Monday, July 13, 2009

Notes on Sankat City

Pankaj Advani’s Sankat City has so many things going on at the same time – it's brimming over with good ideas, verbal gymnastics and visual gags – that it leaves you feeling giddy. More than once I felt sure that the film would eventually trip over its own cleverness, but it held its ground. Though it’s loud and ribald, it establishes a lunatic tone and sticks with it, right from the opening shot where a man dressed up in a gaudy Rakshasa costume is shown pursuing another man in Deva get-up through the busy streets of Mumbai. (What is this, you wonder, a Ram-Lila rehearsal gone terribly wrong or a visual metaphor for a corrupt policeman hectoring a minor – and relatively innocent – offender?) Variations on this bizarre chase will recur at different points through the film, as it cuts between many characters and sub-plots.

It would take a long time to detail the plot in a way that would satisfactorily explain the relationship between all the characters (and I’m not sure I even caught every detail), but here’s the essence of it: Guru (Kay Kay Menon), a small-time crook with a soft corner for (living) fish, makes the mistake of stealing a Mercedes that’s transporting a cash stack of 1 crore rupees for the sadistic gangster Faujdaar (Anupam Kher). Deep in trouble and given three days to retrieve the money (which is now mysteriously missing), Guru teams up with con-girl Mona (Rimi Sen) who had once knocked him over the head with a pair of handcuffs after cheating him of his share of a loot. Others involved in this unholy mess include a nervous builder in severe debt to Faujdaar, a Godman with a weakness for bathing with men who supposedly remind him of his childhood friends in the village talaab, and a D-grade film director who has just been arm-twisted into blowing up a van with his hammy leading man inside (which, incidentally, leads to a sly line implying that Amitabh Bachchan’s near-fatal accident during the shooting of Coolie might not have been an accident after all).

One of the things I liked about this film is the cleverness with which it sets up little bits of information early on (e.g. a news item about a meteor landing that will cause a minor earthquake, a Sardarji talking about his search for his long-lost brother) and resolves them later, when you aren’t expecting it. The dialogue-writers clearly enjoyed themselves a great deal, with lines that range from ribald street-slang to self-consciously shuddh Hindi in the Godman scenes (don’t miss Faujdaar’s matter-of-fact use of the word “and-koksh” – or egg-sac – directed at the Godman, who has just been kicked in the nuts). There are many good visual gags too: a colourful Goddess Durga picture covering half of a visiting card; a shot of a disconsolate Guru puncturing the moon (as if it’s a balloon); a surreal scene set on a seemingly planet-sized garbage dump where all the filth of Mumbai is presided over by a mad, gun-brandishing prophet-figure.

Most of the cast gets into the film’s manic mood nicely – it was good to see Anupam Kher enjoying himself in a flashy but well-written role – but I was particularly impressed by Rimi Sen, who has a surprisingly low profile given that she has now featured in two of the best Hindi films of the past two years. There wasn’t all that much for her to do in Johnny Gaddaar, but in this film she sinks her teeth into a very juicy part, matching Kay Kay step by step, playing hard to get with the horny builder, engaging in guy talk with a buddy who happens to be Faujdaar’s chauffeur, lapsing into a street version of her native Bengali during moments of stress.

Sankat City resembles Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! in its vivid depiction of an aspirational, amoral strata of society, but it’s ultimately a one-of-a-kind film: deliberately exaggerated and caricatured, often playing like a skit that presents characters as archetypes without worrying much about realism. This is the sort of thing that can be very difficult to pull off – and there IS a slapdash quality about a couple of scenes – but on the whole it works. It's one of the most boldly entertaining films I've seen in a while.

19 comments:

  1. Unless I was reading too much into it, I think there were a few subtle nods to Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. The blind passenger in the bus feels the luggage sliding off and gestures "Yeh kya ho raha hai" ala Dhrithrashtra. And the neurologist with the NRI accent and imported stuff ala Commissioner DeMello. Then the scene when Rimi/KayKay look out of the lodge's window and see Chunky Pandey escaping is similar to the one during the chase scene in JBDY.

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  2. Asterix: absolutely. I wanted to avoid mentioning Jaane bhi do Yaaro in this post (mainly because I'm working on something long-form around that film and I don't want it creeping into everything I write), but I noticed all those scenes you mention. The bomb-squad scene also reminded me slightly of the "Time and Newsweek magazine" stakeout. And in general, there's a skit-like feel to many of the scenes here which was similar to JBDY.

    Pankaj Advani co-wrote Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na with Kundan Shah and I'm sure he must have been influenced by hah's most famous film.

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  3. Yes, he is indeed a big fan of JBDY, as mentioned here.
    Indeed a great tribute to an awesome work of art.

    On a separate note, can't wait to read your article. I guess you will post it here like always.

    -- Rahul.

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  4. ...can't wait to read your article.

    The JBDY thing? It's not an article, it's a book. Still a fair bit away from completion though (and a very, very long way away from publication).

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  5. I have been a regular lurker on this blog - never quite commented. But the news of a book on JBDY brings me out in the open - One signed copy for me, please with sugar on top :-) Cannot wait!!

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  6. Rathchakra: thanks for the encouragement, but at this point it looks like it'll be a long wait!

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  7. great post buddy! keep writing. stay filmi.

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  8. What sort of book? Sounds interesting.

    Rupa.

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  9. I thought Pankaj Advani was a snooker player!

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  10. "One of the things I liked about this film is the cleverness with which it sets up little bits of information early on (e.g. a news item about a meteor landing that will cause a minor earthquake, a Sardarji talking about his search for his long-lost brother) and resolves them later, when you aren’t expecting it."
    This reminds me of "Waisa bhi hota hai",the hugely underrated cult classic. By the way I read Shashank Ghosh was directing another movie "Quick Gun Murugan".Did you get a chance to see that?

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  11. Wow! What a detailed, in-depth review. Amazing write up. I loved the movie and sincerely hope that word of mouth will lead to a wider audience. Sankat City deserves a good response from the masses.

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  12. This is a nice review Jai, although I haven't seen the movie yet I would try to catch it sometime soon. There are some filmmakers who try to indulge in some refreshing cinema while remaining rooted to the core sensibilites of hindi cinema. Judging by your review Sankat city reminds me of another Abhay Deol movie 'Ek Chalis ke last local'. I enjoyed that movie and although one can argue that the director Sanjay Khanduri is probably a huge Tarantino fan the movie is definitely worth watching for its deliciously crisp , witty and idiosyncratic dialogue.

    The movie does have its weak moments particularly in some places with Neha Dhupia , however it was an enjoyable movie by a talented director.

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  13. I didn't watch this movie so far but I'm really interested in these kind of films so I probably will within the next few days.

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  14. Hey Wocky, why not review good serious cinema like NEW YORK instead of all this tripe (Oye type nonsense)?

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  15. The JBDY book sounds great. I am a huge fan of the movie and look forward to reading about it. All the best!

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  16. hii...read ur review or should i say a complete review..u were right in saying tht the dialouge writers enjoyed it to the core while penning down those lines for sankat city..i m saying this cos i was one of them..hope to see and read more from u..thanks..

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  17. Ashwin: good to hear from you - keep up the good work!

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  18. So glad you're working on a book, Jai! Would have been really disappointed if you hadn't at some point of time..

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  19. Nitika: two books now (including an anthology that I'm editing), and one of them is pretty much finished at my end - but I have no idea when either of them will get published. It's an infernal, frustrating process, as I'm sure you know!

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