Movie Review: Kaabil

I have this knack of torturing myself. Mostly this sadism comes to the fore when I get into theaters to watch films that dismay me. But this time, when I walked out of the theater after watching a much talked about film, it wasn’t disappointment that I was carrying. It was anger. 

 I am not a film critic, never been to a film school, and therefore this is not a film review. Also, I am not  'film literate' enough to criticize the actor or the director of Kaabil, because their body of work is something that speaks for itself. And that is the precise reason that I am all the angrier.  This was their chance to speak out, to stand by countless women; to take a stand. And they let it go. Because the hero in Indian mainstream cinema needs his ego to be pampered. 

 Kaabil talks about two visually impaired people that know how to love and live beautifully. And with two beautiful actors, Hrithik Roshan and Yami Gautam on the screen; why wouldn’t it look pretty? They lead successful and independent lives, meet through a well- wisher and eventually get married. Now, Yami who plays Supriya manages pretty fine. And then she meets Rohan (Hrithik), who is protective of her, and thus instead of the guide stick, Supriya holds on to Rohan’s arm. That is completely acceptable. We do that when we are in love. But we don’t get to see a narrative where the man holds the woman’s arm. 

  Supriya and Rohan’s world falls apart when Supriya is raped. The cops drag their feet on the case as the perpetrator is a local leader’s brother.  Now all that is completely realistic. It happens all the time. Supriya, however, is raped a second time by the same goons and chooses to end her life. And that is the reason for my angst.  The humiliation Supriya goes through is unfathomable. Thousands of women have and are going through it. But we need collective voices to resist and shame the perverts. Not give up. I know we have had unfortunate cases where the victim kills herself. But this is cinema and however much people say it is a frivolous medium, cinema is a very powerful too. And in India, particularly Bollywood cinema is like religion. The message of the victim killing herself is, therefore, unacceptable to me. Why wouldn’t she choose to live and fight and seek justice? How would a victim feel if she were to watch this? 

  As a preteen, I remember watching a lot of films, where rape victims would hang themselves from ceiling fans or jump off under construction buildings. I wondered if rape victims had only one way out. As I grew up I realized rape did not mean one received a death sentence. I learned about the courts and how women have fought and shamed the culprits. Here Supriya doesn’t get a chance to do that. But of course. How could she? This is Rohan’s revenge drama. For the hero to rise in him, the lady love needs to die. Are the makers serious? Rohan needs to beat up and kill people? Couldn’t the revenge be taken by a public shaming of the Neta and the brother? 

  We have courts, however, sluggish they might be. The makers had that one opportunity to talk about the legal system; they had the opportunity to let Supriya choose a new life. They had the opportunity to encourage countless such women to draw inspiration from her. But she needed to die. Because this is a revenge drama. 

  Had killing rapists sent out a message, we would have seen a change after each lynching. We would have seen fear in such perverts. We haven’t. Machismo will not change the way people think. Ending lives will not change things. Rehabilitation and strengthening the legal process will. 

Book Review- Knitted Tales by Rubina Ramesh

Blurb-  What forces an innocent girl to become a sex symbol? Her desires? Or cruel fate? 

Is a lifetime enough—for avenging a betrayal? How do you hide secrets that never stopped haunting you? 

Can vengeance and secrets of your past devastate your present? How can long-buried crimes of yours suddenly raise their head? Can sinning be saving?

Is your spouse your soulmate? What if they never understood your feelings? Can you still live with them?

Lastly, does life give only two options? Live or die? What if there is a third?

In her debut anthology, Rubina Ramesh tries to find answers to these questions that are often from the heart and yet makes the mind ponder over the solution. Or is it the other way round? Either way, Knitted Tales is a bouquet of emotions that is bound to touch both your head and your heart.

Review:  

A Secret in their Closet -  I read this book on a train and this particular story got me in an awkward situation.  I had tears in my eyes, and all that managing public space, kohl etc. It was a tough moment. Not going into the details. But A Secret in their Closet is the ugly truth of urban India. it reminded me of Kharij, a 1982 Bengali film by Mrinal Sen fo which Sen had won the National Film Award for the Best Screenplay. 

Betrayal-  Sudesh who narrates this tale believes a wife is ‘for serving in the kitchen during the day and warming the bed at night’. And how many in this country still believe in the same. Sudesh from his POV takes us through his journey, of his narratives of being abusive towards his sister, mother, his brother and of course his wife. The end is chilling and the author reminds us of the ugly stories that remain behind many closed doors. 

Chiclets- The story is a short one, but holds a very important message. Lives of immigrants aren't easy. But maybe if we look beyond the debates and hatred, it is as easy as the message the author has for us through the young girls in this story. 

Forgive Me, For I Have Sinned and Lolita- Two stories from the world of glamor, remind us of the broken lives that many public figures lead. 

No Regrets: No Regrets made me smile. The story of a love marriage between a Bengali girl and a Tamil boy, and then the mundane lives that people are forced to lead. Raima here, however, has a unique way to set things straight. I wonder if I would give similar kind of advice to my married friends. 

Suvarnarekha- I just visited Suvarnarekha, the serene and beautiful river, now situated in Jharkhand last month. The story though essentially has nothing to do with the river made me think why we cannot love flow like the free flowing rivers? Why do young men and women have to die every year for making their own choices? 

The Little Godmother, The Missing Staircase, Daddy, hear me out- From sibling rivalry and acceptance to parenting; the author has woven her stories around a host of subjects. 

The other woman- The story had an unexpected twist, but again holds a mirror to the dual lives that people have begun to lead. 

Cliff Notes- I had read this story earlier too but was refreshing to read it in this collection. 

Movie Review: Haraamkhor

While the glamor struck industry of cinema waited for the release of 'OK Jaanu', another movie released. Albeit with much lesser fanfare. We had first heard of Haraamkhor when the Censor Board  (I fondly call it the Sanskar board ) had objected to its 'bold' content.  Now realism could be bold, or rather realism is bold and  Haraamkhor is guilty on that count. It is too realistic and holds a mirror to those aspects that the 'sanskari' society pretends doesn't exist.

Wikipedia says Shweta Tripathi, the actor that plays Sandhya in Haraaamkhor is 33.  She plays 14-year-old Sandhya effortlessly. Masaan wasn't a one off and one hopes we get to see more of the actor soon. The makers of Haraamkhor had a bouquet of challenges.  Indie cinema is almost always overshadowed by the brouhaha of glamor and at the time of release, Haraamkhor is sandwiched by a host of such movies. Then there is the subject of a school girl being sexually involved with her teacher that they handled it very carefully. (Who cares if it really happens? Who cares if you know
someone with a similar past or present? It is being shown in a motion picture and therefore it is bold.)

Haraamkhor is set in a world the urban, suave, social media savvy, English speaking class doesn't talk about. And therefore, the plot might be a shocker for them. This is an India where preteens are confused about sexuality and have no means to know better. Hence, when a friend tells a young boy, on the threshold of manhood that if a man and a woman see each other naked, they get to marry; he believes. This is an India that has no cellphones, and therefore, there is not much option to supplement loneliness with. In Sandhya's case, the supplement is in the form of Shyam. This is the India of Luna and intermittent power cuts.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui has been playing the underdog, the common man for a very long time and therefore, Shyam did not have much to offer. For a fan who has seen reruns of almost all his films- and has watched Kick and might have to watch Raees too- Shyam's mannerisms were a tad bit predictable. He is the hot-headed teacher who beats up teenage girls and punishes young boys with the murga pose. And Sandhya is not the first student he has romanced. His wife was his student too.

But Shyam is not a villain. Or is he? Sandhya goes the extra mile to get intimate with him. She is giggling and relishing her ice cream once they find out that she isn't pregnant. Subtly points out why teen pregnancy is on the rise but leaves it to us whether or not we judge Shyam.  The law says Sandhya is underage to have sex. But she is smitten by her teacher. So what do we say about Shyam?

Shlok Sharma weaves the characters interestingly. Shyam, for example, is a modest school teacher, but unlike most in rural India, is not scared of a policeman. In this case, the policeman is Sandhya's father. He flirts with a student's mother, gets intimate with his wife, and then again with his student Sandhya.  He gets some of the best yet 'unfilmy' moments in the film.

Young Mohammad Samad who played Gattu in the movie Gattu impresses as the preteen who pretends to know a lot about man-woman relationships, and how to woo a woman. We all have had that friend. Kamal, who is smitten by Sandhya is constantly guided by Mintu- played by Samad and mostly they end in failure.

There are however two things that jolt the film. The continuous disclaimers and the violent end which looked a little forced. But Shlok Sharma is a winner because he had a topic to handle and it had all the potential to make the director judgemental. Sharma, however, dodges the bouncer and does it prettily.