By this point, Manmarziyaan had been watched and reviewed by just about everyone and there's not much I can add. It's really a tale as old as time - woman loves man-child but gets married to "real-man"; "real-man" promises to return woman to man-child; woman chooses husband "real-man" over ex-boyfriend man-child; they love happily ever after.
This is not a review of the movie. *Spoilers ahead*.
This "refreshing new take" is a pleasant enough watch with Tapsee Pannu lighting up the screen with a magnetism that is only amplified by Amit Trivedi's equally riveting music. Sure, she's a pampered brat who believes she's a rebel, and who leaves you wondering what she's actually rebelling against. But you stay engaged, indulging her antics the way you stood by and watched your self-destructive best friend get shitfaced repeatedly and make an ass of themselves. You know, that what you think won't matter anyway.
And so right on cue, she's "caught" having sex with her boyfriend. This is where things are "refreshed" - There's no haye-tauba or khandaan-ki-izzat ka rona dhona. In fact, no one bats an eye at the premarital sex.
Sadly, it's also where the fresh take ends.
When her family insists they get married, she agrees. I still don't know why. The rest, as they say, is history.
As expected, Bollywood's understanding of feminism and "modernity" starts and ends at the most superficial of levels - wardrobe choices, imbibing alcohol and/or nicotine, being outspoken and a very limited degree of sexual liberty. And that is where Manmarziyaan also disappointed me the most.
At no point is Rumi given any hopes, dreams, aspirations, accomplishments beyond the men in her life. All said and done, the protagonist, all fire and brimstone on the surface, basically wants a man to take care of her and fend for her. She readily agrees with her family that marry she must. Not once does she consider a possibility of first being self-sufficient, not just financially but also emotionally. For that matter, even we the audience are expected to accept that marriage is her only viable option. She literally had nothing else going on with her.
That she, herself, has equally bought in to this patriarchal construct of being cared for, is demonstrable when she's upset that her man-child boyfriend can't even plan an elopement for both of them. Never once does she (or the audience) consider the possibility that it could just be okay for her to take charge and fend for the both of them.
Equally reprehensible, is how Bollywood treats characters that do dare to dream "selfish" individualist dreams. Vicky is a musician and a DJ. For all the disdain hurled at him, he is, ironically, the only character shown actually spending any time at work. Thus, when pitted against the soft-spoken NRI banker (who seems to have limitless vacation time), clearly being a struggling artist is not good enough. Even if this NRI seems overeager to marry a complete stranger after one look at her photograph. Nope, nothing suspicious about that either. It's as if all those NRI wedding scams in Punjab never really happened, you know.
Add to that, the villanizing of Vicky for not wanting to be married. The fact that he's still committed to a monogamous relationship holds no bearing. He's deemed selfish, even though he never moves so much as a finger without his girlfriend's say so.
But then characters who have wanted to do their own thing have always been schooled and affectionately brought back into the fold in Bollywood. Whether it's Ranbir's "Bunty" in Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, Saif's "Jai" in Love Aaj Kal, Deepika's "Aaliya" in Break ke Baad or Kajol's "Anjali" in Kucch Kuch Hota Hai. The list is endless, the message consistent - If you dare to dream something just for yourself, you will regret it. Collectivism will always win over individualism. #becausefamily. We're never allowed to question why the very same family can't be supportive and happy for their loved ones living the life they always wanted.
Finally, when you've tolerated all the back and forth of this completely unnecessary love triangle, you can bet your bottom dollar, that sanskar will win the day. This fierce, "modern" heroine will, after all, choose to walk into the sunset with the husband her family picked out.. even though he dampens her spirit and shushes her mid-sentence, interrupting her only to tell her that she can always speak freely with him.
And so you walk out of the theater, realizing that this was no fresh perspective, just old wine in a new bottle. And that we're celebrating the fallacy that what the heart really wants is "husband material".
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