MovieChat Forums > Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007) Discussion > Review From An American Desi

Review From An American Desi

posted 17 years ago by ghettocheeze
12 replies | jump to latest

People I will be straight and honest this movie is horrible.

Please learn something about NASCAR and stock car racing in particular before attempting such an endeavor. Can anyone please explain the director what a CAUTION FLAG means? As a NASCAR fan and racing enthusiast I feel my intelligence has been insulted by the poorly construct film. You know a movie sucks when the lead actor does not know what BUMP DRAFTING is halfway through a race? Come on you can do better than this lame duck you call a racing movie. Add to that they base it in freaking NEW YORK CITY of all places. Maybe the writers were misinformed or just plain stupid to realize stock car racing is KING IN THE SOUTH. They should have hired better consultants and adviser or better yet go to Charlotte, Richmond, Daytona or any other southern city and pull a guy from the street and he would have told you more about racing than the idiot who made this up. Racing is about engineering, testing, calibrating, track position and most importantly races are won and lost in the pits. This movie never makes any genuine attempt to show what real racing is about. Please learn the basics like drafting line, 12 second pit stops, flags, penalties. There are so many areas in which this is wrong that it would several pages to list mistakes and downright stupidity but I will save the misery.

OK now I realize this is suppose to be a happy-go-lucky Cinderella story but please some insight and research on the subject matter would have made a large difference. Now people will be quick to point out the dozens of Hollywood films who have made the same mistakes like Talladega Nights but that movie is a farce of racing from the start and everything is over the top. I mean you know what you're getting from Will Farrell but I did not expect this from Saif and a decent director like Siddharth Raj Anand. It just bothers me to see such an interesting concept go to waste such a shame. I know this film will click with the people back in India for its glitter and glamour but for us desi living in the US it will be a terrible experience so stay away. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

"I'm a risk taker. I'm growing marijuana in my parents' back yard." - Bottle Rocket

[–] rohit4165 17 years ago

I agree with you, but the point is that this country is almost totally unaware of the nuances of racing. So probably to make it more dramatic, the technicalities have been kept out. But I am in no way supporting the movie, because I myself could point out a few mistakes even though I am not a race buff. The movie makers must have thought, who the hell is going to find out. We need to get rid of this mentality. Good post, keep us updated, and if possible, enter these points in the goofs section.

Bande me tha Damm
Vande Mataram

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[–] BornAndBred 17 years ago

Give it a rest mega low maniac. This film was complete trash and no "sensible Americans" or sensible British Asians (like myself) can possibly enjoy this half-baked film which seems to be a cross between "Days of Thunder" and "Life is Beautiful". Now I am no fan of NASCAR since it has practically zero following here in the UK but I knew (like I'm sure many others will) that the racing side of this film is complete balls. I mean RV is meant to be a driver who (before his accident) has won the NASCAR Championship for EIGHT STRAIGHT YEARS!! Which means hes already a racing legend. NASCAR drivers earn millions of dollars per season and champions earn even more through lucrative contracts, sponserships and other endorsements. So in eight years RV should have earned many, MANY millions. So who the HELL is supposed to believe that this racing icon still has a morgage on his house and everything he owns was brought through loans which still haven't been paid off?? Where did all the money go? Are we to just believe that he blew it all because hes so "kharcheela"? What did he spend it on? To say it insults the viewers intelligence is a MASSIVE understatement. This film is undefendable and anyone who enjoyed it is either a total desi who only cares about good looking people and nice tunes or a complete moron. With films like Swades, Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, Devdas and Guru the Indian film industry is finally moving in the right direction. Utter crap like Ta Ra Rum Pum is only going to take it backwards again. I hope this film fails miserably so the Indian film-makers will finally quit making such trash.

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[–] BornAndBred 17 years ago

I really liked Guru. Abhishek, Ash and Mithun's performances were top notch. Fair enough it was obvious that Mani Ratnam was biased towards Abhishek's character but so what? It happens with most films even in Hollywood. Ray, Braveheart, Ali etc. are all biopics who are completely on the sides of the main protagonists even though they aren't as righteous in real life as they are portrayed on film. But more than anything else films like Guru and Devdas have something that everyone can realte to: Credability. As long as a film is believable and has controlled performances its got a good chance.

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[–] BornAndBred 17 years ago

What a shame. It amazes me that some people could watch this film more than once. And yet, a film like "Dil Se" flops miserably. Sometimes I don't get Indian audiences. Here in the UK TRRP has been a total disaster. And rightly so.

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[–] BornAndBred 17 years ago

Repeat viewings are what ensures a film's hit status. A film can open to full houses all over the country for the first couple of days. But if nobody goes to watch it again then the chances of the film becoming a hit are slim.