Jungle Review

Ever since childhood, the thing that most city dwellers fantasize about is the jungle, what with the "me Tarzan, you Jane" dialogues and the safely etched out treks they freak out on. But imagine the terror of a "woman cub" lost in a pathless jungle with no Bagheera to help her out. That primal terror which haunts our worst nightmares is captured effectively in Ram Gopal Verma's latest film Jungle.

The film apparently deals with operation "hostage release". The militant outfit that holds the heroine hostage sure is a take off on Veerappan's. Anu (Urmila Matondkar), moreover, catches the fancy of this one more recent reincarnation of Gabbar, and is lost all alone in the midst of dakus who are much worse than the jungle itself. Life is a real nightmare till help comes, though eternally deferred, in the form of Siddhu (Fardeen Khan), her lover boy.

Ram Gopal Verma manages to depict her travails through an effective narration, which has the right mix of suspense and drama. In fact, his efficient direction, ably helped by Vijay Arora's superb cinematography and Chandan Arora's effective editing, make you sit glued to the chair till the end.

The plot has more twists and surprises than the maze of the jungle itself. Anu is madly in love with Siddhu, though her papa would like her to marry his choice. She is sure, however, that far away in the "tiger sanctuary" where the family is to go for a holiday, she would be able to convince her papa. Siddhu lands up there, making it a real romance till it is suddenly hijacked by the "sandal wood smuggler" whom no police can catch.

The party that has gone to locate the real beast in the jungle falls prey to the beast that rules the jungle. In return for one of their men caught by the police, the hostages are released, except Anu whom the smuggler rather fancies. Despite warnings from the commando chief (Sunil Shetty in his by now favorite role) and a friendly Dorai, Siddhu is right there in the midst of the jungle, by the side of his ladylove. Does he manage to rescue her? What happens to the honest commando officer? And who is the deadlier beast, the tiger that chases them or the lustful daku, Durga? Watch Ram Gopal Verma's Jungle, which is sure to provide a thrill a minute.

His entire cast has put in creditable performances. Technically, too, the film is a marvel. The camera pans, tilts, moves in and out to capture the mystery and wonder of the lush jungle. At times, the run (I'm sure he doesn't like the word anymore) for life is as vividly portrayed as Kurosawa's Rashoman. The cinematography is that superb. The editing, too, is real textbook editing which brings to life the beauty of the jungle.

The beastly aspect of this beauty (-fool?), however, is the trivialization of the entire issue. Verma portrays Veerappan as yet another Gabbar. In fact, the tribal dance that the whole outfit erupts into when their man is to be released is like a cabaret from any trashy film. Hence, their vicious cruelty is made easy to consume, which mocks this problem which has been gobbling up the life of any number of hostages, commandos and nation-states. Ask Naxalite victims in Andhra, for example.

In other words, Verma's glossy, slick treatment of a serious issue shows how mass media can make any and every problem an easy fantasy, so much so that Fardeen Khan's handsome, innocent face mocks the genuine attempts of an entire commando force. Thus are beasts rendered beautiful!