Tamasha

One hour into the film and I was starting to get tempted about believing the reviews on Tamasha. But this was an Imtiaz Ali film and I was sure there had to be more than just beautiful locals, two very good looking people and a plot thicker than “what happens in Corsica, stays in Corsica!”

When Don (Ranbir Kapoor) and Mona Darling (Deepika Padukone) bump into each other, they make a pact to conceal their real identity, weave webs of lies, and post Corsica, never see each other again. Understandable.

But in Corsica, the characters lay too much emphasis on cute meet cute and come hither, almost bordering unbearably fake. This could have been moderated. A holiday is not about a personality transplant. Normal things like walks, staying in, reading a book, can be fun too.

Every conversation does not take place over a candle light or reek of “wohoo! I am so much fun!”

But I guess this was required for a crescendo to Ranbir’s character, because his rock bottom, in the second half, took me by surprise (I still stand by my moderation theory)

Tamasha is a story of how Ved has different aspirations from life, but parental pressure, the rat race and the expectation of doing something regular to earn a living has him reduced to a “yes man, no man, my nose is up your ass man!”

He’s accepted that and made peace with it - up until Tara comes back into his life. Four years after Corsica, still single and harboring the flame, they decide to reignite their passion but just when it’s about to reach a climax, Tara withdraws.

Saying, she’s caught up in her idea of romance, still in love with the carefree person she met in Corsica and cannot accept this mundane, Project Sales Manager, cause mundane she already has.

The rest of the film is a debate on the pro’s and con’s of mediocrity, following your dreams and being your own hero. Also Ranbir’s sudden spurts of rage when experiencing relationship and identity crisis are loud and exhausting.

Deepika’s role is limited to being the fairy godmother in a Cinderella story.

For me the most performance packed part of the film was the song ‘agar tum paas ho’ where emotions where heart painted on a canvas of well written lyrics. This to me was also the only performance part for music as well, by A R Rehman

Irshad Kamil seems to be showing off his varied spectrum of lyric writing. Where he’s given us the poignant “Manga jo mera hai, jaata kya tera hai…Bus naam ka Khuda…jo teri itni sib hi na chali…” in Aaj Din Chadiya, he’s also written the impenetrable “Jisne khenchi meri dhoti, dhoti khenchi… Geela hua hai jo sukhana ho ho.. brroom!” in Matargashti.

We get the point Mr. Kamil, please go back to mundane!

In short Tamasha may not be a lot of things it was set out to, but amidst all the madness and several unanswered questions, it also has it’s moments of darkness, of acceptance and soul.

Ravi Varman's cinematography, has made Corsica the go-to-place on every travellers blog. His vision, while capturing the pensive portraits of the characters as the story progresses, is commendable.

Imitiaz Ali has always explored the space between ‘dil and dimag ki duniya’, and when you walk through his magic land you get some and then some you don’t.

But he is one storyteller whose performance the heart always looks forward to.