Jungle

So has Indias answer to the punch-packed Hollywood generation come up with a great flick this time? The answer could have been yes. From Hindi cinemas point of view, this is a landmark film in style and technique. The camera of course works like an author. But the editing and the background score make you aware of a multi-layered sense of action. An ordinary loverboy and a team of crack commandos are looking for the girl kidnapped by Veerappan-type bandits. The boy gets hold of the girl and bolts in a freak accident. Now the bandits are hunting down the lovers while the commandos are chasing both.

The scene cuts from one format to another, unhurriedly without jarring for a minute, from the eyes of a man to the limbs of a woman, from the resolve of one to the fear of the other. The effect is disorienting-it buries expectations and brings out the unknown. You even fail to root for the obvious when cliff-hanging, Hindi film cliches appear towards the end.

The cliches, however, mar the dirty, grimy, swampy, slushy feel, which throngs the tight and snazzy dialogues. Ram Gopal is evidently attempting a synthesis of Remain and Platoon. As is usual in his case, the more belly-driven Platoon element wins. In one scene the bandits bargain like cool demons before chopping off a head. But then they start singing to celebrate.

And after the interval, Verma brings in the saanp-bicchoo-sher ka khel which compromises the dramatic tension.

Urmila, after a string of flops to her credit, does her deglamourised bit and looks quite convincing. Fardeen, after his debut debacle of Prem Agan, doesnt look like a wimp and Sunil Shettys deadpan face is used to good effect. Wish Ram Gopal knew how to combine the folksy, playful elements of the theme with hard-boiled, Jungle realism.