REVEW: Issaq

LOVE’S LABOUR LOST

Prateik has a heavy cross to bear given his mother’s towering reputation and devoted fan following that hasn’t ebbed over the last 25+ years. Tempting then, to treat him with kid gloves simply because he inherited Smita Patil’s eyes. At the same time it can’t camouflage his stiffness––at 22 she had already tackled a career-defining Bhumika with exceptional maturity. Her son, born just two weeks before her untimely death, is still lost in the woods after half-a-dozen screen appearances, the only serviceable ones being his debut in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and Dhobi Ghat.

One can’t decide what’s worse, Prateik’s awkward acting or his poor choice of roles; particularly in the three films where he’s played the lead, including this week’s Issaq, an ill-conceived adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet. Granted that his role as Rahul Mishra is haphazardly sketched, but a better performer would have breathed some life into it instead of rendering it even more embarrassing.

To begin with, he doesn’t for a moment seem like a boy from Benaras––a limitation he shares with debutante co-star Amyra Dastur––both look like Bombay kids who occasionally remember they’re supposed to be in a specific milieu and mouth words like ‘sapesal’ (for special) but can’t hold the accent long enough to finish saying ‘prize’ right after. Her “promise karo hum milenge, God promise,” evokes unpleasant memories of Sonam Kapoor, his beefy torso and voice quality are reminiscent of Salman Khan minus the star charisma. They are like little kids at play rather than innocent star-crossed lovers.

The drama around them is equally muddled with two rival clans––the R&J prototype being replicated to death in Hindi cinema this credited adaptation is pointless to begin with––and a Maoist leader (Lal Salaam is the flavour of the season) wrecking havoc in town, with the politicians and police protecting their own interests and the citizenry completely cut out of the action beyond featuring as extras in a couple of crowd scenes.

Unfortunately, despite a bunch of talented actors in supporting roles including Neena Gupta, Raageshwari Sachdev, Ravi Kishan, Prashant Narayan, Amit Sial and Vineet Kumar, the writing and the direction are amateurish. Tiwary operates with the template of one action scene followed by a romantic one and both set to appropriate music, so that your ears never adjust to the constantly shifting tone. Benaras is used merely as a backdrop, unlike in Raanjhana where it became an integral part of the narrative.

Twice I caught myself laughing unintentionally. First, in a case of inspired casting, Makarand Deshpande shows up as a levitating sadhu with a dedicated Caucasian following, and second, when a group of sadhus are smoking chillums and the customary scroll at the bottom of the screen reads, ‘Characters smoking herbs, not tobacco’.

For the rest, it was tempting to follow Rahul off the innumerable rooftops he jumps or swig that organophosphate Bachchi consumes to fall into a deep sleep and wake up only two-and-a-half hours later.