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Before I go see most Hindi movies on Friday’s, I pretty much study the film as if I am about to take an exam on the film. I will watch every interview, every promo, making, music launch, etc.
With Tamasha I ended up doing a Phd almost, because it’s an Imtiaz Ali film and it has Ranbir Kapoor. One of my favorite directors and my all time favorite actor… But what I find rather interesting about Imtiaz Ali films he gives very little of his story away while promoting the film, so while I was watching every clip about the film before the release of the film, I was constantly coming up with what this film could possibly be about.
When I was at the movies watching this extraordinary film, I was taken into a whole new world. But the truth is, I was taken into this world when the trailer released, and then when the music released. And then when I saw the film I realized, I am a part of this world on so many levels.
Since I was a kid, I always enjoyed making up stories and fabricating my dreams I had a night. Then as I got older, I discovered the world of cinema and that I could be part of it one day and began to write this made up stories on paper. Only to find out that you cannot be the story in real life otherwise the ‘average’ people will think you are crazy on so many levels.
Ved played by Ranbir has a very similar story, but he experiences the pain of having to live a double life. When Ved was a kid, he struggled in school, he wanted to to something else, but he was told there were no other options to be anything else. When Ved grew up he somehow managed to get a good job through his father and turned into an ‘average’ person or like how Imtiaz describes, ‘below average’. These kind of people wake up on-time, wear prim-proper clothing, work the way they are told to work and do everything even if it does not make sense in his head and so on. Sadly a lot of us in the world are living this life and are hiding a part of us that wants to do something else. It’s pretty simple, you’re living a life full of regrets while impressing the rest of the world instead of yourself.
But then Ved took a trip to Corsica and met Tara. Usually when we all travel elsewhere outside of out comfort zone, the travel bug in us creeps in and we sometimes find a different kind of person in ourselves. Something similar happened to Ved and Tara except the difference is, Tara is always like this and Ved on the other hand had the ability to be what he actually is in Corsica. When you watch Tamasha majority will like to believe that Ved is really the average working guy, but only Tara realizes this is not him at all. So is Ved bipolar or is he really just masking himself trying to fit in like an ‘adult’? Is Ved confused, or has Tara opened up a secret door in him that no one else was able to do?
I would like for you to see the film and see how the story unravels from here.
What was the most disappointing thing for me though was how the audience has accepted this film. Yes, Indian cinema has possibly covered this topic in other films, and we see a blend of Rockstar and Jab We Met in some parts of the film, but guess what? Imtiaz Ali himself also feels the same! He himself has said it has flavors from his past films. I think when we watch films we need to stop comparing, we need to watch a single film on its own as it’s own.
Tamasha gave off such a powerful message in a beautiful artistic way. It even made sad moments, not so sad. The entire film made you feel good by the end and the music makes you feel unstoppable.
Maybe I am totally biased, because I could relate to the story on so many levels and I myself want to be part of the film industry. And maybe because I did extra research on the film so I was able to understand what exactly Imtiaz has tried to convey on-screen. It was very hard for me as a film lover, film critic and Ranbir fan to see the amount of negative reviews people all over have given the film. But it was also nice to see the number of people who were able to enjoy the film as much as I did.
Missed my review of Tamasha? Check it out right here!
