It wasn't until the very end of Ram-Janne that I realized I was watching an homage to the 1938 "Angels With Dirty Faces" with James Cagney. If you can hold out that long, the final 15-20 minutes of the film is worth the wait. Until then, this is pretty typical masala fare with Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla dancing their way off to exotic locales not remotely related to the movie. It's those musical interludes -- and a few comical moments during "Ramjanne's" childhood -- that make the majority of the first half of the movie bearable. As much as I love Juhi, her character was a cardboard cutout in most scenes, Vivek Mushran's "Murli" (the alter ego of Pat O'Brien's "Father Jerry Connely" in "Angels") was less saintly than saccharine, and Pankaj Kapur as "Pannu Technicolor" was just plain annoying. Even Shah Rukh's version of Cagney's "Rocky Sullivan" (the title character, "Ram-Janne") couldn't prop this film up most of the way through.
But the film's final scenes vindicate the patient viewer. Yes, it's still Bollywood at its melodramatic best. But the same elements that made "Angels" the classic it is are all in place for the big finish. And perhaps Ram-Janne -- being a masala film -- lends itself even better to this denouement than did its predecessor.
Because it's this kind of scene that Bollywood does better than anyone else. Seeing SRK begging for his life on the way to the gallows is somehow more believable than watching Cagney blubbering in fear on his way to the electric chair. And give credit to F.C. Mehra for at least choosing to remake a film that's not been (re)done to death.
A remake -- by definition -- will never change the course of cinematic history. But if you have an evening to spare, there are far worse choices you could make.
But the film's final scenes vindicate the patient viewer. Yes, it's still Bollywood at its melodramatic best. But the same elements that made "Angels" the classic it is are all in place for the big finish. And perhaps Ram-Janne -- being a masala film -- lends itself even better to this denouement than did its predecessor.
Because it's this kind of scene that Bollywood does better than anyone else. Seeing SRK begging for his life on the way to the gallows is somehow more believable than watching Cagney blubbering in fear on his way to the electric chair. And give credit to F.C. Mehra for at least choosing to remake a film that's not been (re)done to death.
A remake -- by definition -- will never change the course of cinematic history. But if you have an evening to spare, there are far worse choices you could make.