Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Tintin-Through the lookin glass...


When Gerorge Remi a.k.a Herge created this snub-nosed crime reporter, with his trademark hairdo, about 80 years ago, little did he cud realize the immense popularity of this pint-sized hero shall remain unabated till date.Born in 1929 as a comic strip hero . Tintin has grown in volume and fame ever since ,cutting across nations and language barriers and stood out as a cult figure in all European countries as well as India.Though embroiled in controversies over the depiction of non-European people in unjust ways as a result Herge being called in derogatory terms as racist.His take on Russia in his foremost comic was widely criticized.All his books had some clandestine agenda which seemingly depicting fictional country actually had strains of the ongoing conflicts among various European countries.
Despite all these Tintin is a phenomenon.After Peter Jackson and Stephen Spielberg has shown a keen interest in putting Tintin on screen,there has been an upsurge.Age is no barrier to this young ,fearless reporter from Belgium, people of all age group still enjoy reading his wacky adventures.His long list of fans include the Legendary Charles De Gaulle (who in a election rally said to the teeming masses that his popularity is just a shadow of what Tintin enjoys in France) and our very own Satyajit Roy who seldom marveled at the eye for detail in Tintin comics.
Like the umpteen masses who are at love with this guy-wonder, I am also a fervent follower of Tintin since the day of three.
So hereby on the Birth Centenary of the creator Herge I allow my imagination to run unbound.So what if Tintin was born in India and our filmmakers decided to make a film on him!! Well quite an challenging proposition coz to fit in the characters of one need s plenty of imagination and intent. I have listed some of 'em. u ppl help me out on others.

Tintin

Well,for playing the character of Tintin ,one should have the plunk of a reporter as well his boyish charms. To be frank none actually fitted the bill. In Hollywood we have plenty of green horns who would gleefully grab this role of a life time but in our very own Bollywood that wud spell danger specially when this film will have so much hype going around.we, the film mongers are basically star-gazers so we have to look to the tried and tested.Inevitably the first choice that comes is the legion of Khan's.Salman khan is a obvious reject coz his height doesn't match.King Khan we can easily ignore coz it will be hope against hope asking him do away with his stereotype hairdo.Amir Khan- yes he certainly fits the bill perfectly.With his ever growing appetite of reinventing himself,he is bound to accept the role and time and again he has proved he can sport different hairdos with out hesitation. maybe we shall see a different side of Amir's personality when he sports the Mohawk stlye thet the guy reporter has made do popular.

Professor Calculus

For this feisty and maverick geek I cud find none suitable than the brilliant and the understated Naseeruddin Shah. After doing so many roles of wide variety , I guess Naseer-bhai wud not reject this role. In Krishh he had played a wicked Doc , I am pretty sure will do the good 'ol prof quite brilliantly as he always does!! He need a bit of makeover which i guess can be easily managed.
Captain Haddock

Billions and billions of blistering barnacles!! Seamonger!!Ungulates!!Misguided Missile!!Diplodocus!!
Well,I don't have to say more as it is quite evident from the curses that I am talking about the fav 'ol captain. To me he is one character who has rendered the comic edge of Tintin series almost single handedly.Quite adept in involving himself in tight situations and always have a word or two to say. A connoisseur of whiskey and an seasoned sailor, he is one of the memorable characters in Tintin series.To enact means the person sud have his panache and his eloquence and who better than our motormouth Siddhu-bhai to don this role.Well, Siddhu bhai for the sake of the film you have to don the sailors hat for a while. Just be yourself and soon we cud see the desi version of Haddock blurting out " Statistics are like miniskirts. What they reveal is suggestive and what they hide is essential!!"
Thomson and Thompson

Well,let be reveal a secret. Despite their striking resemblance Thomson and Thompson are not twin brothers!! They are just different people who are in a an illusion that they are brothers.It is quite evident from their surnames.Anyway I had a hard time trying to find the ideal cast for them until i chanced upon the Roshan Brothers. Don't u think they have amazing resemblance? Rajesh has no acting experience as his elder bro has, well, then again you don't need too much acting acumen when u are acting as the Thompson and Thomson ...u require to be grumpy and able to handle the bowler hats.

Nestor

Well, this was a difficult choice.Nestor the loyal butler is one of my fav characters.His undying trust in his master has stood him in good stead.Formerly a butler of the Bird Boys who were behind the kidnapping of Tintin to find out about the missing scrolls which cud lead them to the treasure of the Red Rackham. He became the butler of Tintin and Captain Haddock after they claimed the Marlinspike residence from the Bird Bros.
well, I guess Anupam Kher just suits fine.He has the acting prowess and also the right look.The picks are there for comparison.

4 comments:

Sakshi said...

this ws some imagination....

zEaLoUsMe™ said...

Awesome... Loved ur INNOVATION!

Unknown said...

karma..finally i do not return frm ur page empty headed..

a good read wid the evening time complan..

i'm a complan boy...

n this is an awesome post..

njoy.

Karma said...

well, i love to cum with more and more post but its quite a task to manage that in a cybercafe with 25 bucks per hour and an erratic connection!
this took me two hours to complete.