I discovered Shikari (1963) through a link on the excellent Bollywood blog Memsaab Story. The film is not available on DVD yet, but follow the link above and you can watch the movie online and subtitled.
So what’s it about? For the first half of the film, Shikari is a straightforward remake of, or possibly sequel to, King Kong. Circus owner Jagdish (Madan Puri, Amrish Puri’s older brother) is concerned about competition from the newfangled “circus on ice” that’s moved into town. After checking out the competition (we’re treated to about five minutes of ice capade stock footage, and it’s even more boring than it sounds) Jagdish and his partner Kapoor decide that the best way to revitalize their own circus would be to capture the legendary King Kong, also known as Otango, and bring him back to Bombay.
(I get the impression that the monster is actually named Otango, and everybody calls him King Kong because he’s, well, a giant gorilla. Which would mean that the characters in Shikari have heard of King Kong; either they saw the movie, or this film is an unofficial sequel to the original. Either way, you’d think someone would point out that historically giant apes make poor performing animals.)
Jagdish and Kapoor recruit Doctor Sharma, a famous scientist with a silly beard and a tendency to shout “Idiotic!” and, accompanied by Kapoor’s daughter Rita (Ragini) and stowaway clown and alleged comic relief Chandu, the group set off for the jungles of . . . Malaysia, maybe? It’s hard to tell, and when Rita joins the locals in a dance number in front of a giant totem pole it quickly becomes clear that our heroes have arrived in darkest Madeupistan.
During a river crossing, Rita is swept away from the group, only to be rescued by handsome plantation owner Ajit (Ajit). This is fortunate, since they were hoping to find Ajit and convince him to support their expedition anyway. By the time the group is reunited, Ajit and Rita are thoroughly smitten with one another, so he immediately agrees to help. Jagdish, however, is not happy; he’s had his eye on Rita for quite some time.
As the group moves deeper into the jungle, they fight off some unruly tribesmen, dangle over a pit of bubble-gum pink lava, and catch a brief glimpse of Otango himself. And then the plot takes a sharp left turn; rather than the expected dinosaurs and giant spiders, the group become the guests of the nefarious Doctor Cyclops (K.N. Singh) and his beautiful daughter Shoba (a very young Helen, dressed as a Swiss milkmaid for reasons unknown). The dialogue, along with the Doctor’s talent for shrinking people, certainly implies that this is the Doctor Cyclops from the 1940 movie, though if that’s the case he’s had Lasik surgery and broadened his scientific interests; he created Otango, and is now seeking to turn men into beasts and beasts into men.
For a giant monster movie, Shikari has a disappointing lack of giant monsters. Apart from a brief appearance by a chained dinosaur-rat-thing, Otango is the only giant monster on display, and until his climactic rampage, he’s a background threat. Our heroes spend much more time dealing with the villages Otango has trampled than they do dealing with the great ape himself.
Given a limited budget and an unconvincing ape costume, limiting the screentime for Otango makes sense. It makes for a very different movie, however. King Kong is the tragic,savage, but majestic monarch of a land that time forgot. Otango, on the other hand, is a mindless rampaging monster that needs to be put down. In the end, it’s clear that it was not beauty that killed the beast, it was the fall.
Still, if you’re looking for a cheesy movie to watch, rather than a movie to write a paper about, you could do a lot worse than Shikari. It’s bizarre fun. Helen and Ragini’s psychadelic dance-off in an imaginary mushroom forest is worth the price of admission by itself.
So what’s it about? For the first half of the film, Shikari is a straightforward remake of, or possibly sequel to, King Kong. Circus owner Jagdish (Madan Puri, Amrish Puri’s older brother) is concerned about competition from the newfangled “circus on ice” that’s moved into town. After checking out the competition (we’re treated to about five minutes of ice capade stock footage, and it’s even more boring than it sounds) Jagdish and his partner Kapoor decide that the best way to revitalize their own circus would be to capture the legendary King Kong, also known as Otango, and bring him back to Bombay.
(I get the impression that the monster is actually named Otango, and everybody calls him King Kong because he’s, well, a giant gorilla. Which would mean that the characters in Shikari have heard of King Kong; either they saw the movie, or this film is an unofficial sequel to the original. Either way, you’d think someone would point out that historically giant apes make poor performing animals.)
Jagdish and Kapoor recruit Doctor Sharma, a famous scientist with a silly beard and a tendency to shout “Idiotic!” and, accompanied by Kapoor’s daughter Rita (Ragini) and stowaway clown and alleged comic relief Chandu, the group set off for the jungles of . . . Malaysia, maybe? It’s hard to tell, and when Rita joins the locals in a dance number in front of a giant totem pole it quickly becomes clear that our heroes have arrived in darkest Madeupistan.
During a river crossing, Rita is swept away from the group, only to be rescued by handsome plantation owner Ajit (Ajit). This is fortunate, since they were hoping to find Ajit and convince him to support their expedition anyway. By the time the group is reunited, Ajit and Rita are thoroughly smitten with one another, so he immediately agrees to help. Jagdish, however, is not happy; he’s had his eye on Rita for quite some time.
As the group moves deeper into the jungle, they fight off some unruly tribesmen, dangle over a pit of bubble-gum pink lava, and catch a brief glimpse of Otango himself. And then the plot takes a sharp left turn; rather than the expected dinosaurs and giant spiders, the group become the guests of the nefarious Doctor Cyclops (K.N. Singh) and his beautiful daughter Shoba (a very young Helen, dressed as a Swiss milkmaid for reasons unknown). The dialogue, along with the Doctor’s talent for shrinking people, certainly implies that this is the Doctor Cyclops from the 1940 movie, though if that’s the case he’s had Lasik surgery and broadened his scientific interests; he created Otango, and is now seeking to turn men into beasts and beasts into men.
For a giant monster movie, Shikari has a disappointing lack of giant monsters. Apart from a brief appearance by a chained dinosaur-rat-thing, Otango is the only giant monster on display, and until his climactic rampage, he’s a background threat. Our heroes spend much more time dealing with the villages Otango has trampled than they do dealing with the great ape himself.
Given a limited budget and an unconvincing ape costume, limiting the screentime for Otango makes sense. It makes for a very different movie, however. King Kong is the tragic,savage, but majestic monarch of a land that time forgot. Otango, on the other hand, is a mindless rampaging monster that needs to be put down. In the end, it’s clear that it was not beauty that killed the beast, it was the fall.
Still, if you’re looking for a cheesy movie to watch, rather than a movie to write a paper about, you could do a lot worse than Shikari. It’s bizarre fun. Helen and Ragini’s psychadelic dance-off in an imaginary mushroom forest is worth the price of admission by itself.
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