Sankat City: Pay-off Master
Befitting the preposterously loony & delightful characters he’s unleashed upon us, Pankaj Advani walked into the cinema-hall Friday night, veiled in a, yes, Burqa. Not surprisingly, the self-aggrandizing ploy didn’t work, at all; as the only straight-faced soul in a hall-full of hysterical communal film savouring, the maker of the film, playing the voyeur that his true calling indirectly is, was a dead give-away.
It is to Pankaj’s credit that we have a true-blue genre Picchur (in this case, Revisionist Noir, I proffer), completely with re-imagined characters and a setting evoked with unusual realism.
For me, personally, Sankat City has been a difficult viewing experience, in its playing-out, and, the consequence, and on both the occasions.
A lil’ explaining – first time around on Sankat night July 8th, I was busy trippin’ on a space, in my mind, the film occupies & operates from. I got over-enthusiastic to the point of taking great pleasure in spotting genre conventions that Pankaj relentlessly kept heaping on me, to the extent that I was scared for him if he can really keep-up with all the brandishing. Inadvertently, am sure I annoyed my neighbours in the cinema aplenty, a drunk fuck behaving like he’s already watched the film (which I hadn’t) & playing spoiler (répetition: inadvertent).
My 2nd viewing was kinda spoilt by the presence of the director couple of seats away from me – damn, why don’t people get it, that I want to deal with the screen by myself, like EXCLUSIVELY, not having to bother with the judgments that comes with boisterous appreciation of a work of art.
The space am talking about are that of a most graceful policier, Claude Sautet’s Max et Les Férrailleurs [1971], and that of a prized possession of mine which happens to be an Interactive Video of a Raymond Chandler novel called The Little Sister.
The former is about a Police Detective (Michel Piccoli) going undercover into the ‘belly of a gang of car thieves/scrap-dealers to lure them into robbing a bank, so he could catch ‘em in the act.
The latter is the only toy I grew up with, a perverse pleasure in a video-gamization of a master’s poorest-written novel, and maan, you should play the book, ‘coz the game is practically a training school in the celebratory bread-breaking in the conventions of our this beloved genre. Owing to the Video’s interactive nature, I have never, like really NEVER EVER, reached its end, in effect having never read the novel, ‘coz there’re numerous ways to ride the ride, relishing its enchantment in what initially sounds like a pastiche of cheesy one-liners, but soon-enough confirms the wisdom of evolution & taste.
Sankat City, whose plot I refuse to dwell here on a hyperlinked PFC, made me want the film to never end, simply because the film’s team was walking the tightrope very deftly, with the confidence of allowing its purveyors the luxury to return to the Home Page, so to speak, whenever they tired of an (non-existent) exhaustion.
Kay Kay Menon’s and Anupam Kher’s posts had upped my expectations of the Long Takes in the film. I like my Long Takes to play like Long Takes, which for some inexplicable reason Sankat City’s numerous ones didn’t for me.
Nor could I fathom why Kay Kay’s Guru was called Guru, of all names, when the rest of thems in the film were so very colorfully designated, more so since Kay Kay was made to play-it so very un-Guru-straight-like, but did play goofy more like the colored ones. I also do have a quaint preference for a non-broad-like play a broad-like femme fatale, and vice-versa etc.
Curiously, I found myself (my neighbor’s fault totally) walking out of the film’s End Credits, and also overheard few other audience members, having thoroughly enjoyed Sankat City while, inadvertently again, humming Kaminey’s scorcher Dhan Te Nan. I suspect the same to have transpired while entering the hall too. what I did though is go find the first bar out of the cinema, get back home, play Ghoom Ghoom loopwise. Intoxicicatory!
I would’ve also, for whatever loserly reasons, liked some melancholy, grim worldview of noir, but Sankat City refuses any. But again, it’s Pankaj’s film. And don’t we want more of thems!!
Am most thrilled with the film, when looking back, that though the writing must’ve been structured in a requisite 3 act nature (that a couple of our film critics oft use as a ‘problematic 2nd act’ stick), the film plays-out, in its first half, as a very charmingly elaborate unfolding of the events (Set-up, if you will), and in the second, as a wickedly-smart paying-off of every single damn thing that ever came-up in the first half. One must’ve really had a hard time with the Repo Man, to have honed Paying-off skills to such effortless heights. Brilliant!
I say this ‘coz if we were to look at all the blockbuster fucks in Bollywood, the only solitary chose they get right are the pay-offs, however sloppy, amateurish, shameless, non-existent soul selling-out, plain whoring, but they do the paying-off, come what may, you & I notwithstanding, celebrated by the film’s audience, like, wholeheartedly.
p.s.
my Pvt Eye. Exe CD had adorable utterances asking me such beautiful existential questions as “Where to next, Bud?”, and allowed me to choose wherever the fuck I wanted to venture, based on my own perception of self-worth.
Dear dear Kamal Swarup, whose Om Dar-B-Dar is THE greatest Indian film ever made, generously taught me about something called one’s perception of their inherent intelligence, and what its allowances consequate into, and more crucially their lack-ofs.
Pankaj seems to have tirelessly answered all those “Where to Bud?” questions to destinate into a sweet sweet spot he’s carved for himself in our hemisphere, a place called Sankat City.
Thanks Pankaj, for a wonderful experience at the cinemas. As a thank you note, I’ve taken a Shanghai Nights-like subversive dig aimed at you, whence opening this piece.
Great going Bro, keep ‘em on, and of course, keep ‘em cumming.
p.s. 02.
Strangely, Sankat City plays much better when viewed sober. Take my word, I should know.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Thani – you wrote
‘One must’ve really had a hard time with the Repo Man, to have honed Paying-off skills to such effortless heights. Brilliant!’
I take this one line as your take on the movie as a whole – Pretty great line this!!!
Pankaj’s a dangerous man, i lurve him..
thanks VP.. have you watched the film?
nope – I dont have any reasonable hope of seeing it soon.
I am in a time lag – it takes atleast 2 – 3 months before I can legally watch new releases. I hope that the movie does well and that could mean even longer gap for me..
There are comparisons abound with Kamal’s Mumbai Express and this one – Did you find anythig similar?
ah, very different comparisons, kamal & Pankaj, both superb, you have a point.. kamal’s boldest venture..
one bastard i grew-up on (like some 170 out of 200+ films), the other am taking to.. i wish i could use some Hindi expletives :-)
Typing for the first time on this new interface. I thought I’ll chose my first few words on a post I love….here it is.
Fucker now get on to your ‘Spy Games’ soon. We must do a Bombay – Pune in the monsoon one of these days
Oh this new lay is kick ass!!
Partner Vasan, I love you too much to have been not rescued on Sankat Night..
Let’s do Bombay-Pune-Jaipur-Ranchi-Tiruchi-Bangalore-Madras-Ratnagiri.. We love the boss, eh..
but where’s Pankaj.. :-)
Aah..good to see your post after a long time Thani.
Payoff master is a VERY fitting tag. I wholeheartedly endorse it, having just watched the film and laughing my arse off
This has to be the *best* review of Sankat City. And I have read them all, not only on PFC. It is a pity that you don’t write often here.
P.S : Keep them coming Thani partner! LOL!
Wow wow wow! Loved the article… (I am) Coming to PFC after a looooong time and man did I like it! Also, hate to sing these eulogies but suffice it to say that I’d try to catch the movie as soon as I can.
And >>whose Om Dar-B-Dar is THE greatest Indian film ever made<<
Seriously!? I gave it a shot (on a VERY bad print, must say) and man did I get bored/indifferent/disconnected. Have heard this so much that it almost makes me feel I must've seen someother movie (not that my track record with 'great' movies is very good, but still…)
Shaanpatti review. Using big words and using names of films no one has seen.
‘Strangely, Sankat City plays much better when viewed sober. ‘
What about writing reviews?
;-)
trademark Uh, you do have a point, but am not going to test it out writing another review, really.
am watching Sankat City again though :-)
u really are one of the finest writer on PFC…
Main Bhi Kavita Kar Sakta Hoon Thani
Sankat Parde Par, Pahaad Ke Peeche, Nadiya Par
Sankat Samandar Par, Jahaaj Ki Jandhliyo Jaise..Langotiyaan…
LOL
‘one’s perception of their inherent intelligence’…its always an overestimate, like above poem and its narrator….you can call it ambition, wishful thinking or whatever…
I dont know if this can be called just a review…fucking good read….
I like Vinays term ‘Shanpatti’ review…LOL…Vinay ji its a good opportunity for you to start watching those unheard of films…
I have a friend in Benaras who watches almost all Hindi movies. We keep talking about upcoming movies. When I mentioned Sankat City to him, he had no clue about it. I guess Benaras is not a small town. How come there has been no publicity of the film in that area?
Here are some interesting thoughts on the film by my friend Jai Arjun Singh:
http://jaiarjun.blogspot.com/2009/07/notes-on-sankat-city.html
thani seth, you sure have a way with words, or is it the gift of gab?! bada achcha likhte ho, though i must confess, kuchh cheezein bouncer gayeen mere sar ke ooper se. So,did you manage to catch the film one more time?!
Pankaj City, gab gab gab.. source of all problems.. :-)
3rd time, not yet. should i wait to be sure you’re not in bombay when i do?