Sridevipalooza: Janbaaz

I am often intrigued by the decisions made by filmmakers when they try to show a character under the effects of mind-altering substances -- how do you possibly show what is going on, what the character is feeling, thinking, perceiving?

It's a problem Anurag Kashyap faced with his film Dev.D.  Kashyap sought the advice of director Danny Boyle, and the result is there on the screen. 

In Janbaaz, director Feroz Khan faced a similar issue -- with what I think are intriguing results.  I will do a proper look at the film at some point, but frankly, the Tech Guy and I sat down last night to watch it and the two of us ended up a little....stunned.

Now, watching a film with the Tech Guy can occasionally be a surprising experience, because sometimes I drag him to all these films and he watches just because he likes movies and not because he's made the choice, and yet, he takes it all in and then occasionally blows me away with stuff that makes me think.

I was commenting that it was obvious that Feroz Khan had a vision and an aesthetic that he was trying to capture, and that it didn't always work, but was incredibly intriguing to think about, and how it made me think about Salvador Dali, and then the Tech Guy said he thought it all looked like "avant-garde masala" to him.  Not to mention reminding him of Dev.D.  At the exact moment that I was thinking about how Kashyap solved the problem of showing his main character on a high, and how Khan had made a different set of choices in doing that.

Which is a long-winded way of saying that now I really need to sit down and think about the film before I write anything about it, because right now, all I could say is, "Holy moly, that is probably the singularly most cracktastic film I have ever seen."  Which I think would do Feroz Khan and Janbaaz a great disservice. 

Not that it isn't cracktastic.  Because it is.  But that's not all it is.

However -- that's not why I started writing this post today.  No, if I'm thinking about Janbaaz this morning, it's because the film features what would seem to be the only guest appearance Sridevi made in her entire career.  In an interview she gave last year at the time of the death of the great and awesome FK, Sridevi spoke about her role in the film, and why she accepted it.  (Hint:  it's because he was TOTALLY AWESOME.)

Sridevi makes a brief appearance in the film as Seema, the love interest of Rajesh (Feroz Khan), a police officer working in the narcotics squad and bent on breaking a drug cartel.  Seema is a beautiful and talented singer, and she is kidnapped by the cartel, drugged, and then killed, all to punish Rajesh.

The role uses Sridevi's beauty and glamour to advantage -- and contrasts it with her rapid descent as her captors make her dependent on the drug they shoot into her arm, to the point where she is reduced to begging for more when she comes down off her high.  Sridevi is brilliant.  But don't take my word for it, watch for yourself:

Comments

[Ness]

Dammit, I already told you I didn't need to be adding any more films to my anxiety inducing ever-increasing MUST WATCH list. BUT this. LOOKS. AMAAAAAAAZE.

[katherine]

The best thing about it is that I'm now convinced I need to sit down and watch ALL of Feroz Khan's films.

I'm thinking he drew his influences from so many strange and wonderful sources, and managed to put them all together in a mix that made them totally, utterly, and completely FEROZ.

The best thing about Janbaaz is I now have this list of things I want to investigate and think about -- all out of the one film.

[Rum]

Seriously this is the most upsetting movie of my childhood, because Anil was acting like a real bastard in it. However Sridevi on a heroin high is hilarity in my books, especially all those crazy images going on behind her. I hooted aloud when i saw the fire on her when she was on high, literally her 'badan' is on 'aag'!

[katherine]

Hee, I said to Ness last night that it was interesting to see a movie where Shakti Kapoor was not the sleaziest character, and quite possibly Anil Kapoor was.

That said, I think his character is *very* interesting -- in fact, Anil and Amrish merit some serious analysis. The whole film does.

[Beth]

NAHIIIIIIIIIIIN!!! This is what I was going to do for my final post of Sridevipalooza! Pout pout pout. Must quickly come up with new plan!

Ness, I wrote up Janbaaz not long ago and I was about to tell you to avoid-yaar the bejeezus out of it, but then I remembered how very much you and I diverge on pretty much everything from the 80s, so I will just keep mum.

Katherine, I cannot say enough good things about Feroz Khan movies! I've seen 6 of his 8 as director and they are all really interesting to watch and my complaints with them are never really about the directing - more about ick-tastic stories. Feroz definitely likes to exploit but he is so even-handed about it that it's hard to get angry - it's just his way of being a gracious entertainer, I think.

[Beth]

PS as for analysis, I hope you get further than I did - my brain kind of derailed due to all the squick. PPCC did a great job, though. http://p-pcc.blogspot.com/2009/01/janbaaz-1986.html

[katherine]

You were going to do *exactly* this? Surely you have something different than me to say about all this?

:-)

I've seen the PPCC review -- it's interesting. Not sure I'd go with the Dionysian perspective myself, but all views welcome.

I think my list of things to consider about the film will be quite different, but I want to see more than the two FK films I've seen thus far.

I think the story here is *realllllly* interesting. I love how he takes Bollywood and kind of twists it on its head. Or totally magnifies it. Interesting.

[Beth]

I was going to do a blow-by-blow of her OD freakout because it is just so filmi filmi filmi and hilarious! :) Maybe I'll do it anyway. Can the world ever have enough freakout? I think not!

[katherine]

I think a blow-by-blow would be terrific -- and a different and more in depth look at the clip itself. And absolutely what I did not do.

I do have some thoughts about it -- and will save them for your comments when you do it!