Wardaat (1981)

CBI Officer Gopi, more known to the civilized world as Gunmaster G-9 is back in business! Yeah, it's Wardaat - the even more spectacular disco-dancing sequel to Surakksha! Crazier, bigger and jam-packed with martial arts - but what else to expect with Mithun Chakraborty as the hero? As you might have noticed I'm having a little 007-week here at Ninja Dixon and somehow it felt very logical to at least include one exotic Bond-rip off (and I've seen and reviewed more than a few) into the schedule, and what fits better than something from the film metropol of the world: Bollywood (or Bombay aka Mumbai of course). The two movies with Gunmaster G-9 could be the only Bond-style films to be close to a franchise, and the truth is that a third movie was under production but never finished around ten years later. I've heard that the son of director Ravikant Nagaich still is trying to get a new movie going (why don't you visit the semi-officialFacebook page?)

The elegant Gunmaster G-9 car.

Super-mega-agent Gunmaster G-9 (Mithun Cakraborty) is called into duty after a mysterious crime organization is causing disasters by having an army of locusts attack and destroy people and property. But the organizatino, lead by the mysterious Jumbala (or something similar) who might be the most EVIL super-villain ever, because he's....

1. A hunchback!

2. A deformed eye!

3. A scar across his face!

4. A huge nose!

5. An impressive set of crooked teeth!

He also have the most EVIL plan ever to take over the world:

1. Plastic-looking children raised as his brainwashed slaves!

2. A super serum that turns big-breasted women super-strong!

3. Grain the will give everyone disabled children!

4. Plus the now infamous army of locusts!

 He also lives in a secret Egyptian temple with his army of henchmen that will give their life for him without questions asked!

Eviiiiiil!!!!!

So, yes - without a doubt: this is crazy and confusing and I lost track of the story 10-15 times during the film. Not that this is a bad thing, because Gunmaster G-9 is all about extremely silly song- and dance-numbers, lots of martial arts and wild action scenes conducted by slightly chubby stuntmen. Chakraborty himself is quite fit and athletic and it's quite easy for him to kill one fatso after another with everything from guns and sharp objects, but mostly the deadly force of his hands and feet!

I love fights that goes on forever - and just like the dancing in this movie everything is very drawn out, which means often very imaginative action scenes with lots of stunts and not-so-special effects. But it's the thought that counts. Especially one of the fights is extra interesting because it's almost like a Indian Jackie Chan-scene, with Gunmaster G-9 inside some kind of factory using the stuff he finds as weapons - something that later became Jackie's trademarks during the wild eighties. Just like Surakksha there's not even a hint of realism and some of the visual effects in on the border to being cartoonish - for example the Egypitan temple which seem to be either postcards or diapositives, which in the last case means some actors looks like they're half-invisible walking in front of the projection! It becomes even more surreal with the presence of Cakraborty's ego who's bigger than ever. This film has several of those scenes when women literary runs to him, wanting to have him because he's so damn sexy and strong and jadajadajada. Oh, and he battles a (fake) tiger with his own bare hands! That's Indian action and it's over-the-top!

Wardaat also has some interesting casting. Among the actors is a Chinese (I guess) martial arts guy who's pretty good. He's not credited in the movie, but maybe one of you will recognize him with the help of these two images:

A couple of actors who have no idea what the hell they're doing in this movie are these gentlemen:

"So, do you think they'll drive us back to the hotel after this shit?"

I'm not saying this is a technically perfect film, but it's charming and has a lot of action - everything from kung fu to sword fights - and that will make most of you enjoy this piece of awesomeness as much as I did. There's just something very special about Indian action from the time when they cared more about entertainment than using flashy editing and looking fit in front of the camera. It just feels more human.