Bollywood experiments / PhotoCourtesy-BollywoodInsider

As Indian cinema takes a great leap in faith and technology with films like Kalki 2898 AD, Bollywood Insider rewinds to some of the cinematic experiments that took us out of this world and beyond...

THE INVISIBLE MAN

One of the first ‘Invisible Man’ films was perhaps the Dwarka Khosla-directed Hindi/Urdu production Mr. X which was released in 1938. It starred Jayant, Amjad Khan’s father, and Nutan and Tanuja’s grandmother, Rattan Bai. Almost two decades later, in 1957, Nanabhai Bhatt borrowed the title and spun a murder mystery around a magic potion that renders a lab assistant Invisible. His Mr. X featured the hit Jodi of Ashok Kumar and Nalini Jaywant.

Half a century after this, in 2015, Nanabhai Bhatt’s sons, Mukesh and Mahesh, produced a sci-fi action adventure, Mr X, with his grand-nephew Emraan Hashmi giving invisibility a 3D avatar. Sadly, neither of these films worked commercially, but the ‘invisible’ concept continued to make its presence in Elaan in 1971, K. A. Abbas’s Mr. X in 1984, Naseeruddin Shah’s Chamatkar in 1992, and Ram Gopal Varma produced a calamitous romcom in 2004 which turned Tusshar Kapoor Gayah.

 However, the most loved invisible man in India is undoubtedly Anil Kapoor’s Mr India. The 1987 fantasy adventure, produced by brother Boney Kapoor, gave Hindi cinema an unforgettable villain - Mogambo Khush Hua!

ALIENS ADVENTURES

If Mr X was the first sci-fi film to bring the invisible man to the screen, then the 1963 Tamil film, Kalai Arasi, was the first Indian sci-fi adventure to ferry two aliens to earth. 

More than half a century later, in Rajkumar Hirani’s 2014 sci-fi comedy-drama PK, the tables turned. Aamir Khan’s humanoid alien finds himself stranded on Earth after the remote to summon his spaceship is stolen. PK’s visit turns out to be a revelation as in his quest to locate God who he is told will help him return, he exposes fraudulent Godmen and preaches the true meaning of faith. 

Another alien adventure that created jadoo at the box office and spun a blockbuster franchise is Koi… Mil Gaya. Directed by Rakesh Roshan, this 2003 film is an Indianized E.T. with an alien who is accidentally left behind, befriending Hrithik Roshan’s Rohit.

It turns out to be a life-changing friendship because the out-of-the-blue Jadoo helps the boy with developmental disabilities not only enhance his physical and intellectual abilities but also win the girl he loves, Preity Zinta’s Nisha. They marry and have a son, Krishna, who in 2006 Krrish inherits his father’s superpowers.

The story continues with Krrish 3 and a handicapped evil geneticist Kaal, who kills Krishna. Rohit manages to resurrect his son but dies in the process leaving it to Krishna/Krrish to save the world from the virus Kaal has created. The film was released in 2013, six years before the COVID-19 pandemic brought life to a standstill, and ends with Krrish and Priya’s newborn son displaying superhero powers too, paving the way for Krrish 4 which is still in development.

THE DAY OF THE ROBOTS

In 2001, long before AI took over the world, Shankar conceived a futuristic techno-thriller set between 2200 and 3000 in Chennai. Featuring an android robot gone rogue, he announced it with Kamal Haasan and Preity Zinta. However, due to date hassles, his Robot was finally greenlit in 2008 with Rajinikanth in a double role as a scientist-creator and his destroyer creation.

The film was titled Enthrian because the state government was giving tax exemptions to films with Tamil titles and dubbed in Hindi as Robot. A breakthrough film, it sprouted a standalone Tamil sequel, 2.0, with Hindi and Telugu versions. Also released in 3D, 2.0 was the highest-grossing Indian film of 2018, with Rajini’s scientist, Dr Vaseegaran, taking the story forward.

Meanwhile, in 2011, Gauri Khan produced RA. One with husband Shah Rukh Khan in a double role. Shekhar Subramanium, a video game creator, to impress his young son, makes the antagonist of his game more powerful than the protagonist, G.One, and ends up being killed by RA.One.

Made on a budget of INR. 150 crores, it was one of the most expensive Indian films at the time, pioneering the concept of shooting against a chroma key green screen, the VFX later converted to 3D.

Early this year in February, Tere Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, introduced us to a Super Intelligent Female Robot Automation, with a human interface. The film had Shahid Kapoor's robotic engineer Aryan, wanting to marry Kriti Sanon’s SIFRA. Now, that sure is a love story with a twist!

BACK TO THE FUTURE

In 2009, Jehangir Surti’s (Aa Dekhen Zara) cat-and-mouse thriller opened the window to the morrow with a struggling photographer inheriting a special camera from his grandfather that not only helps him successfully bet on winning horses and rising stocks but also catches the eye of a crook. And then, it is a wild ride to Bangkok and beyond.

Seven years later, Nitya Mehra journeys with the protagonist of her sci-fi romantic drama Baar Baar Dekho, Sidharth Malhotra’s Jai Verma, on a time machine. It leapfrogs from 2016 to 2018 and beyond to 2034, returning to 2023. Before parachuting to 2047 and back again to 2023, finally grounding in 2016 to teach the commitment-phobic mathematics professor bound for Cambridge the true meaning of love and life’s real priorities.

More recently, Nag Ashwin’s INR. 600 crore Telugu film, Kalki 2898 AD which took us to the post-apocalyptic world of 2898 ruled by a totalitarian God-king. A brilliant fusion of mythology, fantasy, and science, this epic extravaganza with a pan-India star cast which includes Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Prabhas in a double role, Deepika Padukone, Saswata Chatterjee, Vijay Deverakonda, Dulquer Salmaan, Shobhana and SS Rajamouli, is already a certified blockbuster. And the good news is that this is just Part 1. Project K will continue.