never say goodbye

there is an alternate universe out there. in the increasingly plasticy high-pitched blundering yet very much our world of meanings, our family that is hindi cinema, there are finally some relatives we can relate to. vinay pathak, ranvir shorey, rajat kapoor, saurabh shukla, brajendra kale, and the others whose names i dont know but the faces i can recognise- from a small role in that film, from an appearance in that serial. they come together again in Dasvadaniya.

the film marks a hat-trick, coming after bheja fry and mithya. populated by characters who are in situations you hope you never will be in. and yet what marks these bizarre situations- an actor finding himself playing the role of a don in real time, the aspiring singer finding himself a live cartoon, and a regular accountant handed a pink slip of life with three months notice- is its everydayness. a world when you have to wait in real roads, climb real stairs, stare at the real sea hedged in by buildings and visible only from a higher floors of an apartment block, a world where people forged childhood friendships in their 'society' as apartment blocks are called. a world where u can laugh at and yet emphatise with the character. where jokes dont mean an endless routine of caricaturing.

I cant help comparing dasvadaniya with dostana, if only because they came out around the same time. but where the 'aunty aunty' character was so made that she could be humilated, vinay pathak's encounters with his boss and even his clumsiness in the plane (stock fare of slapstick comedy)are strikingly nuanced. he may be a simpleton in many ways, but he is also a mature guy, his assessments of his life and handling of dissappointments touch you. you dont pity him, you identify with him and you respect his feelings.

dasvadaniya is what a film is about for me. unlike dostana, which interests me only as a cultural text (its handling of homosexuality for instance) but irks me for it is not a film. even by the standards of mainstream big budget hindi cinema, dostana makes not even a modicum of effort to develop its characters, make the friendships convincing, trying to see a story in all that display of skin and sand is asking for too much (i am not making a morality argument i must clarify and i do find the relentless focus on John's scantily clad body interesting. but thats what it is- interesting not involving) unlike this shabby-under-all-the-glitz effort, dasvadaniya is a story well told, with restrain, with attention to detail. it is not a new concept and it may never become one of the top 100 films of all time. but it is a film watching experience. not only is it a counter to dostana type assembly productions, it is an effective foil to the other format of hindi cinema- the melodramatic one. in this particular case, it is the perfect answer to the film i do like otherwise- anand.

i liked the fact that when vinay finally gets even with his boss, it is not through a long truimphant dialogue. that his equation with his brother is shown as different from that with his boss, stressing that everyone goes through different roles in life. i liked that contented smile when he manages to tell the love of his life how he feels. and the conversation with the best friend- it was awkward, with pathos but also ordinary in a potentially explosive moment. where memories are recalled, but emotions are incoherently articulated. vinay doesnt moralise, doesnt lecture on what life is, he reflects and you can follow his thought processes.

spoiler alert: what it left unsaid was even better. the guy before his death finalised parting gifts for everyone. but not for three people who can be deemed to be the most important people in his life. he didnt because for these three people he was a active valuable person. theirs were relationships of mutual value. the gifts were for people who had added to his life, made it better especially in the last months. there is no explanation in the film, but i read it as such. and found it brilliant.

kya rock-shock

One of the first things I did on getting the internet connection today was to listen to the songs from the film Rock On. It’s a big deal cos I have no knowledge of rock apart from reading Pink Floyd’s lyrics. I am of course a devoted fan of Indian Ocean, but have never associated it with rock music. It has elements I guess, and they are primarily performance oriented like rock, but I need to be enlightened on what actual genre their music falls under. So, what am I saying? That I will explore more of rock? I am not sure I will take all that initiative. But if ever I do, I will have to credit this film for it. My friend, with whom I saw this film, is a rock fan and she tells me the music is not ‘filmy’ and is authentic to the spirit of rock. And it’s the music which will live on. For the film is a no show.

The characters are well cast, they have the ‘look’. But apart from Debbie, no one becomes the character. I couldn’t find a story being told in the film, even if it is a oft done story. Maybe it is the influence of hindi cinema’s emotionalism or maybe it is my familiarity with the American ‘lets talk’ culture, but the film is much too unexplained. It is not understated communication, rather it is the lack of any effort at connecting with the mind of the viewer. It never takes us thru the process and the pain of the breakup. And never tells us why they managed to get back. We keep waiting for something which will put the film together for us as an experience, and that never comes.

And yet, I hear, the film has connected. The reason, if one were not to fall into cynicism and proclaim that any film manages an audience these days, i think is in the music- it has energy, joy, pathos, and lyrics to match the moods.