The Tower (1993)

My Reviews,

English cinema has a long history of horror films and they always come up with interesting ideas to scare the audience. Some work, some don’t. The Tower was a made for TV movie from the early 1990s. It explores the techno-horror genre. It was written by John Riley and directed by Richard Kletter.

A “Tower”, a high rise building is the central character of the movie. It is a “smart” office building run by artificial intelligence. It is designed in a way to ensure it safeguards itself from all things it perceives as a threat and proceeds to eliminate or “delete” the threat by the use of technology. That is the central theme of the movie. Is your workplace really safe in the world of AI? That is perhaps the question posed in this movie.

The Plot

The film begins with a terrifying scene. A harmless bird is perched on top of the tower. The tower perceives it as a threat to security and kills it with the help of the ventilation system. “Security Breach Deleted” is the message displayed on the computer screen.

This is an introduction to the Tower, which is a “smart” building with state of the art features. It makes use of Artificial Intelligence to smoothly run the building’s operations and detect and delete any security threat.

The Tower is the headquarters of a company called Intercorp. Its 6.00 a.m. and time to open the offices. Mr Wilson (Richard Grant), the security in-charge walks in. He is greeted by CAS (Cybernetic Access Structure), which is the main computer in the basement of the building. It “talks” and sounds like a modern virtual assistant (Alexa!).

Wilson activates all the security zones in the building. CAS gives the time and temperature and all sundry information that you can request if you have the correct code (like baseball scores and so on). CAS waters the plants and fills up the coffee machines. Wilson enjoys his coffee while CAS does the work! That’s the advantage of a smart building.

CAS confirms all is O.K. but this is going to change soon with the arrival of a new employee.

Meet Tony Minot (Paul Reiser). He is a musician by profession but has been forced to take up a proper job (the reason is not clear). It is his first day at Intercorp and he is leaving his flat to drive to the Tower. He forgets his flat keys and opens the door by inserting the access card issued by Intercorp. This action damages the card slightly.

He reaches Intercorp Tower in his car. He needs to swipe his card to enter the parking area. He swipes it but the system fails to read it properly. But Tony is a resourceful guy. He follows another car and quickly rushes inside before the barrier comes down. In other words he tailgates which is a violation. He parks the car. CAS tells him that he needs to move his car to its assigned place but he doesn’t know where it is.

Apparently, there was an orientation video which he was supposed to watch but he doesn’t consider it important. As evident, he is a reckless guy who doesn’t care much of rules and regulations. He leaves the car as is and enters the office reception. He meets Wilson and tells him his name and that he is the new joiner in Business Research department. Wilson is already aware of the parking violation. He checks the access card and confirms it should work fine.

Tony waits downstairs while Linda Ferillo (Susan Norman) comes to meet him. She works in Human Resources and was apparently responsible for securing him the job. He is thankful to her and gives her a gift. She doesn’t care and tells him clearly that he needs to follow all the rules from dress code to everything else when he is in the Tower. Else he will get a security violation. This is not acceptable to Little Hill (Roger Rees), the owner of Intercorp. Hill’s office is on the top floor.

Tony tells her that he knows his way with computers. Linda counters that he doesn’t how smart the building is. It would be good if he abides by the rules. He has never dealt with something as intelligent as CAS. Linda accompanies him to his work station. She helps him to activate voice recognition on his work PC, so he can talk to CAS and give any instructions. He asks CAS to play music and make coffee. He is genuinely amazed when the instructions are completed. He starts scratching his face with the access card. Linda warns him to stop doing that. He will be literally helpless if anything happens to the card.

An employee comes and informs Tony that Mr Hill is expecting him. He like to meet new employees on their first day. Mr Hill is the ruthless businessman character. He hands Tony an empty file and asks him to fill it up with some useful details. After the meeting, Tony boards the elevator to go down to his office. To pass the time (and tease CAS!), he keeps inserting and removing the card in the elevator slot and tries to “chat” with CAS. He just thinks it as a game for the sake of confusing CAS. Unknown to him he is being marked for “elevator violation.” That is violation no. 2 after the parking incident. He has been classified by CAS as a “Security Risk.”

Tony continues to be the “bad boy” in school. He is whiling away his time. He inserts his own music chip in the office PC. In doing so, he uses the access card to fix the chip in place. Linda reminds him that this will be another violation and he better remove it before things get escalated. But its too late. CAS has noted it as another violation (System Invasion == Possible Intruder). Tony continues with his disregard of rules and the violations keep piling.

The day has ended and Tony has a date. But Mr Hill has other plans. He sends him a handful of files to be worked upon as soon as possible. That means Tony will have to stay till late in the night to complete the task. Tony is not amused. Wilson is leaving for the day. The security is put on Night Mode. He notices that Tony is still in the office and goes to investigate.

Tony is on his way to Hill’s office but his card is not working properly. Wilson comes and inserts Tony’s card to access the elevator. CAS immediately marks him (i.e. Tony) for deletion. It has had enough with all the violations tagged to this employee. CAS assumes that Tony has entered the elevator and proceeds to “delete” the threat called Tony. As a result Wilson gets brutally crushed by the elevator doors courtesy of CAS. That shows the shortcoming of CAS. It can only sense the intruder’s presence. It is unable to rely on facial recognition.

Tony is trying to figure out how to go to Hill’s office when Hill comes down the stairs. He tells Tony that he always uses the stairs. Poor Tony has no choice but to follow Hill all along the way to the top by climbing the stairs. He tries to tell Hill that there is some problem with the way CAS behaves but Hill is in no mood to listen. For him, CAS is the most reliant system. They reach the office. Hill is preparing for a sauna bath (yes, he has a sauna in his office). He tells Tony to set the sauna temperature. Tony inserts the card and sets the temperature. But CAS sees this as another violation. Apparently it realises that the intruder is still alive and marks him for deletion again. Hill tells Tony to go to his office, work on the assigned task and come back with the answers.

Hill enters the sauna. (Tony tries to use the elevator, is unsuccessful and reenters Hill’s office.) Meanwhile, CAS is trying to eliminate Tony. It has assumed that Tony has entered the sauna and starts increasing the temperature to dangerous levels. Tony is horrified to see that Hill is trapped inside the sauna. The door has been locked by CAS. He tries everything including calling the police. But he cannot save Hill as the sauna door explodes due to excessive heat. Tony enters the sauna and CAS senses his presence. Tony realises the sauna itself is about to explode and slides down through a pipe to save himself.

This is just the beginning. CAS cannot stand his presence and will do everything to kill him. Will it be successful? Later Linda returns to the building and both are trapped in the deserted building. They try everything to thwart the attempts by CAS.

Will CAS be successful in eliminating Tony? Can he beat the system?

The Music

There is nothing much to write about the music. It tries to be sinister but is repetitive and boring.

My Thoughts

The Tower is good as a concept and the result could have been better. Its not the big studio mega budget movie so the central character’s actions seem toned down. The building’s response could have been faster to make it look like the terrifying pursuer that one would expect it to be – “delete at all costs”. CAS is smart but it does not have facial recognition capability. That is a big design flaw. Still it manages to create a sense of fear in the minds of the protagonists.

Acting wise, the lead Paul Reiser is irritating to say the least. He needs the job but is not ready to adhere to the rules from the first minute. Why would he have this approach is not explained.

Overall, the film is entertaining and raises the question of over reliance on AI which remains relevant today.

Hatya (1988)

My Reviews, ,

Hatya was one of the early successes of Govinda. This was before he entered the comedy phase of his career in the 1990s. The film was Govinda’s home production under the banner of Sri Nirmala Devi Productions. His brother Kirti Kumar is credited as producer and director and he also sings a couple of songs! While watching the movie I kept feeling like watching a South Indian film, especially the track involving the hero and a small boy which adds an emotional angle to the drama. And indeed, there was an original Malayalam film which was remade into multiple languages. Hatya is inspired from the same film.

As the name implies, the film focuses on a murder or rather two murders. The murder takes place at the very beginning and we know the identity of the murderer. How the murderer is identified by the hero and the police through many difficulties and coincidences is covered in the rest of the film.

The Plot

The hatya takes place on a secluded road. A man Surendra Mohan (Anupam Kher) is sitting in his car. His driver cum right hand man Ranjit (Bob Anthony) is with him. They are waiting for someone to arrive. It is the soon to be victim Mohan (Satish Kaul) (wonder why they repeated the name Mohan for no reason). Mohan works as a manager in Surendra’s factory. Surendra sees Mohan and calls out his name. Surendra comes put of the car. We notice he is disabled and uses an elbow crutch. Mohan looks at Surendra as if knowing what is going to happen next. Surendra signals Ranjit, who pulls up a knife and kills Mohan. The task is done.

The two men look around to confirm there are no witnesses. But they are unlucky. They are surprised to see a young boy (Baby Sujitha) with a toy standing on the stairs of a nearby building. He has seen everything. (Why did they select this spot when the residential building was so close? Silly mistake.)

Well, the boy has a shocked expression. His mother Meena (Aparajita, a widow) comes looking for him and notices the scene in front of her. Two men with guilty expressions and a dead body lying on the road. She picks the boy and rushes inside. She tries to call the police station. Inspector Ashok Gupta (Raj Kiran) is on duty. She is about to tell him about the murder when Ranjit cuts the wire (those were the days of the landline) ☎️. The connection is lost.

Ranjit enters the house and stabs Meena, with her son watching through the window. Her poor son witnesses another murder in a matter of minutes. Shocked he may be but the boy realises he will be the next victim. He jumps out and runs away before Ranjit can come behind him. Surendra and Ranjit bury the woman’s body nearby. Mohan’s body is left near the sea shore. It is discovered three days later. Inspector Ashok begins his investigation.

The boy is wandering around the streets in the night. This is where he will meet the hero Sagar (Govinda). Sagar is introduced through a song. He appears to be well to do and sings and dances at functions. He seems to perform in a hotel/ club in the evening. Apparently, he paints well too! Sagar drinks a lot to try and forget his sorrows. He gives a lecture about being alone and so on.

A drunk Sagar is returning home in his car when he sees the boy sleeping on the footpath. After some drama, he takes the boy home with him. He names him Raja. Next morning, he tries to speak to the boy but the boy falls asleep again. Sagar realizes he has high fever. He decides to take care of him until he recovers.

Meanwhile Surendra tells Ranjit to find the boy who is now the sole witness to their crime. He asks him to avoid killing him. Rather it will be good if he can take him to a faraway place and leave him there (how considerate!).

Raja recovers but he has still not spoken to Sagar which is strange. The bitter truth is revealed when Sagar drops a glass jar and Raja does not react. Sagar suspects something is wrong and drops a vase but still there is no reaction from Raja. That is when Sagar realises the boy is deaf and dumb.

A shaken Sagar takes him to the doctor for examination. The doctor tells him that the boy is deaf and dumb since birth. Maybe that is why his parents abandoned him. He can be taught to communicate through sign language and can lead a normal life. Sagar decides to do all he can for Raja but he hopes that the boys parents can be traced.

Ranjit tries to abduct Raja in the hospital but his plan fails. Raja tries to convey the matter to Sagar through his hand gestures but Sagar doesn’t understand. Later on, there are multiple occasions when Raja sees something connected to the murder but unfortunately Sagar is unable to understand the significance of what he is pointing towards and the reason behind it. It is only towards the end that Sagar finally realizes the truth of his actions.

Sagar goes to buy toys for Raja. (Strangely, he leaves Raja alone in the car outside the store!). After the shopping is done, he cannot locate Raja. He runs around in the store searching for Raja to find him holding hands with a girl Sapna (Neelam). He thinks the girl might be Raja’s mother. But she quickly explains that she just met Raja and assumes Sagar is the boy’s father. Raja clears the matter. Later, he meets her again in the local market. We come to know that Sapna’s bungalow is quite close to Sagar’s house. She starts meeting him under the pretext of meeting Raja. She has grown fond of Raja as well as Sagar.

Sagar’s past is revealed when he talks to Raja (who doesn’t understand anything). Sagar was an orphan. He met another orphan Sheela and they got married. Sheela gave birth to a son who was named Raja. However she became mentally unstable and later contracted jaundice. Eventually Sheela and Raja both passed away. From then he has been alone. He hates loneliness but has no option. By chance, Sapna hears all this and is sympathetic toward’s Sagar’s condition. As expected, she falls in love with him. They sing a couple of songs.

There is a comedy track involving Johnny Lever. He plays a blacksmith. He comes with his wife posing as Raja’s fake parents. This is part of Ranjit’s plan to get hold of Raja. But an alert Sagar foils the plan.

As the story develops it is revealed Raja’s mother Meena was Sapna’s elder sister. She had married a Christian man Michael against her father’s (Om Shivpuri) wishes. He broke all contact with her. But he wants to make amends now and goes to find the whereabouts of his daughter and grandson.

Among all this, the main focus is of course on the murder(s) that need to be solved. Inspector Ashok seems to get closer to the culprit. But will he be able to reveal the truth in time as Surendra is not sitting idle. He wants to wipe off the traces of his crime and Raja’s life is in danger. There are complications when the police suspect that Sagar had kidnapped Raja and killed his mother. Will Sagar be able to clear his name and nail the murderer?

The Music

The songs are written by Indeevar with music by Bappi Lahiri and is a decent effort. Kirti Kumar sings two songs Ghunghat ke pat khol and Main To Hoon Sab Ka, Mera Na Koi. Zindagi Mahek Jaati Hai, Har Nazar Bahek Jaati Hai is sung by K. J. Yesudas and Lata Mangeshkar. Aap Ko Agar Zaroorat Hai, Dil Mera Haazir Khidmat Hai (Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle) is a happy song. The romantic Main Pyar Ki Pujaran, Mujhe Pyar Chahiye is perhaps the most popular song of the film, it is sung Mohammed Aziz and Sapna Mukherjee.

My Thoughts

Hatya is meant to be a thriller film rather than a murder mystery as the murderer is known to the audience. I was expecting some more thrilling moments along the way. But the focus is on the small boy and the hero. Then, on the romantic track for a while. The random comedy track is irritating though Johnny Lever is impressive.

Overall, the thriller element seems diluted. This is probably because this was Kirti Kumar’s first attempt at direction. But he manages to hold the film together. Acting wise, Govinda emotes well and gets ample opportunities to display his dancing skills. His pairing with Neelam is well known. Baby Sujitha performs well too. The villains were disappointing. Anupam Kher doesn’t get much to do. The South Indian actor Bob Anthony has a meaty role. He looks strong but talks awkwardly probably because he was not comfortable with Hindi. In spite of its shortcomings, the film left its impact and was a box office success.

Humsaya (1968)

My Reviews,

Good spy thrillers have been rare in Hindi cinema. I think this genre slowly picked up in the 1960s after the successful launch of the James Bond series and our desi directors started thinking of adapting to the trend. Ankhen (1968) stands out as one of the best entertainers in this genre. The same year came Humsaya, an ambitious film of Joy Mukerjee. He launched Joy Mukerjee Productions and had the triple responsibility of acting, producing and directing the film. Unfortunately, the ambitions did not translate effectively on screen and the audience were left with a disappointing result.

Humsaya (meaning neighbour) was a kind of Cold War drama based on the period following the 1962 Indo China war and relations between the neighboring countries. The Chinese send a spy to India to locate some weapons and use them against the country by sending Chinese guerilla fighters. It is too complex a story and I will attempt to explain it with the help of its three main characters played by Joy Mukerjee, Sharmila Tagore and Mala Sinha.

The Plot

As expected the plot is centered around Joy Mukerjee’s character and he plays a double role. He is Lin Tan, a Chinese military officer staying in Peking. He is in love with Sin (Mala Sinha), a singer and dancer. They get married at the beginning of the movie. It is their “suhaag raat.” They promise to always be together. Unfortunately, Sin is called to report for duty immediately. Poor Sin is left alone on her first night. Sin is taken to meet Comrade Chen Lai (or Leng?) (Madan Puri).

Chen Lai tells him that he has been selected for an important mission. Enter Shyam, an Indian and a lookalike of Sin. Sin is made to undergo plastic surgery so that his Chinese features can be altered and he looks exactly like Shyam. (Conveniently, Sin has Indian looks as his father became involved with an Indian woman). And who is Shyam? He is an Indian prince who was serving in the Indian air force as a squadron leader.

It so happened that Shyam was in love with Reena (Sharmila Tagore). Reena’s childhood friend Vijay Khanna(?) is also interested in her. She tells him clearly that she is interested in Shyam. One day Shyam arrives to confront Vijay in his house but gets mocked at. Shyam is angry, Vijay threatens him with a gun. They have a scuffle outside the house when Vijay gets shot by someone. Shyam picks up Vijay’s gun and tries to search for the murderer. Vijay’s father and Reena arrive at the scene.

Obviously, Reena believes that Shyam killed Vijay and leaves him. He is court martialled and sent to jail for two years. He doesn’t return home after his jail term and becomes a wanderer. The Chinese have been tracking him and Chen Lai meets him and takes him to a place near the Indo China border. That’s where he has been staying for some time. But Shyam has been biding his time. He acts as if he is sorrowful and drinks all day with Reena’s photo for company.

Lin is brought to the border town to meet Shyam. Both are taken aback by the resemblance between them. Its as if they are looking at a mirror. Being a Hindi film, their voices are also identical! Later, in private Chen Lai tells Lin about his secret mission. Apparently,  Vijay had been a Chinese spy. The Chinese had sent him arms and ammunition to be used against India. The plan was to send Chinese guerilla fighters who would use those arms to destroy India. (This is an extremely weird plan. That would be too much material for one man to handle and where is it all stored?) Anyway, someone else got to know about the whereabouts of the arms and killed Vijay. That is why the Chinese want Lin to go to India posing as Shyam and find who killed Vijay and retrieve the arms. Shyam hears all this secretly. He is a true Indian and will make all effort to thwart the plans of the Chinese.

The two men spend the next few days together and share details about each other including the details about the women in their life. Conveniently they have photographs of the respective women handy. Lin is forced to leave Sin and proceed on his mission.

The day arrives when Lin is ready to leave China and travel to New Delhi. He asks Chen Lai what they intend to do with Shyam. Chen Lai tells him that the plan is to administer opium to Shyam and kill him when he is unconscious. (Again, weird logic!)

But Shyam has a different plan. He attacks Lin, makes him consume the the opium. He wears Lin’s clothes and is ready to “disguise” himself as Shyam and go to India. Chen Lai sees the unconscious man and has some doubts whether he is meeting Lin or Shyam but Shyam convinces him that he is Lin and they need to proceed with the plan. Shyam i.e. Lin is brought out in the snow and shot. It is not clear what means and route does Shyam take to reach his destination. Surely, there would be border posts, he would need a passport etc.

Coming to the two ladies. Reena is played by Sharmila Tagore. She is shocked when Shyam kills Vijay. The Shyam chapter is closed for her.

When Shyam comes back she rejects his advances. He tries hard but she has no patience to listen to him. Apparently, she is facing an inner struggle. Shyam seems to be sincere but she can’t bring herself to face him. He tries a song to convey his state of mind and she mellows down a bit. Her father (played by Sapru) agrees to give him a last chance to prove his innocence. Vijay’s father calls Shyam to meet him but gets killed before Shyam can talk to him. The police nab the supposed murderer who confesses that Shyam did not kill Vijay. But he is killed when he is about to reveal the murderer’s name. After the revelation, Shyam is reinstated in the air force and and he and Reena get engaged.

The 3rd important character is Sin. She is eagerly waiting for her husband to return. And opportunity knocks. She is sent to india as part of a Chinese cultural delegation. Chen Lai accompanies the delegation as Professor Tao Kai Shen, his main purpose is to push Shyam to complete his mission.

She performs with her troupe in multiple cities. As expected she gets to meet Shyam. She is not aware that Lin has been killed and the man posing as her husband is an impostor. She attempts to flirt with him but he seems to keep a distancefrom her.

Poor Shyam! He has too many duties to perform. He has to focus on his spy mission and manage Chen Lai’s expectations. He has to play lover to Reena. More importantly, he has to control Sin’s advances as she doesn’t know the truth. He can feel her longing for her husband and the unbearable separation but he cannot be her husband. Being an Indian man, he is committed to Reena and will stay loyal to her. Reena displays jealousy and suspects Shyam’s intentions as she is not aware of his spy act.

There are other characters like Jagirdar, who plays the head of intelligence. Rehman plays Shyam’s uncle. He has been looking after the princely state after the untimely death of Shyam’s parents. He is like a father to Shyam and is relieved when Shyam returns home. A comedy touch is provided by Polson and Mallika.

And there is a mysterious man who doesn’t reveal his identity and claims to be responsible for Vijay’s murder. After Vijay’s removal, he wants to make a deal with the Chinese and supply them the hidden arms and ammunition.

The complex plot continues till the truth about Shyam is revealed. He takes over the Chinese fighters single handedly in the backdrop of the Himalayas. And Vijay Khanna’s murderer is revealed. The love triangle is resolved amicably.

The Music

Music is perhaps the only saving grace in the movie. There are 3 lyricists Shevan Rizvi, S.H. Bihari, and Hasrat Jaipuri with music by the dependable O.P. Nayyar. Many of Joy Mukerjee films had great music by O P Nayyar (including Ek Musafir Ek Haseena, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Dil Aur Mohabbat and Ek Baar Muskura Do).

There are 6 songs in Humsaya in the voices of Mohammed Rafi, Mahendra Kapoor and Asha Bhosle. Mohammed Rafi sings the soulful Dil ki awaaz bhi sun and the romantic duet Mujhe mera pyaar de do. Woh haseen dard de do and Kitna Haseen Hai Ye Jahaan are picturised on Mala Sinha. The solo Kanhaiya O Kanhaiya features Sharmila Tagore. There is a beautiful love triangle song starring the 3 leads – Badi mushkil se kaabu mein. One female solo Aaja mere pyaar ke sahaare was absent in the film.

My Thoughts

Humsaya could have been a better spy film but it focuses on many things at the same time losing direction. It is evident Joy Mukerjee finds it difficult to manage many fronts inside and out of the movie. For some reason I was reminded of Jewel Thief (1967) which was a winning combination of many elements like crime and heist, romance, suspense and spy thriller. That’s why an accomplished director matters.

Sadly, Humsaya portrays itself as a spy film but apart from Joy Mukerjee and Madan Puri, it does not have other major characters to add spice to the secret agent plot. There are many inconsistencies and loopholes in the story making it seem scattered. Madan Puri portrays a weak villain.

There is the unwanted murder mystery sub plot. The audience stops caring when the culprit is revealed, his intentions are not very convincing. The climax seems hilarious. The love triangle looks stretched. Sharmila Tagore doesn’t have much to do. Comparatively, Mala Sinha is more impressive as she tries to get closer to the man she thinks is her husband until the truth is revealed. The songs provide the necessary relief but are not enough to save the film.