Laal Kaptaan Movie Review {3.0}: Saif Ali Khan amazes as Naga Sadhu
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LAAL KAPTAAN opens to a dark chilly night in the barren mountains of Chambal ruins wherein a Naga Sadhu walks across a campfire to light, what else but his chillum. A long and a lungful of satisfying tobacco drag fills in the air. Through his ash smeared face and kohl rimmed eyes, he reconfirms the rules of human existence in this universe where one is hopelessly stuck in the unbreakable cycle of life unto death…maybe out of extreme love or excessive hate for someone.
But naturally, LAAL KAPTAAN is not meant for our regular popcorn-munching and coke-guzzling audience. Since it comes from the makers of critically acclaimed film, TUMBBAD , LAAL KAPTAAN also requires a different set of brains and senses to ‘experience’ and ‘understand’ the abrupt happenings in it.
The slow pace of the film can be blamed onto the period in history, 1730’s. Major Munro, the East India Company officer has been trying his best to colonize Indian subcontinent by setting up the regional satraps like The Nawabs, Mughals and Marathas against each other. Nawab Sadat Ullah is finally entering into the treaty with Marathas and Mughals to overthrow the British company forever when his own adopted son (Rehmat Khan) betrays him. Result is the merciless hanging and humiliation of Nawab and his faithful allies.
Rehmat Khan ‘s career flourishes under the various rulers of Hindustan ranging from fur clothed Afghan rebels to tenacious Persians to brave Marathas. But somewhere his past catches up with him through Gossain, Saif Ali Khan. Gossain is a Naga warrier blinded by rage of revenge for his father’s killers. A lot happens in between before he walks into the sunset with a pair of four legged Rampur hounds following him.
A three-line story that arrives at its logical end after numerous turns and worldly preaching does test the patience of ‘instant’ Gen Nxt. But the beauty of LAAL KAPTAAN lies in its eclectic settings of 1700’s….. the medieval India that is full of inter-racial population fighting as mercenaries in exchange of ‘loot’ or ‘spoils’ of a war…..where time stands still while wind blows through rustling leaves…where chirping of birds break the silence of the day….where high up in the mountains, an eagle is circling before swooping upon her prized prey…where characters strut around in colour coordinated accessories and period costumes and ofcourse where a bare chested sexy Naga Sadhu with free flowing dreadlocks tied into a turban, brandishes a spear in his backpack and a tattooed body to flaunt. LAAL KAPTAAN offers variety of such scenes to anyone with an esoteric taste in films.
Navdeep Singh of MANORAMA SIX FEET UNDER and NH 10 is the man behind the driving wheel of LAAL KAPTAAN. But in comparison to his previous films, LAAL KAPTAAN does disappoint at various levels. One agrees that the film was never meant for commercial consumption but with (155) minutes of run time without much substantial matter to chew on, felt like witnessing a murder of a film on the Editor’s table. Gaping loopholes in the story line and disjointed merging of past and present events pulls down an otherwise technically brilliant film. Cinematography by Shanker Raman deserves a special mention for its essentially noir surroundings. Even the sound mavericks have done an excellent job when it comes to background score or the sound of clanking swords or delicate sound of ghunroos and bangles around haunted palaces or sound of thumping horse hooves etc.
Saif Ali Khan may have struck off one more name from his must-do bucket list of characters. Because though he has aced the look of a Naga Sadhu, same cannot be said of his role representation. Otherwise an excellent actor who excels in underplaying a character, Gossain of LAAL KAPTAAN required more of soul searching and speaking through eyes when it came to avenging revenge and humiliation.
Manav Vij as disloyal Rehmat Khan is surprisingly a well enacted role that keeps major emotions under wraps but still moves around with a lingering sense of unknown fear.
We also have talented Deepak Dobriyal in a madcap character of a smell catcher who can be employed by anybody to search anyone through his strong sense of smell. Dobriyal adds his own humorous touches and catchy one liners to otherwise unimaginable character.
Zoya Hussain enters as a dark-skinned widow who is used and abused equally by royal chieftains. She shares a love hate relationship with Gossain and leaves her mark behind through perfect dialogue delivery in local dialect and gamut of expressions.
Simone Singh as regal wife of Rehmat khan shines in her brief role.
Every other fringe character that mouths few lines are part of talented theatre actors who definitely deserved more screen time.
Navdeep Singh ‘s LAAL KAPTAAN can at best be called as an experimental film that will be lapped up by niche` audience who are happy to witness a time warp on rare occasions .
