Shudh Desi Romance- A mature film for the innocently immature kind or a bad film??!!

Firstly, Is “immature” a bad word? Not necessarily. Among its many meanings, it also means- tender, young, inexperienced, etc. Now, that explains the heading of this post, which intends to ask- Is Shudh Desi Romance (SDR), a film for the restlessly young & genuinely confused or is it simply a bad film??

By the time I got to see Shudh Desi Romance (SDR), almost all the people around me had seen it and had unanimously hated it. None of them said the film was, “ok” or a “one time watch type”. They simply said, “Don’t watch! Its Bad!”

But being a Jaideep Sahni (Writer) fan since his Khosla ka Ghosla days, I had to watch it and find out what precisely could have gone so wrong. To my surprise I kind of realized- nothing much really… except may be- “audience reaction!”

SDR is a story of 3 people. 3 people, who’s characters are well defined and well explored. We see them at their best and their worst and that’s what made the film interesting for me. They seemed very real and believable. In fact, the only thing that they did not seem was- conventional film characters!!

There is- Raghu, a street smart, high energy, charming boy, perpetually petrified of “commitment” & thus of “marriage”.  We learn about this in the first scene- Loud & Clear!

One night on his way to his ‘own’ marriage, he meets- Gayatri, a new age girl with all her – so called- ultra modern traits (Chain smoking, Boyfriend hoping…) but still harboring dreams deep within that girls all over the world unanimously want to come true. In the morning, Raghu runs away from his marriage just before the “varmalas” are to be exchanged leaving behind- his wife to be- Tara- the most poised of the three who seems to be in control but who, in fact, is the most vulnerable of them all!!

The stage is set and the film begins…

To complete the context of the message, there is Goyalji (Rishi Kapoor), the “elder” who symbolizes quiet simply the “society” around us, “our peers”, “our parents”, “our friends”, “our very own thoughts”!! etc…

He may not be too interfering but he is very- smartly- judgmental. Every once in a while he shall slip in an advice- “Tumhare bhale ke liye” of course! And he constantly lurks around, very subtly yet distinctly exerting influence on the events that unfold- just like most things in and around us!

Now all that follows in the narrative is driven by the kind of people these individuals are. They get physically attracted and when they do, they don’t hold back. Now this could seem excessive but what if they are like this coz may be they are trying to prove a point, they are trying to fit in, in the forward seeming world they are told exists out there! For don’t forget why this story is set in a place that it is- a satellite city! Had it been in a more exposed and aware place like a metropolis they would have behaved differently. However, no matter how brave and forward they would want to seem now, they are yet not sure of their own feelings! They are defensive… yet humane.

 

Throughout the film, there are justifications for their actions. However, these are not thrust upon you explicitly. They are placed very casually all over. And that could well have been their undoing. Having missed these justifications & clarifications, their behavior may seem frustrating.

Some people have found it unconvincing to believe that a strong & beautiful girl like Tara would fall in love with Raghu- a guy who left her at the altar! But the fact that Tara is not strong at all and is in fact quiet vulnerable is made ample clear when we realize that instead of achieving her dream to become an air hostess she has settled for simply watching planes fly, by regularly visiting the airport!! And we are expecting her to stay away from him just because she "looks" beautiful then it exposes our shallowness much more than the bizarreness of her act!

Gayatri’s true self is evident too when she asks Raghu to move out of her apartment just a night after she has agreed to him moving in with her and has had sex with him.

All in all, SDR is a film about young people who seek love ferociously but have no idea how or what it looks like. Their hesitancy to commit is spelled out thoroughly when Raghu sums it up at the end of the film.

“I stayed with you willfully in your house…”, he says to Gayatri, “…the door was always open and I could have left anytime but I never ever felt like leaving. But marriage makes it feel as if the door is going to be locked forever and it feels claustrophobic!”

Now you may agree with Raghu or Gayatri or Tara or you may completely disagree. The fact is that there is a reason why they are behaving in a manner that they are. What makes the viewing experience pathetic is that their plight is genuine and pathetic. Its not a very happy place to be.

But a place like that does exist and the truth is we are all aware of some such place or its whereabouts. There is no malice amongst these people. There is no deceit…. The only term one may label them with, thus, may be- “Immature”

As such to feel this film and its characters one needs to touch that chord of immaturity within… once that chord is touched may be… Shudh Desi Romance may seem a far more mature film in the matter that it tries to handle… definitely not a bad film. Coz its far from it.

Why you must watch “Madras Café”?

Plenty of films release every Friday (These days even Wednesdays & Thursdays!). Some are good, some are bad and some are entertainers while some are class apart- Special. Madras Café (MC) falls in the last category.

Coming from a director par excellence like Shoojit Sircar who has the range to tell stories from a poignant romance amidst a war torn & tense Kashmir (Yahan) to the rib-tickling story of a sperm donor (Vicky Donor); MC is a sleek, gritty, precise and above all a ‘sincere-brave’ film.

Although claimed to be a fictional account (For obvious reasons), the film is a narrative of the what went behind the assassination of India’s ex PM. This- by itself- makes it a thrilling adventure to look forward. These are subjects we have blamed film-makers to be immature to handle. Someone has done it now, Its our turn to rise up and patronize that effort! However, what makes the film even more humane and heart wrenching is how it reveals to us the lives of all those faceless and nameless individuals (Officials of RAW, IB, NIA etc.) who strive day in & day out to keep us safe and respectable as a nation; as a society.

Without ever deviating from the gritty crux of the plot, Sircar’s direction and the screenplay by Shubendhu Bhattacharya & Dusan Tolmac effortlessly explores these “behind-the-scenes” people. The trauma they endure, the politics they battle and the losses they suffer makes you want to meet them wherever they may be, look into their eyes and say- “Thank you sir…Thank you”.

I never thought I did endorse a John Abraham film! But Sircar casts Abraham to do precisely what he can do best and even betters it. Likewise, before MC, I was terrified to watch Nargis Fakhri “act” after suffering her first outing but then again a perfect casting can turn perception on its head! Cast as a tough war correspondent, raised abroad, Nargis never speaks a letter of hindi and thus gets deliverance from the sin called- Rockstar! The supporting cast is refreshing (Siddharth Basu, Piyush Pandey!) and extremely believable when they mouth their lines. The action is top notch, the background score is spot on and the fact that there are no songs in the film is the biggest proof of how sincere the makers have been to the story and therefore to “us”- the audience.

The “bravery” bit comes from the sheer initiative Sircar & John Abraham (Co- Producer) have taken to make a film on this subject. The protests and threats against the film are proof of the fact that here is story that the powers above don’t want us to know! To invest so much time, effort and money in such a film is commendable and proud moment for Hindi films.

After the success of “Vicky Donor”, Shoojit Sircar had the luxury to make any number of “light on the mind” entertainers with big names, plenty of dance numbers and a riot of color. Instead, he chose a story that would make us ask questions, would make us think and wonder of what actually happened back in that time and more importantly what could be happening now!!!

Not every Friday (Wednesday or Thurday) does such an experience happen. Go take it. 

Chennai Express- Its a Rohit Shetty ride!

There are certain films which you do not judge as a whole. Instead, you sit through them and measure your 'experience per sequence!'

These are films that require you NOT to reason. One sequence follows another and no matter how illogical or obnoxious it may seem, all you have to do is to note whether you are being entertained or not.

Rohit Shetty has made these kind of films. He is not at all apologetic about it and makes no claims of being a classic filmmaker for the intelligentsia. If he is being so honest and upfront it is downright moronic of whoever looks to find meaning in his cinema. Why critics search for “Nuances” and “Character layering” in Shetty’s films is beyond me?! What is further atrocious is the critics’ knee jerk reaction to look down upon anything that does not have long silences or subtle colors! The moment any film is colorful, loud and jingoistic- the critics find it below themselves to like it. Its a risk they prefer to avoid! Alas…

Chennai Express is a fun film. Whether it is good or not depends entirely on what kind of mood you are in and how open you are to react to jokes! If you go in the hall with as much honesty of expectations as Shetty makes his comic capers with then you shall come out satisfied. For on all counts that Rohit Shetty has promised… he has delivered and much more.

I was entertained. I enjoyed the buffoonery of Shah Rukh Khan, I loved the cuteness of Deepika, I laughed at the gags, tapped my feet at the songs and flinched at the fights and what’s more is that I found nothing forced; making the “much more” part completely justified!

Get on the train baby... but travel light- no expectations! Your journey will be fun!

Bombay Talkies- Full on good shorts but Short on good celebration! Just!

“Bombay Talkies” is not one film. Not because there are four directors narrating four different stories but because none of the stories cross paths and are played out one after the other with a demarcation of a good five seconds in between each other.

As such there remain only two ways to look at “Bombay Talkies (BT)”.

One is to look at it as a bunch of 4 short films- individually and the other is to look at it within the context of which it has been made- to celebrate 100 years of Hindi cinema.

As four individual short films individually, BT is a thoroughly commendable effort and the product is something each director and us as audience should be rightfully proud of. Each film is so sincerely and delicately handled that it speaks volumes of the maturity that we have achieved as a society. Each film stands up tall and makes a laudable statement for itself.

However, it is on the second count (The film in context of 100 years) that I have problems!!

1)   How is Karan Johar’s film got anything to do with 100 years of Hindi cinema?

2)   How come there is not even a remote reference to our beloved song and dance routine anywhere in any of the films?

On the first of the above two points, what troubled me the most was how there has hardly been much mention of the above fact anywhere. Instead there has been loads of ranting about the fact that Karan Johar has made a brave film about sexuality! Yes, it is a brave film and a sincere one but it sticks out like a sore thumb! Besides what is the fuss about Karan Johar and his take on alternate sexuality? I wonder whether there would have been similar reactions had the said film been made by an Anurag Kashyap or a Gauri Shinde? They would not have. So it speaks less of Karan’s bravado and more of our tiny convoluted pseudo minds!

Points 2 bothers me because this bouquet of films give an impression of this 100 years party being an absolute elitist affair. It is as though in this 100^th year, we have abandoned the true patrons of Hindi cinema who have celebrated films much more than the matured urban audience ever can! How much of anything is there in this 2 hour anthology for the so called “front benchers” who make actors into “stars” and films into “blockbusters”? Not much! Ironically, there is not much to enjoy in this film for the very characters whose stories the film tells!!

 

But then… at least somebody made an effort of doing a “collaborative” effort on this precious occasion and also saw it through. For that I congratulate Ashi Dua and team and wish them and all of us the very best as a new century of Hindi cinema begins…