Hollywood may be producing the biggest blockbusters in the world but Bollywood has the most number of films releasing each year. The meteoric rise of the Indian film industry has helped American television and the film industry become much more palatable in the East as A-list actors like Kabir Bedi, Amitabh Bachchan (in a guest role) and most recently and significantly Priyanka Chopra have made their presence felt in foreign waters.
BigFive
Instep presents five reasons why Now You See Me 2 belongs in Bollywood rather than Hollywood.
Hollywood may be producing the biggest blockbusters in the world but Bollywood has the most number of films releasing each year. The meteoric rise of the Indian film industry has helped American television and the film industry become much more palatable in the East as A-list actors like Kabir Bedi, Amitabh Bachchan (in a guest role) and most recently and significantly Priyanka Chopra have made their presence felt in foreign waters. The upcoming Vin Diesel film, XXX – The Return of Xander Cage, starring Bollywood’s reigning queen Deepika Padukone, will add further to this East-West vehicle of artistic exchange.
In such a climate, Hollywood drawing inspiration from this Bollywood exchange hardly seems surprising. A case in point is the recent release, Now You See Me 2, which has Bollywood blood in its veins. Here’s how…
The 30-year-old revenge itch
Good old-fashioned, albeit twisted revenge is a recurring theme in modern day Bollywood. In Dhoom 3, for example, Aamir Khan stars as brothers Samar and Sahir Khan who join hands to avenge the death of their father by robbing the one bank that didn’t approve his loan request. Similarly, Shah Rukh Khan’s Charlie and his cohorts in Happy New Year also take up the mantle of extracting revenge from the person responsible for his father’s death.
Upon watching Now You See Me, you will see the similarity; dead father, greedy insurance company, ruthless owner and above all, a son looking to avenge his father’s death with the help of his friends, in this case the Four Horsemen (one of whom is a woman).
Too many spaces for song and dance
In Dhoom 3, Aamir Khan’s character agrees to admit Katrina Kaif’s Aaliya to his group but only after watching her dance (and striptease) on the song ‘Kamli’. There’s no song and dance in Now You See Me 2 but upon watching the film you realize how many times an item could have been fit in if this were Bollywood!
When the leading man is shown remembering his father, he could have easily broken into a song like ‘O Mere Papa the Great’ or something similar to pay tribute to the great magician that he is. An anthem like ‘One Two Ka Four’ would have been appropriate since the story begins with one Horseman and later the number converts to four.
Rajinikanth-inspired card sequence
Rajinikaanth is considered a God in South India. He can do no wrong even if it means slicing a flying bullet into two with a knife, defeating electrical currents in a race to the end, shooting a man on the other side of the wall with two bullets (go figure) or catch a flying cigarette without using his hands.
Upon watching the card-heist sequence in Now You See Me 2, it becomes pretty clear that it is closer to Rajini’s brand of invincibility than an intelligent crime caper. For more than a couple of minutes, the Four Horsemen keep juggling a simple playing card without the police noticing it. They manage to get it through security using tactics that feel incomplete without a Bollywood song in the mix!
If Bollywood director Manmohan Desai had been alive, he would have donated ‘Hum Banjaron Ki Baat’ (Dharam Veer, 1977), ‘Honi Ko Unhoni Kardein’ (Amar Akbar Anthony, 1977) or ‘Rang Jama Kay Jayenge’ (Naseeb, 1981) to Hollywood for free. And the song would have made the sequence more tolerable.
A safe is the safest bet
From Sholay to Jodi No. 1 to Happy New Year, a safe has always been the safest best for Bollywood filmmakers. In Sholay, it was Thakur’s safe that Jai-Veeru wanted to burgle, in Jodi No. 1, the safe played an important part in humanizing the conmen (same name, same idea) whereas it was all about the safe (that only Charlie could open) in Happy New Year.
In Now You See Me 2, Mark Ruffalo’s Dylan Rhodes is trapped in a safe and thrown overboard just like his father Lionel Shrike who couldn’t break out in time. The situation reminds one of Subhash Ghai’s Karz where Monty (Rishi Kapoor) returned to avenge the death of Ravi Verma (Raj Kiran) and Vidhaata where Sanjay Dutt’s Kunal beat the villainous Jagawar Chaudhary (Amrish Puri) at the very place where his father Pratap Singh (Suresh Oberoi) was murdered. I can still hear Dilip Kumar’s Shamsher Singh shouting “Maar Kunal Maar” in the background.
The dialogues echo Bollywood
Amitabh Bachchan delivered the famous line ‘Tum janti ho ki ye revolver khali hai, main janta hoon ki ye revolver khali hai, lekin police nahi janti ki ye revolver khali hai’ in Don (1978), which was later adapted in SRK’s Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani where the revolver was replaced by a video tape. Fast forward to 2016 where the video tape is now a computer chip with the capability to decode any encryption on the planet. The Four Horsemen (and a Horsewoman) take matters into their own hands and use the same logic as Big B to lure the bad guys towards them.
A series of what-if scenarios must be considered. What if one of the bad guys was the twin brother of one of the Horsemen? What if one of the Horsemen and the only Horsewoman in the group fell in love? What if one of the horsemen reminded you of SRK especially after playing Lex Luthor in an earlier film?
It seems America, like India, is a place where anything is possible.
– Omair Alavi is a freelance journalist and can be contacted at omair78@gmail.com
