October 05, 2011

'IJAAZAT'---the permission to play 'confused'...

I had once been told by a friend that Maya's character in the movie 'Ijaazat' somewhat reminded him of me when he first watched the movie.
Not too happy with that comment/compliment, I had made him watch the movie all over again and subsequently eat his words, by finding faults in all the three protagonists...sigh!

Apart from the highly complex character that Maya is, one cannot deny that it is equally fascinating.
The movie leaves you appalled at many instances..and you are confused whether she is someone who is simply crazy or too much of an idealist.
One moment you feel that she is commitment phobic and the other you find her to be a deeply passionate person who lives on love and love alone.
Sometimes you find her free spirited while there are some instances wherein the vulnerability of the character speaks volumes of her pain..her vulnerability to emotions..her inability to explain herself and her constant search of something that perhaps doesn't even exist.
Of course, there are some scenes which leave you seething with rage, like some highly dramatised emotional dialogues which she quips to an already-married and pretty much spineless Mahender.
Mahender---someone who did not have the guts to stand up for his love in front of his grandfather...
the same someone who then metamorphosed into someone who could not reciprocate his wife's love because he was stuck up over his ex (the same girl he did not take a stand for)...
Clearly, the dude was taking everyone for granted---his grandfather, his girlfriend Maya, and now his wife, Sudha.

And that brings me to Sudha, whose decision of marrying an emotionally involved guy does not cease to amaze me.
Respect for elders, financial support and seeking stability are an entirely different thing altogether.
But if she is ready to risk her married life in exchange for all these, hoping that her love for THE husband would cheer him into matrimonial bliss making him forget all about Maya, then I guess the woman is not just being manipulative but also not quite in the right state of mind.
The least she could do was wait for him to have moved on with the ex-factor, before jumping into a serious commitment.

While Maya's interference in the life of a married man is unacceptable, so is Mahender's infidel nature which he cleverly disguises with the garb of guilt (in the first part of the movie) and self-sacrifice (only to his imagination...Hah!) and needless to mention, Sudha's attempt to win the heart of an already emotionally betrothed man, without thinking about the consequences.
Nasruddin shah's acting is impeccable while Rekha has played her character with ease and obvious talent.
However, Anuradha Patel (playing 'Maya') is the one who steals the show with her charismatic and totally suited-for-the-role performance.

Adorned with the amazing music composition by R D Burman, Ijaazat remains one of Gulzar's best creations---an intriguing drama of three complex characters, the flawed lives of whom make it so close to reality.


P.S: Thinking about it, Shashi Kapoor did not quite fit in---no pre-marital affair, no extra-marital relationship, no dead girlfriend, no pestering grandfather, no guilt ridden past, no compromised marriage...nothing?

NO FAIR!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally love this movie...and do not shy away from thinking...I have a maya hidden somewhere :-)

aditya thakur said...

'maya' is one fictitious character that i have fallen in love with from the time i watched the movie.
so someone saying you are like her is a compliment :)

Anonymous said...

i loved the post! spineless a word perfect for mahender :) this movie has been recommended many a times but haven't seen it yet.

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