Masala zindabad? Mard
I'm speechless. I think Mard must have come to me (thanks PPCC!) as Bollywood's retort to my hubris of thinking I am capable of understanding popular Hindi cinema. I am duly humbled.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigLg_H1PhdwJSmLXqvYCAhpxmk52hXyGCaJrEK42c7hKLdVmIsJBBCztIGF1tPXS9EBZMfZxmTjD0QLebd-IMtNkRpfSQa_EOx0bQiz3qsy4c2CP4lEGgM5fdjx__NRZIXfcETCg/s400/vlcsnap-00299.jpg)
So bad it's good? Crazy/genius? Cartoonish/clever? Fantastical/relevant? A generous feast of R(ecommended) M(asala) A(llowance) ingredients or wallowing, shameful gluttony like Mr. Creosote in The Meaning of Life? I have no idea! It seems so wrong to label Manmohan Desai, the Master of Masala himself, as finally off his rocker and backwass/masala madness extravaganza/decline and fall masala, a.k.a. teetering towards embarrassingly debauched and past its prime, but what else can a person do with all the tiger namaste-ing, rubber mask peeling, plane lassoing, still-alive burning, baby scarring, hut rocking, life bleeding, Maa muting, salt rubbing, cake hiding, torture flamenco dancing, and statue animating? I don't expect my brain to process this any time soon, so you're better off sticking with PPCC, Philip's Fil-ums, Memsaab, The Horror!?, or Bolly Bob, to name a few.
The only thing in this movie I could make any sense of whatsoever was a sneaking feeling that I recognized the Britishers' palace.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrv8YpOnB3sxf3r7w5003sI5YpqqCJRW1vog3F2KpdIo5j6EzQ80ZVF_bTf3pRf4Cj6EUOQUtvBq4PpmRTfAMJxE0rToHzauUBqVxzctU4fVuF_vobdUZcj5UMy8ylN1_wi3Qgpg/s400/vlcsnap-00115.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93OPL17VvrU_5lyEIAxu_kEy15rZGov2l83DxUhF4LQWvNF_sVV52bvr1-f7-zMlS6YrEULXz4oShIW9sJL5m2wKT7p1WO-11SaqTmMKR7IA5B0TriE2Rob3NGys-oURE47ZwBw/s320/screenshot_13.jpg)
For once in my life I was correct - I always think I recognize people, and I'm wrong at least half the time - because I stayed at the Lalita Mahal Palace Hotel in 2006 and spent every waking minute wandering around wide-eyed and feeling quite like a rajkumari indeed.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjavSVvC2bKkl-8DQdUt4LHoCY25UfHcEI2A25B32aYQic6xd-248gjElcJy1iSonc0OOQ8f1Qfrb0UzrVU-PxSRUIGfvEMgopquw9-dmNQhD7-PFIyTDoJibTFp3cbnUVGHrI0zA/s400/IMG_1011.JPG)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXJ8d_JKgTHbwDJQeZFHBGe1czCozpEcpA61HSnMDwxlVjzGSqXKBf4O-owNGX1mu4t4AKSQSlaSC1w6xFYIqgyWMbNu49gNxTskJlV5cMPdkiPHddrzPTaB6URIvyQYSZhRPzIw/s400/IMG_1024.JPG)
It's probably a good thing I didn't know about Mard then, or I would have made all my traveling companions reenact scenes with me.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmphvXoDQWRkmS_RdS3Z_PI04gGzlf7yxPGMxR4VeDH8P_ZUw2rSjWB_fQgr2nV1PQhmwrNnAbAcP2M1NHMvmVoa8ZL3WXJrv6GZXUgtl-JNkoEVd1TamsIXvn9wN7WZGQfXHkjQ/s320/screenshot_07.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVdGUXjag8L9pWdFLUFDnNrXCoIKyue09tHMoEwSLgL6aAiDcOcdYgnx9jDpwt_EkoH3AeikMYDaWyR2-zMF_XxPCjHtoj4DiH3yK7Ir8CdzOV1woXwqKH12jkzd4z1N-IM9iaoQ/s320/screenshot_08.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzNmRl0vkUWGmeHk0k9u_ergQrwnbQBgIN2k_8zhnLf0tfv1cPFaBJZJx-6iA2VYmy6EtxpGU4OIghyE4B8QM4W_oP6QfdvfUOp2bTV9yDw9jMrlyWVvWUcFemh80z4qiKF45KIQ/s320/vlcsnap-00205.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4KCHLh9MqDUsNakS8h743cyE78aSIyWcq4Kuf_CyQbp3Iogs8jF9xJ4_lrHsuTOT4z5VxVFYHeEgH57k5KzkixvI_LBavx6PjNXGkvqsGV-DPOvXsAPEEvtTVGuolZvJ1GVvWjA/s320/vlcsnap-00212.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwNnhtSq6l7RBXYnIdV9wzxYPRawCJaBfaQMQm-c69MdCvxC3dBHT0nEF3OXOKiih20s2QwtyayBiDLK6_TwbqeisHbL0uPhk0XGsLbKXEe4FlKxZMxXv-xIwSPJtzsozMEe7Jg/s320/vlcsnap-00073.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDAFOjbjiVI6QuIkDwUAq2rutLwvMtCrPNCcUP66xZrEHCv07xFMhgl3LJ_voxBSqiDgnp6s0rcxAGF46jmvBC3MDgX3BE6YvYjYCbHcmE_Mm2B8bT8JBKhyphenhyphenARCyIObiDciZoQdA/s320/vlcsnap-00195.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Q3a93uX7xRQmqv456FunWlcuIHAngTHRhXwns8apwFa1XFvWty3TqeTrUmPI3dXq4oi5qyLsp4Nhqqc5VyD2hq0KmGftdkI1RNasZCh9HvfUeO1gKyz3wQJORsJbbmO9Mr9Dsg/s320/screenshot_20.jpg)
And a lot crazier after watching Mard.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigLg_H1PhdwJSmLXqvYCAhpxmk52hXyGCaJrEK42c7hKLdVmIsJBBCztIGF1tPXS9EBZMfZxmTjD0QLebd-IMtNkRpfSQa_EOx0bQiz3qsy4c2CP4lEGgM5fdjx__NRZIXfcETCg/s400/vlcsnap-00299.jpg)
So bad it's good? Crazy/genius? Cartoonish/clever? Fantastical/relevant? A generous feast of R(ecommended) M(asala) A(llowance) ingredients or wallowing, shameful gluttony like Mr. Creosote in The Meaning of Life? I have no idea! It seems so wrong to label Manmohan Desai, the Master of Masala himself, as finally off his rocker and backwass/masala madness extravaganza/decline and fall masala, a.k.a. teetering towards embarrassingly debauched and past its prime, but what else can a person do with all the tiger namaste-ing, rubber mask peeling, plane lassoing, still-alive burning, baby scarring, hut rocking, life bleeding, Maa muting, salt rubbing, cake hiding, torture flamenco dancing, and statue animating? I don't expect my brain to process this any time soon, so you're better off sticking with PPCC, Philip's Fil-ums, Memsaab, The Horror!?, or Bolly Bob, to name a few.
The only thing in this movie I could make any sense of whatsoever was a sneaking feeling that I recognized the Britishers' palace.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrv8YpOnB3sxf3r7w5003sI5YpqqCJRW1vog3F2KpdIo5j6EzQ80ZVF_bTf3pRf4Cj6EUOQUtvBq4PpmRTfAMJxE0rToHzauUBqVxzctU4fVuF_vobdUZcj5UMy8ylN1_wi3Qgpg/s400/vlcsnap-00115.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93OPL17VvrU_5lyEIAxu_kEy15rZGov2l83DxUhF4LQWvNF_sVV52bvr1-f7-zMlS6YrEULXz4oShIW9sJL5m2wKT7p1WO-11SaqTmMKR7IA5B0TriE2Rob3NGys-oURE47ZwBw/s320/screenshot_13.jpg)
For once in my life I was correct - I always think I recognize people, and I'm wrong at least half the time - because I stayed at the Lalita Mahal Palace Hotel in 2006 and spent every waking minute wandering around wide-eyed and feeling quite like a rajkumari indeed.
It's probably a good thing I didn't know about Mard then, or I would have made all my traveling companions reenact scenes with me.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmphvXoDQWRkmS_RdS3Z_PI04gGzlf7yxPGMxR4VeDH8P_ZUw2rSjWB_fQgr2nV1PQhmwrNnAbAcP2M1NHMvmVoa8ZL3WXJrv6GZXUgtl-JNkoEVd1TamsIXvn9wN7WZGQfXHkjQ/s320/screenshot_07.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVdGUXjag8L9pWdFLUFDnNrXCoIKyue09tHMoEwSLgL6aAiDcOcdYgnx9jDpwt_EkoH3AeikMYDaWyR2-zMF_XxPCjHtoj4DiH3yK7Ir8CdzOV1woXwqKH12jkzd4z1N-IM9iaoQ/s320/screenshot_08.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzNmRl0vkUWGmeHk0k9u_ergQrwnbQBgIN2k_8zhnLf0tfv1cPFaBJZJx-6iA2VYmy6EtxpGU4OIghyE4B8QM4W_oP6QfdvfUOp2bTV9yDw9jMrlyWVvWUcFemh80z4qiKF45KIQ/s320/vlcsnap-00205.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4KCHLh9MqDUsNakS8h743cyE78aSIyWcq4Kuf_CyQbp3Iogs8jF9xJ4_lrHsuTOT4z5VxVFYHeEgH57k5KzkixvI_LBavx6PjNXGkvqsGV-DPOvXsAPEEvtTVGuolZvJ1GVvWjA/s320/vlcsnap-00212.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwNnhtSq6l7RBXYnIdV9wzxYPRawCJaBfaQMQm-c69MdCvxC3dBHT0nEF3OXOKiih20s2QwtyayBiDLK6_TwbqeisHbL0uPhk0XGsLbKXEe4FlKxZMxXv-xIwSPJtzsozMEe7Jg/s320/vlcsnap-00073.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDAFOjbjiVI6QuIkDwUAq2rutLwvMtCrPNCcUP66xZrEHCv07xFMhgl3LJ_voxBSqiDgnp6s0rcxAGF46jmvBC3MDgX3BE6YvYjYCbHcmE_Mm2B8bT8JBKhyphenhyphenARCyIObiDciZoQdA/s320/vlcsnap-00195.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Q3a93uX7xRQmqv456FunWlcuIHAngTHRhXwns8apwFa1XFvWty3TqeTrUmPI3dXq4oi5qyLsp4Nhqqc5VyD2hq0KmGftdkI1RNasZCh9HvfUeO1gKyz3wQJORsJbbmO9Mr9Dsg/s320/screenshot_20.jpg)
And a lot crazier after watching Mard.
Comments
Oh - and any movie that has Amitabh arrive in a cake is going to get into my good books.
I've seen this about three or four times since I first watched it not that long ago, and I continue to find new stuff in it to appreciate. Thanks for the link to Philip's review---I had not seen that, and it made me feel a little less like a crazy person for loving this and feeling that it isn't just insanity but has a lot to say too. He put it beautifully into words I wish I'd said abot it :)
We should do a Roti watchalong---I would love to get your take on that.
1- That carving of that name on the infant's chest- I wanted to gag and throw up!
2- The horse running away w/ the horse statue in the end.
3- Those costumes w/ zero continuity- entertaining to the max!
4- Amrita's S&M costume- rofl.
I need to stop- it was such a insane movie- one for the ages, no doubt.
Meera
A watchalong would be fun-either with this, or as Memsaab suggested, Roti Kapada Aur Makaum. I just saw the latter last Sunday, and feel it needs a second viewing-though I absolutely loved it anyways!