Friday, August 8, 2008

Hollywood's Godfather, Bollywood's Sarkar

In its time, Godfather and its sequels caused quite a furore. The fine adaptation of the novel by Mario Puzo fascinated us as we went about leading our humdrum lives , but we were also secretly relieved not to be a part of that world. While a meeting with a Sylvester Stallone clone as shown in the hilarious Hollywood movie "Oscar" (about a reformed mafia boss) may be quite an interesting experience, its best to give the adventurous spirit a miss sometimes.

Most of us don't have a brush with the Mafia. The nearest I've come to it is when I heard that a couple of truck drivers in a distant relative' s company were sent off to pose as thugs and scare some recalcitrant tenants. While they waited for their cue in the drama, things got sorted out somehow and the would-be actors were sent back without essaying their roles. Perhaps someone developed cold feet.

The Bollywood equivalent to Godfather could be "Sarkar" and its sequel "Sarkar Raj". The director, Ram Gopal Verma, readily admits to his admiration of the movie and book by Mario Puzo. Verma's movies have a gripping and edgy feel, which contributes to the realism. Judging by all newspaper accounts on such subjects, these movies are derived from real life.

3 comments:

निशांत मिश्र - Nishant Mishra said...

Not just Godfather and it 2-3 sequels, Hollywood has created some damn good gangster/mafia movies. Goodfellas,Pulp Fiction, Casino... to name a few. About Ram Gopal Verma and his frame-by-frame 'adaptations' of Francis Ford Coppola's classics, Verma somewhat lacks in a real portrayal of the dark and beasty Indian underworld which is seen in its best in Movies of Govind Nihlani... Ardhsatya, Drohkaal, etc. Parinda was one of its kinds. What about Deewar, Vaastav, Company & Satya(RGV), and Takshak (Nihlani)? Wow, Bollywood has come of age!:)The only problem with Indian film-makes : they are often carried away with sub-plots, dance numbers, and the eternal debate of good and evil.
Yours is a good blog in its infancy.

theseer said...

Thanks for your vote of confidence. What's wrong with the song-and-dance routine, if not overdone?

निशांत मिश्र - Nishant Mishra said...

Laughing!:) Nothing's wrong with song and dance sequences, but, if we are really concerned with the grim reality... of life or whatever else, they become distraction. Have you ever seen any daughter or son weeping and singing in a temple/in front of idols of god when his/her mother is gonna die!?
Okay, not overdone is okay... like 'sapne me milti hai' song in Satya was a perfect piece, and you know how effortless/natural it looked on screen.
Oops, I can't think of a song that was overdone, give me some time to think, okay!