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Rowdy Rathore
Released by: Reliance Home Video & Games
Released on: August 6th, 2012.
Director: Prabhudheva
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Nasser
Year: 2012
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The Movie:
Sometimes when I walk back to my palatial estate from the subway station in my neighborhood, I cruise by the Bollywood DVD and music stores that are on the way. Sometimes on these walks, which are a fairly regular occurrence and sometimes the highlight of my commute, I see things. Interesting things. Interesting things like this…
How can you say no to that poster? I'd never heard of this movie before but after seeing that poster, hearing it call out to me with its siren song, a combination of brazen and garish painting and wonderfully odd grammar, it was only a matter of time before I made it mine. I obsessed over the movie for a while, starting a thread on it here and rambling on about it on Facebook without ever having actually seen it, and then, like many things I quickly become obsessed with, I kind of forgot about it. Last weekend, after celebrating National Beer Drinking Day and thinking about a completely different Bollywood movie that I quickly became obsessed with, I decided it was time to head down to Little India and pull the trigger.
Now the last time I had gone into this store looking for a Bollywood movie the friendly shop clerk told me that, no, I wasn't actually looking for a movie called Don and that he knew what I really wanted… after which he pulled back a hidden wall to reveal a selection of Indian hardcore pornography. He told me not to be embarrassed about it because basically white guys like me come into the store looking for hardcore Indian porn all the time, and he handed me a copy of a movie called Currie Cunts (seriously). As enticing as the combination of India's favorite spice and female anatomy sounded, I finally convinced him to find me a copy of Don, which he told me was 'a stupid old movie.' He was right, it was a stupid old movie, and it was fucking awesome. Surprisingly enough, I did not buy Currie Cunts (seriously).
This time around, however, for better or worse there would be no Currie Cunts, none whatsoever. Probably because my wife was tagging along and making sure I didn't do anything stupid as I am apt to do on drunken shopping binges such as this. So with an official Rowdy Rathore Blu-ray in hand, it was time to finally check out the movie for myself. I'd seen the trailer, which looked weird, but avoided online reviews (such as this one, ironically enough) so outside of knowing not to angry the guy with the moustache I was more or less going into this one blind.
So I popped it in gave it a spin. The plot? I'm glad you asked. When the movie begins, a scuzzy looking older guy is having a nap but is awakened by a servant or minion of some sort and told in no uncertain terms that Vikram Rathore is not dead. From here we meet a guy named Shiva (Akshay Kumar), a low rent thief who along with his short chubby pal makes a living as a thief. When they get chased down by a sexy lady cop they use what I'm assuming is the Indian equivalent of Axe Body spray to turn her into a lustful little nympho and make their escape. Then when they get home and a bunch of kids come into their pad, for some reason they all wind up naked (the kids, not Shiva) and he tosses them out the door.
Shiva's a likeable thief, thanks in no small part to his ridiculous arrogance and cocky attitude, which he explains in the film's opening song and dance number. Shortly after we meet Shiva, he meets a beautiful woman named Priya (Sonakshi Sinha). He tells her that he knows she loves him and that she'll come to admit to this once she realizes she can't stop thinking about him. From here we get a series of goofy comedy bits where Shiva trades places with different people at different times to make her think she's seeing him… which in fact, she is. It looks like Shiva's actually got a chance with this fox, she's starting to come around but when she finds out that he's got a kid, she flips out. The catch is that he doesn't actually have a kid. He stole a fancy looking box that had a kid in it and the six year old girl inside sees him as her dad.
From here, we get back to Vikram Rathore (Akshay Kumar again). He was a bit of a super cop who took on the scuzzy guy from the opening scene who we learn is Baapji (Nasser). He rules a small town with an iron first. His men extort money from people and his son, who may or may not be completely insane, gets it on with all the women in town, much to the dismay of one of the local cops that Vikram has shown up to help. Well, Vikram isn't going to stand for any of this and after making it clear that the town only has room for one Rowdy, he kills off the son who may or may not be insane and then winds up on the wrong side of Baapji and his hoodlums. Of course, with the only physical trait different between Shiva and Vikram being some subtle differences in their moustaches, eventually Shiva has to do right by Vikram's legacy and daughter and impersonate him to bring justice to the town and settle Vikram's unfinished business. Before that's over, people will angry him and he will threaten to blow things.
This is very much a movie in three parts: the first covering Shiva's attempts to woo the beautiful Priya, the second covering Vikram's exploits in his attempt to save the town and the third bringing the first two parts together as Shiva basically becomes the man that this six year old girl thought he was in the first place. It's all pretty ridiculous, the movie is about two and a half hours of nonsense, but if you go into it in the right frame of mind it turns out to be a lot of fun. The comedy tends to be slapstick, going for silly and outlandish over clever, but it does what it does quite well in this regard, playing towards exaggeration and clichés fairly effectively. The action tends to do a lot of 'fast/slow/fast' in the editing department, aping 300 and its ilk, but there are some impressive stunts and brawls here, often times with a somewhat comedic slant.
The movie was a remake of a 2006 picture called Vikramarkudu, and I've no idea if this is a better film or not, but it did pretty decent numbers not just in its homeland but in international markets as well. Indian filmmakers certainly can and do put out far more intelligent and creative films than this one each and every year, many of which go unnoticed in western markets, but this one is fun. You don't need to be a student of Bollywood to appreciate its screwy charm. It's easily approachable 'mainstream' fare to be sure but the filmmakers obviously weren't going for high art here. Akshay Kumar is dashing and charming and a really fun tough guy to watch while Sonakshi Sinha is not only beautiful but capable of some decent comedic acting with a few dramatic touches here and there as well. For lack of a lousier cliché to end this part of the review, let it suffice to say that Rowdy Rathore is a good time at the movies and leave it at that.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Rowdy Rathore arrives on region free Blu-ray in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.78.1 widescreen. This was shot on digital video so the image is immaculate, there's obviously no print damage or grain of any sort. Colors look really fantastic here, they're bright and bold without looking oversaturated or artificially pumped up. Black levels are good, fairly deep but not quite reference quality, while detail is generally quite good. This certainly offers better depth and texture than standard definition could provide but there are times where the image is a little bit softer than you might expect. Overall, however, the image quality is quite nice. There are no major problems with compression artifacts or edge enhancement and this is quite a satisfying presentation.
The main audio option on the disc is a Hindi language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix. Optional subtitles are offered up in English and inexplicably there are a few spots where they appear with time code displayed. There are a few spots where the translation might be a little off ('When I get mad I blow things'!?!) but they get the job done. As to the quality of that lossless mix? It's pretty damn good. The song and dance numbers sound excellent and make great use of the front and rear channels to really fill the room and provide some pretty solid bass. They'll get your foot tapping in no time as you ponder the merits of seductive waste lines and try to master Shiva's funny little handjive moves. An optional Hindi language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix is also included but it's not nearly as intensely satisfying as the lossless track.
Outside of menus and chapter selection the only extra on the disc is a behind the scenes featurette. While it's presented in Hindi without any English subtitles, it offers some interesting footage shot on set showing off some of the movie's more elaborate set pieces.
The Final Word:
Rowdy Rathore is, in one word, fun. It's a ridiculous film, it never tries to be challenging or even really all that original but it offers up some surprisingly effective comedy and a few pretty impressive action scenes as well. Akshay Kumar makes for a really entertaining leading man while Sonakshi Sinha offers up plenty of sex appeal to go along with all the insanity. Throw in some musical numbers that actually fit fairly well in the context of the story and this is a two and a half hour feature that breezes by pretty quickly. The Blu-ray from Reliance looks good and sounds better and if the lone extra feature isn't subtitled, well, even if it is a region free disc it's geared towards an Indian audience so we won't hold that against it.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
