Tamasha – to the people who didn’t get the point

 

I love movies that leave an impact on me. Long after I have left the theatre if I am still thinking about the movie, I know it has somewhere struck a cord with me. Since one spends some precious time to watch it, I’d like to think it’s only fair that a movie should leave you wanting more.

With all the negative feedback I received for Imtiaz Ali’s latest Tamasha, I was fully prepared to expect nothing from it. But, having a super solid girl crush on the movies protagonist Deepika Padukone, and the fact that I love how Imtiaz explores the concept of love in each of his films, I just had to watch it.

To the idiots who slept through the movie, walked out, almost walked out, wanted to walk out, called it bakwaas, and almost all who just didn’t get the point of the movie, I’d like to say ‘yours is the word I will not take to make my movie selections!’

The movie for me is in the league of zindagi na milegi dobara, well almost there. One could draw out parallels between the two movies, where love inspires you to find your real self, getting out of the mindless rats race to follow your heart and your dreams. Of characters so beautifully etched out that one understands where they are coming from that the viewer does not necessarily judge them for making certain decisions.
The movie had it flaws(the love story in Corsica sometimes being a little too vague), some really irritating ones(heer toh very sad hai as the background score!) and some nagging questions that were left unanswered( how did Ved wind up in Corsica?, what happens to him after Tara leaves Corsica, since he had found love and she had inspired him to be his crazy best, how did he go back to being a society robot?) But overall the movie inspires to take a look at our childhood, urging one to come out of their shells that were imposed upon them. Parents want the best for their children, and the blame game is just another excuse to take refuge in complacency and mediocrity. The movie reflects on the freedom of being able to write and rewrite ones own story  ‘we can always change the ending of our own story’ as Ved (Ranbir Kapoor) puts in the movie.

Love is about giving space, getting the best out of each other, inspiring each other, accepting the ‘neurotic’ in the relationship, where society doesn’t matter and one writes their own rules. I loved the scene at the Social, where the distraught lovers meet each other after breaking up. Tara upon realising her mistake, that she gave up on love too easily, tries to convince Ved to forgive her and take her back. The acting is flawless. My girl crush on Deepika has probably magnified, if that’s possible and Ranbir proves that a few bad movie choices does not mean a squat when it comes to his acting abilities. He is simply fantastic as someone struggling to stay sane in his make-believe world, which for the viewer is the real world, with a promising career because he is decent and well behaved! His real world, the world of his dreams, is where he is his charming and almost ‘neurotic’ self. A world which he stifles to fit into society, but is too overpowering to hide from someone who appreciates his idiosyncrasies. That’s where Tara helps him blossom into his real self, and where the child in him squeals with laughter and let’s out his creative genius.

Another part which I like, though predictable but powerful enough to answer Veds burning questions on his life’s purpose, is when he meets the storyteller who inspired him in his childhood. When he asks the now senile-near-death man to tell him Veds life’s story, the agitated man calls him a liar and a con man, a coward who is scared to live his own life. A string of pertinent questions that leaves Ved content, what are you scared of? Who is there that scares him witless to live his life?

I love how Imtiaz explores and portrays the concept of love in his movies. Giving the idea a sound background, rooting it and then branching it out into these layered and complex emotions where the ending is as simple as an ideal life philosophy.
Kudos to Imtiaz for yet another memorable ‘love’ movie.

An after thought to Deepika padukone’ look in the movie, considering that one of the costume designers is Anaita Shroff Adjania, I have to say was a bit disappointing. Deepika looked gorgeous because she is exceptional, in every sense of the word. I love Anaita’s styling but somewhere in this movie, it just didn’t click. I didn’t really care for the work outfits, some of the Corsica ensembles were spot on but overall, nothing as eccentric as the character she plays. And the eyebrows in the scene where Ranbir meets her in Japan! Filling in eyebrows is different from creating a boundary wall around it.