Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani
That some of Bollywood’s worst sins have been committed in the name of nepotism is a fact which anyone who has borne witness to Karisma Kapoor’s early career can sadly attest to. For the Hindi film industry’s directors, stars and producers, dynasty building seems to be a top order of business, right alongside the practice of their chosen craft. For a fearsome reminder of this, one need look no further than Raj Kumar Kohli’s 2002 film Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani, as terrible a monument to a father’s love for his son as has ever been erected. I recently found myself trying to defend it, arguing that, while the film was indeed searingly bad, it was also very entertaining, a fact which I felt should place it above other Bollywood films that were comparably bad but also boring. On second thought, though, I had to reconsider that opinion.
#1 by lyzard on September 4, 2008 - 4:45 pm
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I’ll probably regret saying this but—
—I really need to see this film. Also—
—these guys have obviously not seen The Seventh Curse, where you will believe a rod puppet can kill a man.
Oh, and by the way – I said all that BEFORE I saw the screenshot of the two snake spirits singing and dancing on Ulhuru. (That’s right – *sniff, sniff* – you had me at the Popeye-armed, ColecoVision skeleton, you big lug.)
#2 by Todd on September 4, 2008 - 7:24 pm
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Yes, Liz, we who have watched Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani call to you: Join us! Join us! It really has everything. It’s morally repugnant, offensive to the eye, and insulting to the intelligence. The total package, really.
In regards to your other comment: A Bollywood version of The Seventh Curse would really be something to see. It’s true that Hong Kong filmmakers have no qualms whatsoever about having even a highly skilled martial artist getting his ass handed to him by a flimsy looking life-sized skeleton puppet — Magic of Spell being just one fine example of this.
#3 by Baron Scarpia on September 5, 2008 - 1:29 am
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I’ll probably regret saying this but—
Only hers is not a lovely face at all, it turns out, but rather a giant skeleton head animated with all the precision and detail you’d expect to find in a handheld video game from the eighties. As Rajesh recoils in horror, his bride morphs completely into a cartoon skeleton so lacking in any illusion of physical depth that it could have been lifted from an episode of South Park and proceeds to beat him up, all the while cackling crazily like a drunken old prospector.
—I really need to see this film.
You know, as soon as I read Todd’s words I was thinking the exact same thing. There is truly no hope for any of us.
#4 by Tom Meade on September 8, 2008 - 12:30 am
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In relation to all these terrible effects, does anyone know of any good films that deliberately use the sort of cheap, weird sets and primitive effects you’d get on, say, an episode of T-Bag, or some other late-80s British television product? Because there’s something about the artificiality that I really like. I understand a lot of Russian fantasy films fall into this category?
#5 by El Santo on September 8, 2008 - 9:30 pm
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I’m not sure whether the disorienting artificiality of old Russian fantasy movies was a deliberate stylistic choice or mere naivety on the parts of their creators, but either way, the handful that I’ve seen certainly were appealingly phony-looking.
#6 by KeithA on September 9, 2008 - 1:11 pm
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I think some of the effects in Ilya Muromets are pretty good, especially the wind demon and the giant pyramid of Mongols.