2013
Directed by: Ayan Mukerji
I've not been excited for an Indian film in so long I almost cried
when I saw the first teaser for "Badtameez Dil" a couple months ago.
Finally, I thought, a super happy, super bubbly Bollywood blowout!
I managed to make two viewings on the opening weekend despite
every showing in NYC being sold out for 4 days straight, and I will admit I was
unimpressed the first go through, thankfully the second time charmed me.
Overall, I was impressed by this film and the strides it made in its
storytelling.
The caveat, of course, is that I was very frustrated by a few
things that cannot be overlooked:
1. In NO world and under NO circumstances can I tolerate or
condone a group of eight-year-old girls dancing to “Desi Girl” and doing
mini-thumkas. I don’t care if it’s at a sangeet, I don’t care if it’s
supposed to be “cute”—it’s distasteful and unfortunate that little girls are
entertaining a crowd by shaking their hips and proclaiming themselves to be “the
hottest girl in the world”.
2. “Lara the
rhinoplastied sex object. I understand that some women are flirts and they are
just… like that. We all have our moments of being the Walking Stereotype of
Feminine Idiocy but to write in a character that is nothing but a vessel for
sexual objectification is disgusting.
While I had a handful of
other feminist objections those two stood out as most offensive to
me.
Issues aside (and they
should not be discarded lightly), YJHD did a lot of things right.
Naina (Deepika Padukone) is
an introverted, study-minded med student. Instead of focusing on a pre-glasses,
post-glasses physical makeover YJHD gracefully allows the character to grow
personally, watching Naina "find herself" and become comfortable in
her own skin was as refreshing as watching half of the film from her
perspective. Use of a female narrator is not commonly used in commercial Indian
Films and it was absolutely brilliant. I never feel as if I know who the women
in films are--and thankfully--I was able to really meet and understand Naina.
Deepika--whom age favors--pulled out an amazing performance.
"Bunny" (Ranbir
Kapoor) represents the person we all want to be--the go getter, the man who has
it all, who achieves all of his goals--and the total opposite of Naina.
The second half of the film is dedicated to Bunny's growth and
humanization. Switching the POV to him suddenly before intermission was clunky
and awkward but allows us, sadly, to segue into the more traditional
male-focused love story. While I won't deny that Ranbir Kapoor does a fine job
I do think that Bunny's "second half" is less developed and full of
abstract staring into space. A lot is sacrificed by taking power of narration
away from Naina--but alas: it's a Hero's world.
As a couple Bunny and Naina felt real, and thankfully they were allowed to be together after they had both become their own, independant person. They brought out the best in each other and realized that what's most important is not how different they were but how they felt together, which was happy. The takeaway line in this film is (paraphrased): "sometimes just being with one person makes everything better"and both Naina and Bunny realized that.
A short note on Kalki
Koechlin: I am in love with this woman. I haven't always felt this way but I
thought she brought a very centered element to the screen with her
"Aditi". While Bunny and Naina can feel like characters of
two extremes I found Aditi to be the normal element for them to both bounce off
of and humanize them.
As was to be expected from
a Karan Johar backed flick you get tastes of all of his films. Wouldn't it be
nice if, for once, a director stopped sucking up to KJo's dick ego and made a film
that supported itself? I'd love that.
(Karan, I love you. Mellow out.)
While I won't call Yeh
Jawaani Hai Dewaani the next DDLJ I do think the film has an important role to
play in the development of new films. Give me more movies from the perspective
of women and tons and tons of over the top RomComs. I'm drowning in a sea
of Police Flicks and I can't stand it.
