9 years ago, I watched it for the first time. And, yesterday, I watched it for the second time to discover that I forgot more than its half. So, knowing that I'm not a forgetful person when it comes to movies, especially (Amitabh Bachchan)'s, then no doubt; something is wrong!
(Manmohan Desai) is the master director of the commercial Indian cinema from the 1970s to the 1980s, one of the Masala founders, and the long time collaborator with (Bachchan). In (Toofan), (Desai) only took the chair of the producer. He financed it as the second movie directed by his son (Ketan). Although the honorable (Salim Khan) wrote it, but the story belongs to the typical (Desai) world, where there are always: incredibly evil men with advanced devices, lost and found brothers, some religious boastfulness with always-victorious faithful leads, and eventually-defeated unfaithful enemies, mixed with the Masala equation; comedy, romance, action, melodrama, and musical numbers. This round, (Khan) added the heroic figure with a halo of being kind of super (the way the metaphysical powers suggest the bow for him, the unity of nature with his appearance), didn't emphasize on the romantic side much, and exploded a melodrama Bomb!
The situation of (Gopal / Farooq Shaikh), the friend, was so over the top. It's melodrama at its worst. Hence, the lead's guilt was heavier than the light movie. Let alone that the friend's storyline dragged out to a long and painful sequence, ending with his death as well. It didn't need all of that. What it needed was the desire of (Shyam / Bachchan) to get a revenge for his friend's "death", which uncovers how unnecessary all of that exaggeration was. Likely it was just a try to utilize (Shaikh)'s talent and name, since he got famous with more serious and realistic movies before, however that was done badly in a way that poisoned the movie!
Then the matter of (Don't Worry. Be Happy). I read that the musician asked (Bachchan) to sing it by his voice. I think it was a first. And I believe the outcome, despite the cuteness of the song, must have been shocking for some, putting in mind how hard (Bachchan)'s voice is; fitting more a speech (or a roar!), and the bad comparison with (Kishore Kumar)'s voice, which is in the same movie already! In fact, (Kumar) died on 13 October 1987. So maybe performing (Don't Worry..) was some solution to overcome this problem, along with presenting the real voice of (Bachchan) in singing finally. A bit of a problem itself if you asked me!
(Bachchan) delivered nice performance. I just hated wasting all of that power on inordinate melodrama, plus the provocative resorting to red drops while crying! (Goga Kapoor) as (Shaitan Singh) looked like poor man's (Amrish Puri). He did his job well, but I thought (Puri) was the first choice, then when he couldn't, doing 15 movies at the same year, they replaced him with a copy. I even believed, at many moments, that (Puri) did the vocal performance for that character! At any rate, (Toofan) lacked the abundance of stars that distinguished (Desai) / (Bachchan)'s other movies.
(Ketan Desai)'s studying in this dad's school shows. I liked the way he intensified the last 15 minutes. The action was good. By the way, I find people despise shots like, for instance, the one in which the arrow hits a bullet, saying in disgust "How Cheesy!". Well, what makes me sick indeed is that the same people meet the same shot yet when it's done in a Hollywood movie, like for recent instance (Red - 2010), with applause! Why nobody glorifies it, considering it an opposite of say the moment with gun vs. Sword in (Raiders of the Lost Ark - 1981)?! Particularly while cherishing, rather celebrating, the B-movies' nonsense, entertaining nonsense, became in fashion lately. Which leads me to ask eagerly, why (Quentin Tarantino) didn't nod this cinema ever in any of his endless "homage" paroxysms, as in (Kill Bill) or else? Did he never find it attractive as the other cinemas that he refers to with passion, or did he never watch any Indian movie originally?
Anyway, 1989 was the beginning of the end not only for the big B as India's number 1 star, but for a stage in the Indian cinema too. Along with the departure of (Kumar), (Manmohan Desai) - the magician himself - retired from movies. After a long list of phenomenal hits, such as (Naseeb - 1981), (Desh Premee - 1982), (Coolie - 1983), and (Mard - 1985), he got hit by the 2 inclement flops in a row (Gangaa Jamunaa Saraswathi - 1988), as a director, and (Toofan - 1989) as a producer. Then, after short time, he vaguely committed suicide on 1 March 1994. Meantime, after picking out a wrong choice after another, (Bachchan) preferred to retire, temporarily, to rest, rearrange the matters rightly, and find out why the star lost his glamour.
So why this movie flopped? I think there are answers from it and, why not, out of it. Maybe it was released at the wrong time, or the viewers found other stars to be attracted to, or they just got bored with this kind of Masala, or maybe (Desai) / (Bachchan) raised the bar so much, therefore the viewers expected no less than the previous hits, and (Toofan) is less. Whatever the reasons were, and to be fair, it is the mediocre Masala. Not bad, just mediocre.
The music was the only great thing here. Songs like (1, 2, 9, 11) and (Aaya Toofan) are marvelous classics. Their music can't be forgettable, Hmmm, unlike the rest of the movie I must say!
(Manmohan Desai) is the master director of the commercial Indian cinema from the 1970s to the 1980s, one of the Masala founders, and the long time collaborator with (Bachchan). In (Toofan), (Desai) only took the chair of the producer. He financed it as the second movie directed by his son (Ketan). Although the honorable (Salim Khan) wrote it, but the story belongs to the typical (Desai) world, where there are always: incredibly evil men with advanced devices, lost and found brothers, some religious boastfulness with always-victorious faithful leads, and eventually-defeated unfaithful enemies, mixed with the Masala equation; comedy, romance, action, melodrama, and musical numbers. This round, (Khan) added the heroic figure with a halo of being kind of super (the way the metaphysical powers suggest the bow for him, the unity of nature with his appearance), didn't emphasize on the romantic side much, and exploded a melodrama Bomb!
The situation of (Gopal / Farooq Shaikh), the friend, was so over the top. It's melodrama at its worst. Hence, the lead's guilt was heavier than the light movie. Let alone that the friend's storyline dragged out to a long and painful sequence, ending with his death as well. It didn't need all of that. What it needed was the desire of (Shyam / Bachchan) to get a revenge for his friend's "death", which uncovers how unnecessary all of that exaggeration was. Likely it was just a try to utilize (Shaikh)'s talent and name, since he got famous with more serious and realistic movies before, however that was done badly in a way that poisoned the movie!
Then the matter of (Don't Worry. Be Happy). I read that the musician asked (Bachchan) to sing it by his voice. I think it was a first. And I believe the outcome, despite the cuteness of the song, must have been shocking for some, putting in mind how hard (Bachchan)'s voice is; fitting more a speech (or a roar!), and the bad comparison with (Kishore Kumar)'s voice, which is in the same movie already! In fact, (Kumar) died on 13 October 1987. So maybe performing (Don't Worry..) was some solution to overcome this problem, along with presenting the real voice of (Bachchan) in singing finally. A bit of a problem itself if you asked me!
(Bachchan) delivered nice performance. I just hated wasting all of that power on inordinate melodrama, plus the provocative resorting to red drops while crying! (Goga Kapoor) as (Shaitan Singh) looked like poor man's (Amrish Puri). He did his job well, but I thought (Puri) was the first choice, then when he couldn't, doing 15 movies at the same year, they replaced him with a copy. I even believed, at many moments, that (Puri) did the vocal performance for that character! At any rate, (Toofan) lacked the abundance of stars that distinguished (Desai) / (Bachchan)'s other movies.
(Ketan Desai)'s studying in this dad's school shows. I liked the way he intensified the last 15 minutes. The action was good. By the way, I find people despise shots like, for instance, the one in which the arrow hits a bullet, saying in disgust "How Cheesy!". Well, what makes me sick indeed is that the same people meet the same shot yet when it's done in a Hollywood movie, like for recent instance (Red - 2010), with applause! Why nobody glorifies it, considering it an opposite of say the moment with gun vs. Sword in (Raiders of the Lost Ark - 1981)?! Particularly while cherishing, rather celebrating, the B-movies' nonsense, entertaining nonsense, became in fashion lately. Which leads me to ask eagerly, why (Quentin Tarantino) didn't nod this cinema ever in any of his endless "homage" paroxysms, as in (Kill Bill) or else? Did he never find it attractive as the other cinemas that he refers to with passion, or did he never watch any Indian movie originally?
Anyway, 1989 was the beginning of the end not only for the big B as India's number 1 star, but for a stage in the Indian cinema too. Along with the departure of (Kumar), (Manmohan Desai) - the magician himself - retired from movies. After a long list of phenomenal hits, such as (Naseeb - 1981), (Desh Premee - 1982), (Coolie - 1983), and (Mard - 1985), he got hit by the 2 inclement flops in a row (Gangaa Jamunaa Saraswathi - 1988), as a director, and (Toofan - 1989) as a producer. Then, after short time, he vaguely committed suicide on 1 March 1994. Meantime, after picking out a wrong choice after another, (Bachchan) preferred to retire, temporarily, to rest, rearrange the matters rightly, and find out why the star lost his glamour.
So why this movie flopped? I think there are answers from it and, why not, out of it. Maybe it was released at the wrong time, or the viewers found other stars to be attracted to, or they just got bored with this kind of Masala, or maybe (Desai) / (Bachchan) raised the bar so much, therefore the viewers expected no less than the previous hits, and (Toofan) is less. Whatever the reasons were, and to be fair, it is the mediocre Masala. Not bad, just mediocre.
The music was the only great thing here. Songs like (1, 2, 9, 11) and (Aaya Toofan) are marvelous classics. Their music can't be forgettable, Hmmm, unlike the rest of the movie I must say!