I’ve had a tough time explaining to the lay person why I read James Hadley Chase (JHC). I admit- the first time I picked up the book was in school impressed by the cover of a half clad blonde inviting you to bed her. But the actual story would be totally different as depicted by the gun in her hand sometimes. Since then the stories of the writer on crime have held my breath and I shamelessly opt to read them in full public view. I haven’t bothered to explain why I read, I leave it to them to discover that on their own.
I love to see them cringe distastefully when they look at the cover of a Corgi paperback. Come to think of it, that was good marketing. The layperson would be drawn by the attractive blonde to read it, while the regular reader would read it anyways knowing fully well what to expect. That’s where JHC scores. Once you are hooked, you are suckered into reading more.
This also appears to be the season for remakes giving me reason to suspect Johnny Gaddaar. Partner (Hitch), Heyy Baby (3 men & a baby), Murder (Unfaithful), Raaz (What lies beneath), The Killer (Collateral), Zinda (Old boy), Bheja Fry (LeDiner De Cons), Naqaab (dot the I), Dhamaal (It’s a mad, mad mad, mad world), The Train (Derailed)… And Sajid Khan had the gall to ask - How can they say that it (Heyy Baby) is a copy? Vikram Bhatt( making Cellular as upcoming speed) also asks- How come people adapt Shakespeare’s plays and are absolved of plagiarism? (Source – India Today) Boss, Shakespeare never made movies, though he wrote scripts. Now you can remake them umpteen times without royalties…
I had spare time and we were pretty much complete on our shopping. We looked at the hoarding and walked into Johnny Gaddaar at Rex expecting a watered version of a JHC (James Hadley Chase novel) or a remake. And as I walked out, I was stunned. There was something very similar between the story and the novels I had read, And yet, I couldn’t place my finger on it. The story appears clichéd, yet, different from any novels of JHC I had read.
To understand the movie plotline, you simply have to read a few novels… and summarize. Let me explain.
Plotline – Most JHC novels are based on the double cross theme. There is a hero or anti-hero (the fall guy) who wants to get rich quick and is willing to take risks at times by staking out his colleagues. He ends up being drawn into a plan either by a woman or by others. But then the sucker punch he receives (double-cross) is delivered usually by the woman whom he loves by now. The woman is in love with another guy making him the fall guy. The anti-hero realizes that things aren’t working out, and he self destructs taking the whole group involved or is simply suckered into a losing deal. Crime in all JHC novels never pays. *Sounds familiar*?
That about sums up Johnny Gaddaar, a general plotline loosely based on JHC novels. The only disappointment was there was no *double-cross *to the antagonist (I was eagerly looking forward to it when Rimi gets hyper at the death of her husband). In effect there is no fall guy. On a lucrative deal, one of the partners gets greedy. Just a shade of an anti-hero as essayed by numerous bollywood heroes. The director has modified the theme to keep the love story intact. Now you begin to understand the dedication. The last offering I received on JHC from Bollywood -Aar Ya Paar (*The sucker punch Or was it -2 is company, 3 is a crowd?)* by Ketan Mehta was passable fare.
Performances to watch – Are we relieved that Dharam is back? Or is this really a role in which he has excelled? Neither - there were no specific issues with his acting, him being a veteran, but neither was it something to crow about. I did see him last year in a dumb movie along with Mallika Sherawat (Kis Kis Ki Kismat) (I couldn’t resist buying the DVD at 20 bucks). Nothing spectacular, but justice done.
I think given the chance, most actors excel in anti-hero roles. But again, it was an average performance, quite restrained from Neil. Good looks combined with a little talent can make up for any of his shortcomings. But he’s not exactly my choice for a hero. I think he would excel as a supporting star. *Only* if he improves. He did well, but was wooden in some scenes.
All said and done, the plotline’s unoriginal, but then it isn’t a remake. I give a three and a half for the movie overall, the dedication to JHC made me add the half. Besides, suspense crime thrillers are watchable only once, the story being the main star. I think this is the first movie (Hollywood or Bollywood) to be specifically dedicated to JHC. Bollywood has got slightly better direction wise, but you can see that there are some loose ends which require additional sequences/and some tight editing. The songs in the latter half of the movie were awful. Overall, we might feel it is a good movie since an out and out crime thriller is infrequent. I mean when was the last time we had a crime thriller? (Forget the RGV kind of gangster movies) No competition, no comparision.
Cast: Dharmendra, Rimi Sen, Neil Mukesh, Daya Shetty, Ashwini Kalsekar, Vinay Phatak, and Govind Namdeo
Runtime – 140 mins