Mumbai Noir

It is unclear who who coined this term first, but 'Mumbai Noir' is now synonymous with the stylized, gritty Mumbai crime flicks of maverick Indian film director Ram Gopal Varma.

'Film Noir' (see Wikipedia entry on Film Noir) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize "moral ambiguity and sexual motivation". Classic Noir (early 1940s to the late 1950s) typically involves low-key black-and-white visual style. Film noir however, embraces a large number of genres including gangster films, police procedurals, social problem themes etc. Although private-eye and femme fatale characters are common, they are not required. Noir could also be considered not a genre, but a "style". Alain Silver, the most widely published American critic specializing in film noir studies, refers to it as a "cycle" and a "phenomenon," even as he argues that it has—like certain genres—a consistent set of visual and thematic codes. Other critics treat film noir as a "mood," a "movement," or a "series," or simply address a chosen set of movies from the "period."

Ram Gopal Varma's Mumbai Noirs encompass various Film Noir elements. A Mumbai Noir is almost always a gritty, realistic depiction of the Mumbai underworld and the city itself. Presumably, a large amount of research has gone into this depiction since the portrayal always strikes a chord in me (having lived in Mumbai (then Bombay) for 22 years of my life). No effort is spared in stark depictions of Mumbai's claustrophobic labyrinthine streets, massive slums, street hawkers and cheap tasty food, the subway system bursting at the seams, students hurriedly scurrying around with an engineering or medical book under their arm desperately dreaming of greener pastures, unbelievable inequality in standards of living, the comfortable co-existence of glitter and squalor, monsoon-beaten apartments with perpetually peeling paint, snarling traffic, the struggle for survival, shady "dance" bars, education and status obsessed middle-class, innocuous looking restaurants (or 'palace' as they might be often called usually including the name of a favorite god or goddess), gambling dens (often cricket related), monsoon flooded streets and Bollywood and cricket stars perpetually smiling away and gloriously pimping for various multinationals at every unnamed street corner.

Overall, all of the Mumbai Noirs feature a consistent "style" and "mood" which accurately reflects the harsh reality that is Mumbai. A common visual theme is a decrepit apartment (with peeling paint and leaking blackened rusty pipes) housing the city's most powerful gangsters and their cronies. Another theme concerns migration from the villages to Mumbai which results in crime being the only outlet for many new entrants into the big bad heartless city. No distinction is made between politicians and gangsters and they are virtually the same expect the circles they move in. Additionally, in a stunning Bollywood-defying move, most Bombay Noirs feature very limited song and dance elements which ensure a consistent flow of narrative. Other elements include claustrophobic and surreal chases through narrow streets which usually end violently, the complete immunity of gangsters and their ability to induce the fear into millions of witnesses just by (unsaid) threats of repercussion. Brutal law enforcement officers are also very typical. A highly evolved political-underworld-union-corporate-law enforcement nexus exists with corruption at every conceivable level.

A critical aspect of these films is also the accurate use of language, namely the Mumbai Hindi dialect which adds to the delicious realism. Another common element is the Bollywood-underworld nexus and the common man's obsession with Bollywood and criticism of the Bollywood fraternity itself. Most films also typically feature relatively unknown stars and technicians although that has been changing of late.



Once could say, Mumbai Noir enjoyed its notorious birth in Varma's first movie 'Shiva' back in 1989 (featured first use of Steadicam and several of the Mumbai Noir thematic elements still in their early stages). And the genre came back with a bang in 'Satya' (1998), a violent epic based on the Mumbai underworld. This was followed by the brilliant trilogy dealing again with the Mumbai underworld. The first of the trilogy was 'Company' (undoubtedly Verma's materpiece in my opinion, better than Satya), followed by 'D' and 'Sarkar' ('Sarkar 2' is in the works). 'Ab Tak Chappan' - based on the life of infamous Mumbai police officer Daya Nayak (encounter specialist) is one of my all-time favorites and the movie enjoyed great commercial success as well. 'Ek Hasina Thi' is terrific as well.

Ram Gopal Varma owns a production house (Varma Productions) and continues to churn out great movies (with many misses as well). Lets hope that the factory continues to produce excellent movies in the future. This is a very promising trend in Indian cinema.

The entire Varma filmography can be found at IMDB