Laal Kaptaan Movie Review: Sensational; but a stretch, sadly

In Laal Kaptaan we effectively experience a valiant attempt at merging the East, with the Western

Laal Kaptaan
U/A: Action, Drama
Director: Navdeep Singh
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Manav Vij, Zoya Hussain
Rating: 

Frankly, there's far more to this film than for it to be looked at simply centred on its star (Saif Ali Khan), who's stunning, no doubt. Or the rating, that by virtue of it being vaguely indicative, becomes reductive, anyway.

What we effectively experience here is a valiant attempt at merging the East, with the Western. By which I mean not the West. But the Western as myth/genre that has its roots in Hollywood alone — with by and large no reference to reality, or history, whatsoever. Where a lone man on horseback rides into the only street of a village/hamlet of gun-slingers, sheriff, the works.

So does Saif on-screen (sort of). As a 'man with no name'. But in this case, not a cowboy, but supposedly a Naga Sadhu — belonging to no "jhund, akhara", or group — a 'Bhole ka sipahi/bhoot (Lord Shiva's soldier/ghost)', as it were. Although Naga Sadhus, to the best of my Kumbh Mela knowledge, are always butt-naked. It's the Aghori Babas, feeding on human flesh (belonging to no akhara either), who are partially clothed.

But ash-smeared, with long beard, and dirty dreadlocks, coming across initially as a bounty hunter in the Wild West, Saif's striking lead character displays the sort of ferociousness rarely witnessed in Hindi movies — perhaps since Lagaan's late Rajesh Vivek as a frighteningly bedraggled, rolling-eye villain Jogi Thakur, in Joshilaay (1989). Which was also a desi-Western.

So it's not like we haven't had Westerns in Bollywood. Sholay was one! That said, films of the genre inevitably revolve around revenge. Who is the Naga Sadhu in this film, exactly? We don't know. And that's not as important as who he's after — a local qiledar or in-charge of a royal fort (an equally menacing Manav Vij), who's already on the run.

Watch the trailer of Saif Ali Khan-starrer Laal Kaptaan here:

The film is set in Bundelkhand in the late 1700s, or 25 years after the Battle of Buxar, which my rudimentary understanding of history suggests was a battle between the British East India Company on one side, and the Nawabs of Bengal, Awadh, and a thoroughly diminished Mughals on the other.

The British won. But this land before us, like perhaps most of North India, remained lawless since no one held complete control. Or it was run on jungle law, as you observe a local mercenary (Deepak Dobriyal) literally doubling up as a sniffing dog in the ravines, guiding one merciless army against the other.

Navdeep Singh's (director of the super-sorted Manorama Six Feet Under, NH10) faux-natural lighting in the film, crumbling castles, and the general dust and chaos of armies moving like gypsies in caravans surrounded by human carcass is therefore the opposite of a Sanjay Leela Bhansali type, Indian period film — known for its rich colour, general opulence, and gorgeous architecture.

But where is all this leading to? Not that I must tell you more. Besides, that this is firstly not a linearly plotted film. In the sense that everything from the back-story of the characters, to the story itself, get revealed within a gap of several scenes. And hell, there are way too many scenes to the point that it begins to feel like a stretch, and you merely hope for the movie to get to the point.

Rather than getting deeper and deeper into a hole, down to even kitchen politics between such under-sketched and over-dramatic female characters (Zoya Hussain, Simone Singh). Sure, some of that depth comes from the over-layering in the script (historical background, etc). That, with much breathing air, and dramatic relief, might even make for a series. This movie will eventually drop on Amazon Prime. And one can't fault the flight of imagination. Whether or not you're awed by it (I was, for a good part; before it started spilling over).

But, hey, I walked into a crackling Western, about a 'man with no name'. Or so I thought. And I can see him. He looks it too. I can sense what he's after. It's quite simple. Always is. But I wait, and wait some more. Go back, forth. Reverse, and forward again — being wound up totally into a "story" being told. Eventually, I stop getting the 'feels'. Feel mangta hai, bro. Ab kya? What to do?

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