REVIEW: Guzaarish

DEATH WISH

It's interesting to note that three out of the six films made by Sanjay Leela Bhansali have been about physically challenged characters. While it's noble to raise issues about their condition on screen, his approach reeks of exploitative voyeurism rather than heartfelt compassion (remember the way he treated the child actor in Black -- more as a retard than a blind-deaf-mute?). It seems like the filmmaker uses the disability of his protagonists to exert maximum emotional manipulation on his audience -- like Mahesh Bhatt once did, by retelling his own life story in fragments and advertising them as autobiographical works. These films bordered on the hysterical in their depiction of human suffering, as though Bhatt was furiously scratching at your skin to get under it.  

Guzaarish continues Bhansali's tryst with morbid masochism. Humiliation, degradation, depravation painted against phantasmagorical backdrops is the stuff of his cinema -- beautiful, yet soulless. But most shocking of all is his complete negation of complexity -- either of characterisation or of thematic content. Apart from generous inspiration from various unacknowledged sources, of course. In this case, the basic idea of a quadriplegic man begging for mercy killing comes from the Javier Bardem starrer The Sea Inside, which in turn was based on Ramon Sampredo's plea for euthanasia after being crippled neck down for nearly 30 years.

Ethan Mascarenhas is an ace magician bed-ridden for 14 years after a meeting with an accident while performing one of his tricks. Sofia (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who brings to mind the description 'porcelain beauty') has been his nurse throughout this period and she displays undying devotion to her ward. It's distressing to note the way this woman's character is constructed. She seems superficially assertive but her overall posture is one of servility that couldn't be born of anything but self-loathing.  

Ethan lives in a classical crumbling Goan mansion in the kind of time warp only Bhansali can manufacture with conviction. So the house is exquisitely designed and entirely period non-specific -- everything from the ornate mirrors to the sheer drapes and the gothic courtyard are gorgeous props. As is Sudeep Chatterjee's painterly cinematography and lighting, and Sabyasachi's designer styling of Rai-Bachchan -- although the bright red lipstick and rose stuck in hair is inexplicable.   

Ethan has loyal friends, Devyani (Shernaz Patel), an advocate and Dr. Nayak (Suhel Seth) his physician. A new addition to his club is young Omar (Aditya Roy Kapoor), a young magician who wants to be mentored by him. Ethan wants to die, Devyani decides to help him, and admits a plea in the court. The courtroom exchanges are unintentionally funny -- the prosecution lawyer (Rajit Kapur) is treated like a caricature comic-villain and instead of allowing him to make a rational case against mercy killing, he is ridiculed by the filmmaker, thereby trivialising the grave issue at hand.

Bhansali has a way with indulging in maudlin excess. Sometimes it works. Like a scene from Ethan's childhood when he wistfully watches his mother perform "It's a wonderful world" at a bar and when she's booed out by the audience, cheers her up with his first magic trick -- bringing down a rain of coins from within his coat. There’s a similar moment towards the end when Ethan sings the same song at his mother’s funeral. Regretfully, the director goes overboard more often than not, and makes you cringe -- the scene where Sofia's husband (Makarand Deshpande) shows up to drag her away from Ethan is one such loud moment. 

Hrithik Roshan sportingly endeavours to humanise Ethan and succeeds despite Bhansali's heavy-handed treatment. Rai-Bachchan too occasionally thaws into a vulnerable creature. But neither can get past the oppressive atmosphere of despair. One, that provokes you to marvel at the breathtaking visuals and yet makes you want to get up and walk out of this self-indulgent, overwrought fantasy.

Comments

[Manish]

Raat(Sanwariya) ke baad raat(Sanwariya) hi aayi, Subah(Black) ka intezar khali gaya . Black was positive,Guzarish is negative & depressing,if a deaf,mute & blind girl can enjoy life why not then a paraplegic. A disappointment you don't at all empathize with Hrithik's pain. SLB got all wrong this time again. Climax is amusing Suhel & group running crying laughing, you came out of the theater pretty amused for the cinema meant to be intense & emotionally moving."B Y E three simple letters but one strong word" it is bye to expectations.