I can almost see every detail in his eye, eyes which are old,
eyes which convey a sea of emotions, eyes which have seen the world. Tears wait
and then start flowing as he starts talking. And I am intrigued, intrigued by
the story he is about to tell even though I have seen and heard it I don't know
how many times before! He, she and their story was indeed much ahead of its
time. The way it ended, who's to blame for that? Well, I can't put it on anyone
except for I guess.....time.
Released in 2007, Ram Gopal Verma made what will truly remain
a talked about, memorable and intensely debatable and progressive film,
NISHABD. Although the reasons for it's being talked about so much might change
a bit due to the tragic and sad demise of Jiah Khan, it's central protagonist,
the reasons which made the film what it is stay on strong. I just happened to
see the film yet again the other day and yet again it left me with that uneasy
incompleteness in my mind. No, there was no sympathy for Mr. Bachchan's
character, even now, there was empathy. All that the film really leaves you
with is a question, "who's to blame for this?" What if Vijay, Mr. Bachchan's
character had made the other choice?
For the uninitiated, let me just take you down memory lane
and refresh your memory over this film. Vijay, a retired photographer in his late
fifties, married(not happily, mind you!)with a 18 year old daughter has a
surprise visitor one summer during his daughter's vacation. Enter 18 year old,
spunky, spirited, bold and at the same time lovably childish Jiah! One thing
leads to another, Vijay and Jiah are thrown into circumstances wherein they
have to spend time with each other. Love is discovered for Jiah, or at least so
she thinks and (un?)fortunately rediscovered for Vijay as a quirky and lethal attraction
binds them together and Vijay discovers that even after more than 20 years of
marriage, all he has to say about it is 'no complaints'. Jiah too provides an
interesting contradiction, coming from a broken family with a mother eloping
with her lover leaving her husband and daughter behind, only to almost becoming
the person she hates, her mother. 'Take light' is the motto she lives by.
However she leaves four lives heavily disturbed as she goes away. In the end, Vijay
makes the ultimate, I'd say, a sensible decision of letting go off his love for
the bell of monogamy rings hard in his ears and he also realises that the love
he cherishes might not be cherished by Jiah as much when she really comes of
age and understands what love truly is. But the decision is not as convenient
as it appears for it leaves Vijay lonely, battered and purposeless in life.
The film was immensely provocative for me in the sense that
it really made me broaden my horizons towards certain notions that we as a
society have imposed upon ourselves. One, what if, just for the sake of cinema
and challenging common notion, RGV chose to unite Jiah and Vijay towards the
end? Logically speaking, I wouldn't say that would be the best choice Vijay or
for that matter anyone in his place would make but still, would it have really
harmed to experiment? What if their love did last? That maybe Vijay and Jiah
could actually live happily ever after, at least as long as Vijay could! Come
to think of it, even after Vijay took the personally harder decision of letting
go off Jiah, his wife and daughter couldn't forgive him. Which brings me to my
second question, why is forgiving such a hard option? Let's talk in the context
of the film. Agreed it was not really inspiring to see Vijay finding love again
and momentarily ditching his marriage and daughter but when he made the 'right'
choice and completely let go off Jiah, couldn't his wife and daughter give him
one chance?? Just ONE chance? A woman who has been in love and completely devoted
to her husband for more than 20 years and a daughter who was pampered and loved
by her father for 18 years suddenly lose all faith in him because of one, I
wouldn't even say mistake, incident? And even then, he thought about the both
of them and made a sacrifice for them! Didn't Vijay deserve one chance? At
least the daughter who is a generation apart from her mother could have given a
thought but no, she abandons him and leaves for America! Wow!! I admit that I
myself didn't endorse the concept of forgiving someone who hurt me gravely but
then if that person did make sincere amends and you can see when it's sincere,
I will always forgive them. Does a deed that hurt you overpower a million deeds
of that same person who made you smile, laugh and reassured you every time that
he/she will be there for you and Vijay did keep his promise when he took his
decision but still no empathy from his wife! That is being really regressive! But
no one would question her right? She is the 'betrayed woman'! Really?!
Three, what if RGV made this film today? Would it garner the
same reactions it garnered back then? I don't think so. Again for the
uninitiated, post the film's release, certain sections of society slammed RGV
and more so Mr. Bachchan for being a part of 'such kind of' films. People said
that since they considered Mr. Bachchan their idol, it was hurtful for them to
see their idol indulge in such behaviour! Jokes were made on it, RGV was
rubbished as a director and people, in general questioned the film's purpose
while only a few acknowledged that the film was just ahead of its time and that
our audience is not ready for such cinema. Some years later "Cheeni Kum"
releases and the audience laps it up in a big manner. Same story told in a
comical manner and the audience is all claps and praises! Seriously man! What
would you say to that? If it's Tabu who Mr. Bachchan is in love with &
Paresh Rawal happens to be her father, then it's okay but if it's Jiah Khan and
RGV makes it then it's not acceptable!! It's all there for you to see!
I wish, for your and our sake Mr. Verma that you would have
made Nishabd some years later. At least you would have had an audience that
understands some relationships which are never meant to be understood.
