Movies galore

Warning: Really long post.

A lot of movie watching happened this weekend – quite a lot actually, especially for someone like me. It was a medley of movies – from the early ’60s My Fair Lady to the ’70s Emma to the more recent Raincoat and finally to last week’s Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara.

Last week at work we had to organize a Film and Music Quiz for everybody (okay, I am part of a so-called “Fun Committee”, which essentially means I work myself out such that others would have fun). As part of this quiz I had to hunt through the small collection of VCD/DVDs that I had to rip scenes from films that could be used as questions. Picked My Fair Lady (to compare it with the Bollywood blockbuster Shalimar – guesses on the connection anyone?), and as I was cutting a clip from the film, I felt really nostalgic – for the musicals of the bygone era, for the language and culture they represented and the outstanding performance one was exposed to. And so the movie happened on Saturday. A long one by English movie standards, almost 3 hours, yet it seems to fly past like a breeze, every minute of it thoroughly enjoyable. At one time the longest running Broadway musical, the movie is based on George Barnard Shaw’s equally entertaining play, Pygmalion. So much has already been said about the movie that whatever I have to say will fall woefully short. Yet, I have to say this, especially about the beautiful, enchanting Audrey Hepburn. Even though it was Julie Andrews who played the lovable Eliza Doolittle in the Broadway version, Audrey Hepburn’s superlative performance in the movie makes one feel that the role was in fact made only for her. It is Hepburn’s brilliance as the Cockney waif who is transformed into an elegant “queen” by Prof. Henry Higgins that adds that subtle magic to the film. Hepburn brings to the movie phenomenal histrionic skills and a fine sensitivity of character; she is particularly brilliant in the scene when she triumphs in beguiling many an aristocrat into believing she is indeed a “lady”, yet fails to achieve what she desires most – a sense of belonging with the man she loves. Oh, go watch it – even if you have already seen it – there is no way you will regret this.

Next, Emma happened because I splurged on Saturday and bought quite a few VCDs. Well, no regrets though. I have talked elsewhere about how I have always loved Jane Austen’s books; though Pride and Prejudice is my all-time favourite, I do believe Emma is Austen’s most structured novel. This BBC adaptation of the novel is almost like sauntering through one of the many parks in England. It doesn’t truly get boring because it gets delightful at every possible turn. I had earlier watched Gwyneth Paltrow playing the character in the 1996 movie. Though the movie is enjoyable, Gwyneth’s accented speech takes away the magic of the Victorian English. It was an imitation and not the original, and that is where this BBC version really scores – in terms of authenticity. No, I wouldn’t call it the best adaptation of Jane Austen’s novels; that would still be the BBC version of the Pride and Prejudice. Yet, if you don’t mind the length of the film and its pace, watch it – it has plenty to offer that can still be considered pleasurable.

“Agli baar jab bathroom mein rona ho, to shower zaroor on kar lena. Aisi kuch cheezen hai jo mard auraton se seekh sakte hain…”, she smilingly rebukes Ajay Devgan. And it is such dialogues infused with sensitivity and understanding of human nature seen very rarely in Indian cinema that lifts Rituparno Ghosh’s Raincoat to a different level. Or take for instance the friend’s subtle reference to how he helps Ajay get over his heartache, “wahi movie paanch-cheh baar dikhata tha, aur ise pata bhi nahin chalta”. The dialogues say a lot more than what words generally convey in Bollywood films that rely so much on action; yet a lot is left desired and unsaid. The movie on the surface is about two lovers who are estranged by destiny and then meet after six long years on a rainy afternoon. What follows is a character study of these two lives by two performers playacting for one another’s benefit. Who is fooling whom, one begins to wonder, only to discover ultimately, nobody. The movie has a bleak and desolate feel to it through out, even as one hears Neeru’s tales of an affluent marriage or Manoj’s stories of a successful career in television serial production. This verbal sparring is interspersed with flashbacks from the past, which are not at all intrusive. In fact, the real characters slowly emerge from the convoluted playactings performed by the two main protagonists. Ajay Devgan is his usual brilliant self, but it is Aishwarya who surprises. This has to be her best performance ever (I haven’t seen Choker Bali, though I heard she was very good in it). Aishwarya brings a certain amount of poignancy to the frivolousness surrounding the verbal duel of the two characters. She is particularly brilliant in the last half-hour of the movie, when she serves her guest a meal, bought because she did not really have anything to serve him. Her entire demeanour in this stage of the storytelling suggests a dignity in desperation. Raincoat stays with you long after you have stopped watching it, and seems to reinforce Rituparno’s belief that “to be truly in love is to rise above the everyday circumstances in defence of the beloved”.

Finally, the weekend ended with Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara, a movie that makes you exclaim – WOW! When an internationally-renowned, award-winning film maker Jahnu Barua joins up with one of the most brilliant actors of our time, Anupam Kher (seen in this movie as actor-producer, and reminding you so much of his Saaransh days), the results have to be astounding. And the movie surely doesn’t disappoint. Look at the opening shot – an old man stands at the feet of the vast sea, while his daughter searches for answers in the magnanimity of its waves, and at the end of the film, you will be searching for some answers of your own, as you continue repeating these lines in your head – “Himmat karne walon ki haar nahin hoti” (If someone knows the entire poem, please do post it for me). There are different layers to this film – it makes you empathise with a brilliant man slowly deteriorating because of Alzheimer disease; it also makes you sympathise with the family members who have to deal with this everyday deterioration – the indifference of some of them and the commitment of the others; yet one doesn’t really dislike the members who just want to get on with their lives, one learns to understand them; the movie also throws light on society’s attitude towards such patients, and finally it raises important questions about the state of the nation today and Gandhi’s relevance in it. The characterization in the film is absolutely realistic, so much that one tends to think one is getting a glimpse of life in the house next door. Anupam Kher is brilliant as he always is, his best performance definitely after Saaransh; Urmila too rises to the occasion, and puts in a credible performance.

Oh well, that was a lot for one weekend. But not one moment of it was regretted. How often does one really get to watch as many movies in two days, and yet enjoy all of them?