Guns And Roses � Ek Junoon (1999)
Cast: Shaan, Meera, Javed Shaikh, Faisal, Resham, Farooq Zameer, Nayyar Ejaz, Babar Kashmiri, Tamanna
Director: Shaan
Synopsis: A passionately patriotic film attempting to expose the International Mafioso’s conspiracy to destroy Pakistan’s Haqeeqi Azadi.
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

Shaan’s father, Riaz Shahid, was known for his “patriotic” films as well as his emphasis on the supremacy of Islam. It was a common thread in most of his home productions, some of which were some of the best-constructed films in the history of Pakistani commercial cinema.

The politics may have been slanted, but the execution was admirable and a cut above most of his peers. Zerqa may have been his trump card and most famous effort, but it was a film that had nothing to do with Patriotism and remains his most resonant work.

Khamosh Raho remains one of Pakistan’s finest films to date. Riaz Shahid’s reputation as a towering figure of Pakistani cinema history was sealed due to his work, massive box office successes, and a fairy tale marriage with its famous trysts with authority.

Shaan has some mighty shoes to fill, and he gets stuck in with his first directorial effort Guns & Roses – Ek Junoon. A story about the war between the Roses and the Guns. (Nothing to do with the War of the Roses, which is an entirely different matter altogether).

The film starts with dramatic music borrowed from James Horner or Hans Zimmer. The setting is some murky corridor of power where those who control humanity’s destiny amuse themselves with a little bidding game. There appear to be small flags of various countries dangling from the side of a desk, and the man calling the tune is known as Mafioso by some and Mafiaso by most. He is the one conducting the game this evening. He announces that Bosnia, the subject of the previous game, has now been sold, and they will move on to the next nation to destroy.

The bidding has started, and a despicable stereotyped Indian Hindu official, snaps up Pakistan as the next nation to crush to oblivion. With untold glee, he now watches rapt in attention as Mafioso lays out the plan for the country’s destruction: bombs, Terror, Panic and fear. Brothers will become enemies, and sectarianism will splinter the Union into dozens of warring gangs. All this chaos to wreak destruction and to signal the end of the land known as Pakistan. Mafioso turns to the world’s most lethal mercenary, who is known for bringing down regimes of the world at will. His name is Israel. Shaan plays the role and serves as the director of this movie as well.

The film’s tone is set in the very opening scene when innocent young children looking for their lost ball near the border area stumble upon some mines and are blown to smithereens. Later we have another innocent girl who attends an item of “left luggage” at the airport, exploding similarly as the wave of the Mafioso-backed Israel runs amok with an unprecedented wave of terror.

The Pakistani intelligence calls on the brilliant officer Javed (Javed Sheikh), who collaborates with eccentric but talented bomb disposal and murder expert Mikael (Faisal Rehman). Javed lives with his niece, and when Mikael moves into the flat, there are romantic vibes from the offset. Later, when Mikael decides to propose to Resham, the girl of his dreams, Javed disapproves of the Union, informing Mikael that

Guns And Roses – Ek Junoon though he is a great guy and a wonderful human being, a wall separates them – a barrier that cannot be breached. They are from different faiths, and putting the two together would only spell disaster. Javed tells his friend Mikael that some lines are best not crossed.

Meera plays a woman devoted to Israel and determined to carry his child to provide his successor for future battles. Farooq Zameer, the all-controlling, all-powerful Mafioso, stands head and shoulders above the rest of the cast. He is cast in the role akin to a smooth, super-intelligent Bond Villain who is out to rule the world with his brutal iron fist. He has no morals; his objective is power and destroying nations that don’t tow his line.

This heavily symbolic and deeply political, and prophetic storyline has other elements representing other forces, both benign and evil. There is the heroic Pakistani Intelligence officer Javed, and then there is Mikael, who, despite being a great guy, happens to be a “kafir”, which is bound to cause problems. There is the vile caricature camped to the hilt by Nayyar Ejaz, and though his screen presence is undeniable, so is the offensiveness of the character he depicts. He reeks of the most offensive stereotype. His depiction is utterly hateful, even if Nayyar does what is asked of him quite expertly. His role is essentially to appear as repulsive as humanly possible. Many would argue that this kind of characterisation is a clap back for the line of equally hateful Bollywood films, spearheaded by Gaddar.

Actors such as Sunny Deol and Nana Patekar thrived in roles riding the crest of an ugly wave of nationalism that has seen India and Pakistan resemble mirror images of each other regarding the bristling hatred of minorities. Films like Gaddar and Guns & Roses are so regressive and poisonous to a largely uneducated audience with little knowledge or understanding of history.

Guns and Roses has a garbled nonsensical view of the world. The politics of the film starts with a quote, “Tear down the wall Mr. Gorbachev” and discusses Bosnia, The Fall of the Soviet Union and the targeting of Pakistan. The destruction of Pakistan is the aim of the Mafioso (United Nations) community (except that the United Nations has no army and no power at all in actuality), or it could be NATO or maybe just “The kafirs” and conspirators against Islam.

Since Pakistan is the self-appointed guardian of Islam on the planet, it is only natural for it to be the target of all international saazishes and evil conspiracies by the infidels.

Israel, the child born from miserable circumstances, has become a force of destruction. Still, with time and the devotion of his slightly demented woman, his motivations begin to shift, and the words of Javed increasingly make sense to him. The film is also typical of somewhat confused and misplaced politics.

There is much use of American Symbolism – Nike, Coke, Pepsi, and other famous Iconic American brands often feature in the backdrop, as do favourite American film posters (Speed, Jurassic Park and others) from the 1990s—also, a Superman tattoo on our hero’s arm. In reality, Nike, Ray bans, and Pepsi have become Pakistani symbols with time, with the National cricket team sponsored by Pepsi Co for decades. Some of Pakistan’s leaders have appeared in Adverts for Pepsi even while in office. Some could be Ray bans, Nike, Apple or Saville Row brand ambassadors. Many have been featured in Pepsi commercials regularly, yet the tone they adopt for public consumption is anti- West. The bottom line is if the jingoistic rhetoric gets the tickets sold or the votes coming in, it’s more than satisfactory.

Guns And Roses – Ek Junoon Sadly for Shaan, his magnum opus bombed at the box office. The primary reason is that it is grossly self-indulgent. From his posturing, his mimicking of Keanu Reeves and a whole succession of typically nasty stinkers from the era – Assassins is one title that springs to mind. With its heavy-handed political gibberish, the script had audiences falling asleep well before the movie’s halfway mark. The songs are a redemption with their MTV Asia-style presentation. The apparent use of women as sex objects and the narcissism shine during these particular song sequences. Some might stir from their slumber for the songs, but the political mumbo jumbo has alienated most viewers.

After the 35th scene of Shaan pretending to be a Hollywood action hero, nobody cares if the world explodes, if India and Pakistan kiss and make up or claw each other to death because they’ve already had enough. Lobotomised by sheer boredom. A dreadful film with a blinkered and paranoid sense of history and world affairs.