My mother loved Rajesh Khanna's Aradhana movie. She gushes about it even now. Among the many reasons why she liked it so much, was that this was one of the very few movies she had watched in the theater, where she had participated in the budding romance of Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna, had watched it with like minded relatives and then most importantly, because it had made her cry. Yup. That's right. She felt it was poora paisa vasool that she had walked out of the theater with many others, wiping their kohl lined eyes with the edge of their sari pallu, mulling over the courage of a young Sharmila who single-handedly brings up her child. A part of her trauma is depicted in the song "Saphal hogi teri Aradhana". Can you believe that?
Well, if my reaction to Barfi! was anything to go by, I could believe it too. And it could be true if you see the success factor of earlier movies with similar paisa vasool factor - Mother India, Mughal-e-azam, Bandini, Guide, Anand etc. and more recently Taare Zameen Par and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. There have been plenty of movies released in those respective years which were award worthy but these movies somehow had that edge. They made the audience teary eyed; they made them feel for the characters.
This year, after it's successful opening at the box office, there has been a lot of hue and cry about Barfi!'s entry into Oscars. There are people who believe that Gangs of Wasseypur, Heroine (???? why?), Kahaani, Vicky Donor, to name a few, deserved an entry. Except for Heroine, the others are definitely worthy competitors for an entry into Oscars, which by the way is now getting over shadowed by other award shows like BAFTA and Cannes. Still, since it is the most publicized award, we give this much importance to the movie that is entered.
Barfi! has an edge over the other movies in that perhaps it has the poora paisa vasool factor? Consider this, not only it is a heart wrenching story of a happy deaf and mute guy who falls in love with a pretty girl, only to realize that he is bested by a guy who could not only hear and talk to his lady love but who could also give her all the happiness that money could buy. The scene where he comes to ask for her hand and subsequently confronts her on the road, convincing her that she is better off with the guy her parents had selected ... well ... priceless. Gut wrenching. It is gut wrenching probably because, we had laughed with Barfi and Shruti as they fell in love, going doubles in his cycle along the winding roads of Darjeeling, and then only to be brought back to the harsh realities of life. A poor, deaf and mute guy is not a great catch.
The story moves on to Jhilmil and his budding relationship with her, shown through excellent songs like, "Aashiyan" and "Kyon" and of course meanders into a predictable ending.
Perhaps it is the treatment of the movie having a deaf and mute guy, and an autistic girl, perhaps it is the excellent background score that sometimes gives so much meaning to the silences in the movie, perhaps it is the setting of the movie - a scenic rain drenched, Darjeeling giving an impetus to the beautiful story, perhaps it is that important fact that we feel for the protagonists so as to wipe a surreptitious tear threatening to fall from the eye, in the darkness of the theater? I don't know.
During last year's Oscars, the entries for the Best Motion Picture category were The Artist, The Descendants (superb movie), Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and The Help (thought provoking) and the winner was The Artist. I have read articles where writers were angry that Moneyball and Hugo did not even make it to that category. So what was the edge that the Artist had that the others do not? It was a silent movie, with a brilliant cast and an excellent background score (more like Barfi!), which supported one of Hollywood's time tested formula, that pride goes before a fall. But perhaps it went the Barfi! way. There was humor, drama, romance, tragedy and probably the victory of the human spirit.
So for all those against Barfi!'s entry into the Oscars, I can only say this...perhaps majority in India are still romantics at heart...or at least the decision makers. Perhaps they believe, like my mother, that a good cry and a predictable ending can constitute a good movie.
I have inserted the link for the song "Saphal Hogi Teri" from Aradhana. Maybe a bit too melodramatic, but gut wrenching all the same, I guess.
Here it is: Saphal Hogi Teri Aradhana - Aradhana
Well, if my reaction to Barfi! was anything to go by, I could believe it too. And it could be true if you see the success factor of earlier movies with similar paisa vasool factor - Mother India, Mughal-e-azam, Bandini, Guide, Anand etc. and more recently Taare Zameen Par and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. There have been plenty of movies released in those respective years which were award worthy but these movies somehow had that edge. They made the audience teary eyed; they made them feel for the characters.
This year, after it's successful opening at the box office, there has been a lot of hue and cry about Barfi!'s entry into Oscars. There are people who believe that Gangs of Wasseypur, Heroine (???? why?), Kahaani, Vicky Donor, to name a few, deserved an entry. Except for Heroine, the others are definitely worthy competitors for an entry into Oscars, which by the way is now getting over shadowed by other award shows like BAFTA and Cannes. Still, since it is the most publicized award, we give this much importance to the movie that is entered.
Barfi! has an edge over the other movies in that perhaps it has the poora paisa vasool factor? Consider this, not only it is a heart wrenching story of a happy deaf and mute guy who falls in love with a pretty girl, only to realize that he is bested by a guy who could not only hear and talk to his lady love but who could also give her all the happiness that money could buy. The scene where he comes to ask for her hand and subsequently confronts her on the road, convincing her that she is better off with the guy her parents had selected ... well ... priceless. Gut wrenching. It is gut wrenching probably because, we had laughed with Barfi and Shruti as they fell in love, going doubles in his cycle along the winding roads of Darjeeling, and then only to be brought back to the harsh realities of life. A poor, deaf and mute guy is not a great catch.
The story moves on to Jhilmil and his budding relationship with her, shown through excellent songs like, "Aashiyan" and "Kyon" and of course meanders into a predictable ending.
Perhaps it is the treatment of the movie having a deaf and mute guy, and an autistic girl, perhaps it is the excellent background score that sometimes gives so much meaning to the silences in the movie, perhaps it is the setting of the movie - a scenic rain drenched, Darjeeling giving an impetus to the beautiful story, perhaps it is that important fact that we feel for the protagonists so as to wipe a surreptitious tear threatening to fall from the eye, in the darkness of the theater? I don't know.
During last year's Oscars, the entries for the Best Motion Picture category were The Artist, The Descendants (superb movie), Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and The Help (thought provoking) and the winner was The Artist. I have read articles where writers were angry that Moneyball and Hugo did not even make it to that category. So what was the edge that the Artist had that the others do not? It was a silent movie, with a brilliant cast and an excellent background score (more like Barfi!), which supported one of Hollywood's time tested formula, that pride goes before a fall. But perhaps it went the Barfi! way. There was humor, drama, romance, tragedy and probably the victory of the human spirit.
So for all those against Barfi!'s entry into the Oscars, I can only say this...perhaps majority in India are still romantics at heart...or at least the decision makers. Perhaps they believe, like my mother, that a good cry and a predictable ending can constitute a good movie.
I have inserted the link for the song "Saphal Hogi Teri" from Aradhana. Maybe a bit too melodramatic, but gut wrenching all the same, I guess.
Here it is: Saphal Hogi Teri Aradhana - Aradhana
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