Ishqiya - A few thoughts, if I may

For once, I am not here to pontificate. Rather, I would like to comment on Ishqiya which I happened to see over the weekend. And no, I will not rake up the topic of incomprehensibility of its title; after all I belong to a generation that has grown up with titles like “Phoonk” and “Badal”. The movie name, as I realize, is at best to keep up the suspense regarding the substance of the movie and at worst to misguide the audience of the movie’s intent and story (if it has one.)

Vishal Bharadwaj, for reasons best known to himself, prefers to work in the greys amonst the travesty of colours of life; preferring to differentiate within various shades of grey in human character. How else can you characterize each of the lead roles, they are the protagonists and at the same time antagonists. But I am digressing, pedagogy is a tough habit to break.

The movie is a twisting and turning strand that is tightly woven to the culture of the Hindi hinterland. Thus things that made no noticeable impact on me, a southerner had the northern audience in their grip. The twist that was devious to me struck a chord and tugged at their heart. The ending that seemed incomplete to me merged seamlessly with their experiences; I left feeling a bit confused, they were fully satiated. And the gaalis, if mouthed by any southerner of 5 less than 20 age (sic), would have resulted in a whipping of the delicate portion of posterior and a brisk mouth wash using Surf or Rin (or whatever is the current washing powder fad) thrown in as a bonus. The dialogues that left me dumbstruck had the northern audience in splits (of course in time I adjusted and then joined in the hilarity).

Then there was Vidya Balan – who says eloquence is only for words? There is an instance in the movie her look speaks a thousand page novel while her mouth utters but a single word. Oh, if only my writing was as eloquent; this essay, nay the entire spectrum of my thoughts would be conveyed in an instant. And to those of you women who confuse being “hot” to dressing up with 2 inch cloth in the upper torso and another 2 inch cloth in the lower, please watch Vidya. And learn. Please.

And Naseeruddin Shah, well my task keeps getting tougher. His forte is understatement, but can any amount of sunshade eclipse the sun? Mr. Naseeruddin, you epitomize theatrical art, there is no greater praise that can be given. And what can I, a person whom people prefer to see backstage or front stage but not onstage, say any further?

To Arshad Warsi and the rest of 20 odd cast (can you imagine, the entire cast wouldn’t have exceeded that number!!) you have rocked. I hate to use any word the second time in my article; my vocabulary (or the lack of it) prevents me from writing anymore. Feel free to take any and all the compliments that you have come across, you deserve it. And Arshad, thanks for retaining a little bit of Circuit in the performance; you proved that one can never have too much of a good thing.

PS: One thing I hate about people like me; we take the funniest of the jokes and make it look like a sermon at the graveside. In summary, here is what I would like to say – you don’t need to clear your calendar to make time to watch the movie; but if you find you have 3 hours slipping through your hands without anything to show for them, then go ahead and watch it. If nothing else, watch it for Vidya Balan; in her, the memories of timeless beauties of yesteryears have been actualized.