[video] "Mr India" A Postview, copyright 1997 p-m agapow
India's first superhero, periodically invisible and with little fashion sense, battles a thin metaphor for British colonial policy, illustrated by several songs and far too many cute children.
To be clear, I'm not poking fun at Indian cinema. (To even speak of "Indian cinema" is perhaps as meaningless as talking of "European cinema".) But part of the fun of "Mr India" is the surprise at a picture made with different sensibilities and expectations. Add some purple dialogue, over-the-top acting and kitchen sink story telling and you have a delightfully wacky concoction. It's like this ...
The evil Mugambo, looking like Inspector Morse after an accident with a tube of bronzing cream, plans to rule India (and then the world!) by turning Indians against each other. He plots in his lair, decorated from the garage sale of a James Bond supervillian: complete with golf carts to ferry visitors around, troops in colour-coded uniforms, the globe of the world gripped by a talon and - natch - the obligatory pit of acid. And for those of you who like your metaphors thinly veiled, Mugambo wears a "Sgt. Peppers" style British Army uniform and gloats, "Did Indians learn nothing of their history?". But our lovable mahogany-coloured psychopath maintains his humility by only referring to himself in the third person: "Mugambo ho-shu-a!" (Mugambo is pleased!).
When not ordering his troops to jump in the acid (where after a few clumsy edits they turn into skeletons, "Mugambo ho-shu-a!") he issues orders to his minions to "spread destruction". (Monday, 9.30-10.30: spread destruction; 10.30-11.00: pick up laundry.) First his lackeys must acquire a house in Bombay to store weaponry. But his two sidekicks (who look like Omar Sharif and a Californian TM instructor) make the unfortunate mistake of choosing the hostel run by the lovable yet fashion-blind Arun. Our hero (who, there being no "Gap" in Bombay, spends the entire movie in a tweedy sports jacket and giggle-hat) is raising a house of rhythm-deficient orphans. There they play, sing, get woken up by jets of ice-cold water and remain blissfully unaware of the provisions of the Child Protection Act of 1988. Soon the kids, raised on a movie diet of "Breakin' 2: Electric Bugaloo" are grooving and rapping out the first song ("That football of ours gives us much joy!") after a journalist takes away their toy. Later she gets back at the hungry orphans by feeding them donuts and fried food. The children are now happy, knowing they can look forward to a lifetime of atherosclerosis and coronary bypasses.
Quicker than you can say "Mugambo ho-shu-a!" the bad guys are roughing up Arun and his strangely camp friend Calendar. (This may be a Batman/Robin-esque subtext. Then again, it may not be a subtext.) But Arun acquires an invisibility device from his old professor and becomes (drumroll) "Mr India"! He can fight the evil criminals! "Mugambo not so ho-shu-a!" The now transparent social worker can also romance the journalist, for his poor fashion sense is no longer obvious. Needless to say there are many songs, wind machines, blazing fires and gushing fountains in this segment. (Boy, are there gushing fountains. If this film had been made 40 years ago, it would have violated the Hays Code on metaphorical value alone.) Meanwhile there are massive protests in the streets in favour of Mr India. (What are they saying? "Superheroes - Yes! Suntanned colonial oppressors - No!")
But the lovers' idyll is broken when one of the children is killed in the fairground by the old exploding clown trick. Showing a careful study of the last two decades of B-grade cinema, Mr India / Arun gets captured, goes crazy-ape bonkers and disposes of Mugambo's minions. The children joyfully help him gun the guards down. And then, of course, Mr India goes mano-a-mano with Mugambo (sans invisibility field, naturally), declaiming "All it takes is one ordinary Indian to stop you". Apparently ordinary Indians know how to do spin kicks and back flips. And that's the sound of you being struck around the head with that damn metaphor again.
And that's not the half of it. There isn't the time to mention the appearance of "Dr Fu Manchu" (in a red velvet suit!), a faux-Hawaiian musical number gone feral Vegas and done in blackface, the sound effects straight from "Australia's Funniest Home Videos" ("Oh-oh, looks like Mugambo's going to blow up India...") and that damn hat ...
Delightfully loopy, the length of this film does diffuse some of the enjoyment. But with judicious use of a video recorder there's no reason why you too can't be bopping to Arun's bodacious rap and shouting "Mugambo ho-shu-a!". [***/interesting] and Sauerkraut westerns on the Sid and Nancy scale. And remember - "According to our computers Mr India loves everything in India!"
"Mr India" Directed by Shekhar Kapur. Starring Anil Kapoor, Amrish Puri. Running time 150 min. Released 1987.
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paul-michael agapow (agapow@latcs1.oz.au)
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