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Masala entertainers, made in the style of the '90s potboilers, are the favourite norm of both the filmmakers and audiences when it comes to Bollywood these days. And when you make such films, there are bound to be scenes that revel in its absurdity. We are still making films where a hero manages to punch 50 goons at a go, without a scratch on his body, and of course, without taking any Captain America serum. We still make films where heroes take up characters half their age, and then romance girls of even lesser age than that. We love to give the finger to every law of physics known to mankind, in our attempt to make a stunt look cool. And we also make jokes on sensitive topics like #MeToo, racism and rapes just because we can. 2019 has plenty such scenes in Bollywood. Year Ender 2019: Ranveer Singh in Gully Boy, Shahid Kapoor in Kabir Singh, Ayushmann Khurrana in Bala & More – 11 Best Male Performances of Bollywood in This Year.
So in this special year-ender feature, let's look at the 15 biggest WTF moments in some very popular films this year.
#1 The Nightmare Sequence (Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi)
Overall, Kangana Ranaut's (controversial) directorial debut is engaging and has a strong performance from the actress that tends to go overboard at times. Just like the movie itself.
Like this random scene in the film, where the British antagonist has a dream within a dream where Kangana's Rani Laxmibai takes the form of Goddess Kali and terrifies the wits out of him. It was such an absurd, unwanted scene that raises unintentional hilarity, just when things were looking grim.
#2 The Bad VFX (Kesari)
One of my favourite teasers of Akshay Kumar's historical war drama was the promo where an Indian soldier, engulfed in fire, faces a batch of Afghani invaders. It was quite a powerful scene.
Imagine my disappointment when the same scene was played in the film, but the impact is lost because of some very bad VFX. Considering that huge names like Akshay Kumar and Karan Johar were attached to Kesari, such silly technical flaws should have been worked out.
#3 The Bull-Fighting Sequence (Kalank)
Why, oh, why? Kalank was not only one of the most major disappointments of the year, but there were some really strange creative decisions in the film that were baffling. Like the inclusion of a bull-fighting sequence, that serves no purpose other than to show off Varun Dhawan's bare torso.
Trying to take a page out of a similar scene in Baahubali, Kalank, however, relies on sub-par VFX to create the bull, leading to a very absurd, hilarious sequence, which definitely wasn't the intention of the makers. Considering that in the very same year, Jallikattu, a small Malayalam film, made with a tiny fraction of Kalank's budget, could create a convincing bull out of CGI. Therefore Kalank's bull-sized travesty is definitely unacceptable! Kalank: Varun Dhawan’s Fight Scene With a Badly CGI-Ed Bull Leave Fans in Splits – Read Tweets.
#4 Will Smith's Cameo (Student of the Year 2)
Karan Johar, the producer, didn't have a great year in 2019. Student of the Year 2, the sequel to his 2012 film, was supposed to continue a needless franchise. However, Punit Malhotra's film wilts under its shamelessly lazy plot and relies way too much on Tiger Shroff's star-power to pull the movie through.
The movie is filled with many inane sequences, but none can match the absolutely brief appearance of Will Smith during the "The Jawaani Song". The Hollywood legend appears out of nowhere in the song, shakes a leg for two seconds, bows and then disappears! Many of audience members, who may not be well-versed about Hollywood much, would be clueless as to who this random person is, who came in and then scampered off out of nowhere!
#5 The Rakhi Scene (De De Pyaar De)
For a film that has been criticised for its sexist tones, De De Pyaar De took some really bold turns with its plot about an older man falling for a younger girl. One of the most controversial scenes in the film is when Ashish (Ajay Devgn) watches helplessly when his ex-wife Manju (Tabu) ties rakhi to him, just so that they can keep up the charade of making him her cousin (in front of their daughter's in-laws).
The scene, while played in a very light-hearted manner, didn't go down well with certain sections of the Indian audiences. Especially, later in the film, Ashish and Manju are shown to have sex.
#6 Mera Gujarat Jal Raha Hai (PM Narendra Modi)
The year 2019 has not only been a year for masala potboilers, but also for alleged propaganda films. And there is nothing bigger and more needless than the PM Narendra Modi biopic, that was directed by Omung Kumar. Made to appease the followers of the current Prime Minister of India, there were plenty of scenes in the film that would make even Modiji say, 'Kuch Jyada Nahi Hua?'
Like that scene, which was trolled even in the trailers. That scene depicting the 2002 Gujarat riots where Vivek Oberoi, looking nothing like Modi, looks around the burning carnage around him and laments, 'Mera Gujarat Jal Raha Hai!'. Considering that Narendra Modi was accused of turning his face the other way when the riots broke out and did little to control the bloodshed, this scenes reeks of shameless irony.
#7 The Jana Gana Mana Scene (Bharat)
Why do Bollywood films have to insert random scenes where they have to portray their sense of patriotism? Interestingly, in a movie titled Bharat, the makers couldn't find a single moment where they could have shown off nationalism seamlessly.
Instead, what we get is a scene where when Bharat (Salman Khan) and his fellow job aspirants argue with recruiters and then they suddenly start singing the national anthem to show their solidarity. They actually sing the whole song, putting the audience members in an awkward stance as to whether they should stand up as well or not. Many of them did, but pretty sure, it was more out of the fear of not being beaten by fellow patrons, rather than a sense of patriotism.
#8 Snorting Cocaine (Kabir Singh)
Kabir Singh was such a controversial mainstream film that we are pretty sure the debates around it would never die out soon. The movie, which is a remake of the Telugu hit Arjun Reddy, has many controversial moments that you rarely get to see in a film featuring an A-lister.
One of the most shocking moments is when Kabir (Shahid Kapoor), on the day of his disciplinary hearing, conks himself out with heavy drinking. To wake him up, his best friend makes him snort lines of cocaine, and guess what, the trick works! The way the whole scene is shot and the shock-factor in it will definitely leave you with your mouths open.
#9 The Fight in Metro Train (Mission Mangal)
Remember that famous scene in Chak De India, where the girls' hockey team take on a bunch of hooligans within the mall? Akshay Kumar's Mission Mangal attempts something similar, only this time, the scene feels so unwarranted and ridiculous.
First of all, the entire sequence happens because Akshay's character was behaving in a drunken manner and he was troubling a couple of (yes, rude) commuters. But there wasn't any need for the women in his team to beat the shit out of those men. In an otherwise entertaining and lovely film, this scene feels like a rough patch.
#10 Get in Line (War)
If you have watched this entertaining, OTT, and stylish action thriller from YRF, you would perhaps have noticed the mild homoerotic feels between Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff's characters. While the makers may not have explicitly put it out in open, they leave you in doubt if Tiger's Khalid is secretly in love with Hrithik's Kabir.
This feels more evident in the scene where one of Kabir's former proteges, played by Anupriya Goenka, jokingly tells Kabir that she is ready to elope with him if he says 'yes'. To which, Khalid jibes, 'Get in line!'. Okay, now what was that all about?
#11 Main Abla Hoon...Tabla Nahi... (Housefull 4)
Housefull 4's production has been dodged with many controversies, the biggest being sacking of Nana Patekar and Sajid Khan after #MeToo allegations against them surfaced. So was there a need for the film, filled with already dumb gags, to have a scene that ridicules the #MeToo movement?
The scene in question happens during the period portions of the film, where a princess (Kriti Kharbanda) falsely accuses her bodyguard (Bobby Deol) of raping her after getting drunk. Just so that she can get him to marry her. What's worse than this emotional manipulation played for laughs, is her line that sums up her fake experience, "Main abla hoon...tabla nahi"!
#12 Netflixed (Drive)
A couple of years back, Drive was launched with much fanfare. It had two good-looking leads in Sushant Singh Rajput, Jacqueline Fernandez, a prolific producer in Karan Johar and Tarun Mansukhani returning as director after 2008's Dostana. There were claims that it would start a franchise.
Two years later, Drive was unceremoniously dumped on Netflix. Sushant didn't even bother to promote the film. The viewers were baffled by the dumbness of the heist thriller, the poor post-production values and the bad VFX. Netflix also received major flak for allowing itself to be dumping ground for Bollywood producers to get rid off their inferior products.
#13 Rakul Preet's Special Appearance (Marjaavaan)
The less said about how silly Marjaavaan is as a film, the better. After all, this is a film where Sidharth Malhotra holds two trucks together with his bare hands a la Sunny Deol. This is a film where every character suffers from 'rhyming-itis', i.e. the ailment of speaking only in rhymes. Oh, there are so many to speak!
Strangely, the most WTF aspect of the film is billing Rakul Preet's role in the film as 'Special Appearance'. This, despite the fact that she was a way bigger role than the female lead, Tara Sutaria!
#14 Forced Jingoism (Pagalpanti)
John Abraham is becoming worse than Akshay Kumar when it comes to showing nationalism in films. At least, Akshay avoided doing any such stunts in Housefull 4 and Good Newwz. Alas, we cannot say the same about Pagalpanti, the madcap comedy that featured John Abraham. Pagalpanti: From PNB Crisis to Donald Trump, 11 WTF Moments in Anil Kapoor, John Abraham, Ileana D’Cruz’s Film That Will Make You Scratch Your Head (SPOILER ALERT).
Before the OTT climax, Pagalpanti drops its comic tone to suddenly have the leads sermonise on how the villain, that is inspired by real-life fugitive Nirav Modi, had left India bankrupt with his money laundering. Then they all suddenly start to sing the song "Ae Watan Tere Liye" from Karma. In a film that has two CGI lions feel clearly photoshopped in an elongated scene, this is the most ridiculous of them all!
#15 Saiee and Salman Khan's Creepy Pairing (Dabangg 3)
Before the movie came out, the awkward pairing of a 50-plus Salman Khan and a barely out-of-teens Saiee M Manjrekar was already the talk of the town. This was made even more awkward by the fact that while Saiee does fit in the age bracket of her character in the movie, Salman looks like a 40 year old man in the prequel portions.
And now after the pictures of Saiee's birthday celebrations came out, it was revealed that she had just turned 18! This makes Dabangg 3 even more problematic since there are scenes in the film where Kichcha Sudeep's character looks at her in a perverse manner. Instead of relying on his expressions, the movie uses suggestive camera angles on her body parts to convey that! Since the movie was shot before her 18th birthday, the Dabangg3 team looks like jerks for sexualising a girl of barely legal age!
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 26, 2019 08:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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