Spoilers ahead…
About fifteen minutes into Tamasha, the new film from Imtiaz Ali, I’d got my money’s worth. We’re in Corsica, France – the first of many places we run into Ved (Ranbir Kapoor). Others include a future trip to Tokyo, Japan, and a back-in-time excursion to Simla, Flashback – yes, written that way, as though Simla were a territory in a larger province in the past, named after a narrative technique. But for now, Corsica. Ali’s characters like to take long journeys, but for the first time in one of his films, we feel we’re on vacation. The locales, glazed with buttery-yellow light, look good enough to gobble up. (The eye-balming cinematography is by Ravi Varman.) Ved is on vacation too. He works in an unremarkable job in India – he’s a product manager. An on-loop montage shows us his routine – wake up, brush teeth, eat cereal, wear tie, stop at traffic light on way to work, keep elevator door open for others, smile politely at colleagues, and deliver numbing PowerPoint presentations. Who wouldn’t want a break?
At first, Ved is like all vacationers. He’s just physically in a different place. Then he runs into Tara (Deepika Padukone), and something – we’re never told what, exactly – happens. He becomes another person, mentally in a different place, on a vacation from himself. Ved is frequently shot in front of mirrors, connoting the split between the person he is at heart and the person he’s been forced to become by the ways of the world (someplace between dil and duniya, as the film puts it), but note that his name has a reflection too: Dev. It’s another man’s name. And in Tara’s company, Ved becomes that other man – only, he calls himself Don, after the movie. Why use real names, he reasons. Then they’d discover common friends, that it’s a small world after all. Why not stay in this larger world, with its infinite capacity for imagination? Let’s be strangers, let’s part as strangers. Tara plays along and becomes Mona. Soon, AR Rahman’s instrumental track Parade de la Bastille begins to play over a colourful celebration around Ved and Tara – sorry, Don and Mona. They talk. They hang out with no agenda, certainly no getting-to-know-you stuff. The instrumental segues smoothly to the song Matargashti, where the irrepressible Mohit Chauhan seems to be holidaying too. The energy is infectious. The locals join in. The next time you find yourself at the end of a bad day, watch this stretch of Tamasha instead of pouring yourself a stiff drink. You’ll end up with twice the high.
It’s a number of things, but let’s begin with the performances. Ranbir and Deepika do the most difficult kind of acting. There’s no industrial-strength emoting needed. The plot hasn’t really kicked in yet, so they aren’t required to slip into character arcs or do things actors are usually called upon to do to take the story forward. They’re just required to bask, to be. This kind of “performance” is a combination of personal charisma, mutual chemistry, surrendering to the moment, and praying that the director knows what the hell he is doing – and the leads pull it off beautifully, as if unaware that a camera is watching them. Just the way all this comes together – actor to actor, scene to song, normalcy to choreography (nothing elaborate, just the illusion that limbs are on vacation) – is so seamless, so breathtakingly alive (more about Aarti Bajaj’s editing later), that the film could have ended right here and I’d have walked home happily.
But vacations come with a return ticket. After this dream beginning, it’s time for reality, for Don and Mona to become Ved and Tara again. But the parting-as-strangers clause of their pact proves difficult for Tara. On the way to the airport, Deepika shows us what Tara is feeling, a messy mix of “Shit, I should probably stay back and spend more time with this amazing guy,” and “What an idiot you are Tara, how could you fall so hard for a man who won’t even tell you his name?” and “Christ, how can something that lasted for such a short while and was so much fun now hurt this much?” Tamasha is the first Imtiaz Ali movie in which we see the woman pining for the man, and a small problem is that we know nothing about this woman except that she pines for this man.
Women have pined for men earlier in Imtiaz Ali’s films, most famously in Rockstar. Heer pined for Jordan to such an extent that, in his absence, she began to droop like a plant that doesn’t get much sun anymore. But we only sensed this pining. We did not see it because we did not spend too much time with her, and the story was told entirely from the man’s point of view. But the first half of Tamasha is almost completely Tara’s story – how, after her return to India, she wills herself back into Ved’s arms (she finds him after a while); how she forces herself to believe that this is going to work; how she discovers that she doesn’t want Ved, she wants Don. She wants the free spirit who howled at the moon, not this product manager who, after meeting her many years later, smiles as if meeting someone who sat in the cubicle opposite his years ago. (He hands her his business card.) They start going out, after revealing their real identities. One evening, she invites him up. He leans in to kiss her, then remembers something. He’s got to put his phone on silent. Later, he says “I love you” as though informing her she’s got something on her chin. She’s devastated.
What does she do when not pining? Tamasha seems to want to tell us both sides of this love story, but only Ved is developed as a character. Tara works better as a romantic construct, a deux ex machina – as her name suggests, someone sent from the heavens to guide this earthbound man. We don’t get to know her the way we get to know Ved. Her career is a blur, something in the tea industry. (Hey, all the better to wake up Ved.) Her family is a blur, barely glimpsed in a scene. Her boyfriend is a blur, one of those blandly good-looking men Ali likes to cast opposite his heroines. But every time she goes chasing after Ved – at one point, she becomes like Jordan in Rockstar, desperate to have Ved back in her life – we find ourselves wanting to know more about her. We’re told that she came to Corsica because her favourite comic, as a kid, was Asterix in Corsica – but why is she alone? Doesn’t she have friends? What about that boyfriend? You can see Ved holidaying all by himself – but Tara? In a very funny scene, Don accidentally looks down Mona’s blouse and glimpses her “husn ki vaadiyan.” She blushes and instinctively begins to button up, but then she pauses. She smiles and takes off her shirt. We keep wanting to know the woman who blushed and paused, which is presumably the woman Mona is when back in India. It’s a credit to Deepika’s performance that these questions don’t loom larger. She takes a chalk outline and teases out a character. The movie-star radiance helps – she’s lit in a soft light that emphasises Tara’s ethereality. And then we think about Corsica, how she travelled light when Ved carried this huge backpack around all the time. Maybe the point is that he’s the one with all the baggage, the one with the story worth getting into.
For a while, I had a tough time accepting that Ved could transform into Don, that Don could transform back into Ved. These states are polar extremes, and unless, say, hit by trauma, people usually exist somewhere along the middle. But if this facet of Ved comes across more as conceit than character, it’s because it could be no other way in Imtiaz Ali’s intensely romantic world. Maybe logically speaking, a man who has it in him to talk to mountains (Don does that) and crawl on all fours to lakes in order to lap up the water wouldn’t, when back in his natural environment, clamp himself down to this extent, brown-nosing his boss (a very funny Vivek Mushran) and not do a single thing that’s fun. But emotionally speaking, we get what Ali is after. Ved is like Rockstar’s Heer. He doesn’t get the things he wants. He begins to droop like a plant that doesn’t get much sun anymore.
And what lights him up? Stories. As a child, Ved spent hours at the feet of an eccentric raconteur (Piyush Mishra). This man – the classic unreliable narrator – keeps mixing up his characters. He talks about Ram and Sita one day. The next day, he’s in Troy, with Helen and Paris. When Ved protests, he says, “Kahaani kahaani hoti hai… Bas mazaa lo kahaani ka.” Don’t think too much. Just enjoy the story in front of you. This is true of Tamasha as well, and maybe of Imtiaz Ali’s work in general, less head fodder than feasts for the heart.
Ved listens to these stories and his imagination runs wild. One moment, he’s in his Catholic school, watching a procession of choir boys singing Joy to the World. The next, his mind has transformed this procession into Samyukta’s retinue during her swayamvar, as she searches for Prithviraj, varmala in hand. This kind of childhood, Ali says, is a serpent, and if we are to grow up, if we are to become responsible adults, we need to leave this Eden, we need to crush these temptations underfoot. And this is the trauma that turns us into automatons. Tamasha literalises this at the beginning, through a stage show about a robot on a treadmill. That’s what Ved has become. But when Tara enters his life, things begin to change, the way things changed for Jordan when he met Heer in Rockstar. In that film, being away from the woman made the man go mad. Here, being with her makes him go wild. He becomes the lovelorn characters from the stories he heard as a child. The film quotations change too. He’s no longer “cool,” like the titular character from Don. He becomes melodramatic, someone who recites Koi paththar se na maare from Laila Majnu, a vastly different kind of seventies movie. The stories from Ved’s childhood are presented in grainy visuals, and finally we see Ved himself embalmed in one of these visuals – he’s written his own legendary love story. With some help, of course. As in other films by Ali, destiny plays a part. After Tara rejects Ved’s proposal, he misplaces the ring, but his friends find it. Later, in a peevish fit, he gives it away, but the recipient returns it. The gods have spoken. Ved is meant to be with Tara.
Ranbir isn’t as convincing in the breakdowns where his inner Majnu keeps bursting out – there’s something studied about the way he alternately holds back and lets loose. But he’s otherwise fantastic. Or maybe we should say the character is fantastic – at least to those who love Imtiaz Ali’s heroes. Ali writes for men the kind of stories Barbara Cartland wrote for women, except that his stories have a steel core of angst – they’re Snarlequin Romances. If you’re logical-minded, you’ll probably look at his heroes and say, “Oh, grow up!” But you need to be a romantic like Ali – or like Jordan, or like Veer Singh from Love Aaj Kal – to really enter his world. And what a world that is – even auto-rickshaw drivers wear their hearts on their khaki sleeves. We meet one such man, as Ved hops into his vehicle. The song he hums? Tu meri zindagi hai, from Aashiqui. But this character isn’t just about another film quotation. He’s like Ved. He wanted to be one thing (a musician). He ended up being another (an auto-rickshaw driver). And in one of those amazing amalgamations of Imtiaz Ali’s writing and Aarti Bajaj’s editing, we slip between a song the man imagines he’s singing (in the stage inside his head, he’s a star), the same song as he sings it in real life, and Ved’s flashback that shows us how he was forced out from what he wanted to be and how he ended up what he is.
The film is full of these trancelike transitions. Through Ved’s imagination, we see a pining Sita, embroidering Ram’s name on a swatch of cloth – CUT TO Tara pining for Ved, even before we’ve been introduced to her as a character. The song segues are equally amazing. (Rahman’s music works beautifully with Ali’s visuals.) Ali is one of the rare modern-day filmmakers – along with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, another singular-minded director who’s a bit of an acquired taste, and whose films aren’t head movies but heart movies – who respects the value a song can add to a situation. We see Tara walking out of the airport in Kolkata, her hometown, and we cut to the song Heer to badi sad hai somewhere in Punjab. The song situation itself isn’t new. A chorus is commentating on something – we’ve seen this in Zanjeer, for instance, where street performers sang Deewane hain deewanon ko and made the leads (and the audience) realise what their feelings were. But I cannot recall another film in which this sort of commentating happened in a completely different location. Ali seems to be asking: But why should the fact that Tara is in Kolkata prevent the song from unfolding in Punjab? After all, wasn’t that where Heer was from?
There aren’t many other mainstream filmmakers whose films lend themselves to such readings – and re-readings. (Re-watching Ali’s films is like a turn of a kaleidoscope – you see them slightly differently.) If only he wasn’t such a chronic over-explainer. It isn’t enough that he sets up the film’s theme at the beginning, with that robot on a treadmill. At a later point, Ali has Ved narrate the same story, at length, to his father. And hasn’t the point about Ved being a natural-born storyteller already been made – in Corsica, where he entertains a gathering of strangers, and through the series of stories he tells rapt listeners on the sides of the streets back home? The over-explaining spills over to the songs too. Tu koi aur hai, a number goes, over a despondent Ved. You are someone else. And we need to be told this? But past these prosaic bits, there’s always some poetry around the corner. Ali creates an intense, immersive experience, a lot of which is surely autobiographical – don’t tell me it’s a coincidence that Ved ends up in show business. (Sometimes, the audience finds it autobiographical too. A young boy weak in maths being forced into engineering, and then gradually worming his way to a more creative career? I know at least one viewer who was nodding vehemently.) The last scene shows Ved and Tara as they were in Corsica – just basking, just being. They have headphones on, and they’re dancing to a song we don’t hear. That’s Ali, really. He makes movies out of the music inside his head.
KEY:
- Tamasha = spectacle
Copyright ©2015 Baradwaj Rangan. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Shankar
November 29, 2015
Baddy, ippo purinjutha? 😀
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Juned Shaikh
November 29, 2015
Great review Baradwaj. Haven’t seen the movie yet, will only be able to see it when they release the DVD. But from the review, I sense the movie may also be an ode to Love in Shimla and Love in Tokyo, that is why Shimla and Tokyo, perhaps. Apart from Dev Anand, Joy Mukherjee may be another referent for Ali.
By the way, I think you do the best Imtiaz Ali reviews. And Barbara Cartland for men, what a lovely thought.
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MANK
November 29, 2015
Brangan, this film is more like Imtiaz Ali’s One from the Heart or New york new york. A film that shows his best in storytelling and visual designing but ultimately not very good. His self indulgences bring the film down especially in the second half when things begin to drag. I am not sure whether i liked the film or not, may be a second visit to the cinemas might help.
But whether good or Bad, Imtiaz ali’s films always gives a lot to think and write about. I think this is the longest review you have written since Ali’s own Highway. I am getting a little tired of this hero\heroine going a journey to find themselves trope that Ali has been doing to death. But still the craftsmanship on view is outstanding
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PN
November 29, 2015
Finally! Gosh, now I am going to go and watch it again! 🙂
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PN
November 29, 2015
And I knew you would make connections to previous Ali characters! I did too!
Imagine Viren and Aditi lying not just to their families about their true feelings but to each other as well – to disastrous/fun consequences.
Imagine a Geet who was as grounded as she was dreamy and didn’t need an Aditya to rescue her. Imagine an Aditya who was transformed by his meeting with Geet but had to work much harder than just launch a calling card in her name to achieve a transformation worthy of her.
Imagine if Jai and Vikram were just two sides of the same person. Imagine then that Meera broke Vikram’s heart and he was not just the second lead, he was the hero- it hurt him so much that he had to become the Jai that Meera fell in love with.
Imagine a Jordan who didn’t go seeking heartbreak- to whom heartbreak just happened, like it does to a lot of us. Imagine a Heer who wasn’t a wispy dream, but a real woman who demanded of Jordan that he fulfill his full potential.
Remember Veronica? That freewheeling, happy go lucky girl? Imagine if she fell in love with a guy who was much superior than Gautam- a guy who was her match in every way, but needed to realize it. A guy who dared to love her. A guy who wanted her despite her madness, her somewhat otherwordly dreams!
And finally imagine a Veera who helped Mahabir rediscover his innocence, and his childhood through her own innocence and child-like nature and her faith in him.
Now roll all of these up together, and the messy, emotional tangled web of stories is called Tamasha.
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tonks
November 29, 2015
Grateful he did that worming: superbly written, passionate review. Plan to see it next week. I hope the movie lives up to it.
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Vikram Voleti
November 29, 2015
Your words made me rewatch it vicariously, and I couldn’t help but smile throughout! Superb review.
I think the last scene harks back to another scene during the Corsica chapter – that of RK playing football and DP sipping tea, each unmindful of the other and completely secure, and yet together. Did/do you think that’s the new definition of modern relationships contributed by Imtiaz Ali – to be there with each other in one’s own space.
(Do check out my review as well! https://vikramvoleti.wordpress.com/2015/11/27/tamasha-one-time-touching-watch/
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Utkal
November 29, 2015
MY IMPRESSIONS OF ‘TAMASHA’ IN 12 BULLET POINTS
Bullet Point 1: What a f***ing smart script!
Bullet Point 2: During this period, Ameen Haque also did a course in Film Appreciation by FTII and National Film Archives of India. “We had a workshop with Devdutt Patnaik and this helped me reconnect to mythology. So different aspects of storytelling started becoming a part of my life,” adds Ameen.
Soon Ameen moved to Bangalore and continued his work in advertising and theatre, and in 2012 he started Storywallahs.
“We consume stories on a daily basis, they define our decisions, the ideology we follow, political leader we choose, career path and even our life partners,” says Ameen Haque, chief storywallah of Storywallahs. The organisation was created with the belief that stories are wisdom disguised as entertainment; and to leverage that wisdom in business and education is their main goal.
http://yourstory.com/2015/04/ameen-haque-of-storywallahs/
Bullet Point 3: “Woman” by John Lennon
Woman I can hardly express I My mixed emotion at my thoughtlessness I After all I’m forever in your debt I And woman I will try express I My inner feelings and thankfulness I For showing me the meaning of succsess I oooh well, well,oooh well, well,
Woman I know you understand I The little child inside the man I Please remember my life is in your hands I And woman hold me close to your heart I However, distant don’t keep us apart I After all it is written in the stars I oooh well, well,oooh well, well,
Bullet Point 4: I have never sat as bewitched by an actors’ performance as by Ranbir Kapoor’s performance in the film except perhaps by Dilip Kumar in ‘Sagina’. His performance is like a Hindustani classical raga…starts with an alaap, introducing the notes and the theme; then moving into a faster tempo, bringing the melody into sharper relief, making it more evident , then adding improvisations, mixing things up, building upto a crescendo, never letting go, until you are all frenzied inside, standing up and applauding as the light come on. This transition happens at the point when he meets Deepika for the first time after his break up and he alternates between playing at being cool and collected and exploding like a dynamite with a short fuse. It reminds one of Leonrado DiCaprio in Wolves of Wall Street. If anyone can play that role in Bollywood, it is Ranbir. Like an Ustad, who adds enough embellishments and improvisations while playing the same melodic phrase over and over again, making it sound different each time, Ranbir makes each mirror-talk of his look different and we simply don’t know what to expect the next time he faces the mirror. His interactions with different people – the storyteller, his father, his boss, the autowalla – are all in right key and so authentic. His final showdown with his boss is a real hoot , yet any adman one who has dealt with a tight-assed client or any employee who has dealt with a boss blissfully unaware of his own ridiculousness can empathize with the scene.
Bullet Point 5: Is Ranbir Kapoor the greatest actor of his generation? Does the sun rise in the east?
Bullet Point 6: What did I learn new about Deepika in the film? That she can cry as if she really meant it. That she has the world’s loveliest dimples. And she makes ‘Chinese torture’ sound like a delicious experience one must go through. And that she is every inch as good as Ranbir, but this really is Ranbir’s film, kya karein!
Bullet Point 7: I like the way people like Imtiaz Ali, Vishal Bharadwaj, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and AR Rahman are cross-fertilizing one another’s talent and creative style. Bhradwaj in Omkara learnt from Kashyap how a swear word can be as poetic as a Ghalib’s shair if used correct. Bhansali in Ram Leela picked up the trick of how to make your dish more digestible and healthy by adding a bit of roughage. Here Imitiaz uses Piyush Mishra, a Kashayp staple, quite tellingly and his use of songs owes a lot to Kashyap too. He now has learnt that a tender heartbreak moment can be best outlined by an autowalla song “ Udti chidiya ko haldi ragad ke lagawat..wat.wat”. ( Incidentally the introduction of the autowalla character was a great idea as it shows that a creative free spirit being trapped in the robotics of a monotonous job , is not something that afflicts only the rich and educated elite.) And yes, the whole film itself is layered more like a rich Rahman composition than a typical, linear, whistleable Bollywood melody. It may take some getting used to, but in the end is so wholesomely satisfying.
Bullet Point 8: I like the way the top Bollywood directors of today are maturing as to how to use songs in films for today’s audience. My wife who loved ‘Agar Tum Saath Ho ‘ so much before seeing the films said, the song wasn’t as impressive in film as in the TV promo. “That’s because the director doesn’t stop the film to showcase the song”, I told her. It blends into the film like every other song does. I especially liked thew ay the ‘ Wat Wat ‘ song was cut away at mulyiple points to accommodate some plain vocalizing, snatches of storytelling and Ved’s own brooding.
Bullet Point 9: I have always admired the Bollywood grammar – of disrupting the narrative with a song or a commentary or some other device, so that we are not totally carried away by the emotionality of a narrative, mistaking it to ne real…like it happens with Hollywood grammar. I like the central device of the storyteller and the constant refrain of Ved’s childhood breaking the flow of the narrative now and then, allowing us to take a breathe, absorb what we have seen, and reflect.
Bullet Point 10: Though ‘ Rockstar’ was a larger-canvas film, this too is no less ambitious in terms of delving into complexities of human emotions and mapping out the tortuous path that two hearts beating in love must take before they can find and accept each other’s truth.
Bullet Point 11: If we inspect the palette used to paint ‘Tamasha’ what are the shades of colour we discover? Jab We Met, Rockstar, Tare Zameen Par, 3 Idiots, Rang De Basanti… are a few I could spot.
Bullet Point 12: Is this Imtiaz Alis’ smartest and most accomplished films yet? Yes.
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badri
November 29, 2015
An amazing storyteller who is nervous during his corporate presentations! I got sold in that one aspect! Been there, and still there!
Sometimes you fall in love with a movie only because you see yourself on screen; not necessarily the leads, but even a 2 min role played by an auto guy could show you yourself; he says something on the lines of, “Parents did their duty by getting me married, I did my duty having children, and after that life just got too robotic to go behind your dreams”.
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rajesh_ny
November 29, 2015
Hi BR! (We met last Friday at EA)
As always, excellent review — and a lengthy rave at that! Glad the movie spurred a lot of interpretation in you! Loved the bit about their names: Ved’s split personality/mirror reflection/Dev & Tara/starry deus ex machina. Ungal paarvaikku, here’s my post on the movie: rajeshmoviegoer.wordpress.com/2015/11/27/tamasha-imtiaz-ali
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Utkal
November 29, 2015
“That’s Ali, really. He makes movies out of the music inside his head.”
Priceless ending to a briliant write up. I must tell, this one was written from the heart too.
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A
November 29, 2015
Very involving read. Didn’t expect Deepika Padukone to turn out to be more than a competent actress. She is losing it offscreen, but onscreen well, Rangan, if you attest so, she is indeed one valuable find for Bollywood.
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nidsutd
November 29, 2015
I was waiting for review after watching. It’s become more of a habit, To make a mental note to read your review. I hate the culture of giving star rating for movies. The concept of reduction of movie to a number is ridiculous.
I loved Tamasha, I was also like that one person who nodding vehemently while watching the movie. The title and the tagine of the movie makes so much sense after watching the movie. Brilliant performance from Deepika and Ranbir. Seriously amazed by how much she has grown as an actor. Kudos to Rahman… His music fits in so well with the movie. Special mention must go to editor and cinematographer. And Imtiaz Ali has grown as a director. His movie is more layered and nuanced.
I saw the movie with a packed audience. A majority family audience who I sensed would have been much happier watching Prem ratan dhan payo or that type of movie. Kinda felt the audience to a larger extent the Indian audience prefers escapist cinema than a real cinema. Real in the terms of where a movie is about real people and their struggles and travails. This is evident in the success of movies of that type.
P. S sorry for rant towards the end
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Aurora Vampiris
November 29, 2015
Heavens forbid that a “non-creative” profession, such as oh-so-boring engineering, or oh-so-stressful management positions, be appealing or interesting. Nope.
Back to the review… loved it. Sounds like a very interesting film indeed, though I suspect your reading of it shall end up being far more interesting than the movie itself, based on how other reviewers are talking about it.
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Snehal
November 29, 2015
The title sums up exactly what it is. I loved it, agree with you on the over explaining bit from Imtiaz Ali. But given the experience I had, can’t complain. What did you think of ‘Agar Tum saath ho’ ?
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TR
November 29, 2015
I had mixed feelings about this movie. Ali seemed to want to convey a profound message, and I wanted to appreciate it, yet the treatment was almost farcical and felt superficial and unsatisfying in the end. Deepika was true to her screen-name, abundantly luminous and spot on. One thing which struck me – Ved was Dev in reverse.
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Aran
November 29, 2015
Likening Imtiaz Ali to Sanjay Leela Bhansali was spot on. That’s exactly what I thought, more along the lines of self-indulgent than single-minded though.
The whole dissociative disorder didn’t really work for me. Did he seriously just snap mentally? I mean, dude was clearly deranged and dangerous for a while back there. It might be romantic to think that Majnu went mad enough in love to tear his clothes and dance in the streets but for a Ved to snarl at Tara was a bit much.
The money shot was Ranbir in a man bun at the end though. No complaints there. 😀
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Rishikesh
November 29, 2015
I felt the message in second half was pretty dangerous.. yes,you have to retain your true identity and never turn yourself into a corporate machine… But does it also mean you have to literally throw away a high paying job on the face of manager as if he is someone evil… and talk nonsense to a guy who greets you at the party.. how can that ever be attributed as freedom
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Janaki
November 29, 2015
And yet I wondered for all the over-explanation, Ali lets one crucial bit go without even an hint of an explanation. Why does Tara want to be back with Ved after breaking up with him? I did, as any viewer, read it my way but it is glaring especially given how there is much repetition in the film.
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Rahul
November 29, 2015
Aurora Vampiris – “Heavens forbid that a “non-creative” profession, such as oh-so-boring engineering, or oh-so-stressful management positions, be appealing or interesting”
Right on. I am waiting for the day when some IT guy turned filmmaker makes a movie about two engineers, who grew up in families of developers and testers respectively, that are traditionally hostile towards each other, but bond over reassigning defects to each other. Maybe BR will take one for the team.
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Utkal
November 29, 2015
Janaki: “Why does Tara want to be back with Ved after breaking up with him?”
Because she was in love with him.
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Sev
November 30, 2015
Nice read. I haven’t watched any of IMtiaz’s movies but from ZNMD, I was left dissatisfied because the follow-your-heart seems to always lead to success in the sense that you end up rich or stay rich. Same was true for Rock On too. No matter which vocation the protagonists choose – the boring one or the one they really want to do – their path to prosperity is always assured. And that’s where I felt a disconnect with this idea.
In real life, from my limited experience, your choice of vocation is dictated by many realities including your natural aptitude, and the realities of paying for one’s necessities and if possible, some indulgences. And the realities of your loved ones-wanting to care for aging parents, wanting to be there for them- also intrude. At least, they have in my life. But the characters in these movies-made in Bwood or Hwood-never seem to address these issues. In fact, I find that quite a few older movies (you know the boring ones from the 50-70s) seem to address these realities, or at least acknowledge them far more convincingly to me as a viewer.
I felt the same about 3 Idiots. Sharman Joshi lets go of his superstitions, and I can relate to his feeling more confident but his suddenly landing a competitive job? Nope, it doesn’t ring true. Same for Amir Khan and Madhavan’s arcs – they just follow their “passion” (very vaguely defined terms to indicate going with their feeling or instinct of the moment) and they end up really really successful. Not successful in the mystical, unworldly sense-in that they are at peace with their choices and their repercussions, but that they end up successful in terms of their pay checks, sizes of their abodes, their personal relationships etc. Maybe the directors and writers have always known lots of wealth and privilege, no matter what choices they made. So they take these concerns for granted.
Anyhow, nice read, Brangan! Thanks!
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Ravi
November 30, 2015
After reading this, I have to watch the film again. The first time I watched it, I really was moved by certain scenes here and there but overall, the conventional movie watcher in me was dominant throughout and I was getting perplexed and desperate to see the way the movie so wildly oscillated. I really doffed my hat off to Ranbir and especially Deepika for their superlative acts, but for Imtiaz, I was disappointed. But I will give it a re-run or two. I have a feeling I will enjoy more.
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Anamika
November 30, 2015
BR, I don’t comment much here but the aam junta and mainstream critics are all trashing the movie and already talking about how the movie will not make much money. Breaks my heart. Why should every movie have to satisfy the box office returns? Was waiting to read your review and like always, nodded along.
“(Sometimes, the audience finds it autobiographical too. A young boy weak in maths being forced into engineering, and then gradually worming his way to a more creative career? I know at least one viewer who was nodding vehemently.)”
Power to that member of the audience. I nodded too but related more to the auto rickshaw driver.
Loved the movie and my 15 year old daughter loved it too.
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Snehal
November 30, 2015
Just FYI. Imtiaz Ali is doing a Q&A on Tamasha in Mumbai on the 30th evening, that’s today for people in Mumbai. He did something similar for Highway and Rockstar. Here are the details:
http://moifightclub.com/2015/11/29/tamasha-post-screening-q-a-with-imtiaz-ali/
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Janaki
November 30, 2015
@Utkal, no it is not as simple as that. There is nothing to suggest she had begun to question her decision to quit and given the person she is, she continues to want THAT or nothing else. Your explanation rather makes me wonder whether writers/readers resort to something simplistic to explain away such aberrations, more so when the characters they have drawn are so wonderfully complex. In one of deepika’s early films Bachna e Haseeno too, I wondered why we are given nothing to comprehend her path of growth, self-realisation.
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Pankaj Sachdeva
November 30, 2015
Super, super post, Sir. How do you manage to write such brilliantly? We all love you 🙂
Also, a few things.
The Wizard of Oz – the mechanical robot in the beginning who does not have a heart was like Tin Woodman from the Wizard of Oz, who wanted a heart, and this one we had Dil Ki Aawaaz.
Oracle – In Japan, they meet at Oracle building- perhaps, that was acknowledgment to the storyteller baba who had told Ved to find his own story, and he has finally been able to do that. The oracle’s prophecy has become true
More thoughts here,
http://dichotomy-of-irony.blogspot.com/2015/11/tamashaof-stories-and-storytellers.html
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SM
November 30, 2015
I willed myself not to read any reviews before watching the movie last evening, and ended up hoping that your review captured all the points that I liked – Oh my God – it feels like Christmas came early when that happened! 🙂 🙂
I loved the movie to the extent that I didn’t mind the length or the repetitions – it added to the charm, and in some ways, doesn’t it reflect in real life? There are some decisions that we overthink or even agonise over repeatedly which I thought was what Imtiaz Ali wanted to communicate.
To me, the only point that didn’t appear to make sense was – Ved grows up hearing stories from the Ramayana or about Romeo / Juliet etc, but when in Corsica chooses to become Don / Dev Anand? To my detail-obsessed mind, I couldn’t figure out when did he see these movies? All we are shown are the Ram Leela’s he witnessed, and the one scene where he goes to the movies is with Tara, in his ‘product manager’ avatar.
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Utkal
November 30, 2015
SM: Ved he heard those Ram-Leela stories when he was a child. Obviously he saw those films, so many wonderful stories again, in his college days. We haven’t been shown his college days. But is it so hard to imagine that he saw films in his college days. If they show every detail, the film will become ten hour long.
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Ram
November 30, 2015
Longest review by BR, I have read till date. I don’t understand Hindi. I don’t understand BR’s reviews completely either, for it has lot of cross-references and literary language. But, I am always interested in reading his reviews and least interested in Bollywood movies.
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Siddhartha Srivastava
November 30, 2015
Wonderful review, BR. I had my fair share of problems with the movie – the last scene with Ved and his father being the most cringe-worthy – he was surely hoping that Ranbir’s performance would hold the scene together (and it almost did, until the father chose to be magically transformed by the power of his story). But beyond that big misstep (and a number of smaller ones), I thought this was pretty good, especially as a sensory “experience” (Rahman and Aarti Bajaj being the main contributors).
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praneshp
November 30, 2015
@Pankaj: they just meet at a hotel, which doubled up as a venue for an Oracle conference. Maybe the Oracle reference you read holds, or maybe it was considered too trivial to edit out, or maybe it was product placement.
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brangan
November 30, 2015
Aran: The whole dissociative disorder didn’t really work for me.
I don’t think the movie is saying it’s a “disorder” as such — in the medical sense. It’s more a romantic conceit, like Heer’s “disease” in Rockstar.
Rishikesh: But does it also mean you have to literally throw away a high paying job…
I don’t think this is a “message.” Just that this character did such a thing. I totally identified with it because that’s what I did too.
Sev: I agree in general with your observation, but it’s also important to let movies be what they want to be. Some movies are searing, “realistic” dissections of love, relationships, career, etc. Some are more idealised depictions — and this one is 1000 per cent romantic. Not just in the sense of being a story about “romance,” but in the sense of being extravagant, exaggerated, wild, imaginative, fantastic.
Janaki: There is nothing to suggest she had begun to question her decision to quit and given the person she is, she continues to want THAT or nothing else.
Yes, that is the thing I was talking about in the review — Tara is such an unknown quantity, defined ONLY by her impact on (and reactions to) Ved. We know NOTHING else about her.
Had she been fleshed out psychologically, we could say things like “But how she do X in that early scene and behave do Y in this scene?” But as this film doesn’t do that, we are forced to take it as a given that she does what she does.
Pankaj Sachdeva: Really liked the point about Catch-22 — thanks.
SM: To my detail-obsessed mind, I couldn’t figure out when did he see these movies?
Yes, I agree. Given the length of this film and given its rambling structure, it shouldn’t have been too difficult to show Ved sneaking into films and incorporating them into his imagination.
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ds
November 30, 2015
What a dimple deepika has. Looked like Imitaiz likes to capture her beauty.
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Utkal
November 30, 2015
They could have shown him as a college student going to cinema and all that. But that would make it very workman-likestory-telling, kind of prosaic. Part of the mystery and magic would be lost. I mean if he goes from A to B, then B to c and then C to D. You need not show the full trajectory. Show A -B and then C-D. The audience need not be shown B-C. Maybe you do not want to crowd their head with B-C. You want them to leap from A-B to C-D. That is the Bollywood grammar of our epic tales I like. Hollywood goes about it very rationally. Bollywood asks you to make those creative leaps at every stage of its story-telling. It does not bother about surface realism and 100% narrative logic.
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Renil
November 30, 2015
Brilliant review. I for once chose to read your review last, (read all your reviews) purely cause I wanted to see if the other reviewers will relate to this story in a way you (and I) have related to it. Alas no one else has reviewed or connected in detail to Tamasha. kudos to you for that.
No you don’t need to be Ved or throw away a fancy paying job to understand Tamasha. Its simply cause like you mentioned it is a romance which is extravagant, exaggerated, wild, imaginative and fantastic!!
I did wonder though among the many things – Why a punjabi songs when she lands in kolkata? How can one person be so extreme Don & Ved? Got the answers here and at least I think I do.
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MANK
November 30, 2015
Is Ranbir Kapoor the greatest actor of his generation? Does the sun rise in the east?
Utkal, hold on right there. It is always difficult comparing actors and saying he is the greatest of them all, as each one might have his own definite niche. But i would say this. Ranveer exhibits a better range than Ranbir. He was superb playing earthy characters in BBB and Ramleela. He was good as a sophisticated character in dil dhadakne do – may be the only good thing in the film imo. Ranbir is a very sophisticated actor and he is brilliant in that space. His performance in this film shows that His attempt at going down and dirty was not very convincing in either besharam or Bombay velvet. Would Ranveer have pulled of this role? probably yes, but may be not as well as Ranbir. I am waiting to see Ranveer in Bajirao whether he can pull of an epic character. If Ranveer can pull off that role in style, then i would say Ranveer is a better actor – or at least the one with a better range than Ranbir.
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Aran
November 30, 2015
brangan: I don’t know… I haven’t seen Rockstar so cannot comment on that part of the comment. But with Tamasha, it seemed something had snapped mentally in him. It just couldn’t be explained away neatly as mere a romantic conceit when he is behaving completely out of character (out of both the ‘characters’ he plays) when he is docile one moment, then snaps the next. Plus, I think his behavior at work and at one of the parties gets pretty aberrant as well. I wonder if he is in control of himself during these moments, especially the ones before the mirror and the ones where he is with Tara on the landing in front of her flat and in the coffee shop they meet at.
Janaki: Tara does attempt to explain that she feels the issues he’s having are the result of her rejection for him. So her coming back to him might be a combination of that guilt and, this next part is completely my attribution, a way of thinking that the Don character lies somewhere within him and if she loves that, there might be something there.
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Utkal
November 30, 2015
MANK: Yes, Ranveer is a good actor and he has a good range. And I am sure he will do fine as Bajirao. Perhaps there are some roles that ranbir cannot do. But the thngs he CAN do cover a fair bit of range: from Rocket Sngh to Rockstar to Rajneeti, from Barfi and Ajan Premki Gaab Kahani to Tamasha. But it’s not for range that I am picking Ranbir over others. It’s the finesse, the spohistication as you call it. He makes performance look like high art. Dilip Kumar did that. Watching him act was like listening to a classical music concert or seeing a classic painting. Only Ranbir from the present generation of actors has that quality. But I am willing to give Ranveer a chance provided he chooses equally ambitious projects from a performance point of view.
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chenab35
November 30, 2015
Am I the only one thinking here that the film was mediocre and an “altered” version of tamil film Mayakam Enna and Jab We Met? ?
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Anu Warrier
November 30, 2015
I watched this. In the middle of all the chaos going on, we decided to go for the night show. From the trailers I didn’t expect anything much. Honestly, I assumed it would be another Ye Jawani…. I just went along to see Ranbir and Deepika. My, what a revelation this film was! I loved it, right from the beginning, where the clown and robot took the stage, like some psychedelic version of a Kabuki play. Deepika has evolved so much as an actress (she was brilliant in her breakdown scene – her desperation was so genuine, so heartfelt that it wasn’t hard to feel her pain), and it doesn’t hurt that she looks luminous on screen. And I like that she doesn’t seem to be too bothered about being ‘perfect’ on screen. This, I think, was one of Ranbir’s best performances as well.
I would love to watch this again just to see if I missed anything; more to see the Corsica sequences. They have a good chemistry all through, but there was something more in the earlier sequences – they really seemed to be having fun.
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Prasad
November 30, 2015
Is it fair enough to say Ali like to increase the complexity of his stories in each movie. When I mean complex, they’ve character arcs which are difficult to understand what their intentions are. E.g Jordan of a Rockstar and now Ved. Jab We met probably was the simplest IMO
Jab We Met > Love Aaj Kal> Rockstar> Highway> Tamasha. (Order in terms of how compexity)
Haven’t watched “Socha na tha”.
My Personal favorite is Rockstar though,
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M.R. Sharan (@sharanidli)
November 30, 2015
Great post as usual, BR!
Quick point about the “disorder”: in two separate market presentations in the movie, the word “bipolar” is thrown around – Ranbir uses the word to describe consumers; a voice amidst the chatter in the background mentions it in the Oracle building, as Deepika answers Don’s phone call — this simply cannot be a coincidence.
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brangan
November 30, 2015
M.R. Sharan: No, I’m not saying that it isn’t a disorder — in Imtiaz Ali’s mind, it may well be.
But according to me, it doesn’t HAVE to be one, because this isn’t a realistic film — it’s a romantic one. Like Rockstar, it exists in a heightened conceit-y zone, and for me that was enough. I don’t need the label of a medical condition.
Also, it’s problematic to me if you attribute Ranbir’s behavior to bipolarity, because what the film shows is the loosest definition — literally, two poles in two different locations. There isn’t the alternating flip-flop between the highs and lows as is usually seen in the condition. He seems to be in a perpetual low after Corsica, like a form of catatonia where he feels no joy.
For me, it’s easier to accept the romantic conceit.
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naina
November 30, 2015
TL, DR: Hindi thinippu ivvalavu thitippu? Tamaasu pannadhinga bro..
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Sriram Iyer
December 1, 2015
Rangan Sir, I was ready to be swayed into the trance…. but that didn’t happen either. There was half taste in so many things, so many places… I was forced to think “where have I seen the same thing, only better… ”
Your feedback will be treasured. Thanks!
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Leena
December 1, 2015
Am at a loss here, reading all the glowing tributes about the complex script. My question – Does Ved have a mental disorder? I think the dad character said it best, “ppl who dont have any problems create them”. A heroine’s director Imtiaz saying Tara apologize to Ved for acting oversmart made me cringe.
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Apu
December 1, 2015
I stopped watching Imtiaz Ali’s movies after Love Aaj Kal. For me, they slowly became a list of movies with beautiful outlandish locales and tortured souls, mostly characters that needed to grow up.
I watched Love Aaj Kal with a completely different expectation based out of viewing Ali’s previous work like Socha na tha and Jab we met – which to me were breezy, had real situations with good music and characters that were not full explored, but were relatable.
Got bored halfway through Love Aaj Kal, could not identify with characters that were so matured that they break up before one of them moves to a different country because long distance love cannot be sustained, and then, does not realize that marrying someone just because the one you love is not reciprocating is a totally bad idea (except if you are under some pressure to get married).
Which is why I skipped Rockstar. Added reason was that I was not ready to handle angst-ridden sad ending love stories.
Reading through your review makes me wonder if Love Aaj Kal was more a transition movie about where he was trying to be – to bring forth an imperfect love story with all trappings – romance, music and locales. And maybe it failed to work for me because of the leads who projected the too-cool-to-be-in-love attitude so perfectly that it was impossible for me to get that transition to crazy-about-you-no-matter-what state.
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Gradwolf
December 1, 2015
@MANK: Not yet convinced about Ranveer. I understand where you are coming from when you mention the divide in BBB/Ramleela and Dil Dhadakne Do in terms of the class, but all his roles have exuded a devil-may-care goofy charm that comes naturally to him. I’d love to see him in a dead serious sober role – something like Varun Dhawan in Badlapur. I am afraid an epic costume drama like Bajirao Mastani will not help with the verdict just yet.
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brangan
December 1, 2015
Apu: “a list of movies with beautiful outlandish locales and tortured souls, mostly characters that needed to grow up.”
I protest vehemently. That’s like saying all masala movies are about good guy beating bad guy. It’s the specifics that matter 🙂
Let me don my professorial hat and address all three components of your epic diss 🙂 — (1) beautiful outlandish locales (2) tortured souls, (3) characters that needed to grow up.”
About your first point, the locales aren’t just places that exist for pretty cinematography, or a change in scenery so the moviegoer doesn’t get bored.
The stories demand these locations, which are both about physical separation — between boy and girl (Love Aaj Kal), or between boy and environment he wants to leave behind (JWM) — as well as mental states (Tamasha). Pankaj Kapur’s severely underrated Mausam was one such film as well.
Sure, you can make a movie about a boy in Bandra pining for a girl in Ghatkopar — but how much more ROMANTIC it is when the pining is across continents, across time!
Now, about the tortured souls… But that’s a certain kind of romance, right? Ali’s films are the antithesis of all the “ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga” love-at-first-sight films. They’re films in which love is something to be (a) understood and acknowledged (i.e. “oh my god, i think i love this boy/girl”), and then (b) clumsily worked towards (because in the time it’s taken to acknowledge this love, the other person has moved on).
So his films are variations on this theme.
Finally, yes, if you’re the practical sort, you’re going to think these characters need to grow up. I said as much in my review: “If you’re logical-minded, you’ll probably look at his heroes and say, “Oh, grow up!”
But here’s the thing. These characters are growing up through the course of these films. It’s just that it takes a lot longer for them to grow up, it takes the duration of the entire film.
Of course I get that not everyone is going to like Ali’s films and pet obsessions. But that’s par for the course. If you make generic films like DDLJ, you’ll get a huge audience. If you make prickly, obsessive, self-indulgent films like the ones Ali or Bhansali makes, then you’re losing half the people because (a) they’re just casual movie-goers who want to have a “good time” without too much engagement, or (b) they cannot connect to all this “probing a wound with a finger.”
Gradwolf: I’d love to see him in a dead serious sober role – something like Varun Dhawan in Badlapur.
Why such a limited definition of acting prowess? Why should a role be “dead serious” in order to declare one a good actor? In films like Ram-Leela and Lootera, Ranveer has had both light scenes as well as “dead-serious” scenes, and he does them equally well. If anything, one could argue that spanning this gamut is as much of an effort as embodying just one state all through the film.
That said, I find it difficult to compare Ranbir and Ranveer. Both are very, very good. The only difference to my mind is that Ranbir has a boyishness whereas Ranveer is more grown-up. Hence the different flavours in their respective “performance art” performances for Bhansali. I can’t think of another leading man — apart from these two — who can do the Bhansali kind of dance/theatre/folk kind of acting as well as the more naturalistic kind.
Also curious about your statement: I am afraid an epic costume drama like Bajirao Mastani will not help with the verdict just yet.
This sounds rather dismissive. Care to explain? Why should the fact that a film is an “epic drama” be a problem with respect to establishing a performer’s credentials?
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Gradwolf
December 1, 2015
Rangan, now you are guilty of the same thing some commenters here tend to do – attaching different meanings to your sentences. Kidding! I did not say that defines acting prowess in absolute terms. I meant I’d like to see Ranveer do something like that (I also cannot decide if Dhawan did it any well). But yes, I totally forgot about Lootera. I believe Ranveer is a good actor. But I sometimes get the feeling he always plays a part of himself – something similar to what people find in Parineeti Chopra. Never meant it in an “all through the film” sense. Meant it as a different roles in different films sense.
About the costume drama – was not being dismissive – I think your definition of “acting” can seep into such roles.
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anurag1700rag
December 1, 2015
Brangan, first i was speechless thinking all the time what’s the newer way i could react to this review and say this was awesome and i could not find it.
Still, I must say after ur last response above, i am equally impressed with ur review as well as ur dissection of Apu’s and Gradwolf’s comments.
You make thinking about movies worthwhile.
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brangan
December 1, 2015
anurag1700rag: You make thinking about movies worthwhile.
What a nice thing to say. Thank you so much.
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MANK
December 1, 2015
About the costume drama – was not being dismissive – I think your definition of “acting” can seep into such roles.
Gradwolf, i get that. But an epic drama can also be a true evaluation of an actor’s worth. whether an actor is really good. Take Dilip Kumar in Mughal e azam, Kohinoor or Marlon Brando in Julius Ceaser or Viva Zapata. They were very much their subtle naturalistic – or idiosyncratic – self as actors – did not have to indulge in ‘acting’ acting. in those films and still gave perfect performances for that period set up IMO.
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brangan
December 1, 2015
re-posting because for some reason this comment showed up higher up in the thread…
MANK: I can’t think of another leading man — apart from these two — who can do the Bhansali kind of dance/theatre/folk kind of acting as well as the more naturalistic kind.
Brangan, i would go one step ahead and say Ranveer is the more SLB kind of actor. I was not all that impressed with Ranbir in Saawariya – yes given that it was his first film and SLB made him copy Raj Kapoor and all that notwithstanding. But you are right about both of them. How i wish we could see SLB’s HDDCS or Devdas with Ranveer or Ranbir playing those roles. they would have been terrific in those roles – that salman turned into some kind of a sick joke with his ridiculous immature performance. I cringed every time those monologues with his dead father came up, or SRK at his crying stammering romantic worst
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Jerina Sriram
December 1, 2015
I did a tiny little jig when I read the first line of your review. “About fifteen minutes into Tamasha, the new film from Imtiaz Ali, I’d got my money’s worth.”
That’s big coming from you. I so wanted this movie to work for Ranbir, and at least from the comments I can see that many liked the movie too.
I haven’t seen the movie and might not see it at all as has been the case with all the movies that I had liked to watch since May 2015. 🙂 The arrival of my little one has put a temporary stop to one of my favorite pastimes. But I must say, I lived vicariously through your blog during all these months, BR. I don’t think I was ever so happy to see the “spoilers ahead” phrase at the beginning of your blog.
So, thank you. Thank you for writing such fantastic reviews (ones which made me want to dash to the theater at the earliest), for putting up every single post (even if it was part of your job), for having such a superb comments section (felt like I was part of the ‘chai pe charcha’ type discussion) and for liking this movie. Yay!
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VS
December 1, 2015
What a detailed post! Amazing. Overall like the film. Found it very difficult to identify Vivek Mushran, he has changed a lot. Who played the small role of singer from allahabad, who drove auto? His song was best in film. He was too good. Ranbir and Dipika impressed a lot.
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Snehal
December 1, 2015
My head is still in the Tamasha haze. I can’t figure out why Tara didn’t say anything about the drastic change she sees in him, before he proposes. Seems unlike her character who took the first step in tracking down the guy.
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fiff
December 1, 2015
bravo. fantastic review 🙂
i always look forward to reading your reviews. your sensibilities are similar to mine; but you are so articulate.. often putting into words what i have been feeling/thinking in my head.
so i’d been reading all the other reviews of this movie and nothing felt right; was hoping you’d done the review, googled, and voila. thank you. 🙂
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aarkayne
December 1, 2015
A breakaway artiste wanting to escape the robotic machinations of everyday mediocrity. The devices used make a telling #TAMASHA indeed!!
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Indrani
December 1, 2015
Beautiful review – but cinema is subjective so i respectfully agree to disagree wherever I disagree that is.
My biggest grouse is with the writing of it and the verbose often times rambling spoon-feeding though the actors were beautiful – we all know that – though I was confused about Ranbir’s outbreaks – he needed a psych eval real quick. Having said that – to my mind they rose above the script and there were some stunning moments.
I felt his Daadi could have been fleshed out better (Sushma Seth – wasted) and be the storyteller rather than PM. Ali’s allied characters often tend to be a bit dodgy – Rockstar, Highway and now Tamasha – they just didnt feel organic – if cast well they could add so much more to the telling like Geet’s family in JWM – the one time Ali got it right and somewhat in SNT
I always find Ali’s women haphazard as was Deepika here – couldn’t figure why she would coast along till he proposes – isn’t it the first thing you say after two dates “dude what happened here, are you okay?” She came across as someone who would and especially given that it is realistic cinema – a genre I love.
I am really surprised nobody pointed out that in today’s times aping accents of countries you visit that too with locals is kind of unfunny and kind of rude and kind of immature. Non?
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Apu
December 2, 2015
Brangan: Seriously I was not expecting a reply to my comment, because I am not sure if my opinion counts when I did not intend to watch the movie and it probably seemed like I was forming opinions.
So, thank you for replying.
“I protest vehemently. That’s like saying all masala movies are about good guy beating bad guy. It’s the specifics that matter :-)”
Agree whole-heartedly. It is not the story or the lack thereof that matters, what matters is how it is told and whether, in case of a romance/love story/relationship it makes me care for those characters or not, care enough to cry with them, want them to meet, wish I was one of them. I think for some, Ali’s movies make them do that. For me, Love Aaj Kal did not. Socha na tha did. Jab we met was a more conventional feel-good movie, so it worked anyway 🙂
“So his films are variations on this theme.”
Yes, and his characters taking the duration of the entire film, maybe that is what I do not have patience for. Especially when (as in Love Aaj Kal), the hero looks well over thirty. Yes, love can strike anyone, and it might be too late, but I do not enjoy the breakdown of a character who was otherwise projected to be mature. It did not seem in character.
” (b) they cannot connect to all this “probing a wound with a finger.”
What a great way of describing, yes, that is me. Or maybe that is me in some situations in a certain frame of mind, in a certain company.
About SLB, I do find his movies easier to get into, because the drama, opulence and big canvas makes it easier to be drawn into the heart-wrenching, soul-crushing situations. (You might tell me that Ali’s movies are equally big canvas, and I really don’t no otherwise)
BTW, I did mention at the end that I : “…wonder if Love Aaj Kal was more a transition movie about where he was trying to be – to bring forth an imperfect love story with all trappings…” and i guess it did not work because it was neither here not there.
Lastly, wanted to echo someone else’s thoughts: movie viewing is a big luxury for me with a little one in my life – have to sneak out to watch the limited shows here in US, and so miss out on many. So, BIG THANKS to you for writing about movies so eloquently and in such thought provoking ways and also, the READERS to your blog for a great discussion.
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tejas
December 2, 2015
BR and readers in Chennai – stay safe.
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Anand
December 2, 2015
@brangan off topic: Have you got hold of RGV’s Guns and Thighs. I heard its his best work in years
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Di
December 3, 2015
Hope y’all are safe and dry in Madras.
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Manu Moudgil
December 3, 2015
Just a quick thing about ‘bipolar’ being thrown around. I guess the movie also underscores that all of us normal beings are bipolar or conversely it’s normal to be bipolar…we all have two sides which spring up to certain triggers unlike the medical definition of the “disorder”.
Love you Rangan, read this review before watching the movie….it’s always a treat, both you and Imitiaz Ali
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An Jo
December 3, 2015
For anyone interested…
When a human sheds the boxed-definitions of ‘living’ life, even dirt appears less murky. So what happens or what one feels in a picturesque Corsica is anyone’s guess. Of course, Imtiaz uses our films’ traditional elements of song-and-dance in ‘Matargashti’, filling-up the screen with foreigners enjoying in the background; but here, it appears less offensive and more in-line with what the nameless- characters of Ranbir and Deepika are thinking. [It is fantastic thinking/writing that the plot-incident that brings the characters together is that Tara loses her bag containing her ‘identity’ documents [passport, driver’s license, etc., etc.,] and THAT is what propels the discussion between Ranbir and Deepika and their subsequent flow into a bliss of identity-free moments in a foreign-land.
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Shyam
December 3, 2015
Brangan: As a huge fan, I could never see you writing “According to me”. I hope you throw this phrase out of your universe. It does not belong.
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Ravi K
December 3, 2015
I don’t know what to make of this film, or even if I like it or dislike it, but I love that a film like this can be made in Bollywood. It’s a big-budget film with stars and AR Rahman music that’s esoteric, ambitious, and sometimes confounding.
Snehal wrote: “I can’t figure out why Tara didn’t say anything about the drastic change she sees in him, before he proposes. Seems unlike her character who took the first step in tracking down the guy.”
Perhaps she was hoping that Don would eventually come out of him, or that she could draw him out. I think she was having misgivings about the relationship for a while (remember that montage of Ved leaving, and Tara disappointedly waving goodbye from the window), but the proposal was the push she needed to tell him that he’s not who she thought/hoped he was.
Sev wrote: “Nice read. I haven’t watched any of IMtiaz’s movies but from ZNMD, I was left dissatisfied because the follow-your-heart seems to always lead to success in the sense that you end up rich or stay rich. Same was true for Rock On too. No matter which vocation the protagonists choose – the boring one or the one they really want to do – their path to prosperity is always assured. And that’s where I felt a disconnect with this idea.”
I totally agree. Even when these characters follow a dream with small chances of that kind of big success they end up rich and they end up with the girl. In these movies where there must be a happy ending (assuming we’re not talking about “Inside Llewyn Davis” kind of movies), I would prefer to see something where the protagonist doesn’t have the conventional material trappings of success (fame, wealth, adulation), but he’s happier nonetheless. In these movies, that happiness that following one’s dream leads to is still defined by conventional notions of success.
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Asma
December 3, 2015
Reading your reviews is as, if not more than, enjoyable as watching the movie itself.
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Phani
December 4, 2015
I could not connect to this movie. I felt realization of Ranbir about himself, not convincing.
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mridula
December 5, 2015
Read a lot of reviews which convinced me not to see Tamasha. This review though has made me want to hit the theatre immediately!
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Ashwin
December 5, 2015
Brangan: I don’t always agree with your opinions but I think I do this time… I am surprised you didn’t talk about the inspirations from catch-22. The first 5-10 minutes of the movie brought to my mind the book which I read perhaps a decade back when I was in high school. As you mention, in his usual style of re-iteration or perhaps to merely serve as a footnote, the book made an appearance. Thinking about it now it could very well be an important connection to make of Ved’s behavior. Perhaps the deliberately non-linear and improvisatory comic screenplay to portray an otherwise simple storyline was too obvious…..
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brangan
December 5, 2015
Ashwin: Perhaps the deliberately non-linear and improvisatory comic screenplay to portray an otherwise simple storyline was too obvious
But that’s the way all Imtiaz Ali films are, starting from Love Aaj Kal. Check out Rockstar, for instance. Holds true even without Catch-22, though I’m not saying that’s not a model or influence here.
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Ashwin
December 6, 2015
brangan: Agreed his movies have had such stylized storytelling which has become somewhat of a signature of his. But the first 5-10 mins in this movie to me resonated with the book in a more profound and deliberate way than the others. I had once given up reading catch-22 because of the seeming lack of cohesiveness between successive ideas or even lines at times that had put me off. I felt the same with the movie albeit at a lesser scale, before the romance and freedom with which he presents his movies took hold of my thought process. It is likely I am not eloquent enough to describe what I felt but Rockstar was not like this. Yes it had a few abstract expressions, the same deliberate style, more angst and some comic fodder provided via a storekeeper if I remember accurately. (Unfortunately I don’t remember Love Aaj Kal well enough to comment on that). Regardless, I realize I failed to thank you for a well written review and I must say both the movie and your review deserves better than a singular perusal 🙂
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Ashwin
December 6, 2015
I think the word I wanted to use to associate the book with the initial sequence of the movie is “dense”.
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arielsomebody
December 6, 2015
Imtiaz ali is a self-confessed Mani Ratnam imitator, but he’s not in the same league by far. His movies never ring true unlike Mani Ratnam’s with his detailed crafting of personal relationships. Here also, his heroine’s name is Tara (perhaps inspired from a recent Mani movie?)
Tamasha was insufferable. Also irritating was the strange parallels the man telling stories to young Ranbir made, not common in India at all.
Yamuna: Jamuna :::: Brahma : Abraham it seems. What a stupid conflation. Nobody is stupid enough to think like that at all. That’s what i mean by not ringing true.
There is a flood of new indian non-mainstream films that are made with the european film festivals in mind that also don’t ring true. Trying to shoehorn a european sensibility in an indian mileu. (the first one that i saw in this genre was ‘the lunchbox’)
Surprising that brangan who understands the ‘think-english-speak-regional-indian-languages’ irritation should be blind to this here. Anyway he seems to approve of it here, even referencing some adam and eve garden of eden stuff in his review (and remarking “Christ” very foreignly too in the review)
Just give me a movie that rings true for god’s sake! Might have to go back to watching those overdone ‘local’ ‘underdog’ tamil films.
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Ganesh
December 6, 2015
Sir, please review Angry Indian Godesses. It is a film worth reviewing & discussing.
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ravenus1
December 9, 2015
Saw Tamasha at the cinema today because my mum wanted to, and found it an insidious study of delusion and mental illness.
In Act 1, a stray act of courtesy by the guy in exotic Corsica immediately triggers an elaborate fantasy in the girl where she conjures him as an ideal Yash Raj romance, fashionably flirtatious but sufficiently sanskari for her to go traipsing with him (in between making boorish asses of themselves with the natives) without the fear of being slipped a roofie. When she meets him later in down-to-earth Delhi, the absence of the exotic foreign locale makes it impossible for her to recreate the illusion, for which she subverts the blame on him.
In Act 2, the shy and repressed guy is so intimidated by her fantasy that he starts to believe in it and cracks up. In his delusion she is the perennially faithful love-smitten companion who wants to sleep with him despite his status of dysfunctional dodo with schizophrenic shifts. He also hallucinates that he is holding audiences enthralled and shocking the establishment speechless with random ravings and nondescript nautanki. All this while no one thinks to suggest he visit a psychiatrist.
In the concluding coda, the director confers the crown of delusion upon the audience for expecting a happy ending even for this morass of dysfunction and mental illness.
My two bits.
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An Jo
December 10, 2015
TAMASHA q & a with Ali
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Praveen
December 12, 2015
BR – Excellent write-up as usual 🙂
Tamasha is definitely not a love story. Its romantic but not a story about love. I can compare the premise that drops down to the lines I read few months back in one of my favorite books.“As I’ve gone through life, I’ve found that your chances for happiness are increased if you wind up doing something that is a reflection of what you loved most when you were somewhere between nine and eleven years old” ― Walter Murch
If you are a person whose idea of life is all about having a secured job, some bank balance, trying to buy a flat with more freebies or a car which gives more mileage then this movie is not for you. Tamasha is for the kids in adults and for the adults in kids.
Here is my take on Tamsha – https://medium.com/@pp2chillax/tamasha-for-the-kids-in-adults-and-for-the-adults-in-kids-29c7ea3ed7a5#.4jy4p45pw
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nishant
December 13, 2015
I think your readers will like this Bhardwaj 🙂
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bhavanas11
December 14, 2015
I have a problem about your review shrugging off the “bipolar” allusion. As a person who studies and knows folks with bipolar disorder, I sensed immediately the bipolar connection even before the word was used. And it was joyous to finally find a Hindi movie including this subject in their storyline. So I am going to read the movie in a slightly different way.
Bipolar is not simply flip flops. No. It starts off as low episodes of hypomania like that trip to Corsica and his upbeat state there. And then that disconnect, a flat personality which in reality can continue for years, unnoticed. Till a moment comes when you are pushed over edge by stressful circumstance, and the mania breaks out full form. Anger is an attribute, leaving job, speaking continuously, loudly, senselessly is an attribute. Also an attempt is always there to control, to hold it back.
It is not yet “craziness” but a ride where you can almost see what is happening and yet helpless at some level. What was not portrayed was the horrible lows after it. And also the lack of integrity of script when some silly realization of who you are makes everything ok. And that is where the bollywood romantic urge comes in and messes the piece (for me). But finally the storyteller learns the art of riding his mania, to channelise it in creative ways, like some do and becomes a highly-functional human.
Why Dips likes him –hahahaha. Bipolar folks have the habit of making your life so interesting, like on an eternal roller-coaster, that nothing else appeases. That again is so much in synch with how real-life bipolar relationships are.
The problematic is an attempt to unnecessarily meld in a Jekyll-Hyde piece which confounded the storyline. There was no need. But I guess the director was trying to make this conflict of self as result of urban postmodern trauma and not a psychological disorder. In that, he was moving away from biological/medical to socio-cultural trauma and conditions. Thus making it normalised — all suffer at some level kind-of-thing.
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doctorhari
December 15, 2015
Sorry for the late entry. Just saw this movie and felt I’ve to record my thoughts somewhere. Being a fan of Imtiaz ali and having been greatly impressed by his previous venture, Highway, I have to say I felt utterly disappointed by this movie. The first half-an-hour was terrific. However, when the real story starting unfolding, I couldn’t help wondering wearily, ‘How many times will this guy keep making films out of the same story – boy/girl inspires the other to follow his/her heart.’ This movie, despite a few outstanding scenes, was for me a pale shadow of Jab we met.
It is okay for a director’s body of work to have thematic similarities. But when a fine creator like Ali keeps recycling the same old story as in this film, despite the craftsmanship, I can’t help feeling that he’s slowly becoming a sophisticated counterpart of vikraman in hindi cinema. I really wish he ropes in a good writer in his subsequent films. There are so many wonderful stories waiting to be told, which Imtiaz with his sensibilities and craft could create magic with.
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asmamasood
December 22, 2015
Here is my take on Tamasha:
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tonks
December 23, 2015
Speaking of the simplification of bi-polar disorder in Tamasha, a team of psychiatrists published an interesting paper recently that reviews over 130 Malayalam movies released over the decades to analyse depictions of psychiatric disorders.
According to the psychiatrists, Thanmatra , Anantaram (1987), Spirit (2012), North 24 Katham (2013), and Nee-Na (2015) are some films where the portrayal of mental illnesses is more or less scientifically sound. Memories (2013) depicts treatment of alcohol dependence with gradual weaning off from alcohol, which, they say, is a method that is mostly ineffective and not usually recommended. In Thalavattom (1986), the protagonist is diagnosed with schizophrenia, but does not display any of its symptoms. Manichithrathazhu (1993) depicts trance and possession states in the female lead but her condition is stated wrongly as a state of psychosis, they add.
http://m.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/an-unsound-trend-in-mollywood/article8010108.ece
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apex
January 9, 2016
Thanks for this info & comments
Somehow have been ‘resisting’ tamasha for a while or rather we’ve been missing each other..
May try to watch it soon
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parthibanmanoharan
February 11, 2016
Not sure if I am reading way too much into this. But I felt it made a lot of sense. So when Deepika is revealed to be “Tara” in the movie I immediately felt there is a significance to that name and googled it. The name is bang on. She is the goddess of Compassion, life force, and this particular meaning “The word Tara itself is derived from the root ‘tri’ (to cross), hence the implied meaning:’ the one who enables living beings to cross the Ocean of Existence and Suffering’. Her compassion for living beings, her desire to save them from suffering, is said to be even stronger than a mother’s love for her children”. Deepika’s middle name “Maheswari” the feminine force of Maheswara and interestingly is from Kolkata, where Kali mata the feminine force of destruction and purification is widely worshipped.
Anyways BR, the last bit did not make sense as to why it had to be set up in Japan and not anywhere else? I felt it was not needed, didn’t add value except the fact of going in search of your love crossing seven sees, like how Rama did for Sita. But yet it didn’t have that impact. Your insights would be great on this.
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Rahini David
April 29, 2016
BR: Do you know what kind of heroines Barbara Cartland writes in her novels or is it just an educated guess? Just wondering.
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Vijay Krishnan
May 2, 2016
**SPOILER ALERT***
I wondered if you’ve seen Thoovanamthumbikal, another movie (far better, IMO) about a man who’s torn between the Sensible thing and his instincts. Chances are that you have, but that’s the movie that kept coming to mind when I was watching this.
I can’t help seeing the parallels, and I wondered if you did as well.
In terms of scripting, there are two women in that one, both of whom see things in the central character that aren’t immediately obvious (in fact, it seems as if they see the Other Person whom he’s generally concealing). The difference between Jayakrishnan and Ved seems to be that Mohanlal’s character there has reconciled his conflict. That Imtiaz Ali gets this, and brings in the really nice last twenty minutes to tail off a really mediocre middle segment, makes this movie much better than it would’ve been without that resolution. But why do all resolutions have to be as dramatic as this?
BTW: your comments on trauma are spot on; honestly, I don’t know whether it’s being logical-minded that makes for that, but that the idea isn’t taken far enough. It’s hard to accept a character who can slip so seamlessly between two personalities, without there being some effort. It’s like watching a movie version of Multiple Personality Disorder in miniature. The scenes in front of the mirror do try to mitigate that feeling, and Ved’s self-hatred comes through there; wish it were part of his performance in public as well.
PS: Read a certain amount of psychiatry-related posts here. No, this isn’t an accurate description of any psychiatric disorder, nor do I think that was intended (though I cringed internally in expectation, quite frequently in the middle parts). This is neither dissociative disorder, nor bipolar–at least, not convincingly so. I’m happiest to agree with you and say it’s a conceit.
PPS: Padmarajan rocks!
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P
May 8, 2016
Thought of this during a Twitter conversation today. Imtiaz makes three-set films like Mani Sir. But on the themes of Mind-Heart-Soul.
Socha Na Tha: Soul : : Jab We Met: Heart : : Love Aaj Kal: Mind
Highway: Soul : : Rockstar: Heart : : Tamasha: Mind
Hope you find it interesting 🙂
PS: After a light/sunny and a dark take on these themes I can’t wait for what he will do next!
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Venkatraman Subramaniam
May 27, 2016
nodding vehemently
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Yashluv Virwani
August 10, 2016
OH MY GOD!
I’m completely blown by this piece of writing – at complete loss of words.
Can I, for once, copy this as a word document and get the print? I wish to go back to this write-up some five years down the line, perhaps in a messy life myself, reading this and smiling – maybe this would bring about my VED-DEV transformation.
Thank you for this post!
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Sinjini Sengupta
September 9, 2016
I so, so love this review. Sad that I arrived at it so late, but glad that I did nevertheless. Cannot leave without posting my rants on Tamasha and inviting you to read. Please leave a word behind if you can, after you’ve read.
http://sinjinisengupta.blogspot.in/2015/11/kya-tamasha-hai.html
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Asha
December 29, 2016
I relished the movie when everyone else around me dissed it. I thought the movie must be awful and i’d gotten it all wrong until I stumbled upon your review. As an aside, I love reading your reviews and spent a whole afternoon doing just that only for the joy of reading your writing. It’s like a work of art.
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brangan
December 29, 2016
Asha: For some reason, this review has resonated with a lot readers much after the film’s release. In the sense that people give their comments about a review within a couple of weeks of a film’s release.
Maybe a lot of people missed this one in theatres and caught up with it much later?
Anyway, thanks so much for the lovely words.
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Hakimokimo
November 27, 2018
It’s been 3 years since this movie released and it became a favourite for me after several repeating views
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sirishaditya
May 6, 2019
–Ranbir isn’t as convincing in the breakdowns where his inner Majnu keeps bursting out – there’s something studied about the way he alternately holds back and lets loose.
I remember feeling something like this when I first watched the film too. I love Ranbir’s acting generally, especially in similar-ish roles in Rockstar and Ae Dil, so it wasn’t a question of him not acting well. The reason why it seemed to Jekyll-Hyde-esque is because Imtiaz seems to have written the role like that. Here’s a sample from the script-
—
Ved- (sudden charge)Haan saali tu hi jaanti hai main kaun hoon… aur koi nahin jaanta –mere ghar waale, mere dost…main khud nahin jaanta magar tu –saat din Corsica mein tu pakkajaan gayee ki main kaun hoon…
[He stops, stares at her face. He can not believe his behavaiour. She is looking at him. He quicky turns and covers his face.]
Ved(mutters under his breath)- Shit… Ye kya ho raha haimujhe…?
Tara- Koi baat nahin Ved.Listen… It’s fine…
Ved- No it’s not fine Tara…Kaise maine…?
Tara- You know better hai ki sab kuch baahar aa jaaye…
Ved(sharp)- Kya baaharaa jaaye…? Hai kya baahar aane ko…?
[He closes his eyes. Pause, then –]
Ved(genuinely)- I’m really really sorry Tara. I am very sorry yaar.
Tara- Let it go, Ved… Please… Andar aao…
Ved- Mujhe andar nahin aana chahiye Tara… Main yahan… patch up karne yavaise nahin aaya hoon…
Tara- Haan magar baahar khade rehne ka sense nahin hai na… Der ho gayee hai, log so rahe honge…
Ved (flips again)- Haan aur main unko jaga doonga… Main to paagal hoon… Main to (screaming) chillaoonoga… shor machaoonga… scene create kar doonga abhi yahan par… to mujhe to andar le jao…, chhupa lo…, control karo is vehshi saale jaawar ko…
[He stops,phews, covers his face, turns around, breathing heavily. ]
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Devarsi Ghosh
May 7, 2020
Just speed-watched Tamasha on Netflix. (Speed-watched because I have seen it before)*
What do I say? I think I love the ideas Imtiaz Ali has inside his head about love, life, and the state of being, much much more than what he ultimately does with those ideas in the form of cinema.
Also, it’s strange that this man is fixated on just one central theme: coming-of-age yarns about protagonists who are one thing but pretend to be or end up being something else, and they revert to their original state only in the presence of or at the arrival of the One True Love. I mean does he have nothing else to say in life? Does he have no other thoughts? Is this it? This is a serious question. I don’t have an issue with this writer-director exploring the same thing in every movie, I genuinely don’t, but I really wonder: is his mind closed off to the world? Does he not find other stories in the world around him? Do other stories not excite him? How can someone not find new perspectives on the world? It’s strange.
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brangan
May 7, 2020
Devarsi Ghosh: But that is why those of us who like him find him so wonderful, no? So singular, so unique! He is like a man on a mission. With the sole exception of JHMS, every one of his films have given unique insights into eccentric people in love.
Does he not find other stories in the world around him?
Why should he? Hitchcock almost always made films about suspense and killers and innocent men being framed for things they did not do. Okay, I know this is not a perfect example 🙂 But the point is that some filmmakers make it easy for us. If you don’t like one film of theirs, it’s unlikely that the others will work. (I mean, some may work a little better than others, but I am talking about the “ethos”.)
I may have mentioned this in the comments earlier, but I had a conversation with someone who said “Every Bhansali movie is the same.” Well, yes and no.
Yes, because the “ethos” is unvarying. SAAWARIYA may specifically had a line early on that said it was unfolding in a “khwabon ka shahar”, but you could say that about all his films. He is unconcerned with reality or logic — he’s like Mysskin, that way.
So I think it comes down to whether you liked watching “variations on a theme” when you say “I want to watch a movie”. Otherwise, you see one or two films of these unique creators and check out. Because there are many other filmmakers giving you a “different experience” each time.
But for me, each Imtiaz film is different not in a “generic sense” (because the arcs are similar) but in very specific senses — in the way the characters are written, etc. And he is one of the best directors of emotional stasis and confrontation (of course, only when he has the actors to pull it off). His romantic scenes are so freaking unique that I keep revisiting them both as part of ONE film as a part of his body of work.
PS: Does anyone know what happened with JHMS? I heard that SRK wanted the script changed, but there are others who say they were forced to begin WITHOUT a script… There is NO other Imtiaz film with NO Imtiaz moments at all, so horribly generic…
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N Madhusudhan
May 7, 2020
@BR: In his interaction with Anupama in FC unfiltered before LAK released, Imtiaz mentioned that there was no interference from Shahrukh. He said that JHMS is the thinnest storyline he’s ever worked on and he consciously wanted to keep it light without going into the character’s backstories and all (After Tamasha, he wanted to do something very un-Tamasha). But for that he should have let the material evolve with a little more depth. He admitted that he realized it was an underdeveloped script.
I think with SRK, Imtiaz had narrated a different story earlier which was darker and less mainstream but SRK wanted to do something different and that’s when Imtiaz came up with this story. Apparently that was the extent of SRK’s involvement.
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abishekspeare
May 7, 2020
What IA tried to do with JHMS was what Mani Ratnam did with OKK. After an exhausting and rich movie that should have worked but turned out unsuccessful , he wanted to make something light . He read people saying online that “tamasha is only for people with brains, everyone won’t get it”. So he wanted to make a simple movie perhaps . But he made an empty movie instead. JHMS still has the very specific IA tropes like beginning and ending with a song(the end credits always roll out in the MIDDLE of the end credit song), the typical IA hero and heroine,etc.He failed to build anything around these constructs.
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krishikari
May 7, 2020
“Does anyone know what happened with JHMS?”
They were in Amsterdam, the cast and crew got high and thought that whatever they were shooting was AMAZING. She loses her ring and finds it in her bag!!! That’s the whole movie.
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Devarsi Ghosh
May 7, 2020
BR: Scorsese, Bergman, our own Ritwik Ghatak: off the top of my head, writer-directors who consistently explored a singular set of themes in film after film, and yet I, and I believe most of us, won’t ever complain about them making the same film again and again. That’s because they showed the ability to look at their pet obsessions in new interesting ways again and again, and seldom did their films not work or fail to charm us.
Imtiaz Ali’s case is very different. As I wrote, I love the ideas he has about things, but IMO, he is consistently failing to deliver any substantial film that works as a whole — and not just in small chunks — out of these ideas, which he had done complete justice to till, I would say, Love Aaj Kal.
After that, his output has just not been on the mark. WHICH makes me wonder: does he even have anything left to say to the world about life, love, etc.? Today, I am questioning if does he not have other ideas, simply because he’s not doing anything worthwhile with whatever he has in his head. That’s all. I don’t believe anyone in their right mind will say Rockstar, Tamasha, JHMS or LAK 2 were great or good films. Yes, they may have had bits of genius(?), but come on, that doesn’t let IA off the hook.
Now I’m not writing him off completely. He might bounce back with an absolute stunner. But as far as I’m concerned, his run since LAK (2009) has been middling, with the exception of Highway which was alright — perhaps because it was a reworking of an old story and not something new he cooked up in the 2010s.
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hakimokimo
May 8, 2020
Devarsi: Actually Tamasha and Rockstar have such a big cult statue. Especially Tamasha, I don’t remember any Indian film had that kind of crazy fandom and the film has been discussed repeatedly in most of Indian YouTube channels/ Facebook films groups and I don’t want to shock but they don’t call it just a good film but a masterpiece.
Actually FC did a YouTube monthly series called Retake as they chose some underappreciated films and guess what was the first film? It was Tamasha.
Rahul himself is a huge fan of Tamasha ( and Rockstar I believe )
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Aman Basha
May 13, 2020
Reg. JHMS, I think I sort of got what Ali was trying to do, it was about a tour guide with failed dreams and ambitions resigned to a monotonous job and a sort of male Veronica who yearns for meaningful relationships but perceives himself as a very low, cheap sort. Sejal is supposed to be a girl who’s been sheltered off by her family and has self esteem issues, sexual insecurity. It’s typical Ali, and these two meet on this bizzare trip to find a ring by searching across Europe and they fall in love and this love solves each other’s problems though Harry thinks it can’t go on forever and wants her to go away while he realizes she is the one and goes back to pursue her.
Where the movie went totally off is the pacing and editing, the KJo esque broad humor that went on and on only to fall flat, and most importantly how we never know much about these characters. All of his characters have such well defined backgrounds, that inform us into their actions, we barely see any major character apart from these two generic characters through the whole movie and Anushka’s Gujju accent didn’t help.
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Aran
June 12, 2020
IMO, one of the reasons JHMS didn’t work was because of Shahrukh. That was a very un-Imtiaz-like character/interpretation. All of Imtiaz’s heroes are flawed, sensitive, internal, self-doubting creatures, and Shahrukh is the opposite. Larger-than-life, confident, brash. Shahrukh’s approach to acting is very overt and ‘big’ in the way he plays characters. And Imtiaz’s heroes are not ‘big’ characters at all. Too much of a disconnect there.
Also, yes, Anushka’s Gujju accent. Kill me now.
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