Tamasha & Dear Comrade: “Fighting” for what you love.
You’re with a stranger for a few days in a place far away from your country. You spend time with him doing crazy things, and while you’re about to leave, you realize you’ve fallen in love with him. When you meet him again after a few years, you observe that the person you’re in love with has changed and is playing a role, instead of being him.
Tamasha is a beautiful movie with its moments, even though it didn’t do well at the box office at its release. A film that was underappreciated, I bet you’ll find comments praising the movie on any YouTube video/song of this movie, with people relating to it personally. It starts with a play, with Ved (Ranbir) performing on the stage, answering one of the most critical questions we have “Who I am?”
Deep down, you know you’re losing yourself every day, but you can’t help to be yourself due to the pressure built upon you since childhood, and you proceed with life quite mechanically. When a girl you are deeply in love with shoots this question like a big rock has hit you on the face, and the eruption happens from inside. You’re living with a lie and are betraying yourself, and ARR comes up with Agar Tum Saath Ho to take this emotion even deeper.
Tamasha is the film that acts as a reflection of our inner-self, complemented by strong visuals and moving music. ARR sinks us into the songs, takes us to the deeper levels of existence, and leaves us there. Every song is placed perfectly and visualized amazingly. The scenes of Ved living mechanical life like a machine and his performance in front of his boss are conceived and shot well. I am still wondering why this movie has resonated with me completely.
Tara, played by Deepika, acts as a catalyst that aids the transformation of Ved from being a typical corporate employee to the curious storyteller he wishes to be, with ARR jumping in again with Safarnama. Tamasha is an emotional story to find yourself, realize who you are, and be what your heart wants you to be.
You see, when we are in the struggle within ourselves, it takes an explosion of emotions to get ourselves out of it. The fight should always be within, and it changes our life altogether if we work harder, which brings me to the next movie we discuss, Dear Comrade.
Vijay plays Bobby (Chaitanya — you’ll know why they chose this name!), an ill-tempered student fighting for the welfare of others, aspiring to be a comrade, continuing the legacy of his grandfather. On a broader level, this looks like a typical commercial hero material that we are used for many years now.
Rashmika plays Lilly (Aparna Devi), an aspiring cricketer from a middle-class, orthodox family. She believes that our fight should always be within, not with anyone else, after witnessing her brother’s death in university violence. Bobby and Lilly fall in love with each other, but the only problem is with Bobby’s anger! The movie now takes off with Lilly leaving Bobby and Bobby acting like Arjun Reddy initially after that breakup.
We see the one-sided story of Bobby’s transformation from an ill-tempered young boy, to a balanced gentleman, during his self-discovery journey as suggested by his grandfather, going close to nature, exploring people, places and learning from them. His aspiration to be a comrade to Lilly is still in progress. We don’t know the situation of Lilly while he is constantly thinking of Lilly throughout this personal voyage to self-discovery.
Until now, the story goes progressive, with a person with anger issues going closer to nature, discovers himself in the process, becomes a good person. Lilly’s story now — she is undergoing treatment for depression and is unstable. Due to the sexual harassment as a formality process by the selector, Ramesh, she decides to leave cricket, fearing his influence might affect her family and respect in society.
Bobby takes Lilly for sound healing and makes her feel better temporarily with a soulful O Kalala song composed by Justin Prabhakaran playing at the time that’s just perfect. While she wants to start a new life with Bobby, he insists that she fights for justice and restart the cricket training.
The movie has few intense emotional sequences, and Vijay could have played his part well to bring out the scenes better. The film takes immediate turns and makes it look complicated, but I can’t appreciate the writer-director enough for handling it effectively. Though people complained about the second half being overwhelming, I found it good as well.
This story feels like adding additional dose to Tamasha — wherein you transform yourself and stand with the person you love, become a comrade to help him/her succeed in their struggle. While I love the film, ignoring a few unwanted scenes in the first half, I am still not convinced why we think that a woman always needs help from someone to empower them. Can’t they fight for themselves without a man’s intervention?
I admire the young team who dealt with a subject with depth and could’ve been spoiled without good conviction. It touched upon the trauma a girl goes through after such inhumane encounters. The movie’s music is fresh and soothing that I listen to the songs whenever I feel low. I think the film could’ve been even better if they had chopped a few initial scenes and renamed it, Dear Lilly.
Also, it’s better to avoid reading/consuming the content that pulls us down during these tough times. Hit me up for movie recommendations that can bring your spirits high. Take care and stay safe :)
