saawariya

its tough not to overreact one way or the other after the onslaught of promotional campaigns for sanjay leela bhansalis version of ‘white nights’- the overblown (for better or worse) ‘saawariya’. having read the story about the beautiful loser who loves hopelessly and selflessly a woman not meant to be his, i was worried that bhansali would milk it for all its melodramatic worth. i thought his poet dreamer central figure would be excruciatingly sappy and unbearably coy. some of the promos seemed to justify that fear. that he is not is i think a relief and it must be because he is played by ranbir kapoor who is incredibly easy on screen considering that this is his first film. he looks very good, dances well and does not allow the wide-eyed goodness to get all icky. the boy, i think, is going to be a star.

as for his love interest sonam kapoor, she really does not have much to do in the film except look longingly and at regular intervals giggle away. she looks gorgeous (as does everything in the film). rani mukherji plays narrator and prostitute with a heart of gold while salman khan carries surma in his eyes very well. The rk references were mercifully not overdone.

but the real star of the movie is the very blue, very strange set that is the fictional northern town in which the movie is set. an architectural ‘best of’ orgy that replicates and collages into one odd labyrinthine fantasy part of venice, paris, istanbul and embellishes it all with da vincis and buddhas. such orgiastic excess seems to know no limits. if only this incredible tastelessness was less desirous of being tasteful.

the story is something i was never very fond of, reeking of sentiment; but the songs are great and some of the picturisations brilliant. i loved the id song with the shoulder and neck dancing, the love song on gondolas and the title track. but undoubtedly the best of all was ‘jab se tere naina’ in which ranbir wrapped in only a towel, unwraps himself on a balcony in the beginning and then looking beautiful and young does hip thrusts while a mona lisa looks on and then wraps him in her robe. is this bhansalis coming out movie? regardless, a great song. one of the few great moments in a film which works in some parts and is tedious in others. and since the verdict is necessary in the great battle of the superfilms, here is my two cents worth - all right, not terrible- not terrific.