5 Indian comics that surely deserve a movie

There have always been words round the campfire on a movie based upon some hindi comic book. More than anything, it lets the fans go on a roller coaster dream of imagining their favorite comic book converted into a movie. So here is a fanboyish look at the comic books I want to see made into movies and at the same time keeping the viability of the prospect in tact

5) Sawdhan Doga/Kaun Bada Jallad - 

The  legendary arc ran over 2 comic books, Savdhan Doga and Kaun Bada Jallad. Tarun Kumar Wahi brought the coming together of two (now three) of the most masculine characters that Indian comic fans have ever seen. The story revolves around the kingpin of underworld in Mumbai - Michael, who is ambushed by Doga and flees to Assam to save his arse. Doga does that, remember "jadd se ukhadna and not just playing around". So Doga in his crusade of wiping off the kingpin from the face of the earth travels to Assam in order to bring the awesome sauce for readers. In Assam, Michael comes out to be the brother of Kobi/Bhediya beloved Zen and by sheer cunningness, he gets protection of Bhediya and keeps on his drug business from Bhediya's fort. What ensues is a head on between the 3 jallads along with Doga meeting some of Bhediya's foes like tanna-tanna. The end sequence reveals all the truth and a fierce bond of friendship between Doga and Kobi/Bhediya (Doga is already friends with Anthony and Inspector Steel - who would still want Doga to be under arrest for being a vigilante) but not before this

This is when Kobi gulps the drug prepared by Michael that induces unparalleled strength on consumption. Everything ends well but not after brilliant display of superheroics from all of our beloved characters

4) KhooniKhandan/Ateet/Jigsaw - 


This arc ran over 3 issues and peeped into some of the dark secrets related to SCD's family and heritage

Believed to be born to circus stars Shyam and Radha, Dhruv's parental background goes back to the streets of Paris. Shyam, whose real name was Raghuvanshi is shown as a killer in France who ran away from the cops there and started to work in Jupiter Circus after arriving in India. The arc introduces SCD's Uncle, Aunt, Cousin and grandfather and unveils the mystery surrounding the estate and the fortune owned by them. It also brings on the villain Jigsaw who in the end comes out to be the master planner behind Raghuvanshi being framed for a murder and the overall plan to confiscate the estate from him. The epic battle concludes at the top of Eiffel Tower and a sentimental end shows Dhruv meeting his grandfather. The arc is also notable for its depiction of relationship between Dhruv and Commissioner Rajan who initially breaks the news to him about his father being a runaway criminal. A must read for the comic lovers and a highly probable arc to be converted into a movie.


3)Chanakya ka Beta- 

Most people are not even aware of the wonders Ram-Rahim created in the pulp genre for a long time before being materialised into comic books. Termed as secret agent 001/2, Ram-Rahim were the heroes much before the creation of Nagraj and other Raj comics messiah!! Manoj was the order of the day then.
Ram Rahim had this amazingly incredible arc with Dracula, running over 7 different issues. This was 1983, check out for yourself

And probably the first multi-starred superhero comic of all times was dracula ka pretjal, which featured the whole MCU (Manoj Comic Universe) from Ram-Rahim to Crookbond-Motu. Indra, Bhootnath, Trikaldev, Ajgar and 'Aakash ka Jadoogar - Jembo'. I still distinctly remember the date when it was released, it was the same day when Raj Comics released 'Doctor Virus' and 'Bhokal ki Talwar' - 23 April 1993. But then it was the onset of RCU and decline of MCU, unless Mahendra Jain and Sandeep Gupta tried to give one final push. ANd hence came up, Chanakya ka beta. A story going back to detective works of the Indian Jasoos. This one is a thich digest over 95 pages covering how Ram-Rahim uncover the dirty underworld by being undercover, taking shades and playing cool. This is Sherlock back again, masterminding the eternal destruction of the Mafia in Mumbai. Compared with their previous endeavors such as fighting immortal Dracula and going to different galaxies to save aliens, this one is pretty mediocre but then again, the Indian detective supreme are doing here, what they do best. A must read and easy one to be converted into reel!! Ram-Rahim FTW!!


2) Sher ka bachha - 

Well there is not much left that hasn't been discussed about 'Sher ka bachha' among cult fans. It still remains one of the most believable, real life tale that a superhero saga can endure (Read Christopher Nolan)

It was 1997, the double action year of Nagraj and Super Commando Dhruv, still it was the year that gave us best Doga comics. Khaki aur Khaddar, Thandi Aag, Khooni Paheliyan and Sher ka Bachha. Most of these stories were pulsating, dark and revealed the true nature of being a vigilante. That Doga is based upon Punisher is a true story but whats more true is that Doga's conscience has been played with more often in a shorter span of time. So this one deals about Doga's deconstruction. The internal conflict between being a self-righteous, brutal, kickass vigilante and being a social man with a real life. Things are intensified by many political moves, Monica's insistence on uncovering Batman, Cheetah's guilt of not telling her despite knowing the truth and Doga's dilemma of not letting Cheetah live as he knows the secret. It all amounts to an inter-weaved clash of ideas and egoes, a subtle multi-layered tale by Sanjay Gupta and Wahi sir. The results are disastrous, Suraj gives up his identity as Doga to be with Monica and crime reaches its pinnacle. Another tale that deserves mention here is 'Khaki aur Khaddar', another Doga classic released just after 'Sher ka Bachha' where Monica is forced to make Suraj becom Doga again when the city is pushed directly into the hands of mob and politicians because of his absence.

Another tale told beautifully about a constable becoming an MLA and conspiracies surrounding Doga.

Enough said time for Numero Uno

1) Pratishodh ki Jwala - 

This was the time, this was the time!! 1987, first comic of Super Commando Dhruv. There were conflicts about what was going to be the choice for 5-2, but for the first spot, I always had this one in mind, only this one. The story of an innocent kid seeing a business rivalry taking the lives of his parents. The sole survivor of a conflagration, the boy described by Anupam Sinha sir as "aasmaan me chamak rahe dhruv taare ke samaan, jo apradh ko khatm karne ki apni pratigya pe atal hai". This issue may not be the classiest of all SCD issues but this was the inception, this was the beginning of a stellar career and life that this little boy was going to endure over the years. This issue also gave birth to Jubisco, the first arc-enemy of SCD's life, Jupiter Circus, Inspector Rajan Mehra (who would later on become Commissioner Rajan Mehra), Shweta and a whole new reason for kids to believe that you dont need to have snakes coming out of your hand to fight crime. SCD by far remained the most popular of all RCU's characters, gaining praise of many, including his arc-nemesis Chandakaal. This particular one is indeed touching

Jubisco made a comeback in 'Behri maut' and again in 'Nagraaj aur Bugakoo', Jupiter Circus got several mentions again but what came out of this seminal work was Super Commando Dhruv. The brightest star in the galaxy of Indian Super Heroes

Jai Hind

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4 Losers Who Should Have Won

There's a law of Filmy love triangles which dictates that if there are three people involved in a potential relationship then one of them has to either die a horrible death (plane crash/cancer/get eaten by sharks/slip on a banana peel) or gracefully exit from the scenario to let the other two have a 'Happily Ever After', but in more cases than one you feel that the writer has given the short end of the straw to the guy who should have by all logic gotten the girl. Here is our opinion about four of them.

4. Vikrant Kapoor in Taal


Taal was an ok-ok film with good music and a hackneyed storyline in which a guy meets a Gaanv ki Gori, and falls in love with her.

It helps that she looks like THIS

She too for inexplicable reasons (and because they have similar sounding names) falls for him, but after the usual Ghar-Parivar issues play spoilsport, their relationship comes to a comma (because of the minor issue of her boyfriend insulting her father). Despondent, depleted and dejected she meets a saviour in the form of a pre-Slumdog Millionaire Anil Kapoor

Jhakaas!

So Anil Kapoor provides both work and money for her and her father, brings her father's work national and supposedly international recognition, makes her realize her true potential as a singer and a dancer, while her boyfriend spends time skate-boarding etc, without spending much effort to do anything tangible to win her back

Anil Kapoor too falls in love with the girl (cause she's Goddamned Aishwarya Rai) and proposes her to marry him, offering both love and economic security. And then Akshay Khanna comes back into the picture, doing what amounts to brain-washing, to steal the girl back from Mr India.

Seriously, what!?!?

3 and 2. Nisha/Ajay in Dil To Pagal Hai

Poor Akshay Kumar got neither the girl  nor space on the poster

Paul Kulha says something like if you want something than the whole universe does something to help you get that something, or something. In this film, Nisha (Karisma Kapoor in arguably her hottest avatar) loves SR to such a degree of madness that it seeps out of the screen and on to the audience. In fact she stops just one step before psychopath, and all SR does is keep blabbering about an imaginary girl while ignoring the hot chick in front of him.

Look at me! LOOK AT ME!

But then the imaginary girl turns out to be Madhuri freakin' Dixit, and tips the balance horribly against Nisha.

Pictured : Unfair competition

She literally dances her heart out in front of SR to no avail, because Madhuri Dixit.

In the end she concedes that nothing can be done and exits (in an alternate universe, she would have ensured that Mrs Nene's character meet a horrible accident)


Which brings us to the second character in the film with tough luck

She might be smiling now but she will break your heart later

Akshay Kumar got approximately ten minutes of screen-time (and as mentioned earlier, 0 inches of poster space) in this film. His character is the die-hard romantic teenage girls write about in their poems, he takes the girl he loves for shopping to a different country for crying out loud! 


And yet, the girl ends up falling in love with the weird self-absorbed Rahul. Perhaps the story-writer had a serious vendetta against Akki.


Although SR ended up getting the girl in this film, it's not that he hasn't had to play the loser. In fact his best film role was


1. Sunil in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa


This is such a heart-warming film that it makes you want to hug yourself. SR plays Sunil, who is from a not-well-to-do family, fails continuously in his exams and is under-valued in his band (which in itself doesn't do so well)

And to add to it, he is in love with a girl called Anna who likes Chris, who is rich, successful and a guitarist, and even though he is played by Deepak Tijori, he has a better chance of getting the girl

And can afford better clothes

Sunil tries every trick to separate the two, from small things like puncturing Chris' car to lying to both of them about their date-plans

His character is cheerfully Wodehousian in his innocent lies and schemes, and it makes you want to root for him in a way that you would root for the lead of a Hrishikesh Mukherjee comedy.

And even when his lies are caught, and he is banished from the band (whose members include incidentally both Chris and Anna) he still manages to save their ass by concocting up a whole show-shaa performance on the spot when the need arises

But all that he does doesn't taalo honi, and Chris eventually marries Anna, which brings us to the best piece of acting done by SR (Sattar Minute doesn't hold a candle to this scene). In the church during the wedding, the ring falls  from the hands of the groom and lands in the aisles, while every one is searching for the ring, Anna asks SR if he has seen it, he in fact knows where the ring is, but chooses to remain silent, remaining a hopeful/hopeless lover till the very end.

Although he gets to walk-away with Juhi Chawla in the end, so you can say he doesn't get a very raw deal. But still, he SHOULD have gotten Anna!

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Nirupa Roy

copied from Ozzy on PassionforCinema (Never came to know your real name though - but you are the reason why I am writing on filmistani at all)

The universal mother of the 80s Hindi cinema. She was everywhere. You needed a mother. She was there. You did not need a mother. She was there.

It was difficult time for the actors (both male and female) who could find no escape from the long reaching powerful smart motherly tentacles of Nirupa Roy, who’s compulsory line in all her movies was…

“Main teri Ma hoon. Ma ka kehna nahin manega?” and the actors had to do what she said, however stupid it may be.

The actors grew smarter. So they changed their roles in the script. Nirupa Roy was now like a mother..

Actor: “Aap Ma – saman (like) hain”

It had no effect. Nirupa Roy would shoot back…

Nirupa Roy: “Dekh tune mujhe Ma kahan. Ma ka kehna nahin manega?” and thus making the actors do what she wanted them to do.

Since the last idea flopped, the actors found another idea. In later movies they said…

Actor: “Aap ko dekhkar mujhe mere Bhabhi ki yaad aa gayi”

No effect. Nirupa Roy had the ground covered.

Nirupa Roy: “Dekh tune mujhe Bhabhi kahan. Bhabhi Ma saman hoti hain. Apni ma ka kehna nahin manega?” and she would tow the actors wherever she wanted to drag them.

Actors were running short of ideas. They got desperate. How the hell would they escape this Ma. HOW HOW HOW??? Idea!

Actor: “Badi Malkin hum toh chote aadmi hain”

Nirupa Roy was too smart for such punks! HA!

Nirupa Roy: “Duniya mein chota bada koi nahin hota. Dekh tune mujhe Badi Malkin kahan hain. Badi Malkin Ma saman hoti hain. Apni ma ka kehna nahin manega?“… there was just no escape… the actors tried everything, Nirupa-jee always had the answer.

Actor: “Chachi” – Nirupa Roy: “Ma Saman”
Actor: “Bua” – Nirupa Roy: “Ma Saman”
Actor: “Sauteli Ma” – Nirupa Roy: “Ma Saman”
Actor: “Badi Didi” – Nirupa Roy: “Ma Saman”
Actor: “Stranger who saves kid from accident” – Nirupa Roy: “Ma Saman”
Actor: “Grandfather’s uncle’s daughter’s aunt’s husband’s cousin’s neighbour’s housemaid” – Nirupa Roy: “Ma Saman”
Actor (in utter frustration): “BHOOTNEEEEEEEEE” – Nirupa Roy (calmly): “Ma Saman”

… it just wasn’t working. Nirupa Roy had the Ma angle in her iron grip for the entire 70s and 80s.

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