Love is not a tamasha

Nonika Singh

As far as love stories go this is no mushy lovey dovey tale that will make your hearts go dhak dhak. Nor is it a modern day Laila Majnu that will make you shed copious tears. Angin saal se hai wohi purani…tere mere ishq ki ye nayi kahani...trust modern day love balladeer Imtiaz Ali to introduce us to a new shade of love. Love might be a word he consciously avoids but perhaps few can plumb its depths as he can and offer you an emotion at its highest subliminal level. And what do you think is the highest form of love? Sacrifice as N-number of films will tell you. But as he goes on the path less trodden what you get is love the kind that introduces you to your true self. 

So, here two youngsters (Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone) who meet in exotic Corsica in France whose emerald blue seawaters are as pristine as their real selves. They meet, live in a make believe world, fall in love and promise each other never to meet again. 

Par kabhi aisa bhi hota hai kya, so they meet again after four years in a normal world in normal circumstances where the hero does a regular nine-to-five job and the girl knows something is amiss. How she becomes instrumental in Ved’s self-realisation forms the rest of the story. At one level, it’s a tale of a storyteller. And that storyteller is not just our hero, not just the director, not the raconteur (Piyush Mishra) that sits under the tree telling stories for a paltry fees but our love legends, our myths and innumerable kahaniyan that nurture our childhood.

And are lost by the time we grow up and fall into the rat race. Follow your heart and passion… avoid the road that leads you nowhere…now this isn’t the first time a film tells you that.  3 idiots did it rather effectively. So what’s new? Love shows the path. Of course, the path is not fun and frolic. The love that blooms in Corsica, the fun they seem to be having despite wondrous surroundings doesn’t rub off.

The heartbreak the two endure too doesn’t make your hearts ache. But what does touch the chord is Ved’s self discovery. The scene between father (Javed Sheikh) and son in particular is quite touching and the final interaction between Ved and his beacon (Mishra) uplifting. And though the film has its tepid moments, it finally leaves you with a thought and a remarkable facet of love. And for that alone it’s worth viewing. Though there are other reasons too, cinematography, Rahman’s music, Irshad Kamil’s lyrics and sparkling performances.

Yes, no doubt the film belongs to Ranbir who gets to play many shades, even gets to mimic Dev Saheb. But make no mistake Deepika holds her ground with ease in a part that's not author backed but not written in a hurry either. Other actors, there aren’t too many though, make an impact. Music, especially the song Heer toh badi sad hai is well interjected in a film that’s anything but song and dance. Uncluttered and sans melodrama, the storyteller in Imtiaz might falter here and there but manages to convey what he sets out to. 

Avoid it if you like it hot and sizzling. This inner journey is kinda quiet and sort of cute but nothing that will make you fall head over heels in love with.