Madhoshi

Madhoshi (inebriety) is the first Indian movie made after the unforgettable horrifying terrorist event in USA on 11th September, 2001 known as 09/11 event. The pregnant elder sister of the heroine Anupama (Bipasha Basu) and her brother-in-law were in the WTC and talking over to phone to herself when the terrorist plane struck the building and both got killed alongwith several others in that attack.

That mishap had a severe adverse effect on the heart and mind of Anupama and a kind of hatred started developing in her somewhere deep down the surface of her subconscious. After a couple of years, Anupama, doing a painting course, gets engaged to Arpit (Priyanshu Chatterjee) who is the son of the friend of her father. However shortly thereafter, she comes across a stranger - Aman (John Abraham) who calls himself as the member of an anti-terrorist organization. She, being attracted to him due to his mission and his daredevil profession, keeps on meeting him at his residence. This interaction of Anupama and so-called Aman covers several things and has several facets.

After some time, when the issue of Anupama's marriage with Arpit arises, she refuses saying that she's in love with Aman. But Aman is nowhere. Nobody can see him except Anupama. Nobody can hear him except Anupama. But being a painting student, Anupama has made many sketches of Aman's persona. Now Arpit is in a fix. Everybody says that Aman does not exist but the sketches say that he exists at least for Anupama. Being deeply in love with Anupama since they first met, Arpit decides to do something for Anupama who is going lunatic, being considered schizophrenic and being forcibly given psychiatric treatment with confinement in an asylum. What he does and what finally turns out due to his endeavours is the remaining part of the story which is completely unbelievable.

The movie entertains and engrosses the viewer in the first half which is very well directed. Just watch this movie without prejudices and you won't get bored even for a moment in the pre-interval session. The trouble comes with the advent of the post-interval session whose screenplay could not be written interestingly. The scenes of Anupama in the asylum are very difficult to tolerate and the climax involving the plastic surgery issue is a complete letdown leaving a feeling of having been cheated in the viewer. The final scene, unfortunately, reduces the whole movie to a laughing stock.

Despite the profoundness of the subject and the treatment given to it, the movie presents healthy comedy also in its first half. The painting class scenes involving Anupama and her close friend Shabnam (Shweta Tiwari) as well as the scenes of the first meeting of Anupama and Arpit and thereafter Arpit's remembering her while being in his home are no less than laugh-riots. And they are able to generate plenty of laughs sans any use of vulgarity which is a very commendable thing in my opinion.

Bipasha Basu has performed excellently and turned her unusual role into a believable one. Both John Abraham and Priyanshu Chatterjee have done well. TV actress Shweta Tiwari has got a meaty role and she has generated ample laughs for the audience by her innocent mannerisms. The complete supporting cast is well in place.

This movie does not appear to be a copy of another known Indian or foreign movie to me (inspiration might have been there though). However the theme of this movie appears to have inspired a Hindi movie that came a couple of years after this movie. That much acclaimed and commercially successful movie is Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006). Believe it or not, the basic grains of both these movies are the same though on surface they appear to be entirely different stuffs.

The way Anupama's illusion of seeing Aman in Madhoshi has a sound and logical basis, the same way Munna's illusion of seeing Mahatma Gandhi in Lage Raho Munna Bhai has a sound and logical basis. The way Anupama is not believed by anyone and taken to psychiatric treatment by others (because none else is able to see or hear Aman), the same way Munna is not believed by others and taken to a psychiatrist (because none else is able to see or hear Mahatma Gandhi). However I don't think that anybody other than myself has noticed this subtle similarity of the basic premise between both these movies. Lage Raho Munna Bhai is termed as a movie based on the Gandhian principles and rightly so. This is an example how the same story idea can either be developed into a great movie or wasted. Rajkumar Hirani could do with this idea in Lage Raho Munna Bhai what Tanveer Khan could not in Madhoshi.

Despite the fact that Madhoshi not only badly flopped but also was torn apart by the viewers and the reviewers alike, I am recommending it because I like it and despite flaws, do not consider it as something like trash. Since Lage Raho Munna Bhai was a huge box office hit and got great critical acclaim as well, I advise those who have seen Lage Raho Munna Bhai to watch Madhoshi and contrast these two movies in terms of the basic story idea.

I ignored this movie like a rash when it came out. We were not in the mood in late teens / early 20s to watch such concepts. But now when I watch this in my 30s it is actually good. You can understand the characters and why people do what they do. Good acting by everyone but wish the songs were better. Overall I just watch for John and Bips. Miss them as onscreen pair.

Bipasha is most definitely the scene stealer in this movie. Yet to adorn the conventional role, she plays a way out-of-the-ordinary character that demands as much of her as Bhoot demanded from Urmila. Now I don't know if Bipasha did as good as a job as Urmila, but it was pretty darn close. The story is excellent. There are a couple parallels between this film and "A Beautiful Mind" in that the protagonist's condition is the same and the ending is very similar. However, I feel that the similarities end there. John Abraham was OK. Priyanshu wasn't impressive. Music was pretty okay; the title track was good. The film does a great job of maintaining the suspense and shocking the audience with sudden twists and turns in the plot.

It is said that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. This must be why the Hindi film industry is known as Bollywood because it regularly turns towards Hollywood for inspiration. Is there any doubt that films such as Baazigar, Murder, Deewangee, Dharmatma and Chachi 420, to name just a handful, are reminiscent, to put it kindly, of Hollywood favorites. But we must give credit where credit is due. You see Bollywood never copies a Hollywood movie straight up; it always adds it's own brand of 'masala' and 'gana bajana'. Madhoshi is no exception!

The creative team in this case took "A Beautiful Mind" - and a neat gimmick out of "Face/Off" - and transformed it into a darn good modern Bollywood saga that is entertaining with enough twists and turns to keep one interested from beginning to end. Bipasha Basu gives a good performance in the title role of Anupama with strong support from Priyanshu Chatterjee and John Abraham. The musical score is entertaining as well, especially the playback singing. Also, there is a reference to a recent catastrophic event that is ingenious in conception but amateurish in execution.

If you are looking for a Bollywood movie that is a bit out of the ordinary, Madhoshi is definitely a good pick. Now I'm just waiting for a Bollywood filmmaker to adopt "Scent of a Woman". If there was ever a Hollywood movie tailor made for Bollywoodization, this is it. I see Amitabh Bachchan in the title role. The only question is what car showroom he'll end up at. Hoowah!

PS - If "Scent of a Woman" has already been Bollywoodized, do let me know!

Whenever there is a new concept in Hollywood, people do get inspired all over the world and Hindi cinema is no exception. There were films made dealing with 'Split personality' in Hindi but only few of them really pay tributes to the concept and one of them was Deewangee. It is well known that concept by itself is always good and appealing but a worst implementation does spoil the concept and drive audiences away. One such worst execution of a beautiful, poetential story line was greatly demonstrated in Chaahat ek nasha by none other than Partho Ghosh of Agni Sakshi fame. this brings me to the film "Madhoshi".

This film is evidently based on the concept of "Beautiful mind" based on the life of a mathematical genius John Nash (played by Russel Crowe). I have not seen the English movie for my weakness in English. The heart of the story is the 'disease' Schrizophernia. It is said that there is no known cure of the disease. Given this non-existence of a successful method of treating a patient with such a problem, one tries their own method/attempt. Hence we should not laugh at any such method as it is very case specific.

I must say that the treatment of the subject is first rate. Now I am motivated to see 'beautiful mind'. I recommend Madhoshi to all those who want to see 'beautiful mind' but cannot follow the language. This Indian version is good enough by itself that deserves a watch!