March 5 movie: Khuda Gawah. Amitabh Night continues! Khuda Gawah is a multigenerational epic romance starring Amitabh as an Afghan prince who goes to India to kill his bride's enemy, and through a series of adventures ends up spending decades in prison for a crime he didn't commit. The overarching theme of the movie is the conflict between the tribal justice of Kabul and the institutional justice of India. Much of the movie was filmed on location in Afganistan and Nepal, and the mountain vistas are extraordinary.
But forget about themes and locations and whatnot. There's one thing you need to know about this movie: goat ball! Amitabh and his honey fall in love during a tribal game of goat ball. Which is sort of like capture the flag, played on horseback, with a ball made of an inflated goat skin. The whole skin, with head and legs still attached. Must be seen to be believed. The end is even better: they renew their love by playing goat ball using their enemy as the ball, then crack his head against a boulder.
My only disappointment of this movie was the love interest, played by Sridevi. At the beginning of the movie she's a rival tribal leader, and does a great dance number about how she'll kill Amitabh rather than submit to him. Alas, when they get married she's tranformed into a helpless, clinging whiner. Then when he leaves her to have his series of adventures, she goes insane. I guess being deprived of the Big B's big love can do that to you.
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