The General's Daughter (1999)

This film has all the elements of classic film noir - the private eye in the middle, moral ambivalence, dull lighting, extensive use of light coming through venetian blinds and a grim mood. ‘The General’s Daughter’ adds a layer of intensity to all this and comes across as powerful film combining quick-witted repartee with intelligence and emotion.

The General’s Daughter has been found mock-raped and murdered. She is a serving officer herself and has been murdered within army limits. Army CID investigators Brenner and Sunhill must find out who murdered her and why before the FBI and the media get involved? They have the full co-operation of a grieving General. En route, they find that the clues lead them to an unlikely motive and an even more unlikely source.

Like most crime-related movies, the story starts with the murder and works backwards. The narrative direction is also non-linear with flashback incidents interspersed with investigative progress. Simon West keeps the tension high and snappy between the characters and brings in a lot of subtext, in the form of Brenner’s scoffing attitude towards Army brass, his strained relationship with Sunhill who was also his ex. More importantly, the story asks important questions in terms of personal vs. professional priorities and how we balance them and what we lose/gain.

West’s cinematography is consistently sepia tinted and most of the scenes are filmed early in the morning, late afternoon or at night in keeping with the film’s grim and dark mood. Where the story falls short is in the end-game, when you get a sense that it is a method of elimination that has been employed in finding the culprit.

John Travolta as Brenner and James Cromwell as the General match each other as worthy adversaries. Travolta delivers a powerful performance laced with his trademark charm and sharp humor. In the second phase of his career, his roles have largely been in this style and he revels in it. Madeleine Stowe as Sunhill is passable but doesn’t match up to Travolta’s presence on screen.

‘The General’s Daughter’ is a powerful film that keeps you keyed in.

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Delhi Belly (2011)

As one line in ‘Delhi Belly’ goes in reference to the protagonist’s car-‘this is what is born when a donkey mates with a rickshaw’, the film itself is an Indianized neo-noir filled with zany characters, below-the-belt humor and ambivalent morality, that has you gaping at some eye-popping scenes and laughing at some crude humor that you thought would be restricted only to your circle of friends from school/college.

The plot revolves around 3 bachelors who share a run-down pad in Delhi. The protagonist, Tashi is from a well-to-do family but is struggling to find work as a journalist. His room-mates are Nitin and Arup, a photographer who clicks a personal and professional collection each time and Arup, an artist. Nitin develops a severe case of Delhi Belly, when he eats something from an unhygienic roadside vendor. Tashi’s girlfriend, doing a favor for a friend asks him to drop off a package, which gets dropped off to the diagnostic center instead of Nitin’s stool sample, which lands on the desk of a goon. With the mafia hot on their heels, the threesome needs to find a way to save their lives.

The film’s plot is wafer thin and quite hackneyed. Apart from plot and sub-plot, how lateral you can think in creating characters, situations and dialogue that the audience looks for. The writer-director combo of Akshat Verma and Abhinay Deo score in creating all of the above except sub-plots which are glaringly missing. There is not enough to piece together in the end and a couple of characters seem out of place in the climax. If you are into that kind of humor, it is to die for in this film. If not, you will find it distasteful.

The music is excellent, even though it sounds like a tribute to the heavy-bass music in Tarentino films or the Ocean's trilogy. Even then, the blending of musical styles from Saigal to ghazal to disco and rock is done superbly by Ram Sampath. Kudos to that. When 'Bhaag DK Bose' starts playing in the movie, it is so apt that it makes you root for the song even more.

In one of his promotional interviews, Abhinay Deo called the film an ensemble piece and it stays true to claim, with no role gaining prominence over the other right through the film. Vijay Raaz stands out in his portrayal of the local goon in search of the package. Apart from that Kunaal Roy Kapur and Vir Das show good comic timing. Imran Khan as the plotter of the escape plan looks largely out of sorts.

‘Delhi Belly’ is a good watch, if you can brave the dialogue and the boldness.

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