★ 2 / 10
It's quite hard to expect from a film
mirza m
It's quite hard to expect from a film directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. The man has given us Bhaag Milkha Bhaag & Rang De Basanti, two films surely to be…
It's quite hard to expect from a film directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. The man has given us Bhaag Milkha Bhaag & Rang De Basanti, two films surely to be listed as path breaking cinema; on the other hand, he has also directed Aks & Delhi 6 starring the Bachchan father & son duo respectively, arguably two of the worst films to ever release on the big screen. Despite the uninspiring trailers, this Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra had a little hype going for it, mainly as the film happens to be the launch pad for Harshvardhan Kapoor (Anil Kapoor's son) and Saiyami Kher (Niece of Shabana and Tanvi Azmi) and marks the return of living legend Gulzar to penning scripts. Inspired from the famous Punjabi folklore of a tragic love story of Mirza- Sahiban, the film comes in the league of other tragic love stories of Punjab - Heer Ranjha, Sohni Mahiwal etc. The film has everything that's required for a musical romance based on a popular Punjabi folktale: a pair of fresh faces with great Bollywood genes, a strong supporting cast, and lilting music. So, does it fulfill expectations? Sadly no! Director Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra is known for weaving a stunning tapestry. For the first ten minutes we are in a 300-like setting with a brilliant form of archery at display with the help of CGI. Sadly, technical marvel is the only thing on display. The film plays out like a painting on a huge canvas, visually spectacular, but the screenplay falters. The film is not able to evoke the pathos of such a powerful love story, not soul-stirring. We just can never get ourselves to care for the lovers or evoke empathy like a grand love story should ideally make us do. Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra orchestrates the film on a grand scale but finds little material to substantiate it. There simply isn't enough connection or talk about forbidden love and its conflict never makes it to the film. There is a lack of drama and urgency, for which the blame lies with the director, who somehow makes the whole full film just look pretentious. The story takes places in two different time zones, one in an unspecified timeline inspired by Games of Thrones & 300, while the other in the present. The unspecified past follows legendary doomed lovers Mirza (Harshvardhan Kapoor) and Sahiban (Saiyami Kher), living in a land where fiery exploding clay pigeons are being shot at by men on horseback in the desert. The present follows school going 12-year-olds Munish and Suchitra who are pretty much inseparable. One day, Munish forgets his homework and presents Suchitra's notebook instead, which results in his friend being caned. In a typically Mehra-esque overreaction, Munish returns the next day, armed with Suchitra's police inspector father's pistol, and shoots the teacher. He's sent to a correctional facility but soon manages to escape. A decade later, Munish (Harshvardhan Kapoor), who now goes by the name Adil, lives with the family of a blacksmith (Om Puri) and his widow daughter Zeenat (Anjali Patel) and her young son and works as a stable hand in the city's royal family household. Suchitra (Saiyami Kher) also now grown up, comes back from abroad, to get engaged to the scion of the same royal family, Karan (Anuj Choudhry). In a film that has more horses than cars, it is perhaps inevitable that the stable-boy will turn out to be Munish, that he'll teach Suchitra to ride, and that she'll discover his true identity. As her wedding day draws near in both time lines, it's time for them to start making the kind of decisions doomed lovers are apt to. Is Suchitra the cause of Munish's downfall yet again? The question does not interest Mehra or screenwriter Gulzar. Apart from cutting haphazardly between these two time periods, Mehra creates a third theatre for the drama to play out - a stage where gorgeously attired male and female dancers interpret the movie's various moods in sensuously yet weird choreographed routines. Between the past, the present, and the maybe, the film ends up fitting nowhere. Outside Punjab, the story of Mirza-Sahiba may not be as well-known as the other folktales about star-crossed young love such as Heer Ranjha and Sohni Mahiwal, but it has an equally strong core of emotion. And there's no one better than Gulzar to be able to translate the story into a film, keeping the feelings and idiom intact. A touch of 'Romeo-Juliet' is stirred in to emphasize just how hard the lovers have to fight, and just how much our hearts have to go out to them. But right from the get-go, the film tells us it's going to be more about setting the scene, as it cross-cuts in time - some sequences are as spectacular as anything we've seen recently - than giving us characters that will instantly grab us, and keep us with them. This problem plagues this lush, good-looking production right through, and makes it much less of a film than it could have been. The film had tremendous potential. In fact, the lyrical way of storytelling by blending two timelines that of Mirza-Sahiban and Mohnish/Adil -Suchitra's stories with songs also is brilliant. But, efforts are not taken to show / justify the love story or strong bond between Adil-Suchitra. Strong ties of love in a relationship, where the protagonists separated decades back, is not developed. It doesn't touch one's heart. Most importantly the so called historic love story has not even a single dialogue, just weird glances. We are never told if Munish and Suchitra are reincarnation versions of the two until a similar instance climatic scene plays in. The result is a romance that droops rather than swoons. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have composed several tracks for the movie, and since the film is structured as a modern ballad, a booming song rushes into the eardrums ever so often to compensate for the frisson that is absent from the screen. Many cues are offered by Gulzar's lyrics and occasionally poetic dialogue delivered by Daler Mehndi, but suggested sentiment can rarely take the place of actual psychology. The power of predestination is constantly offered as the only explanation for the couple's actions. In a screenplay that was more curious about the woman's side of the story, Suchitra might have hesitated longer to roll in the stable with Munish and might have considered Karan's feelings. She seems blissfully in love with the dapper Karan, but is inextricably drawn to Munish. The scenes of Suchitra learning horse riding from Munish are suitably dreamy, but they do not explain why an upper-class woman is attracted to the house help and forgets her feelings for Karan overnight. Munish too might have been more careful about abandoning Zeenat, who is obviously in love with him, for Suchitra's affections. During its 129 minute runtime, the film is mainly focused on majestically falling leaves, beautiful beams of sun permeating the space between the romantic leads, meditative shots of blood flowing through water, and tight close-ups of horses' hooves flying in scintillating slow-mo. All of it would make for a stellar collection of postcards, and art gallery exhibitions, but just like a stationary image or an immobile but impressive poster, the film remains devoid of life. The real star of the film is indeed, the cinematographer Pawel Dyllus. He spins an intricate canvas; shot lucidly with warm bright colors, oozing the energy of the story, reflecting the moodiness of the plot and the philosophy of the story. To blend it all must've been a tough feat, but the gorgeous shots are effortless. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy provided their best soundtracks in ages, but the songs are misplaced throughout the film. To their credit, the performances are quite good. Yes, they are beginners and hence, the expectations are moderate. Harshvardhan Kapoor and Saiyami Kher make a confident debut, but the lack of intensity in the script brings their intensity quotient down. Anuj Choudhry & Anjali Patil are likeable. In supporting roles, Art Malik & Om Puri are alright. On the whole, 'Mirzya' is a technically outstanding film let down by mediocre direction and poor writing. I guess Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra should stick to directed film oozing with patriotism and leave the rest to others.
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Thank you for this and thank you for ignoring the hate. your work is appreciated