Baadshah (1999) [Film Review]

Baadshah; or, Shah Rukh Khan in the wrong place at the wrong time

This review shall be about, in my personal opinion, a quite remarkable movie. Why remarkable? Because Shahrukh Khan is in it? Not really... Remarkable, because it is a ridiculously hilarious 3-hour long spoof of action films.

Release Info 

Directed by: Abbas Alibhai Burmawalla, Mastan Alibhai Burmawalla Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Twinkle Khanna, Rakhee, Amrish Puri 

Language: Hindi Movie Industry: Bollywood Runtime: 177 min

Plot

The story focuses on Baadshah (SRK) who is an easy-going, and naive, but highly efficient private detective. One day, he receives an assignment to convince the daughter of a wealthy businessman to marry a man that is preferred by her father. Due to a large paycheck, Baadshah decides to firstly make the girl fall in love with him and later dump her, thus throwing her into the arms of the picked man. When the job is done, he moves on to another case concerning a kidnapped child. What Baadshah does not know is that both cases are connected and, in fact, he has got himself involved in a political conspiracy, whose aim is the assassination of the Chief Minister of Goa...

It is obvious that Bollywood movies tend to rely on a mixture of different genres, but this particular picture is predominantly a comedy and an extremely well-made one. From the very start we are presented with the sheer insanity of hilarious plot twists, which even J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof could be envious of. In addition to this, we are served with some proper action stunts, dancing scenes, and a love subplot, obviously. Nevertheless, all of this actually works well together on screen and what we get is a fine piece of entertainment.

Cast

Although I’m not a huge SRK fan, I admit that this time he perfectly conforms to the humorous tone of the movie and I can’t imagine the character of Baadshah being played by any other actor. Perhaps this is the case because of SRK’s frivolous attitude that is present in the majority of his movies.  However, in some instances, it can become an annoying backdrop to the entire picture (cough... Duplicate... cough), but here it actually pays off.

The rest of the cast did a great job as well. Amrish Puri (whom some of you may recognise as the over-the-top baddie from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) is pretty convincing as a mischievous bio-chemical entrepreneur who decides to kill the Chief Minister, and, on a side note, his interactions with Baadshah are hysterical. Moreover, graceful Rakhee also does great as the Chief Minister and she really pulls off the burden of portraying a firm, honest, and unbreakable politician devoted to the needs of the people. If only real-life politicians were like that.

The only casting choice which really bothered me was Twinkle Khanna as Seema. From the very first scene in which she appears, it feels as if somebody pushed a stick into a propeller. She is simply not convincing as an undercover agent and, most of the time, resorts to playing a bland damsel-in-distress. My guess is that she got the job because she has a pretty face, but even playing in a comedy calls for some acting skills! Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any other movies with Khanna because she might have showed her true abilities elsewhere, but in this movie, she was hugely miscast.

Soundtrack & Dance Scenes

In terms of the Bollywoood trademark which are the dancing scenes, the movie rocks as well. As I counted correctly, we get at least 5 of these and they are all awesome. My personal favourite is the first song called “Main to Hoon Pagal” and it’s also one of my all-time favourite Bollywood songs along with its outstanding choreography and up-beat rhythm. In addition, every song in this movie, especially the Baadshah theme, are really catchy and all the dance scenes provide great fun and entertainment too.

References

The assets of this film are not over yet. The fact is that this film is filled with references to many Hollywood flicks like, for example, Nick of Time or If Looks Could Kill. Some more observant viewers might also spot brief references to Rush Hour and Mr. Nice Guy in a couple of fight sequences. I myself also noticed, perhaps an unintentional connection to an old French comedy film entitled Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire (The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe) about an ordinary guy who at the airport is mistakenly taken to be a spy, just like Baadshah.

 

Moreover, there is one more important reference to reality, put in the movie knowingly or unknowingly by the makers. Namely, let’s take a careful consideration of the character of the Chief Minister of Goa. An uncompromising woman with her quest against corruption and political stagnation, who eventually becomes the symbol of admiration for the poor and who later is a target of a conspiracy devised by her most trusted associates? It sounds like Indira Gandhi to me.

General Reception & Recommendation

All in all, I highly recommend this movie to anyone who feels bored or a bit low and would like to improve his or her mood. This is indeed an appropriate picture to have a good laugh and experience some fine mainstream Bollywood-style entertainment with lots of goofs, plot twists, dancing, and action. Even if you’re not a fan of SRK, Baadshah definitely won’t let you down!

Overall score: 7/10

His Fatal Ways (1991) [Film Review]

His Fatal Ways; or, Sucking more money out of a successful series

Alfred Cheung, most probably in pursuit of a bigger income, returns in this spin-off movie of Her Fatal Ways as absent-minded Inspector Sheng. This time he is on his own mission in Hong Kong.

Release Info 

Directed by: Alexander Chan Starring: Alfred Cheung, Teresa Mo, Do-Siu Chun

Language: Cantonese Original Title: Lao biao ni hao ye! Movie Industry: Hong Kong Runtime: 90 min

Plot

At the beginning of the movie, Sheng, along with fellow mainland police officers, performs a raid on a secret warehouse of imported weaponry. Unfortunately, during the shoot-out, two criminals flee from the crime scene. As it turns out, they have travelled to Hong Kong in order to make a bank robbery. Inspector Sheng is sent into the wilderness of capitalist HK in order to find the culprits and stop their robbery attempt in time.

Huuuuuuge disappointment

This movie was directed by a guy called Alexander Chan, but let’s be clear, Alfred Cheung was behind it all, along with writing and starring in the leading role... This guy’s fandom (if such exists somewhere in this universe) couldn’t have been more hyped. I, on the other hand, expected at least the same standard of humour as in Her Fatal Ways movies, but this film failed to deliver anything that can be even remotely considered as entertainment.

Alfred Cheung clearly made this movie in order to start-off another franchise of comedies, but this time with him as the main hero. This attempt is understandable (especially in the view of Hollywood’s modern reboots and remakes) and I even approve that, as long as the final product can be at least watchable. In the case of His Fatal Ways, everything seems not to work, starting from the screenplay and finishing on the acting. It looks as if Cheung decided to swallow the successful accomplishment of Her Fatal Ways and label the digested outcome with the series’ name.

It’s not even worth delving into the details of the film, because there’s no logic to it. Throughout the majority of the picture, Sheng doesn’t do anything related to the search for the bad guys. We mainly see him goofing around and awkwardly interacting with the HK officer (assigned to help him on the case) and his family. The subplot with the criminals returns somewhere towards the end of the movie, showing them after the successful robbery of jewellery from a bank and on the lookout to sell it. That’s where Sheng steps in, dressed up as... Rocky Balboa in the final showdown, but not fighting at all with the baddies... The supporting characters do the fighting for him! 

Additionally, we are served with some dry jokes, meaningless slapstick, and toilet humour (literally toilet, considering the scene in which one of the characters tries to shit out the stolen diamonds!). What’s more, Sheng is thrown into a really awkward romantic relationship with his partner’s sister, Hung Ba Mui (Teresa Mo), who is an antisocial, noisy, and emotionally-challenged street chicken-seller... 

All in all, there is nothing more to add about this waste of film reel. To be honest, I am surprised that His Fatal Ways didn’t ruin Cheung’s career in the movie industry. The guy is an experienced director (who apart from Her Fatal Ways also made such interesting pictures as The Banquet (1991), Queen’s Bench III (1990), and Paper Marriage (1988)), but his performance as an actor is, especially in comedies, really average (as in Summer Lovers (1992) or The Yuppie Fantasia (1989)). However, I’ve got to admit that he is awesome in hardcore drama (like In Between Loves (1989), which is a subject for another review). On the whole, His Fatal Ways seems to be a huge mistake.

Recommendations

I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes the taste of sand in their mouths, because that’s how I felt watching it. It’s just an empty picture, with nothing funny but also nothing vividly outrageous. It’s completely harmless and unentertaining. However, it would be mildly diverting as background noise whilst doing laundry.

Overall score: 3/10

Her Fatal Ways IV (1994) [Film Review]

Her Fatal Ways IV; or, A Sequel Too Far

Shih-Nan Cheng is back again in the fourth instalment of “Her Fatal Ways”. Unfortunately this part marks the end of this hilarious comedy series in every possible aspect, including one of quality.

Release Info 

Directed by: Alfred Cheung Starring: Carol Dodo Cheng, Gregory Charles Rivers, Alfred Cheung 

Language: Cantonese Original Title: Biao jie, ni hao ye! 4 zhi qing bu zi jin

Movie Industry: Hong Kong Runtime: 90 min

Plot

It’s been a year after the infamous events of the previous movie. Shih-Nan (Dodo Cheng) and always accompanying her Sheng (Alfred Cheung) were rewarded by the PRC authorities and allowed to settle in Hong Kong for good. Shih-Nan, now not so devoted to the ideology of the communist party, decides to become a real Hongkie and assume the capitalist way of life. However, things get complicated when she befriends a recently acquainted neighbour from upstairs. Soon afterwards, our fearless Inspector has to act again in the name of law enforcement when it turns out that her cousin is kidnapped in HK. Has Shih-Nan finally met the love of her life or is it all some sort of a highly complicated scam?

Not really the definite chapter you expected

Prior to watching Her Fatal Ways IV all of the preceding parts were in one word: hilarious; thus, my personal expectations for this part were, obviously, high. The introductory sequence with Shih-Nan and Sheng trying to make a living for themselves and constantly being on the lookout for a job left me laughing all the way through it; however, as the movie went on, it became weaker and weaker.

First of all. we’ve got Shih-Nan in charge of a security company and having an involuntary romance with a British police officer called John (George Charles Rivers). Shih-Nan doesn’t seem any more to be the same fierce and over-confident police officer we got used to over the span of three films, but rather... a damsel in distress; hell, even her appearance looks more feminine. Because of such a transformation, her character becomes, in fact, devoid of comedic qualities. Such changes could be passable if the movie was made 10 years after the previous part, as a sort of a nostalgic nod to the whole series, but it was made only a year later! What was Alfred Cheung thinking when departing from such a successful model of comedy he himself created!? Apart from that issue, the complicated action made up for this film is a real piece of screenwriting crap:

There is this guy John who subtly hits on Shih-Nan but he doesn’t really love her. He works for his British superiors who have ordered him to seduce Shih-Nan so they could get a piece of information about how much land the Anglo Chinese Liaison Group was going to take from the Hong Kong authorities after the 1997 handover of power, and as a result, the British could make some financial profit out of it. Later they decide to dump the whole action with Shih-Nan and focus on her cousin whose father will be responsible for setting the amount of PRC’s troops stationed in HK (which in some weird, unexplainable way can also influence the stock market). Hence, they bring in another cop to do the honey-trap again. They even stage a kidnapping in order to show how awesome they are in rescuing the official’s daughter, but the scam goes wrong and some real thugs kidnap the girl for ransom. That’s where Shih-Nan and her team (made up of Sheng and fellow security guards) has to step in to save the day.

I literally had to re-watch some scenes a couple of times in order to make sense out of this idiocy. This was supposed to be a comedy not an adaptation of John le Carre! The worst thing is that 70% of the movie is centred on what is described above, so if you don’t pay much attention to the subtitles (and I can bet that this old HK translation is not fully accurate) you may end up not knowing who some of the characters are and what’s their purpose in the story.

What’s more, the ending is not satisfactory either. There is a bombastic climax with a Triad shootout where all the character join forces and rescue the imprisoned cousin, but after that...it’s the end! The daughter comes back to her father, the protagonists mutually hug each other and the end credits scroll up. It’s a shame that in the view of such an elaborate plot the following things weren't even explained: Did John really love Shih-Nan? Did the British succeed in their scam and get away with it? We’ll never know.

Redeeming features

However, in spite of all this absurdity, the movie has in fact some positive aspects, which distract from the prevalence of numerous disadvantages. When there’s humour, it’s funny, but not as hilarious as in Her Fatal Ways I-III. This part is like a light light-comedy with strong romantic undertones and it works on that level of genre. I’ve got to admit that the character of John was well played and there was a strong feeling of chemistry between him and Shih-Nan. Moreover, Shih-Nan has only two fighting scenes in the whole picture, but she totally rocks in both of these. On the whole, the movie is made watchable mostly due to Dodo Cheng’s comedic abilities.

Recommendation

If you want to watch this movie, don’t have any expectations for it. As I already said, it is watchable. It is not a high-standard comedy but also not a tragic flop. It serves as a good follow-up on Inspector Cheng’s story, but this film could have been made a lot better. In spite of the fact that it’s been 20 years since its release, I’m still hopelessly hoping for Her Fatal Ways V: A Good Day to Laugh Hard.

Overall score: 5/10