After a long hiatus since the debacle "Saawariya", Sanjay Leela Bhansali is back to woo the audience with his latest offering "Guzaarish", which is brought to life by two of the most sought after on-screen couples of Bollywood. SLB is always known to present movies which leaves us awe-struck with his way of treatment of the subject. The question is will SLB be able to come up with a winner after his previous cropper & will the Hrithik-Ash chemistry create magic a third time also???
The plot involves the story of a well known magician, Ethan Mascarenhas (Hrithik Roshan) who has been rendered quadriplegic when one of his acts went horribly wrong. The movie begins about 14 years after the prior mentioned incident took place & presently he is taken care of by his nurse,Sofia (Aishwarya Rai). Ethan has been a source of inspiration for many through his books & radio show "Radio Zindagi". However, now he decides to file a petition for Euthanasia after years of suffering & asks his lawyer friend Devayani (Shernaz Patel) to do it for him. As expected, Sofia & Devyani is shocked & angry at this decision of Ethan. The question that remains is will the Constitution of India allow such a plea to be accepted???? |
| Sanjay Leela Bhansali |
Coming to the story, SLB just as it has been in his previous ventures also, derives inspiration from a couple of movies like "The Prestige" & "The Diving Bell & the Butterfly". But its the Oscar winning Spanish movie "The Sea Inside" that he copies liberally from. The execution is brilliant to say the least, as always he takes us to a whole different world untouched by contemporary times ranging from the settings to costumes,all of which has a SLB touch.
The visuals by Sudeep K Chatterjee were captivating & delivers the beauty in all its finery. The costumes by Sabyasachi though looked Victorian, was however very much in keeping with the mood of the story. Another commendable aspect is the music by SLB himself, some of the tracks like "Udi Udi" & "Guzaarish" were really good.
In the performance department, Hrithik as Ethan has done justice to his role & looked perfectly apt especially in the sequences he appears as the magician. However, its Ash who is the best in the movie...she was brilliant in all aspects imparting a sense of elegance & stature...& seems to be totally at ease. Aditya Roy (as Omar), who comes to study magic from Ethan provides the comic element, deserves a word of praise as well. As for other characters, Shernaz Patel was adequate while Ranjit Kapoor just had to harp all the time.
But the movie definitely has its share of flaws as well, the main being the subject of Euthanasia not explored adequately. With no much light moments & the whole tone of the movie being on the sober side there isnt much to look forward to in the movie. They should have added a bit more content & it should have been more touching. Another thing which will be a turn off for the mass audience is the over excessive use of English...SLB is being true to the subject as the movie is based in Goa, but he should have realized that the movie isnt goin to be released only in a particular region.
Verdict: There is no doubt that this is one of the finest work of Sanjay...but I doubt it will translate into money. If it manages to break even, it would be lucky...but in the present scenario, I dont see takers for it except for Multiplexes. In short, watch it only if you like slow, larger than life, with a canvas set in a different world kind of movies or else you wud cringe in your seats!!!
Regards...Ben
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