Planet Bollybob - Bollywood Views & Reviews



 

HERA PHERI -- A GUN TABLEAU FILMSTRIP

Are you confused? Do you need to recap the ending of "Hera Pheri?" Do you want the whole thing spoiled for you? Either way, this handy "gun tableau" film-strip is for you!

Who is Sherry aiming at? If he fires his double-barelled shotgun, will he manage to kill all four people? Why are Vijay and Ajay fighting? Why doesn't Sherry just shoot somebody?

Now Ajay has a gun. Who is he aiming at? Do you think he's aiming at Vijay or at Vijay's mother? Do you think he's aiming at you? Don't be silly! You're not worth killing.

Now Vijay has a gun too. In fact, he has TWO guns. Why is one of the guns pointed at his best friend's chin? Is the other gun pointed at his mother? That would be strange, but I suppose anything is possible.

Ajay fires his gun and disrupts his hair. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Vijay fires too! Did this happen at exactly the same time? Is it possible to cinematically represent two simultaneous events in two sequential frames? Write an essay about it.

Wait, before you write the essay, notice that something very confusing has just ocurred. Both Vijay and Ajay are pointing guns at P.K. Does that mean they hold ultimate power and are slaves to no man? Is this what they call a "happy ending?"

Sherry now has a gun in Asha's back. Note how this simple fact changes the scene's power dynamic. Also note that Asha is wearing a vest with "Jane" written on it, but nobody in the movie is named Jane.

Kiran has arrived with two more guns, and she has also brought along a minor character from an early scene in the film. P.K. and Sherry do not look particularly smug at this time...they do not have guns, which makes them sad.

Vijay's mother hasn't had a chance to hold a gun yet. Is it a good idea to give a deadly weapon to a frail old lunatic with a head injury?

No! It's not a good idea at all. Giving a gun to a frail old lunatic with a head injury has given P.K. every right to look smug again, but I'm not sure it gives him a right to look like a psychotic bastard.

Umm, I guess the situation has changed again. Or maybe not. Who's winning? What happens next? I can take no more of these madly blatting trumpets, my constitution is frail...I must lie down.