Roop ki Rani, Choron ka Raja: A movie with all the masala for a smashing success

Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Anupam KherIt's a bird-brained plot. And to ensure that viewers don't go completely cuckoo, writer Javed Akhtar has thrown in Django, a white pigeon - a sort of talisman to ensure thatRoop ki Rani, Choron ka Rajamakes the grade with unpredictable audiences.It's a measure of uncertain times; film makers are willing to try anything. Many will be grateful for the absence of a California condor and the Mauritian dodo. Still, amazingly, Javed's plot is peopled by characters that come pretty close. One thing, however, the film isn't. With its lost brothers and lost lovers storyline, Boney Kapoor's Rs 7-crore film isn't a turkey. And when it opens at more than 500 theatres next fort night, audiences are going to love it. No chance of eating crow here.Welcome, then, to bird land, home of ostrich-feather costumes and duck-tail hairstyles.The film opens at an airport, just as chief villain Jugran (Anupam Kher) is about to leave the country with an armload of diamonds. Then, soon after a couple of murders, debut-making director Satish Kaushik moves on to an orphange. Two children are brought together - courtesy the murders - and then separated. And, you guessed it, the two grow up to become the most awesome never-say-die power couple known to Hindi movies. One is Romeo (Anil Kapoor), an in-demand safe cracker and the other is Seema (Sridevi), an in-command con-woman. With this surfeit of hyphenated talent, which audience is going to have its hopes dashed?By now viewers can also be certain that this extravagant film with its opulent costumes, a turtle-loving villain (surprise, surprise, no bird) in a double role and a Bond-style train robbery sequence, is not going to be a classic permeated with insight and earthy philosophy. Instead, peppered with underworld groupies and outrageous song sequences, all one can do is marvel at Kaushik's whimsy and spunk.The lead pair: Whimsical and spunkyThe story isn't too hot. Jugran, a hawkish diamond smuggler, is the man behind the murder of both Romeo's and Seema's fathers. Jackie Shroff - whose performance comes close to a dodo's - is Romeo's separated brother.He is now, of course, a police officer determined to turn Romeo into a jail bird. And just when you begin to forget the avian motif, out pops Romeo's pet pigeon Django whom Jugran eyes with all the interest of a weekend taxidermist. But the tale is really in the telling. Taut, slick, with just the right touches of bizarre song sequences, it trots along at a merry pace.The sublime touches come from Sridevi. Exceptionally well-tuned to comedy - as she proved with Mr India - Sridevi does a five-minute Madrasi-woman routine that is a formidable and rousing exhibition of her capabilities. It's the sort of sequence that makes you wish for a rewind button in the movies.Anil Kapoor, overshadowed in the scene, more than makes up in the dramatic train robbery sequence, a highlight of the film. Shot over 15 days for which an entire train, railway tracks and a helicopter were hired, the scene has Kapoor putting in the performance of his life (he nearly lost it during the shoot). In the end, however, it is Kaushik's determination to make a commercial film that tells a tale of revenge and lost-love with startling dignity that wins-and gravity be damned.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Jan 15, 1993 00:00 IST--- ENDS ---

Download App

Get 37% off on an annual Print +Digital subscription of India Today Magazine

Roop ki Rani, Choron ka Raja: A movie with all the masala for a smashing success

A movie with all the masala for a smashing success.

PUBLICATIONS

TELEVISION

EVENTS

RADIO

GAMING

USEFUL LINKS

PRINTING

WELFARE

DISTRIBUTION

SYNDICATIONS

WEBSITES

EDUCATION