A Masala Movie
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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2013 (PAGE-4) MOVIE REVIEW SOCIETY A masala movie YOGA - Is it 'Hindu' or Indian ? Taran Adarsh Suman K Sharma acclaim for his powerful demonstration of the nauli technique There's an overdose of masala films. And practically of strengthening the abdominal muscles when he had a Is yoga a sectarian, 'Hindu', practice or a way that has all prominent names have featured in masalathons this three-ton elephant and a motor car driven over his body. been developed in India over the past several millennia to year. Take a look: SRK [CHENNAI EXPRESS], Ranbir Because of the pride in our heritage or for more pragmat- improve human body and mind? The apex court of the land Kapoor [BESHARAM], Ajay Devgn [HIMMATWALA], ic reasons - 'yoga is a multi-billion industry today' - some of is pondering whether it would be appropriate for it to direct Akshay Kumar [BOSS], Sanjay Dutt [ZILA GHAZIABAD, us may not perhaps agree with Wendy Doniger's assertion that yoga should be taught as a compulsory subject in the POLICEGIRI], Sunny Deol [SINGH SAAB THE GREAT] that 'The British passion for physical culture spilling over into country's schools. Incidentally, the Supreme Court of the and Saif Ali Khan [BULLETT RAJA]. Sadly, most of these the Hindu world, rescued (emphasis added) physical yoga United States of America has ruled that yoga is not a reli- films were shown the red flag by cineastes, which prompt- from the opprobrium into which it had fallen and made it once gious practice. ed the cynics to believe that it's the end of the road for again respectable' (On Hinduism, p.121). But nobody can We are talking in the context of school children. So let us the 1980s-styled formula films. But there's also the school deny that the yoga that is being practised in institutions, inside leave alone the philosophical aspects of yoga - the yoking of thought that strongly feels that masala entertainers will private homes and outside in municipal parks has indeed never go out of fashion. The good ones will work, the of mind and body, union with the Supreme and so forth - our awful ones will bite the dust... boys and girls will have time enough for such esoteric issues Prabhu Dheva revived the masala genre in Bollywood when and if they grow up in good health. It is the aasanas with WANTED, triggering off a plethora of entertainers (bodily postures) and the pranayama (breath control) that subsequently. Not deviating from what he re-introduced are our present concern. to the audiences, Prabhu Dheva has fruitfully crafted and Yoga is indigenous and there can be no doubt about that. churned out desi entertainers one after the other. This The first ever image of a yoga-mudra comes from the Indus time, the actor-choreographer-director teams up with Valley Civilisation in the form of a soap-stone seal of a man Shahid Kapoor to narrate a story that's set [once again] sitting in the padma aasana. Yogis find a mention in the Rig in the countryside. The only difference is, R… RAJKU- Veda and much later, in Rishi Patanjali, we had a great expo- MAR is *not* a remake of a South Indian hit, like Prab- nent of the extant as well as the arcane practices of yoga. A hu Dheva's previous endeavors. text, Hathayoga Pradipika, which could have been authored Curiously, a few weeks ago, Shahid Kapoor teamed between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries, describes up with Rajkumar Santoshi for an entertainer [PHATA fifteen yogic postures to strengthen the body. POSTER NIKLA HERO] and many a people are draw- Then came the British Raj and along came its opposition ing parallels between that film and this one [R… RAJKU- by the resurgent nationalists. Wendy Doniger, the author of MAR]. Not true! Now to the next question: Is it a replica On Hinduism, says, 'under the British Raj militant yogis of a standard masala film or there's more to it? More sig- engaged in exercise regimes to make them tough, in order nificantly, how compelling is Shahid in the masala space? to oppose the British.' Does he look persuasive and convincing enough, rattling The contrast between the alien ruler and the native must mass-friendly dialogues and bashing up dozens of have riled the resurgent nationalists a great deal. The Angrez battle an army of villains, led by Sonu Sood and Ashish rogues like we swat flies? Let's find out… was rosy-cheeked and imposing in his presence. We Indi- Vidyarthi, and reducing them to pulp looks completely Rajkumar [Shahid Kapoor], who works for a drug deal- ans in comparison were generally sallow and not as physi- far-fetched even in the masala scenario. In short, Shahid brought a salutary effect on people's health and well being. er Shivraj [Sonu Sood], is entrusted the task of eliminat- cally strong as he. One can only imagine how bad young is at home when he has to sing songs and romance Son- To say that the stretching-and-relaxing and breath-con- ing the rival drug dealer [Ashish Vidyarthi]. Prior to that, Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi and his friends at the akshi, but looks far from convincing when he has to act trol yoga routine should be discarded because it is a 'Hindu' he eyes Chanda [Sonakshi Sinha] and falls head over school must have felt about that taunting ditty - 'Behold the as a super-hero. practice would be as wrong as saying, for instance, that veg- heels in love with her. Rajkumar is unaware that Vidyarthi mighty Englishman/He rules the Indian small/Because being Prabhu Dheva has always excelled in the masala etarianism should be avoided by the non-Hindus because it happens to be Chanda's uncle. In the meantime, Shiv- a meat-eater/He is five cubits tall.' genre and that's the reason why he's labeled the king of is a percept followed by staunch Hindus. The sticklers to raj too falls for the charms of Chanda. He makes peace Dietary preferences apart, it was the exercise regime entertainers, but a feather-light concept and predictable secularism can make suitable variations where a seeming- with Vidyarthi and expresses the desire to marry Chan- practiced by the Tommies that kept them fighting fit. Doniger goings-on act as dampeners. Like I stated earlier, a few ly religious element becomes a part of the yoga regime. Sri da. The battle lines are drawn… appears to endorse Mark Singleton's claim that in the nine- sequences/moments do manage to keep you attentive, Sri Ravi Sankara's Art of Living yoga exercises include incan- Masala entertainers are all about compelling the spec- teenth century 'a transnational, Anglophone yoga arose…, but they're few and far between. One swallow does not tation of Om which is said to induce a calming effect on the tators to believe in the super-hero qualities of the protag- compounded of the unlikely mix of British body-building and a summer make! Dialogues too are serviceable, with a body. Those who have objection to Om are advised by the onist. He has to be an all-rounder actually: emote, physical culture, American transcendentalism and Christian few clever lines integrated in the narrative. instructors to replace it with any other suitable word for a sim- romance, sing, dance and flex muscles, when required. science, naturopathy, Swedish gymnastics and the YMCA, Pritam delivers a chartbusting score. 'Gandi Baat', ilar effect. The Supreme Court is right in its meditative Prabhu Dheva has been serving us the staple dish, albeit grafted onto a rehabilitated form of postural yoga adapted approach towards the issue. Yoga is beneficial to a person's 'Saree Ke Fall Sa' and 'Mat Maari' are catchy and the first specifically for a Western audience' (p.120). If the Raj in its in new avatars and modifications, successfully. Much like two songs especially have already caught the fancy of health, but for the state to impose it under force of law would his last outing RAMAIYAVASTAVAIYA, Prabhu Dheva panoply laid the foundations of the modern physical culture be counter-productive. One is reminded of the times when, listeners. But 'Kaddu Katega' appears reminiscent of the in India, it had its self-serving purpose too - for did not the emphasizes on romance yet again in R… RAJKUMAR, item song in ROWDYRATHORE ['Aa Re Pritam Pyaare'], in the euphoria of the newly gained freedom, the policy mak- native soldiers of its army have to be physically strong to with action being the icing on the cake. And while posi- while the romantic track ['Dhokha Dhadi'] is plain aver- ers in New Delhi tried to impose Hindi in the South. There tioning it as a romantic fare, Prabhu Dheva also pack- age. Action sequences, though executed well and high defend it? Our own social reformists took up the cause with were not only violent agitations against the move, but a whole ages light moments aplenty and chart-busting music to on energy, fall in the same mould as the ones we have some verve. Swami Vivekananda said famously that a youth generation refused to have anything to do with the Rajbhasha. make R… RAJKUMAR a wholesome entertainer. watched in scores of masala entertainers. could get closer to God playing football rather than reciting It would therefore be wiser of the government to confine While R… RAJKUMAR has everything that the hoi Shahid Kapoor gets to portray a mass-friendly char- Bhagwad Gita. In 1915, SC Vasu came out with a transla- its role to being a facilitator - standardizing the yoga regime, polloi looks for in atypical mass entertainers, the prob- acter and he gives it his best shot.