Gallop, trot, trudge

Hidalgo

Director: Joe Johnston Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Omar Sharif, Louise Lombard, Zuleikha Robinson

5.5/10

Across 3000 miles of fiery deserts, in a challenge restricted to the finest and purest Arabian horses, Bedouin riders have participated for centuries, in the great Ocean of Fire race, or so claims screenplay writer John Fusco.

So, when for the first time, a non-Arab, Frank T. Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen), is pitted against them, there are derisive stings and warnings by fellow riders and the Sheikh (Omar Sharif), for Viggo and his Spanish mustang, Hidalgo, the legendary long distance race horse, both now well past their best days.

Bribes, too, by Lady Davenport (Louise Lombard), in trendy 21st century sunglasses in a film set in 1890, to drop out of the race, or into her bed, at least. Viggo drops into Omar?s daughter Jazira?s (Zuleikha Robinson) heart, instead. Not that he gets to even kiss her as they part against the setting sun, after he has galloped in to victorious cheers from the very Arabs who earlier had only jeers, and shaken hands with Omar, who had withdrawn it on the first meeting, when they had formally sat and smoked, Viggo his cigarette, and Omar his Oriental hookah.

Spectacular desert sandstorm and the breathtaking colours of the sky are shot by director Joe Johnston in many of the same locations, where David Lean filmed Lawrence Of Arabia, with English subtitles flashed against the generously used Arabic tongue. However, the race itself, more fabled than factual, whatever may be Fusco?s claim, after a galloping start, trots and trudges and is almost lost. The desert fire fizzles out rather early. Having had us saddled up, uselessly. A pity, really.

Deepali Singh

Narishakti and buff stuff

Ab...Bas!

Director: Rajesh Singh Cast: Diana Hayden, Shahwar Ali, Nisha Harale, Neena Kulkarni, (Negar Khan)

3/10

Ab...Bas! is Rajesh Singh?s first take on the sinister neuro-erotic love. Which ends up being a diluted version of Sriram Raghavan?s Ek Hasina Thi. Bollywood?s flirtation with the theme of negative love fixation harks back to films like Darr. There are some Hollywood parallels as well like Ashley Judd?s The Double Jeopardy. But Ab...Bas! is at best an assorted melange of sex and suspense, lacking in subtleties and intensity. For the sex part though, Singh goes nearly the whole hog not merely with umpteen smooches and horny item numbers, but with the raw, hardcore stuff ? once having a screen discreetly positioned between the camera and heaving bodies.

It has basically a run-and-chase storyline, as Diana Hayden tricked into marriage by her brute womaniser hubby (Shahwar Ali) is perennially on the lam. Diana slogs hard, dishing out horror and suspense. Dropping the neckline and shedding clothes as if to cut down on her laundry expenses. And to top it all embodying narishakti to slay the demon of a husband. Quite a mindboggling agenda for an ex-Miss World. Not so for Shahwar, typecast in an all-black role. Or for the support cast, which is less than average.

The soundtrack (so crucial for such film genre) and the cinematography (Ajay Pande) remain largely matter-of-fact like tender quotations. The script, recycling some stock Hollywood brand suspense situations, is too crass to recognise that the celebration of narishakti and over-the-top buff stuff do not happily go together in the same film.

Sorry, we can?t say shaabash to Ab...Bas. A hardworking Diana notwithstanding.

Arnab Bhattacharya