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When the going gets tough

Aamir Khan in Ghulam. Click for bigger pic!

If you have seen one Mukesh Bhatt film, you guess you've seen them all. Trust them to give a slightly different touch to the same old story -- the underdog taking on the big bad wolves. Against a backdrop that has some touch with reality though. There's also the drama and one heck of a lot of aggression, against both friend and foe.

It's not very preachy though, but then important issues are also raised. With that in mind, the story:

Aamir is a tapori -- Bombayspeak for the city's vagabonds-- again, giving you that déjà vu feeling. Name of Siddharth 'Siddhu' Marathe. He has a freedom fighter for a father (Dalip Tahil) and an educated brother (Rajit Kapoor) a disciple of local ganglord (Sharat Saxena). The latter provides the material that stuffs Siddhu into tight designer jeans and T-shirts and which pays for the gear he uses in boxing and for the medical attention later.

Siddhu is lucky in other ways too. He has a lawyer for a godmother (Mita Vashist) who gets him out of scrapes from time to time. He also falls in love with a poor little rich girl who loves bike rides and who has an unhappy family life. Unhappy family lives, of course, are something the Bhatts would be most unhappy making a film without.

Not one to ask questions, Siddhu does everything his brother asks until he sees a social worker (Akshay Anand) being murdered by the boss. He drops his streetsmart bravado and gets more serious after he realises the social worker is also the estranged brother of his lady love. And so he decides to take on the goon -- in court. Only problem being that the goon is in a hurry and wants to settle the matter out of court -- with fists.

The whole film is almost linear and the story line is wafer thin, so that you wonder how it held up all that celluloid. But it has, and the movie is engrossing enough to keep you interested till the end. The hero is shown as a complex creature -- a show-off with gumption. But, despite the bravado, not a complete ass. Though you might doubt that, seeing how he takes a dare to run at a train and jump away at the last minute -- 13 seconds actually. A scene done by Aamir himself, which casts some doubts about his much-touted intelligence, whatever it says about his commitment to his craft.

Aamir Khan and Rani Mukherjee in Ghulam. Click for bigger pic!

Rani Mukherjee as the heroine just hangs around looking good. She doesn't have much of a role, but she looks sexy enough to make you think that, maybe, yes, she has something in her. Rajit Kapoor (Gandhi in Shyam Benegal's The Making of the Mahatma) looks just right. His lanky frame and diffident attitude works well. Only his accent jars, considering he is supposed to be a Maharashtrian. Mita Vashist has a good enough role as does Akshay Anand.

There are some interesting parts. Like the one in which the freedom fighter father admits he is actually a coward who ratted on his friends to the British.

Both children take it differently; the elder boy sighs and accepts life for what it is, while the younger one rebels, though a trifle late.

The climax is well done, though a trifle bloody. And it had the public up when the small man scores over the toughie.

The shift from stunt to strategy is also used well. So that the climax doesn't look as corny as some other movies do.

The songs are catching, whatever Majrooh Sultanpuri may claim. Especially Aamir's Aati kya Khandala. This is Jatin-Lalit's third release this year and they are getting even better.

Unlike some recent Bhatt films we won't name, won't even try to think of, the sets are realistic and the editing is tight.

There aren't any long drawn scenes that have you fidgeting. The confrontation scene between the two brothers is particularly well shot, especially the way attention is drawn to the despair on the elder brother's face. But despite all the good work put in by the actors, it is Aamir who holds up the film.

He wears that Bombaiyya tang and the street thug attitude well enough for you to forget his Bandra boy looks. Though the role has a touch of the one he played in Rangeela, he makes it look different.

Aamir has picked a winner again and so has that shrewd producer, Mukesh Bhatt.