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Sometimes I wish I don't have to have such a delay between watching a movie, and writing about it. Today, once I was done watching the lovely Sharat Kataria movie, Dum Laga ke Haisha, I had to catch a bus, then a share auto, then another bus...then get down at a stop to have my dinner and then walk to my place. In between I get tired, millions of thoughts cross my mind, and I get distracted.
But amongst all this -- and I am compelled to say it -- I had this movie in my mind constantly. I called my parents to tell them how good this movie is, and urged them to watch it. Because it is vital for everyone to watch this movie. Being someone who'll get married (most probably) next year, this movie almost puts me in the place and asks me to celebrate the ordinary. The other day I was talking to a friend about my marriage, and I said I got no expectations from a prospective bride as long as she's ready to adjust with my biological and psychological nuisance. He literally lashed out at me saying how I can accept a girl who's not good looking, at-least. Because in an arranged marriage, that's the least I'd want. And that put me in a bit of a fix for some time. Today, this film reminded me of the fact that how wrong we are when we cease to look beyond the physical beauty of a person. In the heart of hearts, I knew that this is a film about me, when Ayushmaan Khuraana ogles at denim clad white skinned women, while his ordinary overweight wife gets miffed about it. He feels so inferior regarding his marriage, that when his friend gets a love marriage, he literally loses his temper and insults his wife in front of everyone. This insecurity lies amongst all of us, in this generation. Those who are already married, and those who are about to. Is it not true that we want the best looking girlfriend/partner/wife for us? So that she can be a status symbol? Or she becomes "something" that excites us? This movie makes us realize that posh doesn’t come from objects, but from the people, and beauty is as subjective as human character, and has nothing to do with the looks of anything. In the midst of falsely-elevated self-esteem, in which our cell phones determine our character, a strange socially-conscious self of us lives. We have forgotten that at the deepest brim of our glossy persona lives a soul so ordinary, that we might need a slap on our face to remind us about it. Sharat Kataria slaps us, softly, to remind us, about ourselves, maintaining a level gaze, filling every frame with necessary details. Telling Ayushmaan Khurana's character he's no Vinod Khanna, or, when the time arises, through his aunt that everything that's done for benefits and interests yields little. A few things need to be done for the love of things and for the betterment of life.
This tiny, little, spoiler-proof film, full of wisdom, reminds us how peer pressure has taken over wilfulness, how beauty has shrunk down to something that can be parametrized. The film does something for us; it makes us understand...the pain, the goodness, and the love that exists in the ordinary. It tells us unknowingly that marriage isn't as easy it looks. Yet, we have to take it on our shoulders. It tells us through its beautiful lensing, that if two human beings try hard enough to find a common ground in their lives, and they might achieve it. It reminds people like me, that marriage might mean carrying home a heavy commitment. And it is possible to do it happily. And if the girl is still smiling after falling in the mud with you, then that’s a girl worth sharing a lifetime with. Yes, I now know, my friends and I are all wrong.
This movie makes me a better person. That’s the most I could ever compliment a movie, and “Dum Laga Ke Haisha” is *as* good a movie.
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SaलिL
