Hooray for Bollywood

>> Muthu and The Terrorist show two distinct visions of India at Fantasia

by MATTHEW HAYS

Having long struggled to enhance their roster with Indian films, Fantasia programmers have finally managed to nab two for this year's event. Sadly, there are only two, but Fantasia types explain that due to the shoddy international distribution of this national cinema, films are difficult to book.

But these two, The Terrorist and Muthu, are real gems, and are also indicative of two very different strains of moviemaking from this vital national cinema. Muthu is one of those hilarious, bizarre, wondrous Bollywood mélanges, a hybrid of genres that defies the senses of those of us weaned on Hollywood fare. Muthu is a Tamil servant to the wealthy, plus he's a high-kicking hero, who, naturally, breaks into dance and song at various points in the film.

Indeed, Muthu is multiculti camp, but I hate reducing these films, as odd as they ostensibly seem, to merely laughing at someone else's culture. I honestly find these films invigorating. Western directors as diverse as Kenneth Branagh, Woody Allen and Alan Parker have all attempted to resurrect the musical, all with varied results. But the genre stays healthy in India, where no one bats an eye when the good guy or bad guy bursts into a ditty. There's an honesty and integrity about these films--the filmmakers are just so unapologetically wacky--that makes them refreshing.

It is also fascinating to see how directors, who desperately want to relate the passions of their romantic leads, have to manoeuvre their way around Indian mores, which frown upon kissing in public. The sheer effusiveness of the characters, the playful disregard for the confines of genre and the outrageous creative geography make Muthu well worth even a considerable Fantasia lineup.



Crossing cultures

Interestingly enough, Muthu stands as evidence contrary to the popular myth that Indian films just don't cross over to other cultures. Indian cinema hasn't really had an economic need to make the leap west, seeing as their films are immensely popular at home, but Muthu proved a massive hit in Japan. The film leapt to the second spot on the '98 box office charts there, outdone only by Titanic.

The Terrorist stands in stark contrast to Muthu, and is indicative of the art cinema that India produces. The film is a minimalist examination of one young terrorist (played beautifully by Ayesha Dharkar) who signs up for a suicide mission. Dedicated to the task, the fatal finality of the assignment leaves her pondering her life. The director has chosen to edit the film into poetry; though it's set in Sri Lanka it was shot in southern India, and the images captured are nothing short of stunning. (First-time director Santosh Sivan worked for years previously as a cinematographer, and it shows.) The power of Dharkar's screen presence can't really be overstated.



$50,000 can't be wrong

And the film is also testimony to the power of low-budget filmmaking (or no budget, even; this thing was shot for a mere $50,000, putting virtually everything that's coming out of Hollywood these days to shame). This is basically the story of a woman terrorist, her life crisis and a camera. Employing what seems to be simple and bare-bones, Sivan unearths the complexity of his protagonist's plight.

The Terrorist is managing to make some noise and has picked up a distributor, in large part because John Malkovich caught the film at a festival and has since championed it, even writing an article about how great it is in The New York Times. In the article, most of which is an indictment of Hollywood greed, he referred to the film as "a small masterpiece of economy, grace and precision... [Sivan's] touch, patience and assuredness are plentifully in evidence." Words like that from someone with Malkovich's profile and cred have gotta help. And the film deserves a benefactor, because it deserves to be seen.

Muthu screens Sunday, July 30 at 9:45pm.

The Terrorist screens Wednesday, July 26 at 9:50pm. All Fantasia screenings are at the Imperial