It is not easy to pull off a film about films and filmwalas. Keeping the world of the real people behind the movies clear and distinct from the filmy world these characters inhabit, without indulging in documentary-like realism is a tight-rope balance. Ram Gopal Varma managed this in Rangeela, wherein the 'real' characters, zany and entertaining and over-the-top though they might be, were not extensions of their film-within-film roles. Zoya Akhtar's Luck By Chance is a loving, if indulgent look at the world of films, peopled by very real, vulnerable and flawed characters. There were of course, many lovely films in the 70's that deliberately showed us glimpses of behind-the-scenes realities of the film world to bring out the sharp contrast between the fantasy world woven by those artists and the actual world they live in - think Guddi and Golmaal (the film shoot where Amol Palekar goes to meet his friend Deven Verma, and manages to borrow an actor's costume). Entertaining, enjoyable films with a clear demarcation between the two worlds they portray. The Dirty Picture isn't one of them.
The film is packed with subtle messages delivered with a jarring tone. In the first half, the world of the young Reshma is far removed from the fantasy-world she watches on screen. Then as she gradually makes her way into this world, her own life becomes progressively less real. I must add that I cheered for the gutsy Balan at her every scandalous move, be it her bold seduction of a leading male star or the cool retorts to an artsy director. Minutes before the interval, as if in warning, she tells you, "I'm not a film which will change after the interval." And change, the film does. What started as a mockery of the OTT masala entertainers of the 80s, ends up imitating the very genre, complete with a ramp showdown right out of Khoon Bhari Maang. It's like telling us, the audiences, that the actors and actresses of the 80s not only did weird stuff on the screen, they carried on the charade in their real life too. The result is a something that bears neither the gritty edge of a Madhur Bhandarkar drama, nor a dreamy escapism. And when the story draws to its very expected conclusion, you want to feel sadder for the unfortunate actress than you actually are.
The film is packed with subtle messages delivered with a jarring tone. In the first half, the world of the young Reshma is far removed from the fantasy-world she watches on screen. Then as she gradually makes her way into this world, her own life becomes progressively less real. I must add that I cheered for the gutsy Balan at her every scandalous move, be it her bold seduction of a leading male star or the cool retorts to an artsy director. Minutes before the interval, as if in warning, she tells you, "I'm not a film which will change after the interval." And change, the film does. What started as a mockery of the OTT masala entertainers of the 80s, ends up imitating the very genre, complete with a ramp showdown right out of Khoon Bhari Maang. It's like telling us, the audiences, that the actors and actresses of the 80s not only did weird stuff on the screen, they carried on the charade in their real life too. The result is a something that bears neither the gritty edge of a Madhur Bhandarkar drama, nor a dreamy escapism. And when the story draws to its very expected conclusion, you want to feel sadder for the unfortunate actress than you actually are.
0 comments:
Post a Comment