Review of Holiday

Introduction

I`ve made an effort to avoid certain types of film. There may be a degree of snobbery involved, but it`s mostly a case of so many films I want to watch, and only one life to watch them in. So called `Chick flicks` are a genre that I take pains to evade. Films like Titanic, Dirty Dancing, most of the films Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman appeared in together, these are films that I may catch a glimpse of on TV, and breathe a sigh of relief at a narrow escape as I change the channel. Then along comes Bollywood, remakes the film scene for scene, with a few extra songs just in case, and courtesy of the Reviewer lucky dip, I`m watching a strangely familiar film, albeit with subtitles (Don`t let the turban fool you, the one time I tried speaking Hindi, I only managed to embarrass myself, while providing amusement to a couple of waiters).

The Suri family are on a much-needed vacation. Father Daksh is a respected doctor, who after treating the manager of a Goa holiday resort is taking advantage of his hospitality. With him and his wife are daughters Samara and Muskaan. While Samara is all up for the easy life, apple of her father`s eye Muskaan is depressed after failing her exams, and really isn`t into the holiday spirit. That is until she meets dance instructor Dino. Attracted and inspired by the intimate dance, she ends up getting personal lessons, as well as getting close to Dino. Stop me if this seems familiar. Anyway, the path of true love is strewn with pitfalls, especially when Dino` dance partner Alysha has an abortion that goes wrong, and Daksh blames him for the scandal and forbids Muskaan from seeing him.

Video

A 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer that looks good at first glance. The image is clear and sharp, with the sunshine paradise of Goa looking particularly colourful. The sharpness is overdone a tad, with a couple of jaggies, and moiré on fine detail. Then the image moves. In motion, there is the telltale ghosting of an NTSC-PAL transfer, which belies the sharpness of the image. To add to the confusion, 13 minutes in there is the first of quite a few videotape artefacts, a thick white line appearing across the screen for a frame or two. Digital artefacts aren`t to be left out either, as one hour and one minute in, a waterfall scene with heavy particulate motion results in some utterly horrendous pixellation. The occasional frame flashing by with editors` scratches on the print is merely the icing on the cake. I don`t suppose you want to hear about the print damage?

Audio

The sole soundtrack is a DD 2.0 Surround Hindi track, although for moments of high drama, the characters lapse into English for extra emphasis. There is an English subtitle track should you need it. The first thing you should do with this audio track is turn off your Prologic if you have it. The balance is shifted to the surrounds to such a degree that the dialogue is muffled. Restricting the sound to the front speakers helps enough to make the dialogue audible, but clarity is never one of this soundtrack`s strengths. I`m used to Bollywood heroes speaking with serious reverb, a leading man must sound as if his diaphragm is in his shoes; this disc tries to help things along, but it only results in echo overload. If that isn`t enough, there is constant hiss from the opening moments, and the soundtrack has the occasional pop to it. Still, the songs are enough to get the toes tapping, even if a couple of the tunes are naggingly familiar.

Features

A songs menu. It`s a glorified chapter select screen, but selecting Play All gives you around 30 minutes of songs, without the pesky story nonsense.

Conclusion

It`s Dirty Dancing! In Hindi! With some songs for good measure! Ok, so I`ve never seen Dirty Dancing from beginning to end, but I have seen the video to `Time Of My Life` by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, and it`s fair to say that this film is pretty much a scene for scene remake. There is a very good reason for remakes like this, as a domestic Indian audience is unlikely to spend their hard earned rupees on a foreign film, but a simple matter of recasting can bring that story to the masses. The film can also be made culture specific, with the removal of any gratuitous kissy-kissy stuff, and the addition of a song or two, with costume changes. But bringing said film to Western audiences, audiences who more than likely have seen the original is practically inviting ridicule.

It really shouldn`t though, after all different casts bring the same play to life over and over in theatres around the world, why shouldn`t cinema be any different. I guess it all boils down to how well the cast perform in this particular incarnation. I`m afraid to say not well at all. The main cast is adequate at best, although Dino and Muskaan share little chemistry. The supporting cast is atrocious, particularly Samara and her clique, with some of the finest cuts of ham ever to be served up on screen.

Yet I enjoyed this film despite myself. Performances aside, this film has a sense of energy about it that drew me in. And while Muskaan and Dino together in a scene did little for me, turn the music on and the relationship blossomed. If Indian films are good at anything, it`s choreography. And while there was a ropy moment early on, with a rather unwise melding of Riverdance and Flamenco, the rest of the film is utterly entertaining. The music is also good, with some nice songs to go along with the dance sequences. And let`s face it, Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey may have had chemistry, but not even they could sing and dance at the same time.

Holiday is the sort of silliness that lawsuits are built of, but it`s entertaining and fun if you are in the mood for such. The disc is abysmal though.