Guzarish

Sanjay Leela Bhansali has to be the most whimsical director in Indian cinema. But I tip my hat to him because he seriously seems to have the courage to follow what he believes is right. It would be fine to say that all his movies seem right out of picture postcards and that he may as well have signed up for a photo exhibition instead of making a movie worth a few crores. But at the end of all of it, one lands up seeing a treat that is probably a sight for sore eyes. Maybe not for the die hard movie fan who has come there to see some acting as well which in this case is almost missing. Not to mention that SLB has completed his quota of colours with Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (Yellow/Orange), Devdas (Red), Black (Do I need to say anything), Saawariya (Blue) and now Guzarish (Green). And did I miss Khamoshi – haven’t seen it so can’t say which colour :P


Ethan Mascarenhas (Hritik Roshan) is a quadriplegic – for the benefit of those who do not understand – someone who cannot use any of his limbs and is paralysed neck down. He lives in an exotic (a la SLB) place in Goa which is also aptly titled Villa Mascarenhas. He is taken care of by his nearly full time nurse, Sophia D’Souza (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) who would qualify to be the most made up nurse in the history of the world for sure. And also one whose lipstick never fades. Maybe Ethan always wanted her to dress up this way – a part of the deal that was not covered in the movie but left to the viewers imagination. Sophia is helped by 2 maids with the day to day work. Ethan maybe disabled but is a shining example to most others who are. He has since his disability written a best seller book and also has a radio show which is heard by most of Goa and is hugely popular. He is a shining example of the never say die spirit that most of us would kill for. He has been quadriplegic for over 14 years now out of which Sophia has helped him through 12.

But all is not well in Ethan’s world. He has slowly but surely lost his will to live. He finally calls his closest friend & lawyer, Devyani Dutta (Shernaz Patel) to formally file a mercy killing petition. Devyani leaves in a fit of rage but I wonder why she waits till the wee hours of the morning to call Dr. Nayak (Suhel Seth) and inform him about this. Dr.Nayak has a similar reaction to this and even threatens to certify Ethan as mentally ill and therefore incapable of taking his own decision. But somewhere, they have also seen enough of suffering and eventually do file the petition which is promptly rejected by the courts. But Ethan is not one to give up. He starts a campaign for “Ethanasia” – a play on Euthanasia to gain support for the cause. But surprise surprise – people don’t want Ethan to die. They want him to stay in his suffering.

And adding to the suffering for the audience are 2 specimens of humanity – the erstwhile Miss World and a new Veejay (Aditya Roy Kapoor) who must seriously consider giving up the profession because – how do I put it – aah to hell with the language – YOU CANNOT ACT TO SAVE YOUR LIVES!!!!!! Please spare us the pain. The support cast of Shernaz Patel, Suhel Seth and Nafisa Ali are miles ahead of these 2 but still not really upto the best that they have come up with I guess. I haven’t seen quadriplegics but for in movies and I guess somewhere Hritik has done his research and has come up with a reasonably impressive performance. Definitely not his best. Somewhere I believe that Hritik would be best as a villain. A damn good looking villain like he was in D2. Probably waiting for the right impactful role that would catapult him from a wannabe to an actual acting talent which I believe he is capable of.

Guzarish is an incredibly esoteric movie. Not for the faint hearted and definitely not for those who do not believe in the concept of mercy killing. And it is meant primarily for the die-hard SLB fan. 6 on 10 I say. Worth a dekko for the grandeur that SLB gets to the frame and the decent performance than Hritik gets to the table.