Jungle (2000)
Starring: Starring Sunil Shetty, Urmila, Fardeen Khan
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Music: Sandeep Chowta
Synopsis: An uneasy blend of romance and thriller soon turns from excitement to utter tedium
Reviewed by: Faiz Khan

 

 

Jungle sits rather uneasily between an action thriller and a tale of love and obsession. Loosely inspired by the exploits of the notorious forest bandit Veerappan, Ram Gopal Verma's film begins as a straightforward romance before gradually transforming into a violent survival drama.

Sidhu (Fardeen Khan), a middle-class college dropout, is deeply in love with the wealthy Anu (Urmila Matondkar). Unfortunately, Anu's father has very different plans for his daughter and intends marrying her to the son of a rich industrialist, blissfully unaware of her relationship with Sidhu.

While holidaying at a jungle resort, Anu repeatedly tries to break the news to her father but never quite finds the right moment. Sidhu, meanwhile, secretly arrives at the same resort under an assumed name, allowing the young lovers to steal a few precious moments together.

Running parallel to this romance is the story of the Indian security forces attempting to capture the dreaded dacoit Durga and his gang, who have made the jungle their home.

After one of Durga's men is captured, the gang retaliates by hijacking a tourist bus and taking its passengers hostage. Their demand is simple: release the prisoner or one hostage dies each day.

To prove they mean business, they brutally behead one of the captives.

The authorities have little choice but to comply.

Most of the hostages are eventually released, but Anu is kept behind. Officially, Durga claims he is safeguarding himself against police treachery. In reality, it quickly becomes obvious that he has developed an unhealthy obsession with her.

Sidhu refuses to abandon the woman he loves. Assisted by a local jungle guide, he tracks down Durga's hideout and manages to reunite with Anu, only for both of them to find themselves fleeing through the dense forests with the dacoits in pursuit and the police not far behind.

The film begins promisingly enough. The romance between Sidhu and Anu is engaging, and Fardeen Khan and Urmila Matondkar generate enough chemistry to hold the audience's attention.

The problems begin with Durga.

A feared outlaw responsible for countless atrocities suddenly becoming consumed by romantic obsession never quite rings true. Verma clearly intends this to be a tale of destructive obsession—almost a variation on Junoon—but the idea simply fails to convince. Unfortunately, this obsession is the engine driving the entire second half of the film, and once that central premise fails, much of the suspense evaporates with it.

What follows is little more than an extended chase through the jungle.

Tigers, snakes, crocodiles and assorted wildlife appear at regular intervals, but one never seriously doubts that the lovers will somehow survive. Instead of generating suspense, the film gradually slips into monotony.

Ironically, the jungle itself becomes one of the film's most interesting characters. Verma clearly wants the dense forests to feel oppressive and threatening, yet despite the impressive locations they never quite achieve the sense of menace required.

Ram Gopal Verma has always been a director blessed with fascinating ideas.

Execution, however, has often proved another matter.

Daud attempted an offbeat caper and misfired almost completely. Mast tried to recapture the spirit of the great romantic musicals of the 1950s but ended up surprisingly lifeless. Jungle suffers from a similar problem. At heart it is simply a love story set against a violent backdrop, and had Verma devoted more attention to developing the romance while resisting the temptation to have Durga fall hopelessly in love with Anu, the film would probably have emerged considerably stronger.

Verma has often remarked that he cannot make straightforward love stories like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

Perhaps Jungle demonstrates exactly why.

Performance-wise, Suniel Shetty makes a solid impression in a comparatively brief but important role, while Urmila Matondkar once again looks radiant and gives a committed performance. At times, however, one becomes a little too conscious of the effort she is putting into every scene. The natural spontaneity that marked some of her earlier performances seems to have diminished.

The biggest surprise is Fardeen Khan.

Following the disastrous Prem Aggan, this represented a considerable improvement. He underplays the role with confidence, giving Sidhu a quiet charm and vulnerability rarely seen in the conventional Bollywood hero. This is not the usual swaggering action star threatening to blow everybody's brains out but an ordinary young man reacting to extraordinary circumstances.

Kashmera Shah also deserves mention. Better known at the time for glamorous supporting roles, she delivers one of the pleasant surprises of the film and demonstrates considerably more ability than many had perhaps given her credit for.

The music is generally pleasing, although most of the songs interrupt rather than enhance the narrative. Only the opening number feels completely at home within the story. Even the popular "Do Pyar Karne Wale Jungle Mein" appears at a rather awkward moment. Two attractive songs were reportedly removed altogether—a decision which was probably in the film's best interests.

One small continuity lapse also stood out rather amusingly. Urmila is seen wearing white trainers in one sequence before mysteriously reverting to sandals in the very next scene, despite still being deep inside the jungle. A curious oversight from a director normally so meticulous about visual detail.

Commercially, Jungle may struggle. The violence is unusually brutal by mainstream Hindi standards and fully deserving of its Adults Only certificate. This is not stylised comic-book violence but harsh, uncompromising brutality.

Whether audiences embrace the film or not remains to be seen.

One thing, however, is certain.

Fardeen Khan emerges from Jungle looking considerably more promising than he did after Prem Aggan.