Sarfarosh

Weird Hello everyone, and welcome to the Bollywood Cinema Club, a show where we take a look at Indian cinema once an episode. I am the host of the Culture Cast, Chris Stashue, and I am joined by my good friend. He is one of the co hosts of Game of Bros. House of Dragons, a show on weirding Way Media where you can listen to us talk about well what what else? Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, Your friend and mine, Yeshar Pirasta Hello, Hello, Hello from across the la.

Oh wow, I don't think you are one? Are you? Uh No? But I did some googlely because I was like, I was confused and we can get into that later. I was like, what's there?

Steen, just like someone who's Pakistani in like j But they're apparently they were like rich, like rich elites from India that left during the partition. So, speaking of the partition, speaking of the Mujaire, we're gonna be talking about a little film from nineteen ninety nine called sarfarash So. The film is directed by John Matthew Mathon. It does star the one and only the Sexy Man, as Heather Draine would call him. He is one of the three Khans, Amir Khan.

It also stars Nazi Rudin Shah, Sonali Bendra and Mukesh Rishi. And the film is all about our friend Amir Khan. Who does he play well? He plays a cop who is tasked with taking down a arms smuggling ring, all the while becoming friends with a Pakistani singer and you know, as they do in these movies, running into and falling in love with Sima Nagrav who only has a J's best intentions in mind. Also along the way, Mukesh Rishi plays the Inspector Salim Ahmed, a gruff, no nonsense cop who has no problem kicking the shit out of people and shooting guns next to their head.

So Salim the King, Hey, can we go back to the to the to the other. There's four there's four cons? Right, you got donkey, you got king Hans, not cons? You fucking more. Salim Khan, Um, excuse me, um.

Shah Rukhan, Amir Khan and Salim Khan are the three big Khans. Uh Shah Rukhan and Amir Khan are the ones that we've talked about more than the others. Uh So Yeshar you'd never seen this film before, so before we talk about the film in general, what's kind of your experienced background with any Indian cinema. I'm not super into like Bollywood movies in the conscious of like the singing Nancy ones, but I've seen like a decent amount of Indian movies, probably more modern though, like you know, stuff made the last five ten years. So I guess this one definitely has a bit of a dated feel to it, and I feel like more contemporary Indian cinema like is obviously very stylistic, but maybe less jarring than something like this or some of the older stuff.

Is like someone who's watched most of like Western stuff or even like like it doesn't even really compare to like Asian cinema, right, it's its own thing. Like, Yeah, this is kind of the conversation I always have to have the first time anyone comes on, is these movies aren't musicals. Music is always part of the film, Like it's not a musical, it's just it's a film that has musical interludes. Sometimes the characters are singing, sometimes it's voice over, sometimes it's a performance and in sometimes in something like Dungal, it's not a performance that you're seeing. It's just the music during a montage.

But that I mean even now in Indian cinema, you know, with a film like Tumbod which we watched recently, that doesn't have any musical acts in it, it has no musical numbers. And you've seen Tumbod, right, yeah, bro, yeah, so right, well we've we didn't talk like the Yeah, you liked it more than I did, but I liked it, but but it didn't have any musical acts and it's more just had one right, which which which kind of made sense actually in the context of the movie. Yeah, which I But but as you could clearly seen, with contemporary Indian cinema, they don't feel the need to inject music as much as they used to. I mean, we would both probably contend that there is no need for the musical numbers in this movie outside of you know, the opening song and maybe one love song between a Mircan and Sonali Bendra.

But this is an action film. And again, like you said, western sensibilities would denote an action film is not going to feature musical numbers. But nineteen ninety nine Sarfaras would would would not that would not be the case, which is why I mean personally I love Indian cinema because it does just kind of exist as its own thing. So we don't need not see roudin Shah to do like a whole ten minute full song to the poet singer. I mean that, I mean in an thematic sense that makes sense, right, uh yeah, thematic It makes sense to have the scene maybe that not the whole song.

Um, this this movie could you could have shaved an hour off? Well? Yeah, And that that is the thing about you know this movie again, it feels like it kind of falls into some of the kind of story beat traps of other Indian cinema films I've seen where it takes a while to get going, and most of the time there's no issue with that, But in this film and something like K three G, sometimes more isn't better. I don't need more and more and more. I don't need to know every single character's minute backstory.

And this movie kind of gets bogged down in that with the amount of kind of tertiary villains there are, because there seemed to be like six, Yeah, there's six, there's Hadji, there's Mercy, there's Bogie, there's Hassa, there's Hasan, There's and then there's Sultan Deep as well. There's and Vieran, who we don't even get a conclusion with. Like it, I feel like this movie had a good idea. I think it's an interesting idea. I think it's kind of a politically charged concept, especially at the time, giving what was going on with the cargo conflict right after this movie came out.

I think this movie is a little long, but I think this movie is is a very good movie. Yeah. I mean I think it took me a while to get into it, and I think once like Aj becomes a bit more assertive, like when he gets really into the cop thing, it gets more interesting. You're right, like the whole there's way too many villains. I was a bit confusing.

All the relationships were, to be honest, Like the guy in the beginning is Vieran, right, Yeah, and we and you think he's gonna be this crazy villain and you see him like briefly and like two other scenes or whatever, and it's it's just it seemed like it was it was trying to do a lot, and I feel like they could have tightened that part up. Um and the action is you know it's okay. Well that was okay. I was gonna say, like, let you know, before let's talk about this the action movie aspect of this, because we have talked about other action movies on the show, like you've already mentioned, we did do an episode on Triple R. We are doing an episode on Thugs of Hindostan, which is American Ami top Bachchan action movie.

The action in this movie is serviceable. Yeah, there's there's like a couple of scenes that kind of my my favorite scene was when he's like fucked up leg launching after the guy in the hospital. Oh yeah, that's the um And I want to also shout out, like a mere constformance is actually quite good. He was a bit of a blank slate, like we don't really know much about like what he thinks of him. He's like has a strong sense of justice and also similar to rr apparently no one realizes he's a cop even though like that's his full time jobs.

That well, that but that in these kinds of stories, that's kind of that's a trope. I mean, that's the thing about this movie. This movie has like the trappings of Hong Kong cinema at its heart, like it. It feels like it feels very much like a Hong Kong cinema film, like you could take a Mere Khan out and put Chao Yun fat in, like you know, like that the realistic, like the story that they're telling is not that kind of character. Yeah, And I think it kind of underserves a Meer Khan because Amer Khan is so charismatic.

He's such a good actor. He's still working today, obviously, still making movies that plenty of people are going to see. He's still venerated again as one of the three cons in Indian cinema. Just it underserves him as an actor because he's such a charismatic actor. It's like, don't make one of the greatest Indian cinema actors of all time into kind of this, like you mentioned almost a cipher Like, yeah, I find it hard to believe that he as a character is not in love with Sonali Bendrasima, Like you're fighting, I know, but he's like fighting.

There's a whole thing about fighting it And that's like another ten minutes of the movie that kind of goes nowhere for no reason, and there's a whole musical act about I Love You and don't you love me? And I don't understand why you don't love me, and you're kind of playing hard to get and it's like this, it's it's not a believable line of thinking in this movie that this woman is not going like Amir Khan is not going to just fall ahead over heels for this woman. Like, yeah, it feels contrived for them to not be able to be together well, and they had this weird backstory where he was really into her and then like she kind of blew him off, and then like all these years later than like she's just like completely enraptured by him as soon as she's he's him, and he's just kind of like, yeah, like you know, but I got shipped to do right.

Um, he is a I think he is. It's not a monologue, but he's a good dialogue with the Gulf Hassan at the end that I found quite moving. But I honestly think the best performances were it was actually Salim Mukesh Rishi was really good and unstaring. Shaw's Gulfa Hassan, although like there's a twist about his character that was a little hard to buy, but at least think they kind of just sort of justified at the end. What was what was hard to buy about Nazi Rudin Shaw's character like essentially very like high brow um poet type of character, like uh, what's um uh Nora Nora, Joe's's dad's name Robbie Shaker.

He basically like a Robbie Shaker type character, right, Yeah, who also is like running guns and drugs across like the Pakistan India border because he is upset of from the partition from at this point Proba like thirty forty years prior um and I guess wants to enact some sort of retribution on India while also saying he like loves India and like his heart still it's just like it like doesn't really make sense, like he can't live the lifestyle he's living. And also it's in such like such contrasts to like what he says at the end of the movie. So like, I mean, I know they just did that for dramatic effect. And he's a great performer. He has a really interesting look, like very Zaddi vibes going, um, I hate that that's a term now because I was saying that ship before other people were saying it really bumms me out.

Yeah, I know, well, you know, I'm ahead of the times, as they I'm ahead of the times, as they would say so, but I would I just want to see a lot. Those two performances really stood out to me. Salim has like a like a really moving performance. That dude's a big motherfucker. I love his nose, like he just has this like great like profile, and he again like he plays kind of the heavy for Amir Khan.

You know, he's kind of backing up Amir Khan and protecting him, uh in a way. But that performance could have just been a you know, mute not saying anything, not bringing kind of any nuance to the performance. But after that first scene where he kind of goes and gets a bunch of dudes killed because he's a fucking moron, you right, Like, you know that's fair that you didn't. But playing chicken with some like terrorists is not necessarily a great idea. But you see some kind of interesting depth to his character in the next scene when he's you know, talking with the cop and the kind of head of their department and he's like you you you, yeah, it's it's your fault that three people died.

He just like slams his fist on the thing and he's like, all right, fine, you're right, Like you're right, it is. But then he's then like accused of letting one of the guys go because he's Muslim. Like they're like they definitely like play up the whole like Muslim Hindu tensions like are obviously very core to India. But I think it's interesting, Like was not that like I'm super well versed in this stuff, but I know, like Moody is is really preying on that net and like contemporary like today's India, Like that's it's becoming more of a flashpoint again. So like seeing this movie talking about something that you know, the movie's like twenty years old, and it was focusing on, you know, a thing that happened like thirty four years ago, and then it's kind of like it's this like never ending cycle and it's it is it's really sad, Like I couldn't help but think I had this thought.

I was like, dare how many people have died because of just in the history of the world, because purely because they have not matched some sort of arbitrary demographic attribute. And yeah, it's yeah, and I think the movie actually handles that, like at the end quite well, Like it's it takes a clear stance on like yeah, you know, it's a fucked up weight to view the world, which I appreciated well. And to your point, I mean, you know, the idea obviously of you know, someone who is Muslim in India leaving India because I feel unsafe even though they're you know, ethnic Indian, religious Muslim, then having to go to Pakistan and then wanting to come back to India. I can understand those the anger that you would have and the tension and the kind of feeling of out of place really because again, like Indian society effectively forced you out, or at least that's the way you perceive it.

So yeah, it's it's an interesting you know what. What what I would say about the villain in this movie is the way he's treated reminds me a lot of and this is a more contemporary example and one that a Western audience could understand. He reminds me a lot of Killmonger and Black Panther. It's that same morally righteous, morally righteous cause gone about in the wrong way. But it was also if like kill Monger was like, I don't know um in his day job, Will Smith as well, you know, right if he's not forward facing as a terrorist, forward facing as an artist, but like Will Smith, I mean like someone who's like kind of revered universally, like not just like it would be like if Amir Khan was a terrorist really like yeah, so I think that's where I struggled with it.

Like it's not that I can't buy that, but it's like he's also living this life that's actually based on the embrasive like it seems actually Indian race more than Pakistan in the movie itself. Like right, so you know, it's whatever, it's it's a writing choice, but it's a big part of the movie. Like the whole movie really does center around the Indian Pakistani conflict or I guess Hindu and Muslim conflict about kind of the the LC Line of Control area between India and Pakistan and kind of the because again this is taking place, you know, the climax of the movie takes place in Rajistan, which is right there on the border. Yeah, so it's it's it's it kind of is tying into real world events. But I appreciate that it doesn't make the conflict this kind of like it's like world ending.

It's just it's affecting this kind of border region of India. But it's not like they've got nuclear weapons and they're trying to go Yeah. But what's crazy is the the Cargi conflict that would happen right around the time of this, you know movie coming out is kind of like what's going on in this movie. I mean it's you know, pro Pakistani militants causing trouble in India. Like that's what the car That's how the Cargil conflict started, was Pakistani militants coming into India and starting troubles.

So it's interesting kind of how Rush Into the movie ends up kind of being for what really happens. But again it's told in a way where it's not really tying it into the real life conflict because the Pakistani government's not really involved. They kind of hint it's like a rogue general diplomat like I mean, maybe they have some but it's not like the President of Pakistan it's like officially sanctioning this, right, and there's looks in play or anything like it. It's I like that it's a small scale conflict. But because it's a small scale conflict, it does it does allow for what you mentioned, the the idea that like you can have this kind of I wouldn't say unrealistic villain, but kind of over the top high concept character of a po wit who's also you know, helping the terrorists because because because it aligns with his worldview, I guess like yeah, I mean, m yeah.

And so like the movie like starts the first like half hours kind of just you know, a j just chilling and meeting this girl or reconnecting with this girl and becoming friends with Gil from Hassan, and then it becomes more of like a traditional not procedure but just kind of like a cop gangster type of movie, but one of the and you get like a lot of these shootouts. Some work better than others. But I think one of the issues I had with the movie, like overall I did enjoy it was they did a lot of catch and release, where like because there's like so many tertiary character like villains. Oh, they would go get a villain and they would catch them and the runaway and sometimes they would shoot someone, and like it just felt like theyve Innston repeated that same cycle like four or five times, and it didn't really add Like I was just like, okay, but how many times we have to see these guys getting to shoot out and not much new is?

I mean, there's a couple different pieces, like the one at the very end and then like the one where he broke his leg, But I do feel like it was it was a lot of repetition there. Well, you know, similar to a lot of other Indian cinema films, this movie plays with, you know, the past and kind of flashbacks. It's not really a flashback, but there's a time jump in the movie because, like we mentioned, Amir Khan and suddenly Bendre meet as kids and you see that, and then we see them kind of as adults. But they're not doing any sort of daging or anything. It's just it's kind of their university, right.

It's like they were in college, so it was that long before, right. But you know, again, like there is a little bit of a time jump, there's a little bit of time passing too, so you know, I feel like the movie tried to tackle too much, is kind of what I'm getting at. I think it tried to be like a lot of Indian cinema, all kind of kind of all encompassing. It's we're going to tell the stories of these characters. They're going to be fully fleshed out, fully realized.

By the end of the movie, you're going to be fully invested in the characters and their journey. And I think you would probably agree with me by the end of the movie. With the characters that were well written, that were given something to do, I was invested in them, like Nazi Rudin Shah's Gulf of Hassan, like Amir khans Aj Singh. But to your point, there are like thirteen other characters in this movie that exists for no reason or to be a minor set piece that is ten minutes in a almost three hour movie that could have been taken out. That's the thing.

Each musical number, each set piece is ten to fifteen minutes. The musical numbers get closer to ten. The set pieces are probably twelve to fifteen. You take three of those out. This is a much more evenly paced movie.

I feel like because the first act, the first act I think is pretty good. I think the second act really gets bogged down in all these characters and I'm just the amount of, like you said, back and forth and going to find them and they're running away or going to find them, and we get one of them, but we don't get the one we need. We only get the one that is, you know, the third in command. And there wouldn't be an issue with that if this movie spent a little bit more time establishing why these characters are important. But they did it with other characters.

They didn't do it with all of them, and that's the problem. The characters that they do it with, all right, I'm invested, but the ones that they don't, and there are too many that they don't, is the issue. But what are you gonna do? Kick this movie out another twenty minutes? Thirty minutes?

I mean again, K three G is three and a half hours long. I think by the end of that movie, Jess and Maggie and I were in the camp of that movie probably could have had thirty minutes taken out of it because there's a character in that movie that doesn't really serve the narrative overall. This movie has a similar problem. It's a very good movie, it's a fun movie, but it just tries to do way too much with these characters. I don't need eight sub villains.

The one or two villains is enough. And even the villains that we get at the end of the movie, they kind of only show up in the third act. At least, the Pakistani general just kind of shows up in the third act and you're like, it's the well, the general we do see like in near the beginning, and the ambassador briefly, and then the ambassador shows up again at the like nice dinner thing, but like it does take us a while to be like, who wait, who is this guy? Like, because we spend like a minute with him, you know, or two, and then he becomes like kind of an important character because he's a he's like a diplomat. He pulls out the diplomatic community shout out to leep the weapon I think too.

Two. I was about to say that I was waiting for the screw you're diplomatic community immunity, yeah revoked. I was way for American to say that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, So I think they took that from there. Oh, I mean if they didn't, I mean, if they didn't, then they yeah, I mean there's no way right, like and like the and like the Seema character like she was okay, but she also doesn't like they don't really know what to do with her.

Like the first like thirty minutes, they're like, okay, and then she just kind of becomes just like dressing, which you know, it's not I'm not saying every kittie to be fleshed out, because but they actually do make us spend a lot of time with her early on and try to make us care about her, and then she's just kind of like they don't know what to do with her. Well, I guess, well that's the thing. I mean again, when you were watching an Indian cinema film, it's an event, right, You're going with your whole family to the theater to watch it. So they they feel like they being the film creators, I assume because again I've seen this now so many times watching these movies, they feel like they need to kind of serve all audiences.

And so you've got the action. You do have some comedy in this movie, some kind of slaps, sticky stuff, but it doesn't need the romantic subplot like it it's completely underserved by the movie. Like you said, I mean, the way the movie ends is abrupt, to say the least, but we do get kind of ash Yeah, it is abrupt, it's just it's abrupt. But we do get kind of a scene of closure between a Mir Cohn and Sonali Bendri. But throughout the movie, I don't care about their relationship because it's so paper thin.

I don't even I'm not even sure how much I care about American's relationship with his family. That should be the relationship that we are invested in, because again we see his dad get kidnapped at the beginning of the movie, and because his dad gets kidnapped, his brother dies because of it. Isn't Yeah, his brother gets killed by essentially not on purpose, but his dad is going to testify against these arms smugglers, and so the armed smugglers know that he's going to testify. So as he's being driven to court to testify on the back of a motorcycle, Amir Khan's dad gets kidnapped off the back and in kidnapping his dad, the motorcycle just falls over and his brother breaks his neck. I guess is what we're being led to believe.

But that should have been the emotional core of the movie. Was a Meer Cohn revenging or avenging his family because his dad gets tortured into becoming mute, I guess, or beaten up so badly. He becomes like like I don't understand, he's just he's just like disabled. They don't really get to exactly like it doesn't really matter what it's basically something bad happened and inspired him to become a cop, but not just like take a cushy job, but like be like a real like hardass right. Like That's the thing he gets is like he he doesn't want to just like be in a comfortable, status driven job.

He wants to like be there on the beat like fucking dudes up. They do a lot of fucking dudes up. They do a lot of like like just smack into it's around and just beating the shit out of like dudes that they that they arrest, which I find quite funny. It's obviously not what you want your police to do, but it is amazing to the point where there's there's a there's a there are two guys that have been kidnapped from a raid and American goes shoot him and guys like you can't shoot a say He's like, well shoot him, shoot him next to the head. Yet Selene's like, well, you don't like really want me shoot and like it is weird because you're like, wait, he would never do this, and he's like, well just see, like no, just shoot next to his head, like okay, don't, yeah, just put the fear of God in him, like you know, don't, don't don't kill him.

I I don't know, Like I feel like the movie should have placed more important and more focus on American's family because we see them too. I mean, they kind of show up throughout the American's mom comes and visits him in the hospital when he gets the shit kicked out of him the first of like many times he gets the shit kicked out of him in this movie. He gets beat up in front of them too, Like r that's like a that's like a big scene. I just it's weird to me because again, like you know, Seema is not even on the poster for the movie. The poster for the movie features Nazi Rudin, shah Amir Khan, and Mukesh Rishi.

So it's it's kind of weird to me. It doesn't it doesn't add anything to the movie. Her character doesn't add anything, and she could have. There was this moment at the beginning of the movie where she gets into the car with someone and I was like, Okay, is she gonna be like involved in the plot somehow. Is Gulfam Hassan her dad or something?

Because again they why not make that the case? Why not make it the case that Golfum Massan is her dad? And you know, I don't know, just give her a connection to the story holistically, more so than she's in love with Amir Khan. She is how that she is the introduction to golf Hassan, but she's not connected beyond that though. Yeah, no, she looks good in the movie, but yeah, and and the and the musical numbers aren't bad, but almost all the musical numbers exist because of her characters.

Yeah, that's kind of That's kind of the issue with this movie that you kind of already mentioned is again, neither one of us have any issue with musical numbers. I have no issue with musical numbers in Indian cinema. Obviously I love Indian cinema, but I would contend that some Indian cinema films don't necessarily need them, and this is a prime example. I think if you take her character out, and in taking her character out, the musical numbers come out. That's like forty five minutes of this movie gone, and then it's a two hour movie.

And it's probably a little bit better paced. It's probably a little bit better written because you don't have to take part of the story and give it to her character or involve her character in a really ham fisted way, which is actually more what it is than anything else. I'm kind of surprised she didn't get kidnapped but at the end of the movie and held hostage, Like that's that's the level of kind of uncreative writing with her character that I was expecting that. I was expecting her to be the damsel in distress and Amir Khan was going to have to save her. And to be fair, if you're going to introduce a character in this kind of movie, how is that How isn't that what they did?

Frankly, it's yeah, I don't know. Maybe they want had another idea. It's like probably wants from more fleshed out, the other part wants less because just a movie is so long. So well, it's so long almost because of her character, solely because I don't think I don't think any of the stuff with Amir. I mean again, I don't think any of the stuff with Amir Khan and Nazi Rudin Shaw I think that's rather entertaining.

The stuff with Amir Khan and Mukesh Rishi is entertaining, but her character is rather underserved by the plot. And then you have needlessly complicated amounts of villains who have these complex working strategies together. And at some point they even talk about self self driving camels more or less camels with autonomy that they can take arms across the border with Oh yeah, yeah, the kind of most convoluted fucking plot I've ever heard. But okay, the camels were dope literally they're dope runners. Well more, they would be dope runners if they weren't running arms.

So did you know? I was reading about the director what's his name, John John Matthew Mathon and like he it's weird. This was like his first full movie they directed, and it was quite I guess successful, But he's barely done anything after that. It's it's do you know anything about that? But odd you have thought he would have had a pretty big career after this movie because it was well received.

Yeah, he you know, I I looked it. It doesn't it doesn't say much, you know. He kind of He made some two other movies, and those movies didn't seem to be as successful as Sarfa Rush. Yeah. But even like the gap between starf Rushing, the next movie was like eight years, which is like, yeah, well it was six six years to h Car and then well that then it would have been eight years to A New Love Istory, which came out in two y thirteen.

But neither of those movies are action movies. Uh, Shikar is a drama and A New Love is history obviously from that title is a is a romantic comedy probably or a comedy drama at least so romantic. Well, when when you've got this musical act in this movie, as many times as we get it's like three times we get the same song effectively, it's like I love you and you love me, Like three times is more than enough, like one one time would have been enough. But the songs aren't bad. That's that's kind of a sad thing here is the songs are pretty good.

It's just they don't feel like they need to be here. They're done by Jatine and that the writing team of Jatine and Lilt, who did music for Couch Couch, Hotahi, Kabby Couschy, Kaby, Gum d D LJ. Like, they've done music for some of the biggest Indian cinema films of all time, So it would make perfect sense that you would want to get them involved in your movie because they have a pedigree of good music. That's the problem. The music is good, it's just it doesn't need to be here because again, it's just I think if if that character of Sema had been a bigger part of the movie, I don't think it would have been an issue.

But because she feels like such a tertiary character herself, I kind of am just like I'm it's this is not interesting. I want to get Let's get back to the stuff that is interesting. Let's get back to a mere Cohn. Let's get back to mukesh Rishi, because you're taking time away from them by giving her screen time. Even if it is with a mere Cohn on screen, and she's not a bad actress, it's just what is the point of her being there?

Yeah? No, I totally agree. Did you notice the the set, the the the action sounds that they were using when people fell down. It drove me nuts. It just sounds like like a like a like a bag of potatoes or something.

It sounds like the Immortal Kombat noises. It sounds like fighting game noise. It sounds like a fighting game that you used the pre made assets for. It's like what they think people falling down sounds like. But like and I think I mentioned this earlier, but it seemed like the whole thing was just like eighty like eighty, Like it was well dubbed, but like like no one's actually talking, Like it's clearly them going into the studio after redoing the dialogue.

At least that's how I felt in a cup in a couple of scenes there were there. There definitely were. Yeah, so yeah, yeah that the sound design was not good. I would say that it was just like they used the same sound effect over and over again, like it worked once maybe, but like at the end of the movie, when Nazi Rudin shaw On alives himself, the sound of him falling down himself, that's what's supposed it's unriggering um. That is the same sound effect that they've used over and over again.

Like, yeah, so let's talk about that last scene, the last scene of the movie. I feel like it's really interesting. So you have kind of this Mexican standoff with Amir Khan and Mukesh Rishi kind of with everybody else held hostage, everybody else being the pepper vendor slash, a fortune teller slash. Was he above or below them? Merci?

Yeah, I was like, you see more? You see more or less? It's hard to tell. I have no idea. The hierarchy is unclear to me.

We need to get the rock to give us the hierarchy of power because I couldn't tell what it was. Um So, but you have him, you have him, You have the Pakistani kind of the diplomat, and then we have Golf of Hassan Nazi Rudenshaw's character, and the jig is up between the three of them, and Amir Khan essentially goes, all right, Pakistani diplomat, kill Nazi Rudenshaw and you get to go free because he's like diplomatic community and I can't kill you. So make you know, like he gives him an empty gun and gives Nazrooden shot gun and gets Nazrooden shot to shoot him for him. Yeah, but okay, before we get into that, they're literally being shot at in Golfam Hassan's house, right, yeah, his manner, his his palatial estate.

Yeahs like you have no evidence. I mean, I'm like, what the fuck, Like he literally just told the guy to stop shooting at you. They're like completely annoyed that he's like, oh, you're right, we don't have this. I'm like, except for all of the guns that they're using to shoot at you. But anyway, I had to point that out because I found that.

I found that absurd. But I mean they do. They do kind of say like he's so rich that it like won't stick. That was kind of my assumption. I agree with you.

It's a little it's a little hanky where they're like, you've got no evidence, Like there's dudes with aks here, like these guys are here, and he goes, well, I don't know them, and it's like, what they didn't just get here somehow one of the guys we know like works for you. Like it is a little it is a little kind of Yeah, mrcie Seth is kind of like Mrcie Seth and the the the Pakistani diplomat being there. It's just like that's enough. That would be enough for anybody to to like know that you're in on it. Bro.

Yeah, And and there's like this this through line I mentioned like with Salim, right, so he's Muslim and he gets shipped from like other cops, other people being like, oh, you're not a good cop because you know you're not willing to go hard enough, or even one of the people on the glofthumb side is like, oh, join us because you know we're Muslim. He's like, dude, he's like Muslim. Isn't just fucking saying like you're Muslim. It's like you have to be like pure and right because they take issue that he is part of a Hindu police squad essentially. And I actually really appreciate that because that was like like taking like a fuck you to like identity politics and being like it's not about like what you say you are, what you think you are, It's like what you do is what's important.

And and then that that that was kind of a through line um in his character arc. And you know, even though he went through a lot, he persevered and then it comes through at the end when Golohomasan finally we get because we don't really understand why he's involved in any of this. And then at the end he kind of gives his whole speel like because of the partition, me not feeling welcome in India, but also it didn't feel like he was welcome in Pakistan. He's like, I want like India to feel how I felt, and then like, um, I mean your Khan gives like a pretty like poignant answer where he's like dude, He's like that's just bullshit basically, and and this is like this is not caring about your countrymen.

He's like, there's more Muslims in India than there are in Pakistan. He's like, what are you like saying you're you're hurting your own people, and he's like guns don't guns don't see religion, Like we're all people, like we're all in this together. And I find that moving because it was saying like, yeah, we need to move beyond this like this it's a very specific to Indian Pakistan thing like this Hindu Muslim conflict and like actually moved together and like try to solve problems and not just continually try to put in these it's like this, it is an arbitrary divide that's just consumed them for the years. Well and it's an art I mean it's it's an arbitrary divide between Pakistan and India. Yeah, I mean British but yeah yeah yeah, and it's crazy.

It's crazy, just like something like that, like literal causes millions of people to die, and it's like and it's there is it's not like a World War two scenary like there's it's for no reason. It's just like it's like it's not like you're going to kill a bad guy, so like we have to mobilize. It's like no, it's just because because people are shitty and stupid and irrational and you know other people like fuck their country and they left to pick up the pieces and it's it's tragic. Yeah, I I know, I agree and that And that's what I was saying, like with Gol from Hassan's character, like he has a point, right, like it's not okay for someone to not feel like they have nowhere. But yeah, like like I was saying with similarly to kill Monger, like you go about it the wrong way, like you go about it through violence through malice, through instilling fear in people and making people feel the same way that you felt as opposed to rising above it and moving past it.

And like, I think it's it. It makes him an interesting villain where you kind of wish you'd spend more time with him in the movie, but you appreciate the amount of time you do get to spend with a character who, again, he never really even gets his hands dirty up until the end of the movie. And though there is that scene with the with the little with the little goat, which is just kind of strange and off putting. Obviously, yeah, because they imply he hurts the goat, but then he's like, oh no, I would never hurt I only kill humans. And then he also orders the killing of a guy who failed him.

But then when he shoots the dip of THI, he's like, oh, I've sinned and and acp rat or what is basically like, dude, you are putting guns to people's hands and getting them killed, Like what is the difference? Right? And I do think that's like a it's such an obvious thing, at least to me as a viewer, But I think we see that play out actually quite often just in the real world where you know, leaders and stuff do that kind of shit and be like, oh, my hands are not my hands are not dirty because I didn't pull the trigger anything. It's even worse because not only are you putting the weapons in those hands, like you're the reason for all of this bloodshed and this death and if like you didn't do anything, it wouldn't happen.

So and clearly you're unwilling to pull the trigger yourself. Yeah, and he calls him out on it, and that's why he kills him. That's why, uh, Golfam Hassan kills himself because you do see he has like some honor and like he wants to protect Jay because they're like friends in the in the context of the movie, Um, and yeah, he's like, I'd rather basically die than I guess what be shown as a fraud essentially, I guess. So, like you know, hoist yourself on your own batard, I guess I again, Like that's the thing. By the end of the movie, Golfum Hassan's crimes are covered up.

They're not. Yeah, I guess he It's not made clear that the people in the world of Sarfah are aware that Gulfum Hassan was doing all these terrible things like they're going, they do get like the other people that were involved, except for the guy from the very beginning his name was it not? Yeah. Yeah, So it's like, yes, people do do justice, but they do kind of just leave out this like quite important person in the heart of the whole operation. Well they don't they say like he just died.

He just know. They do say he killed himself, but they don't say like but they say he died because they don't say like he killed himself because he was going to be sent to jail. It's like a tragedy to like, oh, it's like, you know, like Amy Winehouse type thing, like oh he you know, he killed himself, like right, so sad and then he wasn't involved in this. Coincidentally, this huge drug and weapons ring has also been busted right outside his house. Well then that's I mean, that's the thing.

I'm sure they weren't saying where they busted those people, because then it's like you don't have any evidence, but they were here at your manner sir. So um, yeah, Like I think the movie does enough to make us care about the core characters and their performances are generally good. It's just trying to do too much. It's a little cheesy at times, and I think has a good message in the end, but maybe could get there a little bit. I don't know, like it would matter if they interweed it a little better, Like the Saline part gets it in there, but maybe they spent a little bit more time kind of talking about that.

But also maybe it's just implied or because like the cultural differences, like they don't need to harp on it as much because it's like, oh, you just know these things, So there is that well, and that's and that is kind of what I wonder about this movie is, you know, some of this obviously we are watching in twenty twenty two again as Westerners who we just don't have some of the We don't have some of the cultural guide posts here to kind of what was going on in the late nineties and even what happens now in the areas of India and Pakistan, these kind of border areas, We as Westerners don't understand what's going on there. So I think it's interesting that this movie brings light to that while saying, you know, this is a part of a larger conflict and kind of, like you mentioned, the message of the movie is that the core conflict is the same regardless of the size of the conflict.

Like you said, I mean, it is about, you know, whether or not you can deal with or overcome or internalize the fact that you are different and may have been treated a certain way by someone, But that doesn't mean you have to inflict that same pain on someone else. And I think it's interesting that that's the message the movie has because I was expecting a more kind of pro India message. Yeah, it was very it was very like not pro India, but not pro Pakistan either. It's very like, you know, to state solution, but like with cooperation right as opposed to conflict along the border. Along the border.

Yeah, Like his whole point was like this kind of behavior, like yes, it and he even says he's like because he's like, oh, you know what about what India did. That's he's like, you're right, it was totally unacceptable and it wasn't right. Like he's like yeah, he's like, so I don't want to perpetuate that kind of behavior, Like we need we can put a style up to it. It's kind of. It's kind of actually, I think in it like a larger way of looking at um, like generational trauma that's like passed down in like families.

It's kind of like the same shit, but like through a society, right yeah, instead of like instead of you know, you grew up with a fucking abusive household or dad or whatever or uncle or it doesn't matter, and then you just and you just pend up people and you keep passing on and say of saying like, oh, no, that's fucked up. I don't want to keep doing that. It's like, yeah, it was fucked up what happened with Indian Pakistan and like h during the partition and inn like all the like separation and the persecution of Muslims here and the persecutions of Hindus there, and it's like we should why so yeah, let's not do that. Like he it's like and it's like Gofamasta doesn't even think. It's like, oh, that's an option, and that's like what this guy's been trying to do.

He's like, I'm trying to do this not for Hindus. I'm trying to do this for like Indians, like my people, Like everyone is my people if you live here, right, regardless of religious background. Yeah, it's it's it is an interest message to come from a movie with an Indian cast. And I mean again it's it is pro India, but it's not in the way that you would expect. It's more pro holistically India, not you know, pro Kiindu.

Yeah, it's like it's like we are all one, right, regardless of backgrounds, regardless of the language we speak. You speak Telugu, I speak Hindu, Like, it doesn't matter. We are Indians at our core. And like and that's again, like that's an interesting message to come from an action movie again, an action drama. Yeah, and like there's always like there's always people trying to like differentiate, like people call Selema Muslim, or they call the Pakistani's especially call um hum Mujaar.

Like is if he's not like a true Pakistani like person, you know, like he even he is othered by the people he's supporting. It's but he makes a point to point out that he's not until he is at the end with the Pakistani diplomat is like, but you're a Muharji and he's like like god damn it, Like I but up until this point, I wasn't like, Yeah, so they do highlight all the different ways, and even the Sema character says like she's like, what is the Mujare? Like we keep like she's not even familiar with it, Like they're just trying to differentiate him in a way that like is alien to that. I guess the young people in that time well, and I mean again, like even for US Westerners, it's really hard to understand what what that means to be someone who is you know again, it's like you're Indian, but you're Muslim, like you're you're you know, you're you're displaced because of your religion.

It's yeah, I guess because the Muagier are kind of like the Wagers in a way, I guess. But yeah, I mean I don't know the context of the movie. But but considering he did say they had that big like palace, it it does when I put in my little Wikipedia research, like I said, it did say like the Mujare were a lot of wealthy Muslims in India that that went to Pakistan to I guess avoid conflict and or they were displaced. So it does seemed like he fits in that based on his little background that we know, and he has like obviously a lot of familial wealth or had before, had this giant has this giant manner. I mean this yeah is huge.

Yeah, But they're they're a they're seen as the most educated and literate ethnic group in Pakistan. So again, it's just it's interesting because I didn't even know the term before I watched, me either before I watched, And we don't really have we don't really have an equivalent in our country, not of like no, I mean, I guess the initial pilgrims who came over could be considered similar in a way. Yeah, I mean, but they never went back. They didn't go I mean, I guess some people did go back, but those people are now just considered like expatriots if you're an American living in Britain. But it would be like if like a Christian came to America now and they were like a white Christian but also like sort of not disparaged, but like differentiated.

It is like almost like a weak. It's like a weird because it's like a Muslim with Indian roots would be like most of Pakistan anyway, So it's like it is weird. They still manage to differentiate themselves from Like that's kind of I'm saying it's all arbitrary, Like you're really it's all the time that they came, is what it seems like. Yeah, yeah, it's like you're really like working hard to like put people in these like boxes that don't mean anything. And I think that was what really stuck with me in the movie.

It's like we is as a species, like we'll just come from all kinds of crazy shit just to say like you're not like me, because it's easy for me to treat you differently if I if I that's how you rationalize treating people differently, Well they are not like me? In well, how are they not like you? It's like, well, like we're both Muslim and like, yeah, we're from this zera, but like, oh he came at this pace, he's from he's from this side of the line. I'm from that side of the line. It's just like okay, sure, I hope you never take a twenty three and me because you're gonna be heavily disappointed.

Well, and that is and that is the thing, like you mentioned, I'm glad that the movie doesn't just leave it with American and Nazi rudin shot. I think the smartest thing about this movie, one of the smartest things is the Mukesh Rishi character being Muslim and giving him that back and forth with Haji, which I think is like one of the three kind of scenes that stick out for me in this movie. Yeah, Yeah, that was a really good scene. Yeah, because you, like you've already mentioned, I mean, you have this back and forth of like, you're not a real Muslim if you don't turn your back on Hindus and hate them. And it's like, no, no, my my conscience is what's driving me, not this perception of you being Muslim and me not being Muslim.

It's like it's it's all inside. That's what matters, not what you're what you're fronting as, not what you're claiming to be. And it's I think it's so smart to do that in this movie because again, like it just kind of further reinforces the point without really beating us over the head with it. Yeah, And I mean there's an analog to like America, like the West World. It's like, oh, you're not a Christian if you don't support Donald Trump, or like the Punk Party, or like or he's real and it's like no, it's like you're not a Christian if like you don't support helping the poor or like you know, forgiveness, like the fundamental tax, like that's the fundum mental tenants.

Yeah, it's like these these things that you know in these a lot of these religions generally have come from like a good place, and they're just like co opted by these people to just mean bullshit and like basically get people to become mindless drones. And it's it's a problem, and it's it's been it was problem historically and it's still a problem. And I think that scene like Encapsulate's like no, like that's not what it means to be a person of faith. Essentially, the blind following of religion is not is not healthy, but also letting your personal beliefs corrupt and twist the religious tenants into something of your own is And like you said, it's exactly what this that scene is talking about.

And in a lot of ways the movie in general, it's weaponizing your religion to your own end. Right. I don't again, like, yes, Nazi Rudenshaw is a I guess he works for the Pakistani government, like again like it's kind of under the table, right, so many layers, there's so many layers of like people between the I guess the most senior person we see as a general in Pakistan and he's worked with a diplomat. We don't know how if it goes any higher than that, although general is pretty high. But is it?

But it seems like he maybe kind of I don't know, rogue ish or maybe like they're equivalent their CIA and somehow they've turned this guy into like one of their agents and he's down with it because he's yeah, he's upset about how things were handled years ago, but like why him. It's just it's kind of it is kind of weird. It is the high concept part of the movie. Yeah, and it's I did think I was like when I introduced his character, I was like, what is kind of like he's cool and he's interesting, But it did seem like we're spending a lot of time with this poet singer guy and then they have so it almost seems like they wanted to be clever. But I guess if you say, well, they really wanted to really emphasize this message of being displaced and you know, wanting vengeance, that of reconciliation and stuff like.

He was a good um, he was a good vehicle for that. I just wish that like it just I couldn't reconcile it with the way he was living his life. Like like I said, if he was if he was down on his luck or you know, was not so embraced by the Indian public, I would have bought it a little bit more. But he was. The thing is we're seeing him like so willingly embraced by everyone that I was really struggl enough to get like I could get your upset.

But like, everything you've experienced now is quite nice. So where's all the vitriol coming from? Well? And and and yeah, I mean that's the problem when you have like a secret or kind of hidden villain in a movie, right, it's you. You see him in the first half of the movie as kind of this exactly what he is, poet, folk singer, and then when he turns it's like, okay, I guess, but it's it works because Nazi Rudenshaw is such a good actor.

That is the almost the only reason it works. If it were a lesser actor, it would not be as believable. It wouldn't carry as much emotional weight. Should we just call him Nazadi? I mean he's real Nazadi.

I like him a lot. He I mean, obviously here your opposite. Amir Khan, one of the great actors in Indian cinema, and he holds his own Yeah, his, I mean his like his performance and uh Mukesh Rishi I think actually had like the most emotive performances in the movie and probably were more interesting than Americans. But I think that's more of a function of writing and direction rather than Right. So, you've never seen any other amer Con movies, right, No, So I've Lagan's been like on my to watch.

Oh my god, Lagan is so fucking good, dude, I know it's amazing, it's amazing, scared it's so good. Well, I'm because of the length. But I say this as someone who literally took a day off to watch the Snyder Cut. So you know that movie is three hours of quality. The Snyder Cut is not objectively it's not.

No, it's not that's amazing. But that's what this podcast isn't look on like four hours long. So what you watch two movies? You watch TV shows. I don't know how is the length of a movie prohibitive to you watching it over two days.

It's it's not it's an it's an it's an epic narrative, I'll tell you that much, one that deserves the time that is spent telling it. And by the end of the movie, you will be as much in love with that movie as a lot of people, myself included are when they think about it. It's a really I've seen it one time. It's amazing. Um, I'll i'll, i wi will watch it eventually.

And the other movie I suggested that we watch at the name about top of hand, it is like three hours too. Like Indian movies are long. I get it. Again, they don't necessarily have to be. But no, say just say again.

It's like I said, like it's an event. You go to the movies with your family, there's an intermission, it's an all day thing. I mean, it's that is you know you know what I mean? Like that's that's that's what it is. So I don't know, like I love it, but I do understand like it is a big commitment.

Yeah, so ya sure o. Final thoughts on um, Yeah, I think by the end of the movie, because of some of the like the more deep messaging. I ended up liking it more than I initially felt like the first half. It's not a perfect movie. It definitely has some stumbles, but it's an enjoyable watch.

It has a nice message, and it has some like pretty cool performances. So yeah, I dug it. Didn't love it, but I dug it. I gave it three and a half stars on my letterbox. The debate between three and three and a half you know no, I'm with you.

I think you know again. It's it's a different kind of a mir Con movie than I've seen. I haven't seen him in kind of a serious role. I've seen him in Lagan, where he's kind of playing this happy, go lucky guy who kind of falls into the situation he falls into. I've seen him in Three Idiots where he's kind of playing well, one of the titular three idiots.

I saw him in Donal where he's kind of I guess he's kind of a hard ass in that, but he's a hard ass and a different he's a loving hard ass this he's just kind of a hard ass, hard stop. So it was an interesting role. Again, I don't know if a mer Khan, one of the more charismatic Indian actors that I can think of off the top of my head. One of the great Indian actors is best served by having all the charisma taken out of his role. But I mean again, this was early on in his career.

But all that aside, I'm with you. I enjoyed it. It's it's a fun movie. I think that there are things that are definitely worth watching, definitely things worth talking about. Clearly, the performances are fantastic, but there's some stuff that I just think doesn't work very well and would be better served in a different movie or not in this movie at all.

So so on that note, the next time Yashar and I do an episode of Bollywood Cinema Club, we're gonna be talking about twenty twenty ones Sardar ood Ham, a film about the life of Sardar Udam Singh, a revolutionary freedom fighter who had assassinated Michael O'Dwyer in nineteen nineteen in London. So it's an Amazon Prime movie they've heavily invested in, like Indian like shows. There's there's actually a really good Indian show called I Think Made in Heaven. It's mostly in English, but it's like in India right on Amazon Prime. It's pretty good.

I'm gonna say Amazon Prime and Netflix are a perfect place to find plenty of Indian cinema. Sarfa Rush. You have to find it on YouTube and then go about getting the subtitles. However you do that, there are plenty of subtitle There are plenty of it websites against subtitles. Yeah, but that is the nice thing is most Indian cinema is just on YouTube, just kicking around YouTube.

I mean the version that we watched, I got it off of YouTube. Like you know. It's again. YouTube is a great place to watch movies, not great if you're wanting to watch it with English subtitles. You're gonna have to do a little digging, but it's not impossible to do.

But Netflix and Prime Video, my god, are just full of plenty of amazing Indian cinema. And eros Now obviously who Eros International distributed Sarfa Rush in nineteen ninety nine. Eros Now is an Indian streaming platform. So it's like a shutter for Indian for Bollywood movies basically. Yeah, but it's but it's again, it's exactly what it sounds like.

So there are problems with it because not everything has English subtitles. But again also there's I'm not sure the expectation is that people who speak English primarily are using it, So I don't know, but it's it's kind of a shame that this movie is a little harder to track down because it's a it's an Indian action movie from the nineties, and it feels like it. And that's an interesting thing to watch given the amount of nineties movies that I've seen that are action movies that aren't from India so or even from the United States from that matters. So and I guess the fact that it has Amir Khan, like, who is like one of India's biggest stars, you would imagine you would be more easily accessible, right exactly, I mean again, like you said, I mean Amir Khan.

He is one of the three kNs like he is the world's according to Newsweek, he's the world's biggest movie star. But I would be hard pressed to disagree, given that I know how big of a following he has in mainland China. Even so, he's massive in China, as big in China as he is India. So I saw he's he has like some like honorary title from like the government in China. Well he helped ease I want to say, there was something we were talking about Dongal about he helped ease tensions with China as an as an Indian citizen.

So just like he's just like Yo he was basically Dennis Robin tried to do it North Korea. Well again he's he's Amir Khan, so he's actually doing it out of the goodness of his heart, not because he's a total narcissist. So at least that's my perception of American I've never heard anything bad about Amir Khan, but other than maybe I'm not a fan of his, but I've never heard like terrible things about him. Yeah, So until then, you can find this show over at Bollywood Cinema Club dot com. And you can find all of the shows at the weirding Way Media network, including the Culture Cast, where the Bollywood Cinema Club effectively got its start over at Weirdingway Media dot com with twenty plus shows.

If you can't find a show to listen to over at weirding Way Media, maybe he shouldn't be listening to it until then. Yeshar, thank you so much for joining me. This was a lot of fun. Thanks for having me. I have been and yeah, we'll catch you on the next episode.