Of the Euthanasia ki Guzaarish and the Gypsy Prince Zangoora

After the extremely hectic last week of November, I decided to return to my blog with two magical experiences. Two things I managed to catch up in one week, which in itself is saying a lot, include the most inspiring movie of the decade if not the century, Guzaarish and the Broadway style Bollywood musical, Zangoora. Poles apart and yet both of them are an experience of a lifetime.

There are no words to describe Guzaarish. That Bhansali’s magic weaves a heart-warming story, is not something new I am going to say here. Every film review says that. That it’s Bhansali’s best work, paralleled only by Black if at all, is also not something new I can tell you about the film. So how best should I describe Guzaarish? I think it is best to say that when you see Guzaarish, deep inside you feel the power to counter any difficulty in life. You realize that just when you feel you cannot go on, the spirit inside you whispers in your ear to take one further step, one at a time. And most of all, you learn that it’s possible to be happy in adversities. It’s a serious subject, but the movie is far from serious. Every moment in the film is magical; right from the flashback scenes of Hrithik’s heydays as a magician to his silent love story with Aishwarya. As happy as it is sentimental; the film is a lesson on life. It teaches you not to be bogged down by the difficulties in your life; just like Ethan (the protagonist played brilliantly by Hrithik) who did not sob over his lost abilities and his fickled fame. It teaches you not to take things on face value; as from seeing jolly and effervescent Ethan it is hard to guess how deep the suffering lies. It teaches you that all relationships are not based on give and take; as Sophia could hardly expect something in return from Ethan – nothing actually apart from a silent love. I cried. I cried my heart out for Ethan, when his mother supports his case for Euthanasia in front of the judge. I cried when his mother dies and he smiles and sings a song for her with tears rolling down his eyes: “And I say to myself, what a beautiful world”. I was especially touched when he locks away the public prosecutor on the pretext of a magic trick to make him realize what he has been feeling for 14 years, when the prosecutor got chocked in 60 seconds.

The performances were natural and effortless; which considering the complexities of the characters played by the lead cast of Hrithik and Aishwarya defines their versatility and potential as seasoned actors. Just as you enjoy the sweet bickering between Ethan and Sophia, it is evident that these are their best performances ever. Aishwarya looks gorgeous than ever, and Hrithik, well, what might be said of him. If any actor has matched up to what Amitabh Bachchhan had achieved with Black, it can only be Hrithik Roshan in Guzaarish. Hrithik has paralleled Big B’s artistic vigour, screen presence and art, if not surpassed it. And, the dear readers might agree that Black had in fact set new standards in performance. People tell me Guzaarish has been a commercial disaster. I tell them that it is our audience’s misfortune that they do not have the ability to appreciate the cinematic art in its best form ever.

Now, coming to Zangoora, the Bollywood musical playing at the Kingdom of Dreams in Gurgaon. It is an experience of a lifetime (obviously you don’t expect to shell out that kind of money again to see something I have already seen). It is supposed to be like Broadway musical shows they have in the West. Now, I cannot comment on that having never seen one in my life before. But, whether or not it matches up to the Broadway musicals, Zangoora is as typical Indian in soul as any show can be. It is clichéd and predictive with a story hackneyed as many times as the typical 70s and 80s bollywood movies have been made. The traitor friend, the lost son who grows up oblivious to his real identity under the sugary sweet surrogate mother’s love, two girls in love with the same guy who happens to be a darling of everyone, a rich girl and a poor boy love story eventually turning out to be a rich boy and a poor girl’s story instead, everyone breaking into a dance at the ring of a note, you imagine and the typical bollywood masala is there served on a platter. Now, the day I saw Zangoora, neither Hussain Kuwajerwala nor Gauhar Khan were performing and the less said about Kashmira Irani the better; so I would restrain from talking about the performances of the lead cast; but the substitute actors were good in their own right. Nitin Goyal who took Hussain’s place was okay, The girl who took Gauhar’s place to play Lachhi (have forgotten her name) danced very well. Kashmira can neither boast of acting nor dancing but her talent lies in performing in the air with the harness in place, something which Nitin missed in terms of elegance.

But, the presentation was amazing. From Nitin and Kashmira entering on harnesses from over the crowds, to stage setup with the use of multiple screens giving a 3D like layered impact to projection of images, to the choice of songs and dance moves; everything was praiseworthy. The best part was Nitin performing the magician act. We have not been able to guess how he could pass the hoollop through the girl supposedly lying down in the air. Even the finale was great, I guess, playing the only original song in the show (which incidentally has music by Shankar-Ehsan-Loy) and every performer dancing on stage and stairs and aisles making the audience also rise and do a jig. The Kingdom of Dreams staff, not the performers on stage, was completing the ambience by whistling at strategic scenes like when Nitin / Hussain tears off his shirt and throws it off in the audience showing off a neat six-pack abs. Overall an amazing show, a must watch.