Tamasha: A Misunderstood Gem

The world is a stage but the play is badly cast – Oscar Wilde

This is one of the statements that probably Imtiaz Ali tried to make in Tamasha. If you think about it, it was more of ‘Why the play is so badly cast?’ the question that he tried to address.

Tamasha is the story of Ved who has given up and lost himself in the mad rat race that is happening all around us. It is about him discovering his lost self after he is reminded that he is not the ‘mango person’ he is pretending to be. I admit the story is been there, seen that kind in reel life (and more like been there, living it dude! in real life for many) but for me the story was not the focal point in the movie, instead it was the storytelling, the narrative by one of the best in bollywood today. How Ved is shown growing up listening to the old storyteller, his imaginative mind making his normal everyday life interesting, his inability to stand up against the evergreen “Kya career plan hai tumhara? Bolo! Jawaab do!” which eventually thrusts him into the never ending race to be ordinary in a true ‘Tamasha’ fashion is the USP of the film.

The hero has no negative character to fight with and show his macho-ism or dabangai. He is fighting himself, the situation, life in the way most of us are. He is a human with emotions who does not speak in over-the-top dialogues every time he opens his mouth, but can weave an engrossing story within moments. He is struggling with his circumstances, doing a job he does not want to do but has convinced himself that it is what he is meant to do, when clearly it is not so. Don’t know about others but it worked for me. I would like to mention one small point that what is shown is that it should be your passion that you follow. It may very well be the corporate job but doing what satisfies your desires is important. Some people apparently took offence on the corporate jobs being shown in the ‘wrong light’ (anyways offending people is too easy nowadays).

Movie had something to say and the presence of an actor of Ranbir Kapoor’s caliber, music conveying the state of the character (a state which thankfully was never drunk like is the case in most songs today. These ‘singers’ have reduced Punjabi music to songs about drinking and party only. Wait… Tamasha… yes sorry!). I thought the songs were weird when I heard them first but after I saw the movie, each and every song makes sense and have become a part of my playlist now. Thank you AR Rahman and Irshad Kamil for these wonderful songs.

Tamasha has had a polarizing effect on the audience with some loving it, calling it ‘a misunderstood gem’ (that’s my group) while others dismissing it, labelling it as ‘the worst movie ever’ (I mean c’mon, remember Drona or Tees Maar Khan? Those are the worst movies ever).  Were the trailers not clear enough? Maybe it was the victim of not conforming to societal expectations. Whichever way it was, I think it showed a mirror on the current state of society, showing exactly how we all are transforming into robots losing out on life, losing the sense of what or who we are. It looks like people did not want to see this mirror. Truth is indeed a hard pill to swallow. It is quite surprising that an emotional movie like Tamasha failed to engage the emotionally charged India.

Having said so much I don’t claim to watch only the emotional/intelligent movies (though always prefer them), I do watch commercial cinema from time to time (in fact I watch almost all Akshay Kumar movies). But the failure of good movies at earning decently is what is pushing actors, directors and producers to make one meaningless movie after another. Good movies like Tamsha do decent business but crappy movies (you know the ones I am refer ring to) are the ones fighting for 100, 200 and 300 crores. The only foolproof formula for earning well at box office seems to be- have Salman Khan in the picture (good or bad, bhai’s movies always seem to earn). Although it should not be the mantra in life but for the producers, success is equal to money.

The trend of bad movies from good actors is concerning but all is not lost till we have the Shoojit Sirkars, Imitiaz Alis and Anurag Kashyaps in the industry trying to do something new and meaningful. More power to you guys. I saw Wazir last week (decent enough, could have been a lot more), and have high hopes from Airlift. Fingers crossed.

What did you think about Tamasha? Do let me know in the comments below.

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