LAGE RAHO MUNNA BHAI is an Indian film sent to me by a reader to view after my mediocre reviews of RANG DI BASANTI and the "Canadian" Indian film WATER.
This movie is a Musical Comedy, and a sequel, apparently (I haven't seen the previous film). It's essentially an Indian version of Cyrano de Bergerac, with Cyrano in this case being a "nice guy" thug, and his tutor being the ghost of Mahatma Ghandi. The object of his affection is a radio talk show host; he has to pretend to be a professor and expert on Gandhi to get to her heart. From there, various hijinks ensue.
It's a pretty thin plot, worthy of an episode of I LOVE LUCY, but like most Indian films, it is stretched out to over two and a half hours. Some typical musical numbers keep it moving, but the story bogs down in the second act quite a bit.
The lead actor, Sanjay Dutt, is apparently very popular in India, but he does not have the charisma to pull off the role. He's also at about twice the age of the lead actress, Diya Mirza, who is not only young but beautiful. Of course in the US, films typically have older men with younger women (Cate Blanchett is supposed to be the love interest in the next INDIANA JONES film), but Dutt is neither thin nor handsome, and it's hard to see what these two see in each other.
The film certainly has its heart in the right place, and does well to the spirit of Ghandi by reminding younger viewers of his preachings, way of life, and accomplishments for Indian society. I often think in America how wonderful things were in the 60s with people like M.L. King and the Kennedys moving us forward with social change, and how it seems to have been forgotten by many. Apparently in India, they feel that people have forgotten Ghandi as well.
All in all, the film is an enjoyable diversion, but it's certainly not Oscar material. RANG DI BASANTI had the broad historical scope that is more likely to be an Oscar contender, and this year both PAN'S LABYRINTH and THE LIVES OF OTHERS (DAS LEBEN DER ANDEREN) were vastly superior Foreign-Language films.
5 comments:
I know you are from MA and this is a bit off topic, but JFK had his hand very much forced on the subject of Civil Rights. He was hoping to avoid the issue entirely, but MLK and even George Wallace made it impossible. To his credit, he could have gone in several directions, but instead chose to act decidedly -- you can see a sympathetic real-time documentary on the subject called CRISIS. The fact of the matter is that it was LBJ who did the most in the Oval Office on the subject of Civil Rights (extending the work he did as Senate Majority leader). Just as only Nixon could go to China, only a Southerner of a poor background could give a credible weight behind the Civil Rights movement. RFK was also late to the game but masterfully put himself in the center of the events.
Had it not been for his missteps in Vietnam -- a place he had no interest in -- LBJ would have gone down as one of the most forward thinking presidents of the 20th century.
I can't really disagree with anything you said, except that LBJ's other mistake was his inability to communicate with the public. Kennedy (like King) was a great communicator, and LBJ was not. Otherwise, yes, he did a lot for the country, much of it forgtotten because he didn't make a public issue of his involvement.
It's certainly true that Johnson was masterful in person (plenty of Congressmen and Senators attest to his persuasive nature) and not good with the mass media.
On the other hand, JFK waged the first, truly open, presidential campaign of the TV era. (Eisenhower's 2nd term, won in 1956 was essentially a lock.)
Kennedy is our first truly modern "media savvy" president. As a result, there are a lot of great images from Kennedy's administration and few from Johnson's administration with the latter having to deal with the skill of the former to boot. Nixon learned enough from 1960 to have an ad exec run his campaign om 1968 (Halderman), but it wasn't until Ronald Reagan that we come full circle with the mix of Hollywood and Washington DC (Kennedy went from the other direction) and the masterful mastery of the media (like the alliteration?) in a full up campaign.
The country has suffered ever since with continued campaigns. It's almost to the point that no one can really debate anything anymore or hold any conviction at all. As an example, Hillary Clinton's recent backing away from strongly supporting gays in the military -- unless you consider this a lesson she learned from her husband.
Anon: It's certainly true that Johnson was masterful
I was sure there was a Master & Johnson joke coming next. Or at least a Johnson joke.
The best jokes involve audience participation. I'm happy to be playing to the rarified air of one. ;-)
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