23. Amazon Obhijaan; movie review
Cert 12A
137 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, occasional gory images
The weekend of wackiness began at Cineworld Feltham and a forest full of questions were posed by Kamaleswar Mukherjee's Amazon Obhijaan.
Would the audience have expected a Bengali film because that is what was advertised? In fact, the movie is predominantly English, with dabs of Bengali and there is even a bit of Italian chucked in.
Secondly, why would anyone take a small child (there were plenty in the audience) to watch a movie during which there are monster attacks which would give them nightmares?
Thirdly, why is spoken English so poorly represented in Indian cinema? It is as if studio chiefs could never have heard it spoken.
Fourthly, isn't it about time Indian cinema improved its special effects? During Amazon Obhijaan they look as if they have been created by fourth graders who are in their first term of computer studies.
Anyway, Mukherjee's film sees fictional Bengali explorer Sankar Choudhury (Dev) be approached by the daughter (Svetlana Gulakova) of an Italian adventurer (David James) two years after the latter's failed expedition to the Amazon.
She persuades him to leave his mother in an Indian village and traipse to the Amazon in search of the fabled city of El Dorado.
Inevitably, the route is beset with peril and, aside of the wild animals, there are aggressive tribes, fast-flowing rivers and the potential of starvation.
To be fair, Dev makes a fair first of being a tough-as-nails explorer with an environmental conscience. However, the roles of his co-stars are ludicrous.
For starters, Gulakova's character seems to have a never-ending wardrobe and yet is seen climbing a rock face without any bags (they suddenly reappear moments later).
Meanwhile, her drunken father is an amalgam of a dozen cliches - initially, distrusting his new companion and within minutes treating him like a son.
In some ways, Amazon Obhijaan is very ambitious - its Brazilian backdrop, for example, is stunning - but it changes from scene to scene so quickly that its makers fail to concentrate on the detail which could have made the end product so much better.
Reasons to watch: Dev is a worthwhile hero
Reasons to avoid: its dialogue and special effects are lamentable
Laughs: a couple of chuckles
Jumps: two
Vomit: yes
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 4.5/10
The big question - why is the English spoken by white actors in Indian movies so stilted?
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