In the manner of quite a few Bollywood films, this science fiction themed musical melodrama initially seems quite obnoxious but has a way of ingratiating itself. The INVISIBLE MAN inspired MR. INDIA (1987) represents everything that people criticize about Bollywood cinema, as presented in the social issue drama SALAAM BOMBAY (1988), whose homeless protagonist is shown viewing a clip from this apparent example of crass escapism that is, in the words of critic Jacob Levich, “far more inventive than anything in SALAAM BOMBAY.” It’s also, I’d add, more fun, more involving and holds up far better.
MR. INDIA certainly had an impressive pedigree. It was initiated by the famed writing team Salim-Javed (a.k.a. Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, in what was to be their final collaboration), directed by Shekhar Kapur (future helmer of ELIZABETH and its sequel) and co-starred Sridevi, India’s top female star; the film contains, in the “Hawa Hawai” dance number, her most famous scene (which was featured in the clip shown in SALAAM BOMBAY).
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE’s Anil Kapoor plays Arun Verma (Anil Kapoor), a pure-hearted musician raising a houseful of orphan children despite the fact that he has no money. He rents a room to Seema (Sridevi), a journalist who hates kids and isn’t crazy about Arun, but of course has a dramatic change of heart upon getting to know him and his orphan housemates.
Amid the requisite Bollywood song and dance numbers, conflict becomes apparent in the form of the ruthless crime lord Mogambo (Amrish Puri). Arun’s house, it turns out, is in an extremely advantageous location for storing weapons, leading to harassment by Mogambo’s goons. Offsetting this threat is a bracelet created by Arun’s scientist father that renders Arun invisible (at least when not viewed through red-tinted glass).
In this form Arun dubs himself Mr. India and takes on Mogambo and his underlings. After witnessing the laments of a woman whose child has died from food contamination Arun ups his game, righting political wrongs and becoming a folk hero. But Mogambo is pissed, and after causing the death of one of Arun’s orphans kidnaps Seema and the kids, and readies a fleet of nuclear missiles to blow up India.
This being a Bollywood product, excess is the key component in terms of humor, melodrama and runtime (a full three hours). This means comedic interludes so broad they feel cartoony, incredibly overwrought sentimentality and brutality that pushes the boundaries of the family film this supposedly was.
Among the highlights of MR. INDIA are kids defeating bad guys with toy guns, the heroine fighting for her life while impersonating Charlie Chaplin and (in the aforementioned “Hawa Hawai” number) dancing with several men in blackface, while women and children are routinely beaten up and a kid is killed in an explosion. It’s the combination of all this seemingly incompatible lunacy, packed into a cheerfully overwrought whole, that nudges the film into demented genius territory.
In the title role Anil Kapoor is strong (if unexceptional), while Sridevi offers up a spunky and sexy turn, and Amrish Puri excels in the type of one-dimensional bad guy part for which he was known. Mogambo appears to have been patterned after Kapoor’s turn as Mola Ram in INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984), down to the gothic-infused palace in which Mogambo resides. Among other things, this palace sports a pit of acid, which in a film containing invisibility, violent slapstick, child death and music numbers can only fit right in.
Vital Statistics
MR. INDIA
Narsimha Enterprises
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Producer: Boney Kapoor
Screenplay: Salim Khan, Javed Akhtar
Cinematography: Baba Azmi
Editing: Waman Bhonsle
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Amrish Puri, Satish Kaushik, Annu Kapoor, Ajit Vachani, Sharat Saxena, Ashok Kumar, Bob Christo