kathuria_nidhi

Thank you #AmitMasurkar for making such an important film. No, it was not entertaining, or holds the same thrill as Steven Spielberg's Jaws did. This was not an ideal weekend film that I expected. And I also couldn't be more thankful that I didn't end up watching it on the big screen. Fifteen minutes into the film, it seemed familiar... it was pulsating with the same core as Swades did. I remember walking out of the theater disappointed as I didn't understand what had I just watched. But the film kept haunting me. I couldn't get the image of Shahrukh crying in the train when he was returning from some village, out of my head. The music, the unconventional odd village characters, the theme of transformation and acceptance, everything about the film started to unsettle me. In days to come, the movie completely shook me from my myopic center of understanding life and things around me. Swades overwhelmed me with its anti-cinematic, life approach. And I know just like Swades, Sherni will also keep disturbing me for days to come. But this time round, I already know why this film has made me restless and exposed some old wounds.

Sherni is based on true events (disclaimer: the film doesn't say that, this is strictly my personal observation); the murder of tigress Avni also called T-1. The plea of thousands of animal rights activist were rejected. The Supreme Court ordered that the animal be tranquilized and transported elsewhere, failing which the authorities were given permission to kill her. The mother of two ten-month old cubs was brutally murdered in the Yavatmal region of Maharashtra on November 2nd, 2018.

The 2021 World Press Freedom Index produced by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a French NGO, has again placed India at 142nd rank out of 180 countries. If things were different in India, I am sure the director's narrative would have included Adanis and Birlas who bought Avni's home; her jungle from the government to build their commercial plants, and that's the main reason (what popular mainstream Indian media will not say) why the poor animal had to be eliminated. Yet, I want to sincerely applaud Amit V. Masurkar for attempting an endearing and brave social satire.

There will always be people who won't fight for tigers or other animals, there will be those who will not care if the forests are cut or burnt, or habitats of thousands of species destroyed for metro, or sprawling multi-storied malls. Yet, we need films like Sherni to shake us up, until we realize that nature, animals, human beings, are all interconnected. Nothing and no one can exist in isolation.

In 2019, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg at the age of 16, gave a very angry and emotional speech to hundreds of world leaders at the United Nations in New York City. If we can't learn from this pandemic, or appreciate the intent of films like Sherni, and fail to raise our voice against the cruelty and atrocities to the nature and animals, we will have no place to hide our faces. Our children will also ask us the same question as Greta did. "How dare you?"

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is a sweet love story that sweeps you away with its earnest emotions and imperfect characters that vouch of their virtues and vices just like you and me. The plot may be something you would be if not hugely, yet slightly skeptical about, but it works because of these very characters who breathe the same air, eat the same food, and dream a little dream just like you and me. The hero is an 'aam aadmi' who could be your neighbor, someone you see everyday on train or bus on your way to work. He wears sports shoes with dull color shirts and timeworn pleated pants; he is a man with ordinary looks almost like sarkari babus, shopkeepers or sales men from old Delhi or here more specifically, Amritsar. He is a man of mediocre stature and boasts of only unambitious common-man material needs. He is no 'Rahul' that thanks to recent breed of cinema is symbolic of rich chocolate boy image. But Surinder Sahni a.k.a. Shahrukh Khan can't resist the temptation to be 'Raj' 'naam toh suna hoga', again, the name and portrait he has immortalized since DDLJ. He is not Jim Carrey in The Mask who aspires to be a superhero to his alter ego. Garish in his makeover, with unsteady and unsure steps, Raj dances with his dream girl to make her laugh and fall in love. You don't see a black and white distinction between Suri and Raj and that's what transpires into a masterly screenplay and brilliant direction. There is a little Raj in Suri and vice-versa. Without fearing to give away much in this review, even though the story is largely predictable, the film exhibits an array of heartfelt scenes. There is a scene where Suri contemplates leaving a red rose with the breakfast he prepared for his wife. It's a beautiful scene that is suggestive of the protagonist's love that is throbbing to express itself. But Suri being what he is must contain his love where Raj is able to take it a leap above its counter self and voice his love from ridiculous to sublime. Another scene where a victorious Raj surprises you by crying for Suri who is slacking behind him in winning the same lady-love, gives you a tug in your heart. Music-wise 'Haule Haule' is one of the best songs to come out of Bollywood in a long time. It's earthy, colorful, with lyrics that describe the whole mood of the film. The pace of the film is tolerable, if not fast. Dialogs are not as good as Aditya Chopra's other films like DDLJ or Mohabbatein, but still they work because they are mouthed with sincerity and passion. But yes, the number of times the word 'Pyar' is used in the movie, pushes it over the borderline for high or too much sugar. May be as a promotion, the producers could have quizzed the audience on how many times the characters mouth that word! Vinay Pathak as Bobby; Suri's childhood friend is very effective. The newcomer Anushka Sharma was a brilliant choice. She is a complete natural but kudos to Aditya Chopra for sketching her character with subtlety and not making the audience suffer any melodrama by making her erratically jump into her sad past at every given opportunity. Finally, why Rab Ne…will really work? One word, which is also the final word-SRK.