पद्मावत: दकियानूसी पुरुष मानसिकता का 'पैम्फलेट'! [2.5/5]

ऐसे मुश्किल वक़्त में, जब हमारा समाज महिलाओं के सम्मान, उनके अधिकारों और उनके साथ होने वाले अपराधों के प्रति संवेदनशील होने की हर शर्त नज़रंदाज़ करता जा रहा है; मुझे समझ नहीं आता, संजय लीला भंसाली जैसे जज़्बाती और काबिल फ़िल्मकार को परदे पर 'पद्मावत' कहने की क्या सूझी? हालाँकि मैं देश की संस्कृति और इतिहास से जुड़े महाकाव्यों और लोकगाथाओं को सिनेमाई चोगा पहनाने के खिलाफ नहीं हूँ, और विषय चुनने की स्वतंत्रता को भी फ़िल्मकार का कलात्मक अधिकार समझता हूँ, मानता हूँ; फिर भी भंसाली जैसे फ़िल्मकार से इतनी तो उम्मीद की ही जा सकती थी. 'पद्मावत' राजपूतों की आन-बान और शान के भव्य कशीदों के बीच फँसी एक ऐसी दकियानूसी, गर्वीली और ठेठ पुरुष मानसिकता का 'पैम्फलेट' है, जिसे कोरा इतिहास मान कर देखना, सराहना और उसका जश्न मनाना किसी दुरुस्त दिमाग या दिल के लिए आसान नहीं होगा. राजपूताना शौर्य की नायिका को जौहर के लिए पति से अनुमति मांगते देखना ह्रदय-विदारक नहीं है, तो क्या है? 

भंसाली की 'पद्मावत', मलिक मोहम्मद जायसी के इसी नाम वाले महाकाव्य को अपनी बुनियाद बनाकर इतनी भव्यता से परदे पर परोसती है, कि लोकगाथा जैसी लगने वाली कमज़ोर कहानी उसके नीचे कई बार दम तोड़ती नज़र आती है. मेवाड़ के राजपूत राजा रतन सिंह (शाहिद कपूर) अपनी पहली पत्नी की जिद पूरी करने के लिए, अनूठे मोतियों की खोज में सिंहल (अब श्रीलंका) तक चले आये हैं. वापस लौट रहे हैं, तो साथ हैं सिंहल की राजकुमारी पद्मावती (दीपिका पादुकोण). पद्मावती का रूप इतना बाकमाल कि दिल्ली सल्तनत का खूंखार सुल्तान खिलजी (रणवीर सिंह) उन्हें देखने की गरज से, महीनों तक अपने सैनिकों के साथ मेवाड़ के किले के सामने डेरा जमाये बैठा रहा. दिवाली मनाई, होली मनाई और पता नहीं क्या-क्या! युद्ध टालने के लिए रानी की झलक आईने में दिखा दी गयी है. खिलजी की भूख बढ़ती जा रही है. और कहानी धीरे-धीरे ही सही, खिलजी के षडयंत्रों और राजा रतन सिंह के तेवरों से होते हुए रानी पद्मावती के जौहर की तरफ.

फिल्म का लुक हो, लोकेशन, बड़े-बड़े सेट या किरदारों का पहनावा; भंसाली अपनी पैनी नज़र से दृश्यों की सजावट का ख़ासा ध्यान रखते हैं. 'पद्मावत' जैसी पीरियड फिल्म को इसकी दरकार भी थी, और फिल्म को भंसाली अपने इस पागलपन से नवाजते भी खूब हैं, पर कहीं न कहीं दृश्यों की बनावट, किरदारों के तेवर और फिल्म में इस्तेमाल गानों का फिल्मांकन भंसाली की पिछली फिल्म 'बाजीराव मस्तानी' से इस हद तक मेल खाता है कि भंसाली साब की रचनात्मकता को सराहने की ललक जाती रहती है. फिल्म में रानी पद्मावती का जौहर को जायज़ ठहराने और वीरता का प्रतीक बताने वाले दृश्य के बाद, संजय लीला भंसाली का अपने ही बनाये उम्मीदों के सिनेमा के खंडहर में खुद को दोहराते, ढहते, ढमिलाते देखना दूसरा सबसे दिल बैठा देने वाला वाकया है. और परेशान करने वाला भी. 

अभिनय में 'पद्मावत' रणवीर सिंह के जुनूनी अदाकारी का जीता-जागता नमूना है. मांस के लोथड़े पर दांत गड़ाये, आँखों में धूर्तता और चालाकी की चमक जगाये और हाव-भाव में जिस तरह का पागलपन रणवीर लेकर आते हैं, बहुत अरसे बाद किसी हिंदी फिल्म के खलनायक में दिखे हैं. शाहिद थोड़े मिसफिट जरूर दिखते हैं, अपनी कद काठी की वजह से, पर अभिनय में कम ही निराश करते हैं. दीपिका परदे पर आग की तरह धधकती रहती हैं, और फिल्म के ज्यादातर दृश्यों को खूबसूरत बनाने में पूरा योगदान देती हैं. खिलजी के पुरुष-प्रेमी की भूमिका में जिम सरभ बोल-चाल के लहजे में कमज़ोर होने के बावजूद अच्छे लगते हैं. छोटी भूमिका में ही, अदिति राव हैदरी कहीं-कहीं दीपिका को भी पीछे छोड़ देती हैं.  

आखिर में; 'पद्मावत' एक राजपूताना मोम के पुतलों के अजायबघर जैसा है. देखने में भव्य, सुन्दर और शानदार, पर उन्हें बिना हिलते-डुलते पौने तीन घंटे तक एकटक देखते रहने का दुस्साहस कौन कर पायेगा भला? वैसे भी, तमाम उल-जलूल के विवादों के बीच 'पद्मावत' अब एक फिल्म से कहीं ज्यादा संवैधानिक, राजनीतिक और सामाजिक सतहों पर चल रही गुंडई के प्रति अपना विरोध दर्ज का आन्दोलन बन गई है, तो विरोध का स्वर मुखर करने के लिए ही सही, एक बार देखी जा सकती है. राजपूत कहलाने में सीना चौड़ा होता हो, तब तो जरूर...! [2.5/5] 

FITOOR: Oh, you (Hopeless) beauty! [2.5/5]

Apart from the jingoistic emotions and vigorous political projection attached to it, India has advanced another reason to not lose its possession over Kashmir. Bollywood loves to shake down this heavenly geographical part & pride of India to its maximum, sometimes by planting a great Shakespearean saga of love, power and betrayal under the grime of its atrocious past [Read: Vishal Bhardwaj’s HAIDER] or sometimes just by using its picturesque postcard locations as a canvas to paint someone’s cinematic dream. Abhishek Kapoor’s FITOOR fits the bill for the latter. Along with his man behind the lenses Anay Goswami, Abhishek stuns you with magnetic visuals capturing icy lakes, snow-clad wooden foot-over bridges, crimson-red mansions and some equally wooden-evenly frosty faces in and around too, in identical respect.

Official adaptation of Charles Dickens’ GREAT EXPECTATIONS, FITOOR is a tale of two star-crossed childhood lovers. They look nothing more than puppets in evil hands of fate dancing on someone else’s tune. Impoverished Noor [Aditya Roy Kapoor] finds a manipulative curator in Begum Hazrat [Tabu] and a susceptibly shifting lover in her daughter Firdaus [Katrina Kaif]. Their ways go apart to meet again but destined to demand more from their lives. The obsession fueled by the love and longing is ready to self-destruct all the dreams and hopes one is always lived for.

FITOOR is very much like the actors playing parts in it. It looks as ravishing, radiant and exquisite as Katrina Kaif on any given day. You can look breathlessly at both until they try to communicate with you. Ms Kaif’s weird diction and pronunciation force you to look out for a ‘never there’ remote control that could either fast-forward the scene or just mute her to make you switch to the ‘beauty-admiration’ mode again. Film also starts behaving like Ms Kaif, at times. It speaks, and a lot but expressions do get lost while being translated on screen. Guess what? Ms Kaif goes to London in this film too. Why? To get her admired accent. How many more times Bollywood will bless her with that added explanatory mention for her accent??

It is also on the likes of Aditya Roy Kapoor. He makes his presence felt on screen but does it at such a lifeless pace and with such a static force that you can never call it ‘a moving experience’. A self-destructive youth caught in the ill-fated love; haven’t we seen him before in such pitiable state? But the one where the film never ceases to hold the power to impress and ignite emotions on many levels is the performance of Tabu. This role earlier had the never-aging, ever-young Rekha in it but Tabu owns it now. From the sharp and shrewd lonesome soul to the hysterically remorseful aging beauty, she looked never so exposed. In other, the casting does have some surprising names from Lara Dutta and Aditi Rao Hyderi to ghazal singer Talat Aziz, mostly in favor of the film.

FITOOR doesn’t often satisfy you as a great drama or a gorgeous love-story but with the controlled direction, some amazing musical renditions by Amit Trivedi and a totally outstanding cinematography, it remains one of those unfortunate cinematic efforts that doesn’t get a full support from its lead pair and dies in a tough fight to survive its killing pace. [2.5/5] 

WAZIR: Stylish But Not Smart Enough! [2/5]

While talking about Bejoy Nambiar’s WAZIR, let’s not talk about anything related to the game of Chess. I fear, it might sound something smart, edgy and intelligent. And I don’t want to give any wrong impressions. It does try to look like one but it is not. So, we better stick to the movie and not the game. Based on an original (?) story by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, WAZIR couldn’t have been any better directorial vehicle for Nambiar. He’s known for those over-stylized crime-thrillers (SHAITAN, DAVID) that sure are racy-pacy but also predictable at the end and too manipulative in terms of throwing some loud-mouthed ‘smart’ twists and turns at you. WAZIR is exactly that but then, where is the midas touch of Vidhu Vinod Chopra-Abhijat Joshi collaboration on the writing front? Oh, I remember there is a shred of Bachchan Mania that brings him on board in a magical make-up phenomenon [like in EKLAVYA] and a trivial bit of Kashmir too. So much for Mr. Chopra!

WAZIR sets pieces to bring two of tormented souls struggling with identical grieves together over the chess-board. Danish Ali [Farhan Akhtar] from Anti-terrorist Squad is facing his wife’s [Aditi Rao Hydri] rejection and repulsion for losing her daughter in a terrorist encounter. Enters wheelchair-ridden Pundit Omkar Nath Dhar [Amitabh Bachchan] sharing the pain of similar loss of his young daughter in a mysterious accident. A union minister [Manav Kaul] is on his radar as a prime suspect of the murder. And then, begins the game of chess where metaphors like ‘pyada’ ‘wazir’ ‘badshah’ get much of exposures in dialogues but hardly sound considerable in actual actions. In one of the scenes, Pundit ji throws a momentous line at Danish about how it’s all about timing in the game of chess but there is no timing to play the chess; and Danish hits back with a plain, simple and straight-faced reaction as ‘Bakwaas’. I wanted these kind of verbal punches more in the film than relying on a heroic shootout, a couple of ‘race against time’ chase sequences and some soulful melodies only to give the director a framework to fit some of his trademark shots i.e. capturing rainfall in slow-motion.

WAZIR’s strength, without a doubt, finds its traces in its supremely competent cast. Though making Mr. Bachchan’s character wheelchair-ridden looks mere a gimmick, he never lets you feel the same about his performance. He’s easy, effortless and a pro but again, the writing holds him back restricting it to not make it to the list of his bests. Farhan tries hard and succeeds in a couple of emotionally-charged scenes. His quick ‘spur-of-the-moment’ real reactions do grab your attention for most of the scenes. Aditi Rao Hydari looks good on her part, and makes you wanting more of her, once again. Manav Kaul does it again with his skilled acting ability to perform the part with absolute honesty. His subtly to be in a scene and in a space made exclusively for him is never overpowering or too imposing to make anyone feel unsettled, and it’s rare. My only expectation from his intellect was to have a Kashmiri dialect as his character is sketched like one and he’s too not alien to the place in actual.

Overall, WAZIR is one of those thrillers that make all the deliberate attempts to be able to overwhelm you with its calculated twists in the plot without showing any respect to your intellect. I could see this coming from a first-time filmmaker who doesn’t live in hopes to have a second chance, thus applying every trick to impress the viewers but not from someone so established. Play smartly; don’t play smart! [2/5]  

GUDDU RANGEELA: Average Writing makes it Average! [2/5]

Subhash Kapoor carries certain gravity with his name. You should remember him as the wisely witty and responsibly engaging filmmaker behind PHAS GAYE RE OBAMA- a hilarious take on Global Recession and JOLLY LLB- another satirical drama on Indian Judiciary System. The fact that he’s been chosen to replace Raju Hirani and direct the next in the MUNNABHAI series itself says a lot about the man. Sadly, his latest GUDDU RANGEELA despite having all his trademarks fails miserably to impress, or even entertain at large to match that extended expectations.

Full-time Orchestra singers and small-time criminals Guddu [Amit Sadh] and Rangeela [Arshad Warsi] find themselves trapped in a ‘kidnapping gone wrong’ case but what’s hidden in the box, has also an opportunity they have been looking for almost a decade. Their counterpart Billu Pehalwan [Ronit Roy] is a local MLA and a hardcore supporter-admirer and motivator of Khap Panchayats. Honor-killing is just one of his favorite leisure activities.

GUDDU RANGEELA decides to talk about social filths of many sorts but doesn’t showcase guts to provide sensible solutions or a definite way out in any manner. In fact, it doesn’t think twice before turning a potential social-drama into a personal revenge-saga. Khap Panchayats can be as heartless, harsh and cold-blooded as anyone could think of. We all are sentient to the Manoj-Babli honor killing case; but this is no real world. Looks like Subhash Kapoor believes in having the cake and eating it too. The reel world’s Manoj and Babli conveniently escape the bloody fate to be able to walk the road to the bazaar-demanding happy end. The writing and the jokes are strictly average, though the twist in the first half is well-executed. Film loses its steam completely when starts settling all this with a dramatic climax on the lines of any action movie from 80’s.  

Raju Hirani is known to bring interesting still images on screen that has already been successful in filling your heart with joy. Remember, the passing shot of a man clicking a bunch of women all clad in Burkha from head to toe, in 3 IDIOTS? Mr. Kapoor too tries it with the most colorful visual in the film, of Saadhus playing football in the yard of a temple. In others, Achint Kaur plays a new-age Chief Minister enjoying her chewing gum while showing off her strength and force in the character. The coolest, I say! And then there is this intrepid scene where Guddu unapologetically asks Baby [Aditi Rao Hydari], “Degi?” without giving any shady explanation. I like it! I wish GUDDU RANGEELA would have had more and more of such differently able scenes, and not just some lame, age-old and tasteless jokes to cover-up.

Arshad Warsi is repeating himself big time, I’m telling you. His ISHQIYA days are still here. And he is hardly able to level it with whatever he’s getting to play. Amit Sadh tries his hard to give us a believable Haryanvi character but the efforts overshadow the talent. Ronit Roy despite having a one-dimensionally written part manages to pull out very well. He never goes off-track, neither in his attitude nor in the lingual detailing. Of the rests, Rajeev Gupta as the Sub-inspector tickles you the most.

At last, with the kind of metaphors and affection Subhash Kapoor uses in GUDDU RANGEELA, it sure can be seen as his SHOLAY mashed with the sensitivity towards some real bad social impurities. But not in a perfect measure! [2/5]