nikhil-damodaran

I am inclined to believe that the intention of this movie was a close replication to 'Requiem for a Dream'. If the censor copy says it all ( this is the copy I watched), then the movie is not worth all the controversy which was created recently in the media. I don't even know why the Censor board was making such a big issue out of it. Cause there was nothing much to censor and the film could have passed with an A certification too! So now since the hype is taken care of, I would like to review the movie alongside and in comparison with the Requiem for a Dream(RD) - the cult by Darren Aronofsky.

The movie revolves around the increased drug problem in Punjab. Now whether there is a problem like this or not, the story can still be told. This story, much like RD has parallel stories of people who are addicted to drugs because of various situations and habits. Shahid (Tommy) thrives on cocaine and fuels his music from the drugs - the 'coke cock' line was interesting and it sort of built up the tempo of the story. Thus he is a singer (the usual drugs and rock and roll - no sex) who is abusive in all sense and in heavily dependent on his high. He becomes a modern Jim Morrison - inspiring people to be cool and gets a generation indirectly into a notion that drugs is a happening thing!

The second story is of Alia (Mary Jane) who comes from a poor Bihari family in search of making a living first as an agricultural worker in Punjab. She bumps into this stash of coke and gets involved with people who get her addicted, keep her in confinement and rape her repeatedly. Her addiction is in contrast with Tommy and shows a separate side.

The third character which is focused is the brother of the Diljit Dosanjh (Sartaj - the police officer) who discovers his brother in an overdosed state. In trying to de-addict him, he meets with a doctor (Kareena) who runs a rehab. Touched by the severity of the problem and his own experience with his brother, Sartaj ties to find out more about the drug problem. Directed by Kareena, they figure out the politics of drugs and how they are available uncontrolled in any chemical shop - since there is no direct license requirement for this drug. This story gets intertwined with Sartaj's brother as both try to get him out of the problem.

Now, this setup is similar to - Conelly, Leto and Burstyn where in requiem for a dream, there are these plot lines going across and all centered around drug for different needs and fueled by different psychosis. While that story is more vivid (and I wish Indian cinema could go upto that level of acceptance), these stories are weaker. In part there is brilliance - the goa poster (not mentioning more!) is a tool again which tries to recreate Burstyn's dream and it has been placed well in the movie. Thus there are these moments of interesting analogies but the drag of the stories is far too much. Maybe 30 minutes of lesser explanations and more graphic content would have made the fight with the censor worth it.

Performances were following directorial cue I feel - Shahid was again very good. He pulled up a better performance in Haider primarily because the movie was so well made - but otherwise no complaints from shahid. Alia was surprisingly refreshing. She (maybe) was not very smooth with her Bihari accent but essayed the role very well. Kareena and Diljit were balance - and the kid who played Diljit's younger brother acted very well.

Perhaps the needs for melodrama made the movie lengthy but it could have been a cult had they refrained from populist plots and digressions.