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hissy
fit
Of snakes and Sridevi:
The desi genre of reptilian films is brilliant kitsch
Even in these times of Dostana, who can stop loving Ichchadhari
naags that metamorphose into cinema superstars?
By Omar
Ali Khan
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Over
the years, one peculiarly desi genre has grown closer to the
heart than would be considered healthy. Though it's difficult
to pinpoint the exact moment this particular love affair took
off, I reckon the early B movies such as Ssssnake and Harry
Novak's Rattlers may have been early warning signs
.
However the demand for fresh reptilian fodder always seemed
to exceed the supply and it was a frustrating wait for the
next slithery cinematic instalment especially as in the 70s
and 80s CGI was a lifetime away and Harryhausen-like stop
motion magic a relic of the past. Die hard snake-maniacs had
to make do with the odd cameo in films such as The Phibes
movies and the occasional Bond or Tarzan epic to get a fix
of the good stuff.
However life was to change forever when the crossover was
made from Hollywood snake movies to the phenomenal snake movies
from our own part of the woods.Desi snake movies are for morethan
monstermovies as they are intricatelyintertwined with wonderfully |
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romantic legends,myths and exotic folklore of days gone by Also, in
our movies, inevitably the snake is not cast as the villain but as
a saviour just as mostly feared 'Gojira' is a saviour to his Japanese
followers. Snake movies have been around in South Asia ever since
cinema took off but I am unsure of which would qualify as being the
first ever snake themed movie.
Over the years the snake movie has thrived enough to evolve into an
entirely new genre of cinema in South Asia. It wouldn't be too wild
a contention to make that snake movies easily outnumber courtroom
dramas or even heist movies in South Asia. There have been countless
snake movies over the years and even Pakistani cinema has tried its
hand at the game with films such as Saperan, Naag Nagin, Naag Muni
and the incredible Shabnam-Javed Sheikh flick Sheshnagin which featured
a rock band entirely composed of some highly musically skilled snakes.
Quite a tune they let rip once in while too. |
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Still
Pakistani snake movie output is a mere ripple when compared to the
reptilian wave of snake themed movies from India. Snake movies have
always been avidly watched amongst our brood and I remember the drooling
excitement that we were gripped by when we ventured to the desi cinemas
in London to watch Nagin when it opened way back in the mid 70s. Reena
Roy really turned it on and the film success encouraged a plethora
of welcome copycats. In the late 80s Sridevi and Amrish Puri powered
Nagina to unimagined box office heights. I remember the cook of a
cousin in Bombay who would prepare some wonderfully spicy dishes while
listening perpetually to an audio cassette of the dialogues from Nagina.
He had them memorized down to the last hiss. Nagina even spawned a
sequel, which in the 80s was unheard of for Bollywood, and ever were
audiences better versed in the fangled legends of the Manidhari and
Ichchadhari Naags and Nagins then by the time Nigahen: Nagina II hit
screens.
Another epic of the era was Sheshnaag with Jeetendra and Madhavi providing
one of the most exhilarating snake dances in history and Danny cutting
an imposing evil Tantrik. |
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On a recent trip to the wonderful environs of the sadly decaying
Naaz Compound in Bombay I discovered some wonderful DVD/VCD shops
though one or two of them were evidently less than kosher as one
for example did not allow any browsing at all. You had to know what
you wanted before hand or the door was rather rudely shut in your
face. After two such encounters I finally happened upon a shop that
welcomed customers and here I discovered a treasure chest of horror
movies and more crucially some incredible looking snake movies too.
Those I managed to pick up were Naag Shakti, Naag Pratiksha, Naageshwar,
Shiva Naaga, Naag Nagin, Naach Nachaye Nagin, Naagyoni, a title
that I cannot decipher but it looks spectacular judging by the posse
of snakes on the DVD cover. And of course, my own personal favourite
of all snake movies – 1990's stupendous Aruna Irani, Jackie
Shroff snake epic Doodh Ka Karz. Never has there been such gut wrenching
pathos and searing drama in a snake movie as witnessed in this tour
de force. The director introduces the fabulous innovation snake-cam
where the camera takes on the Point of View of the snake, watching
his master getting murdered from within his straw basket. There
are moments of "heartfelt emotions" (Don't you miss those
old trailers?) when Aruna Irani almost breast feeds a cobra and
a stupendous hair-raising climax that features leaping cobras by
the dozen, live mongooses and Bob Christo meeting a slithery end.
I have since watched the quite splendid Shiva Naaga, which featured
among other things a couple vomiting live chickens and a sterling
James Bond-like chase scene with a bad guy being chased downstream
by a cobra in a boat!
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