Jumbo from Khoon Bhari Maang
Skill Set: Can smell evil
Don't get me wrong, Jumbo certainly performs his fair share of canine derring-do in Khoon Bhari Maang. As such, he is a key ally of Rekha's in her complicated revenge scheme involving plastic surgery and strategically becoming a supermodel. Too bad he couldn't save her from having her face eaten by that crocodile, though. (For more on the subtle, finely nuanced piece of cinematic tale-spinning that is KBM, please see Memsaab's also subtle and finely nuanced take on the film over at Memsaab Story). But to me the most important role that Jumbo plays in KBM is that of being the only one in the film who really knows what's going on. For instance, Rekha's homely widow character has absolutely no inkling that her uncle is an evil cad with plans of killing her for her inheritance. But Jumbo, on the other hand, can't get within ten feet of the old fucker without instantly wanting to rip his throat out. There's something very noble and tragic about all of this, because, whether or not he has a human empath to interpret his frantic signals (where's the Timmy to Jumbo's Lassie?), Jumbo is doomed to throw his lot in with whomever ends up with their hand on the can opener -- be that party scheming and murderous, or simply too thick to see what's right in front of them until their head is literally wedged between the rapidly compressing jaws of a large aquatic reptile. Fortunately, Jumbo only has to wait until his mistress has worked her way up through the ranks from being a horribly disfigured nobody to the absolute pinnacle of the modeling world for his sad situation to improve.
Don't get me wrong, Jumbo certainly performs his fair share of canine derring-do in Khoon Bhari Maang. As such, he is a key ally of Rekha's in her complicated revenge scheme involving plastic surgery and strategically becoming a supermodel. Too bad he couldn't save her from having her face eaten by that crocodile, though. (For more on the subtle, finely nuanced piece of cinematic tale-spinning that is KBM, please see Memsaab's also subtle and finely nuanced take on the film over at Memsaab Story). But to me the most important role that Jumbo plays in KBM is that of being the only one in the film who really knows what's going on. For instance, Rekha's homely widow character has absolutely no inkling that her uncle is an evil cad with plans of killing her for her inheritance. But Jumbo, on the other hand, can't get within ten feet of the old fucker without instantly wanting to rip his throat out. There's something very noble and tragic about all of this, because, whether or not he has a human empath to interpret his frantic signals (where's the Timmy to Jumbo's Lassie?), Jumbo is doomed to throw his lot in with whomever ends up with their hand on the can opener -- be that party scheming and murderous, or simply too thick to see what's right in front of them until their head is literally wedged between the rapidly compressing jaws of a large aquatic reptile. Fortunately, Jumbo only has to wait until his mistress has worked her way up through the ranks from being a horribly disfigured nobody to the absolute pinnacle of the modeling world for his sad situation to improve.
I think you have captured the essence of Jumbo's tragedy perfectly. I wonder if he and Raja the horse ever got to compare notes and sympathize with each other?
ReplyDeleteps Do we get to read your take on the film at large as well? I hope? :)
Thanks, Memsaab. I think between this and my Animalympics entry for Raja next week I'll have the movie pretty much covered, but, hey, you never know.
ReplyDeleteI think my dog empathizes with Jumbo. I bet he knows ahead of time how some of my bad decisions will turn out but he just can't find a way to stop me.
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