Afterthoughts
Man, this was a wild one! I had heard that this film was intended to be a blockbuster. They had a cast with some major players, they had money for the sets and costumes, and a full lush soundtrack to go with the package. It's too bad they couldn't have sent a little more money over to the screenwriter to produce a better script. It just seemed to me that there were moments that could have been cut to speed things up a bit. In particular I felt the whole jewelry show robbery was kind of tacked on. I gather that it was to show us how well Seema and Romeo worked together, but it added almost a half an hour to the movie that really didn't need to be there. "Let's give them one more caper before the big train scene!" it seemed to say.
All in all it wasn't a terrible movie, but I wouldn't call it a good one. It's a good example of the phenomenon that lots of money and big names don't always guarantee a big hit. It was fun in some parts and really weird in others. I mean really, who wanted to see this?
I was fine with most of the cast in this one.
Anil Kapoor (Ramesh/Romeo) seemed to be enjoying himself. He's a charismatic actor and usually very good at what he does. I don't think he was out of form for this movie, although his performance in the "Thenga Thenga Thenga" (choose your own preferred spelling) was bizarre. I guess that goes with the territory for that song though. No real issues with him in this movie for me.
Sridevi (Simi/Seema) also seemed to throw herself into this role with abandon. In the few films I have seen her in she always seems to give 110% and really have a good time, and this film was no exception. Once again, the "Thenga Thenga Thenga" song was the high point of any issues I had with her on this one. She really did well with the seduction scene and made it both alluring and silly at the same time. Not an easy balance to hit, but she did it just fine. No real complaints with her from me here.
Jackie Shroff (Ravi) was underutilized. I imagine he was working for less money, or they couldn't afford to have him on much more than he was already. His few scenes were fine as far as acting goes. I have always had a soft spot for Mr. Shroff so I was glad to see that he didn't give me any reason to change my mind.
The one actor that I did have issues with is Anupam Kher (Jugran/Manmohan). In a lot of his movies, I think he's great. However, when he's told to really chew the scenery, he can tear it up with the best of them. I just didn't like the Jugran character. He did a good job of portraying the "I'M INSANE!" aspect, but as far as generating any real menace or threatening presence, he didn't bring that to life. When he was playing his good twin (Manmohan) he was great. So, 50/50 for him on this one from me.
Negatives:
Any major obstacle was overcome by the use of pigeons. Now I can understand trained animals doing some impressive things, but every single time Romeo was in a bad situation, it was the pigeons to the rescue. It just seemed like a convenient cop-out every time.
Jugran. I never felt he was menacing or threatening. He just seemed like a lunatic. I don't know how lunatics expect to get anything done when they spend the whole time flailing around like a drunken conductor.
A little more weird than I'm used to. I've been around the block a few times now, and I've seen a lot of things in these movies that the rookie viewer might find odd without context or an explanation. However, this one took my level of understanding and made it clear there was a lot more I had to learn. This mostly popped up during the songs, so perhaps I'm mistaking design decisions as something that I thought was meant to be significant.
Bob Christo was useless as usual.
Positives:
While the imagery in the songs was strange, I did like a lot of the music. The main title track in particular was oddly ear-catching.
Anil Kapoor and Sridevi seemed to have a good time together. I've seen this pair before in Mr. India, and they seem to have a good chemistry together.
It was clear that they had some money when they put this together, and it shows. Lots of lavish sets, many impressive costumes, and just lots of spectacle. Too bad the story wasn't all that good!
I was never bored. When all is said and done, the movie held my interest. Sometimes I'm sure it was in ways that it was not intended to, but nonetheless my interest was kept for the entire running time.
The look on Seema's face here pretty well sums up my response to the movie. It was weird, it was lavish, and it was long. It had a budget and they used the whole thing, so it does have a polished look to it, but in the end it was just a little too out there to get a top rating from me.
Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1993)
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