Guzaarish - film review

Film: Guzaarish
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shernaz Patel
Direction: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Rating: 2.5/5


The first thing that catches your eye as the film unfolds is blue walls all around. Big, blue walls with cryptic motifs and non-descript paintings or such. But take a closer look, and you can see beyond. You will see green colours too. Green meadows, blue walls, and multi-coloures gowns that clearly belong to eighteenth century Portugal. And a remarkable performance by the lead protagonist that loses its sheen because of these unnecessary projections.
Ethan Mascarenhas (Hrithik Roshan) is an ace magician of yore, now rendered paralyzed by an accident during a stage show that took place fourteen years ago. He fights valiantly through the downward journey of fame and pomp to the confines of a dark (and blue!) room and the unconditional support of his caretaker Sophia (Aishwarya Rai), a hyper student called Siddiqui with a nest on his head that makes him look like a tree (Arjun Roy Kapoor, hereby referred to as The Tree) and a handful of close friends. Ethan's grit gets him to chug along for years even as he progresses as an adorable radio jock and an established author. But the physical helplessness gets the better of him when he finally asks his lawyer-cum-confidante Devyani (Shernaz Patel) to help him make a legal plea for mercy killing. The story then labours over the emotional and the physical turmoil he endures as he endlessly waits for someone to end his constant suffering.
The good news is that this is a very fine documentary on euthanasia, the moral debates that surround it, and the psyche of people who plead for it. The bad news is that it is just that - a documentary. Add to that characters like The Tree who can't get enough of their I-just-had-a-Red-Bull-hence-I-can-ham jigs, and unexplained, semi-sketched characters like that of Ethan's arch rival, and you see a mess of a story that should have touched your heart.
On the other hand, if you are a Hrithik Roshan fan for reasons other than his chiseled body, this film is worth looking out for. Save for the occasional over-the-top theatrical expression which every Bhansali character ends up exuding, Hrithik Roshan is absolutely brilliant in portraying his angst through his moist green eyes and his cynical laughter. Watch out for the scene where he sings out after his deceased mother, and you know what a superstar is made of. Aishwarya Rai has nothing much to offer in the film, but yes, she could tone down her lipstick. Yes, thank you very much. And The Tree needs to get a hold on himself and his hamming facilities. I thought he'd have learnt his lesson after a certain debacle called Action Replayy.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali has shown quality that flits between superb metaphors such as the raindrops lashing out at a helpless, vanquished man's face and repetitive, cliched magic tricks picked from K-Lal's secret diaries. For God's sake, though, enough with the blue walls and the thermocol houses with duck ponds. Unless the story is set in, what, Timbuktoo. Thank you.