and the occasional chat with Yamaraj just to liven things up.
With a film this light, one doesn’t expect brilliant nuanced acting, and one is not disappointed. The cast all perform well, but no one is doing anything here that they haven’t done many times before in other movies. Yamaraj in particular is based very closely on Dutt’s well-polished “Gangster with a heart of gold” persona, and it’s an excellent fit.
The writing, on the other hand, is sometimes sloppy. There are no major plot holes, but Adi and Shakti spend a lot of time playing around for ghosts on a strict deadline. Some scenes were clearly added to set up a punchline rather than advance the plot. Still, the film is so fluffy and inoffensive that it’s hard to worry too much about plotting.
As the title indicates, this is pure escapism. The world isn’t perfect, but the villains are dumb, legal disputes can be settled by tickling, and Death himself is a sucker for a sob story (and the occasional bottle of whiskey.) I don’t know if life really should be like that; certainly the major complications in my life come with wonderful people attached, and I wouldn’t trade them away for anything. But it’s a world that I am very happy to visit from time to time.
Adi (Shahid Kapoor, doing his best Shahrukh impression) presides over one of those huge blended families you see in Bollywood from time to time. One brother died in a plane crash, and another (Mohnish Bahl) has been driven to drink by financial failure, so Adi is responsible for an indeterminate number of children, as well as dialysis for Dadi (Suhasani Mali) and the dowry for his sister Anjali (Radhika Apte). Adi is somehow able to support the entire family in their huge bungalow by working at a garage. Still, he is a trained automotive engineer, and apparently a brilliant one, as the solar powered car he designs is not only faster than a gasoline powered car, but manages to run without any visible solar panels. Adi expects that selling the design will solve all the family’s money woes, and he’s probably rights, as the design shown would end all energy problems worldwide. Still, the family is absurdly happy and loving, and the only apparent fly in the ointment is Priya (the reliably gorgeous Amrita Rao), the nanny/tutor, who has a crush on Adi. Still, with a little prodding from the family, even this potential complication is soon transformed into a sunny romance, and all is apparently well.
All isn’t well, really. There are at least four nefarious plots being conducted in the background, the most important involving a wicked uncle (Prem Chopra) planning to sell the family home to an insane land developer (Sharat Saxena). But before anyone’s evil schemes can come to fruition, Adi is killed while saving one of the children from an oncoming car. And the movie really begins.
Adi’s soul is collected by Yamaraj (Sanjay Dutt), the god of death. Instead of the traditional dhoti and buffalo, he has a suit and (awesome) flying car. Because Yamaraj is so softhearted, Adi talks him into letting him return as a ghost for seven days, with five minutes of corporeal existence at the end to say goodbye and clear up loose ends.
So Adi is sent back, accompanied by a recently deceased boy named Shakti (who I was convinced was an orphan throughout the film, until he mentioned his parents just before the end.) Adi and Shakti float around as ghosts and witness just how serious the threats facing Adi’s family are. Of course, as ghosts, they’re powerless to intervene. Fortunately, while wandering the streets despondent, they encounter the obligatory medium.
Even more fortunately, the medium in question isn’t Whoopi Goldberg, he’s Arshad Warsi, and rather than acting on behalf of the ghosts he helps them perform a ritual (and dance routine, complete with a chorus line of wizened sages) to beseech Hanuman to grant them supernatural powers (because, as the medium explains, Hanuman is “the father of Superman, Batman, and Spiderman.” This actually makes a little bit of sense in context.) Hanuman is pleased and grants the ghosts superpowers, the ability to affect the physical world, and a nifty black wardrobe. And from there, the movie practically writes itself. Cute kids, ghosts playing pranks on the villains, and the occasional chat with Yamaraj just to liven things up.
With a film this light, one doesn’t expect brilliant nuanced acting, and one is not disappointed. The cast all perform well, but no one is doing anything here that they haven’t done many times before in other movies. Yamaraj in particular is based very closely on Dutt’s well-polished “Gangster with a heart of gold” persona, and it’s an excellent fit.
The writing, on the other hand, is sometimes sloppy. There are no major plot holes, but Adi and Shakti spend a lot of time playing around for ghosts on a strict deadline. Some scenes were clearly added to set up a punchline rather than advance the plot. Still, the film is so fluffy and inoffensive that it’s hard to worry too much about plotting.
As the title indicates, this is pure escapism. The world isn’t perfect, but the villains are dumb, legal disputes can be settled by tickling, and Death himself is a sucker for a sob story (and the occasional bottle of whiskey.) I don’t know if life really should be like that; certainly the major complications in my life come with wonderful people attached, and I wouldn’t trade them away for anything. But it’s a world that I am very happy to visit from time to time.
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