This is effective filming and a refreshing, much-needed, summer relieve. It a simple love triangle with updated loveable characters and has some new back-stories thrown in for good measure. The main theme is to celebrate first love, that even though each of us may have grown up differently but we should not ignore our instincts when it tells us who we share a common bond and emotional compatibility with. This cosy film progresses quite smoothly to sway our hearts and make us long for the happy ending. Its rolls out pleasant sweets as it progresses. All the neurotic and dysfunctional behaviours are neatly sanitised. What remains same is the big Indian wedding and slightly villainous elders. I like fairytales sometime because it relaxes my mind and makes me feel good about the world we live in. The trick is to treat the film with subtle realism. I feel good about the future. I liked how Parineeti Chopra was not trying to be the young chirpy horny girl next door but instead played the character of a straight talking, nerdy, tomboyish girl next door. Its good to see Hindi mainstream films bring such characters. These are like the girls we have actually have spoken to, got attracted to and have made passionate memories with, rather than the fantasy we keep seeing on-screen. Yeah, lets turn the tables and have the girl be the misunderstood black-sheep who is looking for love and the guy be good-looking and rooted in traditional values. They both are innocently rebellious but sweet people. The guy is a loyal and handsome man who needs a woman who loves and respects him and the girl is smart and financially independent who needs such as man. She is uncompromising, goofy, financially independent, pitiable and needs only love to be happy. I am sure every guys sees her and feels he wants to save her. She is looking in my eyes, genuine smitten and waving to me. Granted it never happens but I like this thought which also means that I am the desirable love of her life. I would ditch the hotter annoying sister too as she likes nothing better than to criticise and point out the failures, telling you that you are measuring up shorter than the expectation. I couldn't be friends with such a person for 7 mins, forget 7 years. I have some semblance of self respect. You buy that. Romantic comedies are for .... others of-course. She maybe a genius chemist with a small drug addiction who steals nothing less than crores from her father. No biggie. On second thought marry the rich sister you have had a 7 year relationship with and compartmentalise the adultery. Of-course I wouldn't do it as I am an Indian but then who ever said romcom characters made sense.
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The parallel themes are about freedoms of girls and young women inside their rich mansions and poor huts. Its also about the have nots who form the criminal underbelly, men who do the dirty work with no alternative in life. Its a the story about the protagonist's path to true freedom and by the end she is not defined by her status or her looks or even her gender. Its also about her lover's redemption and the calming touch of uninhibited love. It is an error to think that more constraints you put increases the audience appreciation or your films value, rather the shortest route that is often the best way. Unfortunately, this film was seriously indulgent and was missing key ingredients. The opportunity slipped because the method was fundamentally incorrect. It felt unrealistic when the main thing the film-makers were betting on was to land in that real world zone. Its a dark film so you only have a small space to meet your mark. For example, after the epiphanic experience when the protagonist is runs back from the desert, the next morning she starts behaving as if she is on a road trip with some friends. Then there is a blocked scene with choreographed camera movements in a film where there is a lot of static shots. Then a beating local song, followed by a sudden rendering of a philosophical monologue (though beautifully shot). It felt uneven and I didn't buy into it. This could be an honest mistake by this mainstream director who wanted to be (narratively-speaking) a puritan and approach this film as one would with traditional artwork. However, you are unlikely to direct a film in this way as if you were reading it purely off a book. I like that the story is character-driven and the direction gives space for great improvisation (unlike regular Indian films) however the plot narrative has to be adapted for the screen which has a way of its own. Its a physical journey and an emotional learning curve. Things need to happen in the physical world especially when you are on the road and the audience has to be invested in its transformational experience even as we walk out of the halls. This is what the film promised to be to counter typical blockbusters. This is the difference we were hoping for but we got an unbalanced movie. I felt where it had fallen short was, though well intentioned, was the bridging of our society's deep class divide. Romeo and Juliet can fall in love and make it memorable but the notion that a respectable girl, from an affluent family, even temporarily, sharing love with another human being, who is not only a thief and murderer but also poor, jolts the collective middle-class psyche. The human insights that make us identify with the characters should have been much more in order for us to like and accept the situations shown. Instead there were cliché fillers with some beautiful visuals stretching it and tiring us before we reach the emotional scenes. Its clear that the room for improvisation was so vast that the time-tested value of scripting had to give way. I am not mentioning the uncomfortable (for our society the) thrusting of the view that love can blossom and heal broken souls under the most serious and morally "wrong" circumstance. Its a view, we should not judge it blindly and in simple terms. Humans are complicated and so is our cathartic redemption experiences. Art is about a feeling and being able to connect that with your audience. Commercial film can never be for its own sake. Nevertheless this is a real feature film and I bet the crew has many memorable stories to tell. |
AuthorI am interested in unfolding scene design, character design and image design; representing contemporary narrative strategy, narrative shot and narrative style. The flowing images, which combine aesthetics and ideology. NoticeThis site contains copyrighted material for purposes that constitutes 'fair use'; and has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. No fee is charged, and no money is made off this site. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
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