Experiencing ‘A Wednesday’
Before you go ‘Oh my god, not another post on this movie’ I would like to say that I have read almost all the posts and comments on this movie and will try to steer as far as I can from analyzing or reviewing this movie in a classical sense. Many better people have already done that.
They say that movie going is an experience and I think an important part of it becoming an experience is when you can relate and respond to what’s happening on screen. You laugh, cry, become sad, angry and even clap or whistle in righteous agreement. As bomb blasts become a frustratingly routine affair with no end or solution in sight, our lives and outlook changes towards the world around us. We feel the change within us, inside us, in small ways that we don’t even recognize but sometimes an imperfect movie like ‘A Wednesday’ comes up and we can no longer deny it when Naseeruddin Shah speaks forth from within those Dolby Surround Stereos.
I saw the movie yesterday, at a morning show in a Chennai Multiplex which had an impressive attendance for an off-beat Hindi Movie in its second (or is it third?) weekend. I had consciously avoided all reviews which proclaimed spoilers and avoided looking at most posts and comments on PFC as well.
The previous evening, News on TV showed another series of blasts, this time in New Delhi. The disturbingly familiar scenes played out all over again on the small screen. Suddenly somebody who is very dear to me said- ‘Please change the channel’. I protested but was defeated by a superior logic- ‘Please, not while I am having dinner’. I sulked and went back to my Kiran Desai novel which coincidentally also deals with the suffering of the innocents when larger schemes of things take higher priority. Of course, before this I had already found out that everybody who was reasonably close to me and lived in Delhi was safe and sound.
The next day we were comfortably seated a good fifteen minutes before the movie was to begin. Suddenly my fellow movie-goer who I wouldn’t usually credit with the keenest eye in such matters remarked- ‘That guy has just left his bag and walked out’. He was right. A bag, as big as the ‘J&K’ one which I was to see soon on the screen, laid unclaimed a few rows before me. What silliness of thoughts! But as the minutes ticked by, my eyes returned again and again to the object in question and my brain assaulted my senses with more probing questions. He had come by himself didn’t he? Why did he have to bring such a huge bag in the first place? Why did the authorities allow it to be brought inside the hall anyway? Almost fifteen minutes had passed by now and soon the movie would begin. ‘Should we draw the attention of the steward towards it’, I whispered when the owner of the bag duly returned and movie filled the screen.
So there you see, when Naseeruddin Shah’s common man launches into his brilliant monologues at the end of the movie, I couldn’t but help feel that yes, he was talking to me, about me and for me. And for a moment I forgot the many flaws in the movie, the jarring soundtrack, the patchy direction and the sub-par cinematography. So did many others it seemed, because the hall burst out in spontaneous applause as the credits started rolling at the end of the movie.
Tags: A Wednesday
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
I saw the movie yesterday too!
Yes despite its flaws the movie is good…
I liked it…
Coincidence(though time,place and movie differ!)
In fact 2 months ago I have the same experience of you!
The ‘bag’ was laid just beside next seat and our mind was also full of ‘thoughts’… The owner just came at the right time….
yes dnc, The monologue in the end actually lifts the movie to become good from being average ….and the entire credit here should go to Naseer …..after the delhi blasts i just saw the monologue part from a downloaded copy of the movie and i was bowled again..i had goosebumps….the last 15 mins is enough to make it worth a watch ….
I actually identified that way more with Madhavan in MMJ- now that was something I could really relate to- I mean, these days just seeing a random cycle parked somewhere gives me the creeps.
Althought the execution was not that great..but a good movie..last 20 minutes did actually lift the film.
Beautiful writing, very matter-of-fact but a rainbow of emotions conveyed. Thanks for the treat.
Sudhir
Was searching for words but Sudhir has put it down just the way I think this piece is. Tx Sudhir.
On Saturday, my aunt and cousins were in the Karol Bagh area (in Delhi) around the time the blasts took place. It was only when they managed to reach home 2 hrs later that I thought how close I had come to the situation that I usually see or read about.
It hits only when it happens to us. Till then we’ll never quite be able to relate to the trauma of those unfortunate victims of such misdeeds.
Thnks Sudhir and Arthi for your kind words…
U said it Arthi, and as D&C said: Naseer strikes such immediate resonance that you condone all the other flawed and unconvincing stuff that the film has packed.
A little off topic. How can you guys, a day after Delhi blasts, see a bag lying in a public place and just wait doing nothing. Shouldn’t you call the cops right then and there? Yes, it would have in inconvenient to some people, but at the same time teach the theatre owners a lesson for lax of scurity in such times…
@ Subhash-
I guess it’s no longer important that it’s ‘a day after Delhi blasts’. We as a society have to be ever vigilant.
The blasts in Delhi were inhuman acts with horrific consequences on innocents….Still…Shocking that no one has the guts to expose the movie for what it is….which is essentially some clever rabble rousing which in a more crude format would belong in a sunny deol movie….every muslim depicted was either a terrorist or prone to brutal violence….we talk about terrorism in this country in such one dimensional ways that it is breathtaking…..when over a thousand muslims lost their lives in godhra the issue of (state sponsored) terrorism was (and is) a non issue. I just returned from Orissa where the Bajrang Dal along with RSS cohorts burnt several houses and churches down to the ground and killed a number of people in the name of hinduism (which makes me as a hindu, cringe).
Compelling cinema of any sort is to be applauded — but cinema that blithely portrays events or people in a unidimensional way filled with dangerously negative stereotypes is lethal to the communal harmony within the country. What is this director trying to accomplish with the kind of character portrayals in his film? If you want to talk about terror, ask any Dalit (around 30-40%) of this country, what Hindu terror means. We are essentially a nation of cowards, able to wage an easy on-ground war against our minorities or low castes while feeding our masses propaganda through the vehicle of popular film.
Problem is, very few have the balls to expose the true state of affairs in the nation — whether it be SIMI activists driven to fundamentalism or Bajrang Dal bombmakers who are some of the largest operating terrorists in the country (4 of whom who blew themselves up in Maharashtra and Delhi, making home made bombs recently)….When Anand Patwardhan tries to release any of his eye opening docs—world renowned at this point—on caste or godhra, he isn’t allowed to do so. What kind of nation are we that allows this blithe version of “terrorism” and not a documentary that actually captures people exhorting mayhem in the name of Ram?
I would have imagined that this forum would have been the first to expose the hollowness of a movie like wednesday for its inability to think beyond caricatures or stereotypes. But then its so much easier to follow the masses.
havent seen it .. but if the buzz i hear is true then lets commend the filmmaker .. for too long islam is using the shield of political correctness .. in films and elsewhere .. time to blast it off
Ganashatru ji…I dont think it presented muslims in that one dimensional way…in fact its entirely different from what you opine…
biggest example is when the name of naseer sir is not exposed..the reason for it…its wonderful..also jimmy’s character..the way he puts his tabeez inside while hes going in the bus..these are intelligent scenes…moreover the four terrorists being shown asmuslims isnt any issue…most of them belonged to same outfit..sounds rational
i believe its a brilliant movie…maybe ur opinions change with time
giving a personal opinion..i also liked a muslim actor playing jai singh while jimmy shergil playing arif in the movie…looked more than a coiincidence to me