The 2004 Spanish film Mar adentro ('The Sea Inside') told the life story of Ramon Sampedro who fought for three decades to win the right to die in dignity. Starring Javier Bardem, the movie follows the final days of a former sailor who becomes a quadriplegic after a sailing accident and is refused the right to kill himself by the courts. How a group of people close to him help his fight to end a painful life is what makes up the story.
The other movie that cine buffs may readily recall while watching Bhansali's film is the 1996 Oscar winner 'The English Patient' where a nurse attends to a badly burnt soldier whose life tale is told in flashback. In a similar vein, 'Guzaarish' tells the tale of magician Ethan Mascarenhas (Hrithik Roshan) who wants to end his suffering despite loving life to the extreme.
1. Hrithik Roshan has turned in a robust performance as the quadriplegic who suffers an injury on stage and is rendered lifeless below the neck. His expressive eyes tell a thousand tales of sorrow at the cruel blow life renders him at the peak of a career but his laughter evokes intensity and positive energy. Easily one of his best performances till date.
2. The film is a veritable canvas painted by Bhansali through the eyes of cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee who uses Goa in the rains to tell this tale of a man doomed. Shot extensively in Goa, the director studiously avoids the sun and beaches of the world's favourite tourist destination, instead focusing on its rivers, rolling hills and sanguine Portuguese architecture.
3. The supporting cast is adequate though one must make special mention of Aishwarya Rai, who once again turns in a low decibel performance as the nurse who treats her patient for twelve years, rebels when she learns of his euthanasia request and later assists him to fulfil his desire.
4. Shernaz Patel as the articulate lawyer is adequate but Aditya Roy Kapoor turns in a nuanced performance as Omar Siddiqui, a youngster who enters the house to learn magic and possibly atone for the crimes of a near one in the distant past. Those who saw him in 'London Dreams' and 'Action Replayy' will definitely see better histrionic potential here.
5. The movie is more of an ode to life seen through the eyes of a man who loves it but is in no position to live, given his physical disabilities. And Bhansali has kept it short and sweet at just about two hours. He also seems to have given up the over-the-top histrionics of 'Devdas' and 'Black' for a more subtle approach.
1. The abject absence of a forceful script makes the movie devoid of any dramatic twists and turns. Once the hero shares his desire to end his life, things sort of start moving inexorably towards the end and there's hardly any interest left for the viewer as the film winds down.
2. For the umpteenth time, Sanjay Leela Bhansali reverts to his favourite blue in the movie, which ends up jarring the impact of some sombre scenes like the point where a helpless Mascarenhas has to suffer drops of water from a leaking roof on his forehead for an entire night because his helpers can't hear his screams.
3. Some of the scenes are a bit too contrived like the convenient bumping off of the magician's mother (Nafisa Ali in a blink and miss role) or the appearance of the parish priest trying to tell the quadriplegic that in Christianity, taking one's life is a sin.
4. Though a film is rightly a director's medium, one cannot but wonder why Bhansali chose to shoot the entire film in a large mansion that is Mascarenhas' home. One wonders if it Was just to add a punchline in a court scene where the opposing advocate questions the nurse's intentions of killing the protagonist?
5. And finally, on a funnier note, I must say that 'Guzaarish' is extremely unlikely to spur any tongue-in-cheek reactions from the 'Golmaal' gang of Rohit Shetty, Ajay Devgn and co. as Bhansali's earlier films like 'Black' and 'Saawariya' did. The pathos of the movie is too deep for any comedy.
My Verdict: Though the movie is obviously inspired by several films on the subject, one must give credit to Bhansali for a movie that has the soul despite lacking in substance. Of course, Hrithik Roshan could take a bow for effortlessly shifting from his Adonis looks of 'Kites' to this lifeless body with a sharp mind.
Source: India Syndicate
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