Live
- Fire in TTD Forest in Tirumala
- SC dismisses rape survivor's plea seeking action against Kerala judge
- Chiranjeevi Engages with Russian Delegates on Creative Ventures in Hyderabad
- Has Allu Arjun's ‘Pushpa 2’ raked in Rs. 1000 Crore Pre-Release Business?
- Reports of spat with Netanyahu misleading: Germany
- 5.0-magnitude quake hits Alaska Peninsula
- AP assembly elections: Filing of nominations in full swing in the state
- Alaya F stuns in denim look, exudes boss babe energy
- Brillare Clinic Celebrates First Anniversary with Gratitude and Glamour
- Tillu Square: Sidhu Jonnalagadda’s Film to Stream on Netflix in 5 Languages
Terror in Bollywood
Our country for long has been terrorised. Yet Bollywood has very little to show in its CV on the genre of terror. The most interesting part is that we suffered terrorism in its most intense manner in 1980s and 1990s and it is in these two decades that Bollywood just did not touch the subject. Here are some of our movies over the years which did talk of terror in its background or even more than th
Our country for long has been terrorised. Yet Bollywood has very little to show in its CV on the genre of terror. The most interesting part is that we suffered terrorism in its most intense manner in 1980s and 1990s and it is in these two decades that Bollywood just did not touch the subject. Here are some of our movies over the years which did talk of terror in its background or even more than that.
Karma (1986) – This one was ‘Sholay’ meets terrorism. Made with an earthy sincerity this one touched the audience big time. It also revived the careers on the downhill of both Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff. More known today for its iconic villain – the terror head, Dr Dang and his “thappad ki goonj”. It also has an epic confrontation scene between Naseeruddin Shah and Dilip Kumar, where surprisingly Dilip Kumar takes Naseer to the cleaners. Only Naseer hits back superbly in the next scene with his epic one line of begging to be forgiven – If I was one of your dead sons would you have still not forgiven me? This movie is a super watch on any lazy weekend till date.
Baby (2015) – In a taut thriller, the king of cat and mouse genre as I call him, Neeraj Pandey brought on the screen one of our favourite dreams. Bringing those to India, who have tormented us from across the border. The trio of Anupam Kher, Akshay Kumar and Rana embark on a journey of retribution and come back winners in this thrill-a-minute movie. Danny as the head of the agency is worth a mention. The stand out scene – Akshay closes the door and slaps a bureaucrat repeatedly before he gets the message.
A Wednesday – Naseeruddin Shah returned in another flick directed by Neeraj Pandey as the middle-class avenger. This one was again a fast paced thriller, which is now remembered more for the climax speech delivered by Naseer as only he could have. Anupam Kher as the head cop of Mumbai was another sincere performance. The real show stopper was Jimmy Shergill’s act of a frustrated cop. Ridiculed by the purists as too thin, ‘A Wednesday’ did have a silent uncomfortable question, given the carelessness of those who govern what if the common man decided to fight terror on his own?
Drohkaal – This is one of Govind Nihalani’s most underrated master pieces. Probably it is one of the better movies made on terrorism. Before we lost Ashish Vidyarthi to his boring villainy roles like “raaka” or “shaaka” in average flicks of 1990s, he essayed what in my book is his most epic character of commander Bhadra in this one. With an intriguing plot, hard hitting dialogues and epic performances ‘Drohkaal’ was a superb effort which came at the wrong time. Today this movie would have rocked the multiplex audiences. I am surprised why Nihalani has not yet thought of a remake of ‘Drohkaal’.
Roja – This one got famous for the wrong reasons like AR Rehman’s great music. For me this movie should be remembered for another great screen performance from our yet to be recognised thespian called Pankaj Kapur. Waseem Khan was real and believable because of Pankaj Kapoor. We might not agree with Mani Ratnam’s simple plot that how a dead brother can change the heart of a dreaded terrorist yet we cannot deny the fact that ‘Roja’ was probably our first A-lister movie in years to talk of terrorism as the central plot idea. It is also worth mentioning for the fact that it did show how our army suffers on the ground in Kashmir. A fact which is not yet changed!
Bang Bang – This one was panned by the critics. Personally I loved it. This was terrorism as viewed by a masala thriller maker. Hrithik Roshan as the agile polished diamond thief versus the real baddies is worth a watch in case you want to just a simple entertaining movie.
Maachis – This one was a well-made movie. Great performances by Tabu, Chandrachur Singh and Raj Zutshi made this one a great watch. The only issue is that it made our cops look real bad when actually they should be credited for bringing our most affluent state out of the hell of terrorism. This one did make some real statements on terrorism through its dialogues which only a Gulzar could have done.
By: Rahul Deo Bharadwaj
