Kali Ma...Kali Ma...

The actor who portrayed villain Mola Ram in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Bollywood star Amrish Puri, has died at the age of 72. I had never seen him in any film besides Temple of Doom, but that one part is enough, really. One of the great villains in contemporary cinema, and one of my favorite movie villains of all time, to be sure. He was a fine actor, and surely will be missed. Here's a more involved obit from Aint It Cool News. And here's a recent photo:



Does the Smithsonian know he took Harrison's hat?

Not everyone shares me intense, white-hot love for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, I know. I think it's right behind Raiders of the Lost Ark in terms of 80's action movie goodness. Most people I speak with complain about Kate Capshaw's admittedly annoying Willie Scott character. Yeah, she's pretty shrill, and I can't say I'm as captivated by the woman as Spielberg must have been (you know, what with marrying her after making the movie). But it's hardly obnoxious enough to spoil a movie with so many delights. The fight for the antidote in Club Obi Wan, one of the best individual set pieces in any Spielberg film. The plane crash/raft drop. The dinner scene, replete with Chilled Monkey Brains. The Mine Car Chase. The Broken Bridge. And then there's Mola Ram, standing in front of a giant skull holding magical stones aloft, chanting prayers to Kali while ripping out people's hearts.

My good friend Sanjeev has told me that he finds Temple of Doom offensive to Indian people, exoticizing them and making their religion out to be a collection of primitive pagan ceremonies. I see his point. I mean, I concede that the silent film The Golem is offensive to Jews because it's villain is a crazed rabbi who creates a clay monster that turns on him and his village. And really that's doing the same thing as Temple of Doom, borrowing a small fanciful element of an ancient religion and making it the centerpiece of a popcorn movie.

But what I feel this critique overlooks is the style with which Temple of Doom was made. Spielberg and Lucas set out purposefully to emulate old-fashioned movie serials, which often did include a lot of condescending, even offensive, portrayals of non-Western religions. Perhaps they went a bit too far in their enthusiasm for the subject and style, but they did include several positive Indian characters who reject the mysticism of the Thuggee cult (including the old man who sends Dr. Jones off on his quest in the first place). And though Sanjeev may have endured a little teasing upon first arriving in this country from India as a result of this fine movie, he probably would have anyway. No offensive if you're reading this, Snaj.

Even Spielberg and Lucas, though, seem to reject Temple of Doom these days. If you watch the Indiana Jones DVD box set, they dismiss is as the world of overzealous young men who wanted to realize dark, gruesome fantasies on the big screen. Now that they're both committed family men (and, let's face it, wusses), they prefer the milder, more kid-friendly shenanigans of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. But I'm not crazy about Last Crusade at all, really (though I loved it as a 13 year old upon its initial release). Temple of Doom still has the ingenuity and zest of Spielberg and Lucas' best work, whereas Last Crusade already feels bloated and eager to please, like too much of their later work. I resent that Sala and Marcus Brody have shifted from realistic, likable characters into comic relief, I feel that too much of the plot is Raiders-derivative, and though Sean Connery does a great job, far too much time is spent in overlong sequences of he and Harrison bickering. Plus, the Nazis in this edition are highly forgettable. The action sequence in the desert with the tanks is pretty cool, though.