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June 11, 2005
D: Movie Review
I went and saw D with some of my friends from work last night. When we got to the movie theater there was a long, serpentine line, which, at first glance, seemed to be all for D. This got us excited, because earlier in the evening some of us were abandoned Bunty Aur Babli, another Hindi movie playing at the same theater, for this. Little did we know. If this review dissuades even one person, who originally intended to see the movie, from seeing it, I shall consider my work done.
The movie is billed as a prequel to one of the milestone movies that came out of Bollywood in recent years, Company. Company, despite its fervent disclaimers that any resemblance to characters or events in real life is purely coincidental, is based on the turf wars between the gangs of Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan in Mumbai. Ever notice that the only movies with such disclaimers are movies loosely adapted from true stories? It's almost as if this disclaimer is a signal that makes movies less fantastic and more believable. D has the same disclaimer at its beginning too, but it leaves one wondering at the end if so many clichés could be crammed into real life after all.
D is said to be based on the life story of Dawood Ibrahim. It traces one man's entry into and meteoric ascent within a gang that strongarms customers to buy from Hashim, a businessman, who keeps repeating how he is only interested in his profits. Hashim has two incompetent sons, Shabbir and Muqram, who are nonetheless drunk with a sense of entitlement on the fact that they are blood relatives of the big boss, Hashim. They mostly kill time by engaging in all manner of unhealthy and unislamic activities, such as heavy smoking, heavy drinking, gambling and gamboling with random women. Meanwhile, Deshu, the chief protagonist of the story, who stands for the D in the title, returns from working as a mechanic in Dubai to an unemployed life back in Mumbai. He witnesses a cold blooded murder right outside the doorstep of a friend's house and is forced to deny the killing to the police by Hashim's rival, who initiated the killing. After being interrogated somewhat brutally by the police, he decides that the best way to fight the system would be by joining Hashim's gang, and gaining some money, power and business experience on the side. In the early parts of the movie, the script hints at the fluidity of this man's situation. When undergoing weapon's training with Hashim's gang, he mentions how he has undergone police training before, which leads one to wonder if his lust for power would have been any different if he had joined the police instead.
Hashim lets Deshu take on several new projects to expand their sphere of business and quickly learns to trust him with risks, much to the chagrin of his incompetent sons. Deshu also helps protect a Bollywood starlet from the unwanted advances of an actor. After a brief but forced on-camera courtship, they end up in bed together, also to the chagrin of Hashim's sons. After helping influence the outcome of an election in the area, the rancor between the two factions grows to such an extent that Hashim sends Deshu's faction off to Gujarat to look after business. Deshu continues to outperform the incompetent Hashimlings back in Mumbai and solidifies his control over business in Gujarat. In fact, such is his influence that clients though him no longer speak directly with Hashim, who he nominally works for. Deshu moves in with his girlfriend into her expensive bungalow in Juhu. Meanwhile, Hashim's sons poison his ears with various accounts of how Deshu is expanding his influence so much that there isn't space for both factions in the same gang and ask for permission to eliminate the other faction. Hashim, in spite of himself, washes his hands of the situation. Hashim's sons eliminate Deshu's closest partner in a somewhat gruesome scene and nearly succeed in eliminating Deshu and his girlfriend right in their expensive Juhu bungalow. However, Deshu, wearing nothing more than a wifebeater, sprints away with his girlfriend to safety, evading 20 gun-toting people with really bad aim.
Hashim's business partner brokers a truce between the two warring factions, where they agree to stop baiting each other. Deshu pulls out a gun and kills one of Hashim's sons at the truce meeting in return for their killing his close associate. He walks away, leaving behind a room full of stunned onlookers. Then he kills just about everybody else in Hashimling faction, leaving Shabbir, with his fear-filled, kohl-lined eyes, for the very end. He swings by a bedridden Hashim to take his leave and tells him that he always hated Hashim a lot more than his sons. The End. No really.
The movie is shot in a stark, minimalistic way, reminiscent of Ram Gopal Varma's other mafia-related movies, Satya and Company. The city of Mumbai, with its overpowering grime and squalor, is itself a character in this movie. Technically, the movie has many failings. The camera work is a significant departure from classic Bollywood movies and tries to show the gritty, grimy lives of its characters. Unfortunately, it outdoes itself and moves around so much that the movie feels like a veritable Blair Witch Project. Several dialogues are woefully out of sync with the actors' lips on screen. The dialogue and plot constantly leapfrog each other in a competition of banality. The audience develops no sympathy for any of the characters and remembers them as little more than the products of a series of unfortunate circumstances. The movie promises to show how one man grew to own, corporatize and transform the Mumbai underworld, but falls woefully short. I wish D wouldn't be billed as a prequel to Company because in doing so, it gives Company a bad name. If you have not seen Company before, you may give this movie a D, but if you have, you would certainly give it an F.
D may stand for Deshu. D may stand for Dawood. I say D stands for Don't.
Posted by Vishy at June 11, 2005 11:05 AM