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Day 349 of 365 of
my year long challengeWeek 50: Bollywood
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For pure entertainment alone,
Mr India is an absolute gem of a film. It's kind of like someone took the bones of a Roger Moore Bond film, stretched it out, threw in orphans and made it fun. In the name of Mogambo, I am pleased.
Arun Verma (Anil Kapoor) owns a house where countless orphans live and are taken care of. Too poor to cover the cost of an orphanage, Arun rents out a room in his house. When Arun also comes into possession of a watch that will make him invisible, he quietly becomes a hero. Mogambo (Amrish Puri) is an evil genius hell-bent on conquering India. When the two come into conflict, Mogambo takes action against the hero, forcing him to become the superhero who must save India.
Very, very little of
Mr India is all that original. If you've seen any action film within or around the eighties, you'll know what to expect. If you've got half a brain cell firing while watching this, you'll immediately predict what happens. None of that matters.
Mr India is all about heart and entertainment.
In particular,
Mr India finds itself at the mercy of two extremely entertaining performances. On one end of the scale is Puri's evil genius. He's a one trick pony here but what a trick it is. Gloriously over the top, there's almost too much to fall in love with as Mogambo chews up the scenery and creates one of the most iconic villains in Bollywood cinema. I'd happily argue he's up there in all the other cinemas too. In contrast to that, Sridevi's Seema Sahni is a versatile and wonderful character that's more than what she appears. As Arun's tenant and damsel, she's given the short end of the love interest story but even so, Sridevi goes above and beyond. She fills her performance with heart, humour and warmth and almost steals away with the film.
Between these two performances,
Mr India finds a mixed bag that otherwise entertains even if it doesn't always hit the right note. The music here, however, does. I'm never going to be able to say I'm a big fan of the sound of Bollywood but I appreciate the music and here it goes a long way to giving the film its heart and humanity. Importantly, it goes a long way into creating the bond between Arun and his orphan charges. Within that, it also makes him an average man with extraordinary power (and thus responsibility) thrust upon him.
Praise must also be given to the effects and design of the film. Where it lives grounded in "reality",
Mr India is a bright and lively world. There are expressive faces all around and you can just about smell what's on screen. When the film dips into the villain's lair and the accompanying fights,
Mr India showcases some effects and designs that hold up reasonably well today. There's no doubt that most things here have aged, the invisibility watch most of all, but everything holds up well enough to at least be charming. The special effects themselves are often as good as what we're given today, if not as shiny.
Most of all,
Mr India surprised as a genuine delight. It's funny, smart and mostly self-aware. Nothing is taken too seriously but the film still feels real enough to get away with a serious moment or two. As silly, grand and entertaining as it is, it's the two performances mentioned above that really hold the film up and has contributed to its legacy. We may not know it but in this time of superhero burnout,
Mr India may just be the refresher we need.
