Lear stirs, he lives…
Towards the end of Rituparno Ghosh’s The Last Lear, in a scene, Amitabh Bachchan’s Harry is about to take a step which can put his life at risk. As the tension builds up towards the moment I suddenly felt what if Bachchan died today.
Yes, what if Bachchan died today.
This man, who had failure pinned on him from the day he faced the arclights, had 12 flops back to back and then became a popular film star with a similar series of superhits, ventured into politics which boomeranged dutifully, floated one of the first corporate movie production houses in India, got bankrupt, begged for movie roles, single-handedly revolutionised television, delivered celluloid success again and now is referred to as the star of the millennium.
I don’t know if you are supposed to touch wood if you accidentally think of something bad but I was suddenly desperately looking for a piece of wood. I touched my scalp. I didn’t want him to die. Then I realised something which has never happened to me before, at least I can’t remember now honestly… I had started believing Bachchan and Harry had merged into a single soul. I mean it, I couldn’t differentiate.
Amitabh Bachchan as Harry in The Last Lear
You may say that his performance was bad and that’s why Bachchan was bursting out of Harry. I would say he was so good I had started thinking of his well being.
Bachchan had blurred the lines of reality and acting. Just like Rituparno has blurred the lines between stage and screen, theatre and cinema in The Last Lear. The Last Lear my favourite Rituparno film, my favourite Bachchan film, my favourite film of the year.
A film which makes you understand cinema through theatre and feel for theatre through cinema. A film which doesn’t take sides and yet observes the limitations of the two mediums in the most poignant way. A film which talks about the stage allowing the entire body to perform and screen to stop the rest of the body from distracting while performing.
And only Rituparno could have made a film which talks about the changes of performance on stage and on screen because what you see in the frame is acting in its most natural form and what you see in the frame within the frame is acting as it can be imbibed. There are scenes — Soderbergh, I haven’t forgotten Full Frontal — where you are not sure whether it is the film you are watching or the film within the film.
I don’t need to tell you that not just Bachchan’s, The Last Lear boasts of the best ever performances from Arjun Rampal, Shefali Shah, Jisshu Sengupta and Divya Dutta and in that order. Preity is found wanting in more than a couple of scenes and is perhaps a case of wrong casting.
I don’t want to get into the story of the film. For that there are your favourite reviewers copy-pasting the synopsis press release before assigning adjectives to every actor. All I can tell you is that switching to a cinema of this kind — I don’t know what to call it, art or fart, parallel or straight or gay — is not easy and since you are paying the money, give the effort and after that awkward first 30 minutes, your soul will get soaked. Trust me, it’s not manipulative and it does not have Alzheimer’s patients doing salsa with deaf-and-mute students in black rooms with white windows. If you cry, you will realise it much later.
I have seen many things come alive on screen – from a paper weight in Citizen Kane to an entire forest in Rashomon. But I could have never imagined that a CCTV screen shot of a regular Calcutta road corner to be the unforgettable leit motif of a film. Yes Ray showed us the magic of following strangers on the road in Charulata — much before Christopher Nolan — but Rituparno goes one up on the master and shows how human minds can bend at every bend.
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more.
It is a tale told by an idiot,
Full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
— Macbeth, Act V, Scene V
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
Awesome. Hearing it from the horse’s mouth, I would look forward to the film now.
finally finally….after looking all over the place, all the channels someone who got the film, love you pratimDA for this…
indeed sitting in the morning show, sleepy eyed; this was an experience…
not my favorite ghosh film, that still is going to be BARIWALI by far but this is definitely among his top 5
I just saw the movie. wanted to blog about it in the iview section. but glad that you did the honours. You have written what exactly I felt. So id not repeat the same.
Bachchan has performed very well… which was kind of expected. Watch out for Arjun Rampal in this movie… (in scenes of his side profile he looked like John A)Priety Zinta, Divya Dutta all were fantastic.
But I didnt understand one point. Why did ritupurno make all his characters smoke. (The movie looked like some ciggarette company sponsored ad. And Preity, doesnt smoke, that shows in the movie, she is just not comfy even shooting the smoking scenes)
The movbie is not for an aam aadmi. It is for the elite. There were times I didnt understand what was happenning too. English was too rich. Shakespearen that it was.
Pratim, i am not sure, if this movie would be released in Bhubaneshwar, and even if so, maybe a morning show slot, but would love to catch it soon. If not for nothing, just for the Shakespearen references, considering that i have a big time bias for the Bard, and quite often end up quoting him, whenever i write something.
Regarding AB’s performance, there seems to be mixed talk, some saying he went overboard, and some calling it his best. Cant comment on it, unless i see the movie. Good post there Pratim Da.
HA HA HA HA HA..please don’t ever become a movie critic
the movie is a real bastardization of Utpal Dutt’s play( I have read the original) Preity Zinta is undercooked, Divya Dutta is pointless, Shefail Shah?!?!?…..Bachchan hams in arguably his best hamfest ever…..has NO-ONE noticed he eats up the last few words of every line while delivering?…
this movies could have been so much better…..but instead you end up feeling,Rituparno Ghosh just wants to be known as a filmmaker whose movies have the right texture, palette and temperature and he fusses endlessly on these trivialities just like he did on just like Raincoat and Choker Bali…..work on the script, BITCH!!!…..
i feel bad for Arjun Rampal….he has to put up with a rambling idiot like Bacchan while he gives another great performance
Again a heartfelt post ,though I may not connect with the movie the way you did ,it surely is lovely reading your posts.
@Amit
Liberal use of Profane words especially against a person doesn’t make your comment more articulate it only serves to degrade it.
Next time you wanna be loud get a loudspeaker.
@Amit N: You poor little ignorant boy- he IS a film critic, for the Telegraph. Too bad, isn’t it?
By the way, beautifully written piece- I so much prefer your posts over your T2 reviews- even if I didn’t think TLL or Rock On were that great.
Oz I feel Amit N’s comment shud be deleted. Foul words with malice against anybody not acceptable !
Pratimda, Watching The Last Lear was the last thing on my mind. But your post had me doing a rethink.
I’ll watch the movie ASAP, I’ll watch it from your perspective. I’m sure that after reading your post a lot of people will venture out to see TLL.
The Bitch couldn‘t decide if Bachchan senior was over doing it or as he says, “I shall be good simply because I cannot be bad.” The film belongs to him and that at times can get on my nerves. The Bitch itched up at the screening, sometimes the man can get hysterical with theatrics.
pratim…
very well written….
good u didnt write a review..
this is way better and much more enjoyable..
must say a very passionate write up….
me too loved the movie….
Pratimda…many thanks…Bachchan is on unfortunate actor who will never satisfy his critics…no matter how much he tries. These handful of people lashe him out if he does an out-an-out commercial film and criticise him if he tries going experimental. Same applies to viewers too. They don’t know what they want from him. I am glad you wrote what he deserved…exactly what I want to say about him. Thanks.
BTW, why Rustic Rick’s post is not opening? I am trying since morning but am just getting the title. Please help.
Pratimda…really well written…
Seems you liked the movie more than Barun Chanda…I would have loved to see your review @ Telegraph instead of Barun Chanda’s review.
Sadly, watched the movie @ pirated version as no where it is released here in Dallas or in entire Texas for the matter.
One thing…really small though…which I noticed..but no one wrote about it…I think Prosenjit’s voice is dubbed in this movie…and I am 99% sure that I am not wrong as I have seen a lot of his movies…so I know his voice…The thing is why? Why suddenly his voice is dubbed when he does almost all of Rituparno’s movies.
I personally felt it wasn’t that great….its a good attempt , could have been better, someone here mentioned about eating words, i quite agree, not his absolute best performance, but one of the better ones……
If only he stops doing the Sexy Sam type stuff and does more films like this…he really doesn’t need the money, does he?
@Amit N…..
ur comment is very unfortunate and in bad taste……
ur mixing ranting and abusing together…
@Pratim..when Ritu was mounting this theatre vs cinema bit, he had come to conclusion that cinema was all about restraint and theatre was melodrama, and probably that’s why he made Rampal and Bachchan what they are. But, was this movie only about that, doubt so, I am doing a post on the ache for recognition..for I think TLL and many otehr movies this year have somehow addressed this “mirage”!
Shefali rocked..yet again!And where did she acquire that walk now..wasn’t there in her other movies??
She definitely holds attention with her improvisations..man, Preity was not a patch!!
@Pratim…hate to disagree with you…went to catch this film on the weekend…wasn’t exactly satisfied with the effort…first and foremost this film deserved to be made in Bengali (with the Shakespeare lines in English). The dialogues didn’t have that Rituparno touch (which his Bengali films have) which warms the heart like very few of the current directors do…also don’t agree if Amitabh is the perfect cast for this role…he chewed up some of the Shakespeare lines and that is cardinal (i don’t know if that was intentional though)….if you have heard Utpal Dutt in “Saptapadi” (the Othello part) you will know what I mean….also going by the publicity of the film…we were invited to meet a “hearty, eccentric and passionate” Harry. I missed Harry somewhat in the film. It was more of Amitabh Bachchan than Harry throughout the film…and his Shakespeare histrionics reminded me of Black….also the reason for Harry’s accident (I hate to give out more about the ending) is a bit lame…a master director like Rituparno could have though about a better plot ploy…all in all not the masterpiece I had gone to see…very thought provoking but imperfect
Agree on certain points with you pratim…
By far Rituparno’s best and at times most honest film. of course, it is INSPIRED from Utpal Dutt’s play ‘Aajker Shahjehan’ (thankfully, there is a dedication before the opening credits of teh film)…and all of us who had seen the DUTT will miss the sheer brilliance of the actor in this film. With him an actor’s performance was interpreting the character…not merging your personality and the part you played. So we saw the character made memorable by Dutt…not Bachchan enshrined in the on-screen Harry.
Therefore yes – BAchchan as Harry evokes this thought in you – O let him not die! But at no point does he evoke the ruler-father that was Prospero. His soliloquoys are not Shakesperean. Nor does he rise above the BAchchan in a Hindi Film Promo syndrome.
BAchchan by far has always been and here too is a Voice & a persona . And (mercifully) a milder reflection of his Black Over-Histrionics.
The film belongs to Shefali Shah and the very under rated Arjun RAmpal. Divya Dutta is endearing in an interesting but half baked role.
But I thoroughly enjoyed teh film for its tight rope treatment of teh FILM – STAGE conflict.
And the enduring liet motif of the ccd cameras … the world outside seldom touching life within…sid bashes up a guy peeing on a wall- yet never makes it to HArry’s home in the end. Guilt and redemption in one short sequence.
THe Last Lear is, I feel, Rituparno GHosh’s most mature and evolved film. From teh way it is adapted to the way it is crafted on screen. His eye on detail is part of his style…you either like it or you dont. To me, the Art in his films enhances the overall cinematic exprience. No comments about the casting though – he himself has always said that he tells his stories using mainstream bollywood stars…the limitations are a part of the process then.
Hi Pratim, I wrote a rather long and languorous comment on Rusty Rick’s views yesterday, and am glad to find yours today – it refreshed my views. I feel you have captured exactly what I felt after watching the movie – esp the Stage-Film rendezvous used deftly in the film seen probably for the first time in a film targetted at today’s thinking audience. And I agree with most of Anupama’s views on the casting, Shefali’s eerie presence & Ghosh’s craft.
And having heard from my parents and my Uncle (who’s a veteran actor in Kolkatta’s theatre scene) about Dutt’s Othello, Aajker Shahjahan and his grasp over Shakespeare, and being an absolute admirer of the man, I can’t fault Anupama for the comparison.
When it comes to Mr Bacchan & Mr Ghosh, however I’d like to put Harry in a certain context – in the context of the millions of Indians who have neither heard of Dutt’s Shakespeare nor ever will, and in the context of the need that therefore existed to immortalise something he had created, but on screen and for the Theatre unsavvy and Bollywood-spoiled audience. I did mention in my earlier post that Mr Dutt was probably the only one that could have ousted the director’s choice of who to play Harry. I’ll also repeat another observation from that post before continuing. Ghosh’s Amitabh is not Desai’s, Chopra’s, Mehra’s or Verma’s or even Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Amitabh. Because he is not the filmy Amitabh, he’s an Amitabh picked up from the stage, who unfortunately most of us are unaware of. Ghosh catches ‘the actor’ unawares on the verge of dereliction & exile, and introduces him to the camera. And thus delivers a masterstroke in irony, because for us, what he has actually achieved is – put the camera’s favourite Bachchan back onstage!
I call it a masterstroke only for the audience who has never seen this side of Bacchan and also has probably never moved beyond the paraphrased Julius Caesar in school when it comes to Shakespeare and his famed nuances (and those are the people Ghosh probably tried to reach out to, while not losing out on the Shakespeare & Theatre savvy audience) I’m not for one moment going to condone a half-hearted and ludicrous attempt at recreating parts of Shakespeare onscreen, but that is not what has happened in ‘The last Lear’. On the contrary, Ghosh himself has delivered a Tragedy of Shakespearean proportions by chronicling ‘the fall’ of the great but disillusioned actor Harry through this story and various cinematic moments. And Mr Bacchan has played the part with aplomb and ‘measured faults’ like the over-melodramatic and sometimes incomprehensible recitations from Macbeth, Othello & King Lear. Don;t forget that the character being portrayed is that of an egoist, drunk and disillusioned man who thinks he was nothing but the best but was at his nadir in life. So how can one accept a perfect, prim and proper Shakespeare thespian out of the blue?
The remnants of the filmy Amitabh notwithstanding, it is one performance that deserves a standong ovation also for everything that happens between these recitations – the agony and the ecstasy, the portrait of an artiste as an old man and the brave celebration of the spirit of the Theatre artiste in this world ruled by celluloid and digital images.
I agree with Anupama that the CCTV will go on to become one of the greatest symbols of modern cinema trying to ‘capture’ the claustrophobic vouyer who finds pleasure in looking out rather than in!
That’s a quite a piece I must say. One thing’s sure I am gonna watch the film after reading your write-up. It has aroused my curiocity which the film couldn’t till interval. However I feel Arjun was again a revelation after Rock On!!