Agneepath

Weird in Hello everyone, and welcome to the Bollywood Cinema Club Show, where we take a look at Indian cinema every other week. I am the host of the Culture Cast, Christasued, the show that this show spun off from. On this episode, I am joined by my good friend. She's all the way from Mondo, Heather. She's a pretty cool person.

I think, I don't know. I think maybe some people might have some issues with her music taste, but I don't. You can hear over on Noise Junkies. She's one of the co hosts that show over on weirding Way Media. You're a friend in mine, Heather, dra thank you for having me.

I've heard that I'm two thirds squad, well about three quarters cool. I try. That's the that's a step too far. I have one cup of cool. Hey, you know what, I think you're two cups of cool.

Frankly so they hell yeah, thank you. But you know what's three cups of cool? Our dear friend Big b amitap Bachchan. Because dear Lord, that man needs some clear eyes, folks. In this movie, it's a lot of close shots of his very red eye.

We're gonna be talking about nineteen nineties cult classic Agny Path. So the film is directed by Mukool s Anon. It is written by Santosh Saroj and Cotter Khan, and it stars Amitop Bachchan as well. He's got a couple names, but we'll just call him Dina Nath Chauhan, who is a man who is on the Ogny Path otherwise known as the path of fire. When his father is murdered by a town and then they are excommunicated from said town, and wouldn't you know it, he comes back to try and take revenge on the people who wronged him and his family in the way that only big b Amita Bachchon can.

Along the way he meets, well, he meets the most rhythmically gifted coconut vendor this side of New Delhi, and a whole lot of other fun things happen along the way. Heather, I'm gonna kick it to you first. What did you think of Agony Poth nineteen ninety? Oh wow? This one?

And in a little like sort of sneak peak for the listeners into part of our process is you know when Chris is like, hey, do we want it? What do we want to do next? And typically Christ'll show me a trailer so I can get kind of a flavor and see if that's like something for both of us. And the trailer for this was so epic, so gorgeous, like as far as photography, and I love Ami tab but that was one of the things is I was like, I want to see more omitop and because I'm still like the near fight, you know, to this world a lot of ways, and oh my god, the movie did not disappoint. This was such a treat.

I loved it. I found it really fascinating. I think Omitob is just like there's a reason why they call him big B. Like this man is like charisma and power solidified like I it's and especially in this movie, like he was such a force of nature here. I really really enjoyed it.

I almost felt like it was like the universe rewarding us for Maha call because the last film, Chris and I thought there it was calling it some like the universe was like, hey, guys, like your your couple of good eggs, you survived the Bad Nightmary and elm Street film that had some decent things but not great, not great. Here here's here's Omni Pop. Here's some love, here's some sugar for you too. That's how That's how I felt, But I don't know what was like, how did it hit you? You know?

It's uh. I will say, having seen several Omiitob movies at this point, Cholet d Ward, they're all movies that feel like this one. So I felt like I had seen this movie before, but not in a negative way. It's just this feels very much in the same vein of the other kinds of movies that Omiitob was doing, especially in the seventies and eighties. Obviously, this is February of nineteen ninety is when this comes out, So this movie is twenty three years old at this point, or no, thirty, No twenty three, no more than that, right, it's thirty.

Wow, time is weird. It's thirty three years old at this point, so, you know, taking that into consideration when this movie kind of came out versus again, Omiitob's career still going. He was in Brahmastres recently as last year, I mean obviously in a much more kind of yeah, cameo but supporting role. He's not the one in the movies as the main care anymore. He's a supporting actor, a legacy actor who is obviously a big deal when he's in your movie, because I mean again, he pretty much shouldered the film industry for twenty years.

I mean, he put a lot of Indian cinema on the map internationally. But also I mean he was the film industry for about twenty twenty twenty five years in India. So all of that out of the way to give you some context about kind of where this movie comes in. I think this movie's really good. I think it's really fun.

I think it's an interesting entry into a body of work that again has similar notes to it because Inn down in Chole in d War, he plays these characters that are on the wrong side of the law in some way. In Dwar he's the brother who's on the wrong side of the law when his other brother is the one who's the cop. In Chole. Chole is the only film I would say out of the four that he plays a traditional hero. It's him, and I forget who the other actor is because it was so long you got to say point.

And the two of them are the leads, and they're kind of like the scoundrel and their duels, but they're the heroes, and then in Dawn it's don is the closer to this, but it's a little bit more I think, lighthearted, a little bit more fun. This movie is pretty serious. I mean it's fun. I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm not sitting here and saying like, oh, don't check this movie out.

It's like Stardar, which was, you know, it had very little kind of fun moments or moments that you could be like, this was entertaining, less educational. I mean, this movie's fun. It's very serious though. It takes itself very serious. Outside of the musical numbers that we get with Mithun Chakra BORDI like, it's a pretty serious movie.

So that kind of tonal shift into something a little bit more serious and feeling I think a little bit more late eighties, early nineties. I really enjoyed this movie. But it's very similar to other Omi Toop films that I've seen, like a one Guy in the Crime World again the Crime World now those so those other films that you've seen, did those come out after before? Okay, so this is like already a precedent that was set when he was in this Moaby Yeah, like and that's yeah, and that's and that's kind of you know what I'm kind of driving at is you know, it's this is very much like someone saw the other movies that he was in, obviously and were like, this is the kind of film that is perfect for an actor who has a overwhelming amount of intensity to their look, because that is the one thing Omitob has is an intensity to him that I'm not sure any actors really have.

Like I'm was racking my brain while I was watching this movie of what actor has the like that when they show his eyes? Is there a Western actor? And like, I don't even really think there are any not who are as big as Omitob was and is for Indian cinema. There are character actors in the States that dude, Yeah, but like I wouldn't say that there are mainstream, you know, main actors, the big time actors. I don't think they have this intensity that he did.

Oh god, no, I mean yeah, I mean you nailed it with character actors, because it's like if I had, and he's his own man, like, so I almost don't even like comparing him. Oh tell zombie top he's a out of percent himself. But but yeah, I mean that quality makes you think of actors like Leaving Cleeve or like Timothy Carey, my beloved, what did my art say? It's Timothy Carey. And it's not just his face.

He he just his physical presence has a gravitas like there it's almost like not primal, but there's just like you feel him when you see him in a movie. It's not just like you don't feel like you're just watching an actor in a movie. You feel like his presence like that's uh and he's such a joy. And this movie was so craezy. This movie is legit just six minutes, it's short of three hours.

It is long, but you don't feel it. You don't feel We've watched shorter movies that I was like more like looking at my watch a little bit. You know, I'm not proud of that, but I'm human, Like some things are gonna be better than others, and some things are gonna test your attention span a little more than others too. But with this one, no, it's just so it just kind of breezed by, and it is really it is a heavy movie, but I feel like it hit all the beats that it went out to really well. That it.

You know that it strived for what's interesting. It's almost sort of like a pastiche or pastiche, but it's almost like a tribute in parts to films like I feel like the Godfather movies, Scarface, our Face, Yeah, I mean his look is scarface adjacent, right, Like That's what I kept thinking of, is that white suit, Like the white suit was scarface one hundred percent a little bit of Michael Man. He kind of looked like a character out of a Michael Man. Oh yeah, like like you know almost like or even like like yeah, like totally kind of some Michael Man energy, which is never a bad thing. The fact that some of the music like samples, like like some of the background score music samples Jean Michael Gerret kind of gives it like there's like a sat solo, so kind of almost get that sort of like Michael Mann kind of feel like that late eighties, mid eighties feel.

But what's fascinating to me about this film is even though like there are things, I mean there's there's one scene in particular later on a film where he confronts his his wife about financials pregnant, and it's legit like total like kay and Michael from god Vaga two. But but not totally. That's the thing. There's a twist. But even with that, this film to me never felt like it was ripping off anything or being sloppy, Like everything is sort of woven in a way to make make it it fairy much sound story if in fact, if anything, I feel like it's almost like a biblic local in a weird way to this story.

Well, it falls in line with a lot of other Indian cinema films that you know, I've seen and that you've been able to see as well, where they feel like Shakespearean in their like level of drama. I mean, there's a level of elevated drama here that feels very much like a John wu film, like A Better Tomorrow Part one and Part two had a lot of melancholy and drama, and like that melancholic feel is right here where you know, someone gets shot and it's slow emotion or he's getting shot and it's like, I don't know how to describe it other than it just feels very elevated. It feels very intentionally elevated to the point where, like you said, it feels like it has a story like quality to it like a again, like a Shakespearean epic, like the all the things that happen feel so faded and destined, Like he dies in his house that he was born in type thing, which is actually what happens in this movie.

Like that's the conclusion, is he dies in the village where he was born. And like, I don't know what's more kind of grandiose than that, other than tossing the villain into a literal fucking pire in this movie, Like it's so melancholic with the drama that you can't help but be engrossed in how just over the top of the movie is but still being again more or less grounded in reality. Again, like I didn't. I don't need it to be a fucking born movie to feel like it's grounded in reality. You can do this where it's like heightened reality, but you're still hewing close to the conventions that we still all have to play by.

But there are things where a man is shot like eight times and he just still keeps on going, Like, eh, I don't know about that, but like it works in the it works in the context of what the movie's trying to do. Oh my god, it's it's I love that something. I think at one point, like he survives having somebody throw a grenade from a helicoptern of boat he's on, and then he of course he comes out of the water, and my my husband Check literally said to me, he's like, God, this guy's like fucking Joss. He's well to die. He just will not die.

But it's but it's not tough. But the way it's done, it's not cheesy. You're just like you say somehow. And I mean, of course a lot of that's zombie top too, like he sells it like so easily, but I mean it's funny to me with the story. So I was thinking about, like, you know, because of course the Godfather series has a big, sweeping, epic story, and you know, I think if you're a lover of film and writing, you know, most of us love these movies.

It's great, at least the first two. I like the third one. I'm not gonna shit on that third one is actually pretty thought I think it's underrated. I think if I think Sofia Copple is really the only real weak link in it, I mean, to be fair, though the weakest of week there are a few films that have his weak a link as Sofia Coppola, Oh, no, hundred percent, Yeah, she's a she's a special kind of weak link in that movie. Hey, it's almost like that's your daughter.

Yeah, hmmm baby neo baby. Yeah. But with I don't know, but it's like with the Agnipop. To me, it almost felt like when I say biblical, I don't mean like obviously necessarily to today of Christian but like spiritual it's almost like, you know, the whole thing of you know, his father is like a in a lot of ways, like this pious schoolmaster is really trying to do good and he helps this guy who's an alcoholic fine redemption. His father's flawed too, like but that's but that's good.

It's like I like that. It's like, because nobody's gonna be a hundred who's going to be one hundred percent perfect or safely in life? It's not reality. And but basically, you know, his father tries to help out a local prostitute, a local sex worker, and you've he's something out the drex of society. It's kind of like the whole you know, sort of you know thing with like Christ and you know who did he hang out with.

But what happened to him? He gets crude, you know, he got crucified, and you know, Ami Toob's father ends up getting stoned to death, which I mean, what more biblical of a death, you know, other than being on a cross, and for and for a biblical reason too, trying to teach a sex worker how to read. Yeah, And and it's always like I always said that a lot of times people that try to do the best social changes, the ones that really do tend to be the ones that get like sort of assassinated the late I mean, like mart Luther King. We could go on and on with this, but and so you're already going with this heavy thing in the sun being his little son being for us to carry his father's body, drag his father's body the cremat after his father bled on him while he's dying, Like that's so messed up and so heavy, and it's just like automatically the worldview that we're getting is so like, this is how ugly humanity can be.

And I mean it's always almost think good pairwell with el Topo. Everybody when they talk about her rest these Altopa there's oh, it's a psychedelic western, and that's fair, but there's such a heavy heart to that movie about redemption and you know, and love, but also trying to survive in a world where just you know, corruption is as much of our nature as almost like our blood, and our arteries too. So how do you make your way in this world? How do you be a better person? How do you how do you keep clean when you're surrounded by people that refuse to grow or evolve either, And so you have kind of elements here in Ogypop with that.

But also you know, even when he like even as a little kid, he turns out to be such a badass, like he this like horrible, like ast like I guess the actors Australian. We're not really given his nationality, but he's obviously like a like a Western like that big guy that giggles. Okay, that giggle is a plaints about this movie, and that giggle is one of them. I really, I mean it was a You've got a villain and then in a late eighties early nineties movie, So one of the easy ways to make a memorables to give him a weird tick. That was the thinking, right, Like I guess I mean, it's such we've seen it in like American movies, like Western movies.

It's just it's annoying. It's annoying, yeah, like exactly like it would be annoying here, it would be annoying there, it would be annoying everywhere. Yeah. But but guy basically tries to rape, you know, his poor mother who's widowed, who's penniless, and a little badass tiny veinge go goes after home, beats the shit out of him as much as a ten year old pane or you know, and you know, the police don't do anything. They're bought, and he ends upset and a fire cut gas station like a bought And I love it when he like is confronted that kid actor sells It's almost like his voice is deep and what he's saying it he's like, I dig it.

It's so good. Oh man, that's great. And then he turns into like omitop looking like liking just like straight fire with that hair and that suit. Well what a great scene too, where it has someone pass in front of the camera. The cop passes in front of the camera and he's a kid, and then once he passes in front of the camera, then he's an adult, Like, oh, man, like that, that's a fanity.

Yeah, oh my god. So the so the movie the title comes from Harrevan Bachchan's poem Who is Omiitop's father wrote a poem that the film is named for, And so I think it would probably be of benefit to read it here for everybody, So we'll kind of understand, because I think the movie does a pretty good job of kind of giving a literal version of the poem in a lot of ways, if that makes sense. So, even if there were mighty trees all around you, let them be shady, let them be huge, But even for the shade of a single leaf, beg not beg, never ask, Never the path of you shall tread, the path of fire, Yes, that path of fire. You shall never tire, you shall never slow down, you shall never turn back. This oath you will take today, This oath you will fulfill in your life.

Take this oath and walk the path of fire every single day, the oath of fire, Yes, that path of fire. What great spectacle then to see such a man walk who in tears, sweat and blood, is soap covered and coated, and still walks on in the path of fire, walks the path of fire. Yes, that path of fire, so says Ognipoth. A whole lot in the poem too, So there is that. But I think it's a pretty good kind of summation in a lot of ways of the movie and the message yeah well and so beautifully integrate it.

And especially because like the way like when you hear the poem yeah recited and you keep hearing that word over and arrogant, it's almost like like a musical like stammer almost. It almost reminds me of like there's this really great French movie called Don't Deliver Us from Evil, which really has nothing to do with acting up, but at the end the girls recite this bottle air poem and the way that they recite it almost has that kind of cadence to it, and it's just like it really catches your ear and it's a great This is a great poem too. I mean, God, no wonder omitops and pat as like his dad was this great poet, and how beautiful like it is too. I mean people can say they got to like not only be in a movie, but have like their father's poem be tied to it well, and I think you're right, you know, because his dad, I mean, the stand in for his real life father is his father in this movie.

And I think it's interesting that they use that as kind of a framing device because that's how the movie ends, is by essentially him reciting that poem again as he's sitting down to die. I don't know how else one would describe it, but I do think again, like you said it, he kind of really hammers home the message of this movie, which is, you know, trying to find your way in the world, and to do you have to walk the treacherous path. I mean, that's I mean, that's kind of what this movie is about. Is you know, like we've mentioned Tommy Tops character is, I don't think he's a I don't think he's a villain per se. I think he's more of an anti hero more so than some of the other times I've seen him play this kind of character.

But at the same time, again, like the reaction to him in the movie is interesting because I don't feel like at any point in the movie he really is a villain. That the movie wants us to think that, or at least it wants us to think that other characters think that he is, and I have a hard time seeing that in the movie. That's like the one failing of the movie is trying to really get me to get on board with the idea that his own family is so put off by who he is. He's an asshole, but he's an asshole for a reason. But I don't ever feel like anything he does is unjust.

Maybe he was doing all these unjust things before the movie started, but like, I don't, I just I don't. I don't see that. And that's kind of one of the biggest failing for the movie is it doesn't land the kind of counterpoint to the main kind of conflict, which is how does his family kind of accept him, because that's the whole thing, is being accepted by his mother ultimately. And I don't feel like the movie does a good enough job in showing us why they wouldn't, because, like you've mentioned, he seems like he's rather altruistic for the most part, like he's not killing people that aren't deserving of it even really, yeah, no, that was I one hundred percent agree, because that was the thing I kept being like, Yeah, whenever you know, people act like a shamed or scandalized like there's this whole thing where he goes to a restaurant in one couple like makes this big like they want to be like seated somewhere else, and it's like, the fuck.

It's like especially because we don't we see him doing really really good things for his community. We see him using his power and granted, yeah, I mean obviously he ascended through like the underworld, through a crime syndicate situation to get there, but we never see him hurting innocent people. We never see him being malicious. We you know, we see him being you know, getting angry and being violent towards people that are inherently overtly corrupt, that are definitely don't give a shit about other people. My favorite was he gives this speech about how like, you know, I don't want to see any child begging for money.

You know, if you want to buy a galacial state, fine, but you know, make sure that you know nobody's homeless basically and just like do it. Like it's like and my favorite is he says, if you don't do this, I'll kill you, and my heart swelled like so hard. I'm like, I will vote for you. I was like, because I mean maybe it's because I'm just so tired of like inherent corruption in our own country where people just don't care about others, you know, and don't are helping that. I was like, I'll be tough, yes, and he felt that you love him, you can't and he's the perfect and I hear because that because even when he does things, says things where you're kind of like, dude, like maybe don't do that, don't slap your sister, don't threaten to murder your wife because she questioned, you know, she thought about having an abortion.

Uh. But but that's but that's you know, it's like, but it makes him more human. And that's because otherwise you're just watching a check Doris movie, you know, and a check Doris movie's fine, but you're not gonna get like, Yeah, if you're wanting something that's a great action film but has a heart, has a brain, has a heaviness to it that hits home in a way that feels authentic and real on a bigger picture level, then yeah, you want Omi toob you want this movie. You know, we mentioned Scarface, there is another moment that is more or less ripped directly from the Scarface, when when the always fantastic. Danny ding Zhongpa has his uh has the one of his white lackeys push one of Omi Toob's I guess antagonizers out of a helicopter, which made me think one hundred percent was that hep Frey Abraham getting pushed out of a helicopter in our face.

Oh, maybe I have to make a confession. I have done seen Scarface since I was like in high school. It's been a long it's been a long time. It's just okay, you know, I love to Palmer, but I always think I go more for older to Palma. Like I'm like, if William Finley's in it, you got I'm watching that, I'm rewatching it.

I'm gonna own it. I'm gonna keep watching it because it's William Finley. That's fair. Well, it's definitely not well, he's not willm Philly's on Scarface, so you know, yeah. But but but there was another kind of moment where it's like just more again, like like more kind of tributes or callbacks to other movies of this kind, because that is I mean I kind of mentioned at the top here.

This really feels like a late eighties early nineties crime movie. Even if you take that it's an Indian film out of it. And if you were to watch, you know, play this movie in the States for a Western audience, I think they would feel the same way. And the last time I watched a movie that was close tonally visually to this one was Pirinda, which had to come out around the same time. But that one is more of that actually came out at eighty nine.

That's more of Mumbai crime. This is not I don't think they ever say specifically. I guess this is Mumbai. They're both in Mumbai, but it's like it, I don't know, like they both feel like they're the same Mumbai. But Pirenda felt a little bit even even with Pirinda, which is a film that is even more kind of like dark and realistic than this one, there was I don't remember if there was musical numbers.

There had to have been. But this movie's a lighter tone, which is again like it is kind of strange that this movie does have a cutaway moment to something else where. It's a pretty light in tone because there is a love story going on in this movie, which I don't I don't think is out of place. I think it actually totally works. But this movie has a little bit more of a I mean again, it feels like a cult movie, like in the look of it feels very much like it's trying to be maybe more stylized than a Perinda, which is more kind of realistic or hewing closer to the actual way things are in the Mumbai Underworld.

This seels like an elevated version of it, which I think works here. And when you have someone like omnitob, it's like, all right, so he's such a big personality that you know, you know, wow me, you know what. No, you get to hear the blast, like you get to have this heightened realism and these kind of one liners and stuff that aren't in a more serious movie. But I think this kind of still scratches that same itch of a Mumbai Underworld movie. Done right, Yeah, no, I could.

I could totally see that. And it's my favorite I think actually works best as far as like not feeling like kind of a tonal shift and that And that's the one where he basically is with Danny, doesn't Pau's Conscia China at his like palatial like in you know, poll Interior State, And there's this like song and dance about Ali. And there's like a weird, sinister almost quality to that musical number for me, not like overtly, but there's a line about don't trust like you can't something about enemies and not trusting your friends. Like the lyrics really actually play very well into just like this overall feeling of like we know a twist and a double twist and a double cross and a triple cross are probably coming, but how is this gonna play out?

Like it's really I thought that was so well done because the other two my musical numbers are definitely more of like here's the lightness because we have the love number, and we have the the Coconut, like we have Christian's song about the Coconut dance. And though I did have my favorite, I don't know how if translations may range, but the one I watched on Prime was don't Agitate Me or if you agitate me. I just love this idea threading somebody. If you agitate me, I'll do my dance like it's oh yeah, I love that. Like maybe the real world should be like that instead people getting you know, getting overally violet or trolling or whatever, just like have a dance off.

Did you notice again, do you know a Shakti Kapoor in that in that scene the actor who looks strikingly like Omi tob down to the hair and get up that they gave Oh okay, now, I seriously for a second, are you talking about the singer and the alababa No? I first second thought that was him in a weird dual role. I'm like, is this gonna be his brother or something? And then it didn't really pay off, and I was like, oh, I guess he looked like Omi Tab in a different as a different character. Yeah, Wick straight up like that was crazy.

He's he's a comedic uh Indian actor who is really like known for his comedic roles. But he, I guess was playing himself in the movie. But he looked like Ombi tob like and he looked I mean, he has the same hair as Ami Tab even now, the kind of you know, the big kind of I don't know what you would call it, like mullet, majestic, majestic, perfectly quaffed hair waw. Yeah, but yeah, I would agree. I think that that's the that's the musical number.

I mean that and the one at the end of the movie where they're you know, talking about you know, gotten possy and they're doing kind of the procession out to the water like that works as well. But that works because it makes sense from a narrative storytelling perspective. I like that Ali Baba song. The other two, I mean, the one where it's you know, I am the coconut vendor, like, yeah, it's fine. I mean, it's fine.

It's it's it went all a little too long that you think, yes, a little bit. I'm like, I think like two minutes it would have been cure. Right, it's like five minutes or something. It's like, okay, we need to wrap. We get it.

It didn't. It didn't have a particularly catchy hook, which I mean, again, look, not everything is going to be Ja Dewana or the or a lot of other songs. But you know, I know that musical numbers obviously, you know, take it or leave it if they're going to be in movies now. But at the time, that's an expectation, and so they're in everything, and sometimes they work and sometimes times they kind of fall a little flat. And I think in I think in the case of most everything, But again, the last two I think the musical hombrets are just okay.

I don't think they really are needed to tell to tell the story any further. Yeah, no, agreed, agreed, But yeah, I was thinking because I feel like sometimes people get put off by wanting like Western's get put off day because of the whole musical thing with Indian cinema. But my question I was thinking about this watch is because I mean, some of the great like action films of the eighties that are Western have these amazing musical sequences. That's not people miming that they're singing, but they're very music driven. Actually again actually going back to Michael maher like, I mean like Manhunter like and it's more horror, but like that has some great music driving it to uh to live and die in La You've got that Wang Chun score.

Like even there's even like a like a really great use of a disco song in William Lestick's Maniac that kind of as that builds this sort of a similar atmosphere. And so it's the thing it's like, I do encourage well, I mean, obviously, if you're listening to this podcast, you're not one of those little negative nancies that are like Hey, dude, want to watch something from you know, you're not You're not part of the problem if you're listening to us. But but if you're friends who are like, just be like, well, do you like musical sequences in movies? Did you like all that ac DC and Iron Man thing? Come on, what's what's your prop?

Give it a chance? That's my ted talk. Thank you, sure, thank you for coming, thank you for coming. Well, And they don't know, they don't always they don't always work like and they just don't like they don't always work just like you know, not every action scene in a Marvel movie works. Yeah, I agree, But that Ali Baba's Secrets, that's actually I think it's the best song.

But I also just think that was my favorite as far as just like it felt like the way that was edited, and I was like, wow, this film only had one editor because the editing in this film, I mean, everything even from a technical standpoint in this film is super high caliber. Like it's shot beautifully, the composition's great, like so much care went into this movie with everything. It's just it's a great film just to look at, even just to just to watch it, you know, even yeah, even he took the plot and all that is that it looks great. Yeah I thought that dude, though, I'm so glad you said that I forgot about. I was like, is that off the top?

It was this guy? And I love that he's got like great like used car dealer energy, used car dealer energy. And again, like it's for for Western audiences, it's not going to make sense. I gotta be explained as to who that actor is. So it's just yeah, I want to because I had to look it up.

I was like, all right, what's going on here? Like because again I wasn't necessarily super aware as to what shock D. Kapoor's thing is. So yeah, he's he's a comedian, So can it makes sense? Man?

See, I would love like and we have like we're in such a great era right now of like boutique labels in the West releasing these really great additions of films that are pretty obscure to a lot of us as film people, and I would like, I don't know if it could be Monda Micabro, just somebody like take some of these Indian films and give them the extras, like and because that's the thing, like we could make it like super educational and in fact, if anybody has ties to a label, if you're listening to this, I know the perfect guy to do commentary and he houses the show, so freaking book Christashio. Please yes said please see you said, look the lady, I mean this. I mean that's the thing. Like, I'm actually surprised that like a certain filmmaker in this United States of America hasn't talked about how much he loves this movie, Like this is the kind of movie that would totally resonate with that kind of audience and that kind of filmmaker.

You I'm not I won't say who, but if you know, you know, if you know, you know he has something in common with the character of Scarface. Okay, now I'm joking allegedly, allegedly allegedly, Yeah, you're totally right. Like this is the kind of movie that if Western audiences that have been able to see it in the nineties, it might have helped spark interest in Indian cinema the way the nineties was kind of a hotbed for Hong Kong cinema interest in this country, with Chao Yun and Jackie and all of those Hong Kong action movies. Then you have an Indian crime film like Man like that would have been something interesting to take with you to like a VHS hangout where everybody brings something weird that they've never heard of and they're all watching stuff and you know, who knows.

I'm sure people in college are doing that, like White and his Palas were doing it. I'm sure everybody who was into movies in the nineties was trading tapes around and trying to find the weirdest, craziest Hey have you seen this? No, I haven't. This is exactly that kind of movie. There are some holy shit moments in this film, like the climax where fucking Omi Toop just walks through fire and again, oh my god.

However they shot it, it looked as convincing as possible. It was oh yeah before I even get to that. No, I'm I'm so glad you brought that up about the timeline though, because like the eighties and nineties were really kind of like this weird sort of golden era for people in what we call flyover states for wrestling fan It's like, but like people like in the Midwest or the South that are just small towns that don't have access to like an art house theater back then, all of a sudden could access foreign cinema through their video store and through cable like Cinemax had of like they would have a night that they called Vanguard Cinema and a lot of times they would use that show more often than not a foreign movie.

I s how I as a little kid saw my first Alma do Bar movie was thanks to Cinemax, and it's like, well, why wasn't Indean cinema tapped into is as huge of a market as an industry that India has had and has. It's weird to me that it wasn't, you know, and I don't I don't know why. I'll be the first admit that I'm not, you know, super educated enough to even take a guess at this point, like you know, just to keep it real, like you know, I don't know if maybe there was a perception because India, I think sometimes just people just were like, oh, it's a thrberal country, and you know, let's face it, like are a lot of people in our culture are very classes, and a lot of film critics are very classes, especially back then.

I mean that's also why you would see like you know, if something was made by you know, oh, it's I didn't even want to use it an example and be too snobby, but basically, like, if something plays like a grindhouse, it's automatically never going to be regarded as a good film because it's not made for much money and it's made for a working class audience. You know, I mean, you get where I'm going with this. So I don't know if it's class this thing in some weird fucked up way or what, but it's like that would have been like such a great thing to have though. You imagine getting to turn on the you know, turn on TV and be like, hey, I wonder what's on cable and this film just is on and you just happen to turn on and have your socks blow up, like you know what if thought.

But thank god for the Internet, and you know, Chris and I were able to watch this via stream like streaming via like Prime. I watched it on Prime. You started on Prime and then had to switch to Netflix because now the film is off both platforms the day we're recording. No shit, thanks jerk. So I'm Chris, And because Chris alluded me to that, I knew it was going off Prime.

I didn't realize with the Netflix. So if you guys want to see this, tag them, tag them to quote Bobby Fleischmann from a spinal tap, money talks, bullshit walks. Tag people, be like I pay for this service, let's have you know, could we get this back? Like why is this not you know, like, why is it not on there? It's taking up too much space for all those Office Yes, a couple read it, Phil, I just want to watch The Office for the twelfth time.

Oh my god, Seriously, people been people binge watched the same sitcoms over and over again that three hours you could be watching something new. And I'm not judging if you're having a rough day anxiety. We all have comfort food. So I'm not coming up play a judgment with some of the ship because I've you know, Raising Hope got me through a really bad, depressing No judgment in that. Wow, Raising Hope's good, it's good.

Come on, hey, sure I would agree with you, because better than the it's better than The Office. That's not hard. That's that's like saying, oh, this Doug Turn's better than a cat turd. It's like that's a We're like hot take McGee tonight. I mean, but not really.

I mean, look, i know people my age like the Office, but I'm not one of them. Just like you know that there are people your age that like friends. You're not one of them. Ew But see what I mean, it's the same thing. It's like I'm not one of them.

I'm like, eh, eh, I know you're right, I mean, but still, I mean, imagine if we live the world we're like, if we went to Walmart and we see pajamas that have omitop on them and not like the Friend's logo, would it be awesome. I'm just covered in blood and red in his white now red suit, I would buy this living crap out of that instead of Friends. I really love his white suit in this movie, Oh my God. And you know I've often I love I love a character I can pull off a white suit. I have a theory it takes a certain gravitaze, a certain person of action to pull off a proper white suit, like you got like Christopher Lee to pull it off.

Uh yeah, yeah, Mrie Head when he does One Night in Bangkok pulls it off. Yo. Pete Shelley, who's a really great pioneering punk electronic musician and everybody seek out who's longer with this. We love you. Pete pulled it off.

David Byrne pull a giant, chunky suit, pulled it off onmmy top. Pulls that off like it's a second layer of skin. He looks that amazing in it. He looks just the visual of him. It's not just like he's a handsome guy.

It's like it's just part of this, like you know, it's filmmaking. Like that's the thing a little bit about this film. It's like every element has like this like writhing little ligament of you know, passion going into it. Like everybody that did everything on this film, you gets all cared well. And you'll notice that there's a scene where he's not wearing white anymore and he's wearing a black suit.

And that's during the Ali Baba song, which I found to be a nice little a nice little touch, a nice little callback because he's trying to convince the villain of the piece that he is also a villain. And I thought it was a little it was a little cute little Q production designed to have him dress in black in that scene. So yeah, I don't know that's the thing, Like there's all these great touches that would just make this film so special. I'm just I'm so glad, Like I'm so glad you picked this, Like I really like this is I don't think I've enjoyed and I've enjoyed everything we've watched save mak fair, fair and Valid, Fair and Valid. But though it's far from the worst film I've ever talked about on any podcast, but I've seen worse.

I've talked about worse, but mancoll was not good. But this is, like, I really feel like this film. It's just like if you love that kind of if you love these big sweeping stories, you know, please like seek it out. It's you know, it's it's such a reward. And you know, unlikely we mentioned Tarantino and or sorry we did it.

I'm sorry, uh adjacent, Yeah, And you know, I don't say this like objectively, Like dude obviously knows a lot about film, is passionate, and I always respect that. I've enjoyed some of his past movies. I haven't watched the last several. To be honest, I was I can't. I don't have an opinion because i've seen it.

My problem that with some of his movies, even the ones I like sometimes like the homages are so like there, it's like and it kind of takes you out, like if you get the reference, you're taken out of it a little bit. And that's such a hard thing to do, like a collage kind of homage where you know this it's seamless, but I put that feel like actually does it even when you're like, oh god, yeah, I know that's in gar Faiths or Godfathers too, it's still done and twisted in such a way that it doesn't feel just like somebody just you know, like just cut it out with kid crayon scissors or whatever and just roughly gluted on like there's some there's some love going on, and there's also like keeping faithful to like the characters, and I don't know, it doesn't feel like a rip off, if that makes sense.

Well, And I think it also helps that you have someone like Danny Dengzongpa as the villain who feels like a force of nature but also has that oiliness to him that works in a crime movie. I've only seen him in one other I guess I've seen him in two things. He was in China Gate, where he played a heroic character in any band of kind of disgraced military guys who go to protect a village from wouldn't you know marauders, And then he plays the villain in the first Robo movie. He's the villain in ent Theron, and he's sufficiently mustache twirling in that movie, but in this movie they just let him go full Oh he's full oil. Yeah.

He reminds me a lot of Robert Lojen scarface like, and I think I think that's where they were kind of going with his character is kind of that kind of like I don't know, like entrenched boss who knows no other way and wants to make sure that you do not upset the balance. I think they do a good job of showing that. But he's he is a suitable foil for Omi Top because you really needed someone who could stand up to the kind of I don't know ferocity of the role that Kauzami toob Whenever he's on screen is just a house of fire in every scene, every scene, he is like the element of fire, like he really is just like, I mean, this is one of the I think it's like one of the best performances I've seen a long time, you know, like this really just like he rings it and I'm just like, gosh, like this would like I'm trying to think.

And they were like good Western fields that came out this year. But but this is also the same year that gave us like dances with think about it, we could have been watching this in the theater. It's so danceable. Well, I mean, I think that this is a better movie than something like A Scarface. That this movie is so heavily inspired by, at least somewhat visually, and some plot points that they kind of cop from that movie.

But I think this is a better movie. I think it's a better put together movie. I think it's a much more interesting movie. I think that there are some twists in the movie that mother they caught me off guard or anything, but I think that they work in the favor of the movie to kind of further give the story a direction to go as opposed to the expected way. It kind of takes a it takes a little detour at the end, and I mean again, I think the movie's ending kind of was inevitable in a way.

But we get another you know, twenty minutes of movie where we have people showing up then taking his family hostage, and like there are some stakes, but every time Omitop is given something to do, he brings it. He brings it in the scene where he's begging the doctor to save Krishnan's life. He brings it in the scene where he's having dinner at his house, his mother's house, and she, you know, says, you know, clean your hands. You can't. Your hands will never be clean.

Like he brings it so often that by the time the movie's over, it's like I'm exhausted by the amount of by the amount of just again, like energy that he brings in a way that is so ferocious. I mean, I was joking about his eyes at the beginning of the podcast, but I will say it again, like they cut to his eyes so many times and they're like fucking bloodshot throughout the entire Yeah, and it feels it feels like a consciousness. It doesn't just feel like you know, no just have he was having some like hay fever. No abtup doesn't look like that normally, and they were like, let's let's make him look like a man possessed, because that's honestly like what he looks like. It's a man on a mission in a way that don't get in his way, because if you're in his way, I wouldn't want I wouldn't want to be in his way.

Just put it that. Oh no, no, that's the what is it? He keeps streatening people like I'll hack you to pieces. Yeah, it's like man like Esus Christ. Yeah, but damn like that's a oh my gosh.

Yeah, he's he is amazing. And you know one thing, My one real complaint though, and it's minor because this film is so good. I really I like, we have his the character that is kind of his love interest and why yeah she is because he marries her like Mary Matthew. But to me, she almost just felt like she was just kind of there. You mentioned Diane Keaton from The Godfather, and I think it's an apt comparison in terms of that scene, but in terms of what she's given to do in this movie, completely underserved.

Yeah, which is you know, which sucks for the actress Matave. She's elite, she's a South Indian, she's a very well known as South Indian actress. So I don't I don't know, like why they kind of I mean, I know why they sidelined her character because again, this is Omiitob's movie. But I think honestly, the the kind of subplot of him having a son and a family, like it feels a little unnecessary because they don't they don't go as far with that as they should have, and they don't they don't bring it all the way back the way that they could have with that storyline, and that kind of feels a little bit forgotten by the end of the film. By the final climax of the movie, the fact that he has a wife and son kind of get forgotten a little bit.

Yeah, well, and you definitely get any real sense of like why would she you know, cause you do get in god, that scene where he goes to her and he just feels like he's been forsaken by the world, like he like, oh it moves you, like he brings it. But it's like, but you're also wondering, like, well, why would she say? Yes? I know, like there's not really like I don't know, I wasn't necessarily buying that. But but I also say that with the caveat didn't take me out of the movie.

No, did it hurt the movie absolutely not. Could have been excised probably, but but yeah, I mean, how many things in life for one hundred percent, Like this film's like in ninety seven. You know it's good, it's really really good. Yeah, she she definitely. And you know, we've talked about this at other Indian cinema films where the female characters kind of get not sidelined, but they're not the focus of the piece.

Uh, you know, like similarly to Western cinema, like for the longest time, female actors were given the damsel in distress roll and that's it, and it's a it's a shame here, it's a shame there because again, like it's just doesn't add anything to the overall narrative. And there there were opportunities to have it have some kind of circular meaning because you know, by the end of the movie, he has a son that watches him die, and like you could have gone there, and they didn't, and that's fine, but they set it up in a way where it kind of felt like they should have or could have or maybe in the remake they do do that. The the the remake from a couple of years ago, not the South Indian remake. I feel like maybe, like again that was maybe maybe that's something they xcized from that version.

I'd be interested to watch that version, but at the same time, like I wanted to see this without anything else, So that that is not informing our feelings on this movie absolutely, but that I think I think the female I think honestly, all the female characters in this movie other than his mom and sister are not needed, and it's really just comes down to then his wife because she's the only other female character. Really. Yeah. Other than that, there's like a real small one that ends up being kind of a pawn, right but on to the point of getting murdered in a very Godfather Godfather one esque scene. Oh, the only thing missing was just Manell.

Oh right, oh man, my heart just oh I'm in a happy place skin just thinking about just Manel. But uh yeah, so but that's that again, like I said, it's definitely not yeah, but a deal breaker for sure. I mean it would have been nice, but also it probably would have, in fairness, made this movie even longer. Well that's I mean, that's the thing you know, when I when I mentioned it's kind of like if you had taken some of that out of the movie. That's like a half an hour, and then you've got like a two and a half hour movie as posed to a three hour movie, because there's no musical number between Omitov and My Hobby.

But there is a large portion of the second act of the movie that's devoted to their relationship. But again, like we really don't even get a very good sense of what their relationship is or why she would be with him, because again, like you mentioned, there is a scene where she threatens to abort the baby and then like nothing comes of it. It's like if you do that, I'll kill you, and she's like okay, and she hugs them. Very strange. The scene is a little the scene is not handled as well as it's handled in The Godfather, that's for sure.

Yeah, yeah, that's yeah, that was that was a little bit like huh, I don't know about that. What's the message here? Like I must be missing it? Yeah that uh, holy shit. This movie, like there's this one shot in particular alive and it's so simple, but it's like Amy tab in that white suit when he's on the boat and the boat's on the water.

It's just like him and you know, his amazing black hair and that blue sky and that blue water and that white suit. I mean it just it looks like just looks like something out of an art book, like a photography, like a coffee table book. It's like it's just so striking and just just visually kind of perfect. Well, contrast that with they seen about maybe five minutes later where he's standing on the beach talking to Danny dang Zongpo with no jacket on and the wind catches the shirt just right and it puffs his shirt up completely, which I was surprised they left the shot in the movie because he looks hilarious all of a sudden, his shirts just like inflated, like one of those Halloween costumes, and he looks like a Baymax costume for a second.

He's pretty great. Again, you can't make a man like Omitop look any less badass. He just he has a look to him even now when you see him in things, because again we saw him in Thugs of Hindostock. Oh god, he's a badass there. Like he was like a silver lion in Bugs, and here he's just like full on, just like young lion, like just so which actually I say that, how old because he's like in his eighties.

Now, yeah, so this so he was born in forty two, so he would have been like his fifties. Holy shit, is that right? So he was born in forty two, So I mean math is hard for me, but yeah, that's thirty was thirty eight when this movie came out? Oh okay, thats I was like, right, fifty wait thirty eight? Yeah, okay, well that's that's age of Parparks the character.

I think he says something about him being in his thirties, but uh, do you understand now why friends watch Rufo called amitave one man film industry? Do you understand now from this? Odey said, I mean I got the seedling when we saw the Xapendo stand because even though that's a supporting role, he makes an impression. And yeah, and but then this, it was like, oh my god, can I just see everything he's in now? Because I am or I am super hard.

So yeah, now it's not just a mere Colin Socking. I know he's he is. He is one of those actors who when I saw Cholet so many years ago, I was like, my god, how have I never seen anything that this guy has been in and that was Cholet and then d War and now this and you know Thugs of Hindostan and he was also in Prepmstra And it's just you understand when you watch these movies where he's the lead, where it's like Jesus Christ, this man is just it's a natural. He's it's not even acting like this is just who he is. He has this and he feels like he has this intensity all the time.

And mind you, he's also in you know, things that aren't action movies. Is in things like K three G where he's playing shah ru Khan's father and he's the disappointed father who is, you know, a rich Indian man who doesn't like seeing his family part with traditions. And that's a character that he can also play very convincingly. So he's able to really kind of embody and kind of an expectation for Indie Indian masculinity for like twenty to thirty years, even that's the expectation. Is that's amitop, that's Indian masculinity made flesh on screen.

Is this guy kicking ass, taking names and then running through fire and taking more bullets than a human being can take while doing Oh my God, giving us one of my favorite lines now ever in film history. You know, why are you crying? You know, I took four bullets and I didn't shed one tear. That's the most manly thing I mean, I've ever heard, like man O war wish they would have written that line. That is helped me the fact that every time he kills one of his aggressors and he drops a bullet that was in his body from them.

Oh, I didn't even need to say anything, just drop a bullet and go. That was I was, Oh my god, I was. I was like almost haling at the moon. When what he confronts the first two that double cross and he doid something about you know, as your faithful servant. I always told you I'd return anything to you that is rightfully yours.

And then he kills them. What those bullets? You know? Oh he's a bastard in this feeling I love. It's such a badass.

More like it. Yeah, like the man other than the athleat of his sister, he lat woman. Oh yeah, oh yeah, he slaps a shit. I didn't understand that either, like his apprehension to him and her, Like with Vin track, where Bote's character is so again, he's so written so as such a nice guy, there's not any He's about as unsubtle as Tom is in his portrayal of the character, right, Like he's just this big personality the moment he's on screen. Well, so did you get the feeling that he was almost like because I was like, Oh, when he set him up as her bodyguard, I'm like, oh, this is sweet because you see, this guy has a good heart and even at one point says something about like he's she was born in the wrong era.

He is like the old values or something like that. And so when he's like he has her or as him be her bodyguard, I'm like, oh, he's trying to maybe do a little matchy match because you know, he's a good guy. He wants see his sister with a good guy. So then when he got pissed about them holding hands, like what, yeah, I thought you were cool with this. I did not understand that.

I did not understand that either. I was. That was another thing that again, like that there are parts of this movie that the movie just feels like it it included it because it needed to, not because it wanted to, And that like that conflict didn't make any sense because by the end of the movie, you know, Omi Toop gives his life for his family, so it's yeah, I in one of those people, being Krishnan, So like it was just I don't know, again, some of the relationship stuff kind of goes in an odd direction that needed to maybe be changed or excized. But yeah, this is a movie that it's kind of a shame that it's off Netflix in prime video now because this is this was a lot of fun and yeah, for it being three hours, it moves along at a pretty pretty great pace.

Frank, Oh, Breezy, I've seen I've seen movies that were ninety minutes that moved slower and it felt like they were three hours. So totally, yeah, now this was Oh this was seriously, Netflix, Amazon, come on, get it together. So final thoughts on Ogni Pov Heather, Well, obviously I hated it. Not right, worst movie I've seen in a very long Oh it's terrible. Now, man, I think this was damn close to a masterpiece.

I've thoroughly enjoyed this so much. It's sumptuous, it's heavy, it hits the heart, it hits the eyes, Omiitob is the man. I will watch anything with him in it. When people say, well, we don't have stars anymore, they clearly aren't watching Indian cinema, because yeah, we do have stars. They're in India.

Watch them and watch Ami Tob. So no, I'm just I feel honored that I got to talk about this film with you and that I get to watch it. So thank you. I'm with you, you know, I I'm glad that you enjoyed it. I'm glad that you know again like this, this feels like the not the quintessential Omitob film, but it feels like a film that is a perfect showcase for the expectations of what you've heard about if you've heard about Omni Tob, which is angry young man cinema of the little eighties and nineties in Indian cinema, and here it is like in full force.

This character, this performance is is is you know, it's the reason that I mean, it's not. It's not the reason he's known for the things he's known for. But it's one more entry into a column, a very long list of kinds of roles that Ami tap would be known for. I mean, he was nominated and won his first National Film Award for Best Actor for this movie. Even though this movie was effectively a box office bomb financially.

But again, it's been reappraised more in the last you know, ten fifteen years. There was a remake in twenty twelve, so I mean again, you know. And it's produced by Josh Johar and Karan Johars. If he watched The Romantics on Netflix, which you totally should, he shows up about as much as everybody else actor wise to talk about Indian cinema. So it makes sense that this movie gets remade and becomes becomes something else, which hopefully would have had more people watching this movie.

It's just a shame now that this movie is not really as available as it used to be. So hopefully when this episode comes out that won't be the case. But until then, we'll let you know where you can find it because you can't find it where we found it. So until the next time you and I talk, Heather, where can people find you when you're not being deep platformed by Netflix at Amazon Prime? Uh?

And boy howdy, if I had a nickel, let me tell you for every time, I would still have no money. Hey, I would have zero Nichols. No, you could find me over at my website Mondoheather dot com, as well at Twitter and Instagram under at mondo Heather, and have a Patreon and it's at Mondo Heather. So please check all of these out and reach out and touch the star. As for me, Weirdingwaymedia dot com.

That's where you can go for me. That's it's a go to Chris's patricks on Zoo. But there's yeah, yeah, you do that, I mean again, and like, yeah please, And I don't want to beg for money. So Chris puts someone sweat equity into all of his shows, so support him. Uh you know where's he just spending money on?

H you gotta go, uh pay for yourself, pay for the office five dollars a month on peacock could be better served elsewhere exactly exactly. But if I can't, please like subscribe, Wait this isn't you too? Like rate and review wherever you can get the show, because hey, more people should be watching Indian cinema for real. I share, tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell your babies, tell everybody, and as always, we'll catch you on the next episode. Here we go, Jas