Imtiaz
Ali has created a mature love story in ’Tamasha’. It is one of those complex
movies which demand a little more indulgence and attention than usual, not for
everyone to enjoy. Trailers and pre-release hype had rightly prepared the
audience for a certain interpretation of the storyline. Expectations were that
this film will explore the toll that yearning for honesty takes on a relationship.
There were some interesting choices of clues in Tamasha apart from obvious
product placements. The book that everyone was reading was ‘Catch 22’ and the
conference in Tokyo was on bipolar behaviour. Tamasha has two beautiful movies
in it and both are very powerful. One
deals with ‘Catch 22’ of role-playing and other is more to do with personality
disorders brought about by not being able to live by one’s choices. Merging of
the two strands, howsoever expertly, has left a dissonance in the experience.
Milan Kundera wrote a beautiful story on role-playing by
lovers titled "The Hitchhiking
Game". In the story a young couple on a trip decided to play strangers. They
delved into excitement and madness that such games are prone to induce. The
experience excited them initially and, even, brought out hidden aspects of
their personalities and relationship. But things went bad and the story ended
with protagonist calling for pathos to rekindle emotions and failing. The Role-playing
resulted in deforming the relationship and killing romance for all practical
purposes. Debauched abandon of such temporary leave from constraints of
morality, habits, and obligations may leave permanent scars. That was Kundera
writing in restrictive communist milieu. This is Imtiaz Ali deploying the state
of breaking free to a different and somehow, opposite impact while keeping the
agony angst, ecstasy and madness of the enterprise intact.
To begin with, there
wasn’t any relationship to deform and role play created one and here anonymity
of role-play was used to pry open maladies and heal them. Actors (a superb
Ranbir Kappor and sublime Dipika Padukone) rose up to the challenges and
infused the characters and situation with genuine joy and heart rending agony.
Their on-screen chemistry gave the story
that critical emotional heft. Imtiaz created beautiful moments used Corsica and
Hauz Khas Delhi not only as backdrops but also as characters (Ved/Don used to
talk to mountains). Results are very satisfying.
The Director has gone arty and sophisticated about laying
foundations of the major concerns of his film. His tools were the story teller
(very effective Piyush Mishra) stage play, monologue by Ved/Don. One has to be
attentive and patient to follow the direction of the story. ‘Sitare Jameen Par’
or ‘Three Idiot’ or Munna Bhai wre more direct about their core messages.
Imtiaz takes his time and allows the audience to participate in the process of
deciphering characters and decoding core message – pay off is better, if a bit
strenuous sometimes.
Imtiaz Ali is good at many aspects of direction. His song
picturisation is great, he exploits locales beautifully, he captures joys and
pain of romance very deeply. At the same time he is very sympathetic in his
portrayal of unravelling of person. His portrayal of ruin conveys its grandeur.
‘Rockstar’ saw impact of agony and total unravelling by creative torrent.
However, in the entire process there was no doubt about where the Director’s
sympathies lay. He applauded the ruining by the acid of honesty/creativity and
intensity of feelings. Here too he was appreciative of the madness of it all.
I
was rooting for ‘Catch 22’ of pure of nameless, free lunatic anonymity of role
playing. You like someone for a role which may come back to haunt you when
expectations change. But to my mild disappointment he deployed this crazy
relationship to heal a personality flaw or helping a sick person, to get his
freedom. Power female of the crazy relationship was not somewhat reduced to a
tool of healing. She was an equal partner in the crazy adventure in Corsica,
while in Delhi, it was all about Ved. Story tried to convey repression and
bipolarity of Ved, Ranbir Kapoor showed remarkable resourcefulness in tapping
crazy nervous thrill of his character’s lunacy. Dipika showed equal aplomb in
sliding into supportive role. She was great in conveying her bewildered disappointment
on meeting robotic ‘normal’ Ved. All said and done, Imtiaz Ali brings certain
smartness in the interactions of his characters. Whether it is coquettish
banter or it is catharsis of brutal longing, it is never less than posh without
being showy.
Another issue with the core message is its insistence on
superlative. It exhorts against mechanical pursuit of mediocrity and shackles
that habits and expectations put on us. It asks us to create our own story. But
what happens when you are a mediocre trapped under mediocre expectations. Not
everyone has the exit route of a ‘Storyteller’. Don’t they deserve a place
under the Sun.
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