Tuesday, December 09, 2008

oye lucky lucky oye

after getting back to bombay i was even more awestruck by the human pyramid like structure of delhi. everyone seems to be somewhere in the middle with someone above them and someone below them. there are all kinds of complex rituals that need to be performed to make sure that you continue to stay in the same position or even more complex rituals to rise in the pyramid. somehow exactly who is above or below you is never clear but fear and suspicion seems to be all around. the apex of the pyramid is non-existent. at least that’s what i was told by a few delhiites while i was there and before it seems like this is just another anti-delhi post by a mumbaikar let me say that i love delhi and i almost like this weirdness- it seemed to be appropriate in a city where power is the prime motivator. i was wondering then, after watching ‘oye lucky lucky oye’ what the affectionate but dark film felt for the city in which it is set. when the lower middle class sikh kid can only find his way through the labyrinth of power and status by pretending to be someone else and navigating this pyramid by petty thievery. he even makes is own version of a family by stealing other peoples family portraits and making them his own. everyone in the film seems to be caught in this web and cannot escape. i know its supposed to be a comedy, but at the end of it why did i feel so sad. i loved the film.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really? I didn't think it was supposed to be a comedy at all. It has smiles, yes. But doesn't everything evil possess such? I think it's the eerie neutrality of the film that makes one laugh, like reaching out to say, "every dark world has loud laughs". Suggesting more in undertones than too many beings will be able to catch.

Anonymous said...

I think all good comedy is almost always dark. I loved the film , it broke my heart , because somewhere I wanted Lucky to never get caught.

Somewhere Lucky was the price one paid for not being born rich and yet wanting.