“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 100th 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…
