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A Hindi flick!

In the aftermath of the Rajkumar kidnapping and the subsequent month-long shutdown of cinema halls in Bangalore, it was nice to see new movies finally being released here.

I plumped for Gladiator. Which is how, a few days ago, I found myself at Plaza, the dilapidated shed that passes off as a cinema theatre on M G Road. I even paid a parking assistant to squeeze my vehicle into a space originally meant for a cycle. And raced to the ticket window, just in time to get the last tickets in the "rare" (which is how rear is pronounced by our ticket windowwallahs) stall before the touts took over the distribution.

Found myself seated in the fourth row (from the screen, of course) and waited with bated breath for the movie to start... so that the air conditioners would come on. It was only later that I realised the air was already being conditioned -- a pathetic attempt by a FEW fans, strategically hidden in a FEW locations around that hall! It was just one of the reasons for my joy when the movie finally ended -- I could now escape into the cool, fresh air!

Talking of the movie, why did it remind me of an old Bollywood flick?

Let's examine the story. The hero (Russell Crowe) is a faithful servant of the emperor, who wants the hero to succeed him and make Rome a republic. But the emperor's villainous son, though, will have none of it and murders his dad. He tries to get our hero killed as well, but the latter escapes by the skin of his teeth. His family, though, is murdered and he is made a slave.

Now, in those days, some of the slaves ended up fighting for their lives -- literally -- in huge arenas against similarly fated people or animals. Our hero is now The Spaniard, a gladiator who always wins. He reaches Rome, now ruled by the villain, who considers the Senate a pain and is generally uninterested in the welfare of his people. But he believes gladiator fights are a good way of distracting people from the harsh realities of life.

When The Spaniard destroys the much vaunted favourites, the villain rushes to congratulate him -- only to discover his true identity. Thus follow a few more attempts to liquidate the hero. Finally, hero and villain confront each other in the Colosseum. The winner -- you guys have one guess as to who it is!!! -- is decided once and for all.

In the midst of it, we have the villain's sister disagreeing with her brother but supporting him nonetheless, if only to protect her son who is the heir to the throne.

The movie is, by turns, sentimental, melodramatic and brutally violent. The settings are lavish, the photography grand. All in all, enjoyable fare but not in the class of The Mask Of Zorro.

Also read the Rediff review...
Fighting fit