TAMASHA: A Bioscope to life, and to your ‘self’ within! [3.5/5]

I dare not go any sentence further in approving Imtiaz Ali’s most personal artistic take on love, life and limitless conflicting conditions around the both, before having a word of strict advice for you that TAMASHA is not an easy watch. It neither is just another ‘boy-meets-girl’ love-story to write, shoot, edit and release. Only an Imtiaz Ali can helm the project of such risky, self-destructive and boomerang-like nature; and my suggestions here are heading towards Imtiaz Ali of today and not of pre-ROCKSTAR. If JAB WE MET and SOCHA NA THA were busy twisting the lighter side of love, if ROCKSTAR and HIGHWAY were falling for the darker region; TAMASHA is a multihued psychological exercise to reinvent, reestablish and renew your ‘self’ under mystically painful care and custody of love. TAMASHA is not an extravagant, star-studded, all flashy WIZCRAFT production of a celebrity world-tour but a cute, tiny, little bioscope which immediately transports you to the world of your dreams and your aspirations; where you’re the ‘Tamasha’ and not just a sitting idle spectator.  

In the very earliest scenes, Imtiaz makes Piyush Mishra playing an older than the old storyteller in the film mouth an exposition when he mixes up with two different stories of worlds poles apart, “toh pareshaani kya hai? The story is always the same. Do not fall for their names, places and other details. Just sit back and enjoy.” and that’s enough to hint you about the most predictable plot one can have for a love-story. Boy meets girl, on the beautiful locations in Corsica, France. They decide not to reveal their identities and be complete strangers to each other. Both part their ways. Four years down, the girl still in awe of the vibrant personality of the boy reaches to him. He is now succumbed to the all emotionless, motorized and mechanical race of the corporate world. The girl rejects the new bore. The dejected boy is now looking for a new end to his story. After all, it is never too late to start a fresh. Now as an easy entertainment seeker, you may voice a question that why always the same story, even the tagline on the posters suggests the same but then, I think TAMASHA was never about the story. It doesn’t take the easy route with over-simplified solutions to the monstrous-looking problems but decides to go on the ‘self-discovery’ mode to find some of the toughest answers only you and life can juice it out together.

There are more than a couple of reasons when I call Imtiaz the new-age ‘Yash Chopra’. The way he makes it happen, the way he breaks into the susceptible space of separation and the way he paints the pain, is meticulously relatable, unswerving and apt. He hardly creates a situation; he just opens up another unseen layer buried deep within his characters. Apart from the dialogues that rarely sound anything written, scrumptious camerawork, soul-pleasing soundtrack by A R Rahman and imaginatively decorated lyrics by Irshad Kamil, TAMASHA marks towering performances from both the leads. Though the film belongs more to Ranbir Kapoor’s character in the central role, let me honor Deepika Padukone first to talk about. The cranky, complaining independent girl of PIKU here shows off her complete different avatar in a more edgy, persuasive and in pain character of an anxious lover. You don’t have to make an extra effort to notice some of her atypical expressions you sure haven’t seen anywhere else. If she effortlessly makes your heart bleed in ‘Agar Tum Saath Ho’, she also steals it with her sparkling eyes even while being utterly there in playful conversations with Ranbir.  And now the boy himself! TAMASHA brings back Ranbir in the race. The inconsistent ‘velvet’y touch is forgiven and forgotten. The all new and fresh Kapoor shifts gears like a pro. The bathroom scene, the story-telling session at home, the apology scene; there are moments that will haunt you even after full night sleeps in the next couple of days. Undoubtedly, one of the best performances this year!

Despite going into a self-pleasing theatrical mode and uncommonly imprecise scenes of creative satisfaction, Imtiaz earns full marks on taking the risk most of the filmmakers today hesitate. Otherwise, who would dare to compose scenes with profile shots of the leads when they are busy sporting the most unforced yet intricate emotions on their face? TAMASHA is not flawless. TAMASHA is not regular. TAMASHA is inspiring. TAMASHA is mesmeric. TAMASHA is a journey you should take at least once in a lifetime to make it all right you couldn’t dare all these years. [3.5/5]     

PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO: Once upon a time….zzzZZZ! [1.5/5]

Enough said about films that still fall [in literal sense] for 80’s/90’s standard set of emotions to put the cash-registers ringing at the box-office! No, they aren’t nostalgic anymore. Do not hide your sorry state of creative drought behind the curtains of so-called ‘classic age-old charm’! Kings do exist in today’s world; I am aware of some leading that extravagant life in those grand forts of the ‘half palace-half heritage hotel’ nature but trust me, there is no ‘Praja’ in any part of the country that dresses homogeneously in pink sarees and in white kurta-dhoti. But for that tiny little piece of insight, Sooraj R. Barjatya needs to get up from his dining table which serves a daily dose of ‘Sanskar’ more than the reality. Rajshri Productions Pvt Ltd’s PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO is the most confused film I have come across in my life. It neither bores you with its trademark spell of ‘gyaan’ on true Indian values in a ‘softer than melting cheese’ tone nor does tickle you with the all well-bred, polite and ‘cultured’ idea of romance.

PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO comes from the house of traditions where a copy of Ramayana should constantly be there on your study table, no matter how old or young you are. Though the plot takes its cues from THE PRISONER OF ZENDA- an 1894 novel by Anthony Hope and Mark Twain’s THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, you can easily find the inspirations and the aspirations straight from the Ramayana. The king of ‘Whatever-pur’ [Sameer Dharmadhikari] had 3 wives like King Dashrath had. Two of the wives being legal and one being often called as ‘mashooka’ of the king, there sure is plenty scope of step-brothers and step-sisters to deal with.

So, the elder son Vijay [Salman Khan] has Ajay [Neil Nitin Mukesh], Chandrika [Swara Bhaskar], Radhika [Aashika Bhatia] as his step-siblings and all the setbacks a family of such nature could have. Just a couple of days before his coronation; the prince meets a schemed fatal accident and now, the trustworthy associates [Anupam Kher and gang] have no other choices left but to replace him with his look-alike Prem [Salman, again] to save the situation. Sonam Kapoor plays Maithili- the princess engaged to the real prince but is now reinventing love in the fake one.

PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO is a shoddily directed film where the scale is intentionally big but the soul in the content hardly makes an appearance. Film opens in Ayodhya (a dream location for Rajshri] where Prem is seen switching his accent carelessly and shamelessly from Awadhi to Rajasthani. The battleground for the plot supposedly finds its root in a location 50 Kms away from Ayodhya but can clearly be judged as some rocky royal place in Rajasthan. Aren’t Google maps free to double-check? It’s not that Sooraj doesn’t show any evolution in his mind. There is a constant joke on Anupam Kher being a virgin and I think that’s an achievement for a Rajshri film. So what if in the same film, the cleavage showing girl has to be the wicked one or vice-a-versa and the short-skirts can only be worn behind the closed doors. In a scene; when asked by a reporter if the coronation is not an out-dated procedure in today’s times, the prince intimidates him with, “do you think traditions are funny?” I wish I could answer on his behalf, “No sire, they aren’t funny but looking at what you [Mr. Barjatya] suggest, they are definitely too plain, painful, pale and pointless to be on screen”.

On the performances, I would not dare rate Mr Salman Khan. Though he’s completely comfortable and contented in his zone, his fans would certainly miss a lot of his ‘I don’t give a damn’ mannerism and slapstick action. Sonam Kapoor tries hard, as usual. Arman Kohli as one of the conspirators looks all bulky, grisly and ‘suit’able to the part but acts no better than Neil Nitin Mukesh. Deepak Dobriyal impresses in a scene or two. Swara is so typecast you would hardly notice if she’s from the sets of RAANJHNAA. And what was Sanjai Mishra doing here?

At the end, I don’t see why and how this PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO will entertain families in today’s times especially when there is no ‘Sanskar’ to look up to, no ‘Prem’ to feel shivers of emotion and no cinema [apart from the grand sets and the heavily aspirational designer clothing] to at least calm your senses. There is a scene having a camel gulping down Salman’s diary and suddenly Salman starts calling it ‘Kamil’ for no rhyme and reason. Well, Kamil is none other than the lyricist of the film Irshad Kamil and the joke is not at him but at the makers as how ‘Sanskari’ you are towards your people of strength! Anything 3-hr long can be a drag but this one sets the milestone. ‘Raja-rani ki kahani’ still works to put you to sleep! [1.5/5]