Mid week movie marathon last night. This movie has been in my netflix q for a few months now and in my head for almost an year. Finally decided to see it last evening when hubby was in a call. (Warning - some spoilers ahead)
At the outset let me say that I have a lot of respect for Sudhir Mishra as a director, he has done a brilliant job in this movie too. The whole setting of the movie, the essence of late 60's and 70's has been captured well. Old delhi always brings a smile to my face. Every small details from the songs of that genre to the cotton sarees to the vintage cars effuse attention to detail on the directors part.
As always its nice to see actors who are articulate in english when you make a movie thats predominantly in english. It would have been a disaster if you had people who had to make that effort to speak in english like a local dialect. But it did make me wonder why he chose to make the main characters speak in english so much, was it for the global appeal?
I mean, it could just as well be in Hindi, would not have mattered so much except perhaps made it more aligned to mainstream movies.
Now, coming to the story line itself- I think its an out and out love story, even a triangle if you must. With politics, fundamentalism and idealism as the background canvas. Its a beautiful movie for most parts.
The first half of the movie is so awesome that it makes you crave for more. The chemistry between the central characters is brilliant.
A confused girl educated in London but trying to adapt herself to normal student life in Delhi. She is dangerously fascinated by the revolutionary. You can see hesitation and even a sense of disinterest in her eyes when they talk about protests and strikes. At the same time you can feel the adulation and that young 'but I want you' look in her eyes. Chitrangada Singh is a very good actress, brilliant screen presence.
A young revolutionary, comes from an upscale and privileged background. On the surface you wonder why does he need to be so rebellious, where is so much angst coming from? But I am guessing the spark signifies post independent newly emerging face of india and the youth of india. There is so much energy and enthusiasm that you see in the character, the will to make a difference and the optimism that they can bring about a revolution. I could probably not have imagined anybody other than KK for this role. But then its probably because he is so talented that every time you see him on the screen you don't see KK but the character he is playing.
Another young man, a typical guy next door. He is from a typical middle class family in a small town who dreams big and wants big. In his own words-"You upper class people are trying to get out while people like me are trying to get in". He wants to be somebody, nothing wrong with it. He even wants to bend rules a bit to get what he wants. Cocky and confident. His only weakness is Gita. No matter where he is, who he is, that is one person who will bring him down to his knees. In her presence, he is devoid of any pretenses, any cloaks and you see him for exactly what he is. Completely smitten.
As the story progresses, you can see the characters evolving into completely different personalities in a span of less than 10 years. Almost goes to say how the 20's are really the formative years of your life. The final results are almost paradoxical :)
The confused girl goes from being an outsider to being completely involved in the betterment of a small village. She also redeems herself from the ghosts of her past and most importantly rids herself of the absolutely consuming relationship with Siddharth. Although, it may not have been a voluntary action on her behalf, she does come to realize who she is and what she really wants.
The so called revolutionary goes from being the hot blooded youth to the man caught in the throes of corrupt politics and a certain helplessness towards understanding what he really stands for. He begins with the notion that sometimes a strong stance, even violence may be required for a revolution but is quickly caught in the quagmire when he realizes that he is surrounded by the absolutely disinterested officials who are bigger and better at violence. To see him go back to his roots is almost satirical.
Perhaps Shiney Ahuja's character is the most unchanging in the whole story, you see him as a determined youth humbled by his love for Gita and the movie almost ends on that note.
But.. yes there is a but, the movie completely falters in the second half. I mean, I was confused and I think Sudhir was too. He should have left the politics and fundamentalism as a backdrop and not bring it so much to surface.
Post interval, you begin to question so many things that it almost negates the whole first half of the movie. After about 2 hours, you want to ask yourself, where is he going with this? There is too much unnecessary stuff in the movie e.g. the final accident scene, the wrong doings in the police station and of course the penultimate scene where Shiney gets beaten up.
There was a point when i wanted to scream out loud- Where the hell did Saurabh Shukla come into the picture???? I mean, his character almost didn't exist for 2 hrs!! In the end you almost feel that Sudhir wanted to reach the final scene by any means. He knew his destination so he was just steering blindly towards it. It just becomes a huge mess.
If there was one aspect that I want to be picky about, I think its a certain sensitivity thats almost missing when it comes to sketching a female protagonist. Gita is a strong woman, she is an intelligent woman. I give that much to the writer/director. But if you are going to add components like cheating, birth of a child, rape and separation of a child, at least get to know a female psyche before doing that. Don't just paint the picture black and white.
Gita's reactions to certain aspects in the movie is almost like a Man's and I am not being derogatory mind you. I just think there is more to it than what has been portrayed. A woman's ideologies are not so stark and trudging unidirectionally. Its almost a myopic vision and I found it jarring.
If you ask me, the movie should have stuck at its core being just a love story without getting any political, fundamentalist indian issues in the foreground.
But obviously no one is asking me :p.
That aside an extremely watchable movie for at least 90 minutes :)
hazaaron Khvaahishen aisii ki har Khvaaish pe dam nikale
bahut nikale mere armaaN lekin phir bhii kam nikale
nikalanaa Khuld se aadam kaa sunate aaye hain lekin
bahut beaabaruu hokar tere kuuche se ham nikale
muhabbat men nahiin hai farq jiine aur marane kaa
usii ko dekh kar jiite hain jis kaafir pe dam nikale
Khudaa ke vaaste pardaa na kaabe se uThaa zaalim
Kahiin aisaa na ho yaaN bhii vahii kaafir sanam nikale
KahaaN maiKhaane ka daravaazaa 'Ghalib' aur kahaaN vaaiz
par itanaa jaanate hain kal vo jaataa thaa ke ham nikale
