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If you don't succeed...

Sharmila Taliculam

Mehul Kumar.

Whenever a new Amitabh film releases, there is much ado over how it will do, what his role will be like etc -- hype quite disproportionate to the matter at hand.

But when the rumour mills started working overtime on the matter of Kohraam, we decided there was good reason to sit up and pay attention to the film about terrorism in Kashmir.

For Mehul Kumar, known for his penchant for the patriotic -- starting with Tirangaa and, later, Krantiveer -- was also the man who made the infamous Mrityudaata, Bachchan's comeback film that wasn't.

A still from Kohraam. Click for bigger pic!

And so it was that we hoofed our way to the director with the cloud over his head and asked him what Kohraam was all about?

"It's a complete entertainer. It has romance, drama, songs, dances, everything. Amitabh's role is of a man who's a half Sardar and half from UP. In real life too, his mother is a Sikh and his father is from UP. Nana is half Bengali and half Rajputana -- only in the film though. I won't say more about this because then I would be telling the story which I would prefer you to go and see in a theatre."

Well, maybe he won't tell but we know a bit of it. Here it is:

A nasty minister, Virbhadra Singh, is annoyed by the deeds of one Colonel Balbir Singh Sodhi and Major Rathod. He arranges for the latter's demise, thus moving the former to fury. Sodhi tries to kill Virbhadra Singh, but messes up somewhat and if forced to flee, to be soon declared dead in an accident.

Amitabh Bachchan. Click for bigger pic!

A few years wing their way and then one Brigadier Bedi comes across a man Dada Bhai alias Devraj Hathoda who bears a suspicious resemblance to Balbir Singh. Bedi wonders whether Balbir Singh might indeed have not kicked the bucket. So he appointed major Ajit Arya to find out if there isn't something wrong here.

Ajit Arya goes over disguised as a journalist but is unable to prove that Dadabhai is Balbir Singh and vice versa. But he does find out a more bizarre fact.... Now, unlike in the case of Mehul Kumar, you can't complain that we didn't reveal further, can you?

There are three heroines to ensure that the dry action film is steeped in some romance too. So Jayaprada plays Bachchan's wife, and Tabu and Ayesha Jhulka's roles, well, they weren't specified. Nana really lets down his hair here, dropping singing and dancing. For once, he drops the rhetoric, we hear, which, if true, should do his stocks much good. One could give Mehul Kumar credit for Nana's patriotic image; now it is Amitabh's turn to try it out.

Nana Patekar. Click for bigger pic!

Of course, Amitabh had done something similar in Hindustan Ki Kasam, which is based on the same theme and where he had Ajay Devgan as his co-star. Amitabh again is in a military role where he plays Colonel Sodhi.

We asked him about the surfeit of films about terrorism.

"How many films have come with this theme? Recently, there was Sarfarosh but that dealt with Pakistani terrorism. My film is only about terrorism in Kashmir. So I don't think it is a repeated subject," Mehul says.

The director has always struck it lucky with his patriotic films, which is probably why he makes them so often. He thought he would take a road less travelled with Mrityudaata and we know what didn't happen to that one.

Jaya Prada. Click for bigger pic!

He probably learnt a lesson that day. That even Amitabh couldn't manage to salvage a ridiculous role. So he is back with another of his trademark numbers.

Kohraam means chaos, which is what Kumar stresses.

"There is so much chaos in our country. There is terrorism here and I wanted to show how our country is fighting it. I know that I have made a good film and hope that, unlike the last one, this does really well. In fact, I'm sure the audience will appreciate this film."

But Amitabh still has a long way to go, no matter that he's been chosen the most popular star of the millennium. His last film, Sooryavansham, failed to draw the crowds despite some fine critical reviews. Mehul Kumar will naturally be hoping that Kohraam does for Amitabh what his Mrityudaata couldn't. It certainly will help the director redeem some of his pride.