Talvar: Not Exactly a Movie Review !!

Seldom are movies made which make you look into your soul. Talvar  ​is one such film or I should say Talvar is a mirror through which we get to see ourselves. We get to see how corrupt and biased we are. To be honest I was disturbed after watching the film and wanted to punch myself, truth makes us uncomfortable I guess.

It was in 2008; every night they will flash photos of Arushi a beautiful young girl with Kajal in her eyes and a Mona Lisa like smile. I didn’t know much about the case except, ‘Characterless parents killed a characterless daughter’, that is what media told us and that is what we believed, film tells us much more.

It is a detailed and well researched film written by Vishal Bhardwaj he tries hard not to let his prejudices come in the way. Superbly shot by Pankaj Kumar (Ship of Theseus and Haider fame) and executed to perfection by Meghna Gulzar (you might not have even heard of her previous film, this surpasses them anyways) with the support of some most talented actors of our time. The film connects on so many levels. It makes you think, it makes you angry, you will be surprised awkwardly laughing (especially on the police investigations and media coverage scenes) and contemplating.  You feel like slapping the people investigating the case and then you will realize that in some way they are your own reflection. They come from the same society as you and more or less share the same belief system. The system where reading ‘Three mistakes of my life’ or surfing porn or planning sleepover with your friends makes you characterless and vulnerable to such attacks. That same belief system made this case an honor killing case. I could totally relate to it and could not help hating myself for it.

The way UP police investigated this case reminded me of my college days when we used to complete our lab journals for the sole objective of submissions and grades not even considering what we are writing, sometimes even copying the dates and roll numbers of others (weird right, I know).

The film has a documentary kind of feel, I have seen it before in foreign films but I don’t think this genre has been attempted much in India. It is extremely difficult to make such a film as it takes a lot of research and courage (it is very easy to protest or burn posters or ban films in our country). I would request you to please go and watch this film if you really want to see a film which speaks to you (and you are a kind of person who don’t like to  buy popcorns for a film because the way it grips you it won’t let you eat anything. It is good in a way I mean you end up saving 250 bucks which is pretty awesome. Here I gave you one more reason watch it).

By the end of the film the chief investigating officer Ashwin Kumar (played brilliantly by Irrfan) quits his job saying ‘Mujhse ab aur nhi hoga’. You empathize with him and by this time you too give up believing, ‘Kuch nhi ho sakta iss desh ka’.  But believe me that is not the purpose of the film the purpose here is to tell you the facts and let you choose your own version of truth and this truth defines your approach and attitude towards system, society, life.

Before Series: Dedicated to My Friends Celine and Jesse!!

Movies are much more than just ‘movies’, they are a way to live life. They inspire you make you feel hundreds of emotions which otherwise you might not have experienced. Life is too short to experience everything and so I think movies or cinema is a perfect way to live a ‘whole’ life. There are some stories which stay with you and you like to visit them again and again it is like you are going to visit some old friend of yours. A friend you know very well with whom you can sit and spend time, you might not even say anything but he will understand and will empathize with you. There are many such movies which are like my friends and help me when I am alone and don’t have anyone to talk to. Interestingly these are not very great or critically acclaimed films (well some of them are) but the point is it doesn’t matter. I think movies are very personal experience both for makers and viewers.  You may like something that your friends may curse (and they may also curse you for liking it) but still you like it and probably you won’t even be able to explain as in why you like it or what’s so special about it but that is the beauty of it. When you love something you just love it why or how are not important.

Here I would like to express my love for one (or three) such film (friend). I have watched it I don’t know how many times. I will watch them not necessarily from the beginning to end but I will watch a part of it and then will again return to my world. It is very lucid, very beautiful and vey subtle film ‘Before Sunrise’ from Richard Linklater. Most of you must have seen it. It is a part of very special Before Trilogy. All the films of this series are superb and it is very difficult to pick just one but Before Sunrise connects to me on a very personal and emotional level (Although the article is expression of my love for the series and not one film). No please don’t even think of it I have never had such a romantic evening or anything even remotely similar to it but even then I like it so much. Maybe becoz somewhere I have this fantasy in me (of meeting a young beautiful intelligent girl on a train or bus or flight) and it shows a glimpse of it or maybe not (becoz in that case I would envy Jesse which I do not). I am still trying to find an answer.

There are many love stories made and will be made in future too. But I doubt if any other film would be able to stir so many emotions in me.  Beauty lies in the simplicity of the story without being pretentious it comes across with so much honesty that you can’t help but fall in love with it. Whenever we watch love stories we all have this fantasy of getting someone like him or her from the movie. And it happens with me too but the virtue of before series is that you don’t want a partner like Celine or Jesse but you want them to be together forever, you might want to be their friend or neighbor or a school teacher of their kids but that’s all, you just wish to see them together. My fantasy when I first saw Before Sunrise was to be a fellow passenger with Celine and Jesse. Maybe I would be sitting behind them in the same coach and listening to their conversation secretly and smiling looking in my newspaper which I would be pretending to read.

This series is not a love story but it is about love what happens before and after love and what’s there in between. As Nicholas Sparks says, 'Love is like air you cannot see it but you can feel it’. Something like that except with time the air becomes heavy and gets polluted with the world but love is still there and you cannot deny it.  They start in Vienna then meet in Paris and then we meet them again in Greece some very exotic locations that you won’t even notice becoz you have the world’s most lovable characters walking hand in hand discussing life and death and all other worldly things and, you can see love, you can see love in their eyes in their smiles in their pauses. It is magical. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy have given a life to these characters and they actually feel like two random people walking on streets. Richard Linklater and his writing team has done wonders by making it so simple and relatable and yet so intelligent. I sometimes refer it as my philosophical guide, it truly has that all.

By the time you finish watching it and you realise this is the end and there is no more Celine and Jesse you feel a twinge in your heart and you will secretly end up praying for them (if they exist in real life at all). I had the same feelings when my favorite TV show ‘Friends’ finished. I was heartbroken I wanted it to continue forever and wanted Chandler and Monika to be together (I could have been the store manager at the end of the street where they come to live in their new house). But maybe endings are also very important as they kind of complete it all and leave a craving in your heart which is the essence of love. This is the beauty of great stories they become a part of you and invite you to be a part of their world.

Here I want to thank my old friends Jesse and Celine to be a part of my life and teaching me so many things and enriching me with many unforgettable experiences.

Will visit you soon guys!!

The Curious Case of Bombay Velvet !!!

I was waiting for Bombay Velvet for almost two years, or more than that I don’t remember. From the day I read that AK is making something this grand with Karan Johar and Ranbir Kapoor and all other people I was excited to hell. I wanted to watch it more than anything else. I have seen all the AK films and patronize his work but one film which has a special place in my heart and an experience which I can never forget is Gangs of Wasseypur (GoW). In Faisal’s words, ‘Humri zindagi ka ekkhi maksad reh gya tha Bombay Velvet ko bade parde pe dekhna’.

Finally I saw it on first day. And how did I like it. I loved it. Nothing like GoW or like other great movies made by AK before but it was an entertaining movie can be watched with family (which is generally not the case with AK films). I usually read reviews before watching the film but in this case I didn’t read any reviews. After watching the film I read all the reviews and I was shocked. Critics just murdered the film maybe they were expecting something like Scarface or Goodfellas and were disappointed. However, I found out an interesting phenomenon, reviews paint our vision and we do not watch the film honestly. Yes. We tend to like or dislike the film based on the reviews we read. I mean I know it is not a great film and had some flaws but still it is ten times better then what we watch on the name of commercial cinema. It had great art work, engaging script and wonderful performances. I loved the way Bombay is shown in the film. It takes you to the Bombay of 60’s and 70’s without many noises. I remember having the same experience when I saw Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris.   

The performances by Ranbir, Satyadeep, Anushka,  Kay Kay  Menon and all others were fantastic. But above all one person who just blew my mind was Karan Johar. He was brilliant as Khambatta, I wasn’t expecting anything from him and he was just terrific. I have seen many Hindi films and I don’t remember a film with such an extravagant art work. You can feel the subtle detailing in the work, it is surreal.

In spite of being such a good film why has it received so much criticism both from inside and outside the industry. I can’t say much about the people within the industry. They have their ‘personal reasons’. But I will try to dissect the case for people outside the industry; there were two kinds of audience for this film, first ‘Normal Cinegoers’ who went to watch an engaging ‘love story’ (the way it was supposed to be as promoted by the makers) and the other (pseudo) intellectual cinephliles who went to watch yet another gem from the master.

‘Normal Cinegoers’ didn’t like it becoz (honestly speaking) there was too much. I mean there was so much in two and half hour that people were unable to grab what was actually going on. They were unable connect to the love story. But it is much more than just a love story it is a tale of a city, how it grew and became what it is today.

Well, similar was the case with GoW too but luckily it had two parts. You might call me crazy but after watching Bombay Velvet I could draw parallels between GoW and Bombay Velvet. I somehow felt AK has tried to make GoW again in Bombay Velvet. I mean the soul of both the film is same. Ranbir is Faizal Khan of BV and Karan is Ramadhir and they have done it to perfection. GoW was a kind of film you could not watch with your family becoz of excessive violence and foul language but here (with Bombay Velvet) AK came up with a 'more presentable feature'. There is no foul language; violence is also ‘within permissible limits’ and it have beautiful glittering sets with jazz music narrating the tale of much more ‘familiar city’ than Wasseypur. But I think intellectual cinephliles who loved GoW were not expecting this avatar of AK. They somewhere felt he has sold out. They just can’t see actors with make ups and well choreographed songs in an AK film. And they were disappointed.

AK wanted to get all kinds of audience this time, trying to make a more entertaining film, the fact that this is the first AK movie with a U/A certificate (keeping aside Hanuman and short story in Bombay Talkies) says many things. But maybe he missed it. Having said that one more very important thing that I would like to mention here is, the way newspapers publish reports about the business film is doing (practically) ‘each and every hour’ also kills the film. They are all over the place. I mean my father doesn’t watch many films and he is least interested with what’s going on in cinemas but when I told him I went to watch BV, he was like, ‘….yeh toh flop ho gyi na pehle din sirf chaar crore banaye h’. I didn’t know what to say.

I have always believed that box office success can never judge the quality of a film but now I think even the reviews cannot judge it. I have seen poor film getting better reviews and making loads of money. Whatever it is I just want to thank AK for making Bombay Velvet. It was worth the wait and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  

From:

A stupid biased hard core AK fan.