One of the finest recent specimens of Indian commercial cinema, GOD IS MY WITNESS is a far cry from the stereotypical masala film -- supposedly a shoddy assemblage of action cliches, "wet sari" numbers, kitschy dialogue, and witless plot contrivances. This is a sweeping melodrama of
genuine emotional resonance and, in its best moments, a fulfillment of the operatic aspirations of classic Hollywood musicals, weaving song and dance into the very fabric of the narrative.
A wide-screen "curry western," GOD IS MY WITNESS takes place in an imaginary Afghanistan, a world of muscular, saber-wielding Pathan horsemen that seems to co-exist with contemporary India while only rarely intersecting with any form of modernity. Dominating the plot-heavy scenario is Badshah
Khan, a Pathan chieftain and paragon of cocky masculinity played by Bombay superstar Amitabh Bachchan. During a game of buzkashi -- a traditional Afghan test of manhood described as "a sport in name only; more like a terrible battle" -- Badshah encounters the ravishing woman warrior Benazir
(Sridevi) and is instantly smitten. But Benazir won't marry him until he brings her the head of Habibullah, the man who murdered her father. Badshah sets out on an arduous horseback journey to India, where he eventually finds and kills Habibullah -- thereby incurring the wrath of a twisted bandit
king called Pasha -- only to be placed under arrest. While Badshah languishes in an Indian prison, Benazir quietly goes mad. Subsequent developments include several murders, a smuggling subplot with a gratifying car chase, a quest for truth conducted by Badshah's grown daughter, Mehndi (also
played by Sridevi), various revelations of identity and tests of loyalty, and a final confrontation with vengeful Pasha.
GOD IS MY WITNESS may not strike the average American as a "good movie," at least in the Siskel & Ebert sense. It isn't at all concerned with character psychology or historical plausibility. It disdains naturalism, particularly where acting is concerned. Its deliberately excessive style will
elicit laughter at times.
But it's no more overwrought than Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s, and, like those movies, it is best understood as a broadly symbolic "acting out" of cultural values in conflict. By the film's end, the hero is made to confront the inadequacies of his traditionalist logic, and the tensions of
Indian masculinity -- passion vs. duty, freedom vs. domesticity -- are exposed according to conventions that American genre fans will immediately recognize.
The sweeping story line and fabulous setting provide an excuse for a first-rate production team -- including Bombay's leading set decorators, costume designers, choreographers, and composers -- to create an opulent mise-en-scene punctuated by exhilarating, delightfully ersatz "traditional"
song-and-dance sequences. Meanwhile, the heightened rhetoric and heroic conventions of India's Moghul-period romances are unblushingly deployed right alongside leitmotifs borrowed from Sergio Leone. Directed with sophistication and visual panache by Mukul S. Anand, GOD IS MY WITNESS is the perfect
introduction to the richly entertaining and often startling norms of Indian commercial film. leave a comment
