Guzaarish (2010)

Guzaarish is an ambitious film, no less than we would expect from a director like Sanjay Leela Bhansali who treats cinema as art and whose passion for his art shines through every frame of his films. It deals with the controversial issue of euthanasia or mercy killing. Guzaarish chronicles the petition to be allowed to die by a man who has been paralysed from the neck down for 14 years. It is a somber topic but it has been treated with great panache and even beauty. The film is visually absolutely sumptuous, from the marvelous baroque interiors to the styling of the cast. Unfortunately the film suffers somewhat from a surfeit of style over substance, a flaw that is to some extent typical of Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

The film is set in Goa and tells the story of Ethan Macarenas, a fantastically gifted magician who is left paralysed by an accident during one of his acts. He responds by fighting his disability as well as he can, writing an inspirational book and hosting a radio show that exhorts people to make the most of life. At the time of the start of the film however, Ethan’s organs have started to fail and he wants to be allowed to die with dignity. Having endured 14 years of having even his most intimate bodily functions seen to by a nurse, he feels he cannot endure the protracted failure of what remains of his body. The film deals with the reactions of the public at large as well as those of the people closest to him; his nurse, his lawyer friend, his doctor and his mother. Comic relief is provided by a young magician who infiltrates Ethan’s household hoping to learn magic from him.

The film may not do wonderfully at the box office because it will not appeal to the lowest common denominator. Furthermore there is so much English dialogue in the film that mass audiences may be put off. However, come awards time, Guzaarish is bound to figure strongly is many categories.

Hrithik plays a difficult role extremely well. His portrayal of Macarenas’ despair, anger, bitterness and ironic joie de vivre is inspired, especially considering that he is restricted to using only his face to act with and the entire gamut of body language is denied to him. With a few facial muscles, he evinces subtle emotions as he is forced to lie helpless while his nurse Sofia cares for his lifeless body. His on-screen chemistry with Ashwariya, who plays his long-time nurse Sofia, is electric and their suppressed passion for each other shines from the screen. Hrithik’s sequences in his flashbacks to his magic acts are simply sublime, masterpieces of the film-makers art. That said, there are times where his delivery could have been better and moments where he is clearly let down by the dialogue.

Ashwariya herself has done well, with one of her best performances to date. Moreover, Sanjay Leela Bhansali is someone who really knows how to make Ashwariya’s beauty work well on the screen. She is a gorgeous woman who generally looks good on-screen but Bhansali is director to makes the camera love Ashwariya. She looks extraordinary and even her silent care of Ethan oozes both compassion and passion. Her styling is somewhat over-the-top for a nurse but Sanjay Leela Bhansali has never bowed to realism in his story telling. Ashwariya’s role and look reflect his vision of Sofia and Ethan’s story.

The supporting cast does well with the script and Nafisa Ali is extraordinary as Hrithik’s mother. Her speech about who has a right over Ethan’s life is one of the highlights of the film. The main problem with the film is a lack of cohesiveness. The film moves slowly but towards the end there are too many seemingly disparate threads showing the way fortune buffets Ethan. The courtroom scenes seem underwritten and lack the depth needed to tackle the topic at hand. Similarly the climax is bewildering. Sanjay Leela Bhansali has thrown lots of pathos into the story, to the point where some scenes fail to touch because they seem contrived, and yet he chooses an upbeat finale that is staggering in its artificiality. Thankfully he is not the type to bow to the cliché of a miraculous recovery. Nevertheless the ending seemed labored. The poignancy of the situation between Ethan and Sofia could have created a moment as powerful as the denouement of The English Patient. Instead the audience is left disappointed by the weak ending.

Despite these weaknesses, I would nevertheless recommend Guzaarish. It is one of Bhansali’s better films, unlike the debacle that was Sawaariya. Despite the ending, the story is well told, compelling and intriguing. The movie will appeal to audiences with sophisticated tastes. Moreover it is worth seeing simply to appreciate Sundeep K Chatterjee’s breathtaking cinematography. The film is visually appealing in ways that few films ever attain, even western ones. The accident scene alone is worth the price of admission, more so than many crowd-pulling item numbers. The acting is some of the best we have seen this year and some of the scenes from Guzaarish will undoubtedly rank among the highlights of the cinematic year. Definitely worth a view – Salima Feerasta

Rating – 3.5  out of 5

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 2010, Genre – Drama/Romance, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer –Ronnie Screwvala, Director –Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Music Director – Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Cast - Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Rajit Kapoor, Shernaz Patel, Nafisa Ali, Suhel Seth, Vijay Crishna, Monikangana Dutta, Ash Chandler, Makrand Deshpande, Sanjay Lafont, Jineet Rath

Kites (2010)

Kites has made Bollywood attain a completely different level, much higher than any other movie has ever been able to reach before. As many skeptics would want to argue, Kites was anything but Indian. There were barely any traditional Indian elements; there wasn’t much of a Bollywood flavour and many other random attacks on things which don’t really matter. The point is, the movie is sensational because of so many factors, and the Roshan family has proved itself to be amongst the top producers/directors/actors that exist within the industry.

Kites is basically an incredibly adventurous, and extremely intense love story. Anything said about the plot would give away the exciting parts. Therefore one should rely on the other alluring factors that compel anyone to watch it at least once.

Barbara Mori, a sultry Spanish beauty, has been one of the biggest attractions of this tremendous production. She does not speak English, and she doesn’t speak Hindi. Yet she plays her character with such intensity, that you can’t help but believe every tear or every smile that appears on her face. This young lady deserves at least half the credit for the success of Kites. Also, rumour has it, that her relationship with Hrithik Roshan has been able to shake Suzanne and Hrithik’s marriage. We don’t find that hard to believe at all. One look at her anywhere in the movie and you’ll realize why it’s not a surprise why any man wouldn’t be after her, and why any woman would feel insecure, even if it’s Suzanne.

Hrithik Roshan himself didn’t look Indian, even though he was being referred to as the Indian throughout the movie. Based in USA, it isn’t anything odd for him to be addressed that way amongst the Americans. However, he simply looked nothing like it. Instead, Hrithik captured all the attention whenever he was on screen, with his bright green eyes, and long wavy locks of auburn hair. Especially when he appears without his shirt, he reveals something close to an 8 pack! What a killer set of abs! Also, he shows off an amazing golden tan, where the ladies could just not stop drooling over him

The most interesting part of Kites was the amount of actual verbal dialogues. In the first part of the movie, there is considerable dialogue between everyone, basically to establish what was going on. The last part of the movie depended on the action, the chaos, the tears, and every other emotion that could have been felt, without really having to say it out loud. Consider this, Jay (Hrithik) and Linda (Barbara) are madly in love, yet Jay doesn’t understand Spanish, and Linda doesn’t understand English (or Hindi for that matter) so it isn’t really rocket science to imagine the amount of proper conversation that could take place between them.

With Kites, Bollywood has gone one step further when it comes to directing and cinematography. Every scene was made to feel even more real, as the director really knew how to work the light angles and what to place around the screen when producing a single shot. Nothing was overdone, or under developed. Every scene, every change in the plot seemed well placed, and believable. Another newcomer in Kites was Hrithik’s brother-in-law, who played his role to perfection. He showed the right amount of anger; he seemed aggressive and dangerous. Also, he was dressed extremely well throughout the movie, and had an incredibly attractive accent as well.

Another dose of something pleasant was Kangana Raunat, who also plays a small role in the movie. Even though you barely hear her speak, she did her job well of the rich sophisticated young woman, deeply in love with this gorgeous Indian who looks like a Greek God because of his good looks.

However, interestingly, when this certain large group of women was exiting the theatre when the movie ended, I couldn’t help but overhear their conversation about how they thought that Barbara was overrated, that the entire Spanish bit “was a bit too much digest”. Do I detect jealousy there ladies? Are we being unreasonable? Let’s be a little more welcoming to this newcomer who has actually done a fantastic job, and will be on every guy’s mind for a very long time. Oh. Maybe that’s why they weren’t able to ‘digest’ her…

Kites is definitely something everyone must watch once in the cinema, to fully enjoy the action stunts performed by the lead pair themselves, along with many other various cops, robbers and civilians. The movie was extremely tragic, and believable, and there were many parts which could get anyone in tears easily. Also, incredible acting, incredible directing and an incredibly good looking star cast make Kites a perfect package. It won’t be a surprise if the movie hits all box offices, worldwide, with an incredible impact – Manal Faheem Khan

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 2010, Genre – Drama/Thriller, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Rakesh Roshan, Director – Anurag Basu, Music Director – Rajesh Roshan, Cast - Hrithik Roshan, Barbara Mori, Kangna Ranaut, Kabir Bedi, Anand Tiwari, Yuri Suri