Frozen: The Cold Colours of Life
Sneaking by that bylane, those deep dark eyes having so much to convey, the starkling innocence awaiting corruption, and that naïve beauty, it all was innocently real, it had nothing false about it, it was innocence packed in a plain package of innocence. The name of the movie instantly conjured up images of either awe, shock, magic and ironically pain, bondage and obviously the literal sour coldness. It gave out nothing that a first time Indian filmmaker would dream to make, no stars to gaze at, no foreign locations, no item numbers, no over the top promotion, and most importantly, no godfather backing your baby, the baby had to come out on its own, not without its share of turmoil, pain and struggle, it certainly didn’t have a high end doctor coming and taking it out like a pot of gold. It was raw, and undoubtedly when that baby comes out to see the light of this world, you don’t want it to face the turmoil, struggle, pain that you went through, you want it pampered. You love it more than anything, sometimes more than yourself. You deliver mithaais, sweets, chocolates, do everything to celebrate the incoming success. The pot of gold is usually at the end of the rainbow, it’s certainly not the case this time.
And this baby hasn’t been derived of what it deserves, but undoubtedly it deserves much more, not just 18 highly acclaimed awards, it deserves a release.
The baby is called Frozen. It has been fathered and mothered both by an independent Shivajee Chandrabhushan.
I asked my father once
“Dad, why don’t you give your script to somebody else to make it?”
“I have two kids, you and my script, the day somebody asks me to give you away, I’d happily give the script too”
That was the day I realised what being a filmmaker was, what films meant to their filmmakers, what babies meant to their parents. Frozen is certainly the most beautiful film I’ve ever seen. No doubts there, no questions. It’s a film that has dared to make a change, dared to flow against the stream, dared to create stunning cinema, dared to infuse utmost awe in each and every character.
A film rightfully shot in black and white, has ironically a varied range of colours to portray. The film doesn’t fit into your average box, it is undoubtedly ‘out of the box’, and that’s why it works, that’s why it moves you. Everything in the film is real, the characters, the visuals, the hardships, the situations and most importantly the emotions evoked. It’s not your traditional run of the mill, but Frozen has itself rooted deeply both into far west, and traditionally Indian, and that’s why Frozen makes for a superbly memorable viewing. The film has Italian and French influences, with evident Avant Garde cinematic influences, and yet a bleak yet beautiful blend of the legendary Satyajit Ray, that’s where the film excels, it doesn’t fall into any stereotypical category, it is indeed independent world cinema.
Each shot, each frame is clearly etched in your mind for quite a long time, even as the reels finish and the credits roll, the scenes are still visible in your mind, the cinematography is unexplainably brilliant, that certainly being an understatement.
The story is set amidst the sparse landscape of Ladakh, a small family, and how their dream like existence in the city is suddenly into a turmoil as the assertive army enters in, and how they face hardships and problems. Lasya, a young girl who lives in the terrain, with the barren trees showcasing cold hostility. As Lasya(Gauri Kulkarni) grows up seeing her old father, loosing age and growing old, and loosing a battle with modern existence. Karma(Danny Dengzongpa)’s jams can longer compete with the readymade cosmopolitan products, and his enormous debts push him into bleak depression, and when the over assertive Indian army, it looks as if it all goes haywire, and Lasya is caught in the tumultous conflict.
The way the movie has been narrated is what is compelling, narrated through the eyes of a young kid, and how he narrates it to his inner friend, attracting the viewer deeper into each character,and soon you can place yourself in the stark landscape of Ladakh, next to the characters of Karma, Lasya and Chomo.
The concept of an inner friend is compellingly charming and true, and the world of unimaginable fantasy mixed with raw harshness, deep non existential colours mixed with the contrasting colours of black and white is what vividly blends in your mind, and freezes into Frozen.
The film is an unusual conflict between right and right. Yes it isnt a conflict between right and wrong, where good wins over evil, and states plain cliché, and with that the film breaks your cliches, all boundaries, and certainly not your expectations.
But don’t go in expecting anything for your popcorn, or your commercial sensibilities, because the film doesn’t fall into that category, and you cant help but agree with people when they say that the film isnt comercialy viable. It is true that a film is not made to be promoted, or sold, but the mere thrill for making it. But when money, man power, talent, and a lot of creativity is input in a film, you need to eventually sell a film, and find a release, after all, Anurag Kashyap had to give a Dev D, to make Paanch hopeful for a release.
The other flipside doesn’t have much to do with the movie, but I would have hoped if this would have been Shivajee’s third, or fourth film, rather than his first film, maybe when he would have created his niche in the market, ala Bhansali waiting for four films to create his dream opera Saawariya. The line between the multiplex junta and the single screen junta is slowly blurring, and making your first film for those very few selected real intellectuals, isnt the best move to make.
A few particular shots stand out, notably when Lasya flickers her hands like a bird, or Chomo runs while skipping over the rocks, or when Lasya and Chomo are sitting in a contrasting manner with helmets, or when Karma takes a deep sigh as he makes apricot jam, and as he turns the wheel, all these scenes are stunning with silence, and make for an even powerful viewing. I have mentioned about my reactions to the Frozen visuals and the trailer here:
http://passionforcinema.com/froze-with-a-glimpse-of-frozen/
And I certainly agree that after watching Rashomon, you can almost call Frozen to be the first Indian film Akira Kurosawa made, indeed. I would agree when my father told me that Frozen would be the most colorful homefound film of recent times
And as somebody said, that there was no better way to spend your ninenty minutes other than watching the magic of Rashomon, I repeat that there is no other way to spend your hundred minutes, than watching the warmth and colour of a black and white Frozen.
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P.S- Frozen will be releasing in Delhi on the 22nd of May. Watch out!
P.P.S- If for nothing, I can watch Frozen simply for it’s last closing shot.
P.P.P.S-Special Thanks to Pratim D Gupta
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
Very well written indeed …Jehan Sahab…this is what they teach in physics labs… :-)
Thank You Ram sir
Haha! Was kinda bored!
The prospect of Black ad White with a performer like Danny is enticing enough. However stuck in a place where there is no exposure to even mainstream movies – I will have to wait long for a DVD of frozen or better yet fly to place where they show it. Hope is what I have and I envy thee Jehan!!
Come to Delhi VPJ sir, and watch it
Jehan- very neatly written & yes it definitely does justice to this wonderful film.BTW now that you’ve written this I hope you are concentrating on your History & Maths exams for tom
me too can watch frozen for its last closing shot.
An awesome review, Jehan. All the more commendable as you’ve Written this in the midst of your exams. I hope they’ll be over by 22nd May!
@ Jehan: great post amidst your exams. amazing choice of words, and detailing of the thought-process behind the film.
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your dad’s analogy of giving away your ‘child’ speaks volumes of the ‘passionforcinema’ that has been imbibed in you by him. and that means you will also go places like your dad. say my hi to him. i am one of his BIG fans.
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Im sure most of us who have watched frozen have gone to lengths to witness the poetry on celluloid.
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btw, i didnt get your point abt SLB’s Saawariya. was there a pun that I missed?
awesome post J. now bak to studies! ;-)
Thank You Sethu sir
Yes both the exams went well today.
Thank You Arun Sir, Naa not over till the 10th of June, will have to miss Frozen in the theatres :(
Thanks alot Satyendra sir
Will surely convey your regards to him
The point being that if Bhansali wanted to make Saawariya at the time of Khamoshi, nobody would have given into all that jazz, it’s when he’s got a Khamoshi, a Hum Dil De..A Devdas and A Black, all four films, irrespective of their quality, either turned out blockbusters or well acclaimed, that he had the backing and the risk factor to make Saawariya, though a debacle, a very very big risk, as it fell into a similiar category as Frozen, somewhat indulgent, slow, and mostly not keeping the audience in mind, You know?
Thanks Alot K
I seriously am!
@ Jehan: yup, i get your point, but i still do not feel Frozen is as indulgent as Saawariya. i feel Shivajee had a mission on hand, and he knew pretty well before he even embarked on the process of making Frozen that he wudnt get the pan-India mass-audience.
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Hell, he didnt even know for sure whether his masterpiece will get a commercial release across the nation. But, i guesss his personal motto was: Can Do, Will Do.
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All the best for your rest of the papers bro, and thanks for taking my regards to your dad. i owe you one just for this…
It is courageous to be a Shivajee, and spend all your money on a film, that you know, wont probably cover it’s cost, and even find a release.
Any sane human being would have had the commercial aspects, especially when it’s your money, and all your money on that, but well, such is luck.
Thanks alot man, no problem