Somewhat Soporific Saawariya

Saawariya is a film by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who also did one of my favorites, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Saawariya is a dream-like, fantasy film set in an entirely fabricated world, and it has Bhansali's stamp of visual artistry on it.

There is a lot of beauty in this movie. However, sometimes perhaps Bhansali forgot the difference between creating a painting, or a series of paintings, and making a movie. In places Saawariya was so slow it was like watching a painting dry, and in other places the threads of the story frayed until it entirely ceased to make sense.

Saawariya is set in a make-believe world, in a city that is not any real city, just a beautiful backdrop for the story. Ranbir Kapoor plays Raj, who falls in love with the beautiful Sakina (Sonam Kapoor) who is pining for her own heart's desire to return to her (her absent love is played by Salman Khan, in a bit of a cameo here). Raj meets Sakina walking through the city and grows obsessed with her. She first wants nothing to do with him, then befriends him, but tells him she is waiting for the man she loves to come back. But he is sure, because his feelings for her are so strong, that she belongs with him. All that remains is to convince her, right?

There is also a small role here for Rani Mukerji, who performs the best dance number in the movie. (Yay Rani!)

There are some similarities between this movie and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, but I much prefer HDDCS. Now, HDDCS is not a perfect movie by any means. It is filled with melodrama and suffers from some poor directing choices in places. But it is undeniably alive, and so heartfelt, whereas Saawariya feels distant and a little cold. I didn't feel I really knew any of the people in the movie by the time I got to the end of it. Nor did I really care about them or the choices they ultimately made. This is a sharp contrast to my reaction to HDDCS, which I was very invested in. Saawariya can also be, quite frankly, very dull in places. There is a lot of the young couple wandering slowly around the beautiful set, talking, but not getting anywhere with it.

But I did discover something interesting when I watched Saawariya. I discovered that I don't much care for Ranbir Kapoor, at least when he performs in an exuberant or quirky role (I did like him very much in Rocket Singh, Salesman of the Year, but that was a very low-key performance). Which goes a long way toward explaining why I couldn't get into Barfi, in addition to what I mentioned in my post about it. He is very talented and performs very well, which is why I didn't immediately think it was his performance putting me off at all, but now having seen both Barfi and Saawariya it clicked for me: he sells it, but I don't like what he's selling. When he tries to turn on the charm, it turns me right off. My working theory is that he's too technical. He is a Kapoor, after all, part of that powerful Bollywood dynasty, and has been steeped in it his entire life, no doubt. He knows exactly what he's doing. He is a fine-tuned Bollywood-performance instrument. But I don't feel any heart behind it.

Well, maybe I'll see something later that will change my mind!

I lost my heart to Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

I'm going to interrupt the account of how my early Bollywood experiences were all colored by going ga-ga for Shahid Kapoor (which, upon reflection, is actually a tad embarrassing, but hey, it's what happened) because my recent Amazon order came in, including Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.

Yes, this means I liked it enough to buy it. I re-watched it last night, and I made the husband watch it with me. I only do this with Bollywood I feel strongly about. He's willing to watch select Bollywood films with me. It helps to be able to say, "Aishwarya Rai's in it!"

Fun trivia: Did you know that Aishwarya Rai was originally offered Angelina Jolie's role in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but turned it down because of scheduling conflicts? Wonder if Brangelina would have happened regardless?

I suppose I should try not to gush too much about this movie, but I'm not sure how successful I will be. It is a beautiful, beautiful movie. There are times, especially in the first half set in India, that I feel that each frame could be a painting, they are all so beautifully composed. The songs are fabulous and worth the price of admission, so to speak, all by themselves. Aishwarya Rai is gorgeous, but more than that, her performance is arresting. Salman Khan, her first love, is a wonderful fit for his role here. I am not a huge fan of Salman. Admittedly, I haven't seen all that much of his work yet, but I was told Dabangg would make me a fan if anything would and... it didn't. That's an entry for another day. But coming back to watch this again, I remembered his silliness and the exuberance of his performance here, which easily threatened to spill into Over-the-Top territory, and wondered if I would find it hard to bear a second time around. On the contrary, I enjoyed his performance even more this time; even the weaknesses seemed to fit his character. And I may still be a newbie, and I certainly haven't seen even a fraction of Salman Khan's or Aishwarya Rai's work (although I've seen more Rai than Khan), but I would be very surprised if I ever run into a performance from either of them that surpasses the gutting vulnerability of the Tadap Tadap song, when Salman is made to leave. Watch it. I get chills. Every. Time. (Viewer beware, though: at the end of this song picturization, Aishwarya cuts her wrist in despondency and blood is involved. Stop at 3:00 to avoid.)

Now, I had never seen Ajay Devgan before this film. He has an appealing manner, though I don't find him strikingly handsome.

His performance here is excellent, and again, like Aishwarya and Salman, he allows a vulnerability into his character that makes you ache for him. He could easily be the chump character who loves silently and plays the martyr, but his inner struggle makes him more complex than that.

There are certainly weaknesses in the film. The second half isn't nearly as visually beautiful as the first, for one thing. The scene shifts to Italy... supposedly. It's not Italy, and very obviously not Italy, at least to Westerners. I found this very irritating the first time around, and took care to warn the husband that it was coming. And once they are in Italy, we are regularly assaulted by the Atrocious Acting by White Extras that I think I have spoken of before. By the way, I was reminded what great fun it is to have someone watch with me. Instead of inwardly cringing at the unintentionally funny moments (it has its share of them, despite being such an excellent film) we could laugh and/or groan together. I really enjoyed that. Maybe I need a Bollywood-watching partner. But I digress.

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam has a happy ending, but it's not a simple happy ending. I believe that at its heart, this film is about finding that life can still be beautiful after heartbreak, and that, although you can't go back (no matter how much you may wish to!), you can open your heart and go forward. It's also about the raw power of love, about how it can hurt, change, transform, punish, elevate, and astonish us. But never leave us untouched.