Pal Bhar Ke Liye..stuff you thought, but Shashant had other things in mind..
All right, I am not going to do review here and neither am I going to pontificate on the box office prospects of Dasvidaniya. But did you guys see the different ways an “ordinary” story has been presented to us via film? It is a classic approach of the “silent spectator”, always putting across the intimate world of Amar in simple view points.
1. Amar ( fabulous Vinay Pathak) in the car showroom. The sales girl (impressive Purvi Joshi) is being chatty and generally trying to tell Amar about the car, EMIs and stuff. Notice Purvi here. She is genuinely concerned about this man, Amar. The camera is middle distance away and sort of looking at them from the next table. Gogi (classic Gaurav Gera) arrives. He shouts at the service staff. She looks at him. Camera in same stance. Lingers over the argument. Gogi turns. Eyeballs lock with Amar (Vinay here is sitting still, a fantastic variation to usual brother scenes where they go for each other). A lame “Hi”. Gogi exits and fast. The normal viewer like the camera is unexcited. Wonders at the happening. So, Salesgirl Purvi, on cue, asks if Amar knows the guy. Camera is still just looking at Purvi. Amar just says “Yes”. Mystery yet unsolved but audience understands. Average man in an average situation. Car is more important. His first in the ‘Things to do’ list. Very neat. Very neat, Mr. Shashant Shah.
2. Amar comes out of the doctor’s room (does the song start here?). He is shocked yet sedate. He does not look anywhere. Camera precedes him through the sitting area and then simply goes ballistic as it shows Amar living the shock on the streets on Mumbai. The sidewalk, the crossing, the sea side area..has the city fizzing by a stationery and inert human being shocked by his own impending demise. The poignancy of the situation has the entire audience in muted sniffles. So, this scene now needs to be capped by something more wonderful. Therefore, Amar zombie walks through his living room, his mother (Sarita Joshi in a career defining role) oblivious and busy with the TV remote. The camera is us, surreptiously moving parallel behind the mother’s sofa. This immediately throws the viewer back to his own house. Same, the same thing occurs to many of us. Bad day at office. Pink slip. Promotion declined. Failed at exams. We also enter our homes in a daze. Amar Like. Superb use of camera, acting, music and lighting. Watch this. Again and again!
3. Amar Picks up the phone. Is animated as he dials Rajiv Jhulka (Rajat Kapoor in yet another underplayed but ‘on the mark’ act) who is a doctor abroad. So, how do doctors behave? The body language is formal. Rajat is. Then the first word “Gunmaster G9”. All close ups here on to establish the closeness of their relationship including the split screen as they express their love through an old Mithunda golden number. (Note Rajat’s try at even toning the song “Ye Jibon ye dooniya…” the Bappida way, was endearingly funny). Simple sequence firmly establishing their relationship and moving the story forward. The camera makes you feel you are just next to them in their happiness. Very good editing, If I may so, apart from all other things.
4. The classic “Pal bhar ke liye…” scene. This is a whammer. The room and the camera quickly establishes their intimacy, Amar’s and the Russian girl’s. Now, they need to do something simple, stupid yet endearing to seal their relationship in the hearts of the inquisitive audience. So, she puts on this song on the CD player and they both dance to it. Man, simple scene, yet so many messages. The song..so apt. So naturally shot. Vibrant colours all around a sedate Vinay. The girl leading him. Leading his happiness. Bringing him to life. Just how many guys in the audience immediately wished to have a “Pal bhar ke liye koi hamein pyar kar le, jhoota hi sahi!!” May I ask anybody from the Dasvidaniya team as to who came up with this scene. If the writer did, Sir Salaam. Also, the lighting and the mood. Shashant Salaam!
5. The Amar – Gogi reunion scene. Gogi does not want to take Ma. Amar trying to explain. Gogi is throwing a tantrum. Big Brother, Amar just drops in the first message that “mere baad ma ka khyaal tujhe hi rakkhna hai”. The inquisitive camera immediately forgets Gogi’s tantrums for a moment. That’s us – the camera. We know what Amar is going to say. We just want to see how he says it. And the way Amar says it plus Gogi’s absolutely small brother’s reaction thereafter. Of course, there is a sharp cut here to where Gogi is reading the medical report. Then, he tries all the usual methods of pacifying himself starting with “third opinion”. Actually, this whole double scene is a lesson in brother role play. The camera gives ample space to each brother for them to express pent up feelings. Gaurav Gera excels here with his confused expressions, his denial and then his tearful acceptance. Amazingly the scene returns to joy and normalcy in one long arc. After Bheja Fry, again this long one room scene (actually double scene) makes me so satisfied with Indian cinema. Vinay both the times. That tells me how attuned an actor he is. Always at his mark. Off camera or on. The cues are word perfect for even the co actor to get his timing absolutely right. So, the tears, the laughter, the one liners, the expressions and the milieu all ring true.
There are lots of other scenes. All good movies come with such moments. This shall turn into one long post if I have my way and that will not be as good for the reader here. But, I amazed at the guys who have just termed this movie as “Anand revisited” . This is different, as different as Rajesh Khanna is from Vinay, as Amitabh Bachchan is from Rajat Kapoor, as different as Ramesh Deo is from Gaurav Gera and as different as Shashant Shah with his “The Great Indian Comedy show background” is different from Hrishida!
By now, you would have realised this is not a comedy, Life isn’t!!
Tags: Dasvidaniya, rajat kapoor, Shashant Shah, Vinay Pathak
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 and keenly observed, just like the film. Kudos.
Thanks jehan
Superb read… Indraneel…
I was very deeply moved by this movie….
now with ur perspective…. all the scenes seem so perfect…..
The whole cast and crew… take a bow!!!
great writeup…loved the movie myself specifically for the kind of scenes you just mentioned..hope bollywood churns out many more such gems…
@gaurang – Thanks..they actually should take a bow
@raunak – Thanks!
one scene that refuses to leave the mind…
when rajat strikes off “first” from the list and replaces it with “third”..
dunno why..but to me it seemed an excellent scene.. I wouldnt have been as happy if amar somehow managed to make it on the first page..that was a difficult wish..
& yes..thanks indraneel-da ..ur write up was as endearing as the film.. thank you so much
It was a fantastic movie..minute detailing..excellent acting by Vinay…
I was disaapointed by Rajat Kapoor..he seems to potray the same emotions in all his movies these days…check out the airport scene, where he is leaving Vinay…some could say it was underplayed..but, it was wooden for me…
in the final list Pathak’s Amar writes “love” in an italicized fashion when others are written in bold, clear letters.
just shows/says what love meant to him.
Suchitra Pillai’s hand movement when she says “both are doctors, free…” goddamn I don’t know whether it was intentional/planned or spontaneous.
of course Purvi Joshi trying to talk about the car and that Amar has made a good choice when she hitches a ride after the purchase makes for such believable acting. She has sold the car, he offers to drop her, she refuses, he doesn’t budge, she obliges… ok then what does she speak? what conversation can she strike? Embarrassment! Talk about the car. Make him feel good (or at least try)
B’choth! the way Saurabh Shukla eats Masala Dosa with all the slurping, and licking makes me long for one.
Neha Dhupia is such a revelation!
She should have been named F5 ;) ;)
My favorite was the 5th one. Until this moment the film walks between genres. This scene, the intentions are set clear. Also the ones with the Guitar coach. Real incidents tend to get too boring sometimes to portray on screen, hence the ‘expressive’ actors. Watching all those skits from TGICS did obviously showcase all these powerhouse talents and claimed that they deserved to go much beyond. Their talents can’t be limited to a TV comedy show, considering the Indian limitations. These and many sequences in the film(the comfort between actors) are a testament to the chemistry they have developed through all the months of doing those turns for TV. All of that can’t be planned on paper, and shouldn’t.
The reason I still call it a comedy is because you can’t defy the conventions and yet manage to release this in the theaters. I don’t know if I would have taken it the way it was meant in the first place had it been a white-washed tragedy. And so the many comic interludes, albeit in a everyday-natural light(ojha-baba-jhaad-phoonk, a liking for the car sales executive, the TV shoot, the two brothers sharing their common views of ridicule of society, superstitions, even the conclusive scenes(iski bhi list banaayi hogi saale ne)).
My comments on a previous review.
“It raises the bar for ‘indie comedy’. There were people in the theater who came expecting a Bheja Fry and I couldn’t be happier when I saw them walk out with a satisfying look, albeit with a tear hidden somewhere. A film on death yet does not go melodramatic. That is its victory. Another great thing is how they have made it a film, not a TV soap. It stands out as a big screen experience. So many minor nuances have been so well taken care of – a walk on the streets, the discomfort you feel while expressing anything to someone you were frank with long ago but now things are different, the superb irony of a Deewaar spoof being shot and the guy’s real life has shades of Deewar itself, the songs, how the director has underplayed what could be a stereotyped narrative, all kudos to the team.
Not one dull moment, intelligent acting by the best possible cast, lots of detailing so correct(IPL), I will watch it again, and not like Bheja Fry where I knew where will I laugh. This film will surely go places.”
Nice article Indraneel….watched it few days ago. Its wonderful. As Tushar said, a movie about death and not melodramatic…right balance. I’m glad others big directors didn’t do this movie.. looking for more such movies from the team.
@ankur – I couldn’t figure that out too at first visit..but then it seemed a very thoughtful reaction..and thanks!!
@OM – yaar, Rajat, if you notice even in his NDTV entertainment channel interviews..he is like that only..he is not that overtly expressive guy…and he stands well in urbane roles..I think so!
@Santosh – Sourabh has always done such roles damn well..and saw the diction of his..
@Tushar – had read your comment and thoroughly agree!
@Vick – thanks.
Indraneel… did it take more than one viewing to compile this article? ;) really good one!
@Gajendra – I did this article yesterday with one viewing last sunday afternoon..actually good films have this kind of take home..
Hey Indraneel, Kudos for the excellent write up. Shashant is undoubtedly a man with a vision. I wanted to share a secret, i got an opportunity to work with him on a television show,which to our dismay, didn’t take off. The production house had contacted Shashant to direct the pilot episode of the show that we had pitched. I assisted him on the shoot and trust me he is simply amazing as a director. Though I didn’t watch the film as yet but will surely do very soon after reading your article.
@Rashmi – Thanks. Yes, I gather thats true about Shashant, the film just proves it. Go watch the film. I have started a campaign of sorts for this film.
I watched it this morning and liked it quite a lot. There was a bunch of six noisy kids who were passing comments throughout the first half. I had to tell them to shut up, and they did, but it’s to the film’s credit that even these idiots stayed till the end
Indraneel, a very well written article. Good observation. To add to your list:
I like the scene in which Amar make the new entry in his to do list, Love. He looks around, a bit awkwardly, probably to make sure that no one is peeping into his intimate moment.
Also, when he blast his boss, a part of me was expecting a full fledged verbal carnage (yeah Saurabh Shukla can do that, evoke such hatred towards his character, in just few minutes) but instead “kya ?”….and that was very consistent with Amar’s character.
@Kenny – A good movie, simply thats what it is..it commands that respect and thats what it is getting..
@Vikrant – Yeah, that look around to see, he does that even during his tryst with the girl, normal people do, out of habit..you nailed it..consistent with his character!
Finally saw it yesterday. A very nice, feel good movie. And yes the direction is top notch
Nice one Bro !!! Havent seen it yet, but those high precision observation (so much you) certainly makes it a must watch for the weekend.
@sheel – Bro..you need to watch this..pronto!