Taal (1999)

ताल

In the bestiary of rich-poor romances, Taal  ("rhythm") is a lackluster specimen.  Laden with cliches, sodden with obnoxious product placement, and burdened by a bland heroine and a pompous hero, Taal's only distinguishing features are a zany performance by Anil Kapoor and a soundtrack by A.R. Rahman that far outshines the forgettable film it supports. 

Manav Mehta (Akshaye Khanna) arrives in a Himalayan hill town from his education abroad, joining his family of industrial titans - including his formidable father Jagmohan (Amrish Puri) - for a vacation.   There, he meets Mansi (Aishwarya Rai), the poised daughter of a singer named Tarababu (Alok Nath).  Manav is instantly smitten and successfully woos Mansi, promising her that he will overcome the inevitable resistance of their families to their pairing.  After the Mehtas retreat to their massive palace in Bombay, Tarababu and Mansi make a visit to the city to discuss the possibility of a relation.  A standard-issue poor-but-noble versus rich-and-snooty culture clash ensues (helped along by some of Manav's smarmier relations), and Manav and Mansi renounce one another, each feeling that the other's family has given insult. 

Instead of returning to their village, though, Tarababu and Mansi fall in with a famous producer-performer-composer named Vikrant (Anil Kapoor), who wants to give modern arrangements to Tarababu's songs and make a singing-dancing-modeling star out of Mansi, which he does, practically overnight.  Mansi, still smarting from her broken relationship with Manav, adapts well to her new, successful life, until a marriage proposal from Vikrant forces her to face the possibility that her first love is lost to her forever.  But a contrite Manav pledges that Mansi, Jagmohan, and even Vikrant will come to bow to the power of his love - that Mansi will return to him and the others willingly give their blessing.

There is a strain in recent Hindi films of movies whose characters are singing stars - not merely musicians, but giant superstars - providing a justification for breaking out into elaborate production numbers, but offering nothing of import to the story.  This strikes me as defensive, an answer to perceived criticism (from westerners, perhaps) that songs come randomly from nowhere in Hindi films.  "Look," these films seem to say, "the character is a singing star - now the songs aren't coming out of nowhere!"  Particularly egregious examples that leap to mind include Dil to pagal hai and Hum tumhare hain sanam, but even better movies like Tehzeeb have submitted.

Taal suffers terribly under the weight of this needless conceit.  Mansi rockets overnight from a simple village girl to an international MTV sensation with legions of screaming fans.  This transformation would induce whiplash in a normal young woman, and would certainly have wrought some changes in Mansi's character or behavior in a well-written film in which her status as a musician was of any significance.  In Taal, though, there no perceptible response to Mansi's drastic change in circumstances.  Mansi's instantaneous stardom added nothing to the story apart from a platform for an army of backup dancers in flaming spandex bodysuits. 

The production numbers were entertaining enough, but a good film can stand on the strength of its narrative and be enhanced by such storytelling traditions as musical scenes, without need of distracting and convoluted explanations for the songs.  Unfortunately, Taal is not that film.  The conflict generated by Manav's slimy relatives and Mansi's simple, proud father is beyond eye-rolling, an embarrassing slop of rehashed and recycled parts.  The romance in the film's first hour is mildly charming, but Manav's arrogance quickly grows tiresome.  Akshaye Khanna, with his crooked smile and soulful eyes, is better used as vulnerable and confused young men like Dil chahta hai's Sid; here, as cocky as a Shah-Rukh-Khanish dandy, he is perhaps even less charming than Shah Rukh Khan himself, and uninteresting as a hero; what use is a character with absolutely no doubts about himself?  Aishwarya Rai adds little to the mix either, but then, she's given little to work with; whatever potential her story has is squandered in service of a cheap plot device.

The only interesting element in the film is the spastic Vikrant, and even interesting doesn't necessarily mean good.  Anil Kapoor has his moments, but these are equal in number to the moments that too far over-the-top or that simply make no sense.  Taal is fortunate to have a top-notch, pulsing soundtrack by A.R. Rahman which saves the film from utter uselessness.  The soundtrack is helped along by some creative (if over-spandexed) picturizations, especially the first rendition of "Ishq bina", which is thrilling and acrobatic before it unfortunately turns into an ill-placed Coca-Cola advertisement three quarters of the way through. 

Comments

[akshay shah]

Nice review here Filmigeek! didn't like TAAL much at all with the exception of Rehman's surreal music and ofcourse the gorgeous Miss Rai:).

Ghai lost his "midas touch" a long time ago. PARDES was the last claim of the "showman" as such and his last well made film too. TAAL was just too long, and didn't offer anything new. The otherwise brilliant Khanna was pretty flat here too. I have a great weakness for Anil Kapoor in these "massy" supporting roles from this one to BIWI NO.1, and I liked Anil's eccentric Vikrant act quiet a bit..

BTW Saw GANDHI MY FATHER the other day, would love to hear your thoughts on that one...

Keep up the good work,

A.Shah

[maxqnz]

Thanks for the excellent public service as always, carlaji. Your review made me smile, and given our very similar tastes reinforced my decision not to watch it. Not being a huge fan of Anil "Caesar" Kapoor, this medically diagnosed spastic is not sure he likes the company he's apparently keeping. ;-)

[Maru]

I saw Taal a long time ago but I do recall my lack of enthusiam for the film equalled yours :). A.R. Rahman's fantastic score is only thing that has stood the test of time.

"as a Shah-Rukh-Khanish dandy, he is even less convincing than Shah Rukh Khan himself..." That comment caught my attention --- harsh, filmigeek! I agree that Akshaye's self righteous and bland hero was less than interesting but at least he does not ham (or at least not much!) and stays away from the quivering lips and voice and the excessive head shakes :) . I'm not the greatest Akshaye fan, but as you can probably tell SRK is a often a whipping boy :P

[carla]

Maru: SRK a whipping boy! Would only that it were so in my world. In the tiny world of American, non-desi fans of Hindi film, I find myself frequently the lone voice of "What on earth is so appealing about that smarmbucket?" But I think my point got lost in service of my overwrought attempt at a clever turn of phrase. I didn't mean that Akshaye was SRK-ish in lip-quivering hamminess; rather that the character's "you know you want me" arrogance was the type that SRK's most obnoxious (but apparently, to others, swoon-worthy) characters often display. I found it a boring role on Akshaye, who has proven himself a subtle actor capable of much more interesting, and much more human, characterization.

On reflection, though, your comment helped me conclude that "charming" is a better word than "convincing" to convey what I meant, and I have edited the original accordingly.

maxqnz: apologies for the less-than-scientific use of the term. :)

Akshay: Thanks. Aishwarya leaves me cold; can't always say why. She was at her best in *Taal* only when dancing.

[Maajhi]

Haha! Carlaji! You have outdone yourself. I'm tempted to recommend some movies you can meticulously take apart instead of ones you'll like, because the former reviewed by you are entertaining reads too. "skyrocketing to fame inducing whiplash in a normal young woman" lol. Really, where do you come up with such exquisite imagery? Brilliantly crafted, excellent wordsmithy! Enjoying your reviews more than ever. It's been too long a hiatus. Keep 'em comin.

[maajhi]

"Mansi's instantaneous stardom added nothing to the story apart from a platform for an army of backup dancers in flaming spandex bodysuits. " Another line among many that I'm lol'ing at.

[carla]

Maajhi, thanks very much. I do enjoy writing about films I dislike! Perhaps that's why so many professional film critics seem to hate everything. I saw another film last weekend that I *loved* and I am finding it much more difficult to write about than *Taal* was.

[Sunny]

Hey Carla,

Nice review :)

I thought Taal was a pathetic film...and that's the reason I never went out to buy it for my collection. The music was the only good thing about it and I still fail to understand why this film was a success in the UK...perhaps it had more to do with Rai's new acclaimed status at the time of numero one heroine with the hit status of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam?

I always remember the extremely messy ending...what was supposed to be the wedding of Kapoor and Rai turned out to look like a carnival?

Actually, I think the only portions that stick out in my mind is when Mansi pulls the necklace and it shatters into pieces and the subsequent portion when she is sitting with her father and they witness the "western" version of Taal Se Taal...

Apart from that, a mundane sorry excuse for a story...it always annoys me when beautiful songs are wasted in pitiful films!

[Maru]

Carla, whether you're a desi (like me) or not the club that is baffled by SRK's appeal is a small one and therefore it is a delight to find a kindred spirit - at least wrt to SRK non-love :)

I seem to have abandoned the topic at hand altogether --- not such a bad thing perhaps given that Taal has few takers here. I'm curious - what is this movie that you loved that you are having trouble critiquing?

[maxqnz]

"Carla, whether you're a desi (like me) or not the club that is baffled by SRK's appeal is a small one and therefore it is a delight to find a kindred spirit - at least wrt to SRK non-love :)"

Aap akela(i?) nahin hain! :)

[maajhi]

maxqnz, it's "aap *akele* nahin hain" not "aap akela nahin hain" :). Forgive me, I'm anal, and English is already forbidden correction territory where you're concerned, so I take what I can get ;).

[maxqnz]

Maajhi, please NEVER feel the need to apologise for correcting me, in any language. I actually realised as soon as I posted that I'd goofed, but knew that correction would be forthcoming. I thrive on it, and look forward to it, even when its an error in that bastard (distant) cousin of Hindi which is my mother tongue. :)

[Maru]

maxqnz, shukar hai ki aur bhi log hain jo SRK ko dil aur jaan se nahin chahte! i'm so glad that i'm not 'akeli' on this one!

maajhi, feel free to correct me too as necessary :)

[maajhi]

Saw a fantastic movie called "Children of Heaven" today. If you all get a chance, watch it. It's simple, but very moving. It's in Parsi, with English subtitles.

[yves]

Hi Carla,
Yes, utterly right with Taal... I enjoyed your comment about Akshaye's soulful eyes and Vikrant being "spastic"! And true enough, only the film's sangeet made the difference for me... Unless of course, but that's where you wouldn't necessarily see the interest (you say she "adds little to the mix"), there is Ash's amazing youthful face too in Taal!
all the best
yves

[carla]

Yes, Aishwarya really does nothing for me. I suppose she's beautiful (though I don't always think so) but even if she is it's a kind of beauty that leaves me completely cold; I don't respond to her at all.

[Vee]

Frankly, I haven't liked a single Subhash Ghai movie after Karma. Not sure if I will like that anymore either, was a kid when I watched it.

[Amity]

Well written article.