Mard

Oh well, Mard is really an unintentional comedy, that's how I used to watch it, and that's what made me want to watch it to begin with back when I was a kid. A middle-aged Amitabh Bachchan plays a young brutal man, which was the greatest symbol of manliness. Mard is in many ways a quintessential Hindi masala potboiler of the 1980s - exaggerated action, many songs, some (often lame) attempts at comedy, heroes, villains, and basically more caricatures than actual human characters, tons of stereotypes, bad dialogues, and absolutely implausible, ridiculous situations. Some of these basically border on the absurd.

I often wonder why someone of the stature and talent of Amitabh Bachchan never used his star power to promote better, more quality work. After all viewers would see him in anything. It's particularly surprising considering how much good work he did the previous decade - from Hrishikesh Mukherjee to Yash Chopra, from Saudagar, Abhimaan, and Zanjeer to Don, Trishul, and Amar Akbar Anthony, he did it all, and he was so good and, mind you, successful at it. And he does some routine stuff he got used to and it seems like for him it was just another acting job, although he does seem to have fun.

Mard is watchable for those fond of mindless Hindi films, but it's also quite embarrassing. I guess if seen in the required spirit and taken in the right context, it can be quite enjoyable, senseless entertainment. I honestly can watch it for comic relief. Then the songs are so nostalgic - "Will You Marry Me?", "Sun Rubia", "Mard Tangewala". And I like Amrita Singh, too. I know there's a growing following nowadays of young foreigners who are slowly discovering new Hindi cinema, and Bachchan is one hell of a find. After all, this man is a phenomenal actor. I wish they wouldn't try to get acquainted with some of his 1980s stuff like this one. This is an acquired taste, for sure.