Parathewali Gali se Great Wall tak! review of CCTC

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20 | January 18, 2009 at 2:36 am | 69 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

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After Goodfella ripped into it, Qalandar killed it, and Devesh and Som buried it, I lowered my expectations but still went and saw CCTC. The theater was about 90% full on Saturday evening and people were howling at Akshay’s protecting the family jewels as he was kicked sky high by Mithun Da. So we settled in and after a while my nephew asked ‘when will the hero come’? Rather than go chapter and verse into what was good and what was bad about the film let me list my favorite moments:
1.    Deepika’s G9 ankelt on Akshay and his dancing to her tunes at the Chinese Embassy.
2.    Mere pass na Bangal hai, na gaadi hai – aur maa bhi nahin hai!
3.    The Airplane bin closing scene.
4.    Deepika as Meow Meow taking on a bevy of policeman and then flying away over cars in true Crouching Tiger tradition.
5.    The title song imagined in all its glory!
6.    The Great wall separation of twins scene.
7.    By now my nephew has asked three times for the hero!
8.    Tere Naina – brief, all to brief.
9.    Parts of the training sequence – and how it was often a backdrop to father and daughter connecting! – Nephew satisfied that the hero had arrived!
10.    Meow Meow knifing her father and seeing Sakhi.
11.    Sidhu was utterly believable as the Kung Fu warrior – the fights were GOOD.

What I did not like:
1.    Sidhu in Chandni Chowk was an utter buffoon and mostly over the top.
2.    There were several “non-veg” jokes that may have been appropriate for a low class buffoon from CC but still jarred a bit, many a clutching of the family jewels (but Akki peed on no one this time!).
3.    The story meandered about and there was some genre confusion.
4.    The romance was non-existent, maybe due to too much editing.
5.    There should have been more focus on the Kung Fu aspect in the film and les on the comedy.

But in the end, I found CCTC worth my ticket price due to several memorable moments, and Deepika. She was really good in the film and made the most of her role as Meow Meow. Akshay was repetitive, but effective in the 2nd half. This film does not deserve the flak it is getting – it was much better than SIK. However there is no denying that Nikhil did mess up the brief and instead of an excellent film he has on his hands a time-pass that will be forgotten.

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There Are 20 Responses So Far. »

rudresh 18 January 2009
03:36:41 am

well Neelu, then i donot think it is going to be flop.
may be Underperforms but not flop atleast

utkal 18 January 2009
06:18:52 am

BOI summary of CCTC on Saturday at Indore:

Totals

CC2C-4,99,100 (5,46,000)

Ghajini-9,23,800

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi-9,14,600

Singh Is Kinng-9,60,550

Saturday collections being less than Friday! And less than half hat of SIK, RabNe and Ghajini! On bigger print counts! How much more emphatic can a film’s rejection be? And still you believe that that the audience was approving of the movie! I know Indore is not India, but still, I doubt the picture elsewhere will be any different!

Som 18 January 2009
08:16:11 am

Thanks Neelu!

Tango 18 January 2009
08:20:18 am

Thanks Neelu. Good review and I like the way you have bought out the plus and minus.

I especially like the way you have given the credit where it is due, taking into account the fact that Akki is not one of your favs, unlike fake Akshay fans who gave up on the movie yesterday itself

neelu 18 January 2009
11:36:15 am

Thanks Tango, Devesh and Som – and Utkal for the gloom and doom BO post which should go to the BO thread. All I am saying is that this is not a SIK like film but more a hybrid between that and Tashan – and it is superior to much that has come from Akshay in the past. Few additional thoughts:

1. There is a LOT of subtle spoofing and I think the Indian audience is not ready for that – this was seen in Tashan too.
2. The comedy and my nephew asking for the hero convinced me that Akshay has the ability to act without any starry “look” or persona – that is to be an ordinary man, when needed.
3. He should go back to true blue action – that is his strength and that is where he will get his classy successes.
4. Deepika (following in Priyanka’s footsteps in Don) has busted the myth that Indian heroines cannot do action – she could make a Kung Fu film all by herself. And while Sakhi had a designer tear running down her cheek most of the time, Meow Meow did flex her acting chops.

utkal 18 January 2009
11:44:04 am

’she could make a Kung Fu film all by herself.’ Go ahead delude yourself. When She and Akshay together cannot even make an apology of a Kung Fu film!

utkal 18 January 2009
11:49:43 am

And sure the Indian audience is so unsphisticated that it can appreciate a Loins of Punjab or A Presdinet is Coming or a Jaane Bhi Do yaaro or an Andaz Apna Apna , but not a Tashan or CCTC. So subtle these two films are. Why Indian even the Westyern audience or critics cannot appreciate the great kung fu action or humour! ( But somehow they can manage to cheat and appreciate a Kung Fu Hustle.)

And I put the bit of box office news here because you mentioned the appreciative audience.

neelu 18 January 2009
11:59:33 am

Please provide numbers so we can know exactly HOW much the audience appreciated Loins of Punjab and President is Coming. Looking up the BO status of JBDY and AAA might also be very educational for you. In fact please let us all know exactly which spoofs have been big successes at the BO!

As for the Western audiences – this hardly a comments to be taken seriously. Maybe Warner hoped for a crossover film but again – they will not appreciate Hindi film spoofs as the source material was never available to them. Spoofs of Kung Fu films as spoofs of Kung Fu films – and those were always popular.

About Deepika – I am convinced you never even saw the film. And certinly did not read any of the reviews carefully.

utkal 18 January 2009
12:08:51 pm

The audience numbers are there. If you look up Loins Of Punjab, it didn’t do half as disastrously as CCTC. And the crtics, they should get the subtle spoof, right. But AllBollywod rating for CCTC stands at 36% while for The President is Coming, it is 63% and Loins of Punjab it is 69%. and I guess I dont have to show proof for the cult status of Andaz Apna Apna or Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron?

A C H I L L E S 18 January 2009
12:09:57 pm

Utkal – AAA was a big flop at box-office … anyways, have watched CCTC … a horrible movie … its sure to be a big flop at box-office … reports indicate a drop in saturday? … Warner Bros is going to loose money on this … these HW studios need to be more careful be it Sony or WB … why sponsor such a big budget movie on someone who had recently deliverd a big flop like SEI? and the same things from Akki has lost its charm.

utkal 18 January 2009
12:18:18 pm

Achilles, AAA was a flop, nota big flop. But more importantly, no critic called it a bad film. Even now it is a favourite in the DVD circuit. That is what I mean when I say it is a cut film. Jane Bhi Do Yaaron.. Loins, The President..are not big hits.But they have been liked immensely by the audience it was meant for.

utkal 18 January 2009
12:23:28 pm

The IMDb user rating ( from 2780 users) show a a figure of *.7 for andaz Apna Apna. I am just quoting a write up by Sukanya Varma for your reference, achilles.

Why I like Andaz Apna Apna

Sukanya Verma | August 11, 2003 15:46 IST

“Suno suno duniya ke logon, sabse bada hai Mr Gogo.”

“Amar aur Prem, yaane ke Amar Prem. Naam sunte hi main samajh gaya tha ke tum dono awwal darje ke filmi aur awaare ladke ho.”

“Tum jo ho woh tum nahi koi aur hai, woh jo hai woh woh nahi koi aur hai, main jo hoon woh main nahi, ya main bhi koi aur hoon? Main kaun hoon?”

“Tumhare baarein mein bahut saare gadhe soch rahe honge Raveena.”

“Teja main hoon mark iddhar hai.”

“Chalo, chalo Tillu ko dande dene hai.”

“Sir, yeh Vasco Da Gama ke zamane ki gun hai.”

“Kiske mama ki?”

Sound familiar?

Aamir Khan and Salman Khan in Andaz Apna ApnaAnyone who claims to be a movie buff is most likely to be an Andaz Apna Apna fan as well. I, for one, consider it to be Number 1 in my list of the Top 5 Hindi funny flicks. The other four being Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Half Ticket, Bhoot Bangla and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron.

Rediff.com’s new Mad About Movies Section gives me the opportunity to tell you what makes Andaz Apna Apna a classic.

I was in grade 10 when the film released. Back then, the cable guy would show a film a week after the film’s release, so I got to see it immediately. Since the film featured both my favourite Khans (at the time), I would collect cutouts of the film’s promotional stills kept myself in the loop about every little information about it.

Let me indulge in some background dough about this laugh raiser. Directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, Andaz Apna Apna brought the two Khans – Aamir and Salman – together for the first, and seemingly last, time on the big screen. Their heroines were Raveena Tandon and Karisma Kapoor who had just begun their careers.

Interestingly, the two actresses got into catfights throughout the making of the film. With bloated egos and petty quarrels, it is hardly surprising Andaz Apna Apna took a good three-four years to see the light of the day.

Amazingly, there were no traces of this misdemeanour on screen. From an outsider’s point of view, all four actors shared great timing and worked wonderfully as a team.

For all those unlucky blokes out there who haven’t seen this film, here’s a quick recap.

Amar ‘Haila’, smartass (Aamir Khan), and Prem ‘Ooi maa’, bumbling nitwit (Salman Khan), are two ambitious guys from Bhopal who want to make a quick buck by conning people. Both buffoons sell their father’s bangle shop and hair salon respectively to land in Ooty.

Both also decide to woo the London-returned wealthy heiress Raveena (Raveena Tandon), accompanied by her friend-cum-secretary Karishma (Karisma Kapoor).

Basically, whoever marries Raveena will inherit all of her dad Ram Gopal Bajaj’s (Paresh Rawal) fortune. Little do they know that Bajaj has a look alike twin, Shyam, aka Teja (Rawal) who, with the help of his Paplu (Shehzad) Taplu (Viju Khote), is scheming to get his hands on the riches himself.

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Another character called Crime Master Gogo (Shakti Kapoor), a cross dresser between a pirate and superhero, also has his eye on the money.

What follows from start to finish is an unstoppable session of laughs, more laughs and yet more of it. The good thing about AAA is that it is a clean entertainer and does not resort to tasteless humour or cheap gimmickry. Although shockingly low on production values, it doesn’t matter whether the backdrop is Ooty or Film City because of its frothy, engaging content.

Come to think of it, Andaz Apna Apna doesn’t have an out-of-the-world story, nor does it bank on narrative. It is purely a dialogue-cum-(comic)-action-cum-performance-based film.

My favourite scenes in the film include:
* When Amar and his father fantasise about becoming rich and famous.
* When Amar and Prem land at the same guest house and squabble but instantly turn into an epitome of brotherly love – Lord Rama and King Bharata – when the manager shows up.
* When Amar is forced to gobble down kaali mirch ke laddoos.
* When Prem tries to propose to Raveena only to find himself making unusual visits to the loo instead.
* Amar making a football match out of glass of sherbets.
* Karishma telling Prem she is Raveena and Raveena is Karishma.
* Amar and Prem chalking down a game plan to kidnap Uncle, ie Ram Gopal Bajaj.
* Amar, Prem getting rebuked by Uncle and a couple of reels later the reverse.
* The entire climax.

The characters in Andaz Apna Apna are as crazy as it gets. You probably wouldn’t find an Amar, Prem or a Crime Master Gogo at every nook and corner. But the believability with which these actors portray ridicule is simply amazing.

Aamir’s delicious wickedness and I-am-oh-so-sly act as Amar complemented Salman’s brawn-and-dumb-dodo turn perfectly. More than Raveena, it was Karisma who was funny as hell in her outlandish costumes and doltish dialogue delivery. The former, in fact, was the only regular character in this mad world created by Santoshi.

Raveena Tandon in Andaz Apna ApnaI once asked Santoshi why he hadn’t attempted to make a comedy again. He said then he was working on some scripts. The man is now making a cop drama named Khakee with Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Aishwarya Rai and Tusshar Kapoor.

Even though AAA did only an average business at the box office, its popularity is unbelievable on the video circuit.

I have a mini set of friends who adore Andaz Apna Apna with the same intensity as I do. In fact, my colleagues and I once had a Who Knows the Most Dialogues Contest from AAA.

Goes without saying I won

utkal 18 January 2009
12:29:37 pm

And here is just one of the readers’ comments to the write up by Sukanya Varma:

“Hey folks,
I saw this movie today the 50th time and still not bored of this fabulous movie.

Guys basically I am one of the biggest movie freak you will ever find. I have a DVD / VCD collection of 100 of the finest hindi movies ever made. But ofcourse, AAA (andaz apna apna) is one of them.
Crime master gogo, gogo saab apka ghagra!!
Teja main hoon, mark idar hai.

Smart boy!!

Aap antaryami hai, bahut bade swami hain, shatiman hain, budhiman hain balki aap to purush hi nahin hain… aap to maha purush hain, maha purush.

Jhakas, shabhas mere cheeteh !!

Just some of the most hilarious dialogs u will ever come across.

and finally, Crime master gogo, mocambo ka bhateja, aahen nikal ke gotiyan khelunga.”

neelu 18 January 2009
12:48:22 pm

I believe we are talking of BO today. To see how people see CCTC in a few years time Utkal will have to be patient – a good virtue to learn. We saw how people felt about Tashan a few months later!

utkal 18 January 2009
07:43:58 pm

Tashan has been on most people’s list of worst movie of the year, not a few, but many, month’s later. and Last I heard, Vijay Krishnan wasn’t flooded with offers. Nor have I seen any pice like Sukanya Varma’s on the film. On the other hand I have sen many pieces whee the film is lumped with Drona nas Love Story 2050 to describe films where everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. Its Allbollywood rating is 36% (same as CCTC) and IMDB users rating 38%> I guess the only place where these films will be venerated will be at Rangan’s private fan club.

Gabber 18 January 2009
08:03:10 pm

Thanks Neelu for this review. I saw CC2C late last night and share most of your thoughts. I intend to write a short review sometime today.