There is always pain, but Mard ko Dard Nahi Hota

He can feel no pain. He must learn to say 'ouch'. She lives a life of constant pain. She must learn to not flinch. Mars ko Dard Nahi Hota is a film of dualities and contrasts. Of how the world should be and how it is. Of the choices we make and how they define us even though many a times they're not conscious or within our control.

The lead pair, childhood friends and instant soulmates, are separated but continue to be tenuously linked through these dualities and eventually find their way back to each other.

Both have two father figures, one biological, one adoptive. Their biological fathers are weaker men, flawed although in vastly different ways. Their adoptive fathers are, at least on the surface, seemingly fearless and strong, teaching them to fight for themselves. But his fathers are both able bodied and loving, and he grows up supported and secure, able to embrace his inner strengths. Hers are both physically and emotionally crippled (even though at different stages of life) unable to give her the support she needs, and she grows up abused and traumatised, hiding her strengths and true power. Both have mothers that shape those choices  - his being a source of strength even though  dead, hers being a constant weakness even though alive.

Both want to fight cliched super villains but he can choose to do so, while she unwittingly locks herself into the cycle of abuse. And yet, they're both fighters, literally and metaphorically.

Her weapon of choice is external, a cloak to cover her, a noose or a veil. His runs in his veins, and gives life. He knows every muscle and bone in his body. Both have internal weaknesses - lack of a sustaining life force, but while he can replenish his strength with a quick drink of water, her dry well runs deeper and takes longer to fill up.

At the end of it all, they're both superheroes. These two misfits that somehow fit together. Through their journey they allow us to imagine how different life can be with or without the families we are born to and the families we choose for ourselves. It calls out and subverts our preconceived notions of strength - whether it be intangible like toxic masculinity, or corporeal, like what our bodies, with and without physical handicaps, are capable of. It is about rising above the pain, whether you feel it or not, and being the best version of your true self.

When Manmarziyan (what your heart wants) is really "Husband Material"

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".

Sha Sha Sha… Mi Mi Mi.. What a chance !

The moment I saw the theatrical trailer of Shamitabh I was licking my lips and was eagerly waiting for this movie to come out. The combination of Mr. Done it all, Amitabh Bachhan, and an impressive new comer to hindi films, Dhanush, with Balki at the helm to direct them seemed all too good to lose out on. Add an interesting plot to the mix and I thought we had a winner on our hands. But 30 minutes into the movie and I realized that the plot line was paper thin and too much was left up to the brilliance of the 2 main leads of the movie. The climax was unconventional albeit predictable. In the end I was left with a feeling similar to the one of an unsuccessful Indian cricket defense in an ODI and saying “What if they could have done this… Only if they would have done that..”

Shamitabh almost seems like a movie born out of a conversation at a party etc. The idea is brilliant and very innovative, just like all the other Balki movies. In a nutshell Shamitabh is about an aspiring mute actor Danish, who needs Amitabh’s voice to realize his dream. Together they become the superstar Shamitabh by combining their names. But beyond the core idea and some witty dialogs in between the movie fails to deliver content wise. Even the character back stories are borrowed from real life stories. There are pockets of brilliance in the movie where you get hooked on for say about 15 minutes but then the next 15 minutes seemed like a drag and I heard myself saying, “Kya paka rage hair”.  Thankfully the songs did not interrupt the flow to add to my woes and provided somewhat of a background score for most parts. “Only if” the editing would have been a bit tighter. The end credits were one of the coolest parts for me and a very nice way of paying a tribute without explicitly saying out loud. Also I felt there was a subtle attempt to celebrate Amitabh Bachhan’s voice.

With all the issues in the content of Shamitabh, the performances by Bachhan and Dhanush are simply superlative. Amitabh Bachhan proves once again that no one and I mean absolutely no one can match him for the drunk scenes. The way this man is defying his age and is carrying on is simply amazing. Dhanush stands up toe to toe with his senior counterpart, proving Ranjhana was no fluke and displays an array of emotions. Akshara Hassan is clearly the loose end in the acting department of this movie. A fellow viewer in the theatre summed it up for me when he said “kahan se laaye hai yaar isko?” (Where have they got her from?). She looked like a teenager who lacks the charisma and skill and just fails to stand up even half as tall as her co stars. 

Music by Illayaraja is pleasant on the ears but lyrics don’t really help the cause. In the end ‘Pidly si baatein’ is the only song that stuck with me. Extra points to Amitabh Bachhan for his vocals. There are no two opinions about Balki’s talent as a story teller. I felt there was just too little content here to make a full feature film. This could have been a great addition to one of the 'Bombay Talkies' short films. 

I would not say its a horrible movie, but its definitely DVD/ satellite TV material for me. An opportunity missed for sure. For the 2 bright star actors of the movie I would rate it 6.25 on 10.

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