The
opening few minutes of DDD comfortably take you back in the "Zoya
Akhtar" space, languid, sometimes bordering on a lazy kind of a narrative
pattern, screenplay that focuses more on observations to be taken from a
situation rather than creating them and characters who are driven into the mode
of soul searching.
Kamal and
Neelam, the forerunners of the elite high society business class in Delhi, plan
a cruise to celebrate their 30th marriage anniversary but given the fact that
the story is written by Zoya and Reema Katgi, all what seems is never meant to
be.
There are
superbly scripted introduction shots (Pluto Mehra- CUTE) of the
characters,(Kamal's pride in being self-made, Neelam's anguish, Kabir's passion
and Ayesha's success despite facing tremendous neglect) which of late have been
chucked out of the modern film making style, brings back a lot of memories from
the old school style of film making where the director would make an effort to
introduce the audience to the characters and strive to create a unison between
what is being portrayed and what is expected by the audience to gauge.
Set on a 10 day cruise
across the Mediterranean, the Mehra clan realizes that the heart “needs/wants”
(depending upon every character) to beat and not just pump! Whereas Zoya and
Reema include issues of Gender inequality, passion ultimately triumphing over
expectations, the basic essence of the plot also hints at the “log kya kahenge” aspect.
So to see gorgeous people
going on dream/drool worthy vacation only to realize their passions and fight
out their self created devils, get to listen to some marvellous philosophical
anecdotes (Farhan and Javed Sahab-Why You So Bloody Good?) related to life
without getting a hint of preach, cannot ask for more from a film!
And DDD cruises along,
involving the audience and whereas you’d want a ZNMD kind of an experience, it
would be harsh on DDD to want it to be fulfilling those expectations.
Very rarely, modern film
makers use silence as a tool to convey emotions, but when they do, the impact quotient
of the film rises to levels beyond expectations. (Lootera is one such classic
example)
In a scene which involves
Ranveer flying his dream, I somehow could relate it to how Gulzar Sahab used to
make films. There would be long shots,
meandering across a landscape, the protagonist caught between life and dreams,
and all that chaos would be portrayed in a much relaxed manner, to extent of
the audience feeling a sense of calmness in the chaos. Mausam, Aandhi, oh stop
me someone! This is about DDD!
Another quality that serves
as a huge advantage for Zoya is her ability to carve out characters which
compliment her narrative structure.
The Mehra’s are highly
uncomfortable in each other’s presence, not willing to understand each other’s
problems and trying to live their lives in a bubble which bursts once they
board the Vessel.
Ayesha Mehra (Priyanka
Chopra) like her father, is self made, takes pride in her performance but faces
neglect from her family. Her husband (Rahul Bose) plays by the rules of the
patriarchal society, her mother in law (Zarina Wahab) is lost in her own self
to the extent of being self obsessed and amidst all of this the Mehra’s too do
not give her the attention she deserves.
Much to my amusement, Zoya
incorporates a scene where Priyanka tries telling her marriage troubles to her
mother and gets a rather cold reply rather than an emphatic one.
Had it not been for the
maturity with which the scene has been handled, it could well have been a very
negative scene which could have raised questions on the morals of the
mother-daughter relationship.
Kamal Mehra (Anil Kapoor),
the tycoon, with a troubled married life, is facing bankruptcy and in a
desperate attempt to save his image amongst his business colleagues and to find
an investor to bail out his company, he sets on the cruise, popping pills to
control his anxiety, appearing confident in front of his guests; shattered
every moment he finds himself alone.
His gesture to refrain himself from showing his
emotions to her daughter in a tear jerker of a scene establishes the
father-daughter relationship like none other.
His relationship with Ranveer is a contrived
one, as is almost every father-son relationship, but when it matters the most,
he stands up tall for his son, never for once letting his son fail in anything
he had ever wanted to do.
Neelam Mehra (Shefali Shah),
who knows of his husband’s infidelity, plays the mother role in what has not always
been the quintessential norm in Bollywood. She loves her food, stuffs in
cupcakes when she cries, plays the perfect wife in the society and reminds
Kamal to return to being normal once they enter their bedroom.
Kabir Mehra (Ranveer Singh),
the only heir to AYKA, the star of his mom’s eyes, aspiring pilot forced into
family business, a loving brother and an aimless 25 year old (That is one for
the masses in this classy film) who finds that nobody in his family TALKS to
each other and wants his sister to get the credit of what she deserves. The
love affair, while on board, with Farah Ali (the only stereotypical character)
makes him bold enough to stand up to what his heart beats for.
Carlos Catalan’s lens
captures the film like a dream. Much success of Zoya’s writing (be it ZNMD or
DDD) should be attributed Carlos’s cinematographic skills, painting what the
writer writes, with every emotion getting the desired set up. This is what a
director could ever ask for!
Zoya’s previous film, ZNMD and her latest film
DDD, talk about the same thing on a broad level. Whereas in ZNMD, the inner
conflicts inflicted within the characters as well as the equation between the characters
was equally interesting to watch, DDD fails to impress much in singularity than
it does when it takes the issues of all its characters in chorus.
Then there is Farhan Akhtar
who’s written the dialogues and the wry humour that you’d generally associate
with Farhan is visibly apparent with the lines he’s written! The vomit jokes
were hysterical!
Javed Akhtar has penned the
songs and while the lyrics are thoughtful, the music this time around does not
match up to the standards that Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have set for themselves
barring Phir Bhi Ye Zindagi track. (Amazing
is the word)
While the Mehra’s steal the
show, the ensemble cast too performs exceptionally well, Manoj Pahwa in particular
is a delight to watch. Zarina Wahab, Parmeet Sethi, Farhan Akhtar and Aamir Khan lend tremendous support to
the narrative.
It is also pertinent to note
that Zoya Akhtar has a very unique style of presentation of her writings and
there are visible influences of Javed Sahab on her style of writing.
Whereas Javed Sahab’s work
used to remain more on the philosophical lines, Zoya has the ability to link it
with the routine lives of individuals and hence poetry flows into the motion
picture in a manner that it is understood by all.
Another important aspect
with Zoya’s style of film making is the need for a character to step in to a
situation to set the proceedings underway, leaving scope for conflicts to
develop.
Katrina played such a
character in ZNMD; Anushka does the same in DDD. It is post her entry that the
film moves on the plot line and mind you, the plot is not very much logical at
times.
Overall, Zoya does a really
fine job with her 4th project. The confrontation scene involving the
Mehra’s post Kamal’s medical emergency, the scene where Ayesha’s divorce is
discussed or the simple ice creaming hogging scene involving Kabir and Ayesha,
the emotions are subtly underplayed and yet are able to be comprehended with
much ease.
Over the top definitely was not what the
director wanted! But as the movie drew to a close, OTT started to be the norm
none the less with an unbelievable climax and an abrupt end.
The philosophy that Zoya
roots for, living in the moment, doing what the heart says, letting it go,
following your dreams, appears to be that particular escape route which
everyone, somewhere or the other wants to explore but is unable to and that
precisely serves as a strong emotional connect between the viewers and the film
on display.
Or to put it differently,
she does the same with the use of art and poetry what Rajkumar Hirani does with
comedy and prose.
With a run time of over 175
minutes, DDD probably had a little bit less of the substance to be offered. But
what it did deliver was effective anyway.
Let
the Heart Beat- Dil Dhadakne Do- as it literally means, might
turn as a film which would annoy some, enjoyed by some but be revisited by many
for it is rare to find philosophy, poetry, humour and message coming in a
package as well decorated as DDD.
P.S.1- Anil Kapoor is
FANTASTIC.
P.S.2- Ranveer Singh is (FANTASTIC)infinity
. Period.
LET YOUR HEART BEAT, DO WHAT YOU WERE ALWAYS AFRAID TO.
**3.5 STARS**
No comments:
Post a Comment